Somebunny to Love

I recently received my first issue of Quick Cards Made Easy magazine. This is a magazine that comes from Great Britian so you have to convert metric to standard measurements but that's not really hard. Just look at the other side of your ruler! Anyway, they included a free gift of these adorable stamps. Here's one of them that I made. I'll post the second one on Wednesday.

Materials needed:
Somebunny to Love stamp set from Quick Cards
Baked Brown Sugar card stock, 1 3/4 x 3 3/8", 1 3/4 x 1 1/4", 1 3/4 x 5", 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Pool Party card stock 4 x 5 1/4"
Patterned papers
      from SU International Bazaar 1 1/2 x 4 3/4"
      from the center of Quick Cards magazine 1 x 1 /2", 1 1/2 x 3 1/8"
White card stock 2 3/8 x 3 5/8" plus
Bermuda Bay ink
Basic Black ink
Stampin' Pastels (#105542)
Brights Brads (#119740)
Aqua painter (#103954)
Corner rounder
Large oval punch
Cotton swabs
Hair spray
Stampin' Dimenionals (#104430)

1. Stamp the bunny stamp in black ink on white card stock. Stamp the "hello" in Bermuda Bay ink on white card stock.
2. Use the corner rounder to round the corners on the bunny image. Use the large oval punch to punch out the "hello" greeting.
3. Use cotton swabs or sponge applicators to adhere the pastel colors onto the image.  Spray it lightly with hair spray when finished. Hair spray is not acid free so if you want all acid free, skip this step. The hair spray will seal the colors and brighten them.
4. Adhere the Pool Party card stock on top of the largest piece of Baked Brown Sugar card stock. Adhere the patterned papers on top of the Baked Brown Sugar card stock of the corresponding sizes. You should have a border around each piece of patterned paper.
5. Adhere the Baked Brown Sugar card stock and patterned papers on the card as shown.
6. Place adhesive on the back of the colored image and adhere it to the left over the patterned papers.
Place Stampin' Dimensionals on the back of the greeting oval and adhere it to the top right of the card.
7. Punch holes in the rectangles. Punch a hole in the top left of the largest, in the bottom right corners of the other two. Add brads to each of these.
8. Adhere the card front to a card back.
Have fun!

Birthday Gift Bags Card

I want to thank my friend, Darlene Booth, for the idea of the gift bags on this card. The ones on her card were so adorable that I just had to borrow the idea!

 Materials needed:
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (#115370)
Every Little Bit stamp set (#120558)
Decorative Label punch (#120907)
International Bazaar patterned paper (#126920)
Wild Wasabi card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Kraft card stock
So Saffron card stock
Raspberry Ripple ink
Modern Label punch (#119849)
Word Window punch (#119857)
Glue Dots (#103683)
Stampin' Dimenionals (#104430)
Burlap or burlap string
Gift wrapping tissue paper

1. Punch 3 Decorative Labels from the Kraft card stock. Trim the side points to make a curve and the top and bottom like shown in the picture.

2. Pull some string from a piece of burlap. Cut pieces about 2 3/4" long for the handles of the gift bags.

Place glue dots on the back of the label and press the ends of the burlap into them.
3. Cut a piece of tissue paper about 3/4 x 1 1/4" in size. Pinch one end together. Add adhesive to the back top of label piece. Place the tissue on it as shown in the picture. On one "gift bag" place Stampin' Dimensionals on the back.

4. Adhere the patterned paper to the Wild Wasabi cardstock.
Place more adhesive to the back of the gift bags. Press them on the left side of the patterned paper. The top gift bag should be the one that has Stampin' Dimensionals on the back so that it will be a little above the other bags.

