Corset Trading Cards and Storage Box

When I saw this month's new collage sheets from Alpha Stamps, featuring corsets, for some reason I thought of baseball cards. Wouldn't it be funny if young girls in Victorian times collected and traded corset cards? With that in mind, I designed a set of cards to look as though they had been handled and poured over, and perhaps traded with friends. This photo shows the fronts of four of the cards, and the back of one, plus a fancy box I made for storage. I used the same corset ad on the backs of all the cards.

Making the cards was fun. I started with cream colored card stock, cut it to ATC size (2 1/2" by 3 1/2"), and slightly rounded the corners. I dabbed the top with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and then roughed up the edges using a Paper Distresser. After I layered on the images from the collage sheets (plus a measuring tape and a number for each card), I bent corners, folded edges, and sanded down the images.

The finished cards. Not only do they look old, they actually feel old!

I felt they needed a special box for storage, so I decorated a 3" Chipboard Memory Box using a pretty striped paper, pieces of a doily, and some pearl garland. The top finial was made with an old toy wheel I had, plus a painted wooden ball. Some painted wooden finials made perfect feet.

A pretty little scene cut from scrapbook paper makes a nice surprise on the inside of the box. The cards fit the box nicely, if you store them at an angle. If you'd like a complete list of products used for this project, click here.

Corset trading cards: collect them! Keep them! Trade them with your friends!