Project: A reading challenge here at MAWTT

This week we have something a bit different at Moving Along with the Times: we would like your project to be inspired by a book or to have a page of a book on it. We have a great spread of DT makes so be sure to check these out for inspiration.

For mine, I decided to make a card for a special friend who I met at  Jane Austen lecture back at university. We have made Jane a bit of a mascot for us so when I saw this reading challenge I knew just the theme and recipient.

This quotation is from Sense & Sensibility and is such a great motto for life: Know your own happiness. It's given in the book as advice to a character who is on the cusp of a decision and needs to work out what path to follow. It's beautiful and simple, no?

I decided to go for bold colors to give it a bit of an exotic feel. The background and beige papers were from the Trader Jane stack from Recollections. The pink doiley is from Claire and I thought it matched the glittery pink flowers in the papers perfectly.

The greeting is hand written on a small natural card piece - also from Claire. I topped it with a few layered up flowers in matching colors and added some striped candies to finish it off.

It was definitely a fun challenge for me to think of my favourite books and authors so I can't wait to see what everyone else does with it!

Project 216: A very special hamper

We have a little tradition in my group of UK friends of getting together for a fancy gift when someone turns 30.

We have a friend who deserves some luxury consumables and we decided that a big trip to Wholefoods to put together the hamper would be a fun group activity. We bought things we know she'll love, picking out things to her taste, and then I bought a nice basket and wrapped it up with some ribbon and acetate sheets.

I also made the group card and that's the headline shot. I saw this great tutorial on how to make an 'exploding' box and I thought it'd be perfect for this occassion so the card is part of the hamper goodies.

I cut out different shades of peachy pink card stock and cut them to size. I don't have a scoring board so I was doing all of the folds with a bone creaser and ruler - probably easier with a scoring board but I don't do a lot of this kind of work so I was happy to use the tools I have.

I then covered the different pages of the box with little Polaroid images and signed the names of all of the contributors to the hamper - all from the Neopolitan Recollections stack at Michaels. The back page is covered with stickers and words from the same pack and they were so cheerful and fun they really fit the theme of the gift and our friend's personality.

On the outside I spelled out her name and topped the lid with a chipboard bicycle sticker. Above is what it looks like when you assemble it like a box.

I'm so pleased with the packaging and production of this card, it really came out better than I thought it would. We deliver it to her next week so I hope she likes it!

Project: A golden butterfly theme for Moving Along with the Times

We have a gorgeous photo as inspiration over at Moving Along with the Times:

The image is so beautiful, I really didn't know where to go with it as I had so many ideas!

I stuck with a CAS layout but decided to add some drama by using a black back ground.

The butterflies are punched out of different colored stock, including a red glitter paper, and the sentiment is heat embossed with gold powder. I am still really new to heat embossing so it's not as neat as it could be. I'm a big believer in sharing "in progress" techniques as it's a bit silly if I show you a card that has been redone 5 times - feels like a lie!

I added the sequins and mini half pearls to the butterflies for texture and added bling.

I folded all of the wings a big so they would have some 3D texture, just like the photo.

Hopefully you will find this as inspirational as the rest of the wonderful DT!

Project 215: A double CAS challenge

I liked the sketch at Retro Rubber this week and wanted to play along. This was their sketch:

I thought it would be fun to do it along with CAS-ual Friday's challenge to use kraft, twine and flowers. 

The stamp in the layered kraft is white ink and is from Little Claire, I think it's about 2 years old.

The orange strip is from Recollections Neopalitan set. I have no idea where the leather gold scallop ribbon is from. It's been in the stash for a while and I thought it would go well with the colors here.

The white greeting is from a recent stamp set that Claire gave me and the sequins are just pound shop ones.

I thought it would come together more but I think it's just a bit flat and amateur if I'm honest! I got to make it with Claire which was fun but I think it needs a bit more love. Maybe I'll jazz it up later this week!

Project 214: A playdate sketch challenge

I got to have a playdate with Claire and it was ace. We tackled some challenges and gossiped and a great afternoon together.

This is my favourite card of the day, an entry for this week's  Freshly  Made Sketches challenge. This was their sketch:

The beige papper and pink accents are Trader Jane by Recollections. The punk doiley was a gift from Claire and the cream scallop is a die cut that has been on my desk for months!

The big greeting is an old favourite as well. Studio G maybe? Finally I added tge beige pearls for extra drama.

Pretty loyal to the sketch but I think it works!