Hand Penned Retirement Card

Do you ever struggle with which piece of pretty Designer Series Paper to use on a card? Our patterns are so lovely, and on trend! It’s always a challenge for me to decide which side of the paper to use. Well, this card layout will definitely help you! It’s also a great way to use up all those scraps we tend to have on hand.

I made this card for a dear friend, and team member who recently retired from teaching. I decided to pull in components from 2 new bundles that are available in the new 2021-2022 Annual Catalog. And, I also pulled in the sentiment from a previously retired stamp set (Tags in Bloom). We have many sentiment stamp sets, I just liked this particular one and how it fits inside the punched tag 🙂

The background on this card is so easy to achieve. You just need to cut multiple 1″ x 1″ squares from several patterns of coordinating Designer Series Paper (DSP). For this card, I used our Hand Penned 12 x 12 DSP. I cut about 15 squares. I started with one square and placed it in the center of a 5″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Basic White cardstock, and turned it so that it was in a diamond orientation. Then I just started placing the other squares around the center one. I did lay them all out first, re-arranging the patterns until I was happy with how they looked. Then I adhered them to the Basic White layer. You will have various pieces that hang over the edges of the card after you’ve attached all the squares. You’ll just flip the layer over and trim off the excess DSP. And you’ll want to save those pieces because you’ll have small areas on the front that you will need to piece in so that you have full coverage. The finished piece was layered onto a layer of Mint Macaron cardstock, cut 4″ x 5 1/4″. And that layer was placed on a piece of Basic White Thick cardstock, which was cut at 4 1/4″ x 11, and scored at 5 1/2″. I love using the thick cardstock for my bases as I think it gives the card a much more professional look and feel.

Next, I stamped one of the flower images on a scrap piece of Basic White cardstock using Memento ink and colored them using blends from our new 2021-2023 In Color selection. I used Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, and Soft Succulent. Once the image was colored, I used the coordinating die to cut it out.

I stamped the sentiment using Memento ink on a scrap piece of Pale Papaya cardstock and used the Elegant Tag Punch to cut it out. Then I tied a small piece of gold cord, from the Simply Elegant Trim selection. The flower and the tag were both attached to the card front with dimensionals. And the last step was to add a little bling using 2021-2023 In Color Jewels.

I hope you enjoy this card layout and use it to show off our amazing choices of Designer Series Papers! You can also try this layout with larger squares. It looks just as amazing if you cut your squares 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″. You’ll use less squares but you’ll see more of those lovely patterns!

You can see all the products I used below (except for the sentiment), just click on each item to go my online store!

Product List
 
Toni Campana sig cta

2 thoughts on “Hand Penned Retirement Card”

    • Thanks, Martinette! It’s sooooo simple and really packs a punch. I have another design that I did using the same paper, just a little different take on the sentiment. I’ll post that one later 😉

      Reply

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