Easter

Easter Card For A Child

| ullycatdesigns

This card was made for Craft Roulette #168 whose parameters included a kid’s card, citrus colors, a spring scene and something metallic or foil. Maymay was the guest crafter and talked about her young nephew who writes books and has a series about Evil Chicken. Her card included Evil Chicken and she showed how to make him from scraps of cardstock.

This card was made using all Karen Burniston dies.

Cardbase: For this gatefold A7 (5×7-inches) card I started with a piece of cardstock 10×5-inches and scored and folded 2.5-inches from each of the ends longwise. Next, spritz the ends of the card before using an embossing folder to make the card front more interesting.

Chicken: The chicken is made up of a large white triangle, a tiny yellow triangle, a small dash of black, half a tiny red flower, and a thin strip of black cut into two legs and four toes. I added a wing from a scrap of white. Grass was cut using a die from the Nature Edges set.

Rabbit: The Easter Bunny was made with white and pink scraps using the Spring Animals die set. A tiny basket and eggs are also part of the die set. I colored one of the eggs with a blue metallic marker. I made two baskets one is hung on the bunny’s arm and the other is on the envelope flap.

Eggs and Mechanism: I used some eggs I had made before using metallic ink with the stencil feature on the egg dies from the Easter Charms set as well as making some citrus colors (yellows and orange) eggs from solids and patterned paper scraps. For the two mechanisms that spin the eggs around when the card is opened, I used the Heart Collage Pop-up set. (Assembly video). The mechanism is glued into the card fold. I marked a spot 2-inches from the bottom of the left fold and 2-inches from the top of the right fold. Using the mark center a mechanism over the mark and line up the fold. Glue one tab to card and fold up the mechanism as instructed in the assembly video. Place glue on other tab and close card flap to glue in place to card. Repeat for other side.

Sentiments: I created the sentiments on Canva and then resized them in Publisher.  You can download a copy. After printing them, I roughly cut the main question onto white cardstock and fussy cut a cloud shape around the words. A Velcro dot was used on the back side of the cloud as a card closure. The answer sentiment was cut directly from the paper in a cloud shape and glued to the inside cardbase. The “Happy Easter” was cut out with a stitched rectangle die from the Slim Frames die set. A post was cut from a scrap of brown with left over grass from the front of the card.

Envelope: The card fits into an A7 envelope. To give a hint as to what’s inside, a small Easter basket was glued to the back envelope flap.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Embossing Folder

  • Spellbinders – 3D Embossing Folder 5.5×8.5-inches – Dimensional Diamonds

Papers

  • White, Black, Red, Pink,  Brown, Green, Orange, Blue and Yellow Cardstock
  • Patterned Paper Scraps
  • A2 ivory Envelope

Ink

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • We R Memories – Scoring Board and Trimmer
  • Scissors
  • Stamping Blocks/ Weights
  • Ranger – Mister Bottle
  • Bone Folder

Miscellaneous

  • Velcro Closure

Easter Bunny Accordion Style

| ullycatdesigns

I’ve been experimenting with taking Karen Burniston’s Landscape Rectangle Accordion and cutting the pivot panel into a smaller string of shapes. For this card I used dies from her crosshatch circle and oval sets.

I made a template from heavy cardstock (110 lb) by first cutting a panel and then tracing around the dies to create a pattern. For the pattern, I used the second smallest oval for the center and the two smallest circles. (Make sure you don’t cut away the pivot mechanism at the top and bottom of the panel. The center point of the rectangle is the scored fold-line.) I fussy cut the pattern and then used it to trace onto my die-cut panels of double-sided medium-weight, patterned cardstock.

Now for the fun part – deciding what decorations to add. I pulled all my Easter and Spring dies out and tired various layouts to see what would fit.

after deciding to add a frame to dangle a charm from, I used the smallest crosshatch oval to die-cut the opening. Because the frame top was so thin, I used a needle and thread to create a string to dangle an egg charm. (The charm is made from two charms glued together.) The knotted thread ends were finished with dots of glue. (In hindsight, I would probably make the opening with a smaller circle so that the frame would be wider near the pivot points. See below, photos of another card that I cut a circle aperture.)

For the sentiment (in the Easter Charms Set), I traced around the outside of the die and fussy out to create a shadow for the words. I cut two of the sentiment and glued them together before attaching them to the shadow. To add some pizazz to words, I coated it with a glitter gloss and popped it up on foam squares over the flowers.

The flowers come from two different die sets, but the flowers are all the same. (This makes for quicker die-cutting when you two of the same die.) I find putting two flowers of similar colors together you get a fuller, more pleasing flower. I shaped my flowers using my fingers to curl the petal ends down while pushing the flower center down as well.