5. Stamp the small flower on the front of each gift bag from Every Little Bit stamp set in Raspberry Ripple.
6. Stamp your greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes on a piece of So Saffron card stock. Punch it out with the Word Window punch.
7. Punch out a Modern Label punch from Kraft card stock. Adhere the So Saffron greeting on to the Modern Label punch.
8. Pull a piece of burlap string from the burlap that is about 12" long. Fold it in half so it is doubled. Place it on the right hand side of the card front and wrap it around to the back. Use adhesive on the back to hold it in place.
9. Place adhesive on the back of the label greeting and press it on the top right of the card, overlapping the burlap string.
10. Adhere the card front to a card base and with some one a very happy birthday.

Two for One

I was playing around with different colors and different techniques that I had seen recently so today's post gives you two cards and two techniques in one post.

Card 1

Card 2

Materials needed:
Raining Flowers stamp set (#122767)
Aqua Painter (#103954)
Dazzles from Hot Off the Press and Paper Wishes
Heat tool
Watercolor paper
Table salt
Paper towels
Tweezers
Card 1
Marina Mist reinker
Melon Mambo marker
Rose Red marker
Always Artichoke marker
1/2" Melon Mambo Polka Dot grograin ribbon (#115611)
Card 2 
Melon Mambo reinker
Marina Mist ink
Pacific Point ink
3/8" Marina Mist Striped Organdy ribbon (#129292)
Stampin' Dimenionals (#104430)

The first technique is doing background color with texture using table salt. Actually, I think you can use any kind of salt that you have available. I had the old fashioned table salt.
1. Cut your watercolor paper to the size card you want. Mine is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2".

Pour 3-4 drops of ink from your reinker directly onto the watercolor paper. The more ink you drop on the paper, the darker your final color will be.
2.

Squeeze the barrel of the Aqua Painter to get lots of water in the brush. Swish the brush through the ink to cover the paper. I left a little white on one end of each but that's just whatever your preference is.
3. Sprinkle the salt all over the wet ink. Allow a minute or two for the ink to dry.

I sprinkled the salt fairly thick.
4.Using a paper towel, rub all of the salt off of the paper.

5. You should be able to see the texture the salt made while it reacted with the ink on the paper. The next picture shows you the salted ink background. The second picture shows just the ink spread across the paper without the salt.

I hope you can see the difference in these pictures.
Lay these aside for a while as you curl your ribbon. Which is the next technique, I'll show you.
You can curl any kind of synthetic ribbon. Organdy curls very quickly so be careful. Grosgrain takes longer but you want to be careful not to burn the ribbon.
1. Cut your ribbon longer than you would need if you just lay it flat on the project. The ribbon will shrink some. Use a tweezer to hold your ribbon or tape it down so that the heat tool doesn't blow it away.

2. Hold the heat tool close but not touching the ribbon. Watch it carefully as you heat it. Like I said, some ribbons curl faster than others. Also be careful not to burn your fingers. Move the heat tool along the ribbon to curl the length that you want.

Decorating the card

1. Peel the Dazzles that you choose for your card off the Dazzle paper. I have some Mrs. Grossman tweezers that I love.  I've had them for about 12 years. I don't know if they still make them or not.

Use tweezers to get the Dazzle started and then it will peel right off with little problem.
2.  Place the Dazzle onto the dried watercolor paper background.
3. Stamp the flower images that you want from the Raining Flowers two step stamping set. For card 1, I used the markers to get 2 colors on the stamp. For card 2 I used the ink pads. Cut out the images with scissors. Adhere them to the card. I found it was easy to lift the Dazzle from card 1 to place the stem under a portion of it. After that, I pressed the Dazzle down harder so it would stay.
4. Place adhesive on the back of the curled ribbon. Press it to the bottom of the card, about 1/2" from the bottom.
5. On card 2, I placed the flower image on a Stampin' Dimensional. Then I placed it on the background.
6. Adhere the card front to a card base and you are ready to make someone happy with a bright, colorful card.

I hope that I didn't confuse anyone with showing 2 techniques on the same card. If you think it would be easier to have each technique on separate posts, leave me a message & I'll do that for you.

