This week's CAS challenge is ways to use gingham. Once again I was stumped. I didn't want to make a card and just tie a gingham ribbon on it. I didn't want to make a baby card, either, even though babies and gingham go so well together. I wanted to come up with something really creative using gingham. Many thoughts came to mind, but executing them would have been a real challenge.
One thought was a checkered race flag. I have no stamps for that, and my drawing skills aren't that skilled. Another thought was a gingham tablecloth. Once again, no stamps and lack of drawing skills. A picnic with ants crawling around on a red and white checkered cloth - way too complicated.
What was I going to do? I waited too late to start thinking about this week's challenge, and I was feeling the pressure. So I slept on it. And I made cards all night long. In the morning when I told my husband I had been making cards all night, he replied "Literally or figuratively?" He knows me well enough to know I'm not beyond getting up in the middle of the night to make cards. Fortunately, I had slept all night, and the only cards I had made were in my dreams. I had come up with some ideas, though.
This first card started out as a vertical card, but quickly turned into a horizontal layout. I did something different with the gingham ribbon by pleating it, and I also die cut the end with a scallop die to match the scallop layer around the image. I put a piece of regular ol' Scotch tape on the back of the ribbon before I die cut it so the ends wouldn't fray.
A little better than just tying gingham ribbon on a card.
This next card gave me migraines. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but it just wouldn't happen. It took me
hours and several walk-aways to make this stupid thing!
But I'm very pleased with how it turned out. A different way to use gingham.
I still had one more idea that I wanted to put to the test. While searching the galleries at SCS for ideas (is that cheating?), I came across a card made by Kittie that had a beautiful bow on it. And she just happened to have a link to a
tutorial on her blog on tying bows. Beautiful bows need a wreath to go with them. That led to this card.
This is much prettier IRL. You can see the dimension much better, as there is a window on the front of the card and the sentiment is stamped on the inside. That was really hard to capture in the photo. My use of gingham on this card is just a bow, but I think the other elements make up for the simplicity of it.
Here is a little tutorial on how I made the wreath.
Punch out several (I used 24) branches with the MS branch punch. Then make a ring with either 2 circle punches close in size, or with nestabilities, which is what I used here. This will be the base of your wreath.
Pretend all those branches haven't been glued on yet. :)
Glue just the last 3/8" of the branch to the ring, overlapping the branches as you go along the ring.
You can space them as close as you want depending on how full you want the wreath to be. (Adjust the number of punched branches accordingly.) Continue all the way around, and your last branch should fit right under the first one you glued on. Set aside to dry.
Punch or die cut a circle on the front of your card where you want the wreath to be.
Very lightly trace the inside of the circle with a pencil on the inside of the card. This will allow you to see where the sentiment should go. Use a SAMJ to stamp the sentiment. I embossed mine for a little extra shine. Make sure your sentiment is good and dry before you erase the pencil lines. When you think it's dry, wait another minute or so. Don't ask me how I know this!
Now you are ready to adhere the wreath to the front of the card. Apply glue to the back side of the wreath ring and center over the circle on the front of the card. Attach your pretty bow, and you are done!
Ta-da! Ain't it purty?
I hope you are inspired by some different ways to use gingham. Sometimes it's good to think a little outside the box.
K
