PRETTY IN PINK

PRETTY IN PINK

Hi and thanks for stopping by!  Today I created this card using squares.  I loved the how intricate the embossing and different types of paper makes this card look while it is still using a very basic shape! I was inspired by my aunt who loves pink and loves to quilt! She helped me make my very first quilt that was made of only squares. My aunt's birthday is coming up so I just had to make her a card that was quilt inspired.  I hope this reminds her of how beautiful her quilts are, the time we spent together and I hope she enjoys it as much as people enjoy the quilts that she makes for people.  Let's get started! There are a lot of pictures on this one. I tried to make sure I captured each step.

I started this card by cutting down a piece of card stock to 10.5" x 5.25".  I then scored the card stock in half on my Martha Stewart Score Board at 5.25" so that the card was square.  In my head I wanted this to be a pink and gold card so you will see my layers alternate between pink and gold toned paper.  Also my aunt is very enthusiastic woman who loves all different patterns so I thought I'd use some of my more exciting paper like this zebra print! 

For the gold layer I cut down this cream and gold foiled zebra print card stock so that it was half an inch smaller than the base.  This piece measured 4.75" square.

For this next layer I went with a shimmer paper that was pink.  Hind sight, I would have used a heavier card stock so that when I pop it up later it is a little stronger but I wanted to run the entire top panel through the Cuttlebug and was not sure how thick I could make it and still have the embossing show up nicely.  Anyway, this piece is again, 0.5" smaller than the last so it measured 4.25" square.

These smaller squares measured 1.5" and I cut four of them.  This paper is also very thin like the last layer (they came from the same pack) again, I didn't want this too thick so it would run through the Cuttlebug. 

I wanted the small squares to be a little different so I added a piece of swirled vinyl on top of two of the smallest squares. The vellum was from a pack of Stampin Up' vinyl I was gifted.  The vinyl paper was cut to the same size as the small pink squares (1.5".)

This next step I think I would have done differently and just cut this gold paper into 1.375" (1 3/8") squares.  Instead, I punched this metallic gold paper with a flower punch.  This punch actually just cuts the edges of the petals so you can lift them.  After punching the paper, I then cut it down to 1.375".  I ended up covering these up in the finished project since i didn't like the way they looked after embossing everything.  

This is what my panel looked like once I assembled the smaller squares.  At this point, I really liked the gold flowers so I went ahead and moved on. 

I put that entire panel into my embossing folder.  This embossing folder is by Cuttlebug and has stitched diamonds on it.  I really liked the stitched look since it reminded me of quilting.  The card stock panel was slightly larger than the embossing folder.  I ran the panel through lining up the right edge with the edge on the embossing folder.  Then I moved the panel over and lined it up again so that when I run it through the Cuttlebug the second time, the entire panel was embossed. It was very easy to line up, the paper that was already embossed just naturally went into the groves. I wanted to show you which plates I used in this photo.  It's the "A" base plate, a "B" plate, the embossing folder with the panel inside of it, and another "B" plate.  This fit snuggly through the Cuttlebug. 

 

Next I put the base panel through the Cuttlebug using a polka dot embossing folder.  I had to run this one through twice as well since it was a little larger. I only embossed the front side.  

I adhered the zebra paper to the polka dot base paper using my ATG (Advanced Tape Glider) adhesive, and then using foam squares I popped up the front panel on my card.  I love these foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives.  It is very easy to remove the backing from these squares and they adhere to the paper really well.  As you can see, I was pretty generous with the squares since the paper was thinner than I would have liked it to be.  I wanted to add that extra support with the foam squares.  

 At this point, I figured out that those little flower petals weren't standing up as nicely as I had hoped and didn't show as much now that the paper was embossed.  So I went with plan B. Improvise!

I cut out two different sized flowers using my punches.  The larger is by EK Success and it's a five petal flower.  The second is by Carl and it's a sakura flower.  I alternated colors between textured pink card stock and swirled white paper and also alternated colors when I added the smaller flower on top, pink larger flower with white smaller flower, and vice versa. I think the white paper with cream swirls drew in the cream color from the zebra paper so I really loved the way it looked once everything was adhered. I then attached the flower in alternating colors on my squares with some Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. 

In my mind, no card is complete without a little sparkle, shine or bling.  So here it is, I added a sequin on top of each small flower alternating between a dark pink and a more iridescent pink sequin. 

Nope, couldn't stop there, I then added a rhinestone on top of that using my QuickStik to help me pick up those little slipper rascals. 

this is the finished product.  The glue is still wet as you can see, but it will quickly dry. 

Here it my completed card. I hope you enjoyed this project and it inspires you to try some basic square stacking! Have a wonderful day!  Go out there and create something beautiful!