Double Wiper Kokeshi Doll Card

Here's a fun interactive card I put together in celebration of my dear friend Lorna's birthday. I had just received my new i-Crafter Wiper insert die in the mail and was excited to give it a try. I knew I wanted to do a kokeshi doll themed card so I decided on using some of the cute coloring book images found on Pinterest to create paper piecing files.

I used washi paper to paper piece the kimonos for the kokeshi dolls.  Cherry blossom branch was created using Cottagekutz Winter Branch and Frantic Stamper Petite Sakura dies, and a mini sakura punch from Punch Bunch. Recently while cleaning out my craftroom, I found some pretty origami papers from Yasutomo in my stash, which happily turned out to be a perfect fit for the background inserts for this card.

It's hard to describe the action of this fun interactive card in words so here's a short video to show the  movement of this double wiper card insert.

As the card is opened, two wiper arms swipe up from behind a pop up panel to meet in the center. This i-Crafter die set comes with dies to cut "THA" and "NKS" that can be attached to the wiper arms so they would meet in the center to spell the word "THANKS". But since I was making a birthday card, I instead cut a pair of fan shapes on the Silhouette and adhered the words "Happy Birthday" cut using an Elizabeth Crafts word die to attach onto the wiper arms.

The i-Crafter die set also includes a die to cut a gift card insert to place onto the  pop up panel to make this card a gift cardholder as well.

I wanted to add another kokeshi to the inside of my card so I put the gift card into a mini cellophane envelope before sliding it thru the gift card holder. The paper pieced kokeshi and lantern were then adhered to the cello envelope with double sided tape. The lantern was cut from Elizabeth Crafts Asian Accessories die.

If you happened to notice, or wondered why... yes, my sentiment on this card is in the past tense because I was shamefully a month late with this birthday card. Lol, hopefully Lorna liked her card enough to forgive my delinquency!

Sakura Treat Boxes

Just a few days prior to the shut down of all restaurants, and work at home and shelter in place proclamations took effect in our area last month, we had lunch with some of our dear friends who had just found out their spring cruise to Japan had been cancelled due to the outbreak of Covid 19.They chose to get together at a Japanese restaurant to "make up for all the delicious Japanese food we'll be missing"; so I decided to make these sakura treat boxes in hopes of helping to ease some of the disappointment from their missed vacation.

I used the same box template I had used earlier in March for my Hinamatsuri (Girls Day) treat boxes, but this time used a solid color for the box which seemed to give this set of boxes a very different look and feel. I used the same pearlescent pink and gold papers for the sakura flower closure but this time selected a muted green for the box instead of the printed kokeshi paper I had used for my Girls Day treat boxes.

The original template for this box is Pebbles In My Pocket's Slide Box with Snowflake cutting file purchased from the Lori Whitlock Shop. I used Make the Cut design program to render a cherry blossom image into a cut file then swapped it out with the snowflake closure that came with the original box file.

Boxes were filled with homemade chichi dango mochi which were packed first into mini plastic bento boxes. Definitely can't compare with all the yummies they would've had while on their cruise, but hopefully it brought at least a little smile to their tummies!

Surprise Bunny Pop Up Easter Card

With stay at home orders spanning the globe, I guess Easter will be celebrated much differently in every family this year. With social distancing in place, I knew we wouldn't be getting together with dear friends and family at Easter as we normally do, so I decided to forgo making Easter treat boxes of chocolates and pizzelle cookies this year. I only made this one Easter card to send to our sweet granddaughter.

Earlier this year I picked up Karen Burniston's Parcel Pop Up die and have been "saving it" with the intention of making a very special Easter card for our granddaughter. I created a weaved basket to cover the pop up mechanism on the inside of the card, and used clear acetate for the front panel of this bottom fold card so the basket would show through with the card in its closed position.

As the card is opened, *Surprise!* a little bunny pops up inside the basket!

Had so much fun putting this together, and so happy that it turned out just as I had it imagined in my head.
Cute little bunny was a recent freebie cutting file from My Scrap Chick called "Bunny Sweet Treat Belly". Weaved basket and bow were created in Make the Cut Design program using various sizes of ovals and rectangles. Eggs were cut from DCWV glitter cardstock using another cutting file from My Scrap Chick called "Easter Chicks Set".

Cloud background panel was created by using Lawn Fawn's Puffy Cloud Border die to cut a stencil template and lightly applying Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Broken China) with a foundation brush. MFT Stamps Die-Namics Grassy Border die was used to cut the grass from white cardstock and inked with Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide ink.

