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Sunday, May 9, 2021

Happy Mother's Day

 A happy Sunday to you! In the U.S. today was Mother's Day. I know part of the world celebrates this day earlier in the year, but I would like to take this opportunity to send my admiration and hugs to all moms everywhere. As a survivor of multiple miscarriages, I always remember those women who wanted so badly to give birth but never could. I guarantee you they've been mothering anyway. And my heart also goes out to those moms who have lost children, every parent's worst nightmare, certainly mine. My heart is full today for all of you!

I always look forward to making Honey's 91-year-old mom her card, as she is my biggest card fan and a wonderful mom to both of us. This year I envisioned what I'm calling an Accordion Fold card, although I'm sure it has another name that I don't know. I used 2 pieces of Office Depot legal-sized white index stock, cutting the width of each to 6" and then scoring the first one at 6" and 12" (which leaves a 2" attachment flap), and the second one cutting the length to 12" and scoring it at 6", then I taped them together at the 2" flap. 

Here is an overhead view. All images were colored with Promarkers. All papers used were from Basic Grey's 12x12 Gypsy/Romani collection, and all were ink-distressed using VersaMagic chalk inks. Each page has either solid pink or green base mats and a second layer of patterned paper matting cut with Stamplorations 6x6 Art Deco Fairmont Nestabilities dies. 

Here's how the inside looks when opened... 

and how the outside looks opened.

Now I will take you page by page in order. My card front uses a Sheepski digi called For Mom/Mum/Mam as the focal image printed on Springhill Digital white card stock and cut with a Stamplorations Scalloped Circle Nestie die. Tiny rhinestones adorn each visible scallop. Over lapping it is a hand-stamped, heat embossed and die cut floral bouquet from Avery Elle. Then, a shortened piece of the pink patterned paper cut with the Art Deco Fairmont die a size smaller, and on the very top in the corner is a Memory Box Madeira Corner die cut twice in white card and layered on just a bit imperfectly (on purpose as I liked the look of it). The white satin ribbon was attached on the front on the mats before adding the other layers. The two little butterflies are from a Martha Stewart punch.

All images on the inside pages are from Gecko Galz, with lines from the Mother song added in PSE then printed in black and white and hand-colored by me. I cut this image with a Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle die. 

For this image, I cut it with a Spellbinders Circle die and matted it with a paper doily that was cut using a Cheery Lynn French Pastry Doily die on some of the BG Gypsy card. 

For this image, I cut the image with a, Art Deco Fairmont Nestie a size smaller than the mat. I also created white text boxes for my song lyrics as there was no empty space on this image.

I cut this image with an even smaller Art Deco Fairmont Nestie in order to have some white space to sign the card. 

On the back of the card, I got a little artsy, using a couple of fussy-cut rose bouquets from a very old Inka's Altered Artifacts collage sheet and decorative flourishes from Spellbinders Decorative Floral Dollies set. The vertical pink piece was leftover from my mat cutting and I scored it in two places before attaching so the ribbon could slip through the back of it easily. I put a Gelatins hand-stamped and embossed punched siggie on top.

Close-ups to show the Gina Marie rhinestones that I received free in my recent order as a Thank You. They came in very handy as the color matched the flowers perfectly.

Close-up to show the heat-embossing on the hand-stamped die-cut floral bouquet...

And another overhead view.

This was another one of my organically-engineered designs (no tutorials) and thankfully it came off without a hitch. Mom loved it! Thanks for visiting and I hope we all have a great week ahead. XOX

MY CHALLENGE PLAYLIST:
1.   Gecko Galz May Blog Challenge: Secret Garden  -- I've used GG single freebie images on all interior pages of my card: MD01-300, MD03-300, MD09-300 and MD13-300.
2.   Sheepski Designs Challenge #50: Floral Dance -- #1/3  I've used Sheepski's For Mom digi on the front of my card.
3.   Double D Challenge: Flowers of the Month January-June -- #1/3  Violets on card front
4.   Outlawz Twisted Thursdays 5/6-5/19: AG + Opt Twist-First Letter of Mom's Name -- #1/2 My Mom went by her nickname Cissy but her given name was Virginia, so I've used Violets on my Card front. Used sponsor Skeepski's digi For Mom.
6.   Creative Sketchy Girls #59: Bingo --  I went with diagonal bottom left to upper right Butterfly, Die Cut/Punches and Ribbon
8.   Happy Little Stampers May Anything Goes with Dies -- I used several dies as noted in post (Spellbinders, Avery Elle, Memory Box, Cheery Lynn).
9.   613 Avenue Create #5 May 2021: AG + Opt. Twist Mood Board Use any or all to inspire -- #1/8  I was inspired by the pink and green colors and the flowers and bling.  
11.  Gecko Galz Facebook May Color Challenge -- I used GG images on my inside pages and the color pink (and the purplish blue in center of graphic.)
12.  Try It on Tuesday: Inspired By a Song -- M-O-T-H-E-R
13.  I Love Promarkers Challenge #434: AG + Opt. Girly Card -- #2/3 Option played and everything colored with Promarkers, every page. Plus, I used a sponsor Sheepski image! ;-)
16.  Passion for Markers Week 590: Say It With Flowers -- Promarkers used to color all images on every page; flowers used on card front
19.  Double Trouble Challenge #83: Fun Folds -- Playing Thing 1 only  
20. Cut It Up Challenge #225: Mother's Day -- #1/1  Die Cuts Used - Avery Elle Floral Bouquet, Memory Box Madera Corner, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle and Rectangle Nesties, Decorative Floral Dollies and Art Deco Fairmont Nesties

