Hello You!

When I was at the very impressive Impressive Ideas grand opening the other day I came across an interactive die by My Favorite Things Die-Namics.  It is called the Interactive Trio card and when cut on your handy dandy die cutting machine makes a little 3 window panel...but instead of having full cut outs of the "panes" it creates a score line so you really get a cute little flap.

So cool!

I spent way too much time making this card but it was very fun to do.  I CASEd (copy and steal everything) one by Stephanie Klauck at MFT but mine is a bit different...mostly because I didn't have all the stamps she used in her card.

Here is mine:

I used Things With Wings stamps by My Favorite Things

as well as the Scripty Sayings sentiment, "hello you", by Lawn Fawn.

 I stamped the sentiment with VersaFine ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder (a favorite technique!).  The butterfly and ladybug were colored with Copics and the little flowers were colored with Wink of Stella Pens.  I also added a layer of Clear Wink of Stella to the butterfly and ladybug.  Can't have enough shine now, can you?!

So when you open the little flaps you see a little scene with oh-so-cute owls. I didn't have a tree stamp that would work (yes, I have tree stamps but none that would work for this scene) so I drew the little tree limb.

I love the little owls...they are actually two separate stamps...and they are looking at each other.  Too cute!

I used some Distress Ink to sponge around them to get a bit of a sky look....and I added Wink of Stella to nearly everything!

Lastly, layered the scene and windows on top of a piece of green cardstock and mounted onto white Neenah for a finished A2 sized card.

This took a while to do...but I'm not giving up on it...want to play with these little windows and flaps again soon! Maybe today! ;)

Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday Shaker Card

Shaker cards have seen a resurgence in popularity in the last year or so.  I can remember making them (and shaker embellishments for scrapbooking) many years ago.  We mostly filled the shaker cards with punched images whereas now the trend seems to be filling with sequins or beads or other glittery things...but the shaker part remains virtually the same. 

I always enjoyed them but haven't made one in a few years, I think.  They are always fun to make and fun to receive.

Yesterday was the Grand Opening for Impressive Ideas...a favorite stamp store in the metro Atlanta area.  Over Memorial Day weekend the former location burned to the ground.  We were all devastated....it was like losing a friend.  But the owners vowed to get it back up and running as soon as they could and they did it! They opened less than 6 months after the fire and moved into an even bigger and better space.  It looks absolutely awesome and before I knew it I had several must have items in my basket!

One of those items was a Die-Namics Birthday Celebration die which is a round birthday sentiment and PERFECT for making a shaker card.  It cut beautifully....and was really so easy to make.  I love the stitched circle. I also used a stitches die from Lawn Fawn to do the stitched edges on the top and bottom of the front. I quickly made 3 using some birthday paper from Paper Studio.

Here is the first one I did:

It was so fast I quickly (read: in less than an hour) whipped out 2 more!

I think they are festive and fun and I already have two ready to go in tomorrow's mail.  I figure I just about paid for the die! LOL...You know...an American Greetings birthday card like this would run $4 or so....so 3 at $4 means I saved $12! HAHA!  Only a few more to go and the die will have paid for itself!
Seriously!  That's my justification and I'm sticking to it!

Happy Crafting!

Share Handmade Kindness

Well, my goodness, my attempts to start blogging again have met with a huge F in effort! I have been creating...just not sharing. Some of the things I've made are NOT shareable (LOL!...U G L Y!) but I do have a few things that have been fun and have worked out (and yes.I.copied.most.of.them from the superstars!).

But today I wanted to bring up the campaign Jennifer McGuire is spearheading at her blog which is "Share Handmade Kindness".  We all need a bit more kindness in the world, don't we?  With handmade gifts we can share that kindness and, perhaps, bring a smile to someone's face.

You can read about the campaign and challenge HERE.

I have been sending out a few cards lately and have had more fun decorating the envelopes than making the cards.  I've done some watercolor washes ala' Kristina Werner which have been well received.

And then I decided to decorate this envelope with a little scene done with some older Hero Arts stamps I have.  My friend, Amy, moved into a new house recently and I wanted to send her a congratulations card.

So here it is:

I blurred her address for obvious reasons.  Can't have ya'all stalking her!

Anyway, a little fancy hand lettering made it even more fun.

I used the Zig Clean Brush Pens which I recently purchased and absolutely love.  They are so much fun and so easy to work with and I am a huge fan of the watercolor look!

We have had so much rain lately that I slipped this envelope into a clear envelope for mailing.  I certainly didn't want my work to wash out!

And that is it for today...a little kindness is on its way to Amy!

Happy Crafting and spread the kindness!

And I am linking this to Jennifer's blog HERE.