Elephant-Themed Card Holder

Let me start off by saying, "Arrgggghhh!" Blogger is not cooperating with me today. It wins. If the spacing between paragraphs is off, please pardon Bloggers insistence it be wonky. Ugh.

 

I made this greeting card holder for my daughter Valerie, who loves elephants. She gave me a few sheets of her favorite scrapbook paper from her collection and it worked out fabulously. The background paper is very cool, it simulates elephant hide and feels a bit like leather. I fussy cut the images of the elephants from another sheet and used yet another print on the inside.

The back was done the same way as the front. I was going to fussy-cut the entire elephant, but my daughter told me she really liked it with the background. She has an eye for stuff like that, I like it as well.

The inside print looks like a rock wall and matches the grey color scheme going on. The left side has a corner pocket that can be used for smaller cards that won't fit between the two rings or for letters that accompany the cards my daughters receives. I cut up an envelope and adhered a piece of the printed paper left over from fussy-cutting the elephants on the front.

For the right side I took a library card pouch and attached a square of the elephant hide print card stock and slipped a keepsake tag into it.

See the texture of the this paper? I love it!

 

I'm on the lookout for the perfect beads to slip on the rings.

I'm quite happy with the way this one turned out. It suits what my daughter likes and will be something I hope she can use for years to come.

Photos by dawt on Flickr.

Birthday Crafting

My twin daughters, Valerie and Dawn, turned 29 this month, so I've been crafting like crazy for them. It's been fun to craft with such a purpose. I made quite a few things, cards, journals, rosettes, shrinky-dinks cut from dies, a fairy jar and these elephants. I'll share a couple at a time so my posts won't be a mile long.

Valerie collects elephants (as did my mother), which gave me a great starting point. I made the little white elephant a while back by layering tissue paper and water into a mold, letting it dry then coating it with Glossy Accents. I used one of the dollar frames I found at Michael's a long time ago, backed it with fabric adhesive and glued the little fella to that. (Later I added some grey highlights, but I should have let it be. Ya live and ya learn.) I added an umbrella embellishment and dubbed it "I've got it covered."

Another gift I made her was a little felted elephant. I've played around with needle felting, but I never really made anything, so this was quite a fete for me. (I drew blood 3 times and broke 2 felting needles, something I'm sure a lot of newbies can relate to.) But it was fun trying to figure out what was what, like the tiny brads I used for the eyes. When I finished I decorated a little square plastic container with cork that looks like brown pebbles or a bumpy road, moss and flowers and put it inside that, just so there was a safe place he wouldn't get damaged.

My favorite part of the elephant is the back end, like there's a swagger to the walk. I'll post more as I get my photos uploaded.