Can't Help Falling in Love

As a federal employee on furlough, I am finding myself with A LOT of extra time.  I wandered onto the Silhouette blog and today stumbled onto their weekly challenge.  I made this card a couple of days ago, and it fits perfectly with their theme for fall seasonal projects.  I love the color combinations AND the polka dot raised paper I used for the leaves.  It may just be my new obsession!

Natotela

A friend of mine just graduated from nursing school.  Born and raised in Zambia, she became a U.S. citizen this last December.  At her graduation party, I knew there would be others from Zambia presenting her with gifts.  I wanted to give her something special to honor her accomplishment and heritage.

A set of "thank you" cards seemed natural enough.  But, why not incorporate the language of her home, too?  Natotela is Zambian for "thank you". 

You may also recognize another theme to this set...  Pink!  Her favorite colors are pink and red.  So, I picked out some of the best paper and color combinations and paired the pinks and reds with brown and light olive green. 

I picked out different fonts for the lettering of "natotela" and "thank you".  I used the Silhouette to merge the letters and created the offset shadows.  When it seemed appropriate, I used the same paper for the letters on different cards where the base and top sheet were also different. 

The top piece is chosen to coordinate with the base, then torn at an angle and the exposed edge inked in matching ink.

I will be using this design again.  Would be great to include other languages, too. 

Natotela sa na.  Thank you so much for looking at my site!

Celebrating a Christmas Union

A friend at work was just recently able to exchange wedding bands with his wife after several years of marriage. They decided to keep them wrapped until Christmas.

To honor this occassion, I knew I wanted to make a scrapbook page, but one they could hang up.

I asked him for their favorite colors. His is forest green. Hers was pink or red. How much more perfect could that be for the holiday?!

I started with the paper. The base was whimisical and the heart-patterned paper was the perfect complement. I wanted their names on the piece, and the ribbon made the perfect background for the banner. The heart-shaped brushed metal brads are the perfect accents.

The banner pieces have alternating inset round corners with outside rounded corners.

The hanging holly is a rub on using the same paper from the banner piece with the edges inked in red and popped up from the simple white textured white cardstock. The "love" metal piece is affixed directly to the embellishment.

Clear photo corners are holding in place the two picture placeholders for a 3.5" x 5" and a 3" x 3" picture. Finishing the piece are four infinity clips to reflect the unity of marriage and echo the rings they were exchanging.

I had so much fun making this and have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. I think placing a scrapbook page into a shadow box frame would make a great gift for any occassion and can be custom made. So excited about this next step.