It’s time for a wedding over at Dream Valley!! :)

Hey everyone :)

How are you all out there in blogland? Hope you’re all well and enjoyed the lovely sunshine we’ve been having... let’s hope it comes back soon!! :) So, a little post from me today to show I’m still alive... you’ve probably figured I’m still not feeling so great, and I’ve actually been taking a little break from cardmaking and blogging, but I had this card ready and waiting and wanted to join in the fun at Dream Valley this fortnight... it’s a bit of a special one as one of our lovely team, Mel, is getting married today and so our challenge theme this time is ‘Weddings/Love’ in her honour!! :) We are sponsored by OSCC :)

I made this card last year for some friends and really worked to get as many personal touches in as I could... I wasn’t able to go to their wedding as I can’t travel so the card was my way of sending love and happy wishes for their lives together :)

I knew they were having a vintagey theme with birdcages and that their bridesmaids were wearing deep red so I strayed from my usual safe wedding card combo (white and silver with a hint of the accent colour if I know it, usually pearlescent card and never any patterned DPs!!) and went for something completely different, looking around for a way to include all the aspects... and I was really pleased with the outcome... but you always wonder if you’ve got it right don’t you... so when I got a thank you card telling me how much they loved it and mentioning all the bits I’d managed to include, it made me so, so happy!! :)

I heat embossed the gorgeous LOTV image and painted it with Twinkling H2Os- three different shades of white for a bit of interest!!lol- and chalk pastels for the suit and skin/hair as I didn’t want those to be pearly :) I inked the edges of all the papers for depth and interest, too.

I created a cluster of papers, pins, charm and lace next to the image panel to draw the eye in, inking the lace with the same DI to take the edge of the whiteness and looping one of the pins to attach the charm. The papers I found are so lovely and gave me vintage look I wanted so easily :)

I added my friends’ initials in DI- which did come out rather stronger than I envisaged :S – and then heat embossed ‘Congratulations’ over the top.

I looked all over for birdcage charms but couldn’t find any at the time- I did, of course, very soon after!!lol- so looked for an svg cut file online instead and struck lucky :) The idea to use it as a mask was a last minute one but I think it looked better like that thank if I had just stuck the die-cut on :)

The List:

• Two 6” Sq. White card blanks to make the base
• Image – ‘Mr & Mrs’ from LOTV
• Versamark ink pad, Silver embossing powder and heat tool
• Twinkling H20s and chalk pastels to watercolour
• Papers from Basic Grey Cappella pad and V&A Hanoverian Collection pad (DoCrafts)
• Labels 18 Nesties and Nellie’s Doily dies
• Distress Ink in Pumice Stone
• Bird with Cage svg file - We Can Bea Original
• ‘Congratulations’ stamp from Cat’s Life Press and alphas from Lakeland years ago
• Lace, pins, charm and ivory flat-backed pearls from stash

I haven’t really got much clue what challenges are around at the mo’ and don’t really feel like searching any out or linking them up but, I did notice there is an Anything Goes challenge at Lili’s Little Fairies and I so rarely get the chance to enter there that I can’t resist that one!! :)

So, thank you for stopping by today and for any comments on this or my last couple of cards!! :) I don’t know how long my ‘little break’ from cardmaking will last- it’s entirely unprecedented for me to choose not to make cards as cardmaking is usually my ‘little break’ from the rest of my life and not something I can cope without, so I don’t really know what to make of it :S - but I’ll be back sometime soon-ish, I hope... maybe I’ll even share my first forays into crochet as I have finally got around to having a go at that after years of wanting to... seems I simply can’t not do anything creative at all so have been crocheting a bit and knitting- when I’ve not had my nose in a book that is... if that saying still works when you’re reading a Kindle!?!!lol 

Don’t forget to pop over to Dream Valley to check out the amazing creations from the rest of the team- including some fab new members this time, too!! :) – and just have a look at the beautiful Wishing Well Mel has made for her Wedding Day!! :)