Another Catch-up post

I know it has been a long time since I posted here, but I have been just so busy drawing dies for Frantic Stamper that I haven't had a lot of time to make much of anything. Most of what I have made has been posted over at franticstamper.com, but I would like to share it here as well. SO here are a few of my most recent cards.

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This card is one I have been hoping to find time to do, mostly because I wanted to share a technique with you.

I started making the card by cutting 5 different papers using the Bubble Background die from Frantic Stamper. Four of the papers were various black and white or just black prints. The fifth was red. I reserved all the pieces from inside each of the cuts in separate small bowls. I set aside the inside pieces from the black dotted cut, and the outside pieces from the others.

I covered the entire front of the black dotted bubble background with Post-it tape,



and then I flipped it over.



This gave me a way to hold all of the pieces I was going to inlay in place while also allowing me to reposition them if I needed to.

I first placed a few red pieces in place where I wanted them. I tried to make them balanced in the piece, but I didn't lay them in any specific pattern.

After that I worked with the darkest of the inlay colors first, working from the top left to the bottom right, randomly placing the pieces. I repeated with the other colors. Laying them top left across to bottom right helped me to keep from putting too many pieces of the same paper next to each other.

When I was finished filling in the bubbles I took a piece of black cardstock that was quite a bit bigger than the background piece and applied a thin layer of liquid adhesive. I covered the Bubble Background piece with it and let the adhesive dry.

Once dry, I flipped it back over and removed the Post-It tape. I trimmed the black piece down so there was just a tiny border around the Bubble Background piece. I mounted them onto a white card blank.

I stamped my sentiment on a small strip of white paper which I then mounted onto a red strip and a black strip. I cut a flag on one end and mounted the sentiment to the card using foam tape.

Here are a couple more views of the card from different angles.





I hope you enjoyed the card and that you will give the technique a try!

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My dad was a World War II Spitfire pilot in the RCAF with 80 or more missions into enemy territory; as a squadron leader he was responsible for accompanying bombers on their missions and engaging in firefights to protect them.

Dad moved to the States shortly after the war, met mom, and settled down. I know we sometimes felt the lack of celebration of his accomplishments in the war when Veterans' Day came around. He was a vet, but his service was ignored because it wasn't as an American pilot. Despite flying for an ally, he was left out of our national celebrations. ( Dad was a US Citizen, having been born in Massachusetts, but chose to go to Canada to enter the war before the US did, fighting for the land of his parents' birth.)

We lost dad on Feb 12, 2011. It was on the 4th anniversary of his death that I sat down to draw our Transportation release of dies. Fran had asked for a fighter plane; but immediately I knew I had to make it a Spitfire.

I really struggled with drawing this plane...it might have been because I was drawing through a veil of tears. But I did finish...and with the final touch of drawing call letters, I had drawn Dad's plane.



From that moment on, I knew I had to use that die in a trbute to Dad, and this card is that tribute. The map on the front of the card is marked with a pin at the place in Canada where my father grew to be a man. The Canada patch on the front is an actual-sized copy of a patch off of Dad's wollen dress uniform.

Inside the card is dad's spitfire on a simple pop-up mechanism, along with two pictures of dad. The top left is dad in his flight suit. The lower right is of him in dress uniform posing with his severely damaged plane. Despite having lost tail rudder and flaps, he safely returned to base and landed his plane. His feat was the talk of the base for quite some time.



The inside of the card also holds tiny scans of his service book, showing his next of kin, his rank and his assignment. Here is a last look at the inside of the card.

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A while back Fran over at www.franticstamper.com got a request from a customer asking for a card and instructions using the Flip Card #1 die.

The Flip Card die is a very versatile die. In the next few days I will show you three different ways I have used the die, with detailed instructions of how I used it.

For this first card in the series, which is a standard 4 1/4"x5 1/2" card, I wanted to center the cutout on the card front. To make it really simple for me to make this kind of card (with the cutout centered on the front of a standard card) I created a guide out of scrap card stock. I made the guide the same height as my card (5 1/2") but only half as wide (2 1/8"). I then marked one edge of the card 7/8" from each end. You can get a copy of my guide here.

(To come up with the 7/8" I subtracted the length of the die from the height of the card (5 1/2" - 3 3/4" =1 3/4"). That gives me how much space is left over once the die is placed on the card. Since I want to center my die I would need to divide that left-over space in two equal pieces and put the die between them. 1 3/4" divided by two is 7/8".)

