Hoppiness Bunnies

Hi and welcome! It’s starting to feel like an early spring here in my part of Canada and since it’s almost Easter, I couldn’t resist making a card with cute bunnies and Easter eggs. And of course, it needed to have a little surprise factor so I’ve made it a Z fold card. 

I started with a piece of cardstock that measured 4 1/4 x 11” long. I created a mask of hills which I first drew on some computer paper and then traced onto contact paper for masking. I made it so when the card is closed, it looks like one hill in the background. After masking off the sky, I ink blended the hills with Distress Oxide inks in Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness.  Then I masked off the hills and used a stencil to create a cloudy sky with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Day Colour Cloud ink.  After the ink was dry, I creased this background at 2 3/4” and 5 1/2”.  The card folds over like a regular card at the 5 1/2” mark (a valley fold), but then folds back on itself at the 2 3/4” mark (a mountain fold) so the ink blended side is to the front. 

Next, I die cut grass from green cardstock (three layers for each half of the card).  On the left side, if you crease the grass layers at the 2 3/4” mark, it will help prevent the paper from tearing when the card is folded.  I diecut the tree using coloured cardstock, with a die from MFT Stamps.

I used Copic markers to colour all the images from the “Hoppiness” stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs but couldn’t fit one of the bunnies on in the end. I also stamped and coloured two fence sections and two butterflies.

The eggs were made from some scrap pieces of Nuvo Shimmer Powder painted cardstock, and I added some Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Sparkle Paste in Gold and Frosty to a few of them before cutting them out.  I created my own egg shaped templates for the eggs. 

To assemble the card, I placed a small piece of masking tape where the left front of the card folded over to on the right side.  The hidden area of the card is to the left of this mark and over to the first fold on the left. Next, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with clear embossing powder on the right side so it would be visible when the card is closed.  To begin assembling, I first glued the tree on the left side.  Next, I glued the fence sections on either side of the card.  Then I started layering the grass rows, and added in eggs and bunnies until I was satisfied with the arrangement.  I kept all the eggs and bunnies in the hidden area, with the exception of the one bunny on the left front. I used glue to attach all the images as I didn’t want any excess bulk from foam tape.  The bunny on the left front is the only one I attached with foam tape.    

Finally, in order to have somewhere to write a message, I attached another A2 card base to the back of the card. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a happy, creative day! 

Positivi’tea’ Friendship Card

Hi there! I’ve got a friendship/thinking of you card today to share with you. I’ve combined the two latest stamp sets (Hello Sunshine and Positivi-tea) from Gerda Steiner Designs for this one. They are both just such fun, cheerful stamp sets and I felt like they would go well together. 

I started by stamping and copic colouring the images. I’ve listed the markers I used down below. The main sentiment was combined from the two stamp sets, and I just masked off the parts of the sentiments that I didn’t want to use. I love how all the messages in these two sets are just so uplifting. I also used the happy face stamp (from the Hello Sunshine set) and white embossing powder to decorate the teapot.  

For the background, I used the Bohemian Plate die from Simon Says Stamp to make that lovely pinpoint detail. I then die cut it with the A2 Thin Frames die, also from Simon Says Stamp, to create the thin rectangular frame. I also used this die to cut another rectangle from some teal pearlescent cardstock.

I glued the background pieces to an A2 card base, and then filled in the rectangle with the teal rectangle. I popped the mouse up on foam tape and then glued my sentiment and images in place.  

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you’re having a great day! 

Copic markers used:

Bear - E35, E34, E53, E51, sign - YR16, Y38, YR21

Mouse - C2, C1, C0, R00

Tea set - BG18, BG57, B52

Tea bag - E25, E31, E53

Puffin Splash Cards

Hi and welcome! I have some news I’ve been bursting to share and can now finally let it out.  I have joined the Creative Expressions design team and so will be sharing some of their gorgeous stamps, dies and Cosmic Shimmer products with you. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.  

