Creative Inspirations

Just the one challenge but multiple makes! I have been trying to get a handle on a birthday card for my cousin who doesn't really go for cute characters, gorgeous girlies, stamped flowers or fuss and I have been really struggling. I also promised to make her some notelets but early attempts turned out badly.
I have been a follower of Sarita of Little Princess Cards ever since I started blogging. If you haven't seen her work you absolutely must drop by. Sarita makes THE most elegant cards with HUGE impact. She often opts for white and black with one other colour and her creations are stunning; non-fussy but with striking elements like bold stamps, large flowers and big bows. I love them!
So, with a little help to make the "flower" from Bev's February tutorial on the WOJ inspiration site, and inspired by Sarita's love of hand-made flowers and oversized bows, whilst focused on my cousin who loves jungle print - cheetah, leopard, etc - I managed to make not only a birthday card but also a small set of notelets and a box in which to store them. Here is the birthday card:

Now I realise it is certainly more quirky than elegant but I am pleased with it. I managed the flower even though it required the use of needle and thread (shock-horror!) and I certainly operated outside of my usual comfort zone on this set as, aside from the Stampin Up sentiment and the "J" monogram by Studio G (heat embossed and coloured with Copics) , I didn't use any images - which fits in nicely with this week's challenge at Creative Inspirations.

This is the box, with a sentiment from Stampin Up. I didn't use a template but started from scratch and made it with guess work:

And these are the notelets:

I wasespecially pleased to have discovered a set of Sizzix animal print embossing folders. I put the faux-fur fabric (the same that was used to cut out my birthday "flower") in my scanner and scanned it and then used the printed result for the centre of my sentiment on the birthday card and for the punched flowers on the notelets. I bought parchment envelopes and paper (in an effort to add an elegant touch) and, using my scanned fur image, I printed a little faux fur around the outside edge of the paper to make inserts for the notelets and card and to also make little inserts for the envelopes.

Thank you to Sarita and to Bev for their inspiration. Do make sure you check out Bev's blog. She is another really talented lady. Her blog beautifully displays "all the things I love" about card crafting and is a real treat for the eye!  
I hope you are all enjoying your Easter Sunday and thank you for stopping by!