My card blank is 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4", but left flat.

I line-up my guide with the top and left edge of the card, and then place the die at its edge, in between the two marks, and tape it into place.



I then ran the card through my die cutting machine. When done cutting, I used my Scor-pal to finish scoring my card along the line scored by the die, at the 2 1/8" mark, being careful not to score across the cut-out portion.



Now, for this particular card I wanted to create a field of stars, so I used my starfall die on the right side of the card. I glued a piece of yellow card behind the right side of the card, and then another piece of black behind that.



It was finally time to fold my card. First I valley folded the card on the center score line, and then mountain folded the score around my cutout.



I reinforced the folds with my bone folder, making the card lie flat.



All that was left to do was decorate the card. I cut extra yellow stars for my project with the Starfall die.

I cut my "aliens" using the Monsters die and white card stock. I stamped their corresponding image onto them, and colored them. I set them aside.

Using an old Stampendous clear stamp set called "Hot Rocketz", I stamped rockets and flying saucers onto white card stock. I colored the images, fussy cut them, and set them aside.

Using my largest plain circle die I cut a circle. I colored it gray with my Copics and added a small crater to it. I glued the circle in place on the inside of my card and trimmed the circle so it was flush with my card's bottom edge.

I glued my rockets into place. I cut a small slit in the saucer and inserted one of my monsters into the slit. I glued the saucer into place. I glued two more of my monsters in place. (It turned out I only had room for three of the four monsters, but that is okay, I'll use the other on a different project sometime.) I added google eyes to each of the monsters' eye(s), and a banner to the hand of one of the monsters.



I stamped my sentiment (from the same Stampendous set).

I glued on a few of my extra yellow stars on the front and inside of the card.

Ta Da! I hope you agree that this card is just "Out of this World"!



If you would like a little more help on using the die in this manner, I have a little video for you. Please don't mind my voice. We have a lot of smoke in our little valley because of all the wildfires, and the smoke has really irritated my throat.

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Here is another post showing how to use the Flip Card ##1 - Coved Labels die from Frantic Stamper. This die is so versatile; once you get the hang of using it, you will absolutely "flip" for it!

To make today's card I started with an 8 1/2" x 7" piece of card-stock. I scored the card to make an 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" card. Though scored, I didn't fold the card, though, because I wanted to die-cut the card before folding.

To make this card I did a bit of calculating to come up with the spacing I needed, and I created a template for it. Basically, I placed the die first so that the cut would be centered on the card. I then measured the space remaining on the top of the card and centered the die in that space, and repeated that on the bottom of the card. To save you from the calculations, you can get my template by clicking here.

To use the template and cut the card, first cut the center tab by aligning the top tip of the die on the line labeled "1". Next cut the top tab by aligning the bottom tip of the die on the line labeled "2". Finally cut the bottom tab by aligning the top tip of the die on the line labeled "3".

I then reinforced the score lines that were created by the die, but only between the tabs, and then I folded the card on the scores, with a valley fold on the card center line, and a mountain fold on the scores between the tabs.

I cut panels of Christmas paper to fit the card back (3.25"x 8.25") and the front panel of the card (1.5" x 8.25"). I also cut a strip for the inside front panel (1.5"x 8.25"). I then glued all of the panels into place.

I used the small stitched Coved Label die that comes with the Flip Card die to cut 3 red labels that I then glued into place on the tabs. I cut the small ornate piece that comes with the Flip die 4 times out of gold and glued them to decorate the front fold line. I then cut the Joy, Christmas Tree, and Snowflake round vignette inserts out of gold and glued them onto the card front.



Next I used the Flip Card Die to create a long coved label to put inside the card. I started with a strip of red card-stock just a little wider than the tab portion and 8.25" long. I aligned the die so that the straight part of the tab on one long edge and aligned flush with the short edge. I ran it through my machine. Then I aligned the die on the opposite end of the strip, with the straight part of the tab on the same long edge. Once cut I then used my paper cutter to trim from cut to cut.

I glued that in place on the inside back panel so it is hidden by the card front, and glued a golden "Happy Holidays" to that.

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I have already shared two different cards using the Flip Card #1-Coved Label die, and I have shown you a way to create a long thin label using the same die. Both of the cards I shared were "Z-fold" cards. On these cards the card front is folded back on itself.