I mostly followed the packaging examples for the eggs, bunnies and chicks, but you can view the assembly video for the Easter Charms. I coated the chocolate bunny with a glossy clear gel after I had used the die to ink in the bunny’s eye with a white gel pen. I also added a tiny red grosgrain ribbon at his neck. For the Easter Bunny, I used a grey suede paper so he was fuzzy to the touch. (Here is the assembly video for the Spring Animals.)

After all the panels were decorated, I attached the frames and panels using there tabs as directed in their assembly video.

As you plan where your decorations will go, think about how thick they will be, if they will be attached using foam squares and if they will become catchpoints for the pivot mechanism or folds where the panels are joined. (I popped up a purple flower at an inside fold that some of the petals ended up creased and folded back.) I chose to keep the middle section as flat as I could, only popping up items on the outside panels/last panel.

The front panel introduces the Easter bunny theme while the back panel has a matted label popped up on foam squares for a personal message.

The card folds to fit into an A6 (4×6 inches) or larger envelope. It may require extra postage because of its thickness to post in the USA.

Below are photos of a similar string accordion card using the same papers, but with a religious theme and a circle aperture rather than an oval aperture in the center panel.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

For more Accordion Fold cards click here.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Dare2BArtzy – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper – Honey Bloomz by Andie Hanna – Buds & Bloomz-PP1049
  • Hot Off The Press – 8.5×11 Faux Suede Paper – Smoke Suede – HOTP-10434
  • Colored Cardstock and Paper Scraps
  • A6 Envelope – Ivory

Pens/Gels

  • Gelly Roll – Gel Pen – White
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 – Black
  • Pigma – Mircon 05 – Brown
  • INC – Scented Gel Pen .08 – Grape
  • Orange and Pink Fine-Tipped Makers
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer Brush Pen – Glitter Gloss
  • Ranger – Glossy Accents

Miscellaneous

Cottontail Farms

| ullycatdesigns

It’s time for the Karen Burniston April 2023 Design Team Challenge with the theme of BUNNIES.

Ever wonder where chocolate bunnies come from? A chocolate bunny farm – of course!

This is a fun, tongue in cheek sort of card using Karen Burniston’s Barn Pop-Up Stand, Easter Charms, Farm Edges, a Bam Box and a fancy label from the Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch die sets. My inspiration comes from the Echo Park papers and sentiments, chocolate adverts and the on-going tradition in the Sally Worth comic strip where the mother always eats the daughter’s chocolate bunny ears before the daughter has a chance to unwrap the bunny.

I recommend watching the assembly video for the barn pop-up before starting. My woodgrain paper was only one-sided, so I cut four barns and glued two together for woodgrain inside and out. (Because I had limited woodgrain paper, I had to piece together the backside of the barn front before cutting the door openings into it.) I also cut two fences from the Farm Edges die set which were folded in half and one fence post trimmed off each side to make them fit inside the card when glued to the inside of the barn.

After laying out the placement of the white bunnies on green grass paper, I used clear removable tape to hold them together when I die-cut them for the pop-up stand tabs. Make sure you get your die perfectly centered over the fold line. (I was just a little off-kilter on my die placement and this messed-up the right front tab that attaches to the barn back. You can see this pink tab poking through on a few of the photos. I ended-up cutting off the tab as the other three tabs where functioning.)

For the chocolate bunnies, I cut seven from brown cardstock using the bunny die in the Easter Charms. The die has a stencil hole for marking the eye with a white gel pen.

Two chocolate bunnies are on the front of the card surrounding the “Cottontail Farms – Every Bunny Welcome” sign. Another two chocolate bunnies are in the fenced in paddocks by the barn inside, while a third bunny is loose in the yard popped-up on a Bam Box with a piece of grass from the barn die set. The sixth chocolate bunny is on the back of the card with one of its ears having been nibbled on.

Decorating touches include carrot ribbon that wrapped about the card base on the front and back with the ends covered on the inside with a sentiment “I’m just here for the chocolate bunny” and a white fancy label for a personal message.

