HANDY HIPPO THURSDAY! - WEEK #5

Hello Everyone,

And a very Happy Handy Hippo day to you all too, wherever you are. Here in Scotland the weather is dire, hope that's not the case for you.

I've made a very simple and easy card to share with you this week. 

This is a white A5 size card covered in a stunning vintage floral design glittered patterned paper from K & Co ... too beautiful to cover up. The topper, made by Kanban, is of one of the small native British birds, matted on to two co-ordinating designs from the same paper pad as the floral base. 

Materials used for this project are available from Handy Hippo and if you would like to make the same project then simply click on the magic button below and it will take you directly to a shopping cart that contains everything you would need to make it. Once there, you can simply and easily remove any of the items that you already have in your craft stash. 

It’s easy to add to your basket any other purchase that you might like and if something is temporarily out of stock you can request to be emailed once it is back in stock.

How I made this card:

• First, I covered the front of an A5 card with the design paper layered on a coordinating paper from the same paper pad - the design chosen has an illustration of the lilac flower of the hosta plant which I thought would look good with the topper, and the mat is of a small dark brown pattern.
• Edge the front of the card with distress ink
• Next I used only the smallest layer of the decoupaged bird  topper - there are three layers in the pack so two are left for another day - and I cut two mats from two complimentary sheets from the paper pack. 
• As you can see they are shaped to match the topper - if you have a die the right shape you could use that to cut your mats. I don't have these yet so this is how I make them. Firstly, I trim a square of coordinating paper just slightly larger than the topper, then trim another square in the second coordinating paper. Using a small circle punch I snip out the corners to match the topper - simple to do and effective.
• Glue the layers together with glue gel and edge the topper with glitter glue - leave to dry before adhering to the card front. 
• Embellish the card with a length of organza ribbon, one of the greetings that comes with the toppers (there's a few to choose from) which is matted on to a daisy flower punched from one of the coordinating papers, and two rows of tiny white pearls.

You will have noticed that I haven't decorated the inside or back yet as I normally do, I decided to leave this card until I know who is going to send it to.

Handy Hippo stocks a wide range of 12 x 12 paper pads full of stunning designs that would be suitable for cardmaking as well as scrapbook layouts. The Flora and Fauna pack by K & Co that I've used here is packed with stunning designs, and they are double-sided too - there's even some printed vellum in a gorgeous shade of teal.

If you haven't thought of using 12x12 papers for cardmaking before, I hope this card encourages you to give it a try.

I'm out this morning ... the dreaded dentist ... but I'll be back later to read your comments.

In the meantime, happy crafting,