A Few Words--A Boxed Card Set

Saturday, March 29, 2014

I have a thing about sketches...I love them! I love that, no matter how many people use the same sketch, no two cards turn out the same. And, I've noticed in the past few months, that I almost always rotate sketches. It can be a fantastic sketch that everyone else uses beautifully in the orientation it's presented in, but for some reason, I feel the need to rotate. So, when I needed a card set for a gift, I decided to put "sketch rotation" to the ultimate test! :)



Here's the Viva la Verve sketch I started with. I mostly stuck to the design, except for the little circle element. For that, I used a button, and it didn't always work in that spot with the stamps I used.

And, here is the set of cards I made with the sketch:
Can you see how I rotated the sketch? The card with the blue strip is the one that most closely follows the sketch.
pic name pic name
pic name pic name
Seeing the cards individually, it's a little easier to tell what I did. The blue card is in the original sketch orientation, then I rotated the sketch 90 degrees for the orange sketch, another 90 degrees for the red card, then, finally, another 90 degrees for the tan card. I used the same dp for the background of all the cards, and the black circle die cut is the same. But, for the diagonal strips, I chose four colors from the dp and embossed each one of them with a different embossing folder. To make sure they were all at the same angle on the card, I made a little chipboard template of the small triangle formed along the short length of the diagonal strip to position the strips.

I found all these sentiments at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each! Aren't they fabulous? So great for a card set, too. I stamped them all on ivory cs and matted them on black cs leaving just a tiny sliver of black showing. Then, I colored in just one line on each of them with Prismacolor pencils, and added Diamond Stickles over that. The tan card didn't have any open letters to color, so I just Stickled over the word, "Heart."

Do you see what I meant about the buttons? I couldn't put them where they would cover up the text, so rather than trying to follow the sketch there, I just made sure that the button on each card was at least partially on the diagonal embossed strip. In choosing the colors for the twine, the colored strips, and the coloring in the text, I tried to use at least 3 of the accent colors on each card, so one card had a blue strip, red colored text, and brown twine, another card had blue coloring and red twine, and so on.

On the inside of the cards, using the template I had made for aligning the diagonal embossed strip on the front of the card, I cut four pieces of the bg dp, sponged Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges, and placed them in the corner of ivory square die cuts. 

But, since I was going for the "ultimate" sketch rotation, when I glued the panels inside the cards, I positioned the triangle in the corner opposite the same triangle on the front of the card. The individual card above is the inside of the card with the blue strip.
To have coordinating envelopes, using the same four embossing folders that I embossed the colored strips with, I embossed just the envelope flaps of standard A2 sized envelopes.
And, finally, to package up this set, I made a simple belly band for the envelopes, tied jute around the cards, and put them in this cute A2 Small Scallops Stationery Box by Lori Whitlock. Because the cards are square instead of A2-sized, I needed some filler, so I added a little paper crinkle filler.
Here's a look at the scalloped sides on the box. I could have left the top of the box solid, but I love having the clear acetate window in the box. It makes for a nice presentation of a gift set. 

Now, I'm off to make another one! This was FUN!

I'm entering this card set in the following challenges:

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

6 comments :

Conniecrafter said...

Oh Wow these are fantastic, what a great deal on those stamps, love the colors and how you did them all a little different and the attention to detail you gave them, even on to the envelope, someone is going to be very happy to get this gift!

Mona Pendleton said...

Awesome collection of cards Cheryl! Love all the texture! Thanks for joining along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

Leslie Miller said...

$1.99 is an amazing deal for those stamps! I like the way you used the same sketch but rotated it for each card -- continuity yet variation makes a lovely set. The sketch was perfect for your sentiments. I'm loving sketches lately, too, and should follow more sketch blogs, I think. The envelopes look great with the embossing, and the box packages them up beautifully!

Katie Sims said...

What a beautiful set of cards....I've always said the inside of your cards are just as fabulous as the outside! Love the matching gift box!

Emily Leiphart said...

Wow, Cheryl! This card set is incredible and I love all the details you put into the cards, envelopes and packaging. Thanks so much for playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes With Buttons!

Julee (Vervegirl) said...

Such an incredible set! Just dripping with artistic inspiration!