Cloche to my heart...

I just love 1920s-style cloche hats. When I saw Enfys' August challenge on her blog, Going Buggy, I just knew I had to make some cloche hat cards as my entry into her challenge.
My first problem was, I didn't have a pattern. I dug out my graph paper and went to work, and this is what I came up with:

Since I had gone to all the trouble of making a pattern, I decided to make a set of four cards.

If you squint your eyes and use your imagination just a little, you will see that there is a hat for each of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, in that order.

I love the flower on the Spring hat. I cut the two main layers of the flower with the Flower Shoppe cartridge, molded the petals for dimension and added a bit of pink chalk to the center.  For the yellow stamens, I used a very thin-petalled small flower punch and used my embossing tool to cup the tiny petals to look more like stamens. I added a small pink adhesive-backed pearl to the center and cut a leafy branch with a Sizzix die. The lacy ribbon was some I had in my stash (I used the same ribbon on the sympathy card I featured in a previous post).

For the Summer hat I pleated some blue seambinding for the hat band and added a couple of polka-dot Petaloo flowers.  The gem in the center is one that I won from Zva Creative quite a while ago. You can see on this hat that I have inked all the edges for a little dimension.  The darker blue or "inside lining" of the hat is the color of the card base and the lighter blue is the paper that I cut and adhered to the card front. Easy peasy!

Everyone needs a good work-a-day hat and I think this card represents exactly that. The hat for Autumn is sturdy but stylish, don't you think?  I know I'd be happy to wear this hat every day.  For the hat band I used some pleated ribbon on each side of a piece of grosgrain ribbon.  Then I added a copper colored brad with a sparkly gem in the center, just for a tiny bit of bling.  This really is my style of hat - if I ever wore one - and I honestly wish I had this one to wear when the weather starts turning a little colder.

And finally, we come to the Winter hat - one that has enough red on it that it would be perfect for the Christmas holidays.  I found the rose covered tulle ribbon at a brand new little sewing/fabric shop in my neighborhood.  It's a lovely little shop with all kinds of fun things to buy, including this beautiful ribbon. I just had to have some for my collection and to use on this card. I added a red feather and a "buckle" made from a sizzix die and a strip of red adhesive-backed gems. I actually really love this hat, too, mostly for the strong contrasting colors and the RED.  I LOVE RED!

Here's a look at how I lined the inside of each card. I stamped only a tiny flourish on the bottom of each to add a little something, but still leave plenty of room for a personal note.

And finally one last look at all four cards.

Thanks for stopping by today and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day!

Cheryl

Added note:  these cards fit nicely in a 5" X 7" envelope.