Showing posts with label Gerda Steiner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gerda Steiner. Show all posts

Wednesday, 17 June 2020

Birthday Bear Shaker card

Hello everyone, I’ve got a full size shaker card today made with a new stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs called Birthday Bear. This is an easy card to make and it even uses a surprise material!




If you would like to see a video of how I made this card on YouTube,  please CLICK HERE



I coloured in my images with Copic markers and then applied some Glossy Accents to the banner flags, the bear’s hat and the balloon. Once that was dry, I fussy cut out my images.

On an A2 size piece of pink cardstock, I ink blended some Distress Oxide inks around the edges in Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves. Once the ink was dry, I used an anti-static powder over the whole card front. I find that helps the shaker material move better, and I wanted to heat emboss my sentiment on the card front. After deciding where my images would go, I stamped my sentiment and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Now for that surprise material!  I save the cellophane envelopes that all our stamps and dies come in and use this for full size shaker cards. I cut out a rectangle from a cellophane wrapper that was approximately an inch wider than my card front all around. I centered this wrapper on my card front and then flipped them over. I used my tape runner to run a piece of tape along the bottom edge of my card front and then folded the wrapper up onto the tape and pressed it down. I repeated this with the 2 sides as well and trimmed down the excess wrapper in the corners. Now you have a pouch that is open at the top and can be filled.

The images on the front of the card can either be glued inside the pouch (in which case, adhere them before assembling the pouch), or they can be glued to the front of the pouch. I chose to glue mine to the front on the cellophane wrapper. I find it easier to do this before I fill the pouch because everything is flat at that point. Once they were glued down, I filled my pouch with shaker bits. Then, the top was adhered on the back with tape runner again and the corners trimmed. I don’t pull the last wrapper edge quite as tightly as the other edges, as this allows a bit of room for the shaker bits to move around freely.



I adhered the shaker pouch to my card base with my tape runner and then stamped my inside sentiment. I finally added the adorable bear arm with the balloon to the inside along the edge of the card, and trimmed off the excess. How much fun is that bear arm?!

This is a very quick and simple card, but it is so much fun to shake up and see all the inside bits move around. I hope you’ll give it a try!


Monday, 15 June 2020

Moody Unicorns Meet the Reveal Wheel

Hello again everyone! I’ve got another fun, interactive card today featuring the Moody Unicorns from Gerda Steiner Designs.  I’ve paired them up with the Reveal Wheel from Lawn Fawn to create rainbow coloured unicorns.





I’ve got a YouTube video of how I made this card if you CLICK HERE.  The video is probably the easiest way to figure out how to make this card, because it’s really not that hard but writing out an explanation makes it seem so much harder!

I started by watercolouring a circle of watercolour paper in a rainbow pattern. I made sure the paper I used was slightly bigger than the reveal wheel circle die, and had lightly pencilled the center and six segments. You could also colour this with markers or pencil crayons of course.  I think it might be fun to even emboss some stars or hearts on this to show through. Once the paint was dry, I die cut the larger reveal wheel circle from this paper.

I had also die cut the small inner circle and the add on square pocket pieces out of white cardstock. You won’t need to use the “jigsaw” piece that goes with the reveal wheel, as the horns and manes will become the “reveal” part of this pocket. I used a small brad to attach the small inner circle to my rainbow circle.

Position the stamps with the reveal wheel in place on the front pocket piece.
(Remove the wheel before stamping)

On one of the square pocket fronts, I stamped two of the unicorns in copic friendly ink. You need to be sure that these unicorns fit onto the rainbow circle, so I find it easiest to place them on the circle in my stamp positioner and then align them on the pocket front with the wheel showing just above the notch on the pocket. Then I remove the rainbow wheel and stamp them onto my pocket front. I left the unicorns where they were in my stamp positioner, and placed some scrap acetate over the pocket front. Then I stamped the unicorns again, but this time with Stazon black ink. I had to stamp them 2 - 3 times to get a good impression. I trimmed the acetate around the images next.

