Happy Pawlidays and Striped Ombre Background

I have a new post for Anna's Craft Cupboard featuring My Favorite Things to share with you today.

I wanted to make some more Christmas cards for family and friends as I still don't have enough!
So I decided to use the cute Happy Pawlidays set again and combine it with the Santa's Elves stamp set.
I love how the MFT sets all work so well together!
The possibilities are endless really :)

I also decided to use a new (to me) MFT die-namics Die called Bold Stripes Cover Up with these stamps and talk a little about how I created these Christmas cards.

This first card was very simple and pretty quick too!

I coloured the image with copics and used a circle die to cut it out.
I used one of the sentiments from the Happy Pawlidays set but masked off the the bottom of the sentiment so that it just says "Santa Paws".  On the inside of the card I have stamped the "is coming to town" part of the sentiment.
I used the MFT Blueprints 5 Tag Builder Die to cut the sentiment out.

I used the Bold Stripes cover up to cut out the white background piece.
It will leave you with lots of white rectangular pieces, but don't throw these out!
They are perfect to save for later to use for sentiment strips :)

Then I used the die again to cut the coloured stripes from Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes papers.
I used 7 different colours to create a rainbow look.
If you were going to make a set of 7 backgrounds the same, for a set of cards, you could just use the whole die to cut the paper and you would have made 7 cards very quickly.
But I was just making 1 so I just used the die on the end of the paper so that I didn't waste any and only cut 1 stripe out.

I cut a piece of kraft card the same length as the die but slightly wider.
I glued the white die panel to the kraft card and then glued each coloured piece of paper into the die cut space.
I then attached this piece to the card base.

I think this made a lovely background and you could use it for so many occasions.
A rainbow pattern isn't even "Christmassy" but I thought it worked and looks cute too :)

For my second card I decided to use the die as a stencil and create an ombre background with Distress Inks. You could also use Distress Oxides for this.

I used the die to cut out a piece of card for the stencil.
I then put Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue on the back of it and waited for it to "set" so that it would be repositional.

When ready, I attached it to the smooth side of some watercolour paper.

I then used Distress Inks and the Tim Holtz Mini Foam Ink Blending Tool to create an ombre background.

I started with the darker colours at the top and worked my way down to light.
I started sponging the ink in a circular manner which is the usual way of applying distress ink but I ended up kind of just swiping across the lines.
I put more ink on each side and kept the centre lighter.

At the very top it is a mix of the darkest blue I had with the purple.  And it made a great colour :)
Most of the background is done by doing 2 rows using the same ink colour but making one of the rows darker.
I did this by adding a little of the darker ink (from the row above it) to the new colour.

After I was satisfied with the look, I removed the stencil and I had my background piece.  It did look gorgeous with the dark stripe over the top but it just wouldn't have worked for the card I had in mind.
I will have to do it again that way another time :)

I then splashed some water on it and used paper towel to remove wetness.
I also added a few little splashes of  Dylusions white paint to the background.

I trimmed this piece to attach to some kraft card and then attached this to a Kaisercraft Square white card. I then rounded the corners of this.

On this card I used the dog and present from the Happy Pawlidays set and the tree and sentiment are from Santa's Elves.

I made a happy discovery when doing the sentiment :)
I realised I could use the Bold Stripes Cover Up die to cut it out.  Yay!
So I stamped it and cut it out using the smaller rectangular opening on the die.
And then I used the larger rectangular opening to cut a piece of black card for a perfect mat for it!!!

I will be using this all the time now for any narrower sentiments that I want to use :)

You can use this die in so many interesting ways

The stamps were coloured with copics and I added some glitter glue to the star on the tree for a little sparkle.
I also used the tag die again and some antique linen and walnut stain distress ink around the card's edge.



I love this die and both of these stamp sets from MFT!

You still have time to make some more Christmas cards too!
I would love to see what you create :)

Thanks for dropping by today

Kathy

Happy Hippos

I have a card for Anna's Craft Cupboard  to share today.
I've used the adorable My Favorite Things set called Happy Hippos.
This set is full of  hippos and little birds and birthday themed images to go with them.  Plus there are some wonderful sentiments too!

