Happy Summer!

I have spent a lot of time recently on Katie - sitting duty!  Puppy dog baby sitting is not very conducive to creativity, but I found that I could take part in a class by pausing my video whenever SOMEONE showed any sign of needing to go outside.  I have been diligently following the latest offering from Online Card Classes - Background Check - and loving every minute!  I am learning so much about creating backgrounds and just adore the blended ink technique.

You know that I couldn't just leave it at backgrounds, right?  I had a thought about the BBTB2 challenge this week and decided to use my Explore to die cut some watermelon slices and use my TH distress inks on the cuts. 

In the end, I did use colored card stock for everything except the top red layer which was cut from white Neenah and then inked with circular strokes using Abandoned Coral.  Then I blended Festive Berries along the bottom edge, and sprayed the whole thing with Twinkling H2Os (improvising for the suggested Perfect Pearls) mixed with water in a mini mister.  It kinda sorta looks like juicy, juicy watermelon.

 I made the shaped card by duplicating the bottom layer of the slices and welding them together.  I duplicated the resulting shape and flipped it horizontally.  Then I welded the two pieces together.   The melon wedge comes from Preserves and the sentiment is part of the Summer Bag Topper set. As for the inside, in all the reams of patterned paper in my stash, I could only find this one depicting a watermelon.  I obviously need more paper.

I love what the DT did with this challenge.  Pop over here and take a look and thanks for visiting with me today.  Sigh!  Now where did that puppy get to?   : )  Christine

Thank You Gatefold Shutter Card

I love themes and what my DD calls "matchy-matchy" stuff.  Being a Kindergarten teacher allowed me to indulge (some might say, overindulge) in thematic decor, activities and even my clothes and jewelry!  

So, I love the Simon Says Stamp card kits that are delivered to my mailbox every month and could not wait to receive the latest nautical themed kit.   I took it along with me in the RV and used some of the fabulous papers, card stock, stamps and embellishments to create a couple of gatefold shutter thank you cards.  

The star embellishment on the band is from Tim Holtz and is echoed by the star stamp that I used to form the background on the center panel of the card.  The life saver paper, of course, parallels the "You're a lifesaver" sentiment on the front.  

Oh how I loved putting this card together!!!!  One last peek:-

And look who else was out on the sunny deck with me - Cocoa and his new little sister, Katie.  She is quite the character and makes Cocoa look sedate and quite angelic! 

Thanks for visiting with me today and I'll try to rein in the matchy-matchy stuff next time!  : )  Christine

Gatefold Shutter Cards

We had such fun on our camping trip to Montana!  We met up with our friends in Anaconda and hiked, golfed, fished, took a couple of historic tours, and visited the Arts in the Park festival twice.  :  )   M. and I did a lot of catching up on what was happening in our families, talked scrapbooking, cardmaking and the Explore, looked at Pinterest and watched crafting videos together.  Lovely!

We were fascinated with the idea of the Gatefold Shutter card, sometimes called the Magic Eye card, and after several videos we figured it out.   I was able to put the deets into Design Space and cut a thank you card for my DS and DD who fed cats and chickens while we were gone.  (I'll share these when they are delivered!)

Tomorrow is my eldest DD's wedding anniversary and I used my file once I got home - and got the laundry underway - to make a card for L and D.   Here it is closed with the belly band:-

and as the card opens, the shutter mechanism starts to open:-

to reveal the hidden message or image.   How cool is that?

The decorative paper comes from Hobby Lobby.   Yes!   I finally got to visit a Hobby Lobby in Spokane Valley and I was in heaven!   All I can say is that it is well worth the drive. Truly!

A last peek at the card in the late afternoon sun.

Ughh!  Now I see that I bent the corner a little, so pretty please ignore that bit!  Thanks for visiting with me today. : ) Christine

Here's the file if you'd like to make your own card.

https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/29536743



Go here for excellent instructions.   Enjoy!

A Wheelbarrow Full of Flowers

The problem with making Christmas cards in July is that you can't put them on the blog!  So I took a break today and played with a project from SVG Cuts Country Market. 

I LOVE this Vintage Wheelbarrow cut and I made it specifically to fit on a corner shelf in Elsie (the RV) since I haven't figured out a way to keep fresh flowers intact as we travel.   Feel free to spam me with ideas on how to do this, please!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Christmas in July

Our immediate family has a brief interlude between birthdays in July and I usually work on a few Christmas cards in anticipation of my great Pre-Holiday scramble!  Normally they get stashed away to be shared later, but this one can't wait!

I've been seeing Pop Out Book Cards all over Pinterest and I was intrigued because the style reminded me of a card I made for the DGDs a couple of years ago.  That one was kinda cobbled together, and I thought it would be nice to have the real template in Design Space.

A search of the web brought me to Diane's blog and she had a scoring and cutting template already to go!  I was able to recreate the template in DS and am just waiting for her permission to share it with you'all. 


I did find a workaround that made it so much easier to position the score lines.  I created a rectangle to match the distance between the score lines.  (For example, if the score lines are 2 inches apart, then my rectangle would be 2 inches wide.)  I was able to move the score line onto the very edge of the rectangle, center the line and the card vertically and attach.  Voila!  The score line was in exactly the right place.

 Here's how the card insert is folded:-

Then it is adhered along the edges to the card base and the folds well creased.

I chose the characters from "Frozen" to decorate my card since I wanted to hang snowflakes from the top of the card.  I used the Print then Cut function and printed them on good quality white card stock.
The snowflakes are punched from glitter card stock and the stars are Martha Stewart glitter stickers and they are both strung on white thread.  This was the hardest part of the whole card!

I used the Darice snowflake embossing folder on all the white mats and glued sequins in the center of the largest snowflakes.  Gotta have some bling!

I think the recipients (shhhhh!) will like the card.  And I look forward to making more Pop Out Book Cards.   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )  Christine

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy celebration yesterday.  Since the conditions were so hot and dry, we had just a few sparklers for Master J after the traditional BBQ followed by cheesecake topped with delicious Bing cherries grown in our orchard.  Yum!  

Did you see the Stars and Stripes projects by the DT on BBTB2 challenge blog?  Although they were all awesome, I LOVED the card by Melanie for its creativity.  Melanie saw the flower card on the Artfully Sent cart as fireworks illuminating the sky and I just had to scraplift her idea.   While browsing the cart images, I saw that there was also a pop up version and I had to try that one too.

Isn't this AC red foil card stock beautiful?  And the silver iridescent paper makes the stars sparkle in the sky.   Here's the front with another view of the red foil star border.   The boy on the rocket comes from A Child's Year and is popped up for dimension.

Here's the front of the card inspired by Melanie: -

I added tulle and tied it with red and white twine to pick up the color of the stamped sentiment.   Here's the innies:-

I am SO over that Pebbles paper!  Time to shop for something different, right?   Thanks for visiting with me today as I hustle to get ready to watch Team USA in action on the soccer field.   :  )  Christine

Nesting Doll Pop Up card

Just messing about yesterday with a pop up mechanism.

Needs refining, but I like it!

