HD Shabby Chic - Perfect Picnic

Today's cards were actually completed the middle of July - but I had to wait until now to post them as the one you see at the top of this post was made for an August swap (and I can't post until my swap partner receives it!).  These cards were made using materials from a Hunkydory kit called Shabby Chic - from the set called Perfect Picnic - along with the coordinating papers & inserts pack.  From time to time I also added a few things from my stash.  Here's a picture of the basic Perfect Picnic set (You may notice that the AS (adoreable scoreable card stock) has been cut in the picture. I already had everything popped out and cut apart for cards before I remembered that I wanted a "before" picture of the set!):

Here's a picture of the 7 cards that I made:

Next we'll look at each up close.

Card #1:

 

I started with a portion of the AS - cut just a little smaller than 5" x 6 1/2".  The border is from the set, but I cut it apart so the phrase started & ended at card's edges.  The greeting (also from the set) covers the gap.  I added it with foam tape for dimension.  The red strip is scrap from my stash.

Card #2:

July 10 is Teddy Bear Picnic day, so I decided to add a couple of teddy bears in honor of that day.  They are pieces from the HD Teddy Love Decoupage Book that I fussy cut (trimming off stuff that didn't work for this card).  The background is another piece from the AS, and the picnic setting is from the deco sheet.  The border & greeting are also from the set.

Inside:

Since I had an inside insert from the paper and inserts pack, I decided to use a part of it here.

Card #3:

A piece of blue marbled paper from my stash forms the background for this deco piece.  I also added a second deco piece (hat & book) on foam tape.  The sentiment is also from the set & is added with foam tape on top of a border scrap of the coordinating double-sided paper.

Inside:

Inside is another piece of the insert paper.

Card #4:

I'm not sure if this one is interesting or weird.  It was sparked by a challenge on a message board I frequent - to have the following on a card: flowers, rectangle, and embossing.  As you can see, I made a rectangular card using the coordinating double-sided paper - with a rectangular sentiment from the set.  I embossed the paper using a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Kitchen Weave.  The sentiment was added with foam tape, and a piece of embroidery floss from my stash made a bow to finish things off.

Card #5:

This one also was inspired by a challenge: to make something with the letter R (in this case the color Red), and to add stitching of some kind (could be faux as I did here with a white pen).  The focal is the focal piece from the set - which I double matted (using a piece of the double-sided coordinating paper and a piece of red card stock from my stash).  After adding the faux stitching, I die cut a piece of the red to mat the sentiment (which was also from the set).

Card #6:

Here's another card inspired by a challenge on the message board I frequent.  The challenge was to make a card with something interactive on the card front.  I decided to make a penny slider card - and here's how I did it.

1. I started by gluing a piece of blue marbled paper to white card stock to make it sturdier, and then cut it just a little smaller than .  Then I cut out the slot you see using one of my tearing rulers & a craft knife.  Next, I inked the edge with red ink.  Finally, I added foam tape to the back side of this piece and set it aside. 
   
2. I glued another piece of the blue marbled paper to the card front under where the slot would be and traced around the slot onto it using a pencil.  This enabled me to line up my stamped message (from HOTP Matching Borders & Focals). Then I erased the pencil marks.
3. Next I readied my penny by cutting a small round piece of foam tape (smaller than the slot so it could move freely).  I put this, penny side down on top of the slot, and then attached the piece from step #1 to the card front - centering it, and making sure the penny could move freely in the slot.
4. I added a second penny on top of the foam tape & penny in the slot - sandwiching the foam tape in the slot.  Then I prepared my kite piece by fussy cutting it, adding a piece of baker's twine, and gluing it to a piece of red card stock to make it sturdier (forming a narrow red mat around the edge of the kite).  Then I glued this in place on top of the penny.  The kite now moved freely in the slot.
5. Next I added the picnic deco piece from the set, making sure that the end of the kite string was caught up behind it. This completed the front of the card.

Inside:

 

Inside I added a piece of the double-sided paper - with the edges inked in red - to form a border at the bottom of the card.  Then I added another picnic deco piece & a couple more kites (made the same way as the one on the front - except for the penny slider part).  The remaining piece of the border (left over from card #1) completes the inside of the card.

 

Card #7:

This is the card I made for my swap partner - that made me wait to post these.  It's a center step card.  The focal is formed from a piece of the blue marbled paper with another deco piece (that actually extends beyond it).  I added kites done the same way as for the previous card.  I have some deco pieces added to the picnic area with foam tape (book, shoes, part of badminton racket).  The bottom border is leftover from the AS.  The side borders are from the insert sheet.  And the sentiment is from the set.  

So, there's the seven cards from this set.  I really like the addition of the kites and teddy bears on some of them.  I'm going to have to think about doing that sort of thing more often.