I thought a colourful but soft Bokeh background might look good with these two cuties.
Here is how I created it if you'd like to give one a try too :)
Ingredients :
I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord and Dried Marigold. You could use any colours, but I always think that 3 different colours works best.
Dylusions White Linen Acrylic Paint.
I used watercolour paper on the smooth side, but other cardstock can also be used.
Tim Holtz/Ranger Mini Foam Blending Tool
Circle Dies
Tombow Mono Multi glue
white embossing powder

Step 1 - Using the Blending Tool, apply distress inks to card in a circular motion. I used the purple first, then the orange and then added  blue to fill in the gaps and blend it together a little.
Use a different foam pad for each colour.

Step 2 -  Make a stencil from a scrap piece of card by using small circle dies or punches.  Don't place the holes too close together or near the edge, so that it's easier to sponge.

Step 3 -  Shake the Dylusions paint a little and then just use the paint that is sitting inside the lid.
Using the blending tool and a new pad, pick up some paint and dab some off onto some plastic or craft mat to remove excess.
Dab paint onto stencil to create 2 sizes of white circles on the card.

Step 4 - The largest circles are applied with just the Blending Tool.
Load paint and dab off as before. Place Blending Tool on card and twist/turn until you have a nice circular shape.

Step 5 - Reload Blending Tool with paint and using stencil again, add more circles and overlap some this time too.
You can realign stencils and go over circles with paint again to make them brighter.  You want to have some softer and some brighter circles to add depth.

Step 6 - Using just the Blending Tool make more of the large circles. Try to make some without applying extra paint but if it's too dry just add a little.  These last circles are meant to be very light.
You are trying to fill in the gaps and card edges to create a very soft filter effect.

Step 7 - Trim the edges so that there is no harsh coloured edge.

I coloured the images with Copics to compliment the colours I used in the background, cut them out and added them to a white panel.
I also white embossed one of the fabulous sentiments from this set onto grey card.

Bokeh backgrounds are fun to create! No two are exactly the same and they work wonderfully with so many of the MFT stamps.

I hope you will give this background technique a try too.

Kathy

Party Like a Pirate Pop-Up Box Card

I have another card and tutorial for Anna's Craft Cupboard to share today :)

I have used the fabulous Party Like a Pirate stamp set by My Favorite Things again.
There are just so many cute images in this set that I wanted to make a little scene with them.  A fun way to do this is by making a Pop-Up Box Card.
The MFT stamp sets are all really great for this type of card because there are always a lot of different images in each set.  And you can also incorporate stamps from other sets too as they coordinate so well together.

Here's how I made my Pirate Pop-Up Box Card if you'd like to give it a try :)

Ingredients:
American Crafts Smooth Kraft Card
Ruby Rock-It Bella iWood version 1.0
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
MFT Die-namics Die - Spring Scene Builder
Distress Ink - Antique Linen
X-Press it - High tack double sided tape 
MFT Party Like a Pirate stamp set and die

Step 1 :  Cut card 8.5"x 12".  Then score the long side at 2.75", 5.5", 8.25" and 11".
Cut off a 12"x 2" strip (to be used later).

Step 2 : Score along short side of 6.5"x 12" piece at 2.75"
Step 3 : From long side, cut down to this 2.75 score line on each of the 4 score lines.
At 11" score, cut in at a slight angle to create a tab.

Step 4 : Cut the 2"x 12" piece at 4.75" from the end with the 1" score line.
Then cut the strip in half lengthwise to create 2 strips 4.75"x 1".

Step 5 : Fold both tabs back.

Step 6 : Cut patterned paper to fit on each panel and adhere.  Adhere longest pieces to panels next to the tab.
You will need:
1 Inside back panel 2.5"x 6.25". (I used blue card for mine and decorated it with a couple of die cut clouds from the Spring Scene Builder Die and sponged around edge with ink).
3 Lower panels 2.5"x 3.5" (for outside of box)
6 Upper panels 2.5" square (inside and outside)
1 2.5"x 6.25" outside back panel (white card, to write message on).

Step 7 : Put adhesive on tab and fold card to form box and adhere.

Step 8 : Add adhesive to end tabs of 1"x 4.75" strips and adhere to inside of box.  Align them with the top.  Both tabs ends towards outside front or back.

The pop-up box is now built and ready to decorate :)

I coloured all my images with copics and cut them out with the co-ordinating die.  This saves so much time when making something with this many individual stamps!

The images are adhered to the strips of card inside the box but it can be hard to visualise where you want to place them.  I find it best to put dabs of Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue near the bottom of the images and leave them for a while to "set".  Then the glue is repositional! You can move them over and over while you're trying to decide on the best placement and this makes me very happy :) 

Once I'd decided where they looked best, I did take them off and add some more glue to the bottom as normal, and stuck them down again, just to make sure they would "stay put".

