It feels like an absolute age since I last sat down and documented a complete creation from start to finish, so that is exactly what I did! Sort of.
Now, I should first tell you that I have been very good lately and have only purchased items from sales with seriously discounted items or have tried to use my ingenuity to make one purchase achieve more than it was intended for. The fact that I am doing this means that I am saving money, which makes me smile.
As I had limited time to make this card I wanted to keep the colour scheme simple so I thought that I would go with a black/white theme – that’s easy enough; choose either black or white when it comes to cardstock, paper and embellishments and it should all work together.
I began by stamping out the Great Impressions Patterned Square stamp eight times onto plain white copy paper and a Versafine Onyx Black inkpad.
I roughly cut out each square using scissors and then neatly trimmed them down with a paper trimmer.
I did this so that I was sure to have neat edges when I started folding. Which is what I did next.
Once folded I decided to give each square a little more definition by edging them with a black indian ink pen and an IG4 Spectrum Noir alcohol marker.
It was a sort of quick and simple faux shading concept.
The medallion was formed in the usual way and glued with PVA.
I then scouted out some clear gems that would act as a central feature on the medallion and stuck them in place.
After examining the finished medallion I decided that I wanted a glossy look so that it would stand out against the matt black and white of the cardstock that I had chosen so I reached for the £1 nail varnish and gave it a liberal coating.
Before…
After…
The gloss coating worked out well but don’t ever ask me to do your nails for you! lol ;)
Meanwhile, in a section of this make where I forgot to take photographs, I made up an eight inch square with various layers of coordinating cardstock.
And plonked the medallion slap bang in the middle.
Yup. I liked it so far but thought that the border was a little sparse so I messaged me mate Julie Hickey to see what she would do to finish this off.
She first suggested gems, which I ran with, and then messaged again with Candi. Of course! I have a bag of these little monkeys from the More Than Words Kit that I have previously used in some makes.
I figured out a way to combine the two (which was lucky as I’d already glued the gems in place).
Bling-tastic! I am glad that I had someone to ask about this – to have friends makes me smile :)
I completed the design by adding more Candi and more gems.
And that was indeed that!
Here is the completed card.
Now, some people may say that black and white isn’t something that would make you smile however I particularly like it as it offers a clean and crisp contrast along with being able to coordinate with itself through many tones and patterns.
This card also makes me smile as it has symmetry, something that I do love in design. Indeed it often inspires a little smile of appreciation when I see it.
Anyway, I’m curious, what makes you smile?
If you have any comments or questions about this creation, or want to tell me what makes you smile, then please feel free to use the comments section below.
Thank you for reading this post and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about the card.
See you again soon.
J :)
GENTLEMAN CRAFTER 
Forgot to add what makes me smile my three year old grandson and meeting and talking to people in the street with dogs, met a great one last week in Grassmere, the dogs name is Fogarty his ownwer is a fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival from way back.
Sheena. x
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Fogarty – brilliant name!
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Hi John your card is stunning, black and white are so good together plus your use of nail polish for me is a definite must try. the overall design and outcome with candy and gems is fantastic thanks for sharing.
Sheena. x
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The funny comments my 5 year old grandson comes out with make me smile. Love the card.
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Lovely design and so easy to adapt with any word stamps or medallion images available. Will have a go doing some of these is Christmas colours I think.
My lovely Danny Boy (German Shepherd) makes me smile as he is so soft, cute and funny AND he is a real drama queen when he wants to be. Lovely babby he is.
Thanks for sharing John
Anita ( 1 of the new 6 on Twitter this week!)
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What a fabulous card John – wouldn’t have thought about using nail varnish but I’ll give it a go next time I need a glossy finish! Nice use of gems and candi – a lovely elegant card x
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This card is stunning. I must admit, I liked it before you added the gems but when I scrolled down I was blown away at the way you finished it off. I generally like black and white. I think it’s elegant.
What makes me smile? Little children’s conversations! Haha.
Thanks for sharing.
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Love this John I see your making good use of the nail varnish xXx
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A lovely card John I must admit I like black and white cards they always look prim and proper! I don’t like messy! If you didn’t use nail varnish what else could you use to make it glossy? Babie make me smile x
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I LOVE how your card turned out. Happy to help out, loved that you messaged, two heads better than one and all that. 😊
What makes me happy….you know the answer to that!
And so pleased that we’re mates! Jx
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Love them!
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That’s just stunning John, and genius to use cheap nail polish for the gloss! Love it, Susan x
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Love the attention to detail. A fab card.
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Fantastic creation, John. Anyone would love to own this, it’s awesome! xx
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Lovely card John and what a great idea the nail polish is I’d never have thought about using it, what makes me smile waking up with bird song to a new day.
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WOW! This is an amazing creation! I am always wary of using black cardstock – my mind says funereal! But when I do I am always pleased with the result & make mental note to use it more often!!
The difference that nail varnish makes is great & the blink gives a very sofisticated look. Thank you for sharing.
What makes me smile? … little children laughing & giggling – very infectious! Also anything cutsie! The smell of beautiful flowers – I have rose, out at the moment, called ‘Deep Secret’ it is the perfect rose – long straight stems & a beautiful deep red flower, AND it has a perfume to die for which should be bottled!!!
Happy crafting
Carole
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Those roses sound Devine. :)
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They are John. I would recommend this rose for anyone’s garden – it’s one of those must haves!!!
Carole
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Receiving a post from you, it is like having contact with a friend.
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Thanks Lynn :))
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