thank you

Coffeeology

| ullycatdesigns

Some of us love the smell of a dark roast coffee. Others love a pumpkin spice latte. All of us need sometimes to just stop and smell the coffee and appreciate life. This is one of two coffee cards this week. Look for another tomorrow.

Designed around the Funny Bones Coffeeology rubber stamp on the card front, the inside pops up with a take-out cup of coffee that doubles as a gift card holder. All the dies used to make this card are by Karen Burniston.

I recommend watching the assembly video for the coffee cup pop-up before starting this card. The inside of the card mimics the card Karen Burniston demonstrates in the video for an A2 top fold card.

For the card front, I stamped the sentiment on a 3×3-inch square and glued diagonally over a 4×4-inch piece of decorative paper. The three tiny vessels of coffee come from the coffee charms die set. (See charm assembly video.) White steam was added using a medium tipped opaque white marker with detailed swirls of a white gel pen. Throughout the card there are inked coffee beans that were cut out of brown cardstock and covered using a mini cube of Distress Ink in walnut stain.The beans are in the coffee cup pop-up die set.

The card back has another 4×4-inch piece of decorative paper and is a place to write a lengthy personal message.

As is my style, the envelope back has a die-cut coffee mug with a heart that hints at what is inside.

See more coffee themed card by clicking here.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope it provides inspiration and joy. Please like and leave comments. 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Papers

  • Crafter’s Companion – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper Pad – Decadent Decor
  • Brown, White and Cream Cardstock
  • A2 ivory Envelope

Ink

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors

Puppy Love

| ullycatdesigns

Puppy love… a dog in your life brings great joy. This is a card from a fur baby.

The adorable dog face with its moving ears, along with the front sentiment die and large paw print die-cut are all from Lynda Kanase’s i-crafter Puppy Face Wiper Inset set.

Watch the assembly video before putting together. The video recommends decorating the front and back of the card before adding items to the inside.

I masked off a banner on the front of the card using low tack paper tape. Next, I did a light spritz of a brown sparkle spray to create a sand like texture. Remove the tape and glue die-cut sentiment strip in place.

I used a left-over strip of decorative paper and two 1/8-inch tall strips of cream cardstock to finish the front of the card.

The card back uses another decorative paper scrap and a die-cut paw print that has its paw pads inked. I found that by attaching the tiny paws pads to a piece of low tack tape, I could easily ink the pieces with a sponge dauber.

I found that the puppy face dies have stencils within them that I used to ink with a white gel pen make highlights.

I added the “love you” inside the card using a Karen Burniston word set.

As with all my cards that are sent in an envelope, I have decorated the back flap with an embossing folder and a paw die-cut. Both the embossing and die-cut were inked with a dark brown ink. The card fits into an A6 envelope.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I the card made you smile and gave you inspiration. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • & Papercraft, issue 204 – Pawfect Pals designed by Adam Prescott
  • Brown Craft and Cream Cardstock
  • Blue, Pink and Black Cardstock Scraps
  • A6 Card and Envelope – Ivory

Inks & Pigments

  • Nuvo Sparkle Spray – Coca Powder
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll 08 – Gel Pen – White

Miscellaneous

Thank You To Our Mail Carrier

| ullycatdesigns

For all the packages and envelopes that our mail carrier has so carefully placed in our mail box or placed by our front door, I wanted to say thank you to her. So, a mail truck thank you ornament was created.

I primarily used Spellbinder’s Food Truck and Sunday Drive collection dies to create this mail truck.

I cut two of the food truck die from an 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of white cardstock. I next cut panels that were 2.75 inches wide and scored at 3/8 inches on each side. (See downloadable PDF file of templates.)

mail-truck-piecesDownload

The top of the windshield strip is .25 inches tall which is not on the template. The front panel is scored across at .875 inches and the side tabs are cut away. This forms the front slanted hood.