 I used Cheery Lynn Baby's Breath Flower Kit dies for the tiny blossoms and butterfly comes from Cottage Cutz Mouse with Sunflower die. Happy Easter greeting was done as a print and cut using Doctor Soos true type font.

I repeated the cloud background and grassy border on the backside of the card so I'd have a place to add our sentiment. Tiny rabbit was cut from Impression Obsession's Rabbit Die Set. Hoping our granddaughter will have as much fun seeing bunny pop up from the basket as I did making this card for her.

Thank you for dropping by today. Please enjoy Easter the best you are able, but please continue to keep safe and healthy.

Recipe Page Group Project

 For our group project last year, our craft club decided to do a recipe page swap. It was basically an "Anything Goes" project,  the only restriction being that it had to be on an 8x8 page. We made enough pages for each member in our group, plus one for ourselves so that by the end of the swap we each owned a wonderful keepsake compilation of recipes.

For my page, I decided I would share my recipe for a long time favorite in our family, Mexicali Chicken.

The cutting file for the double shadowed title was created in Make the Cut design program together with Di and Tristan true type fonts.

For my cutie chicken, I used two cutting files from Cudddly Cute Designs. The little chicken comes from "Chicken and Rooster Cutiekins" and her colorful paper pieced sombrero is from the "Pepper Cutie" file.
Thanks for stopping by today. Please be well and stay safe as we all continue to hunker down and shelter in place.

Beary Special Birthday Wishes

I made yet another birthday card using the Karen Burniston Katherine Label Pop Up die. This die is fast becoming a favorite of mine as it can make the simplest of card ideas into fun, interactive cards. What's even nicer is that it's probably the easiest of all Karen Burniston's pop up mechanisms to put together.

So honestly for me, the most difficult thing about making this card was matching the colors. Purple... it's my sweet friend's favorite color. I often try to make cards in the recipient's favorite colors but I usually shy away from purple because I always have such a hard time matching tones of purple. Decided to stick to Easter/Spring colors to stay safe... hope I did okay!

Here's the inside of the card. As the card is opened, the label with the sentiment pops forward and up, giving the appearance the the balloons attached to the label are floating up...fun!

Paper pieced teddy bears, cake and gifts are from Marjorie Ann Designs. I used elements from three cutting files, "Take Time To Smell the Flowers", "Birthday Girl" and "Betsy Loves Baking" to put this card together. Stitched balloons were cut using Craft Emporium's Balloons Galore die set, and sprinkles and candles were cut from "Sprinkles Confetti" and "Cake & Stand" dies from Taylored Expressions' Little Bits collection.

Showers of Love for Dana and Ben

Recently I helped with the planning of a wedding shower for a former coworker and agreed to make the favors for the brunch. It's been a while since I've crafted anything for a wedding so I felt awkwardly out of touch, but figured I'd be safe if I stayed with something that was personalized, floral, and in the bride's favorite color.

This is what I came up with. I used Make the Cut design program to create a cut file from a stencil rose image found on the internet and used it to create a rose border around the bottom edge of the favor box cover.

The cut file for the scallop edge heart stencil on the front of the box was also created in Make the Cut using heart and half circle shapes. Box covers were cut from pearlescent Bazzill Bling Glamour cardstock to give the favors a pretty shimmer.

Favors were then personalized with the names of the bride and groom by using Amazone font and the print and cut feature on the inner box. Boxes were filled with chocolate hearts and kisses and finished with a white tulle bow tied on top. Nothing fancy, just sweet and simple.

Flying Tsuru Birthday Card

My mom's birthday was back in December but being that I notoriously fall behind with all my blog postings during the holidays, I always end up posting her birthday card several months late.

Usually I'm so focused on holiday crafts in December that I find myself struggling for ideas to make mom's birthday card. Thank goodness for Karen Burniston's Katherine Label Pop Up die. This pop up mechanism has pulled me through many creative slumps, helping to make even the simplest card idea into a special card.
This time I decided on using a paper pieced image of a Japanese Red Crowned Crane, or "tsuru" flying against the sun, a traditional Japanese symbol for good luck and long life. The tsuru and sun were positioned onto the pop up mechanism so it would partially show through the round front window while the card is closed.

As the card is opened the tsuru pops out and rises up, appearing to fly.

The pretty, glittered background cardstock is from the now retired Kimono collection from Best Creation, Inc. I chose it hoping it would add a soft feminine touch to the bold colors of the tsuru and sun. Stamped "Happy Birthday" greeting is from Darkroom Door Happy Birthday Sentiment Stamps set.