Leavers card

This is a card I made for a member of our teaching staff who is retiring. I wanted something that was personal to the school but not themed. I find making themed cards quite difficult especially if I only know their professional face and have no idea of their out of work interests. I was rather pleased with what I came up with.
To start with I cut the sentiment out of a piece of 160 gsm white card using my Silhouette SD. I then backed the stencil with a piece of blue card and carefully glued the centres of the letters o, g and e in place.

I was reasonably pleased with the result but it needed something else and I thought an acetate wrap might fit the bill.
I imported a picture into Serif Page Plus and flipped it to get the mirror image, this is because one prints onto the reverse of the printable acetate I use. I didn't want the picture to be too dark so I amended the printer properties to print a draft copy which gives a much lighter result.

I folded the acetate carefully using a scoring board and then fixed it over the card using extra strong double-sided tape on the reverse of the card.
Finally I added an insert of the same blue as the stencil which also provides extra places for staff to sign.

Heartfelt Wishes

This is a card made from a Hunkydory backing sheet - I cannot remember the name. I matted it onto an A5 card made from a piece of 300gsm brown card. Before sticking the topper onto the card I wrapped a piece of brown organza ribbon around it and also a narrower satin edged ribbon. To this I added a ribbon bow with a decorative button used as a focal centre. To finish off the embellishment I added two hat pins. I make these myself using long pins (usually used in floristry) and adding beads which I stick on. Finally I added the mat and layered sentiment. I do not consider a card finished until it has an insert and a decorated envelope. In this case I used a small stamper I had of the Eiffel Tower ( picking up an image from the sentiment). I stamped both the envelope and the insert in a complimentary colour and heat embossed it with a sparkly powder. To give a professional finish I always seal my cards in cellophane pockets.

Blogging Newbie!

Hi, I am new to blogging although I have been crafting for many years. I am just getting my pictures etc together and then I will post some of my cards and see what reactions I get. I also do a bit of beading, scrapbooking, knitting, sewing and I have just learned to crochet.
I am a dog lover and share my home with two spoilt Bichon Frises, Hector and Holly (pictured above after a particularly muddy walk). I am married with two children who are just taking their GCSEs and A' Levels so my eldest is off to university in the autumn (we hope).
I work for an independent school with responsibility for their databases and public examinations so this is my busy time and an obvious moment to start a blog!
M