Now I am going to share a different style of card. For this card, the shape is cut out of the back of the card so that when the card is folded the tab sticks out beyond the fold, as you can see in the card above. The black tab behind the grave stone that sticks up at the top of this fun Halloween card was cut with the die. The grave stone itself was created using the stitched coved label that comes with the flip card die. It was cut from gray card stock, and then the bottom was cut off with a pair of scissors.

I cut the little ghosts that haunt the card using the Large Cute Ghost die out of both velum and white card stock. I layered them and glued them in place only where I attached the google eyes. To finish the card I added the Fun Happy Halloween cut in orange, making sure to let just a little bit of the vellum ghosts spills over onto it.

I had so much fun making that card that I decided to make another. This one is for a baby girl and uses the Baby Icons as decoration, along with pieces cut from a DCWV paper pack.



I almost forgot to mention that the finished card measures 4.25" x (almost) 5.5" and will fit into a standard card-sized envelope.

I think you might want to try making a card like this one, too. If so, you can get your template here.

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I wanted to make a simple, bright, and fun card for my mom's recent birthday; she turned 88. She has always been a bright spot in my life and I am so lucky to still have her in it. Though she is 3000 miles away from me in actual distance, she is always with me in my heart!

I really wanted to use the HAPPY card band as the anchor for the front of the card. I cut it into the actual card front and left it without a backing. I think it adds a little drama to an otherwise very simple card. I cut a second card band out of scrap paper and colored each of the letters a different color. I used a Glossy Accents to add some dimension and shine. Once dried I cut the letters off of the scrap piece and adhered them to the card front.

I die cut the balloon, letters, and numbers, colored them and added Glossy Accents to them as well. I stamped the birthday sentiment, and then adhered the shapes to the card which had been trimmed with a corner rounder.

The finishing touch was a thin strip of black card stock and another strip that I colored to match the heart balloon and the first "p", both of which I filled in with Glossy Accents.

Inside the card I added a small pocket that would hold a monetary gift, and a hand-written personal message.

This card is not the usual elaborate dynamic card I make for mom, but it was filled with love. I hope mom had a very happy birthday, and many more to come.

Here is another view of the card.

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The other day Fran over at www.franticstamper.com shared a card with me; she had seen it somewhere and loved it because it used fishtail banners to make cats. We both thought it was so cute that we knew right away that we had to do something similar. I volunteered to stop drawing dies for a bit and actually play with some (I know..tough duty but someone had to do it. lol.) This card is the result.

I used the Frantic Stamper Stitched Fishtail Banners dies, kraft card stock, a bit of twine, brown ink, a black Sharpie marker, and the Cat's Meow clear stamps to create the card.

I sponged brown ink on the edges of all the kraft card stock banners, drew in the black kitties eyes and added little bits of twine tied in the center for the whiskers. I stamped each kitty with a little play thing and glued them to a kraft panel whose edges were sponged in brown. I put that panel onto a black layer, then looped some twine around it and glued it onto my kraft card. I stamped kitty paw prints all along the edge of the card front. I stamped the inside with "You are the cat's meow!"

I hope you liked the card. Here's a little closer view.

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Here I have two cards made with the Frantic Stamper woven ribbons die. This die is so versatile and fun to use! For each card I started out by cutting several different papers that all had similar color values (meaning the color intensity). This is a great way to use all those papers in a collection that you might not otherwise use or scraps left over from other projects.

For the "with love" card I just put all the papers into a single container because I fully intended to place the pieces randomly, but for the Christmas card I put each of the papers into a separate container because I intended to piece them in a pattern.

I then cut a neutral color of card-stock for each card to make the framework that I would piece into. I covered the fronts of each of the frames with Post-it Tape, and flipped them over. On the "with love" card, I just fit pieces into the frame like a puzzle, picking up a random piece and fitting it until all the frame was filled in.

On the Christmas card I had to work a little harder. I selected a color for each of the ribbon pieces on the card, and then had to search for the correct piece from that color's container of pieces. But both were fun, and somewhat relaxing to do!

Once the frames were filled in I glued a backing piece onto each of the frames, then added them to their respective card base. You will note that the "with love" card was used in portrait orientation while the Christmas card was done in landscape. Versatile die!

All that was left to do was add the decorative touches. I made pink flowers using the Petite Layering Flowers and the Petite Layering Leaves dies, and the Pointsetta with the Petite Pointsetta die. The Script Merry Christmas was just right for the Christmas card.

But when I cut the "with" and "love" using the Accessory Words #2 and #3, they just seemed "flat"; They really needed something to make them stand out from the page.

At first I thought I would add some pop by covering them with Glossy Accents, but I have trouble doing a good job with that and it takes a while to dry. I needed the card right away so I could send it to a really special friend who is having a rough time. So I put on my thinking cap. And I came up with a solution that I think is so wonderful that I just HAVE to share!

I made the letters shiny by covering my card stock with a bit of clear packaging tape before cutting! The letters still cut perfectly, but now they look like they have been enameled! The coating is perfect... no bubbles, no streaks, and absolutely even. I am going to be using this technique a lot in the future!

Here is a close-up of the words. I wish the shine showed more in this photo; you can see it a little, but believe me, in real life it is much less subtle and really beautiful!



Here is a close up of the Christmas card.


And one final look at both of the cards, from straight on. I sure hope you have enjoyed them!

 

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Most people who know me know that I absolutely hate snow. It is just cold and wet and gets dirty and melts and refreezes. It is just horrible stuff! And with my bum leg, there is just NO way I would want to experience it ever again! (I grew up in New England, so I had my share!)

But as much as I hate snow, I love snowy scenes and snowmen...and I especially love to create snowy Christmas cards! And this is definitely a snowy one!

I started by cutting and assembling my log cabin. I have to tell you this was REALLY fun! I had so many options, but I opted to go all out and use all the structure pieces and one window die and a door. Once I had it assembled I added my snow (a product made by Aleene's) to the roofs of each of the parts of the house. I then set the cabin aside while I prepared the background.



I cut the distant background out of white card-stock using the Evergreen Forest Edger die. I colored the trees with a blue-green Copic marker (things in the distance are bluer than things in the mid ground). I tapped my snow onto my trees using my favorite applicator.....my index finger!

Next I cut my trees for the mid-ground and foreground out of pine green card using the Small Oregon Fir tree and the Small Pine. I added some variation to the color of the card stock with some Copic markers, and then tapped on some snow.

Next I cut my Rail Fence Ribbon out of white card-stock, and colored the rails and posts with brown Copics. I added snow to it, too.

I then cut a snow drift for the foreground out of white card-stock using the Stitched Scene Builder Edgers. I covered that piece with snow.

I wanted a cardinal in the scene, but my cardinal die (part of the Small Birds die set) is too big, so I used a trick. I cut the bird out of red craft foam and used my heat tool to shrink it until it was just the right size.

Finally, it was time to assemble. I cut a card panel of white card-stock and sponged a cloudy sky on it. I then added the background evergreens. All the layers above that one were added with foam tape, from the background to the foreground.

Here is another view of the finished card. I hope you like it!

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I hope you have enjoyed this retrospective of my recent work. To see the dies that are keeping me busy drawing, just pop over to Frantic Stamper. There are almost 700 dies in the Frantic Stamper Precision Dies line, and I have drawn them all!

Giveaway Time at Frantic Stamper.com!

GIVEAWAY time! Here's your chance to win dies from the Frantic Stamper Precision Die line! The dies included in this giveaway are listed on the photo below.

You have many chances to win! Do as many of the following as you'd like for extra entries:
1) Comment on the announcement blog post on Frantic Stamper's blog
2) Become a follower of the Frantic Stamper Facebook page
3) Like the Giveaway announcement post
4) Share the Giveaway post on your FB page
5) Comment on the Giveaway post with your favorite die from the Frantic Stamper Precision Die line
6) tag your friends (no limit)
7) Subscribe to the Frantic Stamper Newsletter (if you already subscribe, let us know that too!)

(To see a card made using these products, scroll down to see the video posted on 3/16.)

Giveaway is open through Saturday, April 4th at Midnight EST. Winner will be announced Easter Sunday! Good luck!

Catching up...

I just don't seem to be able to make things and get them posted here anymore. I am spending a lot of my time designing dies for Frantic Stamper and that seems to sap not only my time, but maybe even some of my creative juices. And it seems that whatever I do manage to create I post on the Frantic Stamper Happenings blog instead of mine so I can feel I am at least partly living up to my Design Team responsibilities.

So, I have decided that whenever I share something there I am going to also try to share it here. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, I am going to share some of the stuff that I have shared there in the past few months. They all use dies that I have designed for Frantic Stamper, and I have to say I am pretty proud of the dies, and I think the cards came out okay, too.    :)

Mother and Child



This card used a single die, the Mother and Child card panel die, cut both out of light blue card-stock and thin craft foam. They were layered over a patterned paper, and then various other layers to make up the card. A simple red gross-grain bow finished the card. The craft foam gives depth to the card yet adds very little weight or bulk. It is a LOT easier than trying to piece in foam tape, too!


Dem Bones



I used a needle and thread to "stitch" together the pieces of the Dem Bones skeleton and then I used more thread to suspend the skeleton in a window I cut in the front of my card. He dangles and jiggles so wonderfully! The card was finished off with a paper bow made with the small Swirl Paper Bow. Some gold spray from Hero Arts on some of the layers and the bow helped to make them stand out.

Peace dove



This simple card was made by cutting the large dove and layering it over a pale blue background (spotted with some Hero Arts Unicorn white spray). I added a small layer of white into which the "Peace" was cut and pieced. A silver ribbon finished the card.

Believe



This card was made with the Santa Suit icon dies and the rope ribbon die. A bit of colorful Christmas paper, a bow made with the small swirl and small solid paper bow dies and the word "Believe" (cut with the Believe die) finished things off.


Merry Christmas



This card started with the horizontal birch panel cut in white and layered over white glitter card stock (which unfortunately took on a pink tint when photographed). A couple of deer peeking out from between the trees, some holly boughs, and the script Merry Christmas finish off the card.

Winter Church in the Wildwood



This card was originally a prototype for Christmas cards I was going to make, but I ended up turning it into a sympathy card. The winter church panel is just so versatile, so pretty, and is my favorite die so far!


I hope you have enjoyed my little retrospective. I hope you will give the Frantic Stamper dies a try!

Mom's Christmas Card

One of my greatest joys but also one of my greatest challenges is making a Christmas card for my mom every year (I used to make one for my dad, too, but he passed away in 2011). Last year herself was the only card I was able to make, thanks to my surgery followed by my fall and broken leg. I was happy with my cheerful little Santa scene card and it was really just right for last year, but this year I wanted to do something very different for Mom. We lost my eldest brother quite suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly this past June, and that has resulted in a great deal of change for us all. We are all working to find peace, and I hoped to add to Mom's peace with a special card.

When my brother was small my mother, father, and he lived in a lovely wooded area with rolling hills and frequent visits by deer, raccoons, squirrels, and chipmunks. My mother often talked about how they would all often spend hours watching the deer visiting their apple orchard, even in the early autumn snows. I wanted to recreate a little piece of that time for her, to give her a little closeness to both my dad and my brother.

I created this large three-dimensional shadow-box card with pieces of heavy white card-stock (when flat it measures 8.5"x5.5", and when opened is 2" deep and 6.5" wide). I covered the base with a textured blue card stock and then I created three interior layers for the inside of the box. I cut the windows with Spellbinders Nestabilities dies prior to the assembly, which was accomplished with the help of a strong liquid glue and strong tape.

The biggest issue in making the card was making sure to have accurate and clean cuts and scores. The interior layers had to be able to lie perfectly flat with the card when closed and stand perfectly when the card is open, so even small error in measurement would be obvious.

I decorated the box using a mix of Memory Box, Cottage Cutz, and Frantic Stamper dies and a few carefully-placed pearls. A satin bow finished the card front, and a pocket on the back for a gift card finished the back.

On Christmas Eve at my Mom's home, with my surviving two brothers and my two nephews gathered, Mom shared the card with them all. My nephew snapped a photo of the card with his iPhone using a table lamp as a side light, and shared it on his Facebook, along with a very sweet comment. I think his photo shows the dimension of the card better than my photo did, so I asked him if he would allow me to share his photo, too. He readily agreed.

So, I would like to credit my nephew Alan Arsenault, who is a talented professional photographer, for this photo. Of course, this is just an iPhoto snapshot...and though FABULOUS, I don't want you all to think that it is indicative of his best work! You should check out some of that at his blog!

Snowy Wiper Card

I have a thing for snowmen. I absolutely HATE real snow, but I just adore snowmen! I don't believe I have ever seen a snowman I haven't liked!

And since I like snowmen so much, I have a hard time walking away from a snowman stamp! The one I used on this card is one of my all-time favorites, and was made by Penny Black.

This card style is known as a wiper card because of the little pop-up mechanism that swipes up with the motion of a windshield wiper when the card is opened. For my card, I used a piece of acetate to make my mechanism and added a punched snowflake to it. It makes it seem that the snowflake is suspended in the air.

If you would like to learn how to make this card, you can get an instructional PDF at this link.

Below is another wiper card I made for Halloween.

A Little Birdie Told Me

This card started out to be a quick card, but once I got going on it, I just kept having to add details, and the quick card ended up taking a little more than an hour to make. Oh well. It was worth the time, I think!

I started by wiping three shades of blue distress ink onto an acrylic mount. I lightly spritzed the mount with water, and then pressed the mount onto a piece of watercolor paper. I let it sit for a minute or so to let the color sink into the paper, and then lifted off the mount. I had a lovely blue backdrop for my bird. I quickly dried the paper with my heat gun.

Next I stamped the Frantic Stamper Bird on Pussywillow image over my blue backdrop with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored my bird with Inktense watercolor pencils and a water-brush (did you notice my coloring error? I sure did!) I wasn't happy with the willow buds as they were just colored, so I decided to flock them with white flocking powder...and now they look just like little fuzzy pussy willows!



While the glue for the flock dried I worked on my background layer and my tag. For the background I rubbed Faded Jeans distress ink directly onto a piece of white card-stock. I then spritzed that with water mixed with a small amount of Pearl Perfect Pearls. It gave the card-stock a quiet shimmer.

I cut a small piece of watercolor paper into a tag shape and then covered it with a piece of white card-stock (I wanted the sturdiness of the watercolor, but the color and texture of the card-stock). I stamped my note saying onto the tag, and colored it with Inktense pencils and a water-brush. I punched a hole, and added a hole-protector punched from a scrap of my blue background paper.

I punched two small holes in my stamped watercolored image. I threaded a piece of blue baker's twine through the two holes so the ends were to the front of the image. I passed one of the ends through my tag, and then I tied the tag to the image with a bow.



I then glued my background piece to my standard white card, and then used strong tape to adhere my watercolored image to the background, finishing the card.

I hope you have enjoyed my little birdie card!

Phenakistoscope Blizzard

Phenakistoscope Blizzard

by Kathy Berger


Recently I saw a post on SplitCoastStampers for creating a card with a spinning mechanism controlled by pulling a string. The creator of the card called it a zoetrope card, but I thought it was more like a phenakistoscope. A zoetrope uses a cylinder with a strip of drawings to create the illusion of animation. A phenakistoscope uses a disc with slits to create that illusion, and since this card uses a disk, that will be my name for this card even though it, too, is a misnomer since there is no animation involved.

The zoetrope card used clear acetate sheets and a set of self-adhesive foam rings made by a particular home-party-based stamping company. I didn't have those items so I set out to create the card with items I did have and that are readily accessible. To replace their foam rings I opted for some craft foam and some strong adhesive. To replace the acetate sheets I opted for clear packaging tape.

First I cut a circle, about 1 1/4" in diameter, from craft foam that I had covered front and back with the strong adhesive tape. I also cut a medium circle (about 1 3/4" in diameter) and a large circle (about 2 1/4" in diameter) from card stock; the large circle was covered on one side with strong adhesive. Then I cut a large scallop circle (about 2 3/4" in diameter) from a double layer of card stock with strong adhesive between them. And lastly, I cut two small round tags for my pull tab, with strong adhesive on one.

I then put clear package tape on one side of the medium circle and on the non-adhesive side of the large circle.

It was then time to assemble the mechanism.

I adhered a piece of baker's twine (about 18" in length) to the craft foam, and then the craft foam to the scallop circle. The craft foam was then adhered to a card-stock circle a little larger than the foam circle.

I poked a hole in the center of both the stack and the large circle. The scallop circle mechanism was then attached to the remaining piece by putting a brad through the hole in center of each piece of the mechanism, and folding back the brad's legs. The mechanism was then affixed to a piece of card-stock, and then to the card. A tag was prepared to attach the pull end of the baker's twine.

In following a plan to create holiday cards throughout the year, I decided to make my card a snowy blizzard of a card. My card base is white with snowflakes stamped in Memento Nautical Blue ink and then embossed with a Cuttlebug "Snowflakes" embossing folder. My disk was decorated with a larger snowflake on a small scalloped circle (I wanted to hide the brad's head), and finished off with sparkling blue gems. With this snowy, fun card added to my collection, and a few more more every month, perhaps this year I will be ready for this holiday season when it arrives!

