animals

All That Jazz

| ullycatdesigns

Needing a birthday card for a fun loving and jazz enthusiast gentleman who always supports concerts in the park, was the inspiration for this card.

It uses a variety of animals and scene dies as well as a pop-up bench by Karen Burniston. This was my first time using the Pear Blossom Press EZ-lights which are also available on the Karen Burniston website.

EZ-Lights:  To start the card, I had to plan out how the lights were to be installed knowing that the switch/battery piece had to be surrounded by foam strips and that I wanted lights on both the front of the card and inside the card. I don’t like to have wires going across the card-fold, so everything needed to be above the fold on this top-fold A7 (5×7-inch) card. (I also watched some assembly videos on using the EZ-Lights.) I made my front decorative panel and added decorative papers to the inside of my card base before poking the holes for the one light on the card front and two lights on the inside top panel.

Front Panel:  The front panel uses the fronds pattern plate cut from a dark green cardstock over a grass printed paper.

Lampposts:  These are cut using the street lantern pop-up die set using a glossy black piece of cardboard packaging which gives nice dimension as well as highlighting the embossed features of the dies. The edges of the lampposts I colored with black markers. For the lamp itself I used both clear vellum and golden parchment to allow the light to show through. (Assembly video)

Bench:  For the bench, I used the garden bench pop-up die set. I found a piece of glossy black paper that looks like metal, and I adhered it to some brown cardstock and then die-cut the bench. This pop-up is a glue-in pop-up, so I watched the assembly video several times to get the installation of the bench correct for this card. The monkeys are attached using foam squares.

Animals:  The jazz duo of a bass playing elephant and a giraffe playing the sax are from the safari animals die set with a beret cut down from an engineer’s cap and sunglasses from the three tiny accessories die sets. The musical instruments come from a die set from Doxie Craft Supply. The monkeys are from the monkey and lion die set. All the animals have stencils within the dies to add details like hoofs, eyes, mouths, ears and tails.

Bushes:  To create bush behind the bench, the large and small frond branches were cut from the landscape scene die set and inked with brown Distress ink. Three small fronds were used to cover up mistakes around the ground under the bench and for a decoration on the lower right corner.

Sentiments:  In order to turn on the lights two “Press me” labels were created -a yellow moon on the front and a green bush on the inside. The moon come from the landscape scene die set while the bush is the lion’s mane from the monkey and lion die set. A stamp was used for the “press me” stamped in brown ink.

“All that jazz” uses the mini alphabet die set. A strip of paper tape was used to provide a straight edge to line up the letters when adhered to the card front.

“Celebrate” and “Happy Birthday” are die sets also from Karen Burniston cut from yellow and tan cardstock.

This card is to be hand delivered, so no envelope.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Lawn Fawn –Clear Stamps – Push Here

Papers

  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • Black Glossy Cardboard Packaging
  • Keep It Simple – Back to Basics – 12×12 Double-Sided Cardstock – Jade Collection
  • The Paper Studio – Clear Vellum for Printers
  • Hunkydory Forever Florals – Autumn Days Printed Parchment
  • Park Lane – A7 White Card and Envelope

Pens & Inks

  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – White
  • Pigma Micron 05 – Brown
  • Sharpie Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Point – Black
  • Sharpie Permanent Marker –Fine Point – Black and Light Green
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Inks – Vintage Photo
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Early Espresso

Adhesives

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Scrapebook.com – Double-Sided Permanent Tape ¼-Inch Wide
  • Fun Stampers Journey – Journey Dots
  • Stampin’ Up – Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (Foam Squares)
  • Queen & Co. – Foam Refill Scraps (Foam Tape)

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

Good Morning Farmstyle

| ullycatdesigns

Greetings it’s Sue here from the Dies R Us design team with a barn pop-up easel card.

Using PoppyStamps’ new Country Barn Pop Up Easel Set and lots of PoppyStamps’ Whittle animals and sun, this is an easy card to make.

