I have two handbells–not the kind one thinks of from handbell choirs and holiday performances. Mine are bells that were used primarily to call in the children from recess at school, though my mother used one to call us in for dinner. They are quite loud and the one in the back in the photo has a much deeper sound than the other though they are nearly the same size. When I saw that Memory Box had produced a handbell die I knew that I had to make this card. Making this card brought back so many memories of the years in the 1970s when I taught at the island schools in Casco Bay and I used a bell like these to call the students together, to signal the start and end of the school day, to bring them in from outside recess, to gather them together for an assembly, or any other number of reasons as it was the only school bell we had.
To make this card I started with a blank white horizontal A2 card that I flipped to make it a top fold card. I added a piece of NUTMEG PLAID PP1033 cut 5 1/4 X 4 to the front. To cut the bell pieces I used the BRASS HANDBELL 95000. I die cut the handle of the bell and the under shadow that shows through the piercings from BLACK GLOSSY PAPER SH44004. I cut the other bell pieces from scraps of gold glossy paper that I had in my stash left over from another project. I added holly leaves and a green sprig cut from a dark green card stock in the GREENERY COLLECTION SP1011 using dies in the EVERGREEN HOLLY BUNDLE 94988. I added a pink velvet bow as the final touch to decorate the bell. The “MERRY CHRISTMAS” sentiment is from the MERRY CHRISTMAS FOIL GREETINGS WHITE CIRCLE TABS ST1012.
I think this is my favorite holiday card thus far. I’m sure I’m going to make more of them, especially to send to my retired teacher friends! Happy crafting!
