Whimsical Teddies Birthday

Inspired by the adorable cards created by Karen Burniston Design Team member Suzanne Smit, I wanted to make a card with a whimsical spirit like so many she's shared on her blog, Knutsel Suus. For my card I used Marianne Designs dies from "Arctic Bears", "Daisies", and "Happy Daisies" sets and a very old Stampin' Up Embosslits die for the tiny butterflies. Fishtail "Happy Birthday" sentiment banner was hot foiled and cut using Spellbinders "Hexi-Gems Sentiments" Glimmer set.

Inside, I used Karen Burniston's "Triple Platform Pop Up" die set to animate the giant daisies, teddy bear and even a double layered birthday cake. Sounds crazy but very whimsical and fun!

Here's a short video of what it looks like when a card using this mechanism is opened...

I thought it was pretty cool how all the seemingly oversized elements folded down, hidden within the confines of the closed card.

To decorate the gift card holder, I used the smaller daisy dies, butterflies and a stamp from Lawn Fawn's Tiny Tag Sayings set.

Butterfly Collage Pop Up

I took out what could be considered my two most favorite dies; Karen Burniston's Photo Collage Pop Up, and Spellbinders Delicate Butterflies to create two more landmark birthday cards for friends who celebrated the big 7 - 0 this year. I cut the butterflies from pearlescent cardstock backed with white glitter paper and the bodies from gold foil cardstock. Happy Birthday sentiment was hot foiled and die cut using "Perfect Sentiments" set from Pink Fresh Studio. I added an additional gold foil shadow layer behind the sentiment and a wavy background border layer, both created in Make the Cut and cut on my Silhouette. Opalescent sequins were then randomly adhered for an added fun shimmer.

Inside the card I used the Photo Collage Pop Up die to animate eight die cut butterflies and the number "70".  Four additional butterflies were also glued on to the base card. Cutting file for "70" and shadow were created using Beach font.

Although I've used the Photo Collage Pop Up countless number of times to make cards, just realizing now that I have yet to post a video to show this pop up in action.

Cutting file for "70" and shadow were created using Beach font.

I included a gift card holder decorated with the same elements from the front of the card. Spellbinders "Hexi-Gem Sentiments" glimmer plate and die were used to create the fishtail sentiment.

Halloween Demon Hunters

 In keeping with the recent worldwide sensation of Netflix KPop Demon Hunters, our granddaughter announced that she wanted to dress up as "Zoey" from "Huntrix" for Halloween this year. Happily Gramma found lots of Demon Hunters clip art online as well as candy holders designed "by Yeni" to fit the theme of her costume.

For the Halloween card, I created a cut file of the "Huntrix" logo and cut it from layers of silver metallic and glitter cardstock and two shades of lavender shimmer cardstock. I used clipart of "Derpy" the demon cat together with pumpkin clipart from Doodlebug "Boos and Brews" set (purchased from the Lori Whitlock store) to create a print and cut image, and matted it with shadow layers of black and shimmer gold papers. Then wanting to convey the playful vibe of an anime graphic novel, I added a speech bubble to get "Derpy" talking.

Inside, I used matted print and cut images of the three Huntrix girls and attached them to Karen Burniston's Triple Platform Pop Up mechanism. As the card is opened, three arms of the mechanism with the Huntrix girls attached pop up and forward. In the background I added matted print and cut images of Sussie the Magpie and a silhouette of the Saja Boys dressed in traditional Korean garb.

Then just for fun, I added a few lyrics from the hit song "Golden" from the movie as part of the sentiment in the card.

I also put together this Zoey candy holder designed "by Yeni", the same designer who created the original cutting files for the Hello Kitty and skeleton candy holders I made for sharing with friends. As with the previous candy holders, I used 8 cm plastic shaker domes instead of the plastic ornament balls these templates were designed for. 

I added a hole in the bottom of the base to be able to fill the globe with candy and adhered a petal style closure to access the candies.

Really enjoyed putting these domed candy holders together and looking forward to making these again in the future. They come together quickly and would make cute favors for sharing at an informal lunch with friends or family.

Although I didn't go trick or treating this year, I was lucky enough to get treated to some awesome Halloween goodies created by my dear friend Lorna.

Another trend that has taken the world by storm...the bougie Labubu Craze! Love that Lorna decorated her Halloween treat holders with this giant Labubu witch. He even has ten teeth, so he's probably the real thing! I thought her "La boo-boo" Halloween sentiment on the back side of the treat holder was so clever too.

This smaller Labubu is holding onto a candy filled 4 ounce black condiment cup decorated to look like a glowing pumpkin. So cute and creative!

For a Japanese version of a Halloween treat holder, Lorna made these fun Japanese "oni" or ogre boxes for her Bon Dance club friends. This one reminds me a lot of the ogres often seen in Japanese children's folk tale books like "Momotaro" or "Peach Boy". Once again, sweet Lorna knocked us off our feet with her amazing and imaginative creativity!