Snow Globe Trees & Stickers

Decorations for today's snow globe cards were made using trees cut from green shine design paper using dies from the Snow Globe set (HOTP).  (See the previous Snow Globes post for information on making the card base and finishing it.) Before adding the trees I stamped the background image (from the snow globe stamp set) - in silver here, in a metallic light blue for the next one.  I added the trees and decorated the rest with stickers - mostly Dazzles - a small reindeer a shooting star and some snowflakes and dots to the trees.  Quick & easy.

Here's the 2nd one I made:

This time I used 3 trees - the front one was added with foam tape.  Before adding that front tree, I stamped it with one of the stamps from the Snow Globe set and then added liquid pearls for the garland and small jewels for the ornaments.  A shooting star sticker finishes the top of it. 

Snow Globes!

Lots of snow globes!  I got the snow globe matching stamp & cutting die sets from HOTP way back in September and have been wanting to play with them - finally managed it!  These are the first of several snow globe cards that I'll be making for some of my Christmas cards this year.  Over the next several days I'll talk about how I decorated these, but today We'll talk about making the snow globe card base itself.

Materials:

• Card stock - I used a mix of glossy & regular white card stock
• Three of the cutting dies from the HOTP Snow Globe die set: the plain circle, the snow globe frame, and the snow globe base

Instructions Card Base:

• Score card stock at 3 1/8" and fold along score line.
• Line up plain circle die so it just overlaps the fold line (so about 3/4 of an inch won't be cut), and cut one on the fold.
• Cut two of the card base.
• Attach one of the card bases to the front of the INSIDE globe and one to the front of the OUTSIDE globe (making sure you line them up so the match each other and so the base is opposite the fold).

Instructions Globe Finishing:

• That's it for the card base, but I also went ahead and cut one each of the snow globe frame and the base from a brown patterned paper so it would look like wood.  
• I then inked up the matching stamps (see stamping technique below) and stamped the pieces in brown StazOn ink. 
• These I saved to add AFTER the decorating was complete.  
• After I had my decorations applied to the outside of the card, I applied a liquid glue (I used a two-way glue by ZIG Memory System) to the frame and put it in place.  
• Next I added my base using my ATG to attach it.
• Then I inked the edges of the card with brown ink.
• Finally I added a sticker greeting and my card was complete (except for what I'm planning to write on the inside of course)!

Stamping Technique:  There are lots of different ideas about how best to use dies and matching stamps.  This is what I find usually works best for me.  I cut the shape first.  I then put my stamp right side up on an acrylic block and place it on the table.  I ink it up and then carefully line up my die cut (right side down) and press with the flat of my fingers or my palm (depending on how large the shape is) to ensure the ink has transferred well. 

Happy Paper crafting!

Valentine's Cat

Today I have another cat card - this time a Valentine's card with no hint of pink or red anywhere! :)  The cat was made using the stamp & die matching sets from Stampendous ("Pop-up Kitties").  The greeting is stamp and matching die from JustRite (Antique Valentine Tags One, Vintage Labels and Banner Dies).  For details on how I colored this cat, check here.  It's always a bit challenging to really see what's going on in a photo, but this is what I did to make the front of the card:

• First, I made a double mat of dark green card stock and green gingham patterned paper (HOTP) which I attached to my card front.
• Next I embossed a piece of  light green vellum with an all-over dots embossing folder
• Before I attached the vellum to the card, I added my focal & sentiment so I could put the glue underneath that in a way it wouldn't be seen.  The bow & banner are both stamped with black StazOn on a green "Shine Design" paper from HOTP.  The banner & the cat's head are both attached with foam tape for added dimension.
• After attaching the vellum, I realized that it would have looked better if I had inked the edges.  It was too late for that, but I took a dark green fine-tip marker and a ruler and drew around the edges to make them stand out better - hard to see in the picture, but evident in real life.

I actually assembled the inside of this card first.  I started by finding and modifying a poem that I printed on the same light green vellum I used for the front of the card.  I added another cat - this time with a wobble spring holding the head so it bobbles a bit.  I had a stamp that actually came in a set of sympathy stamps from JustRite (With Sympathy), but I thought it was perfect for a Valentine's Day card.  When all was ready, I attached the vellum to just the inside front of the card - once again with the adhesive behind the cat.  Here's a closer look at the inside cat.

Thinking of You Kittie

Today I needed to make a "Thinking of You" card, so of course I turned to my newly completed cats (Stampendous "Pop Up Kitties" stamps & matching dies) for my focal.  I chose to use one that I colored like a "Tuxedo cat". Here's a picture that perhaps shows the front of the card a bit better:

The striped paper is from a DCWV Mat Stack and is matted with plain black.  The bows are die cut from a glittered foam from the dollar store.  The ledge the cat is sitting on is paper from HOTP.  As you can see, the cat is holding a tag with her paws.  The tag was made with stamps from JustRite stamps ("Be Strong") and cut with the matching die ("Antique Tags One") - silver heat embossing on a white glossy cardstock colored with pink alcohol ink.

The last thing I did was to position some cat paws so they look like she's holding the tag and add the head - which is on a wobble spring.