Memory Box Snowflake Ornament die - embossed Christmas card

Hi blogging friends,

Sorry I haven't been around much.  I have been in and out of hospital with my family member like a yo-yo these past 4 weeks and have only been home a couple of days in total.  They have wireless internet at the hospital and I can log into their network via my laptop but frustratingly you cannot view any photographs because the hospital network firewall won't allow you to which means I cannot see anyone's cards that they are blogging - there is just a red 'X' there instead - plus I can't even sign into Google and therefore can't do any blogging or leave comments on people's blogs, catch up on my Google Reader items and cannot access You-Tube. 

I am sure it has been set up that way for security/privacy reasons and I respect that - I guess I just feel a little cut off from the blogging world and it would be lovely to look at your blogs + leave some comments or watch some crafting videos on You-Tube to take my mind off all things medical.......  I have actually been doing some knitting instead as I like to keep my hands busy and have just finished a scarf.  It has been great to do something crafty that I can pick up and put down in a flash if I need to - and as hospital tends to be one giant waiting room, when we go for all our medical appointments, I take my knitting along - and it's amazing how much you can get done when you are waiting!  I have also found it very relaxing and helps me de-stress and often I will do a bit of knitting at all sort of odd hours when I am staying at the hospital.   I promise I will share some photos of my finished scarf soon......

June has now become July and of course, that brings to mind 'Christmas in July'.  Because it is winter here where I live, many of my fellow Aussies celebrate 'Christmas in July' and the thought of sitting down to a nice, hot roast at this time of year is far more appealing than when we celebrate Christmas in the middle of summer!  And, of course, it is the perfect excuse to make some Christmas cards.

After seeing Sue Nelson (from her website Heartprints) use Memory Box dies for embossing, I thought I would give the idea a whirl using one of my Memory Box dies and this is what I came up with:

You can see Sue's card sample at this link HERE.

I love how it looks and it has given me a whole new way of using these dies.  I used my Cuttlebug with the following sandwich (from bottom up):

A plate

B plate

1 piece of scrap cardstock (used as a shim)

Spellbinders Tan embossing mat

Memory Box die face up

white cardstock (that I was embossing)

B plate

which is the same sandwich I use for embossing with my Spellbinder Nestabilities.

Sue Nelson uses a totally different sandwich in her Cuttlebug and uses a Cuttlehug plate as well and I would recommend that if you are going to have a play, that you err on the side of caution with the size of the sandwich - and never, EVER try and force it through.  If the sandwich doesn't start to go through easily, then stop or you might break your Cuttlebug.  I played for about half an hour before I found the sandwich I was happy with - plus my machine is over 3 years old and seen ALOT of use and is quite "loose".  You may not need a shim for your Cuttlebug if it is new.

The die I used is called 'Snowflake Ornament' - so pretty - to which I added 3 silver rhinestones - gotta have some bling somewhere on my card LOL!   The silver cord was added in 2 separate elements, ie: I glued a piece down to the top of the ornament then tied a bow using a separate piece of cord and glued that on top.  I added some Fray Stop to the ends of the cord so it wouldn't fray.

I added a silver Merry Christmas Sticker (haven't used them for quite a few years!).  Just a tip to get the sticker on straight - draw a faint pencil line then align your sticker with it and don't forget to rub out the line afterwards!

I backed the main panel with silver Mirri card (bit hard to capture the silvery-ness with the camera) then onto the white cardstock base which was embossed using one of the snowflakes 5" x 7" folder from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.  Finished card size is metric 127mm x 127mm or imperial 5 inches x 5 inches.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The Squirrel and the Fox Christmas card - Challenge #21 - Christmas in July

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps, Ink and Designer paper:  None!

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Memory Box Snowflake Ornament die, silver cord, Kaiser silver rhinestones, Snowflakes embossing folder from Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set, silver Merry Christmas sticker, Perfect Layers tools, cardstock:  white, silver mirror