Bright Birthday and More Whimsy Retreat Projects!💡

Hello friends!  Hope that you’re having a great week so far!  Hubby and I are trying to figure out how this “retirement thing” goes together! LOL!  I think we’ll be having so much fun and we’re just really excited about the future and what we’ll be doing.

Speaking of which, this past Sunday he also celebrated a birthday and of course I had to make him a card that was suited for an electrician.  I had to add a bit of humor about his age on the inside, but this is what I came up with:

I’ve had this Stampin’ Up! Sunburst die and stamp set and haven’t used it that much since I bought it. (quite a while ago! Not quite sure how old.. LOL)  I thought it would make a great light beam for my VERY old Simon Says Stamp ‘Watts Up’ stamp set that was from a past card kit. (circa 2014/2015)…yep, all old!

I die cut the sunburst from some yellow and gold glitterstock that I glued together slightly off-set and then attached it over a side folding A2 sized black card base.  I stamped the sentiments over a couple of the yellow strips with black ink taking care to make room for the circle panel.

I then stamped the lightbulb over a white piece of cardstock and colored the base with Copics and used a marker draw a line above it for the string.  I took a solid heart from the stamp set and heat embossed it with some Gold Metallic Gilded EP and then sponged some yellow ink over the bulb for some glow.  I die cut it out with a circle die and then layered over another die cut circle black piece and popped it up over the sunburst layers with foam tape.

I tied a bow with some black twine and glued it to the light bulb base.  I also stamped the bulb in a lighter gray ink over the envelope and added a string to that as well with a gray marker. (The inside of the card said:  “Old is the new black.” 😆)

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And I also wanted to share that I’m still plugging away on the several kits that I received from the Whimsy Stamps Virtual Retreat last month!  These are really amazing projects and I’m having lots of fun putting them together still! (Christmas will be coming next..so stay tuned for those!):

This is a fun interactive card with a pull tab at the top where this cut little dragon slides upwards towards the sky! This kit 9 came with an A2 sized envelope, but I had to make my own envelope slightly larger to accommodate for the pull tab sticking above the card. I’ve added doodle lines around the edges and shadow stamped a sentiment at the bottom for my own added details.
This set was from kit 14. The hexagon shaped box was super fun and even came with the candy! There was also an extra stamped and cut out bee, so I used it to make another card… shaker style! I used the left over honeycomb die cut piece as a stencil on the card as well. I used the envelope that was provided in the kit above and decorated it for this A2 sized card instead. (I know someone that loves these candies…so they might get a surprise at some point! 😉)
And lastly, this was from kit 15 and TOTALLY different than what was photographed in the booklet! First of all, I received a plant image with a die cut speech bubble sentiments and thought it might be cool for a Halloween card on another project, so I saved those to use later. I received an EXTRA stamped sunflower image from kit 22 that I had posted earlier and decided to use it for this card here. I colored it similar to that one and cut it out, but cut off a portion of it on this design. I also changed up the background ink blended colors and splattered some gold paint on this one. Love how it turned out. This will be for an Autumn anniversary card for someone coming soon.

Hope you’ve enjoyed all of my projects today!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll be seeing you soon!

Challenges (For the Birthday Lightbulb card ONLY):

  1.  Retro Rubber – Anything Goes + stamps older than one year
  2. Cardz 4 Guys – Birthday for adult male
  3. Creative Moments – Anything Goes
  4. Crafty Calendar – Anything Goes
  5. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
  6. Shopping Our Stash – Tic Tac Toe (I used middle across: String/twine, 5 year old stamp, bright colors)
  7. Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions (birthday)

*Vicki*31 Comments

Sports Reminder for {Cupcake Inspirations} Challenge

Hello friends!  Stopping by with a reminder today that there are still a few days left to join our “Sports” themed challenge over at the {Cupcake Inspirations} blog!  Hope you will join in the fun with us!

It’s that time of the year over here in the U.S. for Fall football season and I have some male family members that enjoy watching it along with having birthdays around this time which brings me to making these type of cards for them!  So this challenge has worked out really well for that!  So here’s my second card for this challenge:

I’ve pulled out this older Stampin’ Up! stamp set that I refused to part with just for this reason because I knew that I would be using it down the line…which is the “Great Sport” stamp set.  (I think it’s maybe circa 2013?)  I have elected to use the colors of my brother’s favorite football team The Chicago Bears for my color scheme.  (His birthday is coming up shortly so this will work out nicely.)

I think the embossing folder is just as old if not older than the stamp sets that I’ve used as it has that pattern on it that would remind you of the football texture.  (pigskin leather as the guys say)  I’ve recently picked up some sport themed decorative papers and thought I would use a strip down the center of my design and then I’ve also used the same pattern to stamp the wings and football images over that were all fussy cut out with scissors.

For the navy banner in the background, I’ve used a die cut to cut it out with and then stamped some stars with white ink over it and then sponged around the edged of it as well.  I took another strip of orange colored cardstock and stamped a fun birthday greeting over it and then added some stars around it that were punched out from navy cardstock.  All of these layered were attached over an A2 sized top folding navy card base.  

Really thought it would be fun to add an interactive detail to this card as well by adding a wobbler to the back of the football image.  So when you put your finger along the side of the ball, it will wobble.🏈😂  (something fun for the birthday guy to play with!)

For the decorative papers I’ve used, I took a sand block to distress the edges a bit and smooth out the edges of my fussy cutting details.

Hope this will help bring a smile his way and add a bit of luck to his football team for this year to do well too!

Be sure to stop by the {Cupcake Inspirations} blog to see more inspiration from the design team and I hope you’ll be able to join in the fun with us for this challenge too!  Thanks so much for dropping in today and I’ll be seeing you soon friends!

Challenges:

  1. Watercooler Wednesday – WWC291 5th Week Anything Goes

2.  Krafty Chicks – #527 Stamp Act

3.  Love to Craft – LTCCB51 October Anything Goes

*Vicki*20 Comments

Interactive Fun for Crafty Chefs + Video

Hello friends!  We are nearing the end of July and I wanted to be sure to try and get at least ONE “Christmas in July” project in before the month is gone, so I thought I’d keep things fun and simple as well as “kill 2 birds with one stone” so-to-speak!

It’s actually my turn to share a recipe with our “Crafty Chefs” group this time!  I’m doing the month of August and I need to share my recipe with the group slightly before the month or right on the 1st of the month.  (CLICK HERE for last month’s Crafty Chef project I made.)

Now we’re given one “must do” item from the previous chef to use on our recipe.  My item from Nana Connie was *”die cut” and so here is the project that I’ve made for this month’s “Crafty Chefs” group:

Vicki-DDSElves-squarefold

I have used a scallop square (cut from gold metallic mirror cardstock) and stitched square die cuts for layers on my project here.  I’ve taken this really cute elf image from the Christmas Elves Pairables digital set from Digi Doodle Studios on the front of my design.

I’ve printed out and colored the present from the same digital set along with another elf image (for his arm only) so that I could cut them out to make it look like he’s holding the gift.  His cut out arm was popped up with foam tape.  I’ve colored with Copic markers, added details with gel pens, liquid applique and Stickles glitter under his feet for snow affects.  I also stamped extra snowflakes for the background as well as add three snowflake rhinestones for accents.

Here’s the Crafty Chef’s August Recipe:

MUST DO:

  1.  *Die Cut (can also use electronic machine like Cricut, etc)
  2. Interactive (More than 1 fold eg: easel card, gatefold, etc.)
  3. Specialty Paper (foil, vellum, glitter, etc.)
  4. ribbon/twine/raffia

CAN DO:

  1.  Color an image
  2.  Add THREE of something
  3. **add glitter/sparkle – (this one I’m passing along to the next chef)

It doesn’t appear to be very interactive by looking at it, but when you untie the ribbon along the side, this is what it looks like when you open it up:

Vicki-DDSElves-squarefold-open

I have decorated two of the opposite panels with a greeting and then I’ve added a pocket to the top left panel so that I could include a gift card or cash to the recipient for Christmas!  I thought it was a super quick and fun interactive design to do!

If you are interested in learning how this project comes together, I’ve made a video sharing the measurements on how it’s done:  (CLICK HERE to see the video on You Tube.)

During this time of the year when it’s pretty warm over my way, it’s sort of a nice thought to think about some snow!  Plus, it always nice to get a start on some Christmas too!  (It’s not necessary for the “Crafty Chefs” to use a Christmas theme…it can be anything.)

I hope you’ve been inspired by my project today and have learned something fun in my video with it too!  (I have even more interactive tutorials on my You Tube video channel if you’d like to see other ideas!)

