Congrats card for youngest granddaughter & FREE envelope file!!!

OMG........we are getting SO old!!!  So our youngest granddaughter on my husband's side just got engaged.......where in the world did the time go?  Seems like just yesterday she was a toddler sitting in my lap at the computer and now she's getting ready to graduate from graduate school in April and before long she will be getting married.  She and Andy will be in town this weekend and we will be having a little celebration with them, so I just finished a card I want to give them.

When I got the news, I had just finished turning a rectangular frame stamp, "Scroll Scissors Frame 476" (which you can find here) into a square cutting file and I thought WOW...this will make a gorgeous "congrats" card!  Here is what I came up with.

I don't know exactly what color this Recollections paper is....one minute it looks powder blue and the next it looks pale green..............so I guess it is a lovely mixture of blue and green!!!  It is from the Michael's Recollections "Seaside" 65 lb. collection.....all I know is that it is gorgeous!!!  After taking the elements from the stamp and making the 5.25 inch square frame with a circle aperture, I decided I wanted a circle frame for the card center, so I designed it using the same design elements and then I designed a "border", "signature label" and "envelope flap" as well!  I did not have a "congrats" die, so I designed one using the "Samantha Font" that I just recently purchased............I LOVE that font!  I cut three of the "congrats" and glued them together and used my "Clear Wink of Stilla" on the top layer.  I used my Spellbinders circles dies to cut a white scalloped frame to go beneath the circle frame I designed.  The little matching pearls were created by me using The Frugal Crafters method for making enamel dots......there is a link to her YouTube video in my previous blog post.  I used foam tape to elevate the frame from the base card and then I actually cut a piece of self-adhesive fun foam to elevate the circle frame.  To finish off the card front, I just added four "Mark Richards Pearl Perles".  Here is a close-up photo.

When I got ready to do the inside of the card, I got to thinking that it would be very lovely to use velum so I took the border that I had designed and made a cutting file for a vellum mat with the same outer edges as the border so that I could adhere a border on the top and the bottom.  I printed my message on my Canon printer using the matte setting so that I would lay down more ink and then as soon as the printing finished I used some clear embossing powder and heat set it so that my message is embossed...much more elegant than regular printing!  I used the "Samantha Font" for the entire project.  Here is a photo.

Here is a photo of the back of my card showing the "signature label" that I designed to match.

I decided I needed a really elegant envelope to place this card in and the cardstock that I wanted to use for it is some Core'dinations Great White Smooth Texture that I purchased from Joann's some time back and is 8.5x11, so I had to use an envelope cutting file that I had designed some time ago that is cut in pieces and then glued together,  Here is a jpg so that you can see what the cut file looks like.

I love this envelope design because it enables me to use letter size papers and cardstock to make envelopes that I would normally only be able to cut on 12x12" size papers.  If any of you would like my cut file you can download it free here in Studio and SVG formats!  Enjoy!  I had an extra "congrats" cutting that I adhered to the front of the envelope and I cut a Spellbinders heart to seal the back.  Here are some photos of what my finished envelope looks like!

I just about forgot to post this photo showing the envelope flat that I designed!!!

Hey, thanks for stopping by............please don't forget to leave comments as I love to read them and don't forget to download the free envelope file.  Hurry back!!!

Finished Card Size:  5.5"x5.5" Square

Papers:  Recollections "White" 110 LB Cardstock {card base), Recollections "Seaside" Collection 65 LB. Cardstock, Staples "While Inject Vellum", Core'dinations "Great White Smooth Texture"

Tools:  Silhouette "Cameo". Sizzix "Big Shot", Ranger "Heat It" 
Accessories:  "Clear" Wink of Stella Brush Tip Marker, MarkRichards "Pearl Perles",  Hampton "Clear" Embossing Powder, Suze Weinberg "Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel", "Samantha Italic Pro" font by Laura Worthington, Spellbinders ""Standard Circles SM (S4-116)", Petite Scalloped Circles SM (S4-117)" and "Photo Corners (S3-107)"