for Diane

The kids' swim instructor called on Friday to reschedule this week's lessons. She has never done that before so I probed and found out that it's her birthday. That can only mean one thing to me....Birthday Card! :-)

I don't know what Diane likes (besides tea) but she comes across as someone who are into things that are more traditional. My cards are mostly simple and well, not so traditional, so I thought I would do something outside my comfort zone. I decided to make her a monogram card.

Using LD's Provincial Princess Alphabet, I traced the letter D in MTC and after a bit of breaking, deleting, and joining, came up with this:

I didn't want to spend too much time on this card and all the details on the frame makes me somewhat nervous. Especially if I needed it to be cut out within a 5"x7" perimeter. I can't imagine how I was supposed to use foam tape on those tiny bits. Luckily, I have some of Amy Chomas' gel pens (Chomas Creations) and right when I don't want to mess with small intricate cutouts, the pens worked perfectly. 

The silver glitter showed up beautifully on the dark brown background. Drawing the details into the frame means that I do not need to fret about layering it. I could just adhere the whole layer with foam tape without losing any of the details. Adding the rhinestones brings a new dimension to the card.

This is the first time that I have made a card with the gel pen and I'm quite sure that it wouldn't be the last. It was easier to use than I thought it would be and thanks to the pen, I actually didn't have tape or glue all over my fingers when this card was done. For more ideas on how to use gel pens with the Cricut, check out Amy's blog at http://amychomas.blogspot.com/ She's done some pretty cool stuff with them.