I really should know better

Hello there

 Sometimes inspiration and that 'oh yes, this is a brilliant idea' feeling isn't a good thing in the whole. The card I'm posting about today is an example of that. I obviously got carried away with the fun of making it and didn't think clearly about the process involved. I still enjoyed the project but the slight 'blip' I learnt about at the end of the process put a slight dampner on things.

Sit comfortably and I'll begin this tale.
N.B - A word to the wise - don't follow the instructions for this card until you've read the whole post!

This is a Cricut project - so firstly I cut the basic Scallop card from the Wild Card cartridge at 'fit to page' on a 12 x 12 mat. In the photo above, the top piece is the blackout version of the card, which is glued to the basic card blank on the inside. One of the brilliant things about this card is the lovely corners it has and also the holes it provides to thread the ribbon through. On the shift icon function, you are provided with cute surrounds for those holes, which add to the whole thorough detail.



Those pieces of patterned paper on the front of the card are cut using the liner function. Please make sure that your paper is facing the correct direction BEFORE you cut it, unlike certain crafters who shall remain nameless :-) But hey, I'm sure that nameless crafter will still use that incorrect cut in her scraps box.

My not quite immaculate little box of ribbon off cuts

In your doubtlessly immaculate ribbon box, collect a suitable coloured ribbon/twine/cord and make sure it is long enough to allow the card to be opened, without the ribbon coming out of either hole on both sides of the card's opening sides.  I found one just the right colour and the right width, so I was a happy girl.

Now follows the bit which threw me off whack. The next sentence explains where it all went slightly awry. I cut the envelope AFTER finishing decorating the card. Uh uh! Not good! Not bright, Diane! I cut it at fit to page but just as I was cutting it, I knew it was going to be the wrong size. Whenever doing these card and envelope cuts from a Cricut cartridge, you ALWAYS cut the envelope first, so then you know what size to cut the card  and all it's accompanying decorative pieces. Since it was cut at fit to page, I couldn't make it any bigger to fit my card, as I only have a 12 x 12 cutting mat.
It's a really pretty little envelope but I can still use that for another card or in a mini album or on a scrapbook page or..... well, sufficive to say, I won't be throwing it away.

I cut another envelope out of the same patterned paper as I had used on the card, using my Ultimate Pro to provide the correct size. I also added a frame from the same scallop card page 32 of the Wild Card booklet; that frame was necessary, to allow me space to write the address legibly for the postal system, as this card is winging it's way to Australia to my lovely step mum.

I love this card as it was so easy and yet gives such a pretty appearance. The frame on the front is the same as the frame I used on the envelope but without the centre piece. The butterflies are leftovers from another card I made this week; they were cut from the Walk in my Garden cartridge from page 116 in the booklet- it's btfly2.

So the morale of this post is that it is totally advisable to cut your envelope FIRST and then make your card cut, at the same size as it sets the envelope (it displays the size on the little monitor of my Expression machine).


Take care out there and learn from my mistakes! :-)