Foxglove Birthday Card, Bookmark and Matching Envelope

Evening to you all,

It's been a lovely day ... well, there was a wee downpour or two but, in the main, it has been a sunny and bright day so no complaints here. Of course, it did rain while I was in town ... had to stock on glue tape rollers and finger lift DS tape from Wilkinsons - nice - and keep an appointment with the dental hygienist- not so nice.  Well, enough of that, on to the crafting ... here's the last August card.

It had to be pretty and ultra-feminine for my SIL's 83rd birthday - she just loves flowers, etc., and there was enough materials leftover after making the card to put together a bookmark, and decorate the envelope too. Yet, I only printed out one page of toppers, one page of backing paper and the matching insert in this very pretty foxglove design from Joanna Sheen's The Country Diary CD.

The card features embossing, using font letters for the first time from the Songbird folder from Cuttlebug, and the SU Manhattan Flower folder again ... I just love that folder :)  It's actually A5 size, that is, 5.75" wide x 8.25" long, and the SU folder is only 4.5"wide - too narrow to cover the entire width. So, to make up the difference, I added a embossed strip with the word Sister on it. To hide the seem between embossed pieces I cut out the flowers from one of the large toppers ... I know, I thought I'd done enough cutting out for my niece's card but, well, I wanted this card to be special too ... and decoupaged them over the join but leaving the letters visible. The topper, a middle-sized one, got similar treatment.

The only other embellishments were the pale pink rainbow drops ... I'm loving these pretty wee things, they look like drops of dew.

Here's the insert - the sentiment is from Words for Every Occasion by Judith Wibberley ... that book is beginning to look well-thumbed :)

And the back got the treatment too ... that's one of the smallest toppers on the sheet.

The bookmark was made by tracing round one of the many I own ... I collect bookmarks wherever I go on holiday ... cutting it out from a piece of the cream pearlescent card, covering the reverse side with DP and adding a small topper. Punch a hole and thread through a tassel (an eBay purchase) and job done ... couldn't be easier. There was one large topper left to decorate the envelope.

Materials:

• white cardstock for A5 base card
• cream pearlescent card for embossing, matting & bookmark base
• DP, toppers & insert from Joanna Sheen's The Country Diary CD 1
• White printing paper for DP & insert
• Cuttlebug: font from Songbird folder; Stampin' Up Textured Impressions folder, Manhattan Flower
• Crafty Notions pale pink rainbow drops
• Pink tassel and peel-off edging from stash.

I did survive the attentions of the hygienist, teeth are gleaming and, surprisingly, I came away happy to have seen her. Why? Well, because she sussed that the dry mouth and painful sores I suffer from are due to the medication I'm on and, better still, she was able to prescribe a gel to help ... I'm so pleased. Another problem sorted :)

 The EM has come down with a cold after his jaunt to Manchester at the weekend ... when I said, bring something back that's not quite what I meant. Anyway, it means that I'm keeping the domestic routine running smoothly and that doesn't give me much time for crafting. However, there are signs of recovery so, hopefully, I'll be able to get back to some serious crafting at the weekend.

In the meantime, happy crafting to you all,