The Joyful Soul Creates

I decided to try something new today. Not only are all the stamps I used for this card ones that I’ve not used before, but also the technique of making a spinner card is one that I’ve not previously tried.

Initially I was thinking of making this as a circular card, but the sizes of circle dies I had available wouldn’t work – either the spinning element would not have a lot of space to rotate, or the card base would be flimsy from having too much of the centre cut away. So I changed plans and made a square card instead.

I started by cutting a piece of dark blue card stock to size, scoring it and folding it to make the card base. I’m actually out of ready card bases at the moment, so I’ll be doing this a lot more over the next few days (possibly weeks!) until I get some more. I guess that’s one way to use up my excessive cardstock stash!

Next I took a circle die to cut the centre out of my card. I’d already measured against the dove stamp to know what size circle I would need for that, so I chose one two sizes up to make the aperture in my card. I then used my chosen smaller circle to cut two white circles for my doves.

The dove stamp is by Panduro, and is a set of two stamps, one the mirror image of the other. (I would normally put a link to the stamp, but I can’t find one for this!) I stamped one onto each circle, trying to get the positioning as close to identical as I could. I then coloured in the doves with clear Wink of Stella to give them a bit of sparkle.

I found some clear thread and cut a length long enough to go across my aperture. I then put some double-sided tape on the back of one of the white circles, lay the thread over, and sandwiched the other white circle on top. I was careful with my positioning to try to ensure the doves on each side matched up nicely.

Attaching the thread to the card base was a little more complicated. At first I just used clear tape. I didn’t expect it would hold very well, and I was right to think so because the thread started slipping out after my first test of the mechanism. Instead I added a couple of small blobs of Glossy Accents over each end of the thread, sealing it in place. That seemed to work better!

I considered adding a sentiment but really wasn’t sure what. (Husband suggested “Happy Bird-day” which I like, but I didn’t feel it suited this somewhat elegant card.) In the end I decided just to add a bit more decoration to the front of the card. I used another Panduro stamp set- A6 Swirls Corner. I was thinking of edging the circle with swirls, but even the curviest stamp had too much angle to it for that to work. Instead I used two coordinating corner stamps to decorate each corner of the card. I stamped them with clear embossing ink and heat embossed in white.

I’m quite pleased with how this card turned out – it’s simple but elegant, and the spinning element adds a bit of extra interest to it. I must make sure I remember to wind it up before sending it to the recipient, whoever that ends up being!

Love,

Lady Joyful

Challenges included:

Allsorts Challenge Blog – Something New (I used new stamps and a new technique)

Paru’s Card Making Challenges – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Start Afresh (again, using new things!)

PS, If you’re looking for my photo-a-day series, it has now been moved over to The Joyful Soul. I do hope you’ll follow me there if you don’t already!