Every now and then, I come across an idea or project that I absolutely love – so much, that I move through those initial stages of inertia, then preoccupation, into action, then fruition. Have you ever had that happen – you see somthing that inspires you so much, you can’t get the idea out of your mind until you find you must act upon it? That’s how today’s card came into being – I simply could not stop thinking about it until I sat down and made it!
The idea originated when I first saw Kathy Daume’s “Love Ya” card in the September/October 2009 issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. I totally flipped over it – I thought it was one of the most beautiful cards I had seen in a long time! I love buttons – I love lace – I love elegant simplicity – and I thought her card wonderfully combined all three elements! So, when I finally had a chance to play in the Paper Palace – I could not wait to make this card!
To create “With Love”, I first printed a heart template off the Internet, then changed the card dimensions from the original 5″ x 5″ to a more conventional A2 card size (4.25″ x 5.50″) to save on mailing costs. I chose a landscape orientation because it worked best with my template, and I chose the blue and white color scheme because it reminded me of Nantucket! After I cut my cardstock to size, I crinkled the edges of the card front using my CTMH Edge Distresser, then distressed the edges with CTMH White Daisy Archival ink to softly frame the card.
Next, I lightly traced the heart on my card and arranged my buttons into the heart shape. It took awhile to find the right buttons, and I soon discovered that creating a perfect heart is more difficult than it looks! Having a jar of micro buttons on hand to fill in the gaps and round out the edges proved helpful. A visit from my beloved Legend, the youngest of my Maine Coons, proved distracting. My husband took great delight in watching me try to protect my buttons from his huge hunter paws, his fast swishing tail, and his strong muscular body that always seems to end up smack in the middle of on any project I am working on at the moment!
Once I overcame these challenges – completing the card was a breeze! I had lots of fun digging through my newly organized lace box and my stamps to pick out the right pieces to finish off the card!
The lace and buttons are from my stash – their source is unknown. I adhered the buttons with Mini Glue Dots. I used CTMH’s White Daisy Archival Ink and CTMH’s For Every Occasion stamps to finish the card.
Question: Have you taken the Embellish Me Beautiful challenge yet? This is a great way to create something beautiful while using up your stash!
very pretty card, Ramona!
i haven't tried the challenge yet, but "use up the stash" has pretty much become my motto.
most of my stash is paper, though, not so much embellishments . . .
I love the card! I can imagine Legend was just trying to help you. LOL! I don't do challenges cause I don't have any way of sharing them yet.
Hi Trisha,
I know what you mean – it's pretty much my motto too – as a matter of fact, I'm thinking about posting some challenges in the upcoming year that focus specifically on using up our stash – I'm tired of watching today's "must haves" turn into "today's have beens" before it even makes it out of the package!
And trust me, I understand the paper addiction – there is rarely a piece of paper that I meet that I don't like, lol!
Hmmm…sounds like I'll have to come up with a paper challenge in the future with you in mind! 🙂
What a beautiful card!! Love the lace and buttons you used.
Fareeda
Hi Christina,
Don't let the lack of a blog stop you from doing the challenges – if you'd like to participate, you can always e-mail your project to me – or post it to one of the photo galleries – and I can share it with my readers!
Legend is quite a character – both my boys are! You'll be reading more about them in upcoming posts as I've had a few requests to share! 🙂
Hi Fareeda,
Thanks for the compliment – I'm so glad you visited! I love this combo and will have to come up with some more ways to play with these embellishments in the future! 🙂
That's a lovely card! Very vintage, pretty and feminine!
Thanks for sharing!!
Great card, fun idea with the buttons! =)
I finally managed to read your blog, our computer at work refused to open it!
Great work with all the cards!
Hugs, Elenor
http://www.metrobloggen.se/paltbarn
Very Pretty!! I am going to have to try one. I have a ton of old lace and buttons!
Thanks Lisa – I'm happy with how it turned out! 🙂
Thanks Elenor – I'm glad you were able to access it! Thanks for the feedback – I hope to make some more cards soon! 🙂
Thanks Alicia – if you do make a lace and button card, please share so that we can all enjoy your beautiful work!
So pretty! 🙂
Oh, how pretty! What a sweet idea! Distressing the edges was the perfect touch. (and don’t you love Glue Dots?)
Wow. What a lovely, lovely card! And I think I can even do the tutorial. I made 30 Birthday cards today (I run an online chatroom and send a lot of birthday cards out each month!)
I love the idea of this card…I have a bunch of buttons so I think I’m going to attempt something similar this week!
Thanks for sharing your talents!
A+
Your button heard is so pretty. I love that it is all white. The blue background really makes it pop!
The card is very pretty with assortment of buttons. Thank you for sharing.
Erika
Artful Rising
Cute idea- and I love the different sized buttons.
That is a lovely card! I love the look of the lace. So pretty. 🙂
This card really appeals to me. It has a vintage feel, and yet I’ve never seen anything like it before.
Perfect!
Now I know what to do with my old button collection! Great post!!!
I love the way that Legend tried to get in on the act 😀
I didn’t know there was a tool to distress – got to look into that.
I love buttons too. Great colors {:-Deb
Twitter: mamastreasures
says:
That is absolutely beautiful! Don’t you just love it when you find something so stunning that you simply MUST create one yourself??? I love it! Thanks for sharing. See you on Friday for the blog hop ;o) Nina