Happy Easter, everybunny!

Happy Easter! I didn't have much success making Easter cards this year; there always seemed to be something else that needed to get done first. In fact, I made (and mailed) a grand total of only two Easter cards. I have several adorable Easter stamp sets (how could bunnies and chicks not be adorable?), and I was disappointed I didn't get more use out of them this year. So I decided to use my newest Easter set and make just a couple really quick Easter cards this morning that I could hand deliver at our family dinner this afternoon.

Supplies for both cards (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Everybunny
Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, So Saffron
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Sahara Sand; markers: Sahara Sand, Peach Parfait, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits dies, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, basic pearls, 5/8" So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, So Saffron taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals

I used the same colors and the same basic layout for each card. To add a little variety, I changed the main images, the backgrounds, and the type of ribbon used.

There isn't much to explain with these cards, but here is one tip: To create the thin border around the label die cuts, first cut out the image with the desired size Framelit die. Then place that same on the card stock to be used for the mat, trace along the "lip" of the die, and cut out the shape along the traced line. Of course, you can always use the next larger size Framelit die to cut out the mat, but that will result in a wider border around the image. For these cards, I wanted a fairly thin border.

I hope you and your loved ones have a joyful Easter. Thanks for stopping by!

Words of wisdom

It's been a few weeks since I made any progress toward my stamping challenge goal, so today I decided to pull out an old stamp set (and some old ink and card stock colors) and make a set of cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Sage Advice
Card stock: Naturals White, Cool Caribbean, True Thyme, Vintage Violet, Really Rust
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Cool Caribbean, True Thyme, Vintage Violet, Really Rust
Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits dies, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Sherbet Ribbon Originals, 3/8" twill tape, stitched Vintage Violet ribbon, stitched True Thyme ribbon, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Each card base was embossed with the Framed Tulips embossing folder. Then I wrapped a piece of coordinating ribbon around the card front about 2-1/2" from the fold on the left side.

To make the focal pieces, I stamped the images in the background (being sure to stamp on a piece of scratch paper first so the images were a bit lighter) and then stamped the greeting over the images. I cut out each piece with one of the Labels Collection Framelits dies and adhered it over the ribbon with Dimensionals.

The final detail for each card was to add the butterflies. The Beautiful Wings Embosslit die creates five embossed butterflies each time you run it through the Big Shot. I didn't want to use all five butterflies on each card front, so I used Mini Glue Dots to adhere three of the butterflies to the card front and the other two inside the card.

I also decided to stamp the envelopes so they coordinated with the cards. I stamped the images in the lower left corner of the envelope and on the middle of the flap on the back. I don't always do this step, but it does add a fun little touch to a set of cards, especially if it's going to be a gift.

I made a total of eight cards for this set: two cards in each color. I love the quotes in this stamp set, and I think they work great for an all-occasion set of card. Thanks for stopping by!

Bold, bright birthday

Yesterday I received a fun surprise in the mail: an absolutely adorable Easter card from my friend Faith. But that wasn't all. Inside the card she had included several stamped images of the Packed for Birthday stamp that is in the 2012 Occasions mini catalog from Stampin' Up!^® I don't have that stamp yet, but I really liked the birthday image, and Faith was nice enough to stamp the image several times (more than I expected!) on white card stock and send them to me so I could play with them. I was so excited to get them that I wanted to make a card with one of the images as soon as I could:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Packed for Birthday, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Card stock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade
Ink: Black, Island Indigo; markers: Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Island Indigo
Accessories: Deckle scissors (Fiskars), Island Indigo baker's twine, 3/4" circle punch, Dimensionals

With some of the stamped pieces Faith sent, I'm planning to cut out the different little images to use on cards, but for my first try I wanted to just do some basic coloring. Yes, the stamp does have a lot of tiny images to color, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. And I thought these bright, bold colors would be perfect for a birthday card.

The layout of the card is pretty simple. I trimmed the stamped image with a deckle scissors and used Dimensionals to adhere it to a piece of Island Indigo card stock that was wrapped with baker's twine. I wanted to bring all the colors from the stamped image onto the rest of the card, so I punched a 3/4" circle out of each card stock color and glued them along the left side. Then I just added a birthday greeting to the bottom of the card. And that's it!

