Happy World Card Making Day!

I’ve been saving this card to share with you, and today, as World Card Making day, is perfect timing.  A cousin of my dad’s is getting remarried this weekend, and they are honeymooning in Hawaii.  My mom asked for a wedding card for them with a Hawaiian theme, and since the wedding was going to be casual, not too fussy.  I was completely stumped!  I searched the net for inspiration and found it after some hunting, sourcing the right paper and a few paper cuts.  Here’s a hint…origami!

 

Isn’t this THE cutest card!!

 

I folded some patterned paper into Hawaiian shirts!!

I started with the Groom’s shirt.  I took a few practice sheets (I used computer paper to practice to get the folds right, it’s about 20lb weight paper).  Then I had to find a patterned paper that 1) looked Hawaiian and 2) wasn’t too thick that I couldn’t fold it.

 

I think it’ll take some more practice to get pattern placement, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out.  I cut a bow tie from some teal paper, and the colours of the card base were worked around the grooms shirt.

 

 

 

 

For the bride I wanted something a bit more bride-ish.  I found some ivory patterned paper that was just the right thickness and folded a second Hawaiian shirt.  I added a string of adhesive pearls.  I found some netting in a craft box, that was probably the wrapping of a wedding favour and created a tiny veil.

 

 

 

I wanted the shirts to be the main focus of the card, so I kept the rest of the card quite simple.

I see so much potential for the Hawaiian shirt- the perfect thing for Father’s day or birthday cards for Dad.  You will be seeing more of the Hawaiian shirt!

 

I’ll be enjoying a football game and a weekend with friends as it’s my University Homecoming, so I won’t be making any cards today- but YOU can!  Get crafty!

 

Happy World Card Making Day!!

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To Have and to Hold

Here’s another wedding card I made for a friend. 

The colours of the wedding are chocolate and teal, so I kept those colours in the card.  I love the simplicity of this card. 

 

 

I used SU Very Vanilla for the base, and some more BoBunny double-sided dp (it’s actually Valentine paper, with red and pink on the other side!), and some pool satin ribbon I picked up last year in Chicago.  The ribbon is thin, so I added a second layer.  I made the label with my Nesties and stamped the main image of the To Have and To Hold SU set in chocolate chip ink. I coloured the bride’s flowers and the groom’s bowtie with one of my MS markers, but realized it was too teal.  A quick swipe of my white gel pen muted the colour to match the ribbon perfectly!  I highlight the lines with a grey marker; it’s such a simple thing, but it really makes a difference!

 

 

 

I left the inside blank, but I did stamp the two hearts on the inside.  You can see here how I popped up the main image with some foam tape.

 

I used the sketch from my new Paper Crafts “Card Ideas for Paper Crafters” magazine.  Typically I use sketches from my favourite blogs/websites, but this mag had so many incredible sketches that I just had to pick it up!  I’ve made a few cards already and I’ll be sharing them with you over the next little while.  Sketches are a great way to jump-start your creativity.  Sometimes I can envision the paper and the stamp set just from looking at the sketch.

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Technorati Tags: Stampin Up,Wedding card,To have and to hold,Paper Crafts,Paper Crafts Mag,A Paper Buffet

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Wedded Bliss

My friend asked for some wedding cards for three upcoming weddings she has this fall.  She requested two of them be made in teal and chocolate brown, as those are the colours for two of the weddings {popular colour scheme}.  I got back to my roots and created an elegant, multiple layered card.  It was nice to go back to this design.  I did use a sketch, but I’ve been looking at so many, I can’t remember which one I used, sorry!

I used SU Early Espresso for the card base, and layered Crumb Cake and the patterned paper.  The brown heart pattern is Bo-Bunny, one of my favourites.  The teal is some two sided dp I found in my scrap and was the perfect size.  I stamped the image, SU To have and To hold, on Very Vanilla cardstock cut out with one of my nestibilities. 

I added a small pearl to the bride’s veil to match the pearls on the bottom of the main panel and inked the edges of the cardstock with Crumb Cake ink.  A small bow made from Early Espresso ribbon added to the left corner finishes off the card.

If you make your own cards, make sure you come back tomorrow for something that I think you will love!

Happy Wednesday!

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One for the Mr. and Mrs.

This might be my favourite “word card” I’ve created so far.  I had to make the letters a little smaller in order to fit on a standard A2 card, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I just love this card!  I was tempted to leave in just the black and white, but when I remembered I had some glitter cardstock I couldn’t resist adding the hearts. 

