Wednesday 16 March 2011

(Plenty of) Elements of Style - Happy Birthday Ryn!

First, let me say that assignments are IN.  I was very good and refrained from procrastinating further until today.  Always plenty to do on the ole' to do list, but I do enjoy slipping in a cosy blog chat amongst the more mundane :)

My downline team member and good friend Carolyn, known as Ryn to many shares her birthday with me, along with lots of other things in common!  It wasn't possible to meet up on the day, as our schedules have become busier than ever lately with work, uni and other commitments.  But, we met for lunch yesterday at a T2 tea shop and enjoyed a yummo selection of high tea goodies with steaming pots of Earl Grey  (yet another taste we have in common!)  It was lots of fun, and I wished we got a chance to be decadent like that a little more often!

Anyway, here's the card I made for Ryn, using the Elements of Style set.  Again, this card started out as a rescue project, so I can thank Barbara (yes, the same Barbara who provided the beautiful rescued watercolouring in the post just before this) for her exacting standards.  This time it wasn't a wayward punch chomp, but a slightly wonky greeting.  Four words Barb, Stamp A Ma Jig.  But!  Never mind, it created material that I was keen to put to good use.  It involved a lot of fussy cutting, but I was very pleased with the result.  I chose colours from the crayon watercolouring used, Old Olive and Blushing Bride, and recycled a distressed piece of Confetti Cream cardstock from a previous stamping session. Ryn would be proud of me - she's big on minimising waste.  I stamped the same flower sprig onto the scrunched Confetti panel in Early Espresso ink, and mounted the cut out watercolour paper image over it with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I curled and distressed the edges of the other layers, and used my new punch, Pinking Hearts along the right hand side

(be quick for this punch - it's in the current mini, ending March 31st, and I'm not sure about it being available again until at least September)

The base of the card was stamped with the Bella Toile background in Old Olive ink, and I used an offcut made into a pennant shape to stamp the Birthday Wishes greeting from the Level 3 Hostess set Occasional Quotes.  I used an Antique brad to attach a scrap of Blusing Bride twill ribbon to the pennant, and slipped it behind the Confetti layer.

As a final touch, I got out the Crystal Effects dimensional lacquer, and dabbed glossy accents onto the flowers.  It takes a while to set, but gives a beautiful raised shiny finish to a special card for a special someone.  Happy Birthday Ryn!

1 comment:

Carolyn Gibbs said...

Awwwwwwwwww! Thanks for the special post Michelle! Its an awesome card, and I'm seriously impressed by the re-use efforts. Totally enjoyed high tea, and yes, we should do it more often - can't believe how stuffed I was!

Thank you too for my fab gift and hoping you enjoy your science-flavoured fun!
xxxx Ryn