Folded with Care

As from Part 1, my challenge is to make 4-6 each of masculine and feminine cards following a theme and using classes from the level 1 course.  Another part of the challenge, not mentioned in Part 1, is to use something recycled in either the cards or its gift packaging.  Part 2 explains the feminine cards and my recycled packaging.

Since the backgrounds were all stamped at the same time as the masculine cards the feminine cards seemed much easier to assemble.  I had learned from experience it was much easier splattering the white cards before gluing anything onto them.  I used the same method of squishing Ultraviolet ink on my mat, spraying with water, picking up the ink with the Tim Holtz splatter brush then running my finger along the brush to create fine spatter.

The purple backgrounds were cut randomly again trying to get different slants for each and not necessarily matching the masculine cards.  The stamped backgrounds were glued to the splattered cardstock and a dark strip and glitter strip was added to the edge of the background…this time no need to darken the silver glitter…a feminine card can have all the bling it wanted.

The layered flowers were assembled in an organized way.  I took purple cardstock to match the inks as closely as possible and laid them out in order on my desk from lightest to darkest.  Using the dies, I cut pieces for each flower following the guides on the packaging of each.  Working on 2 flowers at a time so as not to mix up the dies, I cut out enough to make several flowers of each for layout options.  Here are the Altenew sets I used:

• Layered Rose
• Craft-A-Flower Tulip
• Craft-A-Flower Lily
• Craft-A-Flower Dahlia
• Open Bloom 3D set
• Pleasant Pansy 3D set

Gluing the layered paper together to create these flowers uses the same principle as layering stamps.  There are points within each step that you identify enabling you to put the next piece in the correct location.  When finished the flower is magnificent and 3 dimensional!

To design each card, I laid out all six cards and played with the layered flowers to see which flower enhanced. This also helped me decide if I needed more than one flower on a card.  Since pansies were small, I placed three of them trailing the bottom of the card.  On most of the other cards one flower was enough.  Most artistic designs work best in odd numbers but for some reason the Lily on the woodgrain looked better with a second flower…one was not enough, three were too many.  So, I broke the rules.  (Naughty me!)

I selected sentiments for each card by looking at spacing, wording, and layout of the sentiment itself.  Here are the origins of each sentiment with the picture of each card:

• Card 1: ‘Happy Birthday’ from Paint-A-Poppy

• Card 2: ‘happy birthday’ from Checkerboard stamp set

• Card 3: ‘THANK YOU’ from Heartfelt Sentiments

• Card 4: ‘Thinking of you’ from Heartfelt Sentiments

• Card 5: ‘feel better SOON’ from Fresh Freesia stamp set

• Card 6: ‘sending health and happiness’ from Bergenia Builder

After I stamped the cards with the sentiments, I added some bling I obtained at Walmart.  The name of them is Offray Petite Gems.

Now to the packaging…….

In 2008 I remodeled a major area of my house.  I had lots of trim and furring strips, etc. left over from construction.  I wanted to create a wooden box with pieces from my left-over wood.  Not only was this recycling but the wooden box resonates with the masculine cards.  With my husband’s help, we measured and cut pieces of wood using a recycled saw too!  He bought a large radial arm table saw from Habitat Restore over a year ago but never had the chance to use it yet.  Now was the time.  So, while I was having fun with my project, he was having fun learning his ‘new’ saw. 

Besides being a packaging item, I also wanted something that could be used by the recipient.  Thus, I made a small wooden crate.  I cut six trim strips 12 ¾” long and six trim strips 2 ¼” long.  This was an adventure.  Some strips came out too long.  Some came out too short but we have a Finnish background and in Finnish there is a word ‘sisu’.  Www.finlandia.edu defines sisu this way

“To the Finnish people, sisu has a mystical, almost magical meaning. Sisu is a unique Finnish concept. It is a Finnish term that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.” 

We did not give up and the crate was created.  I added a bit of stain to the inside supports and sprayed the whole thing with a urethane spray. The final dimensions are 12 ¾’ x 2 ¾” with the inside dimensions being 10 ½” x 2 1/8”.  Yes, a bit odd in size but it looks good and works great.  I am able to put both sets of cards in it and wrap it in cellophane for a finished gift.

 What do you think?  I’m kinda hoping that no one wants to buy it cuz I’ll put it on my desk.

This is my complete entry for my Level 1 Challenge…hope I pass!!!!