Sometimes life keeps throwing lemons at people. I am always amazed at how individuals keep smiling through it all and even find time to do kind things for others as well. This is a card for those smiling individuals that know how to make lemonade out of what life throws at them.

Using the Vintage Lemon Twist papers by Simple Stories and the You Shine stamp set both in the Simon Says Stamp! July 2022 Card Kit of the Month, I crafted this card with dies from Karen Burniston, Divinity Designs, Crafter’s Companion, Made to Surprise and Oriental Trading.

The front of the card is made from the paper collection with Nuvo Drops, buttons and a tiny ribbon bow from my stash. A symmetry is a theme for this card. The back of the card is a collage of leftover pieces from making the rest of the card. (I decorated both the inside and outside of the card base because the card base was thin cardstock. I adhered the papers with double side tape and an occasional drop of glue.

I had the idea of a pitcher of lemonade pouring into a glass with a lemon slice as the inside interactive mechanism of the card. After looking at a number of Karen Burniston pop-up/interactive dies, I settled on the Mailbox Pop-Up after watching a video by Karen using the mechanism for a double spinner card which I adapted into a tilting pitcher. I cut from scrap cardstock, a template of the mailbox to know where to cut the square opening in my decorative scalloped circle (Made to Surprise). After trimming the lower lever mechanism off, I folded the piece as directed in the video and trimmed the small section off one edge that would not be covered by the scalloped circle.

Using clear vellum to resemble glass, I die cut two tumblers (Divinity Designs) and fitted a scrap of vellum behind the die-cut pale blue pitcher (Crafter’s Companion). Using a bright yellow marker, I colored the back side of the vellum as the lemonade. I always color the edges of exposed vellum with a black marker to make them more defined. From the backing paper from some adhesive sheets that I had saved because the paper had a shiny yellow surface, I cut some lemon slices (Divinity Designs) for the tumblers and pitcher.

The lemonade sentiment is from the You Shine stamp set and is heat embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder. Once heat embossed, I die cut the sentiment out with a wave oval die from oriental Trading. I cut a second oval of plain white cardstock as the sentiment for a personal message to be added.

Black backgrounds inside the card make the white scalloped circle and ovals pop. Small scraps of the yellow printed paper were used to balance out the inside decorations.

The card fits into an A2 size envelope which has been stamped on the front with a lemon slice and back flap with a whole lemon. the back flap image is colored with markers. All the stamps are from the Simon Says Stamp You Shine stamp set.

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Materials Used:

Dies

• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company –Mailbox Pop-up – 1192
• Divinity Designs – Mini Cups & Mugs – CBD403
• Crafter’s Companion – Decorative Metal Die – Milk Jug & Spoon
• Oriental Trading – unbranded dies – Oval Waves
• Made To Surprise by Sam Calcott – Shutter Card Collection – Baked Goods Additions Die Set

Stamps

• Simon Says Stamp! – 6×8 Clear Stamp Set – You Shine – sss202553c

Inks

• Memento – fade-resistant Dye Ink – Tuxedo Black
• Recollections – Detail Embossing Powder – Clear
• Black, yellow, green markers
• Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Lemonade and Fairway

Papers

• Pattern papers by Simple Stories – Vintage Lemon Twist
• Clear vellum scraps
• White cardstock scraps
• Shiny yellow paper scraps
• A2 white card base and envelope

Miscellaneous

• Sizzix – Big Shot PLUS die cutting Machine
• Cosmic Shimmer – Specialist Acrylic Glue
• Fineline 20 Gauge Applicator & Bottle
• LDRS Creative – Stampendable Stamping Tool
• Kat Scrappiness – Telescopic Embossing Powder Tool with Retractable Brush
• Stamp cleaning cloth
• Heat gun
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Metal ruler
• Nuvo Crystal Drops – Dandelion Yellow
• Tiny yellow buttons – 3
• Tiny polka dotted ribbon bow