"TAILOR MADE TAGS" + MINI POUND CAKE PACKAGING

One of Stampin' Up!'s newest products is a selection of tag-shaped dies, which I already love.  I almost talked myself out of buying the Tailor Made Tags dies, thinking that it really isn't hard to make my own tags.  BUT . . . just look at this cute tag with its stitch lines and the shaped (Calypso Coral) reinforcer for the hole.  Are you thinking "be still, my heart"?  I don't know if the new catalog really has more projects featuring tags than previous catalogs or if I am just looking for them, but I'm excited.  Some years ago, I enjoyed tags on cards and other stamped projects, and I know my new dies will get a workout.

Late last week, I made a pound cake for my husband--using my mother's delicious recipe, which I know he loves--and I made two mini cakes with the intention of giving one to my parents and one to my sister.  With a room full of craft supplies, it would have been rude to not present the mini cakes with fun packaging, right?

I didn't have the perfect size box, but the Tag a Bag Gift Boxes (retired) worked nicely with some pretty fabric tucked around the cake and filling the ends of the boxes.  I used a heart-shaped doily to adorn the plain brown craft paper band and, of course, I had to scatter some sequins on the doily.  The sentiment that I stamped on the tag is from the (retired) Yippee-Skippee stamp set.  I'll bet some of you kept that stamp set (like me) because it has some really cute sentiments!

We (the family) always think yellow when we think of my sister, so I tucked some of The Pioneer Woman's Charming Yellow Check fabric in her box and used a Daffodil Delight die-cut hole reinforcer on her tag.

Didn't these packages turn out cute?  The pound cake turned out pretty good, too.  :-)

BIRD HOUSE EASEL BIRTHDAY CARD

 

Cousin Mildred will celebrate her 80th birthday this week, so she deserved a special card.

How cute is this easel card that's shaped like a bird house?  The dies that I used to cut the bird house and those adorable birds are from Poppy Stamps, but all other products are from Stampin' Up!  In the photo below, you can see how easily the easel portion folds into shape.  I used fringe scissors to cut a grassy border to give the front of the card a place to rest.

And another view of the card on display:

I love that the die impresses a texture on the front of the bird house and, as you can see, this neat little card folds flat for mailing.  BTW, the leafy branch was cut from Pear Pizzazz cardstock, and then I used an Early Espresso marker to color the branch portion.

Let's talk about those adorable flowers.  I punched them in assorted colors using the soon-to-be-retired Confetti Flowers punch and then shaped them with a couple of McGill flower-shaping tools that I have had and loved for years!  It isn't really necessary to shape the flowers since they get flatten during mailing, but I like to hope they maintain a little bit of the shaped dimension.  After the flowers were punched, I laid them on a foam pad (the Simply Shammy might work for this) and used the appropriate sized ball tips of the McGill tools to shape each flower and leaf.  Did you notice the cute ladybug?  It's adorable on this card!

The sentiment that I chose is from the Quite Curvy stamp set.  It's perfect, right?

I didn't have an envelope in the perfect shade of yellow, but I thought this one would suffice.  It, too, was decorated with images from Quite Curvy and colored with Stampin' Blends.  Lately, I have really been enjoying those alcohol markers!  Interestingly, I have spent a small fortune on an assortment of Copic and Prismacolor alcohol markers in the past, but the absolute EASIEST to use (for someone who wants to just pick up markers and start coloring) have been Stampin' Blends.  I still have my Blendabilities from Stampin' Up! and use them along with the Blends.  The more I use Stampin' Up!'s alcohol markers, the more I appreciate that there's no guess work . . . you choose your color, and then apply the light and dark shades of that color to your stamped image and get beautiful blending and shading.  

Stampin' Up! products used to complete this card:

Dies:  Birds & More, Little Numbers (retired)

Punches:  Confetti Flowers, Bitty Blooms 

Stamp Set:  Quite Curvy

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends, Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker

Cardstock:  Thick Whisper White, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Poppy Parade, Mossy Meadow, Balmy Blue

Tools:  Fringe Scissors (retired), Stampin' Blends

Accessories:  Ladybug Trinkets, White Baker's Twine

GLIMMERY "DRAGONFLY GARDEN" SLIM CARD

One of the best things about being a card-maker is being able to make whatever size card you want.  Sometimes you might want a card to fit a particular envelope, and other times it might be necessary to tweak the size of the card to the size of the image you wish to use.

The tall, narrow image from Dragonfly Garden would certainly fit on a regular A2 size card, but doesn't it shine on this tall, slim design?  I wanted the dragonfly to be the focal point and was very pleased with how this card turned out.

I used Stampin' Blends to color the dragonfly.  The sentiment was stamped with Highland Heather ink onto a strip of white cardstock with distressed edges.  

I thought the sequins were a nice embellishment, but adding the So Saffron tab to the end of the sentiment strip was a nice decorative touch, along with the Baker's twine bow and rhinestone.  The finished card was approximately 3.5" x 8.5" and easily fit into a letter-size envelope.  

And, of course, the dragonfly wings had to have a touch of Wink of Stella glimmer!

"DARLING DONKEYS" BIRTHDAY CARD

This past Sunday was my daddy's birthday.  When I thought about what kind of card to make for him, I kept wondering if I should use seashells, sailboat, lighthouse, whiskey theme, die-cut tools, or maybe torn strips of designer paper and a large sentiment.  But then Stampin' Up!'s Darling Donkeys stamp set looked too fun to resist.  Although it's no longer available, it's a keeper and one that I will continue to enjoy.  The card that I ended up making was very heavily inspired by a very creative one designed by Lorri Heiling.  Isn't that one of the best things about making cards . . . there are so many samples to inspire you!  

I never intended for the fence top to be slanted--that was a mishap that took place after all of the donkeys had been stamped, colored, pain-stakingly cut out with scissors, and adhered in place.  Re-making the card would mean re-making (and cutting) all three donkeys, so I decided that this card represents a fence on a hill or a fence that has an issue with sinking.

It seems that there are so many cute ways to use the image of the donkey portrayed above as jumping for joy.  He can be jumping, flying, or kicking, and he can be happy or sassy.  That little guy sitting in the grass looks like he wishes there was something he could do about his crazy, out-of-control friend, but he certainly can't squeeze through the hole in the fence.  He is adorable, though!

In case you're wondering, the cardstock that I used for the card is Smoky Slate.  After embossing the front with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder, I used sponges to color the "fence" with Soft Suede and Smoky Slate ink.  

Even with the mishap, I was very pleased with this card--and daddy was, too!  I have previously sent a couple of donkey cards to my parents, and I figured one more wouldn't hurt.  

EASTER CARDS

My Easter cards this year featured Stampin' Up!'s Arrange a Wreath and Dragonfly Garden product bundles, along with Country Floral embossing folder, glimmer paper and cardstock accents featuring three of the Forever Flourishing dies, and an Iridescent Ice embossed sentiment.

Most of the cards were pretty much the same with slight variations.

The dragonflies were stamped onto Vellum cardstock, colored with Stampin' Blends markers, and then punched with the Dragonflies punch. 

 

Cardstock colors were Basic White, So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, and Soft Sea Foam.

And a couple of the cards featured only dragonflies and no wreath.

I wish you a HAPPY EASTER and a HAPPY SPRING