Glue all the panels to one of the truck pieces as shown in the photo making sure that all panels are parallel to each other and tabs are all on the inside of the truck.

Glue up a mail carrier using people dies from the Sunday Drive collection (I used the Sunday Sunset Drive for this and freehand cut the hat which our mail carrier wears.) Attach mail carrier to seat panel. (It is easier at this point to letters and packages to the seat panel at this point than to add them once the truck side is attached to the panels.)

Glue the panels to the second truck piece starting at the front and working towards the back.

The roof panels as shown on the template have tow holes punched into them for a string to tie them shut and form a loop to hang the truck from.  I had to notch my tabs to fit over the cab panel. You could avoid this by attaching the roof panels first and then the other panels.

The truck is designed to fold flat, so allow enough string to allow for it being flat.

I decorated the truck using the circle dies in the Food Truck set and the steering wheel from the Sunday Drive set. The strips were cut from some scrap strips of red and blue papers. The headlights and taillights use the smallest circle die from the Food truck set. (I used yellow glitter cardstock for the headlights.)

The “US MAIL” on the sides and the “THANK YOU” on the back were cut using Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet.  (I cut three “O”s glued together to make a slider on the string to help keep the roof shut.)

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

You’re the G.O.A.T.

| ullycatdesigns

While being told that you’re the G.O.A.T. may sound bad, it really means You’re the Greatest Of All Time. In my family of sports players, being told you’re the G.O.A.T. after a game is common, so letting Dad know he’s the G.O.A.T. is a fun thing. This card could be used for birthdays or Father’s Day.

In challenging myself to use Karen Burniston’s Little Labels Pop-up in a vertical position, I saw the labels as shelves for trophies. Some of my inspiration comes from Sam Calcott of Mixed Up Crafts when she makes her tower cards.

I started with a 7 x 8 inches rectangle of dark blue heavy cardstock.  The side panels are made up of two panels per side. Because of my limited amount of the dark blue cardstock, I cut two panels of 3.5 x 8 inches and two more panels 4 x 8 inches. (I recommend cutting four panels of 4 x8 inches rather than having to use washi tape to attach the front panels.) Score the 4 x 8 panels at 3.5 inches to make a long tab.

Cut decorative panels ¼ inches smaller thane the base panels. Glue side panels to large base. Adhere decorative panels to card base inside panels.

If you haven’t already die-cut your inside decorative labels and trophies do so now. (I find some of the best, thick foiled silvers and golds are on personal care and food packaging such as cookie/biscuit packets.)

Also, cut and assemble all letters need for the inside sentiment. (I sort mine in a tiny bag, so I don’t lose any letters.) Die cut two of the Little Labels Pop-ups. Space out the placement of the pop-up labels and sentiment. (While I adhered my sentiment after I installed the pop-up labels, it might be easier to add the letters first and then the pop-ups.)

To adhere the letters, line them up on a grid background and place removable tape over them. (I used Post-it Note yellow tape.) I trimmed the tape down to make it easy to line up the bottom edge with the pencil line I drew on the card. I added glue to the back of one word’s letters and then placed them onto the card, pressed down to adhere and then peeling off the tape.

I watched Karen Burniston’s assembly video before I glued in my pop-up labels. (I find reviewing the videos help me before I make a mistake using my special papers.) You need at least 3.5 inches of width to close one pop-up labels panel, unless you stager the panels, you will need at least 7 inches width to close the card.  Add decorations to pop-up labels.

If you cut all the side panels at 4 x 8 inches, then fold the ½ inch tab and glue panel to other side panels. If you end up needing to tape your front panels, use the widest washi tape you have. Mine was 2 inches wide.

I used Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet for the inside sentiment and her original alphabet for the larger outside letters as well as parts taken from two other sentiment dies – “You’re Sweet” and “Enjoy the Ride.” I saved the tiny circles and scraps from the arms and lid of the trophies to decorate the front of the card. The goat is also a Karen Burniston die.

