Lovely Bunny

Today's card was inspired by sketch #59 from the Retro Rubber Blog & the April color scheme challenge @ the Rubber Dance blog. I will also be applying it @ Addicted to Stamps #236 "Anything Goes" challenge and the heARTfelt Stamping month long "Anything Goes" challenge.

Making this card was alot of fun because I dug out a stamp set that I haven't used in a very, very long time...so long, in fact, that I have to admit I totally forgot I even had it! I spent some time a few weeks ago going thru my stamp collection to refresh my memory on what I had and that's when I saw this beauty and pulled it out...not knowing what I would do with it, just knowing it needed some love! 

This bunny stamp set was long ago retired from The Angel Company (circa the early 2000's) and the patterned paper is just as old and came from a paper pack from Basic Gray called Skate Shoppe. I started with a vertical, top folding A2 sized white card base and followed the sketch to trim my layers. No dimensions are ever given in a sketch challenge...that's always up to the card designer to interpret and can sometimes take a little bit of trial and error to get the proportions right, but for this card I just did some light pencil tracing on the back of my papers and trimmed them down with my trusty Fiskars 12" paper trimmer.

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I stamped the bunnies in Momento Tuxedo Black ink on scraps of ultrasmooth white cardstock and then stamped the larger bunny a second time on a scrap of typing weight paper and fussy cut it to make the mask I would need later to apply the distress inks to the background. I cut the word "lovely" from a scrap of the same brown as is layered on the front of the card. This die is from a great set that I got from Peachy Cheap in one of their "Deals of the Day"...I got 16 word dies in this set for only $9.99 + minimal shipping fees a few weeks ago and I have using them quite frequently. I have no idea what brand they are, but the quality is good and the die-cuts they make are top notch! It was a steal of a deal that I'm glad I managed to get my hands on -they sell out so quickly on those most popular items! 

I kept the coloring of the bunnies quite simple, since the stamped image already provided a good bit of the shading for me. 

I then masked off the larger bunny using that 2nd stamped image and my removable sticky dots dispenser came in handy for adhering the mask to the stamped and colored image, but still being easy to remove once I was done. Using the Ranger round distress ink blending foam tool, I gently applied Stormy Sky distress ink on the top of the card and Twisted Citron distress ink (sorry, that color ink pad isn't pictured because I decided on using it at the last minute, lol) on the bottom of the card. I then spritzed it with a tiny bit of water, using my mini-mister, to remove some of the ink and give the sky a bit of a cloudy effect. 

All the layers on this card were put together using my ATG gun...don't know how I crafted without it all those years -it is a seriously heavy duty adhesive and I love it! After adhering the "lovely" die cut using my Xyron "X" sticker maker, I helped the sentiment "pop" off the sky background just a bit and incorporated more of the white from the challenge color scheme by outlining the word with my Signo white gel pen. The twine I wrapped around the top of the card front several times and tied in a simple knot.

Along the bottom of the layers on the card front I added sequins in brown, white and light blue then stacked tiny iridescent sequins on top to help them stand out from the background a bit more...this is more obvious when seeing the card in person and is very pretty and shimmery. Liquid Glass is my go-to sequin adhesive these days and seems to hold up rather well. On the inside, I stamped the sentiment in black, added some cardstock layers from more scrap and accented the cute bunny with one set of the stacked white sequins in the corner.

This card is now all ready to be mailed out late next week to one of my April card swap partners.

Easter Bunny Shaker Card

Today's card is a first for me -I made a shaker card! Can you believe I have been stamping and making cards for 20 years and never made a shaker card yet? I had all the supplies and meant to get around to it many times and just never did...I think the whole thing intimidated me a bit, lol. Silly, eh? Well I faced my fears yesterday and just went for it! I think the hardest part was knowing how much "stuff" to put in...it's not like you can change your mind later without ruining it by tearing it completely apart. I probably should have added just a smidge more before final assembly, but there's always next time. ;)

I was inspired by sketch #238 over @ Paper Craft Crew and by the Easter Bunny theme challenge #338 over @ The Paper Players. I will also be applying this over @ the Repeat Impressions Blog for DCC45 "Add a Die Cut" & @"Love To Craft Blog for their April "anything goes" challenge...this is a sister blog to the Mix It Up Challenge Blog where I am now a proud Design Team member, so go give them some love too! :)

I started out by gathering my supplies and choosing patterned paper from my Basic Gray stash, a retired stamp set from TAC, a doily die from Darice that AC Moore carries, a Sizzix embossing folder, my new Momento black ink (I love 50% off sales at JoAnn Fabric...for details on last week's crafty haul -head to my FB page -the link is in the sidebar on the right) and a top folding A2 white card base.

Using the sketch helped guide me on how big I would need the shaker element to be, so I began by cutting all the layers for the card front, then used the smallest squares from my Pocket Cuts die set from Fun Stampers Journey to cut the shaker window and frame. I cut the opening with the smaller postage edge die and cut the clearview window from a piece of scrap packaging acetate with the larger plain square die. I then used both dies together to cut the frame that would go on the outside of the shaker window.

I ran the front of the white shaker frame through my embossing machine with the sizzix folder and then lightly brushed it with Picked Raspberry Distress ink to bring out the embossed details. I also inked the inside back panel of the shaker window and then splashed some water on it to distress it and break up the color a bit. I used Scotch double sided adhesive foam tape to build the inside framing structure and then chose what would go inside...I went with sequins in several sizes and colors, tiny hole-less beads in several colors and then added just a few seed beads in pastel pink for added interest. With the front of the window frame layers assembled and laying face down on my work space, I added the tiny goodies to the middle...carefully peeled the adhesive backing off the foam tape and lined up the shaker base on top. The tricky part here is getting it perfectly lined up and adhered really well without disturbing the inside contents! 

Once the shaker component assembly was complete, I die cut the tiny doily out of periwinkle cardstock, cut the pink banner to size, stamped & embossed the "Happy Spring" sentiment, stamped &  colored (with Spectrum Noir & Wink -of -Stella pens) and fussy cut the girl and boy bunny then added them to the front of the card with foam pop dots.

I wrapped the card front 2 times with hot pink Scrapper's Floss and tied a double bow that I secured with a mini glue dot. A playful row of sequins was glued along the bottom of the card using Liquid Glass. I sponged the Raspberry ink along the card's front edges and then I moved on to the inside of the card.

I've really been making an effort to continue my designs past the card front...after all, why should the fun end just because you've opened up the card, lol! I used the patterned paper square from inside the frame I made for the card front, stamped the chick in black and colored her with Spectrum Noir pens also. Before adhering it to the card base, I used my Raspberry Distress ink and tool once again to add more color and stamped the sentiment in black.

Now that this card is finished, it will be going out to one of my April card swap partners...everyone loves getting Happy Mail, right? 

P.S. It's Thursday -and that means that over on my FaceBook page I have a #TBT post with a creative "Blast from the Past". Today's Throw-Back-Thursday featured card is from circa 2003-2006. Don't miss out -head on over to my FB page today to Like and Follow me! Hope to see you there :)

Happy Bunny

Today's card was inspired by the sketch @ the Paper Craft Crew blog and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: For a Special Lady/Girl.

The "Happiness" sentiment came from a retired TAC cling mounted stamp set and the bunny is from the "Little Bunny for You" kit from  Unity Stamp Company.

I started with a top folding 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white card base, and several paper scraps...including a purple floral glittered paper, pink and lilac cardstocks. A banner was cut from the gold washi tape and the pink cardstock. A flower was punched from the lilac cardstock.

The bunny was stamped in FSJ Black Licorice ink and colored using the Dove Blender with Prismacolor pencils. Once it was dry, I layered clear Wink of Stella over the bunny and Crystal Lacquer over the flower and the "Happiness" sentiment that I stamped in black and fussy cut out.

Then it was time to begin assembling the card front...first step was to adhere the floral cardstock to the top of the card. Second was to double wrap and tie white Scrapper's Floss into a bow on the right side of the floral panel. Third, I ran the card front thru my die cutting machine with the "xxx-stitch" die from Lawn Fawn tucked right up under the purple floral panel. Fourth, I hand trimmed the gold and pink banners and layered them on the top left of the card front with foam pop dots. I traced the punched lilac flower with a Stardust Gelly Roll pen, layered it on top of the banners and then layered the "Happiness label" on top of it.

The very last step was running the clear Stardust Gellyroll pen along the bottom edge of the Purple Floral panel...which you can catch a tiny glimpse of in the photos above and below. 

and the inside, made using Sizzix diecuts...