A Treasured Friend

Good morning crafty friends, I hope we are all doing well this December morning!  As promised, here is a sneak peek at one of the cards for the shows today. I was chatting away to a friend in California while I made this card late one evening and I told her I would put it up on my blog today so she would be able to see what I was trying to describe over the phone to her!

I found this lovely decorative paper while in Florida and have been using it quite a lot.  It is metallic gold and black with some cream and tan thrown in with lovely little patterns that are great for card makers. I used several of the patterns for the background on this card.   The focal element was made using the Spellbinders Lacy Squares.  I cut two of them and interlocked them going in different directions to form a sort of frame for my sentiment, which was stamped and cut out with one of the fancy tag dies.  I did a bit of inking with Frayed Burlap while it was in the die, but it doesn't show up as well in the picture as in real life.  I added one flower made from matching decorative paper, another made from the black vintage ribbon and the last one is made of felt.  I like the mixture of the different styles and mediums for the flowers.  I think it adds great texture and interest to a card.  There is a close up picture below for you. 

I was sent an email from a follower some time ago with a picture of a card they had made.  It was a lovely creation and it had a feather on it.  I have seen some cards with feathers prior to this but they always looked a bit garish to me, but this one was really  lovely.  I asked her if I could borrow her idea sometime and said that I would give her credit, but for the life of me, I cannot recall who it was that sent that email.  I do apologise as my memory has been so bad recently, but please let me know if you read this and that was your idea, send an email to remind me please.  Anyways, I just felt that a little black feather looked quite pretty on this card so I added it as an accent.  I added some rhinestone swirls to accent the other side of the card.  I hope you will tune in for some of the shows today and tomorrow (or by computer at www.createandcraft.tv)   All for now, Sue x