Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Tag It) + Tuesday Morning Sketch #501
For the Simon Says Stamp Tag It challenge, I was hesitating between making a tag or mounting a tag on a card. I looked through my stamps and papers for inspiration and when I saw my French Kiss collection, I was instantly inspired to make a wine bottle tag. Last year, Stampin' Up! had the Cheerful Tags Framelits, which were perfect to make those kind of tags. I spotted the "You had me at merlot" die-cut on one of the sheets and planned to use it, but it was quite big, so I cut the sentiment out and used it with some of the Mini Icon stickers instead. To decorate the bottom, I used a scroll from the same Framelits collection, cut out of Holo Waves Mirror Card from Tonic. I have to say, holographic foil is popping up everywhere on papers these days and I'm really digging it, so I was happy to find some foil paper with that finish, and I find it goes really well with the French Kiss collection's colors. I topped the sentiment strip with some aqua gems and I liked the result, so I decided not to overdo it and leave it as is.
Now, I had the rest of the die-cut image on my desk (a wine bottle and a wine glass) and it screamed to be finished as a greeting card, so I kept going with the supplies I had on my desk. The Tuesday Morning sketch was perfect for the size of the image, so I trimmed it a little smaller, and matted it with Blueberry Bushel cardstock from Stampin' Up! using the Layering Square Framelits dies. I used the cool mail stripes washi tape from the same collection underneath and the pink bow paper for the background. I added a strip of flowery paper and topped it with the Stitched Ric Rac, die-cut in white. (I LOVE that new die, it's going to be great to create ric rac in various colours, and the stitching makes it even better,) Brights enamel shapes were added to the top corner of the image. and I also added little clear droplets on the bottle to mimick condensation. (Those raindrops were sold by Stampin' Up! last year.)
For the sentiment, I pulled out the Cheers die from MFT. I initially die-cut the sentiment fom the same Holo Waves mirror card and matted it with white fun foam, but the word is very delicate and the fun foam was all over the place, which made the result look sloppy, so I gently pulled it off the card and started the whole process again, layering four die-cuts out of Thick white cardstock instead, and the result is much neater. This is something I've learned with experience - if you're not satisfied with the result you've achieved (coloring, inking, cutting), unless it's stuck permanently on your card and you can't take it off or cover it without ruining the card, it's worth taking the time to redo it. It's okay if something is not perfect (after all, it is handmade) as long as YOU like it. If you don't, you will probably always hate the card, as what we truly don't like will rarely grow on us. That layered sentiment is a good example - it took me an extra fifteen minutes to create a new die-cut, but it was totally worth it because now I really like the result, whereas before I was trying not to focus on the uneven fun foam. (By the way, I'm not sure how others are making that technique work - I find that the Big Shot flattens out the fun foam and always makes it "fatter" than my top die-cut, so it is always peeking out too much from underneath the die-cut for my liking.)
For the envelope, I picked a Seafoam envelope and embellished it with leftover pieces (the rest of the flower strip and the rest of the die-cut rick rac), and I added another wine mini Icon sticker. My favorite part is the bow placed on the back flap! I was looking through the Odds & Ends (I totally fell in love with this collection, so I got a few items from it) to decorate the inside of the card and the bow was the perfect finishing touch for the envelope. I used to use my embellishments very sparingly to be mindful of price and so as not to run out when making pages for my album, but as my stash has grown over time, I've learned that you might as well use whatever tickles your fancy while it's hot and fresh instead of keeping it for later and maybe not using it at all. There's been a few items that I've run out of over the years and would have loved to get more of but can't, but the list is short. The industry is thriving and there's always something new and exciting to look forward to, so I say, if you love it, use it!
Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel (Stampin' Up!); Holo Waves Mirror Card (Tonic)
Patterned Papers: French Kiss (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Stitched Ric Rac, Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX, Cheers (My Favorite Things);
Cheerful Tags Framelits, Layering Square Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: A4 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com); Brights Enamel Dots, Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (Stampin' Up!);
French Kiss Mini Icon Stickers and Odds & Ends (Doodlebug Design); March Crystals (Studio Katia)
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