The last bunny is on the envelope flap with a pink ribbon and carrots fussy cut from extra cardbase paper. I like to enclose instructions on how to close the Bam Box. You can download the instructions below.

bam-boxes-sheetDownload

For more Bam Box projects click here.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Photoplay – 12×12 Double-Sided Cardstock – Bunnies & Blooms – Spring Carrots
  • Echo Park – 6×6 Paper Pad – Double-Sided Cardstock – It’s Easter Time
  • Ms. Sparkle & Co. – 5.5×7.5 Paper Pad – Woodgrain Color – Yellow
  • Colored Cardstock and Paper Scraps
  • A7 Envelope – White

Pens/Gels

Adhesives

Miscellaneous

  • Pokey Tool
  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Scrapbook.com – Magic Mat
  • Scissors
  • Time & Place – Easter Ribbon – 7/8-inch wide

Popping Egg Hunt Card

| ullycatdesigns

Easter egg hunts are a sign of Spring and new life.

For a fun Easter card that pops, I used some cute double-sided papers with sentiment toppers along with Karen Burniston’s Spring Animals, Bam Box Pop-Up, Crosshatch Rectangles and Labels, Crosshatch Circles and Label Charm Pop-Up die sets.

The card base is an extended gatefold with aperture windows cut through the front and side panels that allow two spring animals to peek out the card front. From a 12×12 sheet cut a 10.5×7-inch rectangle. Score and fold at 1/4-inch, 2 3/4-inches, 7 3/4-inches, 10 1/4-inches. Glue front panels (2.5×7 inches) to the side tabs. (I had to piece together my front panels using decorative strips of paper to hide the seams.)

Close card and layout your card front decorations using the smallest decorative label dies from Bam Box set to cut the windows. Tape dies in place using removable tape and open out cardbase and then fold back the front panels so that the dies will cut through both front and side panels.

Create two bam boxes per directions on assembly video. Assemble a bunny and a chick in an egg following their assembly video. (I used half of a cotton make-up removal pad to die the bunny’s tail.)

(I used a paper cutter to trim my sentiment toppers and a circle die to cut the wreath sentiment.)

Layout your inside decorations of the card using placement of the animals glued to the bam boxes in a flatten position making sure the animals will be seen through the windows. (I used fancy labels from two sets to create the personal message label – Label Charm Pop-Up and Rectangles and Labels Crosshatch.)

For the back of the card, I chose to glue a 30-inch piece of ribbon under a decorative panel to tie the card shut. Cut a scalloped rectangle using the new Rectangle and Labels die set and glued a sentiment topper from the Echo Park paper pad. Tie the card shut to get correct placement of ribbon before gluing decorative panel on to card back. (For my signature block on the card back, I fussy cut three eggs from the scraps of printed paper.)

The card fits into an A7 envelope decorated with one of the window off-cuts as a seal on the envelope flap. I like to enclose instructions on how to close the Bam Box. You can download the instructions below.

bam-boxes-sheetDownload

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

For more Bam Box projects click here.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Photoplay – 12×12 Double-Sided Cardstock – Bunnies and Blooms – Easter Egg – #BUN3746
  • Echo Park – 6×6 Double-Sided Paper Pad – It’s Easter Time – #IET300023
  • Bazzill – 8.5×11 Textured Cardstock – Tiara – 18-1002
  • Colored Cardstock and Paper Scraps
  • A7 Envelope – White

Pens

  • Pigma – Mircon 01 – Black
  • Pink Fine-Tipped Makers

Miscellaneous

Who Is Door Dancing?

| ullycatdesigns

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Hoppy Day the dancing bunny of spring.

Interactive cards are fun and creating one with layers adds to the excitement. Hints of Easter baskets filled with eggs flank a blue door that when opened, reveals a cute white bunny that will dance when the pull tab is moved back and forth.

Both the doorway and bunny are craft die sets by Spellbinders. The doorway is the Open House Door Base using the door mat from the Open House Spring die set. (I have found that you can save on bundles from Scrapbook.com for the Spellbinder’s Open House collection.) For the dancing bunny, the March 2021 Large Die of the Month set Spring Together with Lever Pull die set was used. (I watched the assembly video for this die set before making this card.)

Die-cut the door from blue cardstock and then die cut the windows from the door. Using the door, mark its placement with pencil and then cut the three sides using a metal straight edge and craft knife. Trace the window placement from blue door to pink door and die cut the windows.

Die cut four door windows and a transom window from white cardstock. Use the large transom window die to cut window opening in the pink card front.  Adhere the vellum to back of pink card and then glue white window frame into window opening and onto vellum.  The door windows are created by sandwiching the vellum between the blue and pink doors. Glue the white door window frames to the front of blue and back of pink doors.

Cut two of the mail slots and four of the doorknobs from silver foil cardstock. Adhere the mail slots to each side of the door and three doorknobs to the front blue side and one knob to the pink side of door. Mark the door opening with pencil onto the background paper. This will let you figure out the placement of the bunny.