You can see from the above photo that I glued some images to both strips and added more to the back panel also. 

On the first strip I added some images along the entire front, overlapping them slightly.

On the second strip I stuck the girl pirate to the front but then stuck the island to the back of it, for a little extra dimension. I also cut out the Ahoy Mate sentiment and glued it and the parrot to a thin piece of acetate and stuck it to the back of this strip with  X-Press It tape. From a distance this looks as though it is "floating" in the air (or that the Parrot has flown off with a sign) :)

It would be best to create the very back piece right at the beginning, before you even stick it onto the box.  I had glued on the clouds from the Spring Scene Builder Die and thought that would be enough, but then I decided that I wanted to add the pirate ship. And after that I thought it maybe needed a couple of waves too!  I don't really have a wave die, but I improvised by using the stream also from the Spring Scene Builder Die. 

You don't really see the entire ship, but everything is placed on this card to add extra depth and dimension to the scene.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and will try making a Pop-Up Box Card too :)

Kathy

Up in the air

I have another card and tutorial for Anna's Craft Cupboard today.

And I’m showcasing another fabulous stamp set from My Favorite Things (MFT) .

I got the chance to play with Up In The Air this month and it is so much fun to use.

There are just SO many possibilities with this set!  The sky is the limit! :) (ha ha)

I was also lucky enough to get the MFT Die-Namics Die - Spring Scene Builder to use and it is wonderful too :)

So I wanted to use these two together and create an interesting sky for the balloon to float around in.

I decided to create a sun ray background with patterned papers (AKA the Sunburst or Starburst technique).  

Here is how I created my card so that you can try it out for yourself :)

This technique can be wonderful for using up scraps of patterned paper you have in your stash.  You can use all different lengths, widths and designs and make them work.  But I actually cut mine from 2 new sheets of paper and cut them all the same size :)

When using this technique you need to firstly decide where you want the “rays” to radiate from.  I decided to put my sun in the top right hand corner of the card, so all the points of my rays start there.

I also decided to leave a space between my rays, but you can vary the look of the background by butting them together instead.

I used Spring-a-ling and Butterfly Net from the Spring Things  collection by Doodlebug Designs to make the rays.

·        I used a Kaisercraft C6 White Card for the base.

·        I cut a piece of white card 4”x 5 7/8”. This is the piece you will glue the rays to.

·        Then I cut 5 rectangles from patterned paper 1”x 6”.

(I cut 2 rectangles from one colour and 3 from another).

·        Then cut them in half diagonally.

·        I glued 1 ray along one edge, making sure the point of it was in the top corner of the card.

·        Then I glued a second ray along the other side.

·        I glued the other rays between these two, leaving a little space. They may overlap a little at the points or not be perfect but this is fine as it will be covered over.

·

·      Turn the card over and carefully trim away the excess paper.  I found this easier to do by hand, but you can use a paper trimmer.

You will notice some pieces are not quite long enough.  That is okay because I am putting some grass on the bottom of the card.

·        I cut the sun and clouds with the MFT Die-Namics Die - Spring Scene Builder.  I added some ink to the sun and glued it over the top of the sun rays at the right corner of the card.

                                       

·        I white embossed the cute sentiment from the Up In The Air set onto a piece of American Crafts – Key Lime Card. I used the hill piece from the die to cut it out and trimmed it down to fit.  Then I inked the edge of it and attached it to the bottom of the card.

·       There are trees with the die too, but I decided to colour the trees from the stamp set and cut them out and attached them to the hill.

I didn’t get the matching outline die with this stamp so I thought I would show you how I cut out the balloon too. (I guess this is just for people like me who don’t like to cut images out with a knife.)

Maybe you noticed something a bit wrong with this photo? Were you wondering why a dog has suddenly appeared?

Well I had my card all laid out just how I wanted it ready to be glued down when my daughter came in.  So I asked her what she thought of the card and she said “I really love it but there is one thing that would have made it perfect”. 

So I had to ask …. “What?”  And she said ……         

“The CAT”!

So I just had to colour up the cat and swap that puppy out of there so that my card would be perfect! :)

The dog is very cute too though and I will be back here on the blog later this week to show you how I used him on another card.  I hope you’ll come back to see. :) And in the meantime, please check out all the wonderful MFT goodies at Anna’s Craft Cupboard.