Cut:

1 – largest barn die out of brown card stock

1 – middle barn die out of cream

1 – smallest barn die out of red (Save all the doors and windows cut out for the backing of the “X” frames)

2 – small “X” window from white

1 – doors “X” die out of white

1 – roof trim die out of white

1 – straight line out of white

Cut animals/sun and color with markers, black gel pen and Distress Ink.

Glue white “X” frames to doors and window cut outs to form doors. Glue on roof trim.

If you plan on having doors that open, ink blend the cream barn piece edges and door/window openings.  

Using clear tape, make hinges for all the doors and windows to open.

Position and glue cow to inside of barn. Glue barn to middle cream barn piece making sure not to glue any doors that are hinged to open. Glue flying chicken inside open barn door and other animals to front of barn.

Glue tab of brown base piece to back of cream piece. Test the barn in pop-up easel position. Using foam squares adhere green grass with eggs glued to them to the brown base to act as easel stops. Don’t have grass in front of the door that opens. Glue sun on to back of cream piece as if sun is rising behind the barn roof. (Make sure that sun top is no higher than the roof tip so card will fit in envelope.)

Stamp a sentiment on card base and back flap of envelope.

Hope this fun card has provided some inspiration for your crafting. 😊

SUPPLIES Used from Dies R Us:

Other Supplies:

  • Red, brown, cream and white cardstock
  • Foam squares
  • Clear tape
  • Scrap green paper for grass
  • Staples – Invitation Brights 24 lb.- Gummed Envelope – 4 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches
  • Crayola Signature Brush & Detail Dual-ended Markers
  • Simply Made Crafts by Helen Griffin – Fun Sentiments Stamp Set
  • Vintage goat stamp
  • Stampin’ Up – Early Espresso ink pad
  • Ranger – Distress Ink – Vintage Photo
  • Sponge dauber
  • Stamping platform
  • Scissors

Don’t forget to come join in the fun at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog. There’s a new challenge theme offered on the 1st and 15th of each month and one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive a gift voucher prize to the Dies R Us Store.  

 For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below.

click below for:

STORE

CHALLENGE BLOG

FACEBOOK

INSPIRATION BLOG

FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

When Pigs Fly

| ullycatdesigns

In honor of all newly minted sixty-year-olds, this card is in tribute to you (whether you want to believe it or not.)

Flying Pig:  Bonnie Krebs has designed this delightful flying pig as one of Art Impressions Flutters cards. The set comes with dies to cut out the pig and the two wings as well as punching holes in the pull strip and cutting the slot for the pull arm. This pig and wings were stamped in permanent black ink and colored with watercolor pencils. The instructions on the packaging are good, but watching a video or two helps with the exact assembly using the tiny brads that are included in the stamp and die set and either twine or thread. The pull arm is a piece of heavy cardstock that is ¾ inch wide and at least 6 inches long. (You can trim the arm shorter once the card is assembled.)

Card base:  The foiled pink plaid card base is one from a boxed set of 50 cards and envelopes size A2. Once the pig was assembled onto its pull arm, a slot was cut using the slot die and the half circle finger hole was cut through the front and back of the card base. (I recommend laying-out and pencil marking where the inside insert papers will be and cutting the half circles on them, before you do the final assembly of the flying pig pull arm onto the card base.) The pig is adhered to the card front using tiny foam squares, once the pull arm is through the slot in the card base.

Front decorations – 60 and Pull Here:  The 60 was cut from a foiled chocolate box using dies designed to be birthday cake candles. The flame and stand were trimmed off the 6 and 0. Once the pull arm has been installed to the card base, trim it off to fit inside the card base and round the corners with a corner punch. Stamp or write “Pull” with a directional arrow. (The stamp used here was from Concord & 9th)

Inside:  With the flying pig mechanism installed, adhere the inside papers using double-side tape making sure to leave a gap for the pull arm to move through freely. Add the die-cut birthday sentiment using glue.

Envelope:  I stamped the back of the envelope with birthday cake stamp to set the stage for this milestone birthday card.

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

Supplies

Dies/Stamps

Ink

Paper

Miscellaneous

A Tiger Thank You

| ullycatdesigns

What kind of a thank you card do you make for someone who has sent an amazing gift and loves tigers? You make them a four-panel card that can act as a candle shade or screen.

Tonic Studios Tropical Rainforest silhouette die set was a perfect match for the card that cats as something more than a card. I had seen on Pinterest a lantern made from some of the Tonic Studios other forest silhouette dies sets and knew from my experience of making a house luminary Christmas card, that this die set would be easy to make a four-panel card/candle shade.

I cut four vellum panels and then using three shades of green cardstock and a sheet of brown, I cut the silhouette frames using the lightest shades for the front panels and the darkest as the panels at the back. I cut the panel with the tiger and toucan bird from white scrap cardstock and colored with markers. Next, I fussy cut them and glued in place on their panel. I also cut and colored a butterfly from white cardstock scrap.

The vellum panels were laid out in a row and taped together using clear removable tape on the back side of the vellum. Next the silhouette panels were glued on to the vellum.

As a finishing touch, I die cut the words “Thank You” to glue to card. Next, I pieced together from words in the same Moonstone word die set the name of the recipient. The card fits into a mini slim envelope.

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

If you enjoyed this Luminary card, check out some of my other luminaria:

The First Sign of Spring – Crocus Tealight

Victorian Trim House Luminaria

Holiday House Luminaria

House Luminary

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

Inks

Miscellaneous

Crafty Friends

| ullycatdesigns

Crafty Friends are fun to have and making special cards for such friends is both challenging and rewarding. This slimline mini-sliders card was made for an animal lover who appreciates interactive cards.

Instead of using my split slider template for this 9 inches x 4 inches card, I hand drew the five mini sliders and cut using a craft knife and metal ruler. (I miss cut and ended up having to reinforce the narrow bars between the sliders with additional patterned cardstock bars.) The coated Dress My Craft patterned cardstock was my last sheet of this vintage leafy print, so I had to make the slider panel work. Assembly is very similar to the assembly of the split slider template.

The foliage and floral dies used to decorate are a mishmash of dies from my collection. The elephant is one that I had assembled when I made another elephant card.

The foiled sentiment strip is one I had made during batch foiling session a while back. I used a die from a different Glimmer plate set to die cut the decorative scalloped edges.

Scraps of holographic ribbon were added between sliders to add some subtle sparkle to the card.

Inside the card I added a vellum strip to hid some tears around the half circle cut for a finger grip on the pull panel. A personal note will be added inside.

I glued 1-inch circles on the two points where the card recipient needs to place their fingers to hold and pull the slider panel up. A CRX instruction sheet is enclosed with the card to explain how to use the card.

Stamped on the back flap of a #10 business sized envelope in blue ink is a small elephant from Bus Cubbies stamp set sitting under the sentiment “Hello Friend” from Hello Friend stamp set.

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

If you enjoyed this card, check-out my original Split-Slider Slimline Series:

Day 1 – Split Sea Slider

Day 2 – Cloud Dreams

Day 3 – Triple Hearts

Day 4 – A Valentine for A Baseball Fan

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks/Polish

Foiling

Papers

Miscellaneous

© Sue Small-Kreider 2021

One in a Melon

| ullycatdesigns

When you are caught eating a melon at a farm stand you know you are one in a melon!

This cute little card is made from an Art Impressions Tryfolds by Bonnie Krebs. The set has six stamps and two dies that cut the apertures or windows in the farm stand and fruit stand.

I stamped the images on white cardstock with a permanent black ink that won’t run when wet and colored with watercolor pencils. Next I fussy cut the images.

The card base is made from two pieces blue gingham cardstock (5 ½ inches x 4 ¼ inches) and a piece of green gingham cardstock cut 6 inches x 4 ¼ inches. The green piece was scored and fold at ¼ inch on each end to form two tabs to glue the two blue pieces to form the tri-fold card.

I positioned my stamped, colored and cut out images following the layout on the packaging to determine the positioning of the front image. I traced the inside of the opening onto the card front and used the accompanying die to die cut the hole. Next, I glued the image in place on the front. I did the same for the middle image on the second flap, positioning the image so it shows through the aperture cut in the first image and then die-cutting the aperture. The final image was positioned, traced and then glue in place on the central panel.