I really look forward to seeing what the “Crafty Chef” group comes up with for projects during the month of August!!  It’s great to be included in this group of crafty friends to share projects and inspiration with!  I enjoyed coming up with a recipe for August and I hope they have fun with it too!  Thanks so much for stopping in today friends and I’ll be seeing you again soon!

Challenges:

  1.  Colour Crazy Craft – Anything Goes + coloring
  2. Daring Cardmakers – Three Musketeers (3 snowflake rhinestones)cover
  3. Sweet Stampin’ – Chrismas in July
  4. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes (Christmas in July)
  5. Crafting Happiness– #59 Anything Goes
  6. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2030 Anything Goes
  7. Dream Valley – Christmas in July
  8. Fab ‘N’ Funky – #492 Christmas
  9. Christmas in July 2020 Hop – Anything Christmas Build Your Stash Holiday Hop Christmas in July 2020 hop graphic

*Vicki*39 Comments

The Skiing Bandit Raccoon in Action with Video!

Hello friends!  I hope you’re having a great week!

As I mentioned in my last post, it’s really cold and snowy over my way so I thought I’d join in with the winter season and have a little interactive fun in my craft room!  (Where it’s much warmer inside! LOL!)

I have used some Digi Doodle Studios products to create this really fun interactive card design:

Vicki-DDS-Pull Tab Slider Racoon

This cute little critter is just having a blast! 🙂  This card was so fun to play with and I couldn’t put it down!  This cute critter is the Skiing Bandit Raccoon digital stamp from Digi Doodle Studios.

I’ve colored him up with my Copic markers and used a glitter silver gel pen to color up his skiing poles.  He was fussy cut out with scissors. You will notice that his scarf and mittens resemble the background papers too, which were paper pieced from the Digi Doodle Studios Winter Plaids N’ Patterns Digi Paper Pack.

To create the scene, I’ve die cut some ‘hill slopes’ with a die cut, but you could use just scissors to cut one yourself.  I die cut a set of trees for the background  and ended up inking up the edges of the snowhills along with the banner sentiment at the top.

What’s fun about this card is that when you grab that little arrow at the bottom left of the card, this little skiing bandit starts flying down the glittery snow hills!

If you’d like to see how this card moves along and how to create one for yourself, be sure to check out the video below or watch on You Tube HERE!

I thought that the invisible way he flys over the hills along with the idea of how to create your own slider mechanics with scraps is something fun that anyone can put together with items they have on hand!

Vicki-DDS-Pull Tab Slider Racoon-close

And of course here’s the view of him flying down the hill as the arrow slider tab gets pulled from the card!  The pull tab slider sentiment comes from the Digi Doodle Studios Snow Days Sentiments set, which is what I’ve also used at the top front of the card.

For the sentiment on the pull-tab slider, I’ve taken a marker and underlined part of the sentiment and added an explanation mark on the end.

I also decided to stamp a black arrow at the end of this slider so that when it’s tucked inside, you can see that arrow so the recipient knows what to do!  You could of course just use a pen to draw your own arrow as well.

Vicki-DDS-Pull Tab Slider Racoon-flat

I hope you’ve enjoyed my interactive slider card today!  I’m still having fun pulling that skiing raccoon over the snowy hills! LOL!  I think this would be a really fun card to send along to a friend for a smile during these cold months, don’t you?

Thanks so much for stopping in!  I’ll be seeing you again very soon!

Digi Doodle Studios products used on my card today:

SkiingBandit_SBS_w_1024x1024@2x

DDS_SnowDays_Sntmnts_w_copy_1024x1024@2x

DDS_WinterPlaids_Patterns_w_1024x1024@2x

Challenges I’d like to enter for this card:

  1.  Sparkles Monthly – Winter Blues
  2. QKR Stampede – #381 Anything Goes
  3. Allsorts – More Than a Single Word
  4. Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  5. Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  6. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes #2003
  7. The Paper Girls – Winter Color Palettecolor-palette-2499

*Vicki*31 Comments

Cards From My Heart

Hello friends!  With this not cooler, but COLDER weather we’ve been having, it looks like it may be a hard winter ahead and I’m already feeling it in my body unfortunately.  So with the heating pad and warm slippers,  I’m still crafting on! 🙂

Today I’d like to share some cards that I have made for my hubby using some of the adorable stamps from Lawn Fawn …which I love:

Vicki-LF-Anniversary

At the end of October hubby and I celebrated our 20 year anniversary and I made this card for him to let him know how I feel about him after all these years.  This would be something that we would certainly do where we live!  We always enjoy looking at the night sky together.

I started with some watercolor paper and blended some distress inks for the background and spritzed it with water.  I then made sure it was completely dry before white heat embossing the stars that I colored in the centers with a gel pen.  I then took a white gel pen  and added more “dots” in the sky.

I’ve used Upon a Star and the Winter Skies stamp sets for both the images and sentiment. I took the Little Town border die to add over top of the starry sky and layered it onto a navy card base that has some more die cut stars (from Upon a star coordinating dies) at the top sponged with white ink.

For the sentiment, I had to piece together a couple of words from different sets to get it to say what I wanted it to.  I cut it out with a long banner die from My Favorite Things.

Vicki-LF-Anniversary-close

Here’s a closer view of the sky and the images.  For the fox couple, I black heat embossed it and then used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to color them with and then popped them up over the corner of the scene with foam dots.

I actually used a color palette and sketch from a challenge blog, but missed the deadline to post it, but I think it turned out great and hubby enjoyed it.  He said, “Yes, this is something we would do!”  He also likes the color blue.

Here’s another card I made for hubby as his birthday was this last Friday:

Vicki-LF-LightUpCard

Although this one is a bit simple, it has a really fun interactive element to it!  If you’ve known me for a while, then you may know that my husband is an electrician, so this card was very fitting for him!

I have used the Lawn Fawn Turn Me On stamp set and coordinating dies along with the Life is Good stamp set for the sentiment and the Push Here stamp set to make this card.  I also have a large stash of Lawn Fawn papers that I’ve used for this which I don’t think are available any longer.

I used vellum for the light bulb that was heat embossed over it and then I colored it yellow on the backside of the vellum to place behind the die cut opening from the blue panel.  That was die cut with the coordinating dies.  I stamped and colored the light switch as well and also die cut it out over the blue panel.  I then white heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out with a sentiment banner die from MFT.  It was sponged with white ink and glued over the blue panel.

Vicki-LF-LightUpCard-alight

The best part of this design is that when you push on the light switch, the light bulb turns on!  I’ve used the Chibitronics to create this feature.

You can see here what it looks like when you push on the light switch!

You can also check out this quick few seconds video to see it in action below:  (CLICK HERE if you want to see it on You Tube.)

Although this looks like a pretty simple card, mechanically it had it’s difficulites with the light up interior portion of it and it was met with some challenges and patience as I had to keep testing it to make sure it worked right!  At one point I had to tear it apart because the battery accidentally flipped over!  I also had to use like 4 layers of foam tape so that the light wouldn’t continuously be on all the time! LOL!

Vicki-LF-LightUpCard-flat

It was all worth it though as it was for the love of my life and he really did appreciate the efforts that went into making it as he even took it to work with him so that he could show it to his fellow co-workers!  LOL!  They seemed to be pretty impressed with it and even offered some advice on how much to charge for something like this!  LOL

The card was thick due to the amount of foam on it, so it didn’t fit into a regular envelope. Since it went to hubby, I just hand delivered it to him! 🙂

Hope you’ve enjoyed my share of creations today that I made for hubby!  I will be seeing you again soon!  Thanks for dropping in friends…I will be visiting soon!

Challenges:

  1.  Lawn Fawnatics – Cards for Guyschallenge-64-lawn-fawnatics-guys
  2. Creatalicious – Anything Goes with optional:  For a Man
  3. Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  4. Cardz 4 Guyz – All Wrapped Up (top card with scarves)
  5.  Get Creative – Anything Goes
  6. Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
  7. Retro Rubber – Anything Goes + stamps older than 1 year (ALL listed are at least 1 year or older!)6a01b8d066dc39970c0240a4e77a87200b-320wi

*Vicki*30 Comments

Dies & Punches for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends!  It’s time for a new Cute Card Thursday challenge!  This week we’d like to see those “Dies &/or Punches” on your creations this week!  These are some of my favorite tools to use in my craft room and we’re looking forward to seeing your take on this challenge!

Here’s what I’ve made for it:

Vicki-CCT600

Nothing says “Fall” to me like those ripe apples ready to be picked and especially to make a yummy carmel apple with as well!  I had so much fun pulling out several of my Lawn Fawn stamps and dies to make this interactive card design!  I haven’t played with my Lawn Fawn stuff for quite a while, so it was time! 🙂

For the interactive pull tab mechanism, I’ve used the Lawn Fawn Magic Color Slider dies along with the Caramel Apple , Thanks a Bushel and Jump for Joy stamp sets to put together this card.  I’ve also used the Jump for Joy and Thanks a Bushel dies to cut out some of the images on my card.  For the pull tab at the top, I took a sentiment from the Push Here stamp set to stamp the “pull here”.

For part of the layers in the card, I took an older Scallop rectangle die no longer available from Lawn Fawn for the white layer.  I’ve also used some Woodgrain cardstock that I’ve sponged with Vintage Photo Distress ink along the edges of it and the plaid paper which is no longer available from LF.  For the layer behind the apple panel and the base of the card I’ve used the LF Sunflower cardstock.

Vicki-CCT600-close

Here’s a closer look at the image that I’ve got colored up with Copic markers.  I just stamped them over some Copic blending card.  For the inside slider where the caramel apple is, I didn’t want to add any layers to it so that it would slide freely.

Vicki-CCT600-upright

Here’s what the card looks like with the slider hidden inside.  I just added some twine to the end of the pull tab at the top.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my interative card design today using lots of fun dies!  Be sure to stop by the Cute Card Thursday blog and check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team and play along with us this week!

Thanks so much for dropping in today and I’ll be seeing you soon!!

Challenges:

  1.  Lawn Fawnatics – Awesome Autumn61-autumn-lawn-fawnatics
  2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Interactive
  3. Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Lawn Fawn Collaboration – LF products
  4. Double Trouble – Thing 1:  Mad for Plaid, Thing 2:  Use Your Stuff Challenge entry (see below), Thing 3:  Tag &/or Frame
  5. Use Your Stuff – Tag &/or Frame
  6. Sheepski Designs – Die Cuts &/or Punches
  7. Little Red Wagon – Fruit

*Vicki*29 Comments

Triangle Corner Pop Up Card for Brutus Monroe + video tutorial!

Today I’m sharing another version of the Triangle Corner Pop Up Card that I had previously made during my time as a guest for Brutus Monroe.  You can check out that blog post by CLICKING HERE.  After posting that card, I have actually received several messages and comments that people wanted to see a video tutorial on how to make one.  So I thought I would come up with another version of this same style of card, but using different Brutus Monroe products to show the many different variations that you can come up with and the fun you can have with it!

Vcki-BMBeHappy-TriCornerPop-opened

This style is a much more elegant approach which is much different than my other one.  I love that you can change the look and have fun playing with different stamps and elements to fit inside the design!

For this one, I have taken the Brutus Monroe Happy Rose and Take Flight stamp sets to stamp (with Raven Detail ink), color (with Copics and Stylefile markers) and cut out for the images on my design.  All of the cardstock is from Brutus Monroe using Jurassic 100# and Alabaster White 100# cardstock.  The decorative paper is from the BM Rustic Florals paper pad.  I stenciled the bottom of the Jurassic panel with a past stencil from BM using some Unicorn Horn Glitter Glaze.  Both of the rose images along with the small heart circle on the easel card were popped up with some BM foam tape.

For the circle easel design, I’ve cut out a scallop circle with the Alabaster cardstock in the size that I thought would fit within the design.  Then cut the body of the card with other circle dies in the Jurassic cardstock and then the front with some more of that Rustic Florals paper that I’ve used in the background.  The sentiment below the butterfly and the hearts on the small circle came from the Brutus Monroe Super Sentimental stamp set.  All of the white panels (with the exception of the scallop circle) was ink foam blending with some grey distress ink.  To keep the card “locked” in this position, I’ve used the Brutus Monroe Mini Disc Magnets shown in the video below.

If you are interested in learning how to create one of these cards for yourself, then please be sure to check out my video below.  CLICK HERE to view on You Tube.

These cards can look really intimidating, but once you see the measurements of how to put one together, they’re really easy and fun to make!

Vicki-BMBeHappy-TriCornerPop-unfolded

Here’s what the card looks like completely opened up.  You can see on the left bottom panel that I’ve taken that rose from the stamp set again and stamped it in the corner with some grey ink after ink foam blending around the edges of it.  This will be the area that I’m leaving for a personal message.

To fold it down to a 4″ square card that’s close you will start by folding down on the top and then fold it over from the right side to the left.  This will completely close it up.

Vicki-BMBeHappy-TriCornerPop-front

Here you can see that the card is completely closed to a 4″ square size minus the rose leaves sticking out which I don’t mind.

I took another panel of the Jurassic cardstock for the front of the card and sponged around the edges of it with the Alabaster Ink and then also stamped the rose again in the corner of it.  Because I had several dimensional and extra layers on this card, I had to use a ribbon to tie it together to help it stay closed up.  You might need an envelope that is slightly larger than an A2 envelope, but if you use less layers and dimension, it should fit in an A2 size envelope.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my interactive card and tutorial today!  Thanks so much for dropping in with me! 

Please be sure to check out the links below for more interactive fun for this Wednesday’s Brutus Monroe Inspirational design team hop:

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

  1.  Cardz 4 Galz – #103 Wings
  2. Crafty Cardmakers – It’s a Bug’s Life
  3. Through the Craftroom Door – Anything Goes
  4. Try it On Tuesday – In my Garden there is….

 

*Vicki*26 Comments

Triangle Corner Pop-Up Card with Brutus Monroe GDT part 2!

Hello friends!!  I’m SO excited to share another project with you using some awesome products from Brutus Monroe!

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If you remember at the beginning of June with THIS POST I announced being a June guest designer and well…things fell apart health wise as you know and I was completely heart broke about giving up my time in my “happy craft space”.  Of course they are all awesome people over at Brutus Monroe and they were happy to pick me up where we left off so I could finish the second half of my guest design spot! 🙂  Yay!  I am completely honored as I adore their fun products!

After discovering this company just a little over a year now, I have enjoyed watching Christopher’s videos and crafting along with him in my stamp room!  Since he was someone that was inspirational to me (without knowing it), I dedicated this card to him and sent it his way!

Vicki-BM-Trifold Easel Card

This is quite a unique card and one that is new to me, but it’s called a “Triangle Corner Pop-Up card” and I’m not quite sure as to exactly who to give credit to other than I know it came from a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator somewhere!  (If someone knows the individual to give credit to, please let me know!)  I also started this card back in June, so putting it together piece by tiny piece as I went along with being in pain was a feat in itself!  LOL!  So you could say this one took me a little over a month to complete! WOW!

**If you’d like for me to do a video on how to make this type of card, let me know as I’m sure I could duplicate it! (pain free and much quicker than a month! LOL!)

I’ve used this adorable Brutus & Friends stamp set for my design.  The dog next to the dog house is represented as “Brutus” which is the beloved pet (crossed rainbow bridge) that the company was named after.  The other pup in the background peeking out is his other fur family named “Benny”.  CUTE!!

Vicki-BM-Trifold Easel Card-images

I’ve stamped them out with the BM Raven Detail ink and colored them with Copics and some of the Brutus Monroe StyleFile markers too. I then fussy cut them out with my BM Fussy Cutting Scissors and set them aside while I assembled the rest of the card.

As for the circle design in the center, it forms a little mini easel card inside the ‘box’ design.  I’ve made the easel card with the BM Lunch bag Cardstock and cut it from circle dies.  I’ve also heat embossed the sentiment with BM Alabaster embossing powder from the BM Super Sentimental stamp set and made a separate panel so that it holds the front of the circle easel flap in place.

Vicki-BM-Trifold Easel Card-unfolded

For the “grassy” looking area at the bottom and the “clouds” in the upper triangle sections of the card, I’ve used the BM Set the Scene Stencils with some Distress Inks and a Blending tool.

In order for the scene to come together and form this shape, there is a hidden aspect in the corners of the design to keep it together.  I have used the BM Mini Disc Magnets and glued them behind the layered panels so you can’t see them, but they come together to hold the card scene in place.  These are tiny, but they make for a nice sturdy closure!

I also wanted to mention that the “Brutus Monroe” in the cloudy area along with the woodgrain looking background came from a product packaging.  I thought it was the perfect way to create the “fence line” area of the scene.

When you want to close up the design for mailing, you will take it apart so that it looks like this.  See on the left side that there is even a spot so you can write a personal message or stamp something.  Then you will fold the top panel down and then close the right side over.

Here’s a quick 80 second video so that you can see how it works in action: CLICK HERE to watch on You Tube!

Vicki-BM-Trifold Easel Card-closed

I thought it was pretty cool that you can lay this design completely flat and put it in an A2 sized envelope!  I have taken a BM Lunch Bag envelope to mail mine in!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my interactive card today!  Please be sure to have a look at the Brutus Monroe products and let them know I sent you over!  Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

  1.  Inkspirational – #192 Word Prompt:  FoldChallenge192
  2. Tuesday Throwdown – Furry Friends
  3. Crafty Animals – August Anything Goes + animal
  4. Sheepski Designs – Animal Madness
  5. Craft Rocket – August Anthing Goes
  6. A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes

*Vicki*29 Comments

In Stitches for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends!  Wow, this week has really been flying by!  I seem to think this almost every week, but I know when the weather starts getting warm, I seem to get more busy outside and perhaps that’s why with the weather being so nice, warm and sunny.  I am enjoying it!

Today starts a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week and the theme is “Stitching (faux or real)“.  There are all types of ways to incorporate stitching into your papercrafting and I enjoy adding it to my creations.  So here’s how I’ve added it to my card for today:

Above is just a quick 20 second video to show the interactive details of the card.  I thought this would be such a cute idea for a get well card.

Vicki-CCT582

To make the slider for my card design, I have used the Lawn Fawn Magic Picture Changer and the Magic Picture Changer Add-On dies.  It looks pretty intimidating, but it actually wasn’t that bad to put together as the measuring and cutting is done with the die.  I’ve used the adorable Get Well Before ‘n Afters stamp set to create this and I know I’ll be making another one with the whale to make another card as I’m in need of one.  The turtles were colored with Copic markers and I’ve used them to also create the grass and sky background behind the turtle as he needed something to “ground” him and not be up in the air.  I took a water-proof pen and added a scribble above his head as he’s not happy being up-side-down!

I’ve cut the “add-on” pieces and the background of the card with the Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes and Really Rainbow paper packs.  But before attaching the “add-on” papers to the turtle frame, I took a needle and some linen thread and added a few cross-stitch marks around the blue frame.  I’ve also cut a few clouds from a retired LF die set and added the die cut “bottle” that I colored from the same “Get Well” stamp set.

Before I attached the turtle mechanism onto the card, I also die cut a strip of grass with the Grassy Hillside Pop-Up Add-On die in some green cardstock.  I then took one of the sentiments from the same “Get Well” stamp set and white heat embossed it at the bottom of this piece.  The turtle mechanism was popped up over the card front base with some foam tape which was all mounted to an A2 sized top folding card base.

I thought it would be fun to decorate the envelope too, so I die cut a piece of the grass again and used it as a stencil to sponge in some grass along the bottom of the envelope and then I also stenciled some clouds over it.

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And here’s what the turtle looks like when you pull the tab out.  He is much happier now that he’s back on his feet again!  I think I played with this card and pulled that tab to watch that turtle get on his feet over and over! LOL!  I hope it will have the same effect on the person who receives it too!

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Here’s a closer view of the coloring that I’ve done.  It was a small image and so I’ve kept the coloring pretty simple.  For the “happy” turtle I’ve made a few clouds in the sky.  To make the slider part work, you don’t want to add anything other than the coloring so that it slides smoothly.

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Here you can sort of get a better look at the coordinating envelope that I’ve made to go with the card.  Although I have made some hand stitched marks on my card, the dies themselves already have lots of cool stitch details in them when you cut it out, so I think it just helped add to the design.  This card is going to a male, so I didn’t want to create anything that was too over done.  I think this might bring a smile, what do you think?

Please be sure to hop on over to the Cute Card Thursday challenge blog and take a look at the inspiration from the rest of the design team and be sure to enter YOUR “stitched (faux/real)” to the gallery this week!  Would love to see what you come up with!

P.S.  If you remembered my post the other day, I shared a photo of the Robin’s nest with one egg in it.  Well, since I’ve last checked, there are a couple more in there now:

3 robin eggs

Every time we go out there, the mother watches for us to leave as she wants to sit on her eggs!  This is why we can’t get a photo of her actually sitting on it.  But we will see if anything happens in a few weeks! 🙂

Thanks so much for dropping by today!  I hope you are enjoying your week and I’ll see you soon!!

Challenges:

  1.  Sweet Stampers – Animals
  2. Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1919 Anything Goes
  3. Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes
  4. A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
  5. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stitches
  6. Watercooler Wednesday – masculine anything goes WWC221WWC221 - Tristan's Masculine Anything Goes Challenge

*Vicki*25 Comments