Birthday card for a young man...

 One of my handsome grandsons turned 20 recently and this is the card I made for him:

It's a pop-out fun fold that is a simplified version of the one that is made in this tutorial. 

I think most young men dream of owning a pickup--unless they already have one, of coursse--so I used a pickup die-set to create this one. I even put some vellum in the back window, although you can't see it.

The balloons were all popped up with foam squares and a black piece of thread was attached to each one. 

The letters were stickers, and the word "Birthday" was stamped onto the tailgate.

I used metallic silver cardstock for the bumper, lights and sideview mirrors. The brake lights have a red dot glued to the little metallic circle.

I used some gray, nubby vinyl for the eight small sections you see here. I thought it might resemble some vinyl upholstery in a pickup.

Both sentiments on the inside were stamped. I just had to make sure that the second one was in the center so that it would be covered up when the card was closed.

This was a fun card to make, and it really isn't difficult--just a little time-consuming.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #221: Anything Goes or Punch It! (Use a hand punch and/or die)...

 

It's time for another fun challenge at Let's Craft and Create. This month you can choose the usual Anything Goes option, or you can opt to create with a punch or die (or both!).

I chose to start with a scalloped circle punch. I hadn't used it in a very long time, and it was definitely due for a little action.

I wanted to make a couple of children's birthday cards and decided to create some Sesame Street characters with my punch.

I chose a slimline card base that measured 3" X 7 1/2". I pulled out a stencil from my stencil drawer, some inks to match the the colors of the characters I would make, and began inking up my card front.

For each character, I first punched a scalloped circle from the appropriate color of cardstock.

I used a small circle punch to punch two white circles for each character.  I also used a 1/8" single-hole punch to create small black circles for the eyes.

The sentiment was stamped, matted with black and popped up on foam tape.

A small circle die was used to create Cookie Monster's mouth. I simply cut the circle in half. Then I punched another small circle for the cookie and used a small, scallop-edge die to make the bitten end.

Elmo's mouth is the other half of the circle used to make Cookie Monster's mouth, and his nose was made with the same punch used for the eyes.

I fussy-cut Oscar the Grouch's eyebrows and added them to his eyes after cutting off a bit of the white.

The mouth was cut from a circle die-cut and the tongue was 1/2 of a circle that came from the middle of an "O" die. 

Big Bird's top feathers were fussy-cut from some yellow scraps.

His beak was made with a die for a narrow leaf. I just cut it twice out of two different colors of cardstock and layered them.

To decorate the inside, I added a strip of cardstock the color of each character to the top and bottom before stamping a sentiment.

Since this card has some fun stenciling on it, I am adding it to Darnell's (DJKardKreations) weekly inspiration post.

Now it's your turn. I hope you'll join us with your punched and/or die-cut creations. Of course you can always choose the "Anything Goes" option, too.

Be sure to check out the Design Team's wonderful creations at Let's Craft and Create. The other team members always inspire me, and I know they'll inspire you, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Happy 4th of July 2025...

Each year I send only two cards for the 4th of July--to my two elderly aunts. One is 89 and lives in North Dakota and the other is 98 and lives in Montana. Luckily, on our recent RV trip, I was able to visit with each of them in person.

I made two of these cards to send to them:

I started with a blue card base and added some patriotic DSP to the bottom of it. The "happy" was cut with a "happy birthday" die. The number 4 and the little "th" were cut with a number die set that I have.

Each of the die-cut balloons is popped up with foam squares.

I added some marks with a white gel pen to indicate the shine on the balloons. Since it wouldn't show on the white balloon, I used a glitter pen on that one.

In one of my birthday stamp sets, I have some fireworks stamps, so I used them on the inside, along with a "celebrate" stamp.

I hope you have a happy and safe holiday. Ours will be filled with a lot of catch-up yard work. Every plant in our yard (including the weeds) seemed to grow an extraordinary amount while we were gone.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Dragonflies on a Z-fold card...

To make this card, I started with a piece of cardstock that was 5 1/2" X 8 1/2". With the long side across the top of my score board, I scored it at 2 1/8" and 4 1/4". The first score became a mountain fold and the second score, a valley fold.

I added a piece of DSP to the front that measured 1 7/8" X 5 1/4". 

I heat embossed the sentiment using some purple EP, then die-cut it and adhered the left half to the front folded section of the card.

A couple of metallic silver, die-cut dragonflies were added as embellishments.

