Social Stamping - #6 Birthdays in Isolation

Birthdays in Isolation featuring the Parisian Blossoms Suite

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 6th Social Stamping Blog Hop. Our theme this week is "Birthdays in Isolation".

I hope you are all coping in these strange times of COVID-19 and living in self isolation. While in Australia, we have been not only flattening the curve but have significantly reduced the spread of the virus as we live in isolation or with our immediate family. This can be difficult and especially as we celebrate special events such as birthdays. Kelly Kent, the instigator and Host of the Social Stamping Blog is having a birthday this week. Kelly, I hope you have a lovely birthday with many special moments.

In designing my card for this Blog Hop, I thought of a special friend whose birthday is coming up. She is a lovely caring lady and I wanted to create something special for her. Three things came to mind - the very pretty and luscious Parisian Blossoms Suite; a fancy fold card design I had recently seen; and the fact that my friend loves jigsaws and has been working on a particularly challenging jigsaw to help her stay sane while in self isolation with her husband. Here is the card I created:

This beautiful spray of blossoms comes from the Stampin' Up! Forever Blossoms stamp set and was coloured with Stampin' Blends. Here is a close up of the blossoms. You will notice that after photographing the card I decided to add some Blend coloured Basic Rhinestones to the centre of the flowers to give the blossoms some extra zing. This close-up and the final photograph include the rhinestones. As the outside light had changed it wasn't worth re-photographing every aspect.

The fancy fold is called Triple Layer Spanner Card, although technically, I have created 4 layers. The first layer includes the two side panels with the centre design element. To hold this layer in firmly place I have added a strip of Acetate that spans across between the two side panels and gives a transparent base to hold the spray of blossoms and sentiment in place.

The second layer is the centre panel that has been decorated with embossed Champagne Foil. The Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder is soooo gorgeous - I am so glad it is continuing into the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue for 2020-2021. This catalogue has so many wonderful products and will be available during May. 

The card's third layer is the full width of the card base and has side panels created with Designer Series Paper mounted on Foil and I used this space for a jigsaw that holds a special message. 

You get to see the jigsaw panel in its "put together" state first, but my friend will first see this layer of the card with only one piece of the jigsaw in place and a little cellophane bag holding all the other pieces. She will need to put the jigsaw together to find the special message. She loves a challenge and her current jigsaw has well over 1,000 pieces and only has a clue as to what the jigsaw picture will be but does not have a graphic of the finished picture, as such I have no qualms about not providing a picture for her.

The final panel is on the back of the card. This is where my personal greeting will be written.

I wasn't sure how the jigsaw panel would turn out. I had my doubts as I was working on it. The sentiment and little hearts were heat embossed with Copper Emboss Powder, the large heart stamped in Grey Granite ink and the background was sponged with a mix of Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and some Grey Granite inks.

As the Champagne Foil frame was larger at the top and the bottom it didn't look "quite right" so I added a few die cut leaves in the same foil. They also can help hold the corner jigsaw pieces in place.

To ensure the Jigsaw pieces would be hardy enough to cope with being handled I used Thick Whisper White cardstock and backed it with the same DSP that was used to mark the place that the jigsaw would go.

I had fun creating this card, not only as I was thinking of my special friend, but also because of the challenge of working out how to create a differently sized fancy fold that I hadn't made previously. The Parisian Blossoms Suite is so gorgeous so I loved creating with it and I also enjoy colouring and trying to ensure the whole card co-ordinates with the theme, colours and is right for the recipient.

That's it for me in this week's "Birthdays in Isolation" Social Stamping Blog Hop. Thank you for calling by - I do appreciate you spending time with me. I'm looking forward to seeing all the wonderful "Birthdays in Isolation" projects created by so many talented people in the Blog Hop. The next paper crafter is the lovely Catherine Creer at Creative Cat.  To go to her blog you can either click on her name or the "Next" graphic.

  

Or you can go to the full list of participants click here and you will find links that will take you to everyones' blogs.

We still need to stay home to ensure we and others stay safe and stay healthy. I do hope you are staying sane. If you are struggling please reach out to someone you can trust. You are important and its important you look after all of you.

I look forward to blog hopping with you again next week.

List of Products used to create this card:
Stamps & Dies

• Parisian Blossoms stamp set
• Cherry Blossom dies
• Modern heart stamp set
• Strong & Beautiful stamp set
• Puzzle Pieces dies

Inks

• Petal Pink ink pad
• Grey Granite ink pad
• Pool Party ink pad
• Bermuda Bay ink pad
• Petal Pink Light & Dark Stampin Blends
• Grey Granite Light Stampin Blends
• Pool Party Light & Dark Stampin Blends
• Versamark ink pad
• Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

Paper

• Petal Pink card-stock
• Whisper White card-stock
• Parisian Blossoms Speciality Designer Series Paper
• Champagne Foil

Embellishments

• Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels
• Copper Stampin Emboss powder

Tools

• Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder
• Take Your Pick Tool
• Bone Folder
• Paper Snips
• Paper Trimmer
• Cut & Emboss Machine

Adhesives

• Multipurpose Liquid Glue
• Mini Glue Dots