Cherish the Memories

If you enjoy making cards and have been a member of a card swap group, you probably have heard of an 'Envelope Challenge'.   

In case not, it's not a challenge to decorate an envelope!  This is how it works ~ the hostess prepares a certain number of envelopes, each filled with the same contents.  All of the elements are for card making and there is usually 2-3 pieces of paper, a piece of ribbon, maybe buttons or bling, sometimes an image to color.  You get the idea.  Guidelines are established on how many items you can add ~ but you always have to use some of everything in the envelope... and that is sometimes a challenge! 

It's a fun group game and helps everyone think outside their comfort box. 

So my card today is the result of an envelope challenge on one of my card sites.  Here's my completed sympathy card I made and then a few details.

For this challenge, we were allowed to add three elements and the card base was 'free'.  Here's what we each received from our gracious hostess. 

 The back of the newsprint paper is a woodgrain pattern. The other two were white on the back.

I started by finding an image that would fit the papers.  The bird print that I used already had the 'die cut center', so I adhered it with a small strip of foam tape and glued the outside square.   

I ended up using the woodgrain paper and added the 1/2" strip above and below my image. 

The floral paper wasn't big enough to use as a mat  ~ so I cut out one of the blue flowers and tucked it behind the end of the bottom woodgrain.  

The lace ribbon was soft so no bow, but tying it around the top and knotting looked pretty good.  

Before I added the round wooden button and the butterfly button, I cut a really thin strip of the woodgrain paper and threaded it through the button eyes to make it appear they were sewn on.  This is a really neat trick that allows you to coordinate your 'thread' with your paper scheme. 

I used a large heavy duty glue dot to adhere the round button to the knot of the lace and just a small glue dot for the butterfly near the bottom. 

It took a while to find a premade sentiment since I was limited in the number of things I could add.  When I saw the green in the 'Cherish the Memories ' embellishment, I knew that would match up perfectly.

I was also really glad the hostess included a butterfly as there are currently a couple of challenges for butterflies.  The Card Concept for one has a beautiful butterfly image for their inspiration photo.  The grace of a butterfly always adds to our cards and I 'm so glad I saw their challenge. 

 It's always a requirement to post the card you made back to the group.  Mailing can sometimes be in the guidelines or it can be optional. 

Now that you've seen an envelope challenge from start to finish, what do you think?  Something maybe you'd like to try sometime? Always be grateful to the hostess if you join one of these challenges.  It's a lot of work to prepare these envelopes of goodies! 

Thank you for stopping by today to view my blog. I enjoy sharing my work with you and invite you to 'Follow' my blog and to visit my site - "Not Just Scraps' on Facebook - where you can purchase my cards. 

I will be entering this card in the following challenges:

 the Card Concept 

Through the Craft Room Door - 9/13 Challenge 

A Perfect Time to Craft ~ September 

Bastel Traum ~ Challenge 116 ~ Into the Woods 

Crafty Animals ~ Challenge 65 

Sheepski Designs ~ Challenge 66 ~ Feature a Creature  

Pam's Pearls