I'm looking forward to seeing what other ideas I can come up with for the rest of my Packed for Birthday images. Thanks for stopping by!

For a fabulous friend

Today I needed to make a combination happy birthday and thank you card for one of my good friends. I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use, and here is the finished card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Polka-Dot Posies, Essential Messages (Hero Arts) (for the greeting inside the card)
Card stock: Naturals White, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Tea for Two Mini Deck patterned card stock (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron
Accessories: Riding Hood Red pleated satin ribbon, mini jewels - Lily White assortment (Doodlebug Design Inc.), corner rounder, 1/2" circle punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Mini Glue Dots, Tombow Mono multi liquid glue

For the top half of the card, I stamped the yellow flowers and green leaves directly on the card base. I stamped the red flower centers on a separate piece of card stock, punched them out with a 1/2" circle punch and glued them to the flowers. For the bottom half of the card I used a piece of striped card stock. (I chose my color combination from this card stock, and I love the stripes with the flowers and polka dots.) But instead of cutting the card stock in a straight line, I created a wave along the top edge. Then when I adhered the ribbon to the card, I just followed the curved edge of the card stock. (The pleats in the ribbon allow it to be glued down in gentle curves without bunching.)

I used two colors to ink up the greeting stamp to provide some visual interest and to accent the last line of the greeting. I matted the greeting and adhered it to the card with Dimensionals. Finally I used the Boho Blossoms punch and some self-adhesive jewels to add a few embellishments.

When I make a card I don't always decorate the inside of the card. But I wanted this card to have a little extra something, so I stamped a couple of flowers to match the front of the card. (Of course, I'm going to go ahead and write my message over them, but you'll still be able to see them.) I also stamped another greeting inside the card, and I think it fits perfectly with the greeting on the card front.

I love the bright, fun and playful feel of this card. I think it would be a great card to send to a friend for any occasion -- or for no occasion at all!




Thanks for stopping by!

'I love cats' scrapbook page

Generally when I create a scrapbook, it's a remembrance from a trip, and I include not only pictures, but also all kinds of odds and ends: business cards and/or receipts from restaurants, tags from special purchases, brochures, etc. But this weekend I decided to work on a scrapbook page with some everyday photos of our cats.

Supplies:
Stamps: Cats Galore stamp set (Inkadinkadoo)
Card stock: Chestnut (AC Cardstock), Furry Friends and Nine Lives (We R Memory Keepers)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Signo white gel pen (uni-ball), pure brown pen (ZIG Millennium)
Accessories: Brown grosgrain ribbon (American Crafts Elements Ribbon: Dunk Tank), glitter brads (Making Memories), 1/4" and 1/8" ScorTape (ScorPal), Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

I love this cat-themed printed card stock (you can't really see it, but there is glitter on some of the words) and the coordinating rectangular cards. The cards came together on a 12" x 12" sheet; there were twelve cards total in a mix of dog and cat themes. I have a couple of the cat cards left; I'll have to find someone else who can use the dog cards.

I decided to use one of these pre-printed cards as the title for my page. It was almost perfect because it had three lines for writing: one for each of the cats. But under the heading "I love cats" the card read "Things I love about my cat," which didn't really work with my plan. Creativity to the rescue! I found some coordinating ribbon that was the right width and used it to cover up that line of text. Problem solved. And to tie the ribbon into the rest of the page (no pun intended), I also used it as a border at the top and bottom of the strip of patterned paper.

I think the rest of the page is pretty self-explanatory: I stamped the bottom of the page with cat-related images (fish, ball of yarn, paw print and "meow") and added faux stitching along the top edges. I only added a few brads for embellishment; the patterned paper was already pretty busy, and I didn't want to go overboard.

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Gordon. It was almost exactly three years ago that we put him to sleep, but I will always remember how he loved to sleep in the bathroom sinks. He also had a serious addiction to baked goods: cookies, muffins, bread, cake, pizza crust, you name it. If I sat down on the couch with a cookie, he would suddenly appear at my shoulder, trying to eat the cookie right out of my hand. Once I left M&M cookies cooling on the dining room table, and Gordon decided to help himself. (That was the only time I made that mistake!)

Mielle and Pirate are still going strong, and they have plenty of personality themselves. One of these days I'll have to make each one of them his or her own scrapbook page and journal about all the funny things they do.

Thanks for stopping by!