Donkey smiles for Michelle

Todays card has been created as a RAK for a special person in the crafting world. Michelle is a design team member for many of my favourite sites and I've always admired her work although I've never actually communicated directly with her. She clearly is special though because since she was injured (see her full story here) more people than I can count have jumped forward to send her cards, words of encouragement and financial assistance with medical bills. Several digital companies are offering free images in honour of Michelle and I picked this one from Karen's Doodles.

Isn't the donkey just too cute? Of course I coloured him with Copics - the hooves were a challenge but finally ended up OK (although perhaps still a bit too dark?). I wanted to create a special/interesting card so I went with this overlapping tri-fold. If you want to try it, here are the steps. I'm afraid I don't have exact measurements.

1. Stick 2 card blanks on top of each other to create a 3-panel card. Make sure the front panels overlap each other, then close the card with the left panel on top.
2. Open the card and on the front left panel, measure about 1/3 of the way from the top-left corner and then about 2/3 of the way from the bottom-right corner. Cut a diagonal line between these 2 points making sure to stop at the fold.
3. Close the card so that the right panel is on top. Measure 2/3 of the way down from the top-right corner and 1/3 of the way up from the bottom-left corner. Cut a diagonal line between the 2 points, again making sure to stop at the fold.
4. Trim 1/2 - 3/4" from the shorter edge of both front panels.
5. Matte and layer the different card panels (I used Basic Grey patterned and miscellaneous purple card).
6. Decorate as desired

Here is another photo of the card taken to show the different panels.

I chose a Rainbow Echo sentiment (created just for Michelle) which I circle punched and then layered onto another circle of the same size. I adhered the donkey onto some white card and then cut out the entire thing so that he could be popped out and up. P.S., never fussy-cut an image with flower petals on it ... what was I thinking?

Well the card is on its way to Michelle and I hope it brings her some pleasure. Reading her blog it sounds as if she is being flooded.

Challenges:

• A Spoon Full of Sugar - kickin' it for Michelle
• Paper Sundaes - lots of layers
• Karen's Doodles - UK - shaped cards (I know this looks rectangular when closed but open it up and it's definitely not)
• By the Cute & Girly - warm summer days
• Allsorts Challenge - summer days
• Totally Gorjuss - thinking of you
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - animals

Phindy's Place freebie and a new paper choice

Just a quick post to share a card I made with Phindy's newest freebie. The card is very simple, just two ribbons overlapped and a series of brads holding it in place. What I found most interesting about making this card is I used a new paper to print out the image. Usually I use Cornish Farms "Simply Smooth" but I decided to try an Epson paper called "Premium Prsentation Paper Matte". It gave a very different result - the paper absorbed the ink quite quickly which meant much more vivid colours. The blending seemed to go all right but I was quite surprised at how much darker the colours ended up.

Anyway, I'm entering this card into a few challenges as follows:

• Phindy's Place - use ribbon (I've used two ribbons - a solid yellow ribbon with a daisy ribbon overlaid)
• Pile it on - make it sweet (she truly is a very sweet looking bear)
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - girlie

Recipe:

• Phindy's Place - digital image
• Basic Grey "Bittersweet" collection - patterned paper
• Brads, ribbons - stash
• Copic markers