It's All in the Details

I am so in love with these Fabriano Medioevalis cards and envelopes. They make any card special. They are made out of a very soft Italian watercolor paper and this particular card is an off white. They are available from a variety of online sources, but I get mine from Startlitstudio on ebay (link on the right). I love buying from Cindy -- she ships lightening fast and is a stamper! Love supporting the small businesswoman, especially a fellow stamper. This particular card is 3 3/4" x 5 1/4", but I also have the 5" square cards. They come with matching envelopes, which highlights the beauty of the entire package. You'll notice I used the "Horizontal Slot" punch from Stampin Up to make little notch marks on the top and bottom of the card, so that the ribbon would have a space to snuggle into the card. You only use about half of the depth of the punch so that you get just a tiny indent for the ribbon. I think a small circle or square punch would also work, but not quite as nicely as this punch. I'm not an SU Demo, but if you are interested, this punch sells for $4.95, and I think it is exclusive to SU (if I'm wrong, please let me know!). The good news is that this detail really helps set off the ribbon. The bad news is that, if you look closely, you'll see that I did not line up the punches perfectly. The top punch is about a 1/4" farther away from the fold than the one on the bottom of the card. I thought of not showing this card on the blog, but I figured it was a good lesson for all of us. Measure and mark before punching!! Just take a ruler and make a dot right in the middle of where you want the punch to be and the pencil mark will be on the punched out piece. (Double duh here!!). Another detail -- I rubbed a marker around the edge of the card to show off the slightly ragged edge. I also used a water spritzer to mist the stamp several times before I stamped the image onto the paper. This creates a softer edge to the flower, which I think works with this particular paper and card. Hint: hold the inked stamp horizontally before misting or the colors from the flower will run onto the green stem. Supplies Used: Other than those already mentioned: Flower stamp from a retired SU set, Art of Life; word stamp source unknown; SU Celery, Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant Markers; Lime Polka Dot organdy ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon.