Kimono Girls Birthday

Today I'm sharing a shaker style card I recently put together for a dear friend's birthday using several cute stamps from my  favorite local stamp company, Dandelion Designs.

This adorable pair of kimono girls come from Dandelion Designs "Friends Set". I used Copics to color them and paper pieced their kimonos from washi papers. 

I used a reverse stitched scallop circle die to cut the window for my shaker and added a stamped sakura border from Dandelion Design's "Arigato Set". Sakura blossoms were colored with Copics and glittered with Stickles. I glued flat back dewdrops and sequins randomly around the window to add some fun sparkle. 

For the panel in the shaker, I added a smidge of blended colors using distress oxide inks applied with  foundation brushes. Stamped sentiment is from "Sakura Girls Set", also from Dandelion Designs. Clear acetate was adhered to the window frame with double stick tape. I used foam tape behind the window to create the shaker box and added a mix of  clear sequins and flower shaped clay polymer embellishments inside.

As the card is opened, two birthday kimono girls pop up with birthday wishes!

Kawaii birthday kimono girls are from Dandelion Designs "Happy Wishes Set" .  Hard to see in the photos but I applied distress oxide inks to create a blended background inside the card similar to the panel in the shaker box. Stamped birthday sentiments are from Mama Elephant's "Paola's Wishes" and "Mixed Wishes" sets. The fun interactive pop up was created using the mechanism from Karen Burniston's  Flip Frame pop up die set. 

The double pop up was created by installing the mechanism twice, one for the balloon girl pop up on the left side of the card and the second installed backwards for the cupcake girl pop up on the right of the card. I then stamped and colored the sakura border image a few times, cut it apart, then pieced and glued the blossoms onto the arm of the pop up mechanism to hide it.

This was a fun pop up and fairly easy to install. I especially like how the pop up elements are lifted to stand almost perpendicular to the inside of the card. Many more fun ideas come to mind with this mechanism which I hope to try soon!

Christmas In July Gift Tags

After feeling so much satisfaction from making Christmas tags in July for the first time last year, I convinced myself to give it a try again this July. I used the same tag svg cutting file I had created for my Christmas shaker tags last year but changed the colors and the image.

I chose to use nontraditional Christmas colors that are actually a better match for my blue foil holiday wrapping paper this year. Couldn't find any cute Christmassy stamps in my stash to use on my tags, so I decided to use this pair of die cut polar bears from Cottage Cutz' "Polar Bears with Birch Trees" instead. Inside the shaker I added iridescent clear and white sequins together with Recollections "Glitz" chunky glitter.

Polar bears and their hat and scarves were cut from plain white cardstock and quickly colored with Copic pens. Love that after coloring the scarves and hats, all that was needed was  a few quick strokes with the lightest shades of grey, pink and blue to add shadows and highlights to the bears. I die cut the bit of snow they're sitting on from textured pearlescent cardstock and added some Stickles for some contrast so the bears wouldn't disappear in the snow.

Instead of my usual computer generated sentiments, I stamped the words on my tags this year, using a mix of stamps from Kwellam's "Christmas Wishes", Waffle Flower's "Classic Sentiments" and Scrappers Den's "Christmas 1" sets. It took me a few days to put together a dozen of these, and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards was so satisfying! I even went as far as planning the layout for our family Christmas cards and ordering the photos that will be included in them already. Wow! Hopefully my unprecedented early start on Christmas projects will make the holidays a lot less stressful this year.

Retirement Shaker Card

After binge watching cardmaking tutorials on YouTube, I was excited to give the "see through" or "floating" shaker card another try; this time on a tri-fold retirement card for my sister in law.

 Scalloped frame for the shaker was die cut using Park Avenue Creative Cuts by Mama Elephant.

 I used stamped images from Dandelion Designs "Sakura" and "Sakura Girls" sets, colored with Copics and fussy cut. Sakura Girls' kimonos were paper pieced with washi papers. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using foam tape to adhere the stamped images onto the front of the shaker.

As you can see here, since this is a "see through" shaker card,  when the card is opened, the back of the stamped images and the foam tape I used are visible...which isn't too pretty at all. Definitely need to rethink the placement of cutouts and embellies on my next attempt of a see through shaker card!

Here's the trifold card completely open. Background wave patterned papers are digital paper from Gradient Fox on Etsy.

On the back of the card, I used the Pretty Pink Posh's Pocket Border die to create a pocket to hold a gift card. As much as I love the look of all the different styles of shaker cards there are, creating them continues to be a lesson in progress for me. Guess I'll just have to keep on practicing!

Mothers Day Shaker Card

Happy Mothers Day! I decided to make shaker cards for Mothers Day this year. I got started working on my cards early, because I wanted to make extra cards to send to special friends and  because shaker cards always seem to be a bit of a challenge for me to put together.
 

I started by printing "Happy Mothers Day" word art from the Silhouette Design Store on the inside panel of my shaker. Scalloped oval frame is a freebie svg cutting file shared by Heather M on her blog here. Lacy corners were cut using the Filigree Corner die from Lala Land Crafts.

I used Lori Whitlock's Decagon Pop Up Swan svg for the paper pieced swan and blossoms, adding stickles to the flower centers and scattering a few extra sequins for some bling.

On the inside, I used Karen Burniston's Cake Pop Up die (AGAIN!) to create the hexagonal platform for the crowned swan and blossoms.  I added more die cut filigree corners and an oval matted in gold for the sentiment. The sentiment shown here is for the cards that I made for my special "mom friends".

I knew I had to have this swan cutting file from the first time I saw it in the Lori Whitlock Shop. I've always thought of swans as being beautiful, graceful, magical, and a symbol of motherly love... so I felt this would be perfect to use for my Mothers Day cards.

The original cutting file for the swan (Lori Whitlock's Decagon Pop Up Card - Swan) creates a very impressive ten sided stand alone pop up card, but since I already had my mind set on creating a pop up inside a card, I used Karen Burniston Cake Pop Up die to install a hexagon pop up platform in the card.

I've been having way too much fun using this hexagon pop up platform in my cards recently so I'm pretty certain everyone on my list to receive a card will probably get one... or more! 

I also have a pair of amazing Mothers Day surprises I received from my crafty friends that I want to share, but will save for my next post. Till then, please have an enjoyable, relaxing Mothers Day!  

Girls Day Shaker Card

March 3rd was Girls Day and this is the card I made to send to our granddaughter this year. I received some very pretty cherry blossom clay polymer sprinkles for Christmas from a sweet friend and knew they would be perfect for a Girls Day shaker card.
 

I stamped and heat embossed images from Mama Elephant's "Lunar Extras" (cherry blossoms) and Sister Stamps "Harumi". Images were colored with Copics and Harumi's kimono was stamped and cut from washi paper. Scalloped window was cut on the Silhouette using a cutting file created in Make the Cut design program. Stamped sentiment inside the window is from Dandelion Designs "Love & Hugs". 

On the inside, I used the bottom layer of Karen Burniston's Pop Up Cake die to create a fun pop up "stage" for my kimono cuties. 

Stamped image is one of my all time favorites, "BFFs" from Sister Stamps. Kimonos were stamped and cut from washi papers. Cherry blossoms, leaves and shadows were cut on the Silhouette. I used Wiki C.A.P.S. Cherry Blossoms Outline die to cut the flower centers; and the large cherry blossom on the front was cut using the print and cut function with DJ Doodlers font.

     

The hexagonal shaped "stage" pop up in this card uses the same design mechanism as most of the stand alone hexagonal pop up cards being seen a lot on the internet recently. I really like Karen Burniston's version using her Pop Up Cake die because the pop up is installed inside the card, giving that "wow factor" as the card is opened. You can watch Karen's video tutorial here.

Here's a side view of the pop up stage where you can see I added three acetate struts; front, center, and back, where the cherry blossoms and stamped images were adhered. I'm enjoying playing with this pop up cake die, although I have to admit I haven't used it to make a pop up cake yet! I love that Karen Burniston always comes up with fun alternate ways to use her dies to create different styles of cards.

New Years Greetings and Holiday Thanks

Today I'm sharing some of the amazing paper crafts I recently received from creative and crafty friends.

 

My dear friend Lorna has been making these super kawaii paper pieced Chinese zodiac daruma dolls to celebrate New Years for the past few years now. And this year's Year of the Ox daruma might just be the cutest one ever!

I thought it was so clever that she used a jewelry jump ring as the lead nose ring for her ox. Lorna slid her paper pieced Ox into a clear cello bag together with a yummy Japanese senbei (rice cracker) treat.

This clean and simple New Years card was sent to me by Patti of Creations By Patti blog. Don't you love how she makes clean and simple look so elegant and classy with the addition of rhinestones and glitter?

These adorable thank you cards were created by talented paper crafters Karen of Have A Scrap Happy Day and Patti of Creations By Patti blogs.

Karen used a stamped image from Little Miss Muffet Stamps colored with Copic pens to create her thank you card. Isn't this little bonnet girl just the cutest ever? 

This die cut and paper pieced shaker card from Patti is beyond cute! She used Lawn Fawn's Stitched Mug Frame die to create her shaker cup and spoon, and added a paper pieced peeking Hello Kitty, kicking the cuteness level up by several notches for sure!

I apologize that I still haven't had a chance to post Christmas crafts from December, but hope to eventually do some backposting for December as time allows. Will let you know when that happens. Thanks for your patience!

Christmas Shaker Tags in July

I admit I've never been much of a fan of  the concept of "Christmas in July". I suppose getting an early start on holiday projects is always a good idea, but I'm never ready for it and the thought of already being late for the holidays in July gives me anxiety! 

But last week while tidying my craftroom, I came across this very old Penny Black rubber stamp purchased many years ago but never used... and thought to myself, "Okay, why not? Let's give it a go!"

    

I started by coloring my stamped image with Copic markers, then scanning it and using the print and cut feature in Make the Cut design program to fussy cut a dozen images. Cutting file for the shaker tag front was created by adding a rectangular shape into a simple tag shape. Back panel was also done as a print and cut using Invitation true type font.

I used clear acetate for my shaker window and adhered the stamped image to the front.  I applied 1/4 inch wide foam tape on the inside around the window and lightly wiped the acetate with a Bounce dryer sheet before adding my chunky glitter and sequins. Sounds crazy but that really helped to control the issue of static cling...uncontrollable glitter and sequins everywhere that I dislike most about making shaker tags. I also found that I could keep the glitter and sequins from sticking to my fingers and tweezers by wiping them with the dryer sheet too.

Now that I've finished my first set of a dozen Christmas tags, it feels so good! I guess Christmas in July can be a good thing afterall.

Girls Night Out

Earlier this month, a group of us who were best friends during our teenage years in middle/high school got together for a Girls Night Out. Some of us hadn't seen each other for thirty years or more so it was an evening of reminiscing and fun.

I filled half a dozen take out boxes with some homemade Crispix party mix and dressed them up with a frou frou tulle bow and fun shaker tag to share with the girls.

I chose to use a digital stamp, "Back To School Party" from the Tiddly Inks collection... appropriately named, don't you think? Colored the image with Copics and fussy cut it to fit onto the 3 inch round tag. A little hard to see in the photos but the sentiment inside the tag reads "Friends since Hanabata Days"... (a  little Hawaiian Pidgin English slang referring to being friends from when we were very young). This was the first time I used adhesive backed craft foam sheets run through my Big Shot with Spellbinders Round Nestabilities dies to create shaker tags. Found this to be much easier than trying to piece together strips of foam tape!

Christmas Shaker Tags

I was very late putting these Christmas treat boxes together this year, but here they are, twenty of them ready to be delivered to hubby's workplace, 5 days before Christmas.

 Made two batches of Chex mix bagged, sealed, and boxed them into take out boxes tied with a bow. That was the easy part...

And then there were these shaker tags! What on earth made me think they'd be quick and easy? Teddy bear is Cottage Cutz Mr. Snuggles die and the bow is a die from Mama Elephant. All other cuts were created in Make the Cut Design program and cut on the Silhouette. I'm still a newbie when it comes to making shaker projects, so I struggled a bit assembling these tags, but after making twenty, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it!

Also bottled some of that Chex mix for sharing with the special people at the pet clinic we take our doggie to.

Didn't have time enough to make a cutesy label for the bottle so I ended up using a recent photo I had taken of our doggie right after I discovered she had devoured a whole sleeve of Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies. Had to rush her to the pet clinic...I was so frightened and worried at that time, but everyone at the clinic was so kind and helpful. giving our little Latte the best of care. Now everyone at the clinic knows her as the dog who ate the Thin Mints..."Naughty or Nice?"

Shaker Tags for Treat Boxes

Once every year hubby and I get together for dinner with two of my oldest and dearest friends and their hubbies from high school. Seems everyone is always so busy with work and family nowadays but we've made a promise to each other to meet at least once a year to catch up on each others' lives. I usually like to bring along a homemade treat to share, this time I filled these take out boxes with cereal mix and added a fun shaker tag.

I came across lots of very cute shaker tags on Pinterest last year when I was learning to make shaker cards and thought, "Oh, I want to try that too!" So here we are, my first attempt at shaker tags. I created the tags with heart window using Make the Cut design program and filled the shakers with pretty pink iridescent heart confetti.

Then to represent the three of us, I used stamped images from Dandelion Designs. These kawaii kimono girls come from the "Tea Time" and "Friends" cling stamp sets. These shaker tags are fun to make and I'm tossing around the idea of maybe doing something similar in a holiday theme for my Christmas treat boxes this year... well maybe, if I get started early enough!

And here's what went inside the boxes..."Furikake Crispex with Macadamia Nuts"...a sweet treat for my very special friends!

A Birthday Shaker Card for Mom

Decided to try another floating shaker card, this time for my mother in law's birthday which we celebrated this weekend. I used my Silhouette to cut an octagonal window and frame for my shaker this time.

I added Marci with Lantern digital stamp from Lala Land Crafts to the front of the shaker window; colored her with Copics and paper pieced her outfit with washi paper. Inside the shaker I added red and gold sequins, beads and glitter.

The Asian style corners and holder for the Happy Birthday sentiment are cutfiles I created a while back by welding together squares in Make the Cut program.

The plum blossom background with the pagoda and bridge scene that shows through shaker window on the front of the card are actually on the inside of the card.

I then adhered the scene to an octagon shaped card...

So I'd have a place to add our birthday sentiment on the inside.

Really starting to enjoy making shaker cards and looking forward to making more. But first I'll definitely need to work on collecting some pretty colored sequins and beads to add to them...any suggestions on where I should start?