Monday, April 20, 2015

Pop Up Barn Yard Birthday!


Hello!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  My family celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday yesterday; and even though it was a few days early I don't think he seemed to mind!

The party theme was John Deere/Farm.  Since I didn't have anything pertaining to the John Deere side of things I decided to go with the farm theme in Pop-Up Card form.  I love this type of card because lets face it - you can add sooooo many more elements working with the larger surface area of a card like this!

The barn on the upper portion of the card was hand cut, as were the barn doors.  A little measuring and a sharp utility knife make the small cuts easy.  As for the hay bale I cut small strips of Daffodil Delight Card Stock then trimmed them with the Fringe Scissors to give the look of straw.  A few wraps of Baker's Twine completes the look.

Barn yard animals are a must to any farm yard and I have to say I held myself back from only making three.  If you follow my blog at all you'll know all about my passion for punch art; if I could have kept going I think a sheep and a goat would have been a perfect addition!  They are all done with SU! punches, as is the small fence.


I hope you liked the quick tour of my little barn yard!  All the materials to make this pop up card are listed below; I wasn't able to do a tutorial for this one but if you have any questions please just ask.

Supplies:
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Thanks so much for stopping by today!  If you haven't subscribed to my blog, please do!  You'll be notified via email whenever I post anything new.  I'm also on Facebook and You Tube if you'd like to stop by there!  I love connecting with you guys!

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Friday, April 17, 2015

Tropical Birthday Wishes


Happy Day - it's Friday!!

I hope you've all had a wonderful week!  I've still been busy with spring cleaning this week but thought I would pop in quick and share this tropical birthday card with you.  I think I might have to keep this card out to remind me of warmer temperatures once Fall hits - doesn't it look toasty??

I don't have a visual tutorial to create a background like this but I can give a few step by step tips
  • with a post it note first mask off the horizon line on a piece of Whisper White Card Stock
  • punch a 1-3/4" circle from a post it note and place approximately 1/3 to 1/2 over the horizon line post it
  • beginning at the top of the card stock begin sponging Strawberry Slush ink working in a semi-circle
  • blend Tangerine Tango ink into the Strawberry Slush ink and work slightly downwards working in the same semi circle shape
  • blend Calypso Coral ink into the Tangerine Tango ink but this time work the ink so that it falls in more of a horizontal line
  • blend Crushed Curry ink into the Calypso Coral ink and work the color all the way down to the horizon line.  Add a small amount of Calypso Coral ink just above the horizon line 
  • remove the sun mask and lightly sponge So Saffron ink inside the sun, darkest in the center and lightest on the edges
  • remove the horizon line mask, flip the paper over and re-mask the sky so just the water area is exposed.
  • sponge Coastal Cabana ink on the entire area
  • blend Bermuda Bay ink along the edges and anywhere in the center to add shadow
  • remove all masks and sponge Tuxedo Black Momento ink in a semi circular shape along the bottom of the water area.
  • stamp the leaf and flower images from the World of Dreams set in Tuxedo Black Momento ink around the outer edges of the background.
To Create the Palm Tree:
  • punch four Small Ovals from Basic Black Card Stock.  Use Paper Snips to cut the bottom 1/3 away then cut small leaves into each oval
  • cut a strip of Basic Black Card Stock approximately 1/4" wide.  Cut into small squares (around 15 or so) then using Paper Snips cut each square into a slight taper at one end  
  • punch three medium sized circles from the Owl Builder punch using Basic Black Card Stock
  • assemble the trunk by layering the the small squares atop one another, creating a slight lean as you work your way up the trunk of the tree. 
  • glue the three circles into place at the top of the trunk
  • stagger the four palm leaves around the top of the trunk and glue into place.

Supply List:



Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

I hope that this little step by step tutorial was helpful!  If you have any questions or would like to see a visual tutorial to re-create a background like this please let me know below and I'd be happy to make one.

I'll be back next week with a few new samples I have been visualizing!  By then my house should be back in order and I'll be able to create guilt free ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!
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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Celebrate Spring - Partial Die Cut Tutorial



Hello All!

I'm back from a lovely week off!  The boys were on Spring Break from school so I decided to take a mini break too; although I'm not really sure Spring cleaning the house qualifies as a break...

Anyhow I'm back in action with a post I've been meaning to do for a quite a while - a tutorial showing how to do partial cuts with Framelits.  You may remember seeing this Framed Corner Garden card I did for a Blog Hop last month.  So many asked how I did that partial cut; well now here's your chance to follow along and learn how to create your own!

Begin with a stamped image, completely finished/colored.  Choose an image that can be easily cut around.  In the case of my Framed Corner Garden card I chose to cut around the interior flowers in the image, in the case of this card I used the small trio of flowers from the  Forever Florals set and stamped them in a semi-cicular pattern so I could cut around them.  This card front was cut down to 4" x 5-1/4".

