Lots of Love card pack

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

I have a fun card gift pack for you today that fits in perfectly for Valentine's day and for the bi-weekly challenge "Love, Love Me Do".  Do you have a friend that loves to give their family members a card for Valentine's day?  What a perfect little gift for you to give them.  My mind instantly goes to our elderly in the senior homes or your cute little elderly neighbor.   I created a fun, quick gift set of six cards all bundled in a sweet pouch.   The cards do not have a sentiment, so they can fit any occasion, if Valentine's day is not your thing.

For the images, I used the Armful stamp sets - #5903 Treasured Armful and #5904 - So Sweet Armful.  The arms of each animal have a slit cut to allow you to slip a cute little heart, flower, star, etc.  These sets also include the corresponding dies.

I stamped each of the images twice on copic friendly cardstock with Memento black ink and colored with copic markers listed below.  I also stamped, colored and die cut the heart, that is included in the "So Sweet Armful" set, 6 times - one for each card.  I learned a little copic technique from my fabulous copic teacher and friend, Sharon Caudle, many years ago in a class and I use it whenever I can.  For the little bear image, I color him in the browns leaving the overalls until later.  I then take a little piece of wash cloth and dab some blender solution onto it.  Lightly tap that part of the cloth onto the colored part of the bear and it will make him look fuzzy (see the individual card below for a better visual).  Let it sit for a little bit and then finish coloring the overalls.

It's a great effect!  Many thanks, Sharon!  

Above is the A2 Card Gift pouch that will hold up to 6 cards (with minimal dimension) and 6 envelopes.  I found the template for this on The Paper Pixie or you can youtube A2 card gift pouch.  It uses one 12x12 piece of heavy weight pattern paper.   I then decorated using the #5972 - Bible Journal Decorative Margin dies and #5721 - Nested Heart dies.   The sentiment is from the #5817 - Potting Garden Shed set.  Lastly, I used one of the #5967 - Hook and Loop Fasteners to keep the pouch shut.

Here are the six cards in the pack:

That's it for me today!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Make sure to check out the bi-weekly challenge and play along for a chance to win a free stamp set.  

We love to see your creations!

Copics used:  C0, C1, C3

R20, R11, R12, R14

E21, E23, E25, E31, E33, E35

Pull Up Valentine

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.  Are you ready?  If not, I have a fun little pull up valentine for you with a cute little hidden sentiment using the #5902 Mini Scallop Frame die as well as many other sets listed below.  If you have already finished your valentine's, imagine this for other occasions using balloons, stars, etc. instead of hearts.  

To begin, I took the bear image from the #5521 WC Animal Planters set and stamped onto copic friendly paper with Memento black ink.  I also stamped him to create a reverse image so that I could make his back leg and his left arm since the stamp set has a flower pot hiding both.  To do this, I stamped him onto a smooth silicone mat and then took my paper and pressed it onto the stamped image on the mat.  This will create a reverse image.  Using a misti is helpful incase you need stamp again to darken the image.  I colored both images with my copic markers, listed below.  I then used a wash rag and dabbed some alcohol onto it and lightly pressed it against the body parts of the bear to make him look fuzzy.  I fussy cut all the pieces (bear, back leg and left arm) and pieced him together using some foam tape between his legs.  I also placed a heart box of candy (from the #5493 Front Porch Valentine) in his arms.  I just love this cute little bear!  

I cut the #5902 Mini Scallop Frame using the brown hearts paper from the #5832 Gnome Paper Pack.  I cut a heart shape for the window and placed acetate on the inside of the window.  I also stamped the "You're So Sweet" and added a couple little die cut hearts to the inside.  I then placed a thin line of foam tape to the inside bottom scallop edge so the streamer wouldn't fall through.  I glued up the side of the frame and it is ready to decorate.  Don't forget to attach the easel to the back so your frame/card will stand up on display.

To make the pull up heart streamer, I die cut 16 red hearts (front and back) and strung them onto a white thread leaving about 2 inches above the first heart.  I die cut the letters for the sentiment "Love You" from the #5562 - Journal Letter die set and attached each letter to a heart leaving a blank heart between words.  Perfect size letters to make a cute little sentiment.  I cut two fishtail banner pieces in red cardstock.  I then cut a square 2 5/8 inch piece of red gingham paper and glued it to the bottom half of the back side of one of the fishtail banner pieces.  Snip off any paper showing in between the fishtail.  Take the streamer and glue the top thread to the middle of the banner above the gingham paper.   Take the other fishtail banner and glue the top halves of the banners together leaving the bottom half open so it can rest over the top of the frame.  I added the heart banner and bows to the front banner for some cuteness.

  Gather the heart streamer together over the gingham paper and insert into the top slit of the frame.  Some of the letters will show through the window but the message will be a mystery until the recipient pulls from the frame.

I hope you enjoyed my card today and your imagination is running wild with other variations.

Have a great day and keep creating!

Copics used:  E21, E23, E25

R20, R22, R24, R27

Valentine Pop-Up Card

 Happy Thursday AI Friends!

I have another Valentine card for you today that also fits the current blog challenge - "Highlights".  I used the darling #5005 - Valentine Bears stamp set for my card along with the easel and label dies from the #5902 - Mini Scallop Frame die set.  This is a pop-up card with a lot of dimension but lays flat when put in the envelope.  

I began by stamping the bear and sentiment with memento black ink onto copic friendly paper and colored with my copic markers listed below.  I die cut the sentiment with the label die and fussy cut the bear.  I then added highlights to the bears cheeks, nose, paws and the banner hearts, with a white paint pen.    

I used a set of stitched nesting heart dies that I had in my stash, however you can use any nesting die sets for this pop-up card technique.  I first cut two of the largest hearts with heavy cream colored cardstock.  I took one of those cream hearts and scored at 3/4 inch on the rounded edge of the heart.  Fold on the score and place glue on the top flap.  Adhere to the other cream heart to create the card base.  It should open so that you can add your sentiment to the inside.

I used seven consecutive nesting hearts and cut every other nesting heart from the red cardstock and pattern paper from the other three nesting hearts.  I also die cut several smaller hearts for decoration.  To make the pop-up mechanism, cut three red panels 1" x 2 1/2" and score along the longest side at 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1 1/2", 1 3/4" and 2".  Fold these score lines as MVMMVM (mountain, valley, etc.).  Glue the two ends together by overlapping.  This will create a spring pop-up piece.  Place each of these pieces between the layers.  

Lastly, since the card will not stand on its own due to the point at the bottom of the heart, I die cut an easel using the #5902 - Mini Scallop Frame die set and adhered it to the back of the card, just above the point, where it meets the sides of the heart and then I trimmed off the point just below the easel.

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

Copics used:  E50, E51, E53, E55

R20, R22, R24, R27

R81, R83, R85

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

 

Love is in the Air

 Art Impressions current challenge is "Love is in the Air" so what better stamp set to use than Art Impressions "In the Air" set.  These little guys are sooooo stickin' 😉cute.  I used this set to make valentine cards for my family this year.  This is the one I made for my mom.    She loves receiving my cards and it's always great to show your love on the best day of the year!  She's the best Mom ever and I'm so lucky to have her!  Love you ALWAYS Mom!!

This stamp set is so easy to color and makes for such cute cards.  I used the largest double stitched heart die from my stash and cut it in the center of the pattern paper to get the outline stitch.  I then cut a red heart and a black heart and used them to outline the image since I didn't have a larger double stitch heart for the frame.  Sometimes you need to improvise.  No one is the wiser unless you tell them.  😁