I used Whisper White as the card base, and layered black cardstock.  I used my MM Slice machine to cut out the letters and punched the hearts with my MS heart punch.

There’s not much else to say about this card because the layout is simple, but it is time consuming with cutting out each letter and punctuation points.

This card is available in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop and would be perfect for an upcoming wedding, or even an anniversary.

Come back tomorrow for another, more traditional wedding card.

Happy Tuesday!

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Irish Eyes are Smiling

 

I came up with these beaded butterflies last year, and loved them, but  they weren’t selling despite the many compliments I received. 

 

 

Two weeks ago, I received a convo from an Etsy customer about my beaded butterflies.  She was interested in 60 butterflies to use for her sister’s wedding invitations.  Sarah, who lives in Ireland, sent me some links to similar chartreuse green and chocolate brown she was using for the invites.

Initially, we settled on green butterflies, Sarah picking the style/pattern of the one above.  I had made up 3 samples for her to choose from:

After a few days, Sarah and I were both concerned the greens wouldn’t match- with her being overseas, we have different suppliers/companies available to us and colours can be hard to match. 

Sarah asked if we could switch the design of the butterflies to chocolate brown and ivory, with green beads.  We decided the brown would likely be easier to match than the green.

I was able to find some chocolate brown and ivory damask print designer paper and some light green beads and got to work!

The first step is to punch out the butterflies.  Each butterflies has 6 layers of paper- 3 of heavy chocolate chip cards stock and 3 of the designer paper..that’s 360 paper butterflies!

 

I arranged them in little piles and then started layering them, with a dab of glue to hold them together.

I think they look like chocolate, white and dark swirled together- yummy!

 

 

Then each butterfly needs four beads to make the body; I use floral wire because I can get a gauge that’s flexible and create the antennae.

Here’s what 60 finished butterflies with 360 pieces of paper and 240 beads look like!

The butterflies made their flight to Ireland last week and arrived safely just 4 days later…I couldn’t believe it.  International mail always makes me a bit nervous, so I was pleased when they made it faster than the post had promised.

I’m really happy with how these turned out, and Sarah promised a picture of the finished invitations…I can’t wait to see the finished product!

I’m thankful when customers feel comfortable approaching me for custom orders, based on what they see in my store and their own personal vision.

Thank you Sarah!

Happy Monday,

Ciao for now,

(ps…did you check out my CASE challenge? click here to get the details!)

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Ketchup

Hello strangers!

This is my sad attempt at catching up for neglecting my little piece of the blog-universe.  Work has been crazy, what with staff summer vacations, the G20 summit in Toronto and general all around craziness that is working in health care/insurance. 

I started my learn to row session here at the local rowing club, and am really enjoying it.  It’s a pricey sport, so I haven’t decided if I’m going to continue…and you typically sign up with a group that way you can go out in a 4-person boat, so it depends on when they would want to row, and…of course…work.

In my somewhat spare time, I’ve been addicted to watching the World Cup soccer games.  I played soccer for 8 years when I was a kid, and forgot how much I loved it.  I think next summer I’ll sign up for a rec league.  I was cheering for Italy, but they *cough* were eliminated *wipes tears*.   So I need to pick a new team to cheer for now.

Needless to say, I haven’t had much time to play with paper…and when I do, after the cutting and gluing and rhinestone adding; photography, editing and listing; twittering and facebooking…I really didn’t feel like blogging.

So here’s some things that I’ve made in the past little while:

I simply adore these colours! DP is Basic Grey (sorry, I must’ve thrown out the name of the paper); card base is SU Very Vanilla.  The stamp is from my stash, and is stamped in SU Old Olive.  Ribbon is SU So Saffron, and some paper flowers and a rhinestone brad.  I distressed all the edges and used some TH Frayed Burlap distressing ink.

A simple batch of mini note cards- they measure 3x3 and I used up the last of some awesome paper. I really love these colours together! Card base is Bazzil Truffle, I believe. It’s much more rich than SU Chocolate Chip…if paper can be rich.

I used some of my favourite Japanese handmade paper for this bridal shower card.  I’ve played a bit with this layout, as you can see from the birthday card above; it’s definitely a keeper!  Stamp set is SU Bloom with Happiness.

I’ve got a few custom orders to work on, some birthday cards and another project I hope to share with you soon, AND there’s a soccer game on this afternoon….so I better get moving!

Happy Saturday!

Ciao for now,

ps- all of the cards mentioned are available in my Etsy store!

