Corrugated – The Art of Cobwebs

I saw a magazine on the supermarket shelves and fell in love with the Bee themed ‘freebies’ which were being given away with the issue. I got home and, over a coffee, I flicked through the pages, and found a few pages of ideas for what you could make with the papers. I fell totally in love with one card, and knew that I’d make it at some stage, because it was just too lovely not too.

Last week gave me the perfect moment. I needed to make a ‘Thank You’ card and thought the bee themed card I’d found in the magazine would be perfect, and so, changing some of the papers, and adding my own sentiment, I made my version of the card.

In the magazine the maker had used some black corrugated card for backing the main central picture. I had no black corrugated card. I had red, blue, yellow, pink, kraft brown, green, orange …. practically a whole rainbow … but no black. “I’ll just use black card” I said to myself. But … I really loved that corrugated look. So … I did the next best thing….

I pulled out a sheet of the yellow corrugated, drew up the measurement I needed in pencil, and, taking a (cheapy) permanent marker pen, I began to turn that yellow card into black card. I chose yellow in case any of my colouring was a bit uneven, it would at least look like it was meant to look like that (can we say ‘distressed’?) – as it would tone with the yellows on the card. See … I do think ahead sometimes! lol.

By the time I’d filled the square, I’d emptied that pen. Thankfully I had another, because I needed to colour up four Candi dots for the corners!

I added ribbon, … and I like my ribbon more than I liked the ribbon in the magazine. My ribbon has flowers on it! (Much posher! lol) Then fixed everything in place.

In the magazine they’d used a very pale shade of lemon paper as backing paper – but I preferred something a little warmer. So chose a lovely, yummy yellow which looked like it had gently kissed the orange paint pot.

For the sentiment, I inked up some plain white card, then using a stencil and two ink pads – a shade of warm yellow and a pale burnt orange, – I gently inked through the stencil to make a honeycomb pattern over the card. I then stamped the ‘Thank You’ sentiment and cut it using a die, and backed it with some plain black card.

I added the four Candi dots; a ribbon bow at the top of the card; the sentiment; and finally added some bees which I’d cut from some of the printed cardstock.

Then I turned my attention to the inside. I’m not that keen on blank insides, and always try to put something in a card which adds to the whole thing in some way. I chose a decorative die and using some black card die cut it and fixed it in place with glue. VOILA! One thank you card for my wonderful neighbour.

Thank YOU for popping in for a visit!

Well ….. today is the last Monday of January 2017! We made it through the first month of the year! Give yourself a mental cheer! February will be a doddle because its way shorter than any other month – so it’ll a walk in the park. Yes? 🙂

Have a truly wonderful week. May nothing stop you from making good choices. May you carry an inner warmth which, every time you think about it, makes you smile. May you share a joke or a smile with another person. And may you do something which helps to change someone elses day around. Make someone feel better about themselves. Smile at a stranger. Pay someone a compliment. Just be nice to people. Everyone you meet really does have something which troubles them. They need help to smile sometimes, and maybe this week it will be your turn to help them. Give them a reason to smile.

Here …. here is my chance to make you smile. This squidge is a visible squidge, from me, direct to you, because I think you’re truly amazing . . . .

. . . . sending you a warm fuzzy hug and a heartfelt squidge, from me sat here to you sat there.

… Be good to each other. ~

I still have the Christmas Crafting Box out next to me on the floor where I’m sitting at my desk… and since I was still in the ‘Christmas’ frame of mind from the last card I made, I began this card (above) on Friday afternoon, . . . but then Little Cobs (Grandson) came on Saturday, and, just like any fabulous grandchild does, he shares with me all the germs he’s caught during the week at school (he’s 5), and this week he shared the germs which gave him an ear infection – however they changed somewhere in the passing and gave me a temperature and made me feel like a wilted weed! I woke up at 3am gasping for breath and absolutely drenched. I have no idea what my temperature was but I’m pretty sure someone could have fried an egg on me had they tried!

Thankfully things are getting back to normal again, but I really think we should build a sheep dip at the front door so that we can dip him in antiseptic before he crosses the threshold in an attempt to remove all the germs he’s bringing with him!

