Anniversary Wishes

Morning all!

My parents' wedding anniversary is just around the corner, and there's a particular paper pad in my stash that I've loved using for wedding and anniversary cards in the past

The only problem is this much-loved and now retired paper pad is running very low on full sheets of paper to cover a card, so I had limited options for which designs I could use.

Thankfully, though, I'd hung onto the left-overs from previous projects and was able to use them up with some creative die-cutting!

After using the Altenew Creative Edges Scalloped Scallops border die to add a little fancy detail to one of the floral strips of left-over paper, I realised I could create a rosette kind of look to my card if I cut fishtail banners from some of the other paper scraps.

And for the actual "fancy" rosette element, I found that The Greetery's Round About Hearts die worked perfectly. You need to cut this die twice to create a full circle, and once assembled it looks a bit like a doily. Great for showcasing a sentiment.

For contrast, I cut the centre of this die from another scrap of floral paper.

I stamped the With Love sentiment from the Tagged Elegance stamp set on ivory cardstock, and cut this with a smaller circle die that I could then mount on another circle of paper.

Top tip: When matting and layering circles on circles, you can add extra interest and texture by snipping a fringed edge with your scissors on one of the circles and ruffling the edges.

I was looking for the right fancy bow in my stash to finish off the rosette and found the perfect one in The Greetery's Christmas Pudding die set of all things!

There is a large 4x2 inch version of this bow available individually - the Figgy Pudding Bow Topper die, which I may need to add to my wish list, as I really do love the style of this bow. And there's no such thing as too many bow dies, or at least that's my excuse!

I stamped the Happy Anniversary sentiment from Avery Elle's Simple Sentiments set on one of the PreText Banners dies from The Greetery. I have to say the PreText Banners have become my go-to dies for adding single-line stamped sentiments from various manufacturers, and I don't just use them with the PreText Sentiments stamp set they were originally intended for. Such a versatile die set if you're a sentiment strip lover! (Unfortunately, the Simple Sentiments set is out of stock, but the Seasonal Sentiments and Happy Tags sets from Avery Elle can also be combined with some of the Pretext Banner dies and both of these sets feature some very handy sentiments.)

As a finishing touch I added a couple of Nuvo Drops to the sentiment banner and a mini jewel to the bow.

I forgot how nice it is to play with patterned paper again, all the more so when you are using up some of your scraps!

Until next time, happy crafting!