Kathy

Rose with Balloon

I have a tutorial for CC Designs today.

I coloured up the adorable Rose with Balloon stamp with my copics and then I thought I might try creating a Bokeh effect, but with balloons rather than the usual circles. This stamp's matching die comes with two different sized balloons which is exactly what you need to make this effect work. It turned out to be a really pretty background for her so I thought I'd share how I did it.

Firstly I sponged 3 different colours of distress ink on to a shimmery cardstock (Broken china, salty ocean and tumbled glass).

 Then I used the Rose and Balloon Outline die to cut out the 2 balloons from a piece of scrap card.

I then used this as my stencil. I used a dauber and a white craft ink pad to make the balloons.

Sponge white ink onto the blue, using a dabbing motion. These balloon will be in the background.  I also tilted the stencil so that the balloons weren't all going in the same direction.

Then add more balloons, overlapping some.  These are in the foreground.  We want these to be whiter so more ink needs to be dabbed on.  You can move the stencil, making more balloons and then come back later, reposition the stencil, and add more white to certain balloons to make them more prominent.

I hope you give this background technique a try :)


Ingredients :
Stamps : Rose with balloon, birthday sentiments
Card : x-press it, shimmery white, celery, basic grey, sky
Ink : memento black, white craft ink, broken china, salty ocean, tumbled glass distress inks.
Other : rose with balloon outline die, grass die (MFT), star dust stickles, copics

Copics used :

E 000, 00, 21, 39, 50, 53, 55

RV 0000

R 20, 30, 81, 83, 85

B 0000, 02, 93, 95, 97

BG 0000

YG 01, 11, 17

C 1

C.C. Designs Swiss Pixie Rose With Balloon Rubber Stamp

C.C. Designs Cutter Rose with Balloon Outline Die

Pollycraft Birthday Sentiments

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamps - Make your own background


Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

iphone wallet card tutorial

Hi :) I have a tutorial for CC Designs to share with you today using the fabulous CC Designs Cutters Make a Card #4 Die.

I had the idea to try creating a copy of my iphone wallet case.  I knew if I could get it to work it would be a great gift card holder because my case has little slots inside for cards.
So this is my real phone and case and my copy.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out :)
Here's how I did it :

Firstly cut a piece of cardstock approx 5 3/4  x 5", score in half and position largest rectangle die off folded edge as shown and diecut.

Cut another 2 large rectangles from card. Cut 1 end off so that it is 3 1/2" long and cut end off other rectangle so that it is 3 3/4" long.  Then cut off 1 side edge of both so that they are 2 5/8" wide.

Diecut another large rectangle and cut off 1 end so that it's 1 3/4" long. Score it at 5/8" and 6/8" with straight edge against score board.  Repeat this step with patterned paper.

I then used the 1 1/2" rectangle to cut adhesive metal sheet (for "clasp"). Score it at halfway lengthwise.
Adhere the 2 trimmed rectangles to the inside of "case". I decided to leave the edges near the middle open for ease of getting cards in and out.  They fit snuggly and there is no chance of them moving. 

With the smaller cut rectangle and matching patterned paper one, I adhered a magnet (Basic Grey Magnetic Disc = WONDERFUL!) to the cardstock and then adhered the patterned paper rectangle over the top of it. Then attach to the inside as shown.  I then attached the scored "metal" paper to this for the clasp.

I attached another magnet to outside of case and used a little distress ink around the edges.

For the "phone", I used white gloss card for a bit of extra realism, but ordinary white would work too. These are the dies I used to create it: This time using the second largest rectangle, so that phone is slightly smaller than the case.

You could cut your stamped image out using the same size rectangle die as the phone or just cut a small rectangle to fit behind the "window".
I also cut a piece of acetate to place over the top of my stamped image and behind the window.  It made it look more like a phone screen but if you don't have any, you don't really need it :)  I used pop up adhesive dots to attach the phone to the case.

I had already coloured up this super-cute Pollycraft stamp called Pixie and decided to use it as the image in my phone.  But one of the new teenager stamps would have been really wonderful to use. Or if it ever happens that you're not in a colouring mood, you could use a real photo instead - that would be great too.  I also used a little rectangle and corner rounded it for a sentiment card. I just stamped the birthday sentiment at the top and left the rest blank for a personal message.

This was easy to make and is a great, fun way to give a gift card.  I hope you'll give my iphone wallet card a try :)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Pollycraft Pixie Rubber Stamp

Make a Card #4 Die

Rumor Has It