The Swan – Sending Love

| ullycatdesigns

There are some situations where words just don’t seem enough. This is a tunnel card for someone experiencing loss.

It uses the i-crafter Tunnel Card Base, Swan die set designed by Lynda Kinase. It assembles quickly although the detailed cattails and swan head do require some detailed coloring or in my use, paper piecing. Watch the assembly video before die-cutting.

The card base is cut three times using a different circle insert for each layer. I cut my bases from some white and gray craft cardstock. I cut two banners from pure white cardstock.

By using some printed watercolored papers, I was able to get the look of watercolors without having to get out my paints. The cattails and hanging green leaves were cut from various parts of one sheet of the Funky Fossil Design’s Watercolour Rainbow paper utilizing the various shades and hues on the green/blue/purple sheet. The swan’s beak and part of its head were cut from orange and the black band colored with black fine tip pens and a white gel pen for its eye, then trimmed down to the black band and beak. This was glued to the swan cut in pure white. The completed swan was attached to the middle box layer with the swan circle cut in the middle. The seven cattail pieces that I cut were added first to the front layer and then the leftover three pieces were added to the middle swan layer.

I didn’t have any stamps that fit the banners with a sentiment that I liked, so I used words from two of Karen Burniston’s word sets to say “sending love” cut from some of the purple/blue watercolor paper. The words were glued to the banners and the banners were attached to the front layer with foam squares.

As is my way, I decorated the back flap of an A2 cream envelope with some of the leftover light green vining leaves to hint as to what is inside the envelope.

See other other i-crafter projects below:

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Funky Fossil Design – Watercolour Rainbow Printed Papers 180 gsm
  • Pure White Cardstock
  • A2 Envelope – Cream

Inks & Pigments

  • Pigma Micron 01 – Black
  • Pigma Micron 05 – Black
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll 08 – Gel Pen – White

Miscellaneous

A Twist and Pop Valentine

| ullycatdesigns

In cleaning up my craft room after the holidays, I came across a purchased Valentine I’d been sent many years ago with a stitched see-thru pouch with beads, sequins and the words “daughter,” sweet” and “valentine.” I decided to upcycle the card base with the pouch attached for a new Valentine.

The card base was an A6 size (5×6.5 inches). Ivory pearlescent on the outside and red on the inside. There were some tears of white on the inside where a sentiment sheet had been removed. (I hid the tears with red gingham ribbon adhered with double-sided tape.)

Using Karen Burniston’s Twist Panel Pop-Up and Heart Pivot Panels along with some of her word set dies, I recreated the card using two sheets of double-sided, printed cardstock from Craft Consortium.

I watch the assembly videos for both the Heart Pivot Panels and the Twist Panel Pop-Up before cutting and assembling my pop-up features.

Because I opted for an 8 x6 1/4-inches cardstock insert, I had to use a craft knife with a metal ruler to cut the ends of the mechanism arms free from the insert. I also die-cut a third arm from the insert cardstock which I cut-in half twice to make four strips to cover the red card base where the insert mechanism arms are cut from.

The assembly of the end panels and heart pivot panels were done as per the assembly video.  Cutting the decorative hearts from the intricate paisley cardstock makes for a somewhat non-traditional Valentine.

The sentiments inside were both cut from white cardstock but finished differently. The “love you” was also cut from a red glossy magazine page and glued off-set with the white underneath. The “Happy Valentine’s Day” had a shadow added underneath it. The shadow is cut by tracing the outside of the sentiment die on the back side of the decorative cardstock and fussy cutting. The white scalloped rectangle is cut using a decorative panel die from the Twist Panel Pop-Up set. It serves as a place for a personal message.

The outside of the card was decorated with leftover scraps of decorative cardstock and a die-cut heart I had in my stash. Because I changed the orientation of the card from a side-fold to a top-fold, I secured the see-thru pouch with glue dots and added tiny hearts to reflect the orientation.

The card will fit in an A6 size envelope. (I used an A7 envelope as I was out of A6s.) It may require extra US postage for its thickness.

You can see more Valentines by clicking here.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Craft Consortium – 12×12 Double-Sided Premium Paper Pad – Eastern Influences
  • A6 Recycled Card Base with Valentine Pouch
  • White Cardstock
  • Red Glossy Paper Scrap
  • A7 Envelope – Ivory

Miscellaneous

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

Shop Cards – Coffee and Books

| ullycatdesigns

Miniature houses and shops fascinate me. When I saw that Concord & 9TH had come out with a Pop-Up Shoppe Die set and add-on sets for a bakery and a bookstore, I knew I had to try them.

