Slow & Steady...

I made this card back in the fall, but decided it was worthy enough to bring out of the closet. My usual design process starts with a sketch after being inspired by colors, images, patterns or other things I see around me, but this card came out of nothing. Three of my co-workers decided to do a tag team triathlon, so I wanted to do something special for them. What kind of card do you give for an event like this? "Good luck!" No, that's overused. I have always loved my QK turtle die cut, but until this I had never used it. I really have to try hard to impress the macho men at work with my "nerdy" paper crafts, but this did the trick. (FINALLY!) Here's what I did: I started with a long (legal size) green envelope that I chopped in half to make a library pocket. I then used a 1" circle punch to make a notch in the top. I just so happened to have matching green card stock for my tag, so I cut this to 4"x6" and trimmed notches on the top corners. I usually freehand one side then flip the clipping over to make a matching notch on the opposite side. It makes a perfect tag every time. On the pocket, I used 1.25" strips of scrap patterned paper, and for the tag I used a matching piece trimmed to 1.5"x4" then tacked it down with a couple of black brads. The turtle and bunny are Quickutz die cuts as well as all of the letters. Since periods are too difficult to loose during die cutting, I opt to use a hole punch. The only pieces that I didn't run through my Xyron were the largest 1.75" circle, the red 2.75"x2" mat, and the 2.5"x1.75" piece of creme patterned paper that the word "NOT!" is written on. They were just too big to fit in the hole! Since this piece is very abstract, I just placed the pieces randomly as I went along. I used a blue brad and some funky ribbon for a pull at the top of the tag then finished up the card with my journaling pen by adding lines, dots, and doodles until I was content. And...that's it!