The DSP for the inside measure 4" X 5 1/4".

I stamped the inside sentiment with purple ink onto white cardstock and then die-cut it, using the same die that I had used for the front. 

To get the right placement, I added adhesive to the back of the sentiment piece, and held it behind the die-cut on the front, making sure it matched exactly. Then I carefully  laid it down onto the DSP on the inside, so that when the card is closed, you cannot see it.

One more little dragonfly embellishment finished the card.

This is an easy card to make and looks much more complicated than it is. You can use almost any shape for the white piece. I've used plain and fancy ovals, circles and rectangles. You can even use two smaller shapes on both the front and the inside, if you wish.

We've just returned from a 14-day RV trip to Vancouver, Washington, and back. It was wonderful to spend some time with our granddaughter and our kids and their spouses who live in that area. We also stopped several times enroute to visit other relatives and friends.

While we were gone, our floors were refinished and some other carpentry and finishing work was done. Everything looks great and we're working now to get all the furniture and decor back in place. My plants need some attention, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Using another sketch...

 I wanted to use up a few more scraps, so I turned to a card sketch to help me do that.

First, I cut a green mat that was 3 3/4" X 5". The flowery piece measures 2 3/8" X 3 7/8", the yellow piece measures 1" X 3 7/8" and the striped piece is 3/4" X 3 1/2".

I also had some little pre-made flowers sitting on my desk in just the right colors, so I used them on this card, too.

I stamped a sentiment, used a circle punch to cut it out, glued it to the green circle, and then decided I didn't want to use that one. Ever do that?

So I stamped a new one, punched it out, and glued it right over the top.

The sentiment is popped up with foam dots, which enabled me to tuck three little flowers around the left side. I added a gem to the center of each one.

I had this computer-printed sentiment panel on my desk, so I used it on the inside of this card. 

And since those flowers were still sitting there, I added three more to the inside.

I enjoy going through my pile of DSP scraps to find some that coordinate well enough to use them on a card. I think sketches like this one are a great way to do that.

Did you know that there are TONS of card sketches on Pinterest? Just search for "card sketches" and you'll get more than you could ever use in a lifetime!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Colorful get well cards...

 

I had a partial sheet of this colorful DSP left and I wanted to use it up. 

This is almost an A2 size card . I started with a 4" X 11" piece of yellow patterned CS (it was what I had and I was ok with my card being 1/4" shorter than a standard A2). I scored it on the long side at 4" and 6 3/4". That left 1 1/2" of the inside (third) panel exposed on the right when the card was closed.

I added my layers to the top, along with a punched scalloped circle and a die-cut stamped circle with a navy blue mat.

The sentiment circle and mat are popped up with foam tape.

This is how the card looks when opened. The navy blue piece on the right is just over 1 1/2" wide. That left about a 2 1/2" wide area for my sentiment panel.

Then I decided to make an arrow caard with a remaining piece of the DSP. You can find instructions for how to make this card in this post. Once again I used a circle sentiment, but added a couple of simple foliage die-cuts before I added the navy blue mat. Then I popped the circle up with foam squares.

This is how the card looks when opened.

I stamped the sentiment and added a couple die-cut leaves.

With this card, you have to be mindful of how much the pointed front covers of the sentiment panel. You wouldn't want your sentiment to be too large or placed too low so that it could be seen when the card is closed.

I really do love making arrow cards. I think they have such an interesting look. They are a nice change from the standard A2. Also, they can be made in any size. You'd just have to measure where the half points are on the three sides.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

"Quilt-y" thank you cards...

I came across a couple of AI images online that depicted lots of different scraps of fabric and reminded me of quilting. I thought the images seemed cozy and "down home."

After printing the images, I cut them to size and glued each of them to a coordinating card base. 

The only elements I added to this image were the die-cut "Thank You" and the three red dots at the edge of the circle. I think the creator of this image expected users to add some sort of sentiment to the blank circle.

There would have been room to stamp a small "thank you" in the white square on this image, but I decided to add a die-cut sentiment, instead. I also added a couple of purple dots in the lower right-hand corner. I know that many cardmakers recommend adding embellishments in odd numbers, but I only had two purple dots, so I went with them.

This is the sentiment, printed with my computer, that I put on the inside of each card.

Every once in a while I love putting together quick and easy cards like these two. I am amazed at the beautiful AI images that other crafters create and their generosity in letting others use them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl