Flowers

Triple Hearts

| ullycatdesigns

Valentine’s Day is coming and a handmade card, reminiscent of folk art hearts and flowers, fancy chocolate boxes and old-fashioned lacy Valentines, maybe just the thing for your loved one.

This card is the third of a series of Split-Slider Slimlines.

Split-Slider: This split slider is based off Spellbinders Large Die of the Month for January 2021.  The three mini easels were drawn and cut based off the three heart openings in the slimline die. (See previous split slider posts for more detailed directions.) The slider arm is horizontal rather than vertical as previous cards were. (Hint: Cut rectangular easels that will slide under the heart frames to eliminate a catchpoint for the easel.)

You can glue the easel panel to the back of the lacy panel as long as you don’t glue the easel tab area at the bottom of the heart frames.

Because the top lacy panel is adhered on three sides to the card base and needs to be raised, I used foam tape strips to raise the panel. (I like Stampin’ Up’s foam adhesive strips because they are precut and narrow enough to fit along the edge of the lacy panel.) Adhere the easel tabs to the slider arm before removing the backing paper of the foam tape.

You may have to help fold the easels into the fully opened position the first time to train them. Once satisfied with the slider/easels’ movement, remove panel backing tape paper and adhere to card base.

Decorating the Easels: Because I had cut the lacy panel three times (once from lightweight cardstock and twice from heavy weight cardstock), I had plenty of the heart cut outs. I used the lightweight hearts so form the easel base that was folded at the tip of the heart when adhered to the slider easel. The decorated heavy weight hearts are glued only at the rounded tops to the easel base hearts.

I used flowers and greenery left from other projects on the outer hearts and then I foiled the center heart with a coordinating foiling plate from the Spellbinders Glimmer Plate of the Month for January 2021.

Make sure you don’t glue anything that will impede the easels from moving.

Pull-Bar: The long pull bar or top edge of the slider arm is reinforced with a thick cardstock strip. Three holes were punched, and ribbon looped through for pulls. (If I were to make this card again, I would make the card base narrower so no ribbon pulls would be needed. See free template download under Materials Listed)

The foiled “Happy Valentine’s Day” sentiment is attached with foam squares. Nuvo Glitter Drops were added to the lacy panel.

When sending this card, I would enclose a slip of paper with directions on how to open. (See split-slider CRX Sheet download.)

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

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:

triple-heart-slider-template-1Download
split-slider-crx-sheet-2Download

Dies

Foiling

Papers

Miscellaneous

© 2021 Sue Small-Kreider/Ully Cat Designs

Lilies of the Valley

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According to the Language of Flowers, a small book that Amazon Drygoods reprinted from its Victorian original, lilies of the valley mean a “return of happiness.” And so to, does this card promise happiness from it envelope through to its inside message.

Based on a panel die from Tutti Designs, that was die-cut twice (one white cardstock and one green paper), this card comes together with its sentiments. The front “With love” is a foiled strip on scrap cardstock. (Sometimes when my mojo is lacking, I make a batch of foiled sentiments to have on hand.)

Inside the sentiment is heat embossed onto vellum. The longer sentiment is:

“Let us be grateful

to people who make us happy;

they are the charming gardeners

who make our souls blossom.”

Only liquid glue was used in the assembly of the card.

The back flap of the envelope was stamped with a Card Making Magic sentiment “OPEN immediately to release happiness!” to hint at what the enclosed card is about

You can see more Valentines by clicking here.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks/Embossing Powders

Papers

Miscellaneous

Santa Delivers to the Tropics

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How does Santa deliver presents to places where there is no snow for his sleigh? I think he goes in his trusted vintage white convertible with Rudolph to those tropical places. This is the sixth house card in my series of “A Week of Christmas Houses” using Poppy Stamps 2020 Winter House Pop-Up Easel die set.

This double easel card is designed as a slimline card to fit a #10 envelope. The car and Santa are part of the Spellbinders’ Sunday Drive collection.

I found both the Poppy Stamps and Spellbinders sets easy to use following the images on the packaging but recommend having a pair of tweezers handy to glue and place the tiny details. I also recommend having a small container or bag to put your die cut pieces into as you cut them out. They are quite easy to lose on your workspace or get dropped onto the floor.

To make sure the Fired Brick Distress ink I used under the Ho Ho Ho did not bleed onto the white car, I clear heat embossed the piece which adds some texture and shine to the license plate.

Because both die sets for this card are designed to represent snow and cold weather, I had to modify the die cut pieces. For Santa, I cut the sleeve off his shirt and used colored papers to have him wearing a more causal tropical shirt and created his arm by tracing around the outside of the skeleton’s arm in another add-on set for the Sunday Drive collection. On the house I trimmed off any of the snow on rooflines and used the poinsettia flowers from the Sunday Drive collection to plant in front of the house. To fit in a #10 envelope the tiny tips of the roof edge had to be trimmed off the card base.

Once again, I used peach organza ribbon to create some interest at the windows of the house. The door and roofs are inked dark with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The door wreath is from the Tonic Studios set and the palm tree towering over the house is from a Karen Burniston pop-up die set. Nuvo drops were used for the doorknob and flower centers.

