Birthday tulips and a Halloween witch...

 

I had this pretty tulip-patterned DSP in my stash and wanted to use it. It was a busy pattern so I decided to tone it down a bit by using a modern oval die-cut in the center of it.

I pulled out my tulip bouquet dies, but before doing any die-cutting, I decided to ink up a scrap of white cardstock. I only needed a small piece to cut the blossoms; the stems and leaves were cut out of green cardstock.

I pulled out some red and pink inks and, using a blending brush, I brushed them onto the white scrap in a random way. When it was covered with ink, I let it dry for a few minutes and then cut out my flower heads.

I glued them onto the stems and added my bouquet to the white oval, popping up the flower heads.

This particular die has a bow shape at the point where the stems meet. I simply cut that off and then added the die-cut "happy birthday" banner (also popped up).

The flowers got a finishing touch with some Wink of Stella, which I think is evident in the photos.

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside.

I love using this witch die for Halloween cards because she looks so sassy. I created a bookbinding card base. This A2 cardbase is folded on the left side with the first 1 1/4" of the front glued to the back. You can see in the photo where I scored the front 1 1/4" from the left to allow the card to open easily. 

That lefthand 1 1/4", decorated with a strip of polka-dot DSP and some ribbon, is the "binding" part of the card. If this seems a little confusing, you can watch a video tutorial here.

I cut a 4" square of some orange dotted DSP and matted it with some black cardstock. 

The sentiment was printed with my computer and also matted with some black cardstock. I popped it up with some foam tape.

The die-cut witch was glued directly to the DSP.

The inside sentiment was also printed with my computer. I added a sticker banner across the top and a die-cut witch's hat in the bottom righthand corner.

I made some other Halloween cards featuring Halloween jokes, and I'll share them in my next post.

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

Cheryl

Just too bright!!!...

 ...is what my brain screamed at me when I saw this sheet of printed paper. And then I challenged myself to actually use it to make a couple of cards.

Since the colors of the DSP were so bright, I also chose a bright color for the cardbase and scalloped oval. After the plain white oval was glued to the scalloped yellow one, I adhered them with some thin foam tape. I wanted to keep this card very mailable by adding only a tiny bit of dimension.

I cut a flower head from some pink cardstock that matched the background pink of the DSP. The center dots of the flower were made with Nuvo Drops.

I decided to make this a get well card, thinking that the bright colors would cheer someone up. I think this sentiment works particularly well for someone who is recovering from surgery or a broken bone.

Only a sentiment was stamped on the inside, offering some relief from the super bright colors on the card front.

As I was working on the first card, I noticed an "adorable" sticker on my desk that was begging to be used. Luckily, its pink and green colors were a perfect match for the bright DSP.

I die-cut the whimsical border out of the same green cardstock as the cardbase, glued it across the middle of the card front and centered the sticker on it.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside and added three more tiny stickers that were on the acetate sheet along with the "adorable" sticker.

I felt pretty good about using this DSP. It's been in my stash, taunting me, for a long time!

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

'Tis the season to be spooky...

 

The die-cut sentiment on this card is NBUS (never-before-used schtuff), so I am entering it into Darnell's October challenge over on the NBUS blog.

After adding the star-patterned DSP and the orange piece of cardstock to a black A2 cardbase, I die-cut the spooky house, a few bats and the sentiment out of black cardstock.

I backed the house with some gray cardstock and glued it directly to the DSP. The bats were glued in a random fashion around the house.

Before adding the sentiment, I applied a black and white sticker banner across the top of the orange cardstock. I thought it was a great addition to the card, and I plan to use the remaining 8" of it on a couple more cards like this one.

I had one die-cut bat left over, so I added it to the inside, along with a stamped sentiment.

This was such a quick and easy card to make. Nothing was popped up, so it's also an easy one to mail. 

Have you made all your Halloween cards yet? I am nearly done, so I've got to start getting them in the mail.

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

Cheryl

Using more leftover strips...

