Cat Thank You

Today's card is a quick thank you card for one of the many cat lovers in my life - made using one of my card kits as described in a previous post here.  The patterned card stock is from a small DCWV stack.

FOCAL: The focal was made as described in this post, using stamps from JustRite's Grand Sentiments (frame & sentiment) and Inkadinkadoo (You're Purrfect Cat).   I used clear embossing ink & white powder for the border & a dark pink ink with clear embossing powder for the image & greeting.  Focal was cut using a die from Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Nine.

FRAME:  Because my card stock came from a 4.5" x 6.5" mat stack, it was just the right size to allow for a white border around it on the front of my 5" x 7" card.  I cut it into a frame by cutting the center out, using the same die used for the focal.  I popped the frame on the card using dimensional tape and my card front was finished.

INSIDE:  I didn't take a picture of the inside, but I used the piece that was left over from cutting the frame (inside piece) and cut another frame using a smaller die from the same set to cut the inside of that piece out - perfect for framing my inside message.

Pressed Flower Thank You

This card was made for a friend who does a lot with pressed flowers.  This pressed flower printed paper (HOTP) isn't nearly as nice as the real thing, but I thought she might appreciate the thought at least!  

BACKGROUND: I didn't have much of the printed paper left & wanted a bit for the inside as well, so I ended up with a strip that was perhaps 2" wide on the front of the card.  I found some old-fashioned lace that I thought went well and added along the border (for the inside as well - see below).

FOCAL: Focal was stamped on a die cut piece using a stamp from JustRite's Grand Sentiments.  I used the same ink to ink around the edge of the die cut and to ink the entire area of the die cut I used for a mat (dies from HOTP set called 6 layered labels & 2 swirls).  Because I ended up with some stray ink when I stamped the greeting, I added a little butterfly sticker to hide the mess.

INSIDE: For the inside, I had a narrower border done in a similar way as on the front - and added a larger butterfly sticker from my stash:

Panda-rific

I love the way this card turned out!  The panda is made from suede paper & FlowerSoft, so just begs to be petted!  Using the back of the card stock for my extra pieces meant that if the back of the piece was visible, it blended perfectly with the rest of the card.
 

MATERIALS:

• 12" x 12" piece of green card stock from DCWV Texture & Finishes stack (used for all but the panda itself (sometimes used the plain white back side of it & inked it).
• Small piece of Black Suede paper from HOTP (big enough to cut out the panda)
• Small piece of cream colored paper (big enough to hold panda)
• Small piece of double-sided adhesive (big enough to hold panda - I used some from Elizabeth Crafts)
• Ivory FlowerSoft
• Very fine white glitter
• 2 dies from Spellbinder's A2 Card Basics A
• 1 die from Spellbinder's Labels Thirty-Two 
• "Thank You" stamp from JustRite's Antique Autumn Tags One
• Tea Leaves ink by VersaMagic 
• Sponge Dauber
• Printer & Light Box
• Painter's Tape (to hold dies in place - & to hold card in place for printer)
• ATG
• Sakura Quickie Glue roller ball glue pen

CARD BASE/BACKGROUND: For basics on constructing the card base check out this previous one made using the same measurements.  For this card I used card stock from DCWV Texture & Finishes stack for both pieces and cut my openings with a die from A2 Card Basics A.  Before joining the two pieces of card stock together, ink the middle of both pieces where they will be visible when the card is opened (using a sponge dauber & ink pad - Tea Leaves by VersaMagic).  

FOCAL MAT: Using the reverse side of the rectangular piece that was cut from the "outside" card piece, ink the edges (again with Tea Leaves ink) and attached it to the card as you can see in the picture.

PANDA: Cut the panda from the Black Suede paper - including the eyes & nose.  Place the small piece of double-sided adhesive on the small piece of cream colored paper.  Smooth in place, then remove backing & add the panda.  Fussy cut around the panda and discard the sticky remnants before moving on to the next step.  Then, add Ivory FlowerSoft to fill in the white places on the panda - except for the eyes.  Use very fine white glitter for the whites of the eyes.

BAMBOO: Cut from the same card stock as used for the card base - using bambo die that comes with Scruffy Panda.  Cut some of these into smaller pieces to create the effect shown.  To glue these small pieces use Quickie Glue glue pen.

GREETING: On the reverse side of card stock piece that has been cut & embossed with Labels 32 die, stamp "Thank You" using stamp from Antique Autumn Tags One.  Ink around the edge.

INSIDE MESSAGE: Cut & emboss a piece of card stock using a die from A2 Card Basics A. Ink the edges.  Create your message in a Microsoft Word document (or similar software program) and print it to ensure it is the right size.  Place this paper on a light box and arrange your card stock piece on top, looking through to ensure it is lined up the way you want it.  Hold it in place with painter's tape (I placed it on my clothing a couple of times to ensure it wouldn't be too hard to remove later) and send it through the printer again so your message is printed on the card.  Glue in place as shown (picture doesn't show printed message, but shows where it would be).  Finish with a bit more bamboo, prepared as before.

Here's the card closed up and ready to go into the envelope for mailing (it really is rectangular, but was trying to open so looks a bit strange):

Card Kit Swap Number Two

Today's card is another from the Card Kit Swap on the Paper Wishes Message Board.  This is the one made from items my swap partner sent to me. I wasn't smart enough to take pictures of the materials that came in the kit, but the list of items are: Focal image & sentiment from HOTP "Butterflies" stamp set (old one), stamped with StazOn Jet Black ink, Queen & Company Ribbon, 3 pieces of paper from the Double-sided Rhapsody paper pack from HOTP (2 that were 5" x 6.5", and one that was 5" x 5", and 12 red jewel Dazzles for embellishments.  

Since I decided not to use the ribbon for this project, and only used 1 piece of 6.5" x 5" paper and just a little of  a second one (none of the 5" x 5" at all), I have plenty of supplies left over for making another card!  

As I look at the card, I wish I had matted the black dotted paper with the red paper instead of just die cutting a couple of embellishments, but I can't do anything about that now!

Anyway, the rules were you could only add ink & shimmer (like Wink of Stella) to the supplies sent for your card.  

BUTTERFLY: Not having many standard alcohol ink pens, I used red & black Sharpies to color in my butterfly.  Then I went over the entire wings with Wink of Stella (which doesn't show up well in the picture. I then fussy cut around it, leaving a little white showing around the antennae so they would hold up better (and show better against the background!)

SENTIMENT: At first I thought about using a die to make the sentiment into a tag, but as I played around with the pieces, I realized I liked it as a stripe across the front of the card.  So, I cut it into a strip 2" by 4 5/8".

BACKGROUND: I didn't want to just cover up my dotted paper with the sentiment as I wanted some for the inside of my card, so, I cut 1" off the bottom to create my bottom strip, then 2" that I would use on the inside of the card.  I trimmed all pieces to 4 5/8" wide.  Saving the 2" strip for the inside of the card, I glued the remaining pieces in place on the front of the card and added the sentiment strip.

EMBELLISHMENTS: I realized I really wanted JUST black, red, and white on my card, and the Jewel Dazzles had a gold ring around them.  SO, I colored over it with my black Sharpie.  I cut two red decorative pieces from the red paper using a die from the Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags & Accents die set.  You can see how I used these from the picture.

INSIDE: The inside is pretty simple - I cut my 2" strip into smaller ones for top & bottom & added the 2nd red embellishment I had die cut.

Here's another view of the finished card: