CARD SHARE DAY!

Today I'm sharing just one card with you....and it's one of my recent creations.

'BLACK PEONY' Card

 



The paper used for this card is one I've had in my studio for some time. I only had one sheet and it's just so lovely with it's rich chocolate browns and gold foiling and the oh so cute cherub silhouette that's it's been hard to pluck up the courage to cut it up and it's sat there in my stash for some time waiting for a day when I could come up with a design that would do it justice. I have no idea who produced this paper, there are no manufacturing details on it and sadly the craft shop I purchased it from went out of business fairly recently....so I have put out a call to my other cardmaking and scrapbooking friends in the hope someone will recognise it as I'd dearly like some more. I fear it may be a retired/discontinued design but still it would be nice to know who made it...so if you know, please leave a comment.

It was while I was playing around with some other card designs and the Marianne Design Creatables 'Anja' frame die that I suddenly thought it would work well for this brown paper. Discarding the inner fretwork die and holding the frame over one of the gold foiled images, I was very pleased to see how nicely it fitted. I cut the frame from plain black cardstock and used the inner part of the die as a template to draw around and then cut out one of the cherub images. This I inlaid into the frame and the whole piece was attached to the main printed paper mat with foam pads to raise it up. The printed paper was matted onto gold board, then plain black card stock. The card was originally fully rectangular with sharp right angled corners but looked a little to severe so I rounded off the corners of the printed paper and gold mat and placed Poppystamps 'Katie Corner' die cuts behind, snipping off the larger outer loops and placed so that just the central 5 loops are visible.

The black peony flowers were made using Sizzix Bigz Die Tim Holts 'Tattered Florals' and were shaped with ball end embossing tools. The fronds are Dee's Distinctively 'Large Green Leaf' die.

I initially placed long black goose biot feathers behind the flowers, but they were a bit too overpowering so removed and used two black card Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Floral Flourishes' and two 'ringlets' - these are made by simply cutting a long thin strip of card, tapered to one end, then coiled around a thin artists paint brush handle. Two tiny little gems add a touch of sparkle to the frame and a thick strip of satin ribbon, placed horizontally across, but slightly lower than centre finished off the card.

I'm very pleased with how this card came out. I like how the oval shape of the gold foiled image is echoed in the corner loops and fronds of the leaves...and the fancy edging of the frame ties in with the flourishes and ringlets. A lot of people do not like using brown and black together...but I think if the right shades are chosen and paired with gold, it can provide a bold dramatic and luxurious effect.

https://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/

http://www.starlitstudio.net/podiekaco.html


 xxx Ange xxx