My cards today use their new Paper Cuts Edger die called Puffin Splash. These dies are quite amazing because you can keep them as simple as you want (as in my second card), or really glam them up to create a more personalized card (like my first card). 

For this first card, I created a watercolour background using Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints and watercolour cardstock. I made sure to splatter it when wet with some of the same paints, and also misted it with water when it was dry, to get the look of water splashes.  I also lightly spritzed it with Cosmic Shimmer Airless Mister in Pearlescent to give it a little sparkle. I placed double sided adhesive around all the back edges of my watercolour background, and then cut a piece of scrap acetate (from a stamp set package), that was about a 1/4” larger than my background on all four sides. On my work surface, I layered the acetate first, them my card background face down, and centered it on the acetate. Then I removed the adhesive backing along one side edge and wrapped the extra acetate up to attach to it. I was careful to not pull the acetate too tightly as the shaker needs a little room for the filling to move around. I repeated this with the two sides and the bottom edge. 

At this point, you have a pouch that can be filled from the top. I wanted to use some of the die cuts to fill my shaker, so I ran it through my machine a couple of times with white cardstock. I made sure that one of these die cuts had an extra 1/2” border on the left of the puffin, so I could use it for the front of my card. Since the die creates fish that are in several pieces, I glued them to acetate before cutting them out. To fill the shaker, I added in these die cut pieces with some dollar store seed beads and glitter, and then removed the adhesive backing on the top edge and folded over the acetate at the top. I’m not sure what it is about shaker cards, but at this point you just have to stop and shake that shaker and watch everything move around inside! 

For the puffin die cut, I used copic markers to colour in the puffin pieces, and a little Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Polish to give a little shine. I used some regular Scotch tape on the back of my puffin so I could reinsert the pieces, but you could also just add these in with glue later. I creased the card just to the left of the puffin to give me about a 1/2” border which I folded under with a bone folder. Next, I used glue on the back of my puffin die cut and adhered it to the shaker card front, making sure the folded edge went to the back of the watercolour card. I feel this just gives a cleaner look to the card but you could definitely leave this step out and just cut the puffin die cut flush with the edge of the card. Next, I glued my card front to an A2 sized card base. 

For the sentiment, I used the Sending Wishes sentiment from Creative Expressions “A Perfect Day” stamp set (this set is full of great sentiments!).  Since I love a little fun on my cards, I changed the “W” to an “F” to make “Fishes”, and then crossed this one out and stamped “Wishes”. I attached this sentiment to a matching piece of water coloured cardstock, and adhered it to the front of my card. I’m telling you, that shaker is so much fun! They work so much better when they’re full sized like this one. 

For my second and definitely simpler card, I again made a watercoloured background using the same Cosmic Shimmer products as in my first card. I kept this card quite simple and just die cut the puffin out of white cardstock, making sure I removed and saved all the die cut pieces. I again left a 1/2” border to the left of the puffin that I creased and folded under.  I used glue to attach the puffin diecut to the watercolour card front and also adhered the left folded edge behind the watercolour card front. I attached this to an A2 card base. Then I glued the die cut pieces to the front of the card to add some interest. The sentiment is the same “Sending Wishes” as in the first card, and I have adhered it to a strip of watercolour cardstock. 

So there you have it - one card that has a little more bling added to it and the second, a much easier card. But both of them have that adorable puffin and could be used for so many different occasions. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you’ll come back again. 

Sunshine Bear Mini Flip Slider Card

Hi there! Today I’ve got a birthday card that features the sweetest, little bear from the brand new “Hello Sunshine” stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs. I chose to make this into a birthday card, but there are some really nice sentiments in the set that would make it suitable for a “hello” card as well. My card also has what I’m calling a mini flip slider mechanism which is quite simple to make, and there are no dies required. I had the thought - “What’s better than one smiling bear on a card?” Well, that would be four smiling bears on a card!! And so the mini flip slider came into play.  :)  

I’ve got a video for you of how I made the flip slider so if you would like to see how I created it, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

I borrowed that little bunny and his presents from the GSD “Birthday Bear” stamp set as I thought he would go so well with this bear.  The banner is from Whimsy Stamps and is called the Slimline Bunting Banner die set. I’ve listed the copic markers I used down below. Thank you so much for joining me, and I hope you’re having a great day! 

