Envelope Card with Ornate Bow

In keeping with this weeks theme of bows made using the Bow Builder Punch, I went to town on this last project.

I made an Envelope Card a bit bigger than the one that I have in my Tutorials. The one below was made using a 12" x 12" sheet of Designer Series Paper that I cut to 10" x 10" before scoring diagonally at 4-5/8" on my Diagonal Score Board on all four sides. This will give an envelope that is 6-1/2" x 6-1/2".

I then went to town with my Bow Builder Punch and some Hello Honey Cardstock. I originally punched and glue dotted 6 bow ends and glued them into a round. I could have punched 7 as there were gaps. I decided, however, to fold over 6 more bow tails and use these to fills the gaps. What I ended up with, is something which looks a little more like a Tudor Rose (in my opinion).

Here's a close up of the rose. I finished the centre (and hid all the joins) with  1" and 1/2" circles also punched in Hello Honey. Both of these were popped up on Dimensionals.

This is not a card that I would put in the post unless I made a box for it,  and even then I would have to pack it in a bubble wrap envelope. I'm thinking I will have to save it for that special person. You will see why when I show you the inside as it's not your "normal" design.  I love it and can think of several people who garden or who have allotments who would really appreciate the paper. And, even several people who are food addicts - including vegetables. So here you go.

Yep, Artichokes. The paper is a sheet from the
Farmers Market Designer Series Paper

Details of the products used are found below.

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A Very Gentlemanly Card

Before I started playing with the Bow Builder Punch at the weekend,  I had a quick look on Pinterest (as you do) to see what others had done with it. After loosing a couple of hours in the process, I came across a card that had been made by Jamie Hurley (over at Unique Ink), but she had used the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits . I don't have that thinlit with me at the moment but I do, however, have my trusty Stampin' Up! Trimmer and I knew that I could make something similar (but not the exact same) with that.

This is the card that I made.

The base card was made with a piece of A5 Basic Black Cardstock that was scored and folded at 5.3 cm and 15.7 cm along the longest side.

I played around with the scoring for making the lapels and in the end I scored from 2 cm in at the top corner to 5 cm down from the same corner. You can make your lapels as long/wide as you like,  just so long as you match both sides.

You can't see too well from the photo, but there is also a strip of Basic Black Cardstock (1.0 cm x 10.0 cm) down the front. This holds the front closed, and the buttons are fixed by glue dots to it.

The bow tie is made from Whisper White Cardstock and a piece of it is also fixed to the card that slides in and out of the jacket.

Both stamps come from the Happy Happenings Stamp Set and I stamped them in Tuxedo Black ink. I'd stuck both of them on my acrylic block as I could not make up my mind as to which to use, but on stamping them both together on my scrap paper I decided that I liked them like that. A goofy sentiment together but fun too.

I have one other project to share with you that I've made using the Bow Builder Punch, but I'll save it for later this week. I know,  I'm a bit of a tease.

Here's a list of the products used for todays project.

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Bow Builder Punch card projects

I found my Bow Builder Punch hidden in the back of my craft cupboard the other day, and took it out to have a quick play. A few hours later and I had quite a few bows stuck onto cards and other projects that I thought I would share with you. So, that's my plan this week.

First off, a quick picture explanation for those of you who don't know what the punch looks like and what you need to do.

All three elements are punched at the same time

I've found that the best way to put the bow together is to:

1. Use a bone folder to curl the bow part and then stick the square ends flat together with a glue dot.
2. Use a glue dot to stick the two square ends of two curled pieces together.
3. Use glue dots to stick the small strip around the middle where the two curled pieces have been attached.
4. Then, use yet more glue dots to stick the tails together and then onto the back of the middle of the bow to get your finished bow.

I chose to use glue dots because it's less messy and fiddly but if you prefer to use Multipurpose Glue that works too, but be prepared to be washing your hands quite a bit. I've worked out that I used 7 glue dots per bow, so you will go through a roll quite quickly if you are making lots of bows 

I've used Designer Series Paper and Cardstock on these two cards to make my bows. I did manage to get myself into a bit of a pickle with the Designer Series Paper because the pattern on it meant that I had to be careful which way I put things together. I would suggest that for the first couple of bows you make, that you use cardstock or Designer Series Paper that has a more random and forgiving pattern.

I should point out that the top and bottom bows have the same
Designer Series Paper but I deliberately changed the direction
of the pattern (honest)

Changing the placement of the tails changes the entire look of the bow

The top card has no stamping on it at all (gasp). The lines were drawn using a ruler and a Pacific Point Stampin' Write Marker. 

The bottom card, which is a little more feminine thanks to the Melon Mambo cardstock and stamped greeting (inked also using a Stampin' Write Marker), has two thin strips of Pacific Point to make the cross frame.

I have a couple of other projects to share and will be back with another soon. In the meantime, if you fancy giving the cards a go here's a list of the products used:

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Quick and Simple Bow Card

Have you checked out the Bow Builder Punch yet? We used it at classes last weekend to make this cute card. No stamps involved on this one!

The bows were made using the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper - you need to punch two lots per bow and then stick them together but it's super quick to do if you have the right adhesive. In this case glue dots.

The Daffodil Delight card stock was embossed using the Decorative Dots embossing folder to tie in with the spots on the bows.

Details of all the products used to make this card are as follows:

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Loving the Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper - Day 7

This is the last of my 7 days in a row posts featuring the items available during this year's Sale-A-Bration. Today I have some cards that I've made using the two packs of Designer Series Paper (DSP).

The first projects feature the Best Year Ever DSP.

This Circles Thinlits flip card also features the Best Day Ever stamp set.

The card above is quick and simple to make - the greeting comes from the Best Day Ever stamp set and the bow was made using the new Bow Builder Punch which is available in the new Spring/Summer Catalogue.

Another quick and simple card to make and it's great for using up some of those scraps (not that I have that many from this DSP as yet). The greeting on this card comes from the Best Day Ever stamp set and I inked it up using my Stampin' Write Markers.

The Best Year Ever DSP comes with 2 lots of 6 double sided 12" x 12" sheets, so you get a total of 12  sheets in the pack. I love these papers and I suspect that you are going to be seeing a few more ideas over the coming weeks.

The second pack of DSP is the Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP). This pack is a little different as it consists of 12 sheets ( 2 sheets of 6 designs) of 12" x 12" which have embossed/glossy white patterns on. You can colour the paper using a variety of different techniques but my samples and the project have been coloured using a sponge.

These are the 6 designs available and I have sponged them with Coastal Cabana ink so that you can see the designs more clearly.

This is the card that I made with the leafy design paper.

The greeting comes from the Simply Wonderful stamp set, another Sale-A-Bration item. I sponged this card with Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral and Pistachio Pudding (L to R).

Check out the link below to a Stampin' Up! YouTube video that will give you other ideas of how to colour the paper.



I love some of these ideas and I will be trying a couple out later in the month.

That's it for today. I have a few days ahead finishing off all the preparation for the Creative Crafts Show at Sandown later in the week. I will be on the Stampin' Up! stand all three days - 22nd Jan to 24th Jan and we have lots for you to see. If you are going to the show please stop by and say hello, we are on Stand L1.