April Christmas card: Penguin shaker

When I made my Easter shadow box cards, I realized that the shadow box opening made with the Shadow Box Card Park Add-On dies from Lawn Fawn looked a lot like a snow globe. And a snow globe would be perfect for a Christmas shaker card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Winter Penguin (Lawn Fawn), Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, silver card stock; All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Lost Lagoon; Alcohol markers - Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!); BT4 (Spectrum Noir); C1 (Copic)
Accessories: Shadow Box Card Park Add-On and Ocean Add-On dies (Lawn Fawn), Frosted Sequins, bead mix (unknown), window sheets, adhesive foam strips, Mono Multi liquid glue, Glue Dots

I think this little ice skating penguin is so cute! I just love him. And he works perfectly as the focal image in this shaker card.

I die cut the shaker opening from a piece of DSP and positioned it on a Lost Lagoon card base. With a pencil I lightly traced along the bottom edge of the opening onto the card front and then removed the DSP. I adhered a piece of silver card stock over the pencil line for the ice, and stamped a few snowflakes in the background. I stamped, colored and cut out the penguin, glued him on the card base and then placed a little pile of beads and sequins in the middle of the scene.

For the next step, I adhered a piece of window sheet behind the DSP. (Note: Because the top of my shaker card was patterned paper instead of card stock, I added extra stability by using a piece of window sheet that was almost the same size as the DSP rather than just covering the opening. If you wanted to be more frugal with your window sheet or acetate, you could glue the patterned paper to a piece of card stock to make it sturdier. In that case, though, you would have to cut the shaker opening from the card stock as well.) I applied foam strips to the back of the DSP and then carefully placed the top piece on the card front, making sure to firmly press down and adhere all the foam.

I thought about making my shaker card actually look like a snow globe, but in the end I decided to just add a banner stamped with a sentiment. The patterned paper seemed like it needed a little something, so to finish off the card I added a few of the same silver sequins that are in the shaker.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sprinkled with stardust

I have a cousin who loves purple, so for her ninth birthday, I made her this card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Sprinkles and Smiles (Penny Black), Birthday Basics Turnabout (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla card stock; gold foil sheets; watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambe watercolors - 37, 38, 91, 139 (Kuretake); Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Mini Treat Bag dies, Stars dies, "sparkle" die (Taylored Expressions), Dimensionals

I used three shades of purple to make a watercolor wash background. I love making these backgrounds -- I need to do them more often! My top two purples aren't blended as well as they could be, but that's okay.

Once I was done with the purples, I decided to turn the panel into a night sky. I got gold watercolor on my brush and then tapped it on my finger to add gold splatters to the background. I die cut several stars and the word "sparkle" from gold foil sheets and glued them to the dry watercolor background. Finally I mounted the panel on an Elegant Eggplant card base.

For the inside of the card I cut a layer of Very Vanilla card stock slightly smaller than the card base. In my stamp stash I found the perfect birthday sentiment ("Birthdays are days sprinkled with stardust") and stamped that, as well as "happy birthday," in Elegant Eggplant ink. I carried over the stars from the front of the card by gluing two small gold stars and one large purple star around the sentiment. Then I just had to adhere the layer inside the card base.

And that's it! Definitely not a complicated card, but one that was fun to make and perfect for the recipient.

I think it would be fun to make a whole set of cards with a monochromatic watercolor wash like this on the front. Each card could feature a different color and have a different die-cut word, with or without the stars. Or maybe different shapes to coordinate with the different sentiments (hearts for "love," etc.). I'll have to add that to my ever-increasing list of crafty things I want to try!



Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Easter, everybunny

It's hard to believe that Easter is tomorrow. I know it's cliche, but where does the time go? It feels like Christmas was just a few weeks ago.

As I promised yesterday, here is the second batch of Easter cards I made this year:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Everybunny
Paper: Crumb Cake, thick Whisper White card stock; Happy Day paper pad (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Blends markers: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pineapple Punch, Pool Party, Crumb Cake; R81, R83, R85, W1 alcohol markers and colorless blender (Copic)
Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies, enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet), various trims (Making Memories, Stampin' Up!, unknown), Dimensionals

I chose a couple of adorable bunny images from the Everybunny stamp set, stamped each one three times on white card stock, and cut them out with a stitched circle die. I selected a pack of printed paper and then die cut smaller stitched circles from a few different coordinating patterns (a great way to use up scraps!). Using the colors in the patterned paper as a guide, I colored the bunnies using alcohol markers.

To assemble the cards, I adhered the patterned circles directly on Crumb Cake card bases and used Dimensionals to attach the stamped images. I stamped the sentiment below the focal image and then added a piece of trim along the bottom of each card and three coordinating enamel dots.