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 squares 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.

Finished off the card by stamping its envelope with some hints as to what’s inside using a “Magical Christmas Wishes” sentiment in dark green ink.

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 –Keeping 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

Other Sunday Drive cards:

Sunday Drive Celebration

A Snowy Sunday Drive with Santa

Santa Bauble

Santa Delivers to the Tropics

Being Spooky

Driving into a Spooky Sunset

The Best is Yet to Come

Hoppy Spring!

SUPPLIES:

Dies

Stamps

Papers

Ink/Embossing Powder

Miscellaneous

Back into the Swing of Things

| ullycatdesigns

Back in the Swing -Inside-CU

Coming home after a long stay in the hospital deserves a cheerful card. Home Sweet Home may have a different meaning for those of us who have been fortunate enough to stay healthy during this year of COVID-19, but to a survivor it truly can be sweet.

Back in the Swing -front

The mechanical base for this card come from Karen Burniston’s House and Fence Pop-Up die set, as does the house. The fence, flowers, grass, tree and swinging girl come from the Xcut “Make Me” die set included in the Homemaker Die Cuts & Digi Stamps All-in-one Die & Digi Stamp Kit.

This is about the eighth time I have made this pop-up platform which is easy to use. I spent time exploring how to get the best embossing impression on the house by using fun foam to act as a shim. I inked the house and decoration on the tree and swinging girl with distress inks. The bushes are a scrap decorated with pink dots from the flowers.

Back in the Swing -Inside-wide

The front sentiment is another Karen Burniston die set which makes it quick and easy to create a stylized sentiment. The strawberry comes from the Park Lane paper pad as does the gingham tag inside the card.

I created the inside sentiment on the computer and used distress ink to color the background. If I were to print the sentiment again, I would ink the paper first and then print the words to minimize the black ink blurring.

The folded size of the card is 5 ½ inches by 5 ¾ inches. For interest, the bottom front edge is fussy cut along the printed scalloped edge.

Video is at https://spark.adobe.com/video/Ah8pNrimuXg8u.

Supplies

Dies

Paper

Inks

Miscellaneous

Garden Gate and A Curious Kitty

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Garden Gate -Front Cat -bird

An idyllic summer morning with birds singing, a kitten roaming about the garden and the prospect of a cup of tea and good long chat with a friend are what this card reminds me of when I see it.

My friend challenged me to make something special with my new Stampin’ Up stamp and die sets. (So this card is for you, Donna.)

I had seen on Pinterest cards using the Garden Gateway die to create a z-fold card with a fenced in garden. This was my inspiration and starting point.

Garden Gate -side open CU

Fence and Gate: I cut two of the arched gateway and four of just the garden gate without the arch.  Using a craft knife, I trimmed off the cross-piece sections on the small gates and the middle hinge to get the gate to look like a fence. Next, I tried laying out the fence knowing it had to be 11 inches (278mm) long because my card base was 4 inches by 11 inches (102mm x278mm).  I had scored and folded my card base in the middle and then the left side I folded in half to make the z-fold. I needed the gate to be right of the front quarter-fold section on the card base. I wanted the folded corner of the fence at the right of the gate to be at the mid-section of the timed gate. I cut and pieced the fence gluing large end posts over large end posts. I trimmed off the far-right end post as it was too long. The arch seemed to bend too easily, so, I took the second arched gate and glued it to the back of the fence and gate for added strength.

Garden Gate -side open

Card Base Background: I stamped the tree and bistro table and chairs from the Joanna Sheen stamp set and tried a grass stamp with green distress ink but ended up using the grass stencil in the Joanna Sheen set to do the grass. Using a fingertip dauber sponge, I smoothed out the grass. The clouds on the blue cardstock were made with a white Distress Crayon that was slightly blurred with a water brush.

Garden Gate -Front open CU

Garden: I stamped the flowers, kitten and bird on the leftover white cardstock I had leftover from die-cutting the gate and fence pieces. Using watercolor pencils and a waterbrush, I colored the stamped images.  After getting the fence glued together and the folds made to create the garden, I glued the fence sections to the front and back of card base, making sure the free standing fence sections don’t accidentally get glued to anything. I decorated the outside of the fence with flowers making sure the gate could open. For the flowers inside the garden, I attached them with folded pieces of clear acetate. The placement of the inside flowers needs to be done so the card will fold flat so using glue to adjust their placement is useful.

Garden Gate -Front folded

Sentiments: I stamped the sentiments last, using a blue ink. I tried to center the two sentiments on the back so that they were framed by the arch of the gate when closed or opened.

Garden Gate -Envelope Folded

Envelope: The back flap of the envelope was stamped first with the bird stamp in blue on a sticky note, cut out and stuck as a mask over the stamped bird on the envelope flap. Next, I stamped small flowers over the masked bird in green. Once the mask was removed, it looks like the bird is standing amid the flowers.

Garden Gate -Envelope CU

Supplies

Stamps

Inks/Watercolors

Paper

Miscellaneous

Balloons and Flowers Pop-Up

| ullycatdesigns

Hot Air Balloon-side view

My challenge to make a sweet and up-lifting birthday card for someone who was not happy about celebrating her birthday alone. I had the “Flying High” Craftwork Cards paper collection which has muted neon colors along with pinks and turquoise blue. It is cheery with it has hot air balloons and loads of cute die-cuts and foiled sentiments.

I decided on a box pop-up and used the low and wide shape of the Lawn Fawn Scalloped Box die set which fits into an A2 envelope. Th box was cut from the second darkest pink shade of lightweight cardstock in the Recollection’s Pink Buttons paper pack.

Hot Air Balloon-flat

I punched out the flower die-cuts and shaped them with my fingers and adhered pearls and dots embellishments to their centers. Next, I adhered the flowers to long strips of clear acetate from leftover packaging.

Hot Air Balloon-CU

I assembled the box following the video instructions by Kelly Marie, using strips of clear acetate for the crossbars adhering them in place with clear tape which bends well. All the decorative papers are from one sheet of paper from the “Flying High” collection as well as all the decorations.

The finished card folds flat. A small hot air balloon from the Tim Holtz Collection Little Things stamp set was stamped on the back flap of the envelope.

Hot Air Balloon-open

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks

Papers

Miscellaneous

Stick-on pearls and dots from Dollar Tree and

May Flowers

| ullycatdesigns

Blue teacup-inside-sideCelebrating Mother with May flowers is a tradition. I was happy to see that Anna Griffin’s new teacup die set includes the ability to emboss flowers onto the edges and side of the cup and saucer.

This was my first try at using the new die set as well as some of Anna’s sentiment stamps. The teacup goes together easily following the enclosed instructions. I embossed the cup and saucer first using an embossing mat/plate and then die cut all the pieces.

Blue teacup-front

By using a preprinted card base from a card kit by Punch Studio that has been in my stash for a while, along with some of the butterfly toppers and pink flatback gems, the front of the card came together quickly. The inside paper is from Graphic 45. I cut two pieces so as not to cover the fold and used a green marker to color the inside edges of the card as a border to the floral paper.

Blue teacup-inside

I ended up heat embossing the decorative border on the gold metallic sentiment base with clear embossing powder. I learned that the metallic card I used is heat sensitive and had a minor curling effect happen.

To fill the cup I used flower embellishments from Anna Griffin as well. This vintage teacup card is perfect for celebrating Mother’s Day.

Wishing all mothers, a Happy Mother’s Day.

 

Materials:

Dies

Stamps

Papers

Miscellaneous

Sweet Sparkle

| ullycatdesigns

Shaker Moms Day-Front CU

I kept dreaming about making this card using a lacy ribbon die and some rose paper that I had in my stash. I had watched Jennifer McGuire’s See-Through Shaker Cards video and was inspired to use some new glitter I had acquired. And Mother’s Day in the UK was being talked about on Craftworld.com. This card comes from all these inputs (and probably a few subconscious ones too.)

I took a card base folded it on the score line and placed a sample of the Joanna Sheen scalloped lace and marked out where I wanted the shaker openings to be. I then trimmed out the interior of the paper lace where the shakers were to be. Next, I cut the circles into both layers of the card.  If I had to do it over again, I would have made a template to mark all my papers where the circle cuts are.  I also would have made my patterned cardstock the card base.

Shaker Moms Day-insideBecause the glitter is very clingy with static to the acetate, I decide to use this quality in my design and my shakers are only the thickness of some recycled cardboard box cut into a square and the circle die-cut out. I adhered a strip of acetate to the inside of the back panel of card base with double-sided tape. The cardboard squares were glued to back of card over the circle openings. With the card on a flat surface I put pinches of glitter into the cardboard circles and then added glue to edges of cardboard and dropped a square of acetate over each cardboard square to seal up the shaker. (If I had it to do over, I would have used the temple to mark out the cardboard and make it one long panel instead of squares.)

IMG_7866Next, I traced as best I could the shaker circles onto the back side of the two outer printed cardstock panels and the two inner patterned paper pieces. With printed sides place together and taped with removable tape, I cut both outer panels together. Repeated the same process with inner pattern paper. Using double-sided tape and a few drops of glue, I adhered the outer panels and the inner papers lining up all the shaker holes. To hide the small gaps, I die cut four strips of scalloped lace from thin white paper using an un-named die by Joanna Sheen in my stash. There are five circles in the lace, I cut out the top, middle and bottom inner circles to correspond with the shaker circles. I glued the four lace pieces over the inner and outer panels’ circles.

Shaker Moms Day-sentiment-CUThe front of the card has a die cut scalloped oval with “Happy Mother’s Day” die cut from a recycled chocolate’s box. A multi-looped button is from tiny grosgrain red ribbon from my stash.

Shaker Moms Day-Front CU-White (3)Materials:

Dies:

Paper:

Miscellaneous:

  • 1/4 inch clear double-sided tape
  • Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue/PVA Glue
  • Jumbo Pink Holo Mix non-toxic Sparkling Glitter by Advantus Corp.
  • Red grosgrain ribbon from stash