First try – Bookstore
Second try – Coffee/Bake Shop

Here are my first and second cards that I made from these die sets. The first one, a bookstore, was done without watching the assembly video and hence I attached the pop-up store front as an accordion fold rather than the “U” pop-up fold as the video shows. The second one, a coffee/bake shop, uses the “U” fold. (Bake shoppe video, Book shoppe video)

For the coffee/bake shop I cut a 4.25×5.5-inches piece of banana cream cardstock folded in half for a top fold A2 size card base. using double-sided tape I adhered the decorative papers on all but the front inside of the card.

I found that assembling the shop front from the acetate windows, door and, flower box and eaves dental molding first, made it easier to plan how to lay out the inside scene. On the coffee/bake shop I used the largest door die to do a partial die-cut of three sides on the shop front, so that the door could be opened. (I’ve also thought for my next card to use both door dies to cut in windows to the door.)

The acetate windows can be one large piece if you don’t make the door open or two or three pieces if you do cut the door to open. (I reinforced the narrow strip by the door with a piece of acetate.) You need the acetate to glue the window frames onto as well as tables and lights bumped out with foam squares.

The inside decor for the coffee/bake shop uses the bake shoppe dies as well as the counter made from the bookstore’s cabinet with the shelves cut off. The stamped coffee signs come from a coffee shop stamp set from My Favorite Things. The “OPEN” sign on the door is from a Lawn Fawn stamp set. “Bakery” is part of the Concord & 9TH stamp set.

All of the coffee and bakery elements were curved using fingers or flower shaping ball tools. The breads and baskets were inked with Distress inks. Printed watercolored papers were used for other elements like cups and flowers. Foam squares are used to adhere most of the elements to the card back.

Placement of items to be seen through the upper windows and open door may make the inside layout seem off-balance.

The inside of the card needs layers of matted sentiment and a decorative paper on the card back to balance out the weight of the card front.  I think the top fold card works best for the card design, but the side fold card is good too.

As is my way, I decorated the back flaps of both A2 envelopes with stamps from Hero Arts (bookstore) and Concord & 9TH (coffee/bake shop) to hint as to what is inside the envelope.

See more coffee themed cards by clicking here or shop cards click here.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Papers

  • Clear Acetate Sheet
  • Craft Consortium – 6×6 Premium Paper Pad – Brick Textures
  • My Favorite Things – 6×6 Paper Pad – Finishes and Textiles
  • Funky Fossil Designs – 20cm x 20cm Paper Pad – Watercolour Rainbow
  • Fun Stampers Journey – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Banana Cream – CS-0087
  • White A2 Card Base
  • Colored Cardstock
  • Colored, Pattern and Foiled Paper Scraps
  • A2 Envelopes

Inks & Pigments

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress Inks – Walnut Stain and Soot Black
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Early Espresso
  • Pigma Micron 01 – Black
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll 08 – Gel Pen – White

Miscellaneous

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Scrapebook.com – Double-sided Tape – 1/4-inch wide
  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDER Creative – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Blocks
  • Sponge Daubers
  • Piercing Tool
  • Tweezers
  • Foam squares

We’re Off To See The Wizard!

| ullycatdesigns

Sometimes it just feels like we’re off to see the Wizard of Oz to get all our problems solved. But what we learn as we traverse the road, it’s the people we meet along the way that mean more to us than the real issue.

This is a card to let the friends you meet along the journey know you appreciate them. It uses stamps and dies by Riley and Company to recreate the characters from the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Riley of course is a moose, so it’s moose in OZ costumes.

I stamped Riley four times and then stamped the costumes for the Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy from the two Oz Dress-Up sets and Toto too. Watercolor pencils were used to color the individual pieces before die-cutting out the colored pieces. I found that cutting apart the bodies made it easier to assemble the costumed moose allowing for feet and arms to be positioned in more interesting ways. (The dies cut very close to the stamped images and are very easy to line-up.)

Using a download template that I had created for other cards using multiple sliders I first printed by yellow brick paper on medium weight white cardstock and then printed the template on the back of the yellow brick paper.

split-slider-templateDownload

I had to edit the template, x-ing out some sliders and moving two others by half an inch to accommodate the size of the moose.  Using a metal ruler and craft knife I cut the red lines around each slider and then scored the blue and green lines before folding the sliders.

Before assembling the card, I stamped the sentiments on to the card front and the interactive directions on to the pull tab of the main slider piece.

Double sided tape was added to the thin tabs on the five multi-sliders. To adhere the card front to the card back, I used narrow strips of foam tape along the sides and bottom edges. Place the main slider piece with the print side down to adhere the multi-slider panels to it. Making sure it can slide between the foam tape. Peel off foam tape backing and adhere the card back.

Turn to the front to train the multi-slider panels to slide open and close. Glue figures on to the panels.

Decorate the back of the card with scraps and you can write your personal message there.

As is my usual, I stamped the envelope flap back to hint as to what is inside. I used the ruby slippers and the “Where are my freakin’ ruby slippers when I need them?” which came-out upside-down and I think sets the card up nicely for the journey.

Hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration from it.

Here are more split easel slider cards I’ve blogged about:

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks & Pigments

  • StazOn Solvent Ink – Jet Black
  • Ranger – Tim holtz – Distress Water Color Pencils – Sets 1, 2 & 3
  • American Crafts – Metallic Marker – Silver
  • Pigma Micron 01 – Black

Papers

  • Yellow Brick Road designed by Whimzwhirled
  • White Cardstock
  • #10 Business Envelope – Brown Craft

Miscellaneous

Floral Thoughts

| ullycatdesigns

For this card I used a floral window die and stamp set by Memory Box that was the gift with issue 97 of the Die-Cutting Essentials magazine. The die makes an image using tiny holes and cuts out the aperture inside the wreath. I die-cut it on a 5.5 x8.5 piece of heavy pink cardstock and then stitched it completely before trimming it down to the final 5.5-inch square to fit on a 6-inch square cardbase.

Using the needle, enlarge the holes before stitching. The larger flower petals and leaves were outline or chain stitched before filling in the centers of them using two strands of floss. The yellow stamens are French knots.

The accompanying sentiment stamps provided the “Thinking of You” was heat embossed directly to the back mat after determining the placement with the stitched frame. The frame was attached to the 6-inch square of patterned paper with thin foam squares.

If you enjoyed this stitched card, there are more stitched card posts on this blog site:

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

Materials Used:

Dies & Stamps

  • Memory Box – Floral Window All-Occasion Die & Stamp Set – Die-Cutting Essentials, issue 97, December 2022

Ink & Embossing Powder

  • Clear Emboss & Watermark Ink
  • Gold Embossing Powder

Papers

  • Pink Heavy Weight Cardstock
  • Queen & Co. 6”x 6” Mat Stack – Candy Land

Miscellaneous

  • Yellow, Pinks, & Green Embroidery Floss
  • Large Eyed Needle
  • Foam squares
  • Die-Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • Heat Tool

Celebrate a Poppin’ 2023!

| ullycatdesigns

It is the Karen Burniston Design Challenge for January 2023 featuring pop-ups using a rubber band!

For this New Year’s card, I featured Karen Burniston’s Surprise Cube Pop-Up in a slimline card.

For the pop-up cubes I watched the assembly video before starting. Because I used specialty printed cardstock and mirror cardstock all of which have slick finishes, I had to glue, clamp, wait for glue to dry before moving onto the next step. Double-sided tape ended up working better on these cardstocks. I decorated the sides while the main pieces were still flat.

I cut two sets of the numbers for “2023” from a scrap of matte gold paper. These were glued on the top and sides of the cubes once I had glued the cubes to the card base.

The card base is custom made from two pieces of the patterned specialty cardstock. The front piece is 4 x 8 3/4 inches while the back piece is 6 x 8 3/4 inches. The back piece is scored at 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, 5 1/4 inches and 5 1/2 inches.

The front piece is glued under the back’s tab. When closed, the back piece’s front tab wraps over the front’s bottom edge. Two bands hold the card shut. Instructions to slide the bands off are on the back of the bands.

“Celebrate” is the front sentiment that hints at what’s to come when the card is opened. I used the largest of all the “Happy”s in Karen Burniston’s dies. It comes from the Happy Birthday die set. The champagne bottle comes from the Wine Charms set while the clicking champagne glasses are from the Wedding Charms set. The bubbly effects of the popping cork and from the glasses were made with a gold gel pen. Some holographic strands of tinsel finish off the decorations inside.

There is space behind the cubes to write a personal message and then place the loose tinsel strands over it.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Hunkydory  – A4 size – Adorable Scorable Pattern Pack – Heavy Cardstock- Festive Foils
  • Tonic Studios – 8.5’x11” Craft Perfect Mirror Cardstock – Seafoam Green
  • Joy Craft – Mirror Cardstock – Dark Green
  • Yellow Cardstock
  • Matte Gold Paper Scrap

Miscellaneous

Tired Santa

| ullycatdesigns

This is a holiday card for a busy Santa. It features the Bam Box dies from Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release. It also uses previously released die sets of the Fireplace Pop-up die set, Fireplace Extras 1, Fireplace Extras 2,  Gnome and Santa, Slim Frames and Family Room die set.

Card Base:  The card base is an A7 size (5 x 7 inches) with a top fold. The base was what I glued decorative papers to as well as attaching the fireplace pop-up mechanism.

Bam Box:  The bam box is a rubber band powered spring box that allows the sofa to pop-up. Watch the assembly video before assembling. Heavy weight cardstock is recommended and allowing glue to dry at each step will make for the best working bam box.

Bam Box chair and ottoman closed
Bam Box chair and ottoman open

Chair:  A bam box is covered with the chair from the Family Room die set. The back of the chair is just the seat portion left flat. I cut a bam box decorative rectangle to cover the front base of the chair and hid the bam box. The pillow is attached as per assembly video directions. Santa is made from the Gnome and Santa set coloring the boots to look like socks and adding a pair of pants so his legs can stretch out onto the ottoman. Santa is glued to the pillow and his pants are glued to the Santa suit edge. The ottoman is just a bam box covered with decorative paper. (I originally was going to have a sofa in the scene as well, but decided on a chair and ottoman foot rest. The photos below depict the sofa assembly. The chair is made similarly.)

Fireplace and accessories:  For the fireplace cut two of the fireplace brick front – one in white and one in black as well as two of the lined mantle/hearth pieces – one white and one gray. The black brick is colored with a white crayon and the fire and logs are also cut twice and colored with watercolor pencils.

To assemble the fireplace, watch the assembly video first. You will need to attach the gray hearth and black brick pieces to the card base before adding the mechanism. There are two fireplace extra sets. I used the clock, fireplace fender and basket of logs from set 2 and the fireplace tools and candles from set 1. The tiny pop-up mechanisms for the objects on top of the mantel are from the fireplace die set. I also add strips of white cardstock to the wall on either side of the fireplace as floor moldings.

Rugs and Wall Decoration:  Using patterned papers that suggest wallpaper or carpeting make this type of card pop. The picture molding strip above the fireplace is a scrap trimmed off the patterned paper and the reverse side used. Slim Frames is the die set that the gold frame comes from while “Happy Boxing Day” and the calendar page are computer generated. The large green round rug is cut from the second largest circle crosshatch die. It can be used to write a personal message.

Card Front:  The card front uses a mat of silver glitter paper overlayed with the snowflake pattern plate cut from white handmade paper that has silver glitter swirls on it. The Holiday House is cut from papers used on the inside of the card. “SANTA” has been written on the door mat to hint at who is inside the card. “Happy Holidays” was cut three times with the top layer colored with silver gel pen.

Envelope: The back flap of the A7 brown kraft paper envelope has Santa’s sleigh and reindeer stamped in white to hint at what’s to come.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Berry Merry Christmas – APC135003
  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – I Love Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Glad Tidings – ILC114009
  • American Crafts – The Color of memories 12 x12 Red Plaid Paper – 348968
  • Recollections – Signature Especial 12×12 Foil Paper – Silver Glitter -220520
  • White Glitter Handmade Paper
  • Colored scraps of cardstock
  • A7 Kraft Card and Envelope

Pens, Crayons & Inks

  • Pink, Red and Black Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Crayon – White
  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White

Stamps

  • LeCrea Design by Leane de Graaf – Combi Stamps – Santa & Small Christmas Trees – 55.3707

Miscellaneous

A Merry Little Christmas

| ullycatdesigns

Sometimes you just need to cheer someone up at Christmas time.

This was a quick make for a friend who found out that they would be unable to be with family over the holiday weekend. It uses the Bam Box die set from Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release and a tag die from a previously release die set. The stitched star and circle were leftover from a previous project. They were die cut from Karen’s Circle Charm Pop-Up die set.

I cut seven of the bam box strips, 14 of the bam box decorative rectangles and two of each of the four different sized fancy circle labels in the set from green cardstock. Because I like to let the glue dry between before adding the rubber bands to bam boxes, I glue in stages. (In the photo the middle flaps have been glued.) (See website for assembly video and source of tiny rubber bands.)

Glue the decorative panels to the sides of each bam box for added thickness. (By sides I mean the sides that have the diagonal flap beside them. Not the side that has the smiley face or its parallel side.) These will be the sides seen between the layers of circles.

To assemble the tree, mark in pencil the location of the bam boxes on the top and bottom of each circle except one of the smallest. Add double-sided tape to the tops of the circles and bam boxes. (By top of the bam box I mean the side where the smiley face is glued to the last flap of the box.)

Alternate the direction of the diagonal inside flaps of the bam boxes, so that they make a zig-zag pattern when looked at from the side. By alternating the direction, the bam boxes will fold flat and the tree will flatten into an oval shape.

The stitched star and circle are thick (1/4 inch each) with the three strands of embroidery floss stitched through the punched holes that the die makes and a center hole made with a needle. They are backed with the smallest fancy circle label and glued to the top bam box on its side.

Sequins are glued to the edges of the circles to represent ornaments or colored lights.

The outer box is made of two 12 x 4 inches rectangles scored at 4 inches, 5 inches, 9 inches and 10 inches. The middle squares are glued together to form a cross. Using strips of the decorative paper for pull ribbons glued to the middle of each flap, I glued the remainder of the strips as decorative trim. Two adhesive-backed hook and ladder fasteners are the closures.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope it has provided some inspiration.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Snowflake Swirl – APC135009
  • Green Cardstock
  • White Cardstock Scraps

Miscellaneous