Just for Fun: Dapper Wedding Card

Hello, Friends!  Hope you are all enjoying this Memorial Day weekend.  I treated myself to some free play time in the studio this weekend.  Not a design team assignment, not a special order for my Etsy shop, not a project with a deadline attached.  Just for fun. Just for me.  Just because I love to play with paper.  I had also treated myself to a Tim Holtz Dapper paper pad that I found on sale.  (Yes, people…it really is an addiction.  I just can’t resist beautiful paper.  Lord, help me!) It did not make it into the Closet of Shame.  Oh, no, no, no.  It landed right on top of my work desk.  And before I knew it, this super fun Dapper Wedding Card was born.

I had purchased this on sale (I think it is still on sale…) from my favorite online store, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  Linda Coughlin, the shop owner, always tucks a lovely little gift inside each order, and this time it was this vintage wedding photo, a sweet little wedding charm,  and the Dapper Die cut.  How could I NOT play?

Linda cleverly included both the positive and the negative of the die cut.  I set the positive aside and opted to work with the negative.  First I painted it with Picket Fence Distress Paint.  (It was cut from black cardstock.)  Then I sprayed it with Dylusions White Linen which made it look really shabby chic.  I pulled out a small script stamp, and after inking it up with Black Soot Distress Ink, I stamped it off on a piece of scrap paper, then stamped it over the painted surface, leaving just a ghost of handwriting.  Oh, yes, having fun, fun, fun!

Next, I backed the image with the small 3×3 squares from the paper collection, trimming off the excess.  I used the ticking pinstripe on the “tux” and the letterpress on the top hat.  I confess, this made me do a little happy dance.  (Yes, I do dance in my studio…but there’s nobody here but me, so it’s OK.)  I used a waterbrush and Black Soot Distress Ink to add a bit of a shadow around some of the edges, just to create a little contrast.  Then this assemblage was stitched onto a scrap of white burlap using gold metallic thread.

Now for that gorgeous vintage image Linda sent me.  In the same order, I had purchased these pretty Baroque metal frames.  (I couldn’t help myself.  They talked to me…they said “we will be awesome.  We are on sale. You will be so glad you bought us.”  How could I say no?)  These little beauties have an antique silver finish, but I was going with gold because of the Sophisticate  cabinet card that I cut into 2 pieces and layered into the composition.  This was an easy fix.  Ijust tapped the frame and the wedding charm with Gold Alcohol Ink.  Problem solved!  And as an aside, I love the way the gold and black cabinet card peek through the mustache in the die cut.

So here’s a straight on shot of this Dapper wedding card.  I gave a metal corner the same alcohol ink treatment so everything would match. The Venice Lace trim, black satin bow,Dapper brads and mother of pearl button take this card to shabby chic happy land!

Here’s the inside:

A gift card pocket on top….

With gold accents and cute little stamped card.

And a big pocket on the bottom with a stamped postcard.

So that’s my just for fun Dapper Wedding card.   Play time is over, and now I will have to go back to my regularly scheduled assignments.  I had a blast….and I need to remember to play more often.  How about you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy