Weaving cardstock

Had a group of crafters over on the weekend to share a few ideas with and this is one of my favourites from the day. I remember doing this weaving technique at school with different coloured papers, but they usually ended up uneven and not very nice.  I saw this idea in a UK papercraft magazine and thought it deserved a stamping twist.  The original card was a lovely mauve and pink thing, but I wanted to go more male.  

First up I used a roller (Sassy Sparkes) in Versa Mark and then clear embossed it.  Next I used daubers and ink pads and sponged on the colour, using the lightest colour last and trying to blend it in a little.  Obviously you have to make 2 fronts so you have something to weave.  The trickiest bit is cutting the pieces into even strips.  My tip would be to glue the first 2 strips in place, and then weave away.  Try to keep it tight and pushed together, and glue as you go.  You may have to neaten up the final piece a bit which unfortunately made the pieces different sizes.  To prevent this the next one I made I left the last panel on each piece longer than the other 4 so I had a bit extra to play with and could then cut it all to the same size.  Lastly mount the panel on to a backing panel and then onto the card face.  

Now the 2 different blings - my family thought the first one was a bit feminine, so the second look is more male. 

I really liked this technique, so I made two more cards.  My nephew and his wife are expecting their first child soon so I did the pink and blue version.  At least it's almost ready to go when we hear the news.