I once heard that “a card is a hug with a fold in it”, so I made this card for a lovely friend who I unfortunately don’t see often but I wanted her to know that I am thinking of her.  I wanted something subtle but still with a little bit of a ‘ray of sunshine’ if that makes sense.

The paper lace strip that you see across the card was made using a punch.  Because the patterned paper underneath is a bit busy I adhered some ribbon under the strip of paper lace to show it up a bit and then I added some self-adhesive pearls to show off the pretty flowers in the lace.

The frame was embossed using the Big Shot machine and the Designer Embossing Frame Folder.  Frame embossing tip: if you’re finding that your frame isn’t coming out as clean as you like (that is if the cardstock around it is creasing) then try embossing it with “no tabs” on your Big Shot platform and also add a piece of scrap paper (I just use photocopy paper)  on top of your cardstock when you’re embossing it.  In this case it didn’t matter if the cardstock around my frame creased as I cut it out but I use this method of embossing anyway as I find it gives me a lovely clean impression.  With this card I actually used the frame back to front – well back to front compared to the way I think it would usually be used – so that the part that I’ve stamped on stands up while the frame part is debossed.  The border of the frame stands out even more because I cut around the whole frame.

The butterfly was cut out with the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet die – I use this little die heaps.  I used it with Glitter paper which is quite thick but it did the job fine, you can even see a little embossing on the left butterfly wing.

Hope my card has inspired you to also make a “hug with a fold in it”.

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
You Are Loved

Cardstock & Paper:
Poppy Parade
Very Vanilla
Silver Glitter Paper
Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (only available until 31st March 2012)

Inkpads/Markers:
Baja Breeze inkpad

Tools:
Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine
Beautiful Wings
Designer Frames Embossing Folder (these come in a two-pack with an oval and the rectangle which is shown in this card)
Lace Ribbon Border Punch

Accessories:
Baja Breeze Seam Binding
Basic Pearls (self-adhesive pearls)

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals