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Monday, March 19, 2012

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!! Blog Hop

Spring Has Sprung!
The designers at Card a Day Blog are joining together to do a Blog Hop! The theme is dimensional cards!


To join in....visit all the participating designers by visiting their sites, some are having prize giveaways...so make sure you pop in!
Make sure you comment on all the blogs too, because at the end of the blog hop, they are going to send a list of all who commented on their blog,
and we are going to do a grand prize drawing of all comments on each blog!
The grand prize is your choice of a pdf pattern book, valued up to $20, from http://popupcards.com/shop-patterns.html !
Make sure to check back at Card a Day Blog March 23rd, to see who won!

So JOIN IN TODAY....comment on the main blog page, and visit the other hop pages and comment there too!


And now for the reveal of my creation for the hop!  One of the first things that comes to my mind when I start seeing the signs of Spring is Easter.  I'm generally thinking of the religious aspect, but for this hop I decided to go for the cute, more casual side of the holiday.  I've been wanting to use some supplies that I picked up several months ago, and this hop, with the requirement of something dimensional, was the perfect opportunity.

My card started with a purple 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" base, which folds to a standard A2 size, and a nice bright white mat.  From there I began my stamping.  As happens so often with me most of my card was made with scraps.  I needed to stamp an Easter egg, and found a nice scrap of design paper with pastel flowers.  I also unearthed the perfect yellow scraps for the chicks that I was stamping.  Then, as luck would have it, I found a nice die cut srip of grass that turned into the ideal foundation for an egg hunt.



I really love the stamps in this set by INKY ANTICS. After determining where the grass would be, I stamped a some of the three different little eggs to look hidden in the grass.  I didn't want too much ink to show on the floral dp so, for the large egg, I used a light green that would blend somewhat.  The chick was stamped with a coordinating color, and then cut out.  I enhanced the beak and feet with marker.  The other tiny eggs were placed to look as though the chick tossed them up in the air to land where the children would find them in the grass. Here's a view from another angle:



You can see that I added a bit of dimension by curving the egg in just a bit and mounting it with foam tape.  I also curved the chick's wings out and mounted her, also with foam tape, to look as though she's sitting on the egg.



From this angle you might be able to see that the edge of the card has a bit of thickness folded into it.  This was done to accommodate the surprise inside. In this case the surprise is a nice bright pink Easter egg made with the Honey POP Collection Honeycomb Paper.  For those of you who may not be familiar with this paper, it's made especially for Inky Antics to be used with the stamp sets they've designed for it.  Here is the inside of my card with your surprise:



 And a couple of closer shots to show the coloring and the inside sentiment:



 In the last pic, especially, you can see the score lines for the fold.  The Honeycomb Paper is quite thick and needs this extra space, although the folded card remains fairly flat for mailing.

I hope you've enjoyed this little stop in your hop.  Since this post is already so long I've eliminated the list of supplies, but you can check below in the labels, and if you have any questions feel free to leave them in a comment.  I will try to get back to you quickly.

Keep that creative genius of yours happy and well-fed!!!

Hugs and Happy Spring Wishes!
CHRISTINE



Okay, here is the list of all the CADB hop participants.  Remember to leave a comment for all the designers so you'll have more prize entries!!  (It's short, and shouldn't take you too long.)     

         


Friday, March 16, 2012

Congratulations Graduate!

It's my turn, once again, to bring you some inspiration from the Card A Day Blog.  Hello friends and welcome newcomers to my little creative space.  This week's theme at CADB is 'Congratulations.'  We have a graduation coming up before too long, so I decided to use that as my inspiration for this card.  I didn't have to think about what colors to use because the school colors are purple and gold...one item taken care of; just needed to find the papers.

I knew I would be using a Cricut cut, and I had to do a bit of hunting to find what I needed.  Here are the pieces before assembly:


As you can see, I decided to use the mortarboard for a shaped card.  The one I used comes from the Cricut cartridge "Wrap It Up."  The next photos show the back of the card where you can see the fold where the front and back are attached, and also the inside where the front is folded back.



An angled shot shows the bit of dimension added by attaching the sentiment with foam tape.


I used VersaMark and Detail Gold embossing powder for the stamp.  Here's a nice close-up:


Finally, here is the full front view:


This card was really quite easy to make once I got the pieces sized on my Gypsy.  Here are the rest of the details on supplies:

          Papers:  Core'dinations (both purples); Stampin 'Up Whisper White and More Mustard
          Stamp:  Close to My Heart "Frames, Tags, Borders" set
          Die:  Spellbinders Circle
          Embossing Powders:  Stampendous Detail Gold
          Glues:  Tombow Mono Glue Stick and Mono Dots



Be sure to stop by on Monday, March 19, for the Card A Day Blog SPRING HAS SPRUNG Blog Hop.  There will be PRIZES!!

Thanks for visiting, and remember always keep your creative genius happy and well-fed!

CHRISTINE

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Little Star

My goodness, I've missed you!  Guess I've been away too long, but I'm so very glad you've decided to visit today.  I have another design for you from the Card A Day Blog.  If you're visiting for the first time, welcome.  I hope you'll stay awhile to see what I've been doing, and that you'll decide to become a follower.  We have a fun blog hop coming up soon on CADB, and, of course, there'll be prizes!!  So do stay tuned for that.  (Little hint:  MARCH 19th)

Our theme this week at CADB is BABY, and I have a cute and very simple card to show you. My card is all in pink for a sweet little girl, but it can be easily adapted for a boy.

I have quite a collection of Spellbinders (and other) dies, and I wanted to make use of some I had not used as yet.  I chose the Shapeabilities Lace Doily Motifs and Lace Doily Accents.  I must admit that with all the tiny cuts in these intricate dies I had some difficulty getting the larger of my pieces out of the die.  But once I managed to get it out I was pleased with the result. 

My first photo shows the main feature of the card, which is a cute onesie, as it is mounted on the layered die cuts which frame it.



The larger die cut needed to be inked to cut down on the brightness of the card stock.  I used Tim Holtz by Ranger "Antique Linen" Distress Ink.

I chose a cute matching sticker for the sentiment.


Both stickers are from the Brenda Walton "Small Wonders Girl" collection by K & Company.  These sets include really adorable embossed stickers with lovely soft colors and just a bit of glitter.  The onesie is from the "Icon" collection, and the sentiment is from "Words."

Here is the full view of the card:


The base card is Bazill Basics "Peony Pink."  It is a top-fold A2 sized card.  The other papers are Stampin' Up "Very Vanilla" and Best Occasions "Bright Punch-Out Pack" from Walmart.

I hope this has been a good inspiration showing that you can make a card with lots of impact using very few materials and not too much time.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember.....

always keep your creative genius happy and well-fed!

CHRISTINE