35 comments:

Beebeebabs said...

Beautiful work thanks for sharing!!!

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

What a beautiful, lovingly worked on card. So well designed with attention to details on every page. Those are wonderful images, and this card says "I love you" a lot. This is a style I have wanted to try, but I certainly don't think I could bring it to justice like you did. I like how it really has a feminine feel to it.

I am saddened to hear you had many miscarriages. My heart goes out to you.

Have a great week my friend. Love Bethie

Carole J said...

This is a gorgeous Mother project, Aimeslee! So much thought and effort has gone into creating your accordion card and I love the images. Thank you very much for sharing with us at the Gecko Galz challenges! xx

Roberta Cercato said...

Hello!
Thank you for taking part in Scrapping4funChallenges' Ladies, Girls, Mother's day challenge. Your card is too pretty!
I hope to have you with us for the next challenge too! Roberta DT Member Scarpping4funChallenges

Darlene said...

OH my friend this is just beautiful! What a fabulous design and it expresses SO MUCH! Well done!! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Double D ‘Flower of the Month’ challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.
Darlene
DOUBLE D Challenge Blog
DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
Please stop in for a visit!

Crafty KJ said...

Wow,this is absolutely amazing! Love the details on all these pages and the images are gorgeous. So much work has gone into this beautiful creation and thanks so much for sharing at Passion for Markers this week. Hugs, Karen x

Michelle B. said...

Beautiful post and your card is absolutely beautiful! So many lovely elements, just fabulous! So glad you joined us for our BINGO Challenge at Creative Sketchy Girls!

Jenny L said...

Hi Aimeslee,
this is such a wonderful design card.
Love that Accordian shape have used that a few times myself.
Your images and paper used are so pretty and your Bouquet of flowers is gorgeous.
Thank you for joining the MAWTT Challenge.
Lots of crafty love. Jenny L. DT

Mrs.B said...

Hi Aimeslee, what a fabulous card, no wonder your Mother in Law is your biggest card fan when she gets cards like this. Love all the little details and lovely images which work so well with this design. I hadn't heard that song before, so thanks for the link and for sharing with us at Try it on Tuesday.
Avril xx

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

I'm sure the Dear lady will appreciate the work and love that went into the card, which is so very beautiful Aimeslee. Thank you for the thoughts to other Mothers too.
Faith x

LeslieT said...

Oh so pretty! Z-folds are so much fun! Hope you had a beautiful Mother's Day!

The Crafty Den said...

What a wonderful and intricate card Aimeslee. I'm sure your no. 1 fan loved it! There are so many beautiful images and your colouring is perfect. Thanks for sharing with us at Passion for Markers and good luck in the prize draw. Hugs, Denise x

My name is Erika. said...

What a wonderful card Aimeslee. It is a perfect one for mother's day with so many beautiful images. Thanks for sharing with us at Try It On Tuesday. Hugs-Erika

Meggymay said...

A fabulous and beautiful card for this special occasion, I'm sure it will be treasured. I enjoyed seeing all the photos of the pages and reading your post. Thank you for joining us all at Try it on Tuesdays.
Stay safe.
Yvonne xx

Diane said...

Gorgeous Z-fold card with it's pretty Spring blooms! Thank you for joining our challenge at Double D!
Diane DD DT {Nellies Nest}

Clare Jones said...

Wonderful card, love it, so much work in it too - I wouldn't want to give it away
Thank you for joining our challenge at I ♥ Promarkers
Clare DT

R's Rue said...

Amazing. 😍🥰

Lisa Bird said...

Stunning card design. Thank you for joining us at I Love Promarkers Blog Challenge
Best Wishes Lisa xx
craftycard-designs.co.uk

Alyson Mayo said...

