Sometimes Things Are Black And White

Hi there,

I love black and white cards, but they are sometimes a challenge.  I have found that using texture is always a good rule of thumb in using the black/white combination.  Here, I'll show you what I mean:

I created this card using a retired SU set, called Tender Toile.  It just seemed so dainty and feminine, that I wanted to surround the image with lacy texture.  I used several punches and my Cuttlebug to give the card dimension, and you all know how much I like adding dimension!

To start with, I stamped my image with black Pigment ink.  Pigment ink stays wet longer than dye ink, and therefore can be embossed. 

Here's a quick tip for embossing without a tray:  I take a piece of scratch printer paper and fold in half.  I then pour my embossing powder on my image over this folded paper, then just fold the paper edges together and pour the excess powder back in the jar; simple, but it works great.

After heat embossing my image, I used two different sizes of square Nestabilities to cut my image and a mat for the image.  Adhered with pop-dots.

Now, it's a matter of adding punched pieces as if they were pieces of moulding on a picture frame.  We are going to use several punches and dry embossing to do this.

First, I used a MS border punch and cut strips that matched my mat.  Don't worry about the corners here; we will be covering those up. 

Next, I used an SU corner punch, forgive me for not remembering the name and I'm too lazy/tired/old to get up and look.  I trimmed the edges, as shown and added the punched shapes to the corners of my stamped image panel.

To cover the corners on our border strips, we are going to use a butterfly punch from Anna Griffin.  I actually punched 8 butterflies, four of which I cut in half, removing most of the body, leaving just the wings with a little extra (sounds gruesome, I know... the horror of papercrafting!). 

I first placed the complete butterfly, one in each corner, and then used fast-drying glue to attach the second set of wings, so they appear to be in flight.

Now, you could certainly add more layers of punched borders and details, but for the sake of this post not becoming a novel, I moved on to my background.  I embossed a 5-1/4 x 4-inch piece of cardstock using my Cuttlebug and Victoria folder.  Before I adhered my embossed panel to my card base, I adhered a length of satin ribbon to it. 

Now, let's see that finished card again...

For the finishing touch, I stamped my envelope to match, added a satin bow with a glue dot to the attached ribbon, and lastly,stamped the inside of my card.

Well, that's it for me tonight.  The weather is just unbelievably wonderful this week, so you can find me in the garden tomorrow.

Til next time,