Copic markers used:

Light Brown Bear - E35, E34, E53, E51  Sign - BV04, BV02, BV01

Dark Brown Bear - E59, E57, E23, E31 Sign - G94, G82, G20

Black Bear - N6, N4, N2, N0 Sign - BG 72, B52, BG000

Grey Bear - W7, W5, W3, W1 Sign - YR21, YR31, YR20

Bunny - W1, W2, W3, E40, R00, R20

Shaking up Some Positivi-Tea

Hi everyone and welcome!  I’ve got a shaker card for you today that features the new Gerda Steiner Designs stamp set called Positivi-Tea.  This is such a sweet stamp set and makes such an uplifting card that can be sent to anyone during these difficult times when we’re all trying to stay healthy and sane. 

This is the front of the card and as you can see, it’s got a shaker element to it. I’ve die cut the shaker frame several times from a Sunny Studios Frilly Frames Herringbone die, but any frame die would work here. I backed it with a purple pearl cardstock and filled it with some coordinating shaker elements. Since I wanted to have a fun inside element, I’ve only added the sentiment and this sweet bear to the front of the card. I coloured him with alcohol markers (listed below), and mounted him just at the side of the card. I white heat embossed the hearts on the cup and teapot from a small heart stamp I found in my stash. 

So for the inside fun, I’ve added the little mouse with his tea set, complete with a used tea bag! I coloured and fussy cut them out before adding them to the card.  I love that inside sentiment and I think it’s just such a nice, inspiring message to send anyone. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you’re having a great day! 

Alcohol markers used:

Bear - Spectrum Noir in BG 7, BG 5, BG3. Copic markers in C1, C0, R00

Mouse - Copic C2, C1, C0, R00

Tea Set - Copic B66, B63

Tea Bag - Copic E25, E31, E53, Colourless blender 0. 

Acetate Embellishments from Laminating Pouches with Video

Hello and welcome! I’ve been on a bit of a laminating streak lately and I’ve got a few cards to share with you today that all use embellishments made from laminating pouches.  This is a slightly different post today because I mainly wanted to share with you how to create these embellishments rather than to make a card. I do have several card examples to show you though, so I hope you’ll hang in there with me. I’ve got a video of how I made these so if you would like to see it, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

I have an inexpensive laminator and laminating pouches, all from Amazon. I typically start by cutting my pouch in half lengthwise as I feel I waste less this way. I open the pouch and apply alcohol inks to one side of the pouch. I find the ink doesn’t move as easily as it does on Yupo paper or a glossy cardstock, so I probably use more blending solution than normal. I use a hand held air blower to help move the ink around and I try to leave about a half an inch to inch around the edges free of ink. Once the ink is dry, you can close it up, put it in a parchment carrier and run it through the laminator. However, I should note that you can also use a stamp and a pigment ink to stamp an image on the other half of the inside pouch.  The ink must dry though or it will smudge when it goes through the laminator. The other options I have found for stamping, are after laminating, to use a Stazon type ink, or to emboss a stamped image with Versamark ink and embossing powder ( don’t forget to use an anti-static powder bag before stamping). Also, if you stamp after laminating, check both sides of the pouch because often, one side is a little nicer than the other.  

Once you have laminated the pouch, you can die cut images from it or fussy cut around stamped images. I find I save even the small scraps to cut small butterflies or hearts from. On the example above, I stamped the butterfly with white Stazon ink, and after cutting it out, I creased along the edges of the body on my scoreboard. I found that when I folded along the creases and scored it, the butterfly seemed to separate slightly along the fold. I fixed this by putting it back in a parchment carrier and ran it through the laminator again. I have even made some see-through windows with these as well as shaker cards.  There are just so many possibilities!  I have some more card examples below to give you a few more ideas.  I really hope you’ll give this technique a try and share your work!