Technorati Tags: A Paper Buffet,Etsy,handmade cards,birthday cards,bridal shower,note cards,mini cards,SU,Stampin Up,Bazzil,Basic Grey

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Texting part 2

Here’s another wedding card using the same Text paper and stamp set from yesterday; I think I like this card even better!

The layout of this card is very similar to yesterdays, but I didn’t add as many layers, and used the card base as the background. I really like the feel of the Kraft paper and the text, it feels very ‘shabby chic"’ and I think is very different from some other of my cards…but I love it! I don’t know if I’ll be able to recreate this feeling, or if it was just a fluke, but I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.

The great thing is that two cards will ever be alike because of the text on the paper.

It’s always more special to have something that’s one of a kind :)

This card is available in my Etsy store , which of course is the site to find all sorts of OOAK items!

Happy Tuesday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: A Paper Buffet,wedding cards,to have and To Hold,Stampin UP,Etsy,handmade,OOAK

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Texting

And not the cell phone kind…although I am a fan of that too.

I’ve always been envious of the effect that text, whether it be a stamp or a page ripped out of a book can add to a card.  I didn’t really think I could adapt it easily into my ‘style’ (which seems to change daily), but I guess it’s all about finding the right text.

I spotted this text-paper at my LSS and loved it immediately. Coincidently, all the text is about love, and I was due to make some wedding cards for the summer.  With a few coordinating pink papers and ribbons, I’m very happy with how the cards turned out.

Here’s the first one I have to share:

Isn’t that paper great?? the entire 12x12 is set up like a dictionary of various words and their meanings, with sayings in between some of the verses.

“Multiply it by infinity. Take it to the depths of forever and you’ll still only have a glimpse of how much I love you”

*swoon*

 

 

 

I used the SU stamp set “To Have and to Hold”, which is my go-to set for wedding cards, I just love it!  The main image of the bride and groom is larger, but I liked the way the small circle looked and the text was highlighted instead of the image.  All the paper is double sided, so the punched flowers show the reverse sides of the DP.  Some satin SU Pretty in Pink ribbon, rhinestones and some pink colouring on the bride’s flowers and it all came together quite nicely!

You can find this card at A Paper Buffet, it’s perfect for the summer wedding season!

Tomorrow I’ll share another card featuring the same paper, with some slight variations.

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,wedding card,bride,wedding,SU,Stampin Up,To Have and To Hold,pink,A Paper Buffet

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I love a good ribbon smooshing

A friend asked for a wedding card, and said she didn’t care what it looked like, “just make it pretty”.  And pretty it was!

I used SU white cardstock for the base and layered SU Chocolate Chip on top.

The DP is SEI Chocolate Mint; it came out at Christmas but it has this gorgeous pattern embossed on it which is hard to capture with the camera.

 

 

This angle highlights the embossing on the DP.

 

I used Jac’s ribbon smooshing technique with some satin chocolate ribbon from Michaels and made a small bow to match.

 

 

It’s a bit hard to see in the picture, but the ribbon is a really luxurious chocolate colour.  I stamped the main image in Versamark, then in SU Chocolate Chip ink and heat embossed for extra sparkle.  I added a tiny pearl to the bride’s hair, to compliment the three pearls in the bottom left corner.

 

On the inside, I kept the SU Chocolate Chip paper as the matting and stamped “to have and to hold” inside the frame, also stamped.  I just love this SU “To Have and to Hold” stamp set!

 

 

 

I stamped the flower flourish in Chocolate Chip ink as well, and added two small pearls to the flowers to match the front.

 

Happy Tuesday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: A Paper Buffet,handmade cards,wedding card,ribbon,Stampin Up,To Have and To Hold

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Unpacked and back to the stamping table!

I have finally unpacked from the cottage and have gotten myself organized enough to get back to stamping.

While I work on some new projects and tutorials I thought I would share some cards that I didn’t get to post while I was away.

A few weeks ago my good friend D had her last day at work and wanted to have some mini-thank you cards for her team to show her appreciation to them. D has decided to focus on her swimming full-time in preparation for the Commonwealth games next year.

D needed 9 cards, but I could only fit 8 in my photo box :) The two blue ones are for the guys on her team. D picked a few different sentiments “to wonderful you from thankful me’; ‘because nice matters’; and ‘impressed, amazed, inspired {by you}’. I added some ribbon loops to the girls’ cards and tied smaller ribbon for the guys’ cards. A few extra rhinestones on the girls’ cards kept things simple but added a bit of ‘glitz’. I love these little mini cards! All sentiments are SU and I just love this little set.

