LIM20 - Monogram It!

It's time again for the Less is More weekly challenge. This week, Mandi and Chrissie have giving us a theme challenge.  We will be making cards with a Monogram.  I can't say that I've ever done a card with a monogram on it, but what the heck...I'll give it a try!

I do like to have a meaning and purpose for the cards that I make...you know, someone to send it to.  Thinking about all that's going on in our lives, I realized that since my son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby in October, that they could probably use a few thank you cards. Now that I have an idea...I'm off and running.  

My cards are 4.25 x 4.25 squares.  I rarely do a square card, but this design seemed to work better on a square card.  I printed the letter "B" (for their last name) using Brush Script font and a text box in Word.  I wanted my circle to be a 2 inch circle, so I played around with it and printed it out a few times before I got it the size I wanted it (I set the font size to150).  Then I copied the text box and pasted it 11 times so that I filled a page with the letter.  I punched the Monogram out with my 2 inch circle punch.  I wanted a thin black mat on the monogram, but all my punches were too big, so I cut my circles out using the Silhouette and that way I was able to get the to a size that would only make a thin matted edge on the monogram.  I stamped the flourishes about 1/2 inch in from each side at the middle, then added the matted monogram on pop dots.  I must say, I am delighted with my cards this week.

In fact, I like them so much that I decided to make up about 10 cards to give to my daughter-in-law.  Now I just needed something to put them in....hmmm. You guessed it! I decided to make a box that would hold the cards and envelopes.

I made quite a few of these boxes a year or so ago to give cards at Christmas, so I decided to tweak my box pattern so that it would be deeper and I could put 10 cards and envelopes in it. There's a tutorial on my blog for how I make these boxes that you can see here.  I used a 12 x 12 sheet of black card stock to make my box, instead of the 8.5 x 11 in my pattern.  I made it about 1.5 inches deep so that it would hold all the cards and envelopes, because the smaller box will only hold about 5 cards.  I used a Martha Stewart deep edge punch for the top panel, mostly because the 12 x 12 sheet of card stock isn't quite big enough to get a full front flap.  I added a strip of black across the front with punched edges, and then a white satin ribbon over the punched piece.  The monogram circle was added with pop dots.  I also used some small Basic Grey magnetic snaps under the top flap and on the box so that it would stay closed.  

Sharing another layout I did last week. This is a photo of my maternal grandparents that was probably taken sometime in the mid 1940s. 

I used TPC Studio papers (Grandma's Attic collection).The swirls are stamped on transparencies and cut out. The blooms are a combination of Prima and blooms I punched, inked and doodled on. All flowers have pearl centers. Some of the centers I colored with Copics to match my flowers better. The Bible is a photo that I printed on card stock and cut out, then pop dotted it on the layout. Lots of doodling around the edges of each layer...and the double stitched look was done with a stamp. The green scalloped circle was made by stamping an image on the green, punching with a circle punch and then punching a brown scalloped backing with a scalloped circle punch. The other two tags were made by stamping an image and then cutting it out. The rectangle Bible verse was stamped and then cut out with a Spellbinder die. Title letters (Granddaddy)were cut with the Silhouette and "was a Preacher-Man" was created in Word. 

  

Journaling is tucked behind the photo on the right side with the scalloped green edge as the pull and reads:

My Granddaddy (William Wesley Pace) was a Baptist minister. He was married to Ola Catherine Susan McDowell Pace and they had 10 children. My mama (Grandma Perdue) is the baby of her family. My grandparents both died in the early 1950s. From what I've been told, Granddaddy did most of his preaching at small country churches mostly in the state of Georgia. From stories my mama told me, he was a very strict disciplinarian when she was growing up. I only have vague memories him but I do remember him holding me in his lap and giving me hugs. I remember my Grandmama much better, because she came to live with us after Granddaddy died. One of the things that I remember most about my Grandmama was that she would let me crawl up on the bed with her in the mornings and sip coffee from her saucer. I've never liked coffee as an adult, but I sure enjoyed drinking coffee with my Grandmama. 

That's all for today. Thanks so much for stopping by! Your comments are greatly appreciated!! Until next time.....

Hugs!