Valentine Shaker

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

I've always had an interest in shaker cards but don't find that I make them very often.  I don't know why because I have collected all of the little bits to fill them.  😁 Soooo, I decided to make one for Valentine's Day.  I just love seeing all of the little hearts bouncing around.  They really are fun to make plus fun to shake.

I began by stamping the fox from the #5219 - Loveable Animals set with Memento black ink onto copic friendly paper and coloring with my copic markers listed below.  This set comes with the coordinating dies so no fussy cutting necessary.  Yay!  It also comes with some accessories that each of the animals can hold in their paws.  The heart was appropriate for this card, but the other choices are a flower, present, cupcake, party hat or letter.  I stamped the sentiment from this same set on a tag from the 

#5132 - Tag stitched die set.

To make the shaker, using two nesting heart dies taped together, I cut two hearts from acetate or clear packaging, one from red cardstock and four from white heavy cardstock.  I glued the acetate to the back side of the red heart and then layered (glued) all of the white cardstock hearts to that.  Place the shaker pieces inside the well of the hearts and then glue the last acetate heart to create the shaker pouch.  I find it easier to make a shaker pouch so you can place nicely onto your project and see exactly where you want to adhere it.

That's it for my card today.  Hope you enjoy it!  Keep creating!

Copics used:  R20, E93, E95, E97, E99

 

Snow Friend

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

Today my card was inspired by the current Art Impressions blog challenge "Monochromatic".   I've never really done this before, but I found it quite fun!  All you have to do is create a card using one color (or different shades of one color).  I decided to use the 5041 - Snow Friend set.  I've always loved this snowman but since Christmas has passed, I wanted him to reflect the winter season.

I stamped the image with memento black ink onto copic friendly paper and colored with my copic markers listed below.  I then fussy cut him out and cut off the string of Christmas lights that he is holding.  Some of the strings still showed, so I colored over the string pieces with a white paint pen and they are no longer visible.  TaDa!  😀

I ink blended a white cardstock panel with Ranger Distress Oxide inks (colors Prize Ribbon and Salty Ocean).  I spattered a little water onto the panel and dabbed it off with a paper towel.  Then I flicked some Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof white paint, mixed with some water, with a small paint brush onto the panel to create a snowy effect.  I cut the panel with the largest 5063 - Rectangle A2 Double Stitch die and I used the 5064 - Double Stitch circle to cut a partial circle out of the top right side.  I created two snow mounds with white cardstock from a panel cut with the rectangle A2 double stitch die.  Lastly, I die cut several snowflakes from the 5353 - Large Snowflake die and the 5782 - Snowflake Frame sets.

 I covered the snowflakes with stickles and created an icy ground to skate on.

That's my card for today!  Hope you enjoy and keep creating!

Make sure to enter the challenge - see Art Impressions blog for details and a chance to win a free stamp set.

Copics used:  C1, C3, E21, E23,

B0000, B00, B12, B14, B16, B21, B23

R20, YR12, YR14

Unicorn Carousel

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

Have you ever taken an image or die and put a twist on it?  When I saw the AI gazebo die (#5361 WC Gazebo set), it reminded me of the fair and the horse carousel.  So I decided to make the gazebo a carousel and the horses are now unicorns.  😄 

My card was fun to make but a little challenging due to the interactive mechanism.  This card can be just as adorable without making it move.

I die cut the gazebo with gold foiled cardstock and cut the slits to extend the bars behind the unicorns.  I decorated the gazebo with patterned papers from the #5939 Fairy Garden PP.  For each layer of the background, I cut slits for the mechanism by placing the gazebo die cut over each and marked with a pencil.  Then I roughly cut slits out of each so that the mechanism will work through all layers.

  
                                                        Pic 1

 I then made little tabs for the unicorns to ride along by cutting four 1/2" discs from cardstock and four 1 x 1/4" strips (see Pic 2).   Fold the strips and adhere to the paper discs as shown in Pic 2.  Feed the strip part through the slits to the back layer and adhere a round paper disc.  At this point, you can test to make sure these discs slide nicely up and down.  If they get stuck, just take an X-acto knife and shave a little off the sides of the bars to widen the track.

 I used the My Favorite Things Up and Down interactive dienamic as a template for my card.  Since this die set is for a larger mechanism, I had to make my own "T shaped" mechanism (Pic 3) to make it work for this card.  This was my challenge but I finally got it to work.  I used the MFT plastic spinning discs where the track goes through the disc.  A bead or button may work better and you wouldn't have to feed the track through, but I didn't think of that until later.  

                    Pic 2                                                            Pic 3

  Place double layered foam tape around the edges on the back side, making sure you don't hinder the mechanism.  Place onto the card base.

I stamped the unicorns (#5225 - Castle cubbies) with memento black ink onto copic friendly paper and colored them with my copic markers listed below.  After coloring them, I die cut with the coordinating dies as well as die cut an extra one of each with heavy duty cardstock to layer behind for stability.  Adhere each of the unicorns onto the paper discs showing through the front side of the card.

So, that's my card for today.  Hope you enjoy it!

Remember to put a "twist" on some of your stamp/die sets.  It's fun to see where your imagination might take you.  Make sure to share with us by entering the bi-weekly challenge for your chance to win a free stamp set.

Copics used:  N0, N1, N2

R20, Y11, G40, BG000

Golden Celebration

 Happy New Year AI Friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are off to a fantastic 2025! 

 My card today was inspired by the current challenge "Craft Time is Golden".  I sort of went "all out" golden.  😁  When I started creating, the gold was minimal, then all of a sudden, it went full on gold! Guess you could say it screams New Year's celebration, but wouldn't it be great for a 50th wedding anniversary card or add a little black and make it a graduation card.  

I used the 5811 - Gift card pocket die set for the bow and the 5722 - Birthday Journal set for the balloons and celebrate word die.  The streamer is from the 5592 - Harvest Journal die set.   I also used the 5063 - Rectangle A2 Double stitched die set for the frame and gift box.  And lastly, I used the 5606 - Harvest Journal PP for the striped pattern paper background.

To make the balloons pop out of the box, I used a slider pull tab and cut a vertical strip in the white frame piece, under the box, for the pull tab to slide.  I adhered a strip of acetate to the bottom of the bow and adhered some balloons on it.  I adhered a pop dot onto the pull tab and placed the pop dot through the vertical slit and onto the bottom of the acetate, so that when you pull the tab the bow rises and the balloons pop up.

Hope you enjoyed my card today.