Thanks for stopping by today. Happy Easter!

Easter shadow box cards

Today was a beautiful spring day -- the blizzard of last week seems a distant memory -- and the perfect day to share the shadow box cards I made for Easter.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Tip Top Taupe, Gray Granite card stock; cocoa Crinkles card stock (Wausau Paper); Certainly Celery Prints Designer Series Paper (DSP); window sheets
Accessories: Shadow Box Card, Shadow Box Card Park Add-On, Grassy Border, Mushroom House, Hello Sunshine dies (Lawn Fawn); rabbit dies - DIE043-G (Impression Obsession); mini white pom poms (Fibre Craft); 1/8" and 1/4" Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal); Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter); Dimensionals

Aren't they cute? I didn't make any Easter cards last year, so I really wanted to make at least a few this year. And when I saw the Shadow Box park Add-On die from Lawn Fawn, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. The Shadow Box dies make it so easy to make these fun cards. (And they fold flat to fit in a standard A2-sized envelope!) The hardest part is deciding how to decorate them!

I used dies from a few different Lawn Fawn sets to set the scene for these little bunnies. I added a grassy border along the back and sides of the shadow boxes, clouds in the sky, and a few little butterflies and flowers (tulips, my favorite). For some of the cards I glued a butterfly to a tiny strip of window sheet, so it looks as if they're flying.

The bunny shapes are made with a die from Impression Obsession. I cut them out a few different colors of neutral card stock and chose two different bunnies for each card. I couldn't resist adding tiny white pom poms for their little cottontails.

I also love the texture on the tree trunks that frame the scene. Originally I wanted to use a wood grain-textured card stock, but while I was looking through my various bins of paper, I stumbled across the Crinkles card stock. The little bit of texture looks just like tree bark. Perfect!

I used these shadow boxes for about half of my Easter cards. The rest of them were a traditional, clean-and-simple A2-size card (but still with cute bunnies!). Check back tomorrow to see those cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Peek-through fox birthday card

Not surprisingly, spring in Minnesota is a bit of a roller coaster this year. We are seeing the sun shine again today after three days of snowy, sleety, rainy, windy weather last week. It wasn't nice, and I wasn't happy about shoveling again. But the temperature is creeping back up and the snow is melting, and I'm pretty happy about that. And I think the fox in this card seems to be enjoying some lovely weather, too:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Foxy Friends, Banners for You, Birthday Messages (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Pool Party, Early Espresso
Accessories: Layering Circles dies, Bunch of Banners dies, Fox Builder punch, mini jewels (Doodlebug Design), ink blender (Tim Holtz), Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen, Dimensionals

See? It looks like he's got a clear blue sky and green things growing. I'd take that!

At any rate, I haven't used the Foxy Friends stamp set nearly as much as I should have, so I pulled it out for a cute birthday card. And for something a little different, I decided to make a peek-through card.

To start, I made the blue circle, which is sponged on the inside of the card. Here is a quick how-to for this step:
1. Position a circle die on the front of a plain white card base and die cut the circle from only the front of the card. (Or use whatever shape die you prefer.)
2. Die cut the same size circle from a scratch piece of copy/printer paper. Close the card and slip the scratch paper inside the card, placing it so the cut-out circle matches up with the circle on the front of the card.
3. Hold the scratch paper in place and open the card. You may want to secure the scratch paper with a small piece of low-tack tape, such as painter's tape or washi tape.
4. Apply the desired color of ink(s) with a sponge or ink-blending tool.
5. Remove the scratch paper. (If you used tape, peel it off carefully.) You should have a colored circle that matches up with the opening in the front of the card.

With that part out of the way, I stamped a vine image in Pool Party ink on either side of the opening on the front of the card. Then I stamped, cut, punched, or die cut all the pieces to to make the focal point of the card and started assembling. I placed the fox sitting on the stump on the inside of the card, along with one mushroom and one branch (see photo). I used Dimensionals to pop up the fox's body and head.

On the front of the card, I placed a banner stamped with a birthday greeting as well as a mushroom and a branch. (Tip: If you are adhering pieces across the die-cut opening, be sure to place your adhesive where it will only stick to the front of the card. You don't want to glue your card closed!) I also added three clear rhinestones.

Inside the card I added a stamped sentiment below the fox. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but I used a glitter brush pen to add just a touch of sparkle to some of the white parts of the images, such as the tip of the fox's tail and the mushroom caps.

I had a lot of fun making this card, and I definitely want to make more peek-through cards. It's like decorating the front and the inside of the card in one fell swoop. And it's cute to boot!

Thanks for stopping by!