Once the lever pieces are double cut and glued together for strength, they can be linked used tiny brads. Using the assembled level to position the line die, cut the slit for the mechanism to slip into the backing paper.  Thread the level through the slot and add additional brads to affix the mechanism to front of card.

Adhere the bunny body first with foam strips and then the head. Cut the semi-circle notch on the top and background layers of the card as well as the card base before assembling the card front.

Using foam strips adhere the pink card with door to background piece avoiding the lever mechanism.

The door mat is colored brown cardstock with Aged Mahogany Distressed Ink with a black backing for the letters. Die-cut the half-circle for the pull lever on the card base before adhering front layered piece to card base.

The Easter baskets used the large eggshell from the Spring Together set with green foliage from the Open House Spring die set and freehand eggs and handles. The flowers are finished with dots of Nuvo Drops and a pink flower sequin.

Decorate the back of the card with scrap pieces.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Click here to see more dancing animals using these dies.

Click here to see see another door card using these dies.

Click here to see other door cards.

Materials Used:

Dies

  • Spellbinders – Open House Door Base Cutting Dies – S4-1131
  • Spellbinders – Open House Spring Cutting Dies – S4-1181
  • Spellbinders – March 2021 Large Die of the Month set Spring Together with Lever Pull Cutting Dies – DOML-MAR21

Stamping

  • Simon Says Stamp – So Talkative Clear Stamp Set – sss202385
  • Craft Consortium -English Garden Clear Stamps by Hackney & Co.
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Pear Pizzazz
  • Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Sunbeam
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Aged Mahogany

Papers

  • Craftwork Cards- Flying High 8×8” Paper Pad
  • Colored cardstock scraps
  • Clear vellum scraps
  • A7 white card base and envelope

Miscellaneous

Layered Crosses – Part 2

| ullycatdesigns

There is nothing like the burst of a sunrise from a dark morning sky.

Using five different shades of browns from tan to espresso cut one of each of the cross dies in each color. Lay out the various layers so that when assembled no cross has two of the same color.

Glue the layers together to form five crosses.

Cut a 4 1/4 x 11 inch piece of white cardstock. Score and fold at 7 3/4 inches (valley fold) and at 2 1/4 inches (valley fold).

With a sun rise stencil, orange ink and a sponge dauber, ink in the sun on the back panel. Next ink the sun rays with yellow ink.

Let ink dry before stamping the “He is risen” sentiment in black onto back panel, spacing so it is hiden when the card is closed.  On a white 2 x 4 1/4 inch piece of white paper stamp in black ink “Happy Easter.”  Glue white paper on the inside panel of the card.  (I used the paper to hide an inky mistake.)

In my stash I found some experiements I had done trying out the bokeh stenciling method to create an interesting background for the Apple Blossom butterly stamps.( I know I used Distress Oxide inks for the stenciling and some blue ink cubes from a Papercrafting Society box to stamp the butterflies.) These panels were cut down to 2 x 4 inch pieces and adhered to the front gatefold panels.

Position and then glue the cross to the left half of the closed card. 

To hint at the envelope’s contents, I stamped tulips onto the blue envelope with a yellow ink.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Stencils

Inks

Papers

  • Browns, tans and white card stock
  • White paper
  • A2 blue envelope

Miscellaneous

Layered Crosses – Part 1

| ullycatdesigns

Sunrise means a new day and new beginnings. Using Divinity Designs layered cross die set and a stenciled sunrise, I hope to convey this elated feeling of gladness in this z-fold Easter card.

Using five different shades of browns from tan to espresso cut one of each of the cross dies in each color. Lay out the various layers so that when assembled no cross has two of the same color.

Glue the layers together to form five crosses.

Cut a 4 1/4 x 11 inch piece of sky blue cardstock. Score and fold at 5 1/2 inches (valley fold) and at 2 1/4 inches (mountain fold).

With a sun rise stencil, orange ink and a sponge dauber, ink in the sun on the folded shut card. Ink the sun rays on the left side of folded card with yellow ink. Open up card and ink in all the sun rays on back panel using the inked sun half to lineup stencil.

Let ink dry before stamping the “He is risen” sentiment in black onto back panel, spacing so it is hiden when the card is closed.  On a white 2 x 4 inch piece of white paper stamp in black ink “Happy Easter.”  Glue white paper on the inside panel of the card.  Die-cut strips of green grass to adhere to the bottom of the stenciled sunrise panels of the card.

Position and then glue the cross to the left half of the closed card. 