Choose a Framelit that not only suits your project but fits nicely around the area you would like to die cut.  I've flipped the Framelit over in this photo to remind myself where the cutting edge of the Framelit is.  For Stampin' Up! Framelits its easy to remember - the cut line is always on the inner edge of the Framelit but if you're using a non-Stampin' Up! die quite often the cut line is in the center or the outside edge.  Always check to be sure as it makes a difference in how the next steps are executed.  Try to line up the Framelit so that it touches two points on your image; in this case a flower on the upper left and a flower on the bottom right.  This will be your starting and stopping point for cuts.

With a pencil make a small mark where the Framelit touches the cut points (noted by the arrow).  This photo is the bottom cut point.

As in the last step make a small mark on the second cut point (noted by the arrow).  This photo is the top cut point.

If the outline of the image isn't a solid line it may be difficult to decide where to cut in the upcoming step. If this is the case it may be helpful to sketch a line from cut point to cut point so that its a simple as cutting along the lines; there is so much less room for error this way.

With an Exacto Knife and cutting mat cut along the lines sketched in the previous step, working from cut point to cut point.  Depending on the Framelit you may or may not have to cut slightly outside the cut points to make the Framelit fit in the next step.  I suggest only cutting from cut point to cut point first then making adjustments as needed in the upcoming steps.


Slide the Framelit through the hole from the underside through to the top of the image, as far as it will go.  If the Framelit doesn't reach to the intended spot, cut the opening larger so the Framelit can slide into position.
Your now ready to run the image through the Big Shot.  The Framelit beneath the image will not cut and the Framelit on top of the image will cut.

This is what the partial die cut should look like after running it through the Big Shot.  Its now ready to be completed.

To finish this card I cut a piece of Blushing Bride Card Stock measuring 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".  I laid it behind my image so I could align and stamp the "Celebrate" sentiment before embossing with the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  I added Stampin' Dimensionals to the image and pressed into place.  As a finishing touch faux stitching was added with a Piercing Tool around the inside edge of the partial die cut.

I hope you've found this tutorial helpful!  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or comment below.


Until next time...
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Friday, April 3, 2015

Blog Update!

Hello!

Before I sign off for the long weekend I just wanted to let you know about a couple of updates I've made to my blog.

On my home screen in the tab bars along the top you'll notice that I've added a section called 
"Cards for Sale" and "Retired Items for Sale".  

The "Cards for Sale" section is a collection of many of the cards I've made since beginning my blog. I realized my card box was getting a little full - turns out there was over 100 of them in there! There are a couple duplicates but for the most part they are one of a kind so if you find one you might like to have act quickly before its gone.  If you'd like to purchase any of the cards simply click on the Add to Cart button and it will have you complete the purchase through PayPal.  Once I receive payment I'll package it up and send it in the mail ASAP!  Please note that I will ship to BOTH Canada and the USA and the prices of the cards INCLUDE shipping :)

The "Retired Items for Sale" is just as it sounds - I have Clear and Wood mount stamp sets listed along with many Big Shot items.  If you're interested in and items please email me directly and we'll set up payment arrangements.  Shipping IS NOT included in the listed price!  Please note that I will ONLY ship retired items to Canada.

Oh, and please ignore the fact that the photos fall into my sidebar!  I'm working on correcting my margin sizes but until then you'll have to bear along with me and my lack of computer techy skills! Why is it you fix one thing and two others go wrong?? {Sigh...}

I'd love if you'd take a look around these two new blog features; it was a nice walk down Memory Lane seeing some of my older creations and sets!  Have a wonderful Easter - until next time!

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Easter Egg Treats


Hello!

If you need a super quick and easy Easter treat idea, this one might just be the ticket!  With a few simple materials I had quite a few of these made in a matter of minutes.

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Delightful Dozen (retired)
Card Stock: So Saffron, Lost Lagoon
Ink: Crushed Curry, Lost Lagoon, Basic Black
Accessories: So Saffron & Lost Lagoon Stampin' Write Markers, Extra Large Oval punch, Sponge Daubers, Fast Fuse Adhesive, Chocolate Eggs

To make your own quick treats first punch Extra Large Ovals from card stock colors of your choice. Sponge the edges with matching (or a shade darker) ink.  Using a Stampin' Write marker that matches the card stock color you are using, draw designs on each of the eggs.  I used a simple zig zag, stripe, dot pattern on all of my eggs.  Stamp a small sentiment onto the center of each egg.  Flip each egg over and apply a small strip of Fast Fuse adhesive or Sticky Strip and glue a chocolate egg into place. Voila!  I love making things like this and my son was so excited this morning to hand out treats to his friends at school!!

I hope you've enjoyed this quick project - there's still a couple days left to make a few for giving.  I'm wrapping up those tutorials I promised last week (I'm so behind I'm sure I'm coming in first!) and will be sharing them after the long weekend so get your scissors and glue ready to create with me!

Have a fabulous long weekend!  Hopefully it isn't too cold for the Easter Bunny to find your house; its snowing and blowing here and plain unpleasant!  I sure hope Spring gets here soon :)

Until next time...
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