Floral Gate Fold

Materials needed:
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Tempting Turquoise card stock  5 1/2 x 8 1/2"
Summer Smooches patterned paper (#125409) 2 pieces 1-7/8 x 5"
Raspberry Ripple card stock
Secret Garden dies (#129372)
Season of Style Washi tape (#132155)
Brights Buttons Collection (#119747)
Midnight Muse ink
Floss
Glue Dots (#103683)
Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)

1. Score and fold the 8 1/2" card stock at 1 7/8" from each end. When you fold these will meet in the middle.
2.  Press a strip of washi tape across the bottom of the patterned paper about 1/2" from the bottom.
3. Adhere the patterned paper to the center of the gate folded card.
4. Stamp the large flower image on the Raspberry Ripple card stock with Midnight Muse ink. Use the Secret Garden die to cut the flower with your Big Shot machine. Place Stampin' Dimenionals on one half of the back of the flower. Press the flower image on the center of the patterned paper. Keep the other half of the flower loose so that the card will open in the center.
5. Thread floss through the button. Add glue dots to the back and adhere to the top left side of the patterned paper.
6. You can add a greeting or note to the inside of the card.

Blue Flowers & Dragon Fly

I always have fun when I'm layering lots of elements on to a card. I hope you like this one today.

Materials needed:
Greenhouse Gala patterned paper 3 1/2 x 5"
Coastal Cabana card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Pacific Point card stock
Bermuda Bay card stock
Melon Mambo card stock
Gumball Green card stock
other pink patterned paper
Flower Fest stamp set (#122280)
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
Winged Brad Buddies from Paper Wishes
Word Window punch
Modern Label punch
2 3/8" Scallop punch
5 point leaf punch
1 1/4" Circle punch
Brads
Pacific Point ink
Stampin' Dimensionals

1.  Stamp your flower image choices on the different colors of card stock. Punch or cut them out.
2. Adhere the patterned paper on top of the Coastal Cabana card stock.
3. Decide on the arrangement of flower images that you like. Then adhere them in place. Have one or two popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals. Leave some of the patterned paper showing. You might want to have one or two extend off of the paper. Trim to the card stock edge.
4. Place the dragonfly brad on the card. Mark the place for the holes for the brads to hold it in place. Punch holes where you  marked. Place the dragonfly on the card by pushing the brads through the holes of the dragonfly and the card.
5. Punch out a Modern Label from Gumball Green. Stamp a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes on the Bermuda Bay card stock. Punch it out with the Word Window punch. Adhere it on top of the Modern Label.
6. Punch holes in the Modern Label and the card front. Add brads to hold the greeting in place.
7. Adhere the card front to a card back. Place your favorite saying or note on the inside.

Another Sympathy

Here is another sympathy card. Actually, all you have to do is change the greeting for it to be most any type of card that you want. I took this one from Dawn Griffith. She had one very much like this a few weeks ago. I actually didn't change it a whole lot.

Materials needed:
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Secret Garden Framelits dies (#129372)
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (#115370)
Bitty Banners framelits dies (#129267)
Basic Black card stock  4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Crisp Cantaloupe card stock 4 x 5 1/4"
White card stock
Greenhouse Gala patterned paper  2 x 5 1/4"
Paper Studio embossing folder
Crisp Cantaloupe ink
Stampin' Pastels (105542)
Cotton swabs or Q Tips
Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)

1. Place the Crisp Cantaloupe card stock in the embossing folder and run it through your Big Shot machine. Adhere this on to the Basic Black card stock.
2. Adhere the strip of patterned paper about 1/2" from the top of the card.
3. Stamp 3 flower images from Secret Garden stamp set on white card stock.
4. Color the flowers with your pastel chalks (SU! has not carried chalks for a couple of years now.) Use a cotton swab or your fingers to apply the color. I used 2 shades of pink for the flowers. Blend your pastels to give your flowers the shading that you want.
5. Place the framelit die over the flower and run it through your Big Shot. Do this for each flower image. Adhere 2 of the flowers directly on the patterned paper. Place Stampin' Dimensionals on the back of a third flower. Adhere it overlapping the other flowers some.
6. Stamp your greeting on Crisp Cantaloup card stock with Crisp Cantaloup ink. Place the banner die over this and run it through your Big Shot. Rub the edges of the banner across the ink pad to apply a bit of color. Add dimensionals to the back and place it on the top right side of the patterned paper.

I am leaving for North Carolina this morning for an area coordinators conference with Operation Christmas Child. I will be gone until Sunday but I have things set up to get cards on here for Friday & next Monday so be sure you come back to look. While I'm in NC, I will get a tour of the Billy Graham Library, the Samaritan's Purse International headquarters and Operation Christmas Child headquarters in Boone. I know that I will have many opportunities to learn so much about OCC and being an area coordinator. I have such a passion for this charity. We have the chance to be foreign missionaries without ever leaving home. No passport needed! The shoeboxes that we pack go to children in over 130 countries and take the story and the message of Jesus Christ to each of those children. I will post some pictures of my trip when I get back on a day that I don't usually post cards so that, if you are interested, you can see some of what I get to experience.

Mixed Media Thanks

This is definately a mixed media card. With the medias of watercolors, pencils, stamps, and Cricut, you've got a variety of techniques with this card. I had fun playing with it and coming out with this. I hope you like it.

Materials needed:

Vintage Verses stamp set (#129633)

Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)

Feels Good stamp set (#129684)

White card stock

Watercolor paper or white card stock

Coastal Cabana card stock

Watercolor pencils (#101879)

1/2" Grosgrain Striped Old Olive ribbon (#13883)

Aqua Painter (#103954)

Old Olive reinker

Marina Mist reinker

Melon Mambo reinker

Daffodil Delight reinker

Bermuda Bay ink

Early Espresso ink

Cricut Expression

Cricut Wild Card cartridge

Glue dots (#103683)

Stampin' Demensionals (#104430)

1. Start with a piece of watercolor paper that is at least 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" in size. I acutally used a larger piece of paper and then cut it down to the size I wanted after I was finished painting it. Place a drop or two of each reinker on a plastic palette or a foam plate. Be sure to keep them separate, so the colors don't mix.

2. Use the aqua painter or a wet paint brush to pick up some of the color on the brush tip. Using  plenty of water, cover the paper with the Marina Mist on the top and the Old Olive on the bottom but don't leave any white space between them. Next use the other colors to make a rainbow shape on top of the Marina Mist. Depending on how wet they are, they will run together. That's ok. In fact, I like the look that it gives it. With this I wasn't trying to actually paint a rainbow, just give it a rainbow sort of look. Put the paper aside to dry.

3. Use your Cricut and the Wild Card cartridge to cut a lacy oval shape with Coastal Cabana card stock that is on p. 39 of the booklet. For this card I cut the oval at 4". This will cut one side solid and the other side lacy. Cut the solid side off & save it for another project.

4. Put adhesive on the back around the "frame" portion of the cut out. You do not need adhesive on the entire oval. Place it on the left side of the card front when the watercoloring is dry.
5. Stamp a flower from the Secret Garden stamp set on white card stock with Early Espresso ink. Use the Watercolor pencils and the aqua painter to color the flower. Don't use as much water on this as you did to do the watercolor background. Be careful so it doesn't run. Cut the flower out.
6. Place dimensionals on the back of the flower and adhere it on top of the oval.
7. Cut a strip of ribbon about 6" long. Place adhesive on the back and press it to the right hand side of the card front. With another piece of ribbon, tie a bow. Place glue dots on the back of the ribbon and press it on top of the vertical ribbon that you already placed.
8. On a piece of Coastal Cabana card stock, stamp a "thanks" greeting in Bermuda Bay ink. Cut around the outside edge of the greeting. Place dimensionals on the back. Press this on the bottom right hand side overlapping the greeting on the oval and the ribbon.
9. When the card front is completed, adhere it to a card base. On the inside of this card, I chose a greeting from the Feel Good stamp set and stamped it with Bermuda Bay ink. Then I added my own personal note of thanks and mailed it to a friend.