The “Happy Birthday” is die-cut from green cardstock and glued in place.

Stamped on the back flap of an A2 slim envelope from Taylored Expressions is the sentiment from the stamp set “You’re one in a Melon!” green ink.

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

If you enjoyed this tri-fold card, check out some of my other trifolds:

Shabby Chic Trifold Card

Festive Foliage and Hearts – Trifold card

Santa Vintage Trifold

Sleepytime Dreams

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks/Watercolors

Papers

Miscellaneous

Santa is Coming Tonight

| ullycatdesigns

Santa is coming-open-wide

It’s Christmas Eve and the candles are lit in the windows to welcome Santa. This is the second house card in my series of “A Week of Christmas Houses” using Poppy Stamps 2020 Winter House Pop-Up Easel die set.

The house goes together easily by looking at the photos on the Poppy Stamps packaging. It does involve a lot of die cutting as there is only one die of each window type.  (I cut lots of the small pieces and store the extras in a tiny plastic bags that I keep with the die set.) To add depth to the porch and dormer windows I cut those pieces twice and glued together. The snowy pieces are cut from glitter paper and some of the window frames and siding have Nuvo Glitter Drops used thinly to give the illusion of melted snow.

Santa is coming-Side view

Papers Used: The house is cut from Bazzill heavy card stock in a 2014 color of Gold Coin. The dark blue, red and pale yellow come from monotone color packs of cardstock by Recollections. Note that there is a dark blue outline layer of the house that provides the window inside color as well as framing the outside edge of the house.

Santa is coming-inking door

I masked off the front door with sticky notes and used Walnut Stain Distress ink to darken the door and frame. A tiny drop of gold Nuvo Crystal Drops for the doorknob (which wasn’t put on yet in the photo) and a wreath made from green scraps and a piece of red embroidery floss, complete the door. Greenery was cut from food boxes to get the thickness using a greenery die by Christina Griffiths and snipped into smaller pieces and glued to a wreath shape cut freehand.

Santa is coming-windows-CU

The windows all have tiny white candles cut from a thin white scrap and flames are cut from an orange envelope in my stash. I used the appropriately  named Candlelight – Spectrum Noir Sparkle Glitter Ink to put a dot of glow behind each candle on the dark blue layer.

Santa is coming-Candles

I stamped Santa Sleigh on white cardstock and colored with colored pencils. I cut a strip of clear plastic packaging to sandwich between Santa and another piece of white cardstock. Before I glued the strip, laid-out the position of the house, Santa and the plastic strip on a slimline envelope to make sure all would fit inside the envelope.

Santa is coming-laying out

Other than having to trim a bit off each side of the eaves on the white card base, all fit.

Santa is coming-triming card base

I made pencil marks to note where the plastic would go on the backsides of the dark blue layer and Santa. The plastic is sandwiched between the blue layer of the house and the white card base layers.

Santa is coming-Santa gluing

The welcome mat, which acts as the easel stop, was stamped and heat embossed using a stamp from a retired Stampin’ Up set. I used a blend of Ranger Black Sparkle and Recollections Ebony Detail Embossing powders that give the welcome mat a snowy sparkle. Once heat embossed, the mat was weathered using Antique Linen Distress Ink on a sponge dauber and cut out with the coordinating die. Foam pads where used to adhere the mat to card and make it tall enough to act as an easel stop.

The ”Merry Christmas” is cut from heavy black cardstock glued down.  A personal message can be written behind the house

The envelope was stamped in read on cream envelope using vintage Disney stamps.

Santa is coming-card-envelope

See the more the series of “A Week of Christmas Houses”

Day 1 – From Our House to Your House

Day 2 – Santa is Coming

Day 3 – A Baby is Coming

Day 4 – Keep the Home Fires Burning

Day 5 – Red Four Square

Day 6 – Santa Delivers to the Tropics

Day 7 – House Luminary

2019 – 12 Days of Christmas Trees

Supplies

Dies

Stamps

Paper

Ink/Embossing Powder

Miscellaneous