LIM51 - Aperture - aka - an opening

ATTENTION! 

You still have time to leave a comment for the drawing on the 31st.....Did you take a moment to leave me a comment on this post?  I'm going to be giving away a nice gift card to one lucky person  in celebration of my 4 year anniversary as a blogger.   Couldn't YOU use a gift card for craft goodies?? 

I can't believe it's only Saturday and I already have my card(s) for the Less is More challenge from Chrissie and Mandi. Of course, like many other LIMettes, I usually check first thing on Saturday morning to find out what our weekly challenge will be.  I had to think hard about this one.  As usual, I didn't peek at the early entries...that just makes the challenge more difficult for me!  So, after a fun filled day in my craft room, I've made three cards that I'd like to share with you.

I'm not sure why, but I had a very difficult time photographing these cards.  This first one looks like it's just a label on the card, but trust me...it's a big rectangle hole in the middle of the card.  The happy birthday is printed on the inside of the card.  After I cut the hole in the front, I printed the sentiment on the computer. Now that was a trick getting it in the right place! LOL!


Here's a close up of the front..hopefully you can see the aperture better here.  The label I used was a Spellbinder die.  I cut out 5 white labels and cut the centers out of each.   I drew around the inside of the die cut to get an even border for each of the labels.  

I cut one more label out in red and trimmed the center out of it also.  Then I ran all but one white label through my label maker (xryon).  Very carefully, stack all the layers with the red layer on the top.  This makes a very nice faux chipboard piece.  I carefully aligned the label over the hole in the front of the card, then added a couple of pearls to dress it up.  Very simple looking, but it did take a while to get all the layers trimmed and lined up.

I hope this second card counts as an aperture.  I used a Martha Stewart "anywhere" punch and punched it three times down the side of the card.  Then I scored a couple of lines on either side of the punches.  Now comes the tricky part....THEN I put it through my printer to get the sentiment on it! Am I crazy or what!  By the way, there is a trick to getting these punches lined up.  Look closely at the etchings on the metal part of the punch.

This last card took a while to come together.  I cut the oval with my Spellbinder. Then I made a frame using the two larges dies, and embossed them.  The blooms are Flourishes cone flowers. I colored them with Copics and then did a little fussy cutting.  I pop dotted the edges that sit on the card front so that the bloom would be level with the part hanging over the opening.  The sentiment is also Flourishes, and is stamped on white, and cut out with a Spellbinder banner tag.  I inserted the tag between the frame and the card and then adhered it on the right with a glue dot.  The card looked really plain, so I used the negative image from cutting the frame as a mask and sponged an oval inside the card behind the flower...leaving the center of the oval a little paler.


I finished a layout this weekend too...

These are some photos I took of my darling granddaughter, Katie, on New Years Eve (2011). I wanted to practice with the new lens I got for my birthday, and Katie was happy to model for me! I used Echo Park's Life is Good collection for this layout. The butterfly is a Memory Box die (and it's a very delicate butterfly). Circles were cut from ppr with my circle cutter and several different size circle punches. The scroll border is a Sizzix die, and the pink border was punched with a MS punch. The title work is some faux chipboard letters I made. To make the faux letters, just cut out the top letter in the paper you chose and then cut 5-6 more of each letter from plain white card stock. I cut "almost" with my Cameo, so it was kind of quick. The "13" was cut with Papertrey Ink number dies and I had to run it through my Cuttlebug a few times to get all the numbers cut. Then I ran all but one of each letter/number through my sticker maker to make the backs sticky. Almost done....then layer them one on top of the other and you'll end up with a nice thick letter. Really looks cool IRL. Blooms were from my stash. The leaves behind the flowers were cut with a Memory Box die. Flower centers were made with liquid pearls. I inked the edges of most all the pieces and added quite a bit faux stitching with both a black and a white pen. Journaling was printed on the computer and cut into strips and adhered across the bottom. Journaling reads: 

Katie, it’s hard to believe that in just a few short months you will be 13…a teenager! In the blink of an eye, you’ve lost your little girl look and have become a beautiful young lady. 

So...which card is your favorite?  Is there anything anyone would like for me to do a little tutorial on?  

Don't forget...go by this post and leave a comment so you'll be entered into the drawing.

Thanks so much for popping in! I appreciate your visit and your wonderful comments! Until next time...

Hugs!