To hint at the envelope’s contents, I stamped tulips onto the blue envelope with a yellow ink.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Stencils

  • Spellbinders – Fun Stampers Journey – Sunny Day Stencil 6”x6” – JM-0135

Inks

Papers

  • Blue, browns tans and green card stock
  • White paper
  • A2 blue envelope

Miscellaneous

Chevron Bag-Part I

| ullycatdesigns

Quick and clever gift bags for small treats were needed and the Divinity Designs Chevron Background die provided the visual pop required.

I cut three the background die three times from coordinating papers to make each of these bags. Then I placed each pattern paper pieces in separate bags so as not to lose any of the pieces especially the tiny triangles. I also kept the thin L-shaped scrap pieces from the edges of the die-cutting to be used as bag handles.

Next, I glued the frame onto a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch piece of thin white paper placing dots of glue at the zig-zag points and the outside frame. (You will see that I used scrap paper for the backing that had black printing on it knowing that it would be covered with a another backing paper.)

Then the fun part of deciding on the positioning of the different papers within the frame and making a duplicate frame as well.

(I found that laying out the chevron strips and gluing the strips in place from the bottom up worked well with the duplicate frame as a guide in case of the strips being mixed-up.)

Once the glue has dried, trim the backing paper overhang away from the frame on both pieces.

Depending on the size of your paper, you may have enough scrap pieces to make the sides and bottom of the bag. (I found that a 6 x6 inches piece allowed for one side piece of about 2 inches by 5 1/4 inches and a bottom piece of 2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.)

The bottom piece is scored at 1/8 inch on the long sides and 1/4 inch along one end of the piece while the other end is marked where it needs to be folded by holding the bottom piece up to the bottom edge of the chevron frame.

Scoring the long edges of the side pieces at 1/ 8 inch is the first step for marking the sides. Using a pencil and a ruler draw a pencil line down the center each side piece. Mark a dot at 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the center line and draw a line from the center dot to each of the corner bottom edges to from a triangle. Erase the line that is in the center of the triangle. Score along the remaining pencil lines. Mountain fold the 1/8 inch edges. Valley fold the pencil line folds.

Glue the tabs of the bottom piece to the insides of the chevron pieces and side bottom pieces.

Glue the side tabs to one of the chevron pieces, using your finger to adhere the tabs to the front pierce. Glue the remaining side tabs using a long tool such as a pencil or pen to adhere the tabs to the back piece.

Glue the L-shape scraps to the inside of the chevron pieces. Then glue two 3 7/8 inches by 5 1/8 inches pieces of white paper to cover the bottom and side tabs and handle ends on the inside of the chevron pieces.  If you have a piece of leftover decorative paper that will fit the bottom of the bag glue it into place as well.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s bag from other other papers for a different look.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • WRF Studio – Romance 4.5” x 6.5” Design Paper Pad (230gsm Heavyweight Cardstock)
  • Lawn Fawn double-sided 6” x 6” patterned cardstock from my stash
  • White paper

Miscellaneous

Dancing Animals

| ullycatdesigns

Nothing says “Hello Spring” like dancing bunnies and newly hatched baby ducks. These two cute interactive cards were made with the Spellbinders Spring Together with Lever Pull Cutting Dies set.

This is a great set of dies to use up those small pieces of cardstock scraps for the animals. I used a bluish opal polish on the eggshell to give it some luster. (I watched the assembly video for this die set before making these cards.)

The levers/mechanism pieces are cut twice and glued together to be sturdy.  For the Hello Spring sentiment, the words were cut twice from white and once from purple and then glued together.

The printed leafy mat was cut an 1/8 of an inch smaller than the solid green card base and the floral top background is 1/4 of an inch smaller than the card base. Once the position of the lever mechanism was decided, the line slit and pull-tab notch were cut on the floral layer. The notches were then cut on the leafy green mat and cardbase using the floral layer to line up the notches.

The thin trimmings of the mat layer were used as lever guides using dots of glue at the ends of the strips.

Two additional brads are used to attach the slotted levers to the floral background.  Foam strips were placed on the back to raise up the mechanism from the matting layer.  The leafy green mat layer was glued directly to the card base.

Using the decorative scraps trimmed from the front card layers, the backs of the cards were finished.

The back flaps of the cards’ envelopes were stamped with a bunny stamp from Craft Consortium.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

  • Spellbinders – March 2021 Large Die of the Month set Spring Together with Lever Pull Cutting Dies – DOML-MAR21

Stamping

  • Craft Consortium -English Garden Clear Stamps by Hackney & Co.
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Pear Pizzazz

Papers

  • Park Lane – 8.5in x11 in 100# smooth white core cardstock – Watercolor Floral
  • Colored cardstock scraps
  • A2 green card base and envelope

Miscellaneous