cheiro urgia: Oval + one word

31 October, 2025

Oval + one word

Hi there, and without much ado, let me show you my contribution to the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. We have reached the letter O this fortnight, and we'd like to see your crafting projects under one condition: make sure they include an "oval" and a "one word sentiment".

First, I thought about creating an oval pendant that could double as an early Christmas tree ornament. However, as I'm still waiting for my crafting table and my dining table is pretty small, I wouldn't have the space to spread out all my supplies for a mixed media project. As an alternative, I went through my paper stash. As I've sorted my papers just recently, I still had a huge pile of scraps in my mind, and amongst them I found this beautiful vintage telephone print (does anyone out there remember that telephones used to have cords at some point?).

I've been saving it for years (literally), but I could never find the right occasion, and the fact that those scraps were rather small didn't help either. To fulfill the "oval" task, I picked one of those card bases with an oval aperture on the front page. I imagined to place the telephone paper on the inside, but it looked like I wouldn't be able to use this combination after all, as the opening was just too big for the paper scrap and the gap was just too obvious to cover it up... Until I figured that by turning the piece of paper, I could align its diagonal axis with the vertical diameter of the oval - it was a very tight solution, but it worked!

I then trimmed the edges of the patterned paper that were sticking out on the side of the card base, and I covered the inside of the card with embossed swirls.

In the end, I took a golden sticker to frame the oval centerpiece. As the ends of the sticker didn't meet properly, I knew exactly where to place the sentiment. I opted for a simple "Hello!", which can be used for many different occasions, and not only that - I think it perfectly matches the telephone theme. I also like to think that the pattern of the swirl looks like a telephone cord. To connect the sentiment with the card, I used a piece of golden paper and 3D pads. What do you think? To me it looks like a decent masculine card. It was quick and fun to make, and turned out to be a great way to use paper scraps.

Since I was done so quickly, I decided to make one more card using the same recipe. This time, I took a soft pink card base and the other side of the patterned paper - a side that features a number of fashion accessoires in a pink/turquoise colour scheme.

As opposed to the masculine telephone print, I never knew how to use this one, until now: I turned the small piece of paper in the same way I did before, cutting away the edges that peeked over the sides of the card base. I then framed the centerpiece with a silver sticker, placing a sentiment saying "Congrats!" in the lower part of the card. To emphasise the turquoise part of the main motif, I used a piece of turquoise paper behind the sentiment. To emphasise the pink part, I placed a couple of shimmering rhinestones in the upper corner of my card.

On the inside, I used a pink polka-dot paper that goes well with the pink card base, and also with the polka-dots inside the oval image.

This card is obviously more feminine that the first, but it was never my intention to create a male/female version. It just happened somehow, and I think it's a good example on how differently things can turn out even in a single crafting session. Feel free to use any of them for your inspiration, and have a look at the work of the other DT members as well. I can't wait to see what you'll come up with!