07 February, 2017

Spring pastels gift bag of cards

There was still plenty of paper and embellishments left in the first DT kit I received so I wanted to use it well and decided on a gift bag of cards as a work colleague is always asking me to bring in some cards for sale.

I decorated a plain recycled paper bag and filled it with 3 of the loveliest DL sized cards i have made, using primarily items in the DT kit and my imagination, only adding the minimum of items from my own stash.

Gift bag


Beginning with the front panel of the bag, layer a section of the printed Spring Pastels paper onto a darker purple paper, distressing the edges with either scissors or a purpose made distressor tool.

Carefully cut an assortment of elements from the ephemera cut and create sheet.  Where applicable I always ink with pen or chalk inks around the cut edges to remove the white card core and resulting halo effect. It helps to co-ordinate the design.

I assembled the cut elements with the ladies photograph into the frame and finished it with a single daisy trim element, 5cm green Leaves and small blue fabric flower clusters which I spread out a little.

Using the lace, folded in half, I ran a running stitch along the folded edge and pulled it in to form a lacy rosette which i used to back one of the Organza Satin Rose with pearl flowers

To add variety to the bag I embossed the 'post card' label with holographic embossing powder.  The card stock takes this fine powder very well and add an interesting twinkle o the title.


Using one of the smaller tags and the Butterfly in filigree charm on a small length of 5mm lavender silk ribbon, I mage a small tag which I looped around the cream organza ribbon handles of the gift bag

To finish the bag i adhered a printed strip of un-embelished paper on the reverse, and painted the sides with pearl acrylic paint.
I cut a few of the daisies from the daisy edged white ribbon and sprayed some purple and then dropped them over the bag and adhered when a pleasing result was obtained.

Card A - Imagine (in blue)


I cut a panel of the blue printed Spring Pastels paper, ensuring the background floral image remained prominent, and distressed the edges and darkened them with distress ink.  The paper takes distressing and distress ink very well.
I adhered this directly to the DL card and outlined with white gel pen
I selected a variety of images from the ephemera cut and create pages. 
I do not always use all the elements I had in mind or have prepared at the beginning of the design, sometimes when i check the design or layout the next day some items do not fit in the overall design and are removed before everything is permanently glued in place.
To co-ordinate the white large semi open Mini Rosebuds i inked the top lightly with the same distress ink, and curled the stem around my 'pokey tool' to get a coiled effect.
I assembled all the cut elements, decoupaged some of the floral layers over the photograph and backed the rosebud with a satin edged organza bow with tails, on top of a simple organza bow, and backed the arrangement with pearl trim sprays to make a statement embellishment for this beautiful card.

I clipped a few of the tiny blue fabric flowers from their arrangement and positioned them around the layered title.

Card B - Love



The ephemera and cut and create pages in this Spring Pastels has some exquisite filigree line art pieces which I have used as backing to the title in card A, and here I have cut in half to suggest decorative hinges for this card.
I applied a light coating of white gesso to the Filigree strip and Filigree long oval which i broke in half to layer on top of the line art to add dimension and texture to my faux hinges.  In the end i did not use the filigree strip in this project.  This sometimes happens as the design is never planned in advance, it just evolves as the separate elements are brought together, tried and sometimes rejected from the overall design.
I chose this image of the elegant lady because of the delicate pink background and because I would be able to replicate the rosebud in her dress waist band on the design to add dimension and interest.
On the left quarter of the page I layered the Pink and white Nylon Lace to create a wide band suggestive of a book spine.
At the top of the layers I adhered an Organza Satin Rose with pearl and two short sprays of silver bead trim.
At the bottom centre of the lace layers i assembled a fussy cut line art element and single silver daisy trim, and a loose bow of pink organza ribbon.
The layout was mounted on a pale pink DL card.
The embellishments and papers of this Spring pastels design kit compliment and co-ordinate divinely.

Card C - Beauty


I sprayed the Organza Satin Rose with pearls using distress stain.  It takes a full 24 hours to dry naturally.  I dabbed the rosebud into a puddle of excess ink.
The colour was chosen to co-ordinate with the flowers in the ladies hat.
Various elements were cut from the ephemera and cut and create pages to co-ordinate with the colour theme. I inked the white cut edges with both magenta and black sharpie pens to reduce the halo effect of cutting.  I also gently curl back the edges of a cut element between my fingernails for the same effect.  this is also helpful if the element is going to be mounted on foam pads.
I had a short length of white lace left from the previous designs, for the bottom edge of this design, and made a ruffled ribbon by folding and pleating the organza ribbon onto double sided tape, which was then obscured by the addition of a length of pearl trim.
The colour of the organza ribbon compliments the ladies dress.
To complete the green colour trio, a green ribbon was threaded through the tag to attach the Dragonfly extra small charm.
the title was fussy cut and mounted on a divine filigree line art label onto the post card.
The layout was mounted on a gloss black DL card to pick up the birds and the hair in the design.


Used from the megs garden DT package:
Spring pastels printed papers
Organza Satin Rose with pearl
Daisy trim
5cm Green Leaves
Butterfly in filigree
Flower Edge Organza White ribbon
Organza ribbon
Silk edged organza ribbon
narrow silk ribbon
Nylon Lace
Blue fabric flower clusters
Filigree strip
Filigree long oval
Small rosebud
Mini rosebud
White pearl trim
Dragonfly extra small charm

05 February, 2017

Final Meg's Garden Collage Card for 2016


Final card for 2016 and a reprise of previous cards for Meg’s Garden in the past few months


The Pretty Pastels paper collection from Meg’s Garden has been so inspiring, I couldn’t let this year end without posting one final card.
I admit to a little trouble with this card as I wasn’t sure about the focal point I had used, i.e. the white rose.
I fussy cut the white rose from the Ephemera cut and create sheets, then felt it was a little too large.  I didn’t remove it but it bothered me.  Then I remembered some Green Tara flowers that Meg had sent me, that I felt might be better. I simply used the original rose as a backdrop.  It seemed to help everything blend together a little better.  What do you think?
I finished the inside of the card by matting green and white card stock to match the front and adding a little sneak peek of a new paper collection coming soon.
megs-collage-card-inside-1
I hope you enjoy this little run through of the cards I have made in recent months as a member of the Meg’s Garden Design Team.
I hope you have some time to visit Meg’s Garden website and see all the lovely papers, ephemera and accessories.  So much to love if you are a paper crafter.  Meg’s is an Australian paper crafting company and, as we all know, they are few and far between. I’m sure you will find lots of inspiration.
I would like also to take this opportunity to wish all my friends and followers the Happiest New Year. Have Fun, Stay Safe and see you all in 2017.
Hugs  Barbara

You can find Meg’s Garden and all items used to make these cards at

03 February, 2017

Happy women's day gift cards (part 2)

Hello, everyone!

Veronika here to share my works with Parisian Gardens collection
from Meg's Garden.
You can choose this collection in digital or printed version. Also you can find here beautiful ephemera pages, cut them and get a perfect combination with papers. 
In these gift cards for a Happy women's day I used these beautiful pictures from ephemera pages and I love the result very much!!!
















Please check this amazing Parisian Gardens collection
here in Meg's Garden.

Best regards,
Veronika

01 February, 2017

Spring Pastels Take #1 by Margaret Mifsud

Hello everyone and welcome to Megs Garden .. so pleased you dropped by.

I am here to share a card made with some of Meg's lovely goodies.

The papers are from the Spring Pastels Collection.  You can buy these in multiple sizes as a pre-printed version but they are also available as a digital download.    I love the digital version because I can print them out as I need them so I never run out and I don't need a place to store them ..
perfect!!


The top paper layer was edged with the Martha Stewart Floral Vine Deep Edge Punch  (my fave at the moment) .

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard and is a piece left over from another project.  I simply coloured it with a VersaMagic stamp pad and sprinkled it with clear glitter.



The roses are the Puffy Paper Flowers. They come in a creamy white and are so easy to colour to suit any project.  I usually spray them with a little water and then spray again with either inks or watered down paints in whatever colour I need.    I really love these flowers and use them on most of my cards.

The large bloom is the Silk & Organza Primula - black and grey. 

Added some die cut leaves, a twine bow and a few mini rose buds to the cluster.




 More of the Spring Pastels Collection on the inside and, for some reason, I felt compelled to add some washi tape to the side.   Just as well I liked it. LOL!!


Megs Garden has some stunning paper collections and most of them are available in a printed version or as a digital download, or both.

Megs Garden products used
Spring Pastels Paper Collection
Silk & Organza Primula
Puffy Paper Flowers
Mini Rosebuds

Hope I have inspired you to use some of Megs Garden's stunning products on your own creations.
While you are here why not take a stroll through the Garden and take a look at the wonderful projects created by my Teamies.

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg