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!

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!

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

*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!

*Video* MFT Birthday Buds Inside Pop Up Card

Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a great day!  I’m really excited to share with you this inside panel pop up card technique. It adds such a fun element to any card and you don’t need any special dies for it.  Basically, you’re adding a third page, or partial page to the inside of your card.  I first saw this done on a video by Jennifer McGuire and you can see her video here.

Inside pop up panel

If you would like to see an HD video of this card on YouTube you can FIND IT HERE or watch it below.

I made this card by first stamping and colouring in the images from MFT’S Birthday Buds stamp set and then cutting them out. I also cut 2 panels of light blue cardstock that were 4.25” x 4”, as well as 2 green hill shapes and a grassy border. I also die cut 2 matching cloud borders.

On the blue sky panels, I creased them 1/4” from one end on each of them ( these creases will line up with the fold on the card and once adhered, become the mechanism that will hold the panel upright).

Next, I adhered the hills to both the front and back sky panels and the the grassy border on the front panel. Finally, I adhered the cloud die cuts, making sure they did not extend past the top of the card. It is best to unfold the creased bottom of the sky panel and line it up with the fold on the card base to help with positioning of the cloud piece to be sure you don’t extend past the top of the card.

Then I arranged my coloured images where I wanted them to go on the panel and adhered them with glue. I did not duplicate the image on the back panel but you could certainly do this.  I also find it easier to stamp the inside sentiment now before attaching the pop up panel.

The next step is to glue together just the top portion of the panels.  You don’t want the bottom glued together because it needs to be able to splay out and hold the panel upright when the card is opened.

Glue just the top edges of the panels together

I put a double sided adhesive tape along the opened out, creased folds on the bottom of both the front and back panels. After removing the backing paper, I lined the edges of these panels up with the fold on the inside of the card. Once I had them in position, I held them in place and closed the card so that the tape would adhere along the fold. Now the pop up panel is finished!

Line up the creased ends along the inside fold of the card base

Fold up the card base keeping the panel in position

The completed pop up mechanism

Front of the card

For the front of the card, I decided to mask off a diagonal line and ink blended above it in blue inks to make a sky. I used a piece of green cardstock from Sunny Studios and a grassy border that I had in my stash, to make a grassy bottom half of my card front.  After trimming this down to fit the card, I adhered a white frame made from 3 layers of Hero Art’s Wood Frame die set. Finally, I attached my images and sentiment. I think the front of the card can be quite simple, leaving the wow factor for the inside.

I hope that you will give these pop up cards a try - they are just so much fun to open up and perfect for all ages and seasons!!

Simon Says Stamp “Fern Square” card

Hello everyone, I’m so glad to be back in my craft room after an incredibly busy December. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year has started off well for you!  I’ve got a couple of cards today that feature the Fern Square die from Simon Says Stamp. This is such a pretty die that I really wanted to make a whole card out of it.

If you would like to see an HD video of how I made this card, please click HERE.

I started by die cutting 3 - 4 of the Fern squares out of cardstock. These were to be my stencils so I taped the open end of the negative die cut with masking tape to help keep the stencil together. 

On my card front, I ink blended the stencil repeatedly with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink in a random pattern across the whole card front. The next step was to use the stencil to apply Moda Scrap Gelly paste over the inked ferns on one card. On the second card, I applied Nuvo Glimmer paste in Moonstone over the ferns. I set these aside to dry. 

Then I applied a strip of Die Cut’N Bond double sided adhesive to a piece of cardstock. From this, I die cut another Fern Square and saved both the positive and the negative images. I stacked 4 of the positive die cuts together (I already had that many cut from making the stencils). With the negative die cut, I removed the adhesive backing and sprinkled micro-glitter all over it. I used my finger to push the glitter into the adhesive and then used my bone folder to finish pressing it in. 

I repeated this same process with my word dies. I die cut the Thanks from Simon Says Stamp’s (SSS) “Script Thanks” die from the adhesive backed cardstock. The background cloud die was cut from regular white cardstock. For the birthday card, I die cut the “Happy” with an Impression Obsessions die from the adhesive backed paper. I used the die itself to trace around and fussy cut out of white cardstock to make the cloud outline. I then removed the adhesive backing from the words and applied glitter to them, making sure to use a bone folder to press the glitter down into the paper. I then glued the words to the cloud outline backgrounds. For the “birthday” sentiment, I used the birthday stamp in SSS Circle Sayings set, and stamped it in place with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink. 

Trace around the die and fussy cut to creat a cloud outline. 

Finally, I placed my elements on my cards to determine the placement of everything.  I used glue to adhere everything as the paste was slightly 3D. I found it easiest to adhere the negative Fern die cut first, holding the positive die cut in place. It took quite a bit of pressure to make sure the elements were stuck down and I used acrylic blocks to hold everything down while the glue dried. 

I love how these cards turned out and there is a difference between the two pastes - the moonstone glimmer paste has more golden flecks in it, while the Moda Scrap paste has a more satiny pearl look to it. I hope you can give these cards a try. Thank you so much for joining me and have fun crafting!