The belly band or belt that holds the card closed is made from scrapes and leftover pieces from other projects. This is intended as a presentation card to be hand delivered as it is too big for most standard size envelopes.

Label on back is a place to add a personal message.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Heavy weight dark blue and pale blue cardstock
  • Patterned papers from my stash
  • Silver and gold packaging
  • Holographic silver and gold scraps
  • Black and white cardstock scraps
  • White gold shimmer cardstock

Miscellaneous

Thank You For Being So Sweet

| ullycatdesigns

Queen & Co. make some delightful shaker card kits and this Candy Land one is no exception. The thing that I love about the company’s kits are the pre-cut foam shaker frames that simplify the effort needed to make a shaker card. The extra foam left over from the frames is ideal for popping some of the candies cut from the paper pad as additional decorations.

The dies have uses beyond shaker cards with some basic shapes of circles and ovals.

I filled the shaker with elements I collected over the years, and are not included in the kit.

To hint at the envelope’s contents, I stamped in a variety of colors the candy stamps from the set with the sentiment “goody, goody gumdrops!” on the back flap and more colorful candy on the front left edge of the envelope.

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

Materials Used:

Dies & Dies

  • Queen & Co. – Candy Land Kit

Inks

  • Memento – fade-resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
  • Hero Arts – Hero Hues Reactive – Creamsicle, Blue Hawaii, Pool Party and Key Lime Fizz
  • Hero Arts – Dye Inks – Rose Hues -Cotton Candy, Pale Tomato and Bubble Gum

Papers

  • Queen & Co. –double-sided papers -6”x 6” Mat Stack – Candy Land
  • A2 floral card base and white envelope from American Crafts Boxed Cards – The Pier

Shaker Elements

  • Kat Scrappiness – Rainbow Dot Sprinkles
  • Buttons Galore & More – Sprinkletz – Pink It UP
  • Stamp Anniething Adornments – Jelly Dots – Blue and Red

Miscellaneous

You’re The Best!

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I received a Divinity Designs Mystery Bag for $29.95 and received three die sets, one stencil, one rubber stamp set and one embossing folder retailing for over $70 total. I decided to challenge myself to see what I could make with them. I add the Divinity Designs Thank You clear stamp set with matching Thank You die to my one brand challenge.

I cut several elements for this card in vellum. The balloons were cut from a strip of adhesive backed colored vellum that I folded and stuck to itself and then die cut the balloons. With blending alcohol markers I used the stencils within the dies to stencil the embossed designs onto the balloons. (I learn something when the ink on the heart balloon ran under the die, so I sprayed rubbing alcohol onto the vellum and it cleared the ink leaving an interesting faded ink look.) Baker’s twine was tied to the ends of the balloons and a dot of glue was used on the back side to secure the twine to the vellum.

For the beverage cup and domed lid, I cut them from clear vellum and inked the edges with a silver marker. From a white shimmer cardstock scrap, I cut the cup again and the whipped cream topping. The cup section I colored with a soft orange marker. The straw was cut from a piece of white cardstock I had drawn diagonal red stripes on with a red marker. The orange slice was cut from a bright orange scrap and outlined with a bright orange marker. To adhere the vellum cup I used a fine tipped glue bottle to line the edge of the cup before gluing to the orange cup that I had already glued the straw and orange slice to knowing that glue on vellum will be seen. The whipped cream topping was glued on top of the straw. For the vellum lid, the glue was applied to the lip that covers the cup.  The assembled cold orange drink was adhered to the pistachio inked rectangle with one layer of thin foam squares.

The white embossed fish background used the embossing folder from the mystery bag. My hope was to convey a night at a beach side carnival to say thanks. To add to the theme, I die-cut three Thank Yous from black shiny cardstock, and yellow and neon green cardstock scraps and staggered them to create the look of a neon sign.