Carefully cut out the horns and manes. 

After colouring in the unicorns on the pocket front ( don’t colour the horns or manes), I used a sharp craft knife to carefully cut away the horns and manes on both unicorns. Try to turn the cardstock as you cut, to get a cleaner line. Then I placed glue around the cut edges and adhered the pocket front to the acetate piece, carefully aligning the images.



Next I applied foam tape to the back of the small inner wheel and removed the backing. Then I lined up the rainbow wheel behind the unicorns on the pocket front, making sure that it covered the manes and horns and was still slightly above the notch. Holding the wheel in place, I lined up the notches on the front pocket piece to the back pocket square and adhered them down.


 I like to place foam tape under the notched wheel to keep it flat - I just don’t remove the backing from these tape pieces. The next step is to place foam tape around the edges of the back pocket and I like to add some glue to the tape to make it easier to align. Then carefully adhere the front square pocket to the back, making sure the notches and edges are lined up. Now you have the fun part of the card assembled!  Make sure you spin the wheel to make sure it moves freely, and well, just for the fun factor!

For the card front, I die cut some cloud borders and a few clouds. I did some rainbow ink blending and glued down the cloud borders. I actually cut the borders in half and used them just at the edges of the card where they would show around the reveal wheel pocket. I added foam tape to the back of the reveal wheel pocket and adhered it to the card front. I then stamped my sentiments onto a couple of die cut clouds and added this to the pocket front, along with a few other clouds. And that’s it! A fun card that was actually not that hard to make. I think it would be fun to make it so the bodies of the unicorns changed colour instead of the manes.



I hope you’re having a great day, and that you’ll give this card a try. I think there are just so many possibilities for this card with so many stamp sets!

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Flip Sider Puppy Mail

Hello everyone, I’ve got an interactive card today featuring the “Puppy Mail” stamp set from Gerda Steiner designs. I’ve used all the puppy images in this set and have made a flip slider card with them. I love how this set can be used for a happy mail card but also a thank you card for someone looking after a dog.





If you would like to see a YouTube video of how I made this card, please CLICK HERE.



I started by stamping out the images with Copic friendly ink and colouring them in with Copic markers. I made sure to space my images out when I stamped them, because I used the “Selfie Square” die from MFT to cut them out into flip cards. I also die cut the “Polaroid Shaker Frame” from MFT out of Neenah 80# cardstock, to create a 2.5” frame for the cards. If you have a set of square dies, you could just use these to cut the squares and frames. I coloured in the background of the flip cards with Copic markers and then the frames with coordinating markers. Next, I cut four 2.5” squares of cardstock to adhere the flip card to and glued the frame around it. This makes the flip card sturdier and hides the copic bleeding on the back.



To create the mechanism for the flip cards, I cut out a rectangle from Neenah 80# cardstock that measured 2 1/4” wide by 8 1/2” long. I also cut a smaller rectangle that was 1/2” x 4” long.



I creased the larger rectangle starting from the left edge at the 2.5” mark and each 1/2” after that up to, and including, the 4” mark. Then I used a bone folder to really crease these folds. They all fold in the same direction, but need to be well folded. I corner rounded the ends on the long side of this rectangle piece.

Then I glued the smaller rectangle in its center 2.5”, and adhered that to the top of the very end of the larger rectangle, centering it over the first 2.5” square.  This becomes the tab that holds the flip slider in place, and should be folded and creased down over the long rectangle piece.



Next, I used double sided tape to adhere my flip cards. The first one was applied to the 2.5” square, and each card after that was adhered to one strip of tape applied along each fold line. The remainder of this long rectangular piece folds underneath the flip cards and through the small tabs.



I die cut the word “Pull” and glued it to the corner rounded end of the slider mechanism. I also stamped some paw prints onto this end so it would add interest when pulled out.

I die cut a cover die for the front of my card and glued it to some blue cardstock. Then I applied double sided tape to the 2 small tabs and also some glue over the tape. I would recommend having these tabs already folded over the long pullout end before glueing them as it gets messy. Then I adhered the flip mechanism to the front of my card - the 2 small tabs are the only thing adhering the mechanism to the card front. Scary, I know, but it works! I let this dry under some acrylic blocks, and then attached my sentiment.



This sounds like a  complicated card, but it’s really not that hard to make and it’s super fun to play with. I really hope you’ll give it a try!

Tuesday, 26 May 2020

Frogs on a Birthday card

Hello again, I’m sorry I haven’t posted in such a loooong time!  I found that with this pandemic we’ve all been going through, I just lost my attention span and all my creative mojo. I’m not normally an anxious person, but I just found myself worrying about what was going to happen, and about family and friends scattered around the world. I know I’m not alone in that but I want to apologize for not posting before this.

Anyway, I have some new stamp sets to jump start my mojo and the first one I want to share is this fun set from Gerda Steiner Designs called “Frogs”. I especially love the leaping frog on the inside of this card. So many possibilities for him to leap out of cards!





I started by colouring in my images with copic markers.  I also coloured in the bullrushes, dragonfly and lotus flower from the “Lucky Ducks” stamp set to help round out my background scene.  I’ve listed below, the markers I used. I used glossy accents to fill in the frogs’ eyes and give them a shiny look. I also added some sparkle to the dragonfly with a Gelly Roll sparkle pen.

Next, I watercoloured a quick background for the inside of my frame on some watercolour cardstock. I wanted it to look like my frogs were in a pond so I added in a few grassy strokes on the green background.

I stamped the “Hi There” sentiment on the front in Distress Oxide Faded Jeans and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I die cut 4 or 5 frames using a set from Power Poppy called Double Stitched Square Frame. I also cut out my watercolour background using the frame so it would fit inside. I adhered my frame and images to the card front. I wanted to make the foreground frog look like he was trying to climb out of the frame so I fussy cut his “hands” off and then glued them to the frame bottom edge. I had to trim just a little off his body to make him fit against the frame inside edge.

On the inside, I used an older die from Stampendous to die cut a pop up frame for the leaping frog.  I also cut a small oval and coloured it in with copic markers to make it look like a lily pad. I created the sentiment from the “Moose Love” stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs, and heat set it with clear embossing powder. I adhered the frog and lily pad to the pop up and finally added a lotus flower.
I think this is a unisex birthday card and love how the frogs add some fun, humour and dimension to the card.

Hope you’re having a great day!

Copic markers used
Frogs - YG11, YG03, YG17, spots G94, YG17
Lily pad - G99, G94, G82
Lotus flower - RV04, RV02, RV00
Bullrushes - E57, E59, YG17

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

*Video* Gerda Steiner’s Meerkats on the Lookout

Hello everyone, I’m back with one of my most favourite stamp sets ever!  It’s “Meerkats on the Lookout”  from Gerda Steiner Designs and I’ve had no end of fun with them this last week! I love that these can easily be used for masculine cards because we all know how hard those can be to make.




If you would like to see an HD video on YouTube of how I made this card, please CLICK HERE. Otherwise, you can click on the video below.



To start this card, I created a horizon line in light pencil. I made sure that there was enough room for my meerkat to hide below the horizon behind some rocks. Once I had the horizon, I decided on the placement of my group of meerkats. I stamped the front two meerkats in copic friendly ink and then masked them while I finished stamping the back row of meerkats. I coloured in the meerkats with W3, W1, E31, E53, E40, E27, C2 and C0. I also used a black glaze pen to fill in the eyes and noses. I also stamped and coloured the lone meerkat who comes up, after masking off his arms and adding a cupcake to his hands. I also coloured a couple of the rocks that are in the set and cut them out.

Masking off sky line. 


I then cut a strip (the width of my card) of post it note paper in half lengthwise to create my true horizon. I masked off the meerkats and added one of the strips to make the sky line. I ink blended the sand with Tea Dye Distress oxide ink. Then I removed the post it note paper and lined up the other half over the sand to now colour in the sky. I used MFT’S cloud stencil and Mermaid Lagoon Distress oxide ink to make the sky. Once this was done, I stamped on my sentiments in Versamark ink.

Pencil mark widest point of meerkat. 


I adhered a strip of clear acetate to the back of the lone meerkat. After positioning him where I wanted him to pop up, I pencilled in the width of his ears (his widest part) where I wanted him to come up. I used a T ruler and craft knife to cut a slit here. I inserted the acetate through this slit and worked it up and down a few times to be sure it was wide enough. Then I attached a small strip of cardstock to the bottom of the meerkat to act as a stopper so he wouldn’t pull out through the slit. Finally, I pulled him up through the slit as far as he would go to determine where the top slit needed to go (just above his head). This slit only needs to be as wide as the acetate strip.

Adding a stopper to the bottom of the meerkat. 


I covered over the bottom slit with the rocks, being sure to not glue the middle portion down where the meerkat would pop up. I also die cut a few cloud shapes and placed one of these over the upper slit, again being sure to not glue down the middle portion.

I added part of an African tree die I have from Elizabeth Craft, and a few more clouds to complete my scene. I then adhered my card front to the base, being careful to not adhere any of the moving mechanisms. I also added 2 die cut cloud shapes to the front and back of the top of the acetate to act as a pull mechanism. I had glued in the word “Pull” on the front cloud.

Finally, I added some accents to the sand with copic markers E35, W5 and YG17 for grass. I also used a sparkle pen from Gelly Roll to add a little sparkle to the sand.

I hope you can give this card a try - it’s such a fun card to make and receive - and perfect for the men in our lives!


Friday, 22 November 2019

(Video) "No Peeking" Panda Christmas card

Hello everyone, it’s Karen again from @Karens_Kardzz and I’ve got a “No Peeking Panda” Christmas card to share with you today that has a fun inside surprise element.





If you would like to see a video of how I made this card, you can see it in HD HERE.  Otherwise, the video can also be seen down below.



I started this card by cutting a card front that is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” from white cardstock. The base is 4 1/4” x 11”.

I started working on the card front first so it would have time to dry. I white heat embossed a selection of snowflakes all over the front. I used the snowflakes from Simon Says Stamp “Lots of Snowflakes” set, but you could use whatever you have. Then I ink smooshed the card front with Distress Oxide inks in the colours Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, and Blueprint Sketch. Once I had this looking the way I wanted it to, I spritzed the front with Tsukineko shimmer spray in Sparkle. I set this aside to dry.

Front of the card with snowflakes


I took my images from three Gerda Steiner stamp sets - Lovely Pandas, Peeking Friends, and Puppy Kisses for Santa.


I used all the pandas, but for the one holding the balloon, I used a baby wipe to remove any ink from the balloon or string. I wanted him to look like he was standing by Santa, waiting for his turn to give Santa a hug!  I coloured all these images with copic markers and I have listed the markers I used down below.

Since I don’t have the dies, I fussy cut out my images. For the Peeking panda and Santa that go on the card front, I didn’t want the copic markers to show through to the inside when you open the card. To get a matching cut, I used temporary tape to adhere another piece of cardstock to the back of my coloured image, and then cut through both pieces of cardstock together.

Cutting through two layers of cardstock


I creased the card base at 2 3/4” in from both ends and then used a bone folder to really crease the folds.

Crease card base at 2 3/4" from both ends

On the inside, I placed the word “Joy” from the Simon Says Stamp set “Stained Glass Greetings” and stamped this in Versafine black ink. I coloured this in with a red Tombow marker so it wouldn’t bleed through to the back. I used a red copic marker and coloured a scrap strip of cardstock. I stamped this with Versamark ink and white heat embossed the sentiment -“May your Christmas be filled with”.  I trimmed this down and adhered it across the word Joy with double sided tape.

I stamped a few more snowflakes on the inside front panels in Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink and then sprinkled them with some Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder and heat set them.

Then I cut my snowflake card front in half at 2 3/4”. After making sure I had these with the snowflakes lined up the way they were stamped, I adhered these to the front folds of my card base. I placed 1/8” double sided tape along the coloured peeking panda’s paws and placed him on the card front near the top. I glued the matching blank back piece and adhered it to the back of the panda so he was white when you open the card.  I did the same with the peeking Santa, placing tape just on his mittens.

Adhering the back of the peeking Santa

On the inside, I placed my images where I wanted them to be and glued them down into place.   I was careful to keep the standing panda to the right of the front fold. The Santa with the puppy was just slightly on the fold and I had to work to make sure he was creased very well, using a bone folder and pinching the crease. I found I had to keep working at this crease, but it eventually works out.

Showing the crease line with images attached

For the sentiment on the front of the card, I stamped the “No Peeking” from the Peeking Friends stamp set in Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink onto white cardstock. I had a die in my stash that I used to partially die cut the ends into fishtails, but you could easily do this with scissors if you don’t have a die. I also cut one slightly longer out of silver foil cardstock and adhered these together. I then used double sided tape to adhere my sentiment to the card front.

I love that this card is still 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” and fits into a regular A2 sized envelope, yet it has such a fun surprise inside and lots of room to write a message. I hope you’ll give it a try!

Copic markers used:

Santa:  E000, E00, R20, R39, R25, R35, YR23, N6, N4, N2, C2, C0
Dog:  E35, E53, E51, R20, G99, G94, G82, YR23
Pandas:  N6, N4, N2, N0, R20, C2, C0



Thursday, 14 November 2019

Carolling Pandas with Gerda Steiner’s Lovely Panda and Carol Kittens

Hello, it's Karen here (@karens_kardzz) and I have an interactive Carolling Panda Christmas card to share with you today.  I've used images from Gerda Steiner’s Lovely Pandas stamp set and the Carol Kittens as well. Here's a look at the card.






I love how when you pull out the tab, the panda is singing along with the kittens, but is instead singing "Beary Christmas".  And it looks like the one kitten on the left is really giving him the stink eye!

I think it’s easiest to see the construction of this card on HD video, and you can see it HERE


I started my card by making masks of the kittens and the panda as well as the envelope that the panda is holding.  I also made a mask of a snowbank using Lawn Fawn's Hillside border dies.  For the evergreen trees in the background I used Newton's Nook Evergreen stencil and I made a mask of this as well.

I stamped out the kittens on the front of my card, using the masks for the center kitten.  I left room below the kittens to add my sentiment. Then I masked all the kittens and positioned the snow drift mask over the kittens.  I positioned the evergreen stencil over the snowbank and used Distress Oxide Evergreen Bough ink to fill in the trees.  I then applied Nuvo Glimmer paste in Moonstone over the trees.  Once the glimmer paste was dry, I used Copic markers to colour in the kittens.  I have listed the markers I used down below.

To create the tab, I cut a piece of 110# cardstock into a rectangle measuring 2 1/8" x 4 1/2".  I corner rounded 2 of the edges to create the pull part of the tab.  You also need a stopper at the other end, and I made this from a strip of cardstock that was 1/2" x 2 1/2".  I adhered it to the back edge of the tab with 1/8" double sided adhesive. 