Here is a video that shows the steps I took to make the mechanism, and the finished card in motion.



Here is the sandwich stack details:

I hope you have enjoyed my snowy card. Until the next time!

Smiles,
Kathy

Bo Bunny Inspired Cards

Recently FranticStamper was featured on the Bo Bunny Blog. As a Design Team member (team leader, actually) I helped with the feature. Here are the four cards I made:

Floral Fantasy

The circles of the Bo Bunny Bouquet paper of the Ambrosia Collection just screamed at me to make a flower of them. I used three different sizes of Spelllbinders scalloped circle Nestabilities dies to cut the layers. I then spritzed the circles with water with gold Pearl-ex, and crumpled the circles, reopening them gently and setting them aside to dry. Once partly dry, I stacked them, poked a hole in their centers and tied them together with a brad. I then pulled them up around the brad, and gently curled them back down. Once fully dry, the resulting flower has a ton of dimension and is fairly stiff.

I attached the finished flower to the corner of my card, which was made with a corner of the Ambrosia-Ambrosia paper that I fussy-cut and layered over the flip side of the Bouquet paper. The butterflies were punched from the Ambrosia paper and wrapped with embroidery floss to create their bodies.

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Fashion Magazine

The lovely pinks of the Isabella Collection were very feminine. Its pretty patterns made me think of fabrics and fashion, so I created this page from a fashion magazine to showcase some of what I thought were the prettiest patterns in the collection.

The dress was cut from the Becoming paper using the Princess Dress die. The magazine page was cut from the Isabella paper (which was also used to create the main card layer) using the labels 7 die. The chevron decoration was hand cut from the Delicate paper.

The buttons were attached with glue dots, but not before one of them was threaded with pink baker's twine.

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I Adore You

This card uses the Love Letters Collection from Bo Bunny and really takes advantage of how well the different papers coordinate. The hearts were cut from Keys and Puzzle, while the Pinking Circle was cut from Notes. Notes was used for the bottom layer, while the next layer was from Puzzle, but the flip side from what was used for the heart. The top layer was from Journal. All of the card was tied together with solid card-stock from American Crafts and a bow to match.

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Count

This very quick and simple card used a layer of Panache from the C'est La Vie collection with a small strip of paper from the Decoupage paper of the same collection, plus a saying from the Country Garden collection which I cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 1 Die. This card took literally just a couple of minutes to make added onto my white 5"x7" card base.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I would like to share a really quick, clean, and simple card. Rather than describe how I made it, I thought I would show you, since it really takes just a few minutes to make.



The main card is standard 5 1/2"x4 1/4". The layers are 5 1/4"x4" and 1"x4". The decorative score-lines on the large layer are at 1/8", all around the card.

Make up a bunch for the Valentines in your life!

Smiles,
Kathy

Never-Ending Love

One of my cousins is having a baby boy! I made a baby blanket for him, and I needed a gift card to go with it, but I wanted the card to be special. I opted to make a Never-ending card, to symbolize the never-ending love and responsibility that goes with adding a child to a family.

I shared small photos of this card in my last post, but I thought I would share a little more about it today.

The card measures 4" square and utilizes images from an unknown source along with a saying from Inkadinkado's Welcome Baby clear stamp set, and two Riley the Moose stamps, "Riley in the Moon" and "You're a Star" Riley. I also used the smallest star die from Spellbinders Stars Nestabilities.

The card is intended to be a keepsake, and has places for writing in vital information. But the card is also meant to be fun. The moons and every star in the card is painted with glow-in-the-dark glitter paint. Riley's antlers are flocked with Stampendous Caramel Latte flocking powder. I think those touches, along with the fact that the card is just FUN to play with because of its 4 faces and the fun way the card opens to each of those. The four faces are shown here:




In order to present my card, and to help protect it, I opted to add a belly-band, which is what is shown in the main photograph at the top of this post.

Making a Never-ending card is not difficult. For this one, I cut two 4" square pieces of light blue heavy card-stock. I then scored each of them at 1" from the left and right edges, and then turned them 90°, and cut them in half (at 2"), across the score lines. Realigning the rectangles of one of the squares with the central cut in the vertical direction, I used strong tape in the four corners, and affixed the other square on top of it, with the central cut in the horizontal direction. The mechanism was complete at this point, and works by simply folding on the score lines. All that was left was to decorate the card as desired.