Here’s also a shower card I originally created for my friend L, but then decided to make her the Explosion box {click HERE to see that post}.

It seems while I was away I forgot how to take pictures, so sorry they’re so dark!

Here’s a close up shot of the umbrella and sentiment .

Image and sentiment are SU Blooming with happiness.

And here are some thank you cards I made for my sister’s Mary-Kay clients. Keeping with MK, I used different shades of pink and the Fifth Ave Floral set from SU. I used my Score-pal to make the border at the top and stamped Thank You from the SU set “thanks”.

I like how these cards came out and I’m happy that I didn’t use any embellishments and it’s only one layer! I just might get this ‘simple’ thing after all!

Of course it’s Wednesday, so go check out the Work it Wednesday at the The Character Cafe blog and participate in the challenge!

Happy Wednesday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,bridal shower,thank you cards,A Paper Buffet,The Character Cafe,Work it Wednesday

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KABOOM! the Big and Loud reveal!

Finally I can share this project with you…it’s been a tough week to keep this under wraps.  But the recipient should have this project by now, so lets recap

Peak #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#3

So, did you guess it was for a Bride? for her shower?

I had a gift card as a gift from her registry, and initially made a gift card holder for it.  But I thought it was boring.  So I looked around for some ideas and found a tutorial by the lovely and uber talented Patti.  I traveled up to Michaels and bought the Basic Grey Ambrosia paper I had been eyeing for WEEKS!  I was finally allowed to buy it because I had a project that I would use it for (in an effort to halt my paper hoarding).

So, without further ado…my Explosion box!

You can see here I’ve tied the gift card to the ribbon that I threaded through the lid of the box.  I created a small loop and threaded it through the lid, and then made a bow (my flower shop skill) and attached it with floral wire to the ribbon loop.  I used a simple knot to tie the ribbon to the card- this way the card is visible and not accidentally thrown away.

If you’re not familiar with explosion boxes, as you pull the lid, the card falls open…KABOOM! it explodes! well….not really, but you get the idea.

TA-DA! This is the card when fully opened.  I used a few different SU stamp sets to put a message on each of the 12 squares.  I used SU basic grey, pumpkin pie and bordering blue.  I used my snazzy new flower punch and my MS heart punch using the cardstock and DP for some accents.

You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

I added some glitter and ribbon to some images, and attached the flowers on floral wire to have them stand up.

This is something that is hard to capture in pictures, but I’m incredibly proud of this project and I know I will be making more explosion boxes.

Go try it, it’s easier than you think and the effect is incredible~ make sure to leave a comment or a link so I can see how you did your explosion box.

Happy Saturday!!

Technorati Tags: Explosion box,bridal shower,magic box,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet

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Bridal Party Thank you cards- Custom Order

Earlier in the week I mentioned that a friend of mine asked me to make thank you cards for her bridal party, and shared with you the bridesmaids’ cards.

I’ve finished all the cards and they’ve been shipped, but thought I would show you the rest of them.

Here are the cards for the groomsmen.

I’m really happy with the way these turned out, especially the one with the stripes. 

Here are the cards for the parents:

Again I used the metallic shell buttons which just worked so perfectly!

Well, I had another long day on the road, so this post is quite short- and I didn’t even put my lovely watermark on the pictures because I’m just too lazy to open up Photoshop!

Happy Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,custom order,A Paper Buffet,wedding party thank you cards

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Impressed, Amazed, Inspired {by you} with Tissue paper flowers

I had a friend contact me to make her a few cards for her upcoming wedding.  Her and her fiancé are having a small wedding and asked for thank you cards for their bridal party and for each sets of parents.

The wedding colours are hot pink, deep purple and green.  Here are the two cards for the bridesmaids.  The bride picked a different sentiment for each set of cards and picked “Impressed, Amazed, Inspired {by you}” for the girls’ cards.  I love this sentiment from SU “Sweet Little Sentiments” set.

I used the wedding colours and distressed all the edges of the paper (my new favourite technique).  The card stock is Bazzil and I used Bazzil Bling in Bank Roll (green) for some added sparkle and shine.  The hot pink paper is Basic Grey and has this wonderful distressed effect to it.  I tore the bottom edge and sponged SU Lovely Lilac.

I also finally tried these tissue paper flowers, they’re super easy to make.  I used my nesties to cut out circles from tissue paper and then found the most beautiful shell buttons that just happened to be in pink and purple, it was fate!  The sentiment is stamped in Whisper White.

Here’s another angle where you can see the flowers a bit better.

