The 1st of 2 Wedding Anniversary Cards

On Sunday 11th February it is my parent’s wedding anniversary and as usual, I have two Wedding Anniversary Cards to make. As well as making a card to give them from Michael and me my Dad always likes me to make a card for him to give my Mum. Of course, she is well aware that not only do I make it but I also wholly design it, so basically it is two cards from me, one with his name in.

As I am not feeling particularly well today, I decided that I wasn’t up to experimenting with new techniques, so I decided to play safe and use cardmaking collections and then maybe add die-cut extras etc. once the project is on its way.  I don’t know about you, but I find the worse I am feeling the less inspired I am, but then when a project starts coming together it makes me feel a bit better, and then I get inspired.

 Proof I think that not only is creativity “good medicine” but being crafty improves your creativity. The collections I am going to use will be Hunkydory (no surprise there) and a Joanna Sheen collection from the artist Barbara Anderson that arrived in my order from Create and Craft last week. As I begin, I haven’t decided which card will be which. I will see how they shape up and make the decision later. Today I am going to share with you the Hunkydory card and next Monday the Barbara Anderson with the final decision which will be from who!

I have no shortage of Hunkydory. If you have been following me for some time you will have seen the Decluttering Cards and Papers post and also the Mini Library post where you get a taste of the size of the collection. I hum’d and hah’d over a few different kits but decided to go with the Primrose Lane Collection which is a bit of a favourite of mine and very suitable for making cards for my parents. Here is what I did:

Scoring the Card

Once I had decided on the main topper to use I based my design around one of the cards featured in the design inspiration sheet but changed it a little bit. I decided to make a centre stepper card which is a bit of a favourite when I decide not to stick to the usual basic card fold. I followed the instructions in the Hunkydory Adorable Scoreboard Crafting Handbook Issue 1 to create the card blank using the Adorable Scoreboard and some Centura Pearl White A4 Cardstock. This is what it looked like at this point:

You may notice a small error I made with my scoring on one of the side panels, thankfully this will be covered up so I didn’t have to start again.

The Central Image

I decided I wanted the central image to look like a picture in a double frame so I cut strips from my 1 cm reel of sticky foam pads long enough to go around one length and one width. These were slightly wider than the thin gold frame so I cut them in half vertically and attached them as a continuous border. To create the extra depth I did the same with the main external frame but I used my 2 cm width foam pad roll and put a double layer all around. Usually, when I use foam pads I dot them around the edge with gaps in between so it was a bit of a new technique for me using complete strips. This was thanks to watching Pauline on a Hunkydory show on Create and Craft at the Weekend doing a similar technique. This is a rear view of the front panel at that point:  

The Front of the Card

I decided as the outer frame matched the main central panel perfectly I would fasten this first and then work inwards. With hindsight, I think this was an error. I struggled quite a lot to line up the inner frame and then the central image doing it this way. Even though the focal image within the frame was stuck with Collall All Purpose Glue which gave me some wiggle time. I think if I was to do this technique again I could measure up and put pencil dots to mark the outer corners of the main image and work out from there. We live and learn! Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of where I was up to at that point! My next job was to decorate the side panels which I did with some of the cardstock matching the outer frame. I simply measured up the pieces and cut them with my small Fiskars Paper Trimmer which I use when I need small pieces. this is how the front of the card looked at this stage:

The Inside of the Card

I chose the card insert that matched the front of the card however the sentiment was not appropriate to I carefully cut a section of the paper that didn’t include it. So that the inside tied in with the outside I used strips of the floral design on the outer edges of the inside too, being from the insert they are a faded version of the cardstock design and it ties the inside of the card in nicely. Here is how the inside was looking once I had attached the side panel but before I added the central one:

Insert Sentiment

I initially planned to use a Hunkydory Sentiment Stamp but after wading through my whole collection I didn’t have an appropriate one. Although I have bought quite a lot of the collections I have missed a few when I couldn’t afford them. At some point, I may look to complete my collection – but then they keep bring new ones every month so I may not have the chance! I turned to Lilli of the Valley for a sentiment stamp instead, it did the job perfectly.

The Final Touch to the Wedding Anniversary Card

The final touch, for now, was to add the “With Love” sentiment to the front of the card. I did this with some Collall Coll Kit 3D Decoupage Gel. Once I have made the final decision who this card will be coming from I may add another personalised sentiment too. I have a feeling at this point this card will be from us and I will be making the other one from Dad but I will make my final decision when that is made.  So here is this card, finished for now:

I hope you have enjoyed this project? Why not drop a comment below or let me know on any of my social media platforms what you thought!

Until next time,
Gentle Hugs,
Susan