Anyhoo … I’m supposed to be talking about this card so I’ll get on with it.

Made on a 7″x7″ white card, using some Red Corrugated card as a layer to bring the Christmas colour into the card.

I bought a pack of decorative papers last year, with Christmas images on them and hadn’t used them. There were 2 of each design in the pack. And it was this little girl, in her new blue bonnet which was so sweet that I chose her to theme this card around. I used both sheets of this design, layering one sheet onto the Christmas Red corrugated card, and then cutting into the second sheet in order to pick out some details and over-lay them using foam tabs, so giving depth to the card.

The large snowflakes are wooden ones, which I painted white, and while the paint was dry I gently sprinkled a little fine glitter over them so that they would have that more ‘frosty’ look. The Red/pink four petal flowers around the left side of the card, I actually picked up in a charity shop about a year ago. It looked as if someone was clearing some of their stash from their craft room and I found these flowers. Didn’t know what I was going to do with them, but at 75p for a large cellophane bag full of them, I decided to buy them because I knew I’d use them at some point. And … look! I am!

I added the blue ‘crystal’ centres to the flowers, in a nod to the colour of the bonnet which the little girl is wearing. I wanted a ‘conversation’ to be going on between the colours.

The little wooden frame is one from a selection by Docrafts, and the sequins are from my stash. To finish the card off, I added the little silver metal Christmas Stocking Charm (right top corner) with a Christmas Red Ribbon tied to it and … that, as they say, is all there was to it.

If I’ve missed anything or you want to know about something, please just ask away in a comment. I promise I’ll reply.

Well Halloween came and went, and I was rather happy when the day had drawn to a close, because we had out busiest Halloween night, EVER, and I only had three bags of sweets left, and had begun to panic.

I went through my whole supply of cellophane C5 size bags and had none left! I’d begun by making about 12 cellophane bags, each filled with either a sucking lolly or a (drumstick) chewy lolly, plus a pack of parma violets; a Roses chocolate; a humbug; a chocolate eclair; 2 chocolate Ghost; 2 chocolate eyeballs; and two chocolate coins. We thought, judging on previous years, that those 12 bags filled with assorted sweets would very likely be enough. Oh how wrong were we!

After just ten minutes I had to throw more bags together as fast as I could, but before I’d managed to finish the doorbell wrang again and I had to leave Mr. Cobs to seal the bags up, while I kept the little ones and their mummies and daddies talking at the door (admiring their costumes and having a conversation about how wonderful the Princess’s were, and how scary the ghosts and ghouls were), while Mr.Cobs quickly sealed the bags and scrambled out to the door to bring me more supplies. And that happened again, and again.

Sometimes there was just one little darling with a daddy or mummy, and sometimes there were five. On one visit, there were five little ones, three girls and two boys, and as I was talking to the little ghostly bride she was doing a familiar jiggle. I bent over and whispered in a stage whisper (so that mummy could hear what I was saying) … “Oh Beautiful Ghostly Bride … do you by any chance need a wee?”. “No, no I don’t.” …. “You don’t? Are you sure poppet?” … “Yes I’m sure….. Uhm . . . Actually …. I do!“ The jiggle had got ever-so more jiggly. Mummy stepped forward and said … “Oh dear, I think she does, yes”. So … not only did I have ghosts and ghouls at the front door on Halloween …. I even had a spook in my bathroom! And I noticed that the jiggle had gone by the time she collected her bag of sweets from me on the way out of the front door. lol. Bless her heart.

They were all so, so lovely and so very sweet. I couldn’t pick a favourite out of them all if I tried to. I just wanted to scoop them all up and squidge them … which I think was because I was missing Little Cobs – who was still suffering with his virus so sadly couldn’t go out Trick or Treating. Ah well … there’s always next year.

Aww anyhoo … HAPPY WEDNESDAY all! May your day bring with it some smiles, and a sense of peace with it. May any mail you receive from the postman/lady be of the happy type, and may you find a parking space, sat waiting just for you, if you happen to go out in your car today.