 

 

 

 

I’ve still got the boys’ cards to make, I found some striped paper with all the wedding colours in it- stripes are my go to pattern for masculine cards.

The parents’ cards will be a bit more traditional, I’m still designing them.

It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday here in London town, I hope you all have a great day!

Happy Sunday,

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,custom order,wedding party,thank you cards,A Paper Buffet,tissue paper flowers,Stampin UP,Sweet Little Sentiments

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In Pictures: Custom Bridal Shower Invitations

Today, is my birthday and I'm reminded how lucky I am to have the my friends and family in my life and the means to do what makes me happy.

Sometimes I'm very amazed that I can take a piece of patterned paper, some cardstock, a stamp and some ink and make something beautiful. This is what makes me happy.

Happy Thursday

Ciao for now,

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Wedding Menu card Update

She picked…..

The white one!

 

I had a gut feeling…since we’ve known each other since we were 4, I thought she would go with this one.

 

I’m very excited about this project and getting to be a part of the wedding in this aspect.

I’ll be sure to provide updates, I have visions of all the cards laid out on my dining room table already!

Make sure to come back tomorrow for the first Character Cafe Feature Friday, where each member of the design team will be showcasing a project from the June release.  I can tell you that the June images are so cute, 3 of us picked the same one!! Also, be sure to check out The Character Cafe site to see if you won in our weekend blog hop!

I’m still recovering from my cold, but thanks for all the get well wishes :)

Happy Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: Wedding menu cards,handmade cards,The Character Cafe Design Team,The Character Cafe,A Paper Buffet

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Custom Wedding Order- Menu cards

**If you’re looking for The Character Cafe Blog Hop, please scroll down to Friday’s post**

 

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend; I saw the Sound of Music on Saturday in Toronto and it was fantastic! I highly recommend it!

Some of you have been following me for a while and so you know my friend L has asked me to do her menu cards.  I got stuck on a few designs, but I’ve narrowed it down and she loved it!

Now we’re in the last stage, I’ve sent her two samples in two combinations and she’ll be deciding shortly.

The stamp set is SU Fifth Ave Floral, (my fave) and is stamped in white and silver metallic ink on black card stock.

The Buon Appetito stamp I had custom made by TerBearCo on Etsy and I’m so thrilled with how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

Same card and style, but I’ve reversed the black and white combination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, which one do you like?  Which one do you think she’ll pick?

I’ll keep you posted!

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: Custom order,handmade cards,wedding menu cards,A Paper Buffet,TerbearCo,Etsy

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Custom Order progress- 2 Bridal Shower cards

I mentioned yesterday I had an order from a wonderful customer in Phoenix, AZ.  Natalie of TerraSense asked for two cards for a double bridal shower.  She asked that they be larger than normal cards since there would be many people who would be signing them.

I decided on an 8”X8” size so that there would be lots of room to write, and picked up some MS paper that was 18”X18”, so I could fold the paper to the correct size.

Natalie told me a little about each bride.  Bride #1 is getting married in wine country, Sonoma, California and her wedding colour is Burgundy.  I found this awesome paper that reminded me of a sunset and I thought it was perfect.

 

 

 

I used the main image from SU’s “To Have and to Hold”.  I added the wine glass stamp from the same set given the wedding’s vineyard theme.

 

 

For the inside, I used the Rock and Roll technique, using SU Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, with the Fifth Ave Floral rose stamp.  I stamped off to make the image a little lighter so people can write their message and it won’t be so distracting.

Bride # 2 is getting married in Oregon, on her horse ranch, and her colours are green and purple.   I wanted this card to be fresh and bright, and the MS fern DP I found was perfect!  Again the card base is MS 18”x18” paper, cut down to 8”x8”.

I wanted to have a different layout, to make each card unique.

I used the same main image, and in the Sonoma card I heat embossed with translucent embossing powder to give it a little something extra.

I used SU certainly celery ribbon, my favourite MS border punch, Nesties and some paper flowers and rhinestone brads.

For the inside of this card, we wanted to incorporate the horses, so a little horse in each corner with lots of room for everyone to write their well wishes and wisdom to the bride –to-be.

 

I just have to finish making the envelopes, I’ll use the rest of the 18”by 18” paper and then I’m off to the post office to get these on their way to Phoenix!

I’m really happy with how they turned out, and I think they’ve almost turned into a mini album, which should be a very nice memento for the brides to keep.

Go check out Nat’s store TerraSense…I just ordered some of her organic lip balm and I can’t wait to get it in the mail!

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: bridal shower,custom order,Etsy,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet,Terra Sense

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