 

I wanted to use up more strips that were taking up space in my Halloween DSP folder. This time I decided to make a top-folding card and run the strips horizontally. If you're interested in making a similar card, you'll find the measurements in this post.

I have a die that cuts out the line of trick-or-treating children. It fit perfectly across the top strip

The sentiment was a cut-apart from a Halloween stack. I matted it with some orange cardstock and popped it up with foam tape.

When the card is opened, it looks like this. I don't normally stamp anything on the back side of the card front, but I managed to get an ink smudge there. The quickest way I could think of disguising it, was to stamp this silly pumpkin.

In cardmaking, we can always turn lemons into lemonade, right?

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #236: Anything Goes or The Colors of Fall (red, yellow, orange, brown - use any or all)...

 

Autumn is such a beautiful season! We once were lucky enough to be traveling in New Hampshire and Vermont in October. Around each new bend in the road, we were confronted with the most spectacular fall colors I have ever seen. It was so beautiful it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

At Let's Craft and Create, we've added a new challenge to use some of those gorgeous colors to create a card, a tag, a home decor item, or anything else you might fancy making. To help kick off the challenge, I've created a Thanksgiving card with some pretty DSP I had in my stash.

For this card, I cut my panel of DSP to 5 5/16" X 4 1/16" and then used an arched rectangle die to cut an opening in the center of it.

I then took the next larger size arched rectangle die and, centering it around the smaller one, I cut a thin border out of dark brown cardstock. This border was then glued to the opening in my DSP.

The DSP, with its dark brown frame in place, was adhered to the A2 cardbase with some foam tape. This gave the card some nice dimension and created the perfect indentation in which to glue some die-cut foliage that mimicked the leaves in the DSP.

I stamped "Thanksgiving Blessings" directly on to the card front, making sure it was centered at the top of the arched rectangle opening.

I had three die-cut leaves left over, so I added them to the inside panel along with a stamped sentiment.

I hope you'll have some fun with fall colors and join in on our challenge. We love seeing what you create.

Check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team here.

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

Cheryl

Can ghosts be sweet?...

I found an image of ghosts online that someone had created using an AI program. The creator offered it up for anyone to use. I thought the little ghosts were so sweet and would be perfect for a few Halloween cards.

I managed to size the image so that I could fit four of them on a single piece of 8 1/2" X 11" white cardstock. I printed and cut them out, added a mat to each one and glued them to white cardbases.

Each sentiment was stamped and popped up with foam tape.

I think their rosy cheeks are so cute.

To add a little sparkle, I dotted the background with glue. I actually put the glue wherever I saw a white dot or "star." Before the glue dried, I sprinkled clear glitter over the image and shook off the excess. The final sparkle was awesome!

On the inside, I added a stamped sentiment.

These cards have sold really well at the thrift store. I think there were a few grandmas who bought them for their younger grandchildren.

The Halloween decorations are really popping up in yards around our neighborhood. Some families have really extensive (and large) Halloween decor. I love looking at it, but I always wonder, "Where do they store all that stuff?"

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

You're a winner...

 

I needed some kids' birthday cards to donate, and I hadn't used my basketball shoe die set in a long time. It is such a fun die set, so I made two cards--one for a boy and one for a girl.

 

My brothers played basketball in high school, so I remember them wearing hightops like this. They may have been all white, but they were this style.

The details in this set are so great. I love all the little eyelets for the shoelace holes.

I added a piece of white linen thread for the shoelace.

I also inked the toe and the sole a bit to make them look more realistic and popped them up with foam tape.

Wouldn't you have loved to have a pink shoe like this when you were young? I think I would have. 

The star on each shoe was die-cut from metallic silver cardstock.

The sentiments were printed with my computer, matted and popped up with foam squares.

For the lace on this shoe I used a pink elastic thread that may have been meant for tying on packages.

This is the computer-generated sentiment I added to the inside of each card.

The layout of these cards is so simple, but I'm hoping the shoes add enough interest to not require a fancy fold or extra embellishments to make the card special.

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

Cheryl