Embossed Birthday Wishes Card

I recently read a post/tutorial by the incredible Becca Feeken, who writes the Amazing Paper Grace blog. She's the one who shared the tutorial using the corner punches to make the medallion card. Anyway, she played with some of her smaller embossing folders for the Cuttlebug and found a way to extend their use. I thought it was really neat and had the folders so I tried it myself today. It wasn't difficult, but it was something I know I never would have thought of in a million years!

Here's my card after following her tutorial - the explanation for the square cards is toward the end. I think it came out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. One of the issues with using a white core cardstock in the Cuttlebug is that it can crack and you see the white. And that's what happened even though I tried to cushion it with some scrap paper. I could have sanded it and made it look like it was supposed to be white, but instead I took my Petal ink pad and rubbed it over the top of the Petal cardstock (CTMH). Then I used my brand new Square Nestabilities. I got them from my friend Erin G of Inky Smiles for a great price! Thanks, my friend!! The image is from a Heidi Grace stamp set called Wild Daisy Road that I found at Joann's a long time ago. I stamped it multiple times some second generation.

But the thing I am really happy with is the embellishment in the corners. I have been seeing a lot of pretty and intricate looking brads on different cards in the blogosphere and I really like them. I've been scoping out my craft stores in the hopes of finding some that didn't break my budget. In my last post I mentioned I wandered into the bead/jewelry making aisle of Michaels. In addition to the medallion looking pieces on my last card...I found a package of these:

Obviously I opened up the package before I took the picture, but I set out the items you will find in it. I thought I could use these to make my own little embellishments. While the bead caps are rounded, I discovered they are pretty easy to flatten with a push of the thumb over the center on a hard surface. After I flattened it, I added a rhinestone to the center and then used a glue dot to attach it to the card. There are only a few of the globe looking pieces and lots of the little bead caps. Click on the image to get a better look. I'm so excited by my little find. They come in gold too. Oh if they came in an antique type of color that would be so awesome!

Stuff I used:

Stamps: Wild Daisy Road (Heidi Grace), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Paper and ink : Petal, Pansy Purple (CTMH)

Accessories: Organdy ribbon (my stash), rhinestones (Kaiser), Bead Caps (Michaels)

Tools: Square Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Flower embossing folder

That's it from me for now...thanks so much for stopping by!

     Jeanne