To complete the card front I stamped, and heat embossed in black the sentiment “YOU’RE THE BEST” onto a white scrap of cardstock. I then ink blended the embossed piece with a large brush the pistachio Distress Ink. I trimmed the scrap down to a rectangle and cut a triangle from each end to make the banner.

The assembly of the card involved gluing the white and pistachio pieces to the A7 sized card base and then adhering the cup and balloons with foam squares. The cup had one layer of foam while the balloons had two layers. The three strands of the balloons’ baker’s twine was gathered and tied into a knot and glued in place on the card base. The sentiments were glued on last. Three glow-in-the-dark stars where added as bling.

To hint at the envelope’s contents, I stamped “JUST WANTED TO SAY” (from the Divinity Designs’ Thank You stamp set) in Memento’s London Fog gray ink to the back flap. I also stamped the Divinity Designs logo in the same ink on the back of the card and added my initials and year of creation.

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

Materials Used:

Dies & Embossing Folders

Stamps

Inks & Embossing Powders

Papers

  • White, yellow, orange and neon green card stock scraps
  • Clear vellum scraps
  • Xcut – Xtras Adhesive Vellum Sheets – purple, pink yellow
  • AC Cardstock – Kraft Cardstock – 5×7 in A7 card and envelope

Miscellaneous

Sunny and Flowery Thanks

| ullycatdesigns

Bright yellow and orange flowers stitched around a golden “THANKS” makes for a sunny thank you.

I stitched the flowery THANKS die from Spellbinders again when I needed a special thank you card. This time picking warm colors. 

The larger flower petals and leaves were outline or chain stitched before filling in the centers of them using three strands of floss. The black flower centers are French knots. While I knotted the floss ends when starting, I finished the flowers on the back side by adding dots of glue to seal the thread ends and add dimension to the stitched frame.

After gluing the gold letters cut on the front of the stitched piece, I added foam squares with glue to back side of the stitched piece behind the letters and attached to the front of the card base. The card base is an 8 x 8 inches sheet of heavy orange card stock folded in half.

This card was for someone leaving one position to start a new job, so the flap of the envelop is stamped in a gold ink stating “start of something new.”

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

Like this stitched card? Here are other stitched cards:

·  Flowery Thanks

·  Stitched Flowers for a Spring Birthday

·  Stitched Flowers for a Summer Birthday

·  Stitched Valentine

·  Shine Bright

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Heavy yellow cardstock
  • Scrap matte gold cardstock
  • 8 x8 inch heavy weight orange cardstock

Stamps and Inks

  • Scrapbook.com -Wordfetti Oh So Happy Clear Stamps
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Crumb Cake

Miscellaneous

  • Yellows, oranges and black embroidery floss
  • Large eyed needle
  • Foam squares

Elephants Say Thank You

| ullycatdesigns

A friend sent me wonderful rubber stamp set of marching elephants. This is my thank you card using the vintage stamps.

I had some handmade artisan papers that complimented the elephants and I used the paper as a background for the card front and then fussy cut the flowers and leaves from the leftover sections to create the card back and inside accents.

The elephants were stamped on grey cardstock with black ink and colored with markers. Nuvo Vintage Drops were added for accents to the floral coverings of the elephants.

Five fancy border frames were die-cut from marigold cardstock and glued together to provide dimension to the card and lift the large elephant off the face of the card.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

  • Recollections – Fancy borders cutting dies

Stamping

  • Crafter’s Companion – A Taste of India by Sheena Douglass – Rubber Stamp set – Marching Elephants
  • Memento Fade-Resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
  • Crayola blending markers

Foiling

Papers

  • Bazzill 8.5×11 inches cardstock – Tiara
  • Park Lane – 12 x12 inch Premium Handmade Artisan Paper
  • Scrap blue and marigold cardstock
  • Xcut – Xtras Adhesive Vellum Sheets – Blue
  • A7 white card base and envelope

Miscellaneous