Happy Easter

Hello Friends! Wishing you a Happy Easter if you celebrate. This is probably the only Easter card I will get around to doing this year. Things have been so crazy around here that it has been really difficult to find the time to get down to my room for a little bit of creative time. I love this little carrot racer from the I Carrot 'bout You stamp set from Lawn Fawn. It reminds me of something my boys would have loved when they were little.

For this card, I started out with a piece of paper from the All The Dots Collection cut to 4.25" x 5.5". I used the Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables so that I could have that nice stitched edge on the outside. I used the Outside In Stitched Easter Egg Stackables to cut out the egg shape making sure to line it up so that I had room for my sentiment. I then cut and egg frame using the Easter Egg Frames die. The paper if from an older collection called Spring Fling.

I heat embossed the sentiment using black embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Eggstra Amazing Easter stamp collection. Once I have that done, I will adhere it to a sheet of acetate cut slightly smaller that the paper. I will also glued the egg frame in place.

My little friend needed to have a road to drive on, so I used the Road Border along with scrap Storn Cloud and Sunflower cardstock to create one. And of course, he also needed a grassy background, so I used the Grassy Hillside Borders die along with Cilantro cardstock to cut one.  

For the inside of my shaker card. I cut a piece of white cardstock 4.25" x 5.5" and ink blended a sky using the Cloudy Stencil and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide Ink. I also touched up the blades of the grass on the Cilantro cardstock with just a little bit of Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide Ink.  

Once I adhered the grass, road and clouds to the sky background, I created a "well" with foam tape to give me an area to place the little shaker pieces. The clouds were created with the Simple Puffy Clouds Frames.  

Once those are in place, I apply the front of the shaker to the back and then start placing the little stamp pieces on the front of the card.

The coloring of the friends the little pieces were down with Copic markers in the following colors;

• YR02, YR04, YR09
• YG06, YG09, YG17
• C2, C3, C6
• BG10, BG32
• E30, E51, E53
• B91, B95
• BV00, BV01

This was a very quick card to make. I did use the new All The Speech Bubbles to stamp and cut out the little wording from the stamp set. I know that I have all of those speech bubble in my stash, but it sure was convenient to have them all in one set including the dies.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you have a great Easter weekend. It will be very low key for us.

Sandy

My You Tube Video

A Kiss For Luck!

Hello friends!! It is finally Spring and as I am writing this post, it is snowing to beat the band. We are only supposed to get 2-6" overnight, so that's not too bad. Much better than the one about twelve days ago that dumped at least 16" in the city where I live. It was the heavy wet snow that would have been perfect for building a snowman. Did I do that? Heck no, I stayed inside and drank tea and stitched.

Anyway....this card was created for the current Lawn Fawn Blog Challenge # 169 - Inspired by a book, movie or song. Well, we have a wedding this later this summer so we are all about weddings right now. I am a huge Carpenters fan. I have loved them for as long as I can remember. So I chose "We've Only Just Begun". I used a line from the song for the sentiment.

For the front of the card, I used a piece of yellow patterned paper from the What's Sewing On Petite Paper Pack and a small piece of yellow paper from the Spiffy Speckles Petite Paper Pack. I used Claire's ABC's for the sentiment on the front of the card and on the inside, The front is heat embossed. I don't know what brand or even what color the heat embossing powder is. I bought it a long time ago and I want to say it was from Martha Stewart, but don't quote me on that.

For the front of the card, I used the Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables. Once I had heat embossed the sentiment, I used the outside of the Secret Garden Window to cut a "window" in the patterned paper. I cut a sheet of Speckled Eggshell in half widthwise, so that my paper measured 5.5" x 8.5". I scored the paper at 4.25" and folded it in half to form a card. In order to make sure that my window in both the patterned paper and the card line up, I laid the patterned paper on top of the front of the card and then placed the piece of paper that was cut from the center of the Secret Garden Window Die, in the center of the opening. * I put a little removeable adhesive tape on the back of the window piece to hold it in place before I do the next step.  

Once I have the window in place, I line the die up on top of the window and then send it through the die cutter.

Before I glue my acetate and paper layers together, I lay a piece of scrap cardstock cut to 4.25" x 5.5" inside the card. Using the arch from the Happy Couples stamp set, I stamped it on the cardstock through the window where I want the couple to appear in the window. You can now remove that piece of cardstock and finish stamping your couple along with the top hat and veil if you choose. This is going to be your guide for stamping on the actual inside piece of the card.