OH, this is just gorgeous! Love the folds and all the details you contained within. It's always nice when we have someone who supports and enjoys what we do as card makers - and it's even better to send them something like this! I encourage you to link up your card with the Double Trouble challenge as the theme this week is fun fold cards!

pearshapedcrafting said...

What an absolutely gorgeous card - I am not surprised your MIL loved it. Love how you added the words to your images. I'm quite busy at the moment but really want to get back to my Gecko Galz images. Thank you for joining us at Try It On Tuesday, Chrisxx

Vesna M. said...

Lovely card. Gorgeous images. Thanks so much for playing with us at 613 Avenue Create. Vesna

Melanie R said...

Lovely card, Aimeslee! I love the colorful flowers and the sweet vibe that you captured. Wonderful card for a special lady on Mother's Day. Thank you for joining us at Double Trouble #83.

Donna Ellis said...

What a thoughtful card, Aimes! I especially like the colorful panels! I'm sorry you suffered through so many miscarriages, it is painful in a long-term way. One thing I always did (until recently when cardmaking became too difficult) was to make "Feminine" cards in place of Mother's Day cards, for my single and childless friends. In most of us there is a nurturing heart, making us "mothers" in a number of ways. Wishing you a great post-Mom's day! hugs, de

Kathy Krug said...

What a great Mother's Day card. Love all the layers and folds. Thanks for sharing with us at Double D Challenge Blog. We hope you will join us for future challenges.

Kathy
DD DT

Jackie Cornfield said...

It will be a very luck mom who is given this!
So glad you have shared this with us at 613 Avenue Create.
Please come back again!
The best of luck with your entry.
Stay safe and well.
Jackie, DT member at 613 xx

Melanie Hungerford said...

Wow, what an amazing card, all the work and time put into it will surely be appreciated! Thanks for sharing with us at Double Trouble!

ahlers5 said...

I am so sorry that you had so much difficulty with pregnancy. I lost one after my oldest daughter was born. I didn't really have time to think about the loss because my daughter was only four months old. My sister-in-law lost seven pregnancies. It would break my heart for her and my brother every time. She finally gave up trying after ten years. They took a vacation to Barbados and were swimming in the ocean when a wild dolphin came up to her and starting rubbing it's nose on her stomach which was extremely odd. She found out when she got home that she was pregnant. It was the only pregnancy she was able to maintain. It turned out that she had ovarian cancer. They think that may have changed her body chemistry enough that it helped her maintain the pregnancy so they didn't do surgery until after the baby was born. ?Thank goodness they were able to fully remove the cancer and she had a beautiful baby girl, but could not have any more children. My niece will be getting married in August. She is such a blessing. Now on to the card. This is absolutely amazing! I have to get some of that legal card stock and give this a try. I love how the ribbon passes through the embellishments. The inside is beautiful. I am sure she really loved all the work you put into this. I'm thinking I may make my mother a fold like this with pictures of her great-grandchildren in it. Thank you for the idea.

Suzanne Reynolds said...

Wow, what a beautiful accordian fold card, and all the work that went into all your colored images and on both sides. The ribbon to tie your card together is so creative. This would be an excellent fold for a small photo album of a special occasion. Thanks for sharing with us at Double Trouble.

Cut It Up Challenge Blog said...

Mom will love it! I thought it was a mini album before I saw all the beautiful images. Each page is beautifully decorated. You can tell a lot of love went into the making.

Thanks for sharing with us at Cut it Up for our Mother’s Day challenge!

Evelyn
http://mylittlecraftblog.wordpress.com

Michele said...

the book is way gorgeous such love and care went into it. wishing you love belatedly for all the mothering you have done and all the love you always share, and particularly in this post. you are special and beloved! xo

crafty-stamper said...

WOW stunning card and no wonder your Mom loved it love all the beautiful feminine panels and you can see all the love that went into the making of this card.So sorry to hear of all your miscarriages so hear breaking,my Niece has just lost a baby with only 3 weeks to go in her pregnancy they said there was no heartbeat and they gave her a pill to bring on labour and sent her home for 2 days untill it worked then she had to go into hospital and take clothes for the baby-seems very cold hearted treatment
Carol x

Becca Sadler said...

Aimslee: Thanks for participating and linking your wonderful and complex Mother's Day card to the May 2021 challenge at APTS. --Becca/DT

monique said...

Thank you for sharing in our challenge at https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/">Classic Design Challenge we really appreciate you joining in
Monique DT its fab

Nandini said...

Beautiful card, Aimeslee. Love all the little details you have added to make it a work of art! Great to see you in the Happy Little Stampers gallery. Hope you will join us again soon!

Nandini, DT
Paint Paper Scissors

Helen said...

What an amazing project and a beautiful keepsake.

Thanks for joining us at the SheepSki Designs Challenge.

Helen x