Showing the tab construction

I masked off the left, rounded edge of the tab where the word pull will go, approximately 3/8".  I then placed the tab in my stamp positioner and positioned the panda holding the envelope onto the left side of the tab. I used Gina K black amalgam ink to ink up my stamp and then used a baby wipe to remove the heart and inside lines of the envelope. I lightly stamped the image onto the tab and then placed the mask of the envelope over where it should be on the image on the tab.  I then stamped the image again to get a good impression.  I used a copic multiliner pen to go over the edges of the envelope where it hadn't transferred completely.  I then used the music sheet from one of the kittens to stamp onto the "envelope" the bear is holding so it would be a music sheet.  Again, I used a baby wipe to remove any unwanted lines or ink for this.

Showing removal of unwanted lines on the music sheet

 I stamped the word "Beary" from MFT's Polar Bear Pals stamp set, and the "Christmas" from Lawn Fawn's Here We Go A-Waddling set, just to the right of the bear.  I also used this Lawn Fawn set for the sentiment on the front of the card.  The next step was to mask off the bear and position the snowdrift mask.  Once they were in place I created the trees with the Evergreen stencil the same as was done on the front, and finally covered the trees with the Nuvo Glimmer paste. I coloured in the bear with copic markers, and they are listed below.

The last step for both the front of the card and the tab was to mask everything off, including the trees and then I ink blended the sky with Distress Oxide inks in the colours Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet and Chipped Sapphire.  I also ink blended these colours onto a scrap piece of cardstock that was big enough for my sentiment and to die cut the "Pull" letters from.  Once the sky was inked up, I applied Nuvo Shimmer pen to the snowbanks, and the trees.

I stamped "We wish you a merry Christmas" onto the piece of cardstock I had inked in the sky colours with Versafine ink and heat embossed it in white. I fussy cut this out and added fishtail edges to it.  I die cut the word "Pull" from Lawn Fawn's Picture Changer die set and adhered it to the tab, but you could easily stamp the word or place an arrow on the tab.

To assemble the card, you need to make a channel that the pull tab will run along so I positioned the tab where I wanted it to be seen on the front ( roughly parallel to the kittens) and marked this on the back in pencil.   I placed double sided foam adhesive along the top and bottom of the back of my card front, and another strip that would butt up to the stopper end of the pull tab.  I also placed foam tape along the stopper edge of the tab so it couldn't push through to the other side.  Finally, you need to place small pieces of foam tape on the left edge of the card so the tab cannot pull out of the card completely.  The picture below shows placement of the foam tape.

Placement of the foam tape - notice the stoppers at the front and back of the tab

Finally, I removed the backing on the foam tape and keeping the tab in position, turned it over and adhered it to the card front.

So here’s that list of copic markers that I used:

Panda - N6, N4, N2, N0, C2, C0, R00
Kitten on the left - E51, E53, E33, YR27 Scarf - G99, G94, G82
Middle kitten - N8, N6, N2, N0 Scarf - B04, B02, B00
Kitten on the right - N4, N2, N1, N0 Scarf - RV 25, RV 14, RV 21
Hats - R39, R29, R35
Music sheets - Y21
Sky “fill in” - V12

Whew!  I know that's a long post, but this is a fun card and I hope you’ll give it a try.  Truly, I think it's easiest to just watch the video for the best explanation of how to make this one.



Saturday, 31 August 2019

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch card with a Singing Puppy!

Hello again everyone!  I'm back with another card using Gerda Steiner's "Chicken Scratch" stamp set and a very happy, singing puppy from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I am honoured to say I am also a guest designer again today on the Gerda Steiner blog! You can see her blog HERE.  I absolutely adore this little puppy and have found ways to use him on several cards.

I started by stamping all my images onto 110# cardstock using copic friendly ink (I used Gina K amalgam black ink).  I then used copic markers to colour in all the images and then fussy cut them out.  The markers I used are shown below and also at the end of this post in a list.  I also used a black glaze pen on all the eyes.




For the background, I used the Cloud stencil from My Favorite Things with Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink to make the sky.  I then used Lawn Fawn's Little Picket Fence border die to cut a fence from white cardstock.  I also cut the grass from green cardstock that I had in my stash, using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside dies.  I embossed the grass using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Trails die to give the grass area some interest.


I then adhered the grass and fence onto my card front.  I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment (from MFT's Essential Sentiments stamp set) with Versafine Ink, and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I stamped the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment onto white cardstock using VersaFine onyx black ink, and then freestylye drew a speech box around it using a T ruler and rounding the corners.  I fussy cut this out and used a blending foam to ink the outside edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink.



Then I adhered all my images to the card front.  I popped up the puppy and the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment on foam tape while all the other images were glued directly to the card front.  Finally, I adhered my card front to the card base.

Thanks again for joining me, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies used:

Gerda Steiner - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You? stamp sets
MFT's cloud stencil
Lawn Fawn dies - Little Picket Fence, Stitched Hillside, and Stitched Trails
Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink, Versamarkink, Versafine onyx black ink, Gina K amalgam black ink
Copic Markers:
Chickens - R24, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, C2, E40
Rooster - BG78, BG18, BG49, BG32, R24, Y17, E35, E13, E11
Pig - R22, R20, R43, N4
Dog - E79, E59, E51, E53, E34, E23, R39, R29, R35

Monday, 26 August 2019

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch and Howl are You?

Hello Everyone!  I know I've been MIA from my blog but its been summer and there has been a fair bit going on here as well as a short holiday.  I’m super excited to tell you that I have also posted this card as a guest designer on the Gerda Steiner blog today!! You can check out her blog HERE. I’m just so grateful to Gerda for this opportunity. I've got a card today made with the adorable "Chicken Scratch" stamp set from Gerda Steiner and I had this idea to pair it up with some of the puppies from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I absolutely love the expressions on the faces of her animals - they tell a story without needing any words!



I stamped out all the chicken images with copic friendly ink ( I used Gina K black amalgam ink).  The pictures below show which copic markers I used, and I have them listed below also.


I had previously stamped and coloured in this dog from the "Howl are You" set several months ago.  I frequently do stamp more images and colour them all at the same time as it saves time trying to decide which markers to use and then getting them out.  Then I store them either with the stamps or in a plastic folder so I can quickly make a card as needed or when inspiration strikes!  So I'm not entirely sure which markers I used, but my best guess is N4, N6 for his paws, E79, E59, E57 for the darker brown areas, and YR23, E35 for his snout, and R20 for inside his ears.  I also used a black glaze pen for the eyes on both the chickens and the dog as well as the dog's nose.  I used glossy accents to fill in his teeth and give them a little shine.



After colouring in all my images, I fussy cut them out.

I die cut the frame from black cardstock using a Double Stitch Rectangle Frame die from Poppy Stamps.   I adhered black foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives to the back of the frame to give it  some dimesion.
I also cut one of the frames from white cardstock and kept the middle inside piece for my card.  I embossed this inside piece with an embossing folder from Taylored Expressions called On the Spot. I liked how the circles give a rather whacky feel to the card which I thought was in keeping with the stacked chickens and long suffering dog.

Once everything was cut and embossed, I positioned my elements on my card and decided where I wanted my sentiment to go. I then positioned my card front in my stamp positioner, removed my elements leaving the stamp in place, and embossed the sentiment with Versafine black ink.


Then I adhered my frame above the sentiment, added in the inside embossed piece and then finally adhered my dog and chickens.  The final step was to adhere my card front to my card base.

Thank you so much for joining me for this fun little card.  Have a great day and happy crafting!

Supplies used:
Gerda Steiner stamps - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You?
Poppy Stamps - Double Stitch Rectangle Frames, model 1996
Taylored Expressions - On the Spot embossing folder
Copic markers - R24, R20, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, E40, C2, N4, N6, E79, E59, E57, YR23, E35.
Ink - Gina K black amalgam ink, Versafine Onyx black ink
110# cardstock