You can now assemble the window on the card front. I layer in a piece of clear acetate between the patterned paper and the cardstock. Having the acetate layer allows a place for the flowery part of the Secret Garden Window to rest. I use liquid glue to glue it in place.

I lay my guide card in my Misti making sure it is snug to the lower right corner. Since I am stamping directly on the card inside, I will be masking the different layers for the image. I start by laying the top hat and the veil directly on top of the guide stamp and the close the door of the Misti on top. I will place the card inside in the Misti, making sure that it is snug to the bottom right corner and will stamp it on the card. I have cut the top hat and veil on the sticky part of a post it note and then cut it out directly on the lines. This is your mask. Once the ink on the hat is thoroughly dry, I will apply the masks on the pieces.

I will remove the card inside from the Misti and then place my guide card back in the Misti, and place the dogs from the stamp set directly on top of the guide and then shut the door of the Misti so that it is now correctly placed to stamp on the card inside. Once that is stamped, and the ink is dry, cover it with a mask created the same way as the top hat and veil.  

The arch is done the same way to finish the stamping. You will need to mask the arch so that you can ink blend on top of the stamped image leaving it in pristine condition. I have my YouTube video linked at the bottom of this post if you want to see the process.

For the ground, I used the Hillside Stencil and Bundled Sage Distress Oxide Ink. I then used the stencil to mask off the area I just ink blended so I can work on the sky. I used the Cloudy Stencil with Spun Sugar Distress Oxide Ink to place my clouds.

Once I have peeled off the masking, I can start coloring my image. I used Copic markers in the following colors:

• V91, V93, V95
• R81, R83
• G20, G40, G82 Wedding Arch
• G40, YG63 Secret Garden Window Leaves
• N0, N1, N2, N3
• E30, E31, E33
• YR30, YR31, YR21

When I had finished the card, I felt like the inside needed something up in the sky, so I stamped in some butterflies from the Butterfly Kisses stamp set.  

On the front of the card, I felt like the flowers and leaves on the Secret Garden Window needed a little color so I used some of the same Copic colors I used for my couple to add just a little. I cut some extra leaves and flowers using the extra dies that came in the set and added them in the corners of the card.  

I had a great time making this card. Of course, I was playing all my favorite Carpenters songs while I was doing it.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you have been inspired to make your own window card. Have a fantastic day!

Sandy

My You Tube Video

I Love You From My Head Tomatoes!

Hello my card crafting friends! I am just in love with the new Give It A Whirl die from Lawn Fawn. It makes such a cute card!

For this card, I was finally able to use the Altenew Stampwheel that I purchased last summer. I have used it for ink blending, but I hadn't found the right stamps to do a fun circle. It kind of broke my heart to cut apart my Simply Celebrate Veggies stamp because it was a freebie from Lawn Fawn with a $60.00 purchase on their past Spring release. It really isn't a big deal because I can line them all up again and use them the way they were created. I would have also liked to have used all of the veggies, but the math didn't add up for the wheel, so I had to settle on three. I couldn't be more pleased with the way they turned out so I will definitely be looking harder through my stamps to use the wheel again.

I started with a piece of Spiffy Speckles patterned paper cut to 5.25" X 5.25" and mounted it directly in the center of my Altenew Stampwheel. I laid the center of the Give It A Whirl in the center to determine where I wanted to place my veggies so they were close to the circle and not off the edge of the paper. Once I had those lined up, I inked and stamped them in a circle.

I colored in the images using Copic Markers and then touched up the edges with just a light touch of Mustard Seed Distress Oxide Ink to give it a little more definition once it was adhered to the gingham paper. The gingham paper is from an older Lawn Fawn collection called Gotta Have Gingham Rainbow.

All the images for this card were colored with Copic markers in the following colors:

• YR01, YR02
• B91, B95
• E30, E31, E33 (mouse)
• E34, E35, E37
• R20, R22
• N1, N2, N3
• Y06, Y08
• R14, R46, R39 (tomatoes)
• Y02, Y11 E50 (onions)
• YG01, YG07, YG09 (lettuce)

I cut a piece of blue Spiffy Speckles paper 4" wide and measured up 3" from the bottom and placed some tick marks on the paper so I could line up my Hillside Stencil to lay in a grassy area using Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide Ink.

I used my Give It A Whirl Template so I know what area I have to work with as far as placing my little friend and the rest of the pieces from the Veggie Happy stamp collection. I also have a few clouds and the sun from the All The Clouds Stamp set. Once those are glued in place, I use the circle shape from the template to help me place the larger piece, the one that is stationery, of the Give It A Whirl die. Once in place, I will run it through my die cutter.

I wanted to carry through the orange gingham to the front of the card, so I cut another piece from the Give It A Whirl set and then centered the medium circle from the Large Stitched Circle Stackables in the middle of it to cut a frame. I glued the frame to the base of the decorated Give It A Whirl.  

For the front piece, the one that spins, of the Give It A Whirl die, I stamped the words, " Wishing Your A Veggie Happy Day" along with a bag of soil which is part of the Veggie Happy stamp collection and a little bee and bee trail from the You're A Keeper stamp set. I touched up the edges of that piece with a smidge of Mustard Seed Distress Oxide.

 I have a link to my YouTube Channel at the bottom of this blog to show how to assemble the piece. Once I had assembled my Give it a Whirl piece, I adhered thin strips of foam tape around the back of the large piece and placed it in the center of that cute circle of veggies.

I stamped out "I Love You" and "From My Head Tomatoes" on a scrap piece of Spiffy Speckles, cut them out and applied them to my card using foam tape to give them a pop. In the other corners, I cut some little hearts from the Skinny Tag Hearts and Stars dies from scrap gingham paper and adhered them to the corners.  

So that does that! I love this card. I don't make square cards very often at all but I may just do more in the future if they turn out super cute like this one!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a "Veggie Happy Day"!!!!!!

Sandy

My You Tube Video

You're Going To Be Great Parents!

Hello again! Oh my goodness this was such a fun card to make. I can't wait to give it to just the right couple. The kangaroos for this card are from the Kanga-rrific stamp collection. I also used the Kanga-riffic Add On and the Kanga-riffic Baby Sentiment Add On. I really love the "You're Going to Be Great Parents" sentiment. Thanks Lawn Fawn for another great stamp collection.

I decided to do a Peekaboo Pop Up card since it had been almost a year since I had made one and I am really happy with the way it turned out. As I was watching Lawn Fawn's YouTube tutorial on the assembly of this card, I was inspired by Megan Quinn's card with the tree top, so I replicated it in mine.

I used the new Algae cardstock along with the Noble Fir cardstock to create my tree tops using the Puffy Cloud Borders die. To cut those, I first cut them with the Peekaboo Pop Up making sure that the side that embosses the fold lines is on the right hand side because you will need them on that side to do your accordion fold. I measured an 1.25" inch down from the top to place my Puffy Cloud Border. die. It can't be too deep because you will need to have room for your kangaroo to move when he pops up. The Noble Fir layer is about .75" from the top. Once you have those cut you can glue them together and then fold them on the embossed lines so that the fold goes to the inside of the card.

For the panel that covers the popping mechanism at the very front of the card needs to be cut with the embossed lines of the main die to the right also. It also needs to be accordion folded the same as the tree canopy. I cut that from a piece of white card stock approximately 2 inches up from the bottom on the left hand side. I used the hillside die that is included in the Peekaboo Pop Up set. I used Tea Dye Distress Oxide Ink to color the base of that piece, touching up the top with a little bit of Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink. This piece is folded on the embossed lines the same way as the tree canopy - with the fold going into the center of the card.

For the background of this card, I have cut it from white cardstock making sure that my embossed lines are to the left side of the cut out. Using the Hillside Stencil along with the Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink, I have placed a hillside for part of the background. I also speckled both the background and the foreground piece with watered down Vintage Photo. I used Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide Ink and the Slimline Cloudy Stencil to ink the sky. I used that stencil because the Peekaboo Pop Up piece is just a smidge larger than the regular Cloudy Stencil and I didn't want to be real careful on the ends because they could end to abruptly - if that make sense. I speckled the sky with watered down Uncharted Mariner ink. This card is folded on the embossed lines so that the first fold from the left is pointed to the center of the card.

I used the sentiments from the Kanga-riffic Baby Sentiment Add On. I heat embossed it using white embossing powder.

I used the pop up piece that will keep the popping image closest to the accordion fold on the left hand side. You will need to choose which one will suit your card best based on where you are placing your other pieces to build your scene. I would definitely recommend using adhesive tape for this piece because you may need to re-locate it several times to get it just where you need it to be. Once you have that placed, glue your layers together to form a kind of shadow box. I have a YouTube vide below or you can follow the Lawn Fawn tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGvkevWlIS8&t=9s

I used Copic markers in the following colors to color the little elements.

• Tree Tops:  YG03, YG23, YG25
• Grass Tufts:  G25, G46
• Kangaroos:  E42, E43, E47
• Tree Trunks:  E35, E37
• Kookaburra and Baby Bottle:  Y00, Y02
• Flowers:  BV0000, BV01

I am crazy about everything on this card and I hope you enjoy it also! Thanks for stopping by the blog today and I hope that you have a Kaga-riffic Day!!!!!

Sandy

My You Tube Video

Hugs & Birthday Wishes

Hello friends! I am still playing with Lawn Fawn's new Give It A Whirl Die. I made this card for the current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #168 All Things Birthday.

As I was looking through my birthday dies, I came across the Outside In Stitched Balloon Stackables die and was very hopeful that the largest die would work for the base of the Give It A Whirl die but it wouldn't. The reason it wouldn't work is because in order to cut the slit that lets the wheel move, you would have to place it on top of the balloon, and if you did that, you would cut the center of the balloon out. However, you can take the the little hat that comes with the balloon set and glue it to the bottom of the Give It A Whirl base piece and then cover it with a bow an no one will know the difference. Easy Peasy. Make sure that when you cut your Give It A Whirl, that you cut it so that the little handle will be up into the card body or it will extend out from the outside edge of the card and may pose problems in the envelope.

I cut the other balloons out of some of the free patterned paper pieces that I received from one of my Lawn Fawn orders. Thank you Lawn Fawn!!!! I didn't have to get into my little hoarded stash.....but we won't talk about that. The pattern is from the Stripes and Sprinkles collection.

I used the Large Slimline With Sliders die to cut out the base from the new Rainbow Ever After collection. This is the ombre piece which is just gorgeous and blends perfectly with my balloons. I also cut the sentiment from the scrap parts of the ombre using the Scripty Hugs die. I cut the bows and streamers out of a rose gold glitter cardstock.

I touched up the edges of all the balloons with a little bit of Distress Oxide Ink to add a little dimension to them. I colors used are; Saltwater Taffy, Faded Jeans, Dried Marigold, Villainous Potion and Mustard Seed.

The Birthday Before and Afters stamp set works perfect for the decoration and sentiment on the Give It A Whirl. I am sure all the "Before & Afters" would since the concept is the same as the picture changer die.

The Misti is very helpful to stamp out the two layers for the Give It Whirl. I laid out the bottom layer first and stamped the cake that has a piece cut out of it, along with the wording. I did use the Give It A Whirl Template to make sure that I was in the correct position so that my design didn't extend past the outside wheel. Then, I placed the top layer on top, lining up two slits so when the stop with the full cake moves, the cake underneath is in the same spot. 

Since the yellow of the patterned paper was somewhat pale, I felt pretty comfortable using Copic markers to color the images in.

The Copic colors used are:

• B91, B95
• YR01, YR02
• E35, E37
• BV00, BV01
• Y35

I followed along with the Lawn Fawn tutorial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2pSxqTlYU&t=2s, to assemble the Give It A Whirl. Once my "wheels" were spinning freely, I put slim strips of foam tape on the back making sure to stay away from the wheel that moves. I try to center my foam tape on the stitching lines of that back wheel to help me get the correct placement.

Once I adhered the Give It A Whirl mechanism to my card, then I glued on my other balloons and sentiments so that they looked pleasing. I did pop up the small balloon at bottom with a foam square to balance out the card since the top part had the Give It A Whirl popped up.  

I think the colors on this card are just so yummy looking. Almost like a orange or lemon ice cream.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that this card has inspired you to make one of your own. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Sandy

My You Tube Video

Sending Smiles And Birthday Wishes

Hello my card making friends! I am just having the best time playing with some of the new arrivals from Lawn Fawn. I still think that Henry's Build A Sentiment might be my favorite set from the release. There are so many different possible combinations that it is just mind blowing.

I decided to do another Ta! Da! Diorama! using the new Ta! Da! Diorama! Butterfly Window Add On. Before I even start to talk about the card, I just can't believe how beautiful the butterfly cut out is from this set. I can't wait to use the cut out in another card.

For this card, I used an older patterned paper called Flower Market. It is such a cheerful collection for Spring. I do have to admit that I do tend hoard patterned paper. I am always afraid that if I use it, that when I really want it for another card, I won't have enough. I do the same thing with fabric but we won't talk about that.

I touched up all the edges of the paper with a little bit of matching Distress Oxide ink. You can't really see it very well in the photos, but it is definitely there.

The stamp set that I used was Butterfly Kisses. This is my go to set for butterflies for other cards. It has a butterflies in three sizes. I also like it for the flowers and the grass tufts. I colored them with Copic markers in the following colors:

I wanted to make the little butterfly net that the fox holds look a little more realistic, so I stamped it and heat embossed it with white embossing powder on white vellum. I cut the net part off the handle. I had stamped and colored another net, so I cut the net off of that one and glued the vellum one to the colored one.  

I used the Grassy Stencil to put grass along the bottom of the panels that pull open. I felt like I needed to do that not only to create a field where the butterflies are flying but to also carry the feeling of the field that the fox is playing in. For the grass, I used Twisted Citron Distress Oxide Ink as a base and then touched it up with a little bit of Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide on the tips of the grass blades.

On the back panel, I glued a couple of clouds cut from the Simple Puffy Cloud Frames. I had thought about stamping some of the flight trails on the background and gluing on a couple of butterflies, but I really wanted to keep the butterflies dimensional. I used some scrap acetate to cut some thin strips to put a couple of butterflies on, so that it appears that they are flying in the diorama.  

I have found decorating the inserts a bit challenging. I am used to going crazy on the platform pop ups and you definitely can not do that on these. You are very limited because the panels need to be able to move in, so your little elements need to be concentrated towards the center of the inserts.

I decided to mount my diorama on a 4.25" x 5.5" card base, so I did put some foam tape behind it so that the recipient can easily those panel edges.

I think this is the sweetest little card and it would be perfect for some one at any age.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you take some to enjoy the butterflies this spring and summer.

Sandy

My You Tube Video

You Mean Sew Much To Me!

Hello and Happy March! This Give It A Whirl die, by Lawn Fawn, might just be my new favorite interactive die. I wasn't too sure about it until actually saw it in person. I think there are a whole lot of fun ways that you can use it to make really great cards. I have recently gotten back into cross stitching, so I thought that it would be fun to make a card with those fun little mice from the Sew Very Mice stamp collection.

Since it was recommended to not adhere anything to the part of the mechanism that spins, I decided that I would stamp and mask both of the layers.

For the top layer, I stamped the little mouse sitting and stitching. Since she was just starting her project, I used the small heart stamp that comes with the set, but I wiped half of it off to make it appear that she hadn't quite finished her project.

Once I had her stamped and masked with the same image cut from Post It tape, I used some low tack tack to mask off an area that I could ink for the floor. I used Distress Oxide Ink in Tea Dye for the floor. I used the Woodgrain Backdrops with the same ink to give the floor a wood appearance. Leaving the mask on the mouse, I used the low tack tape to mask off the floor so I could ink the "wall" behind her. I used Spun Sugar Distress Oxide Ink and then I used the Gingham Backdrops stamp with Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide Ink to stamp what I am calling the wallpaper.

Once I peeled the mask and low tack tape off, I colored the little mouse.

I used Copic markers in the following colors:

• C0, C1, C2
• BV000, BV00, Bv01
• E51, E53
• RV20, RV22

Using the part of the Give It A Whirl die that looks like PacMan, I cut out the front piece that does the spinning.

I used the sentiment, "You Mean Sew Much To Me", from the stamp collection. I heat embossed it with white embossing powder.

For the piece that is in the back and is stationery, The process is the same as the front piece, except that I had to use the Give It A Whirl Template to help me line up the floor that the mice stand on.

Once I have that inked, I cut it using the larger piece of the die. I assembled the piece that spins, using a piece of copy paper for the connector. I cut the little handle that is used to move the die from 100lb cardstock. I did have to watch the Lawn Fawn You Tube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu2pSxqTlYU, video a couple of times to get it all lined up correctly. It was a wee bit tricky until I got it assembled right and then it all made sense.  

I cut a piece of the lavender patterned paper from the Rainbow Ever After Petite Pack, using the largest of the Large Mini Slimline dies to cut it out. I used that die because I wanted the pretty stitching on the sides. I used the Lacey Border die to cut out the lace from the pink paper from that same pack. I glued the little border pieces to the side of the lavender piece. I wanted it to look like a piece of ribbon.

Using the largest of the Large Stitched Rectangle, I cut out the rectangle from a piece of Jack Rainbow Ever After. I cut the embroidery hoop from Light Brown Woodgrain Cardstock using the largest of the Stitched Circle Frames. For the bracket, I had a piece of scrap cardstock that may have been left over from another die, maybe a Pull and Pop, so I just clipped out the center of the rectangle. The pin is from the Little Flowers die. I just clipped the leaves off the largest flower stem.

I thought about adding a few more mice to the bottom of the card, but I was afraid that it might get too busy and I really wanted the Give It A Whirl to be the star of the show.

I think this card just turned out so cute and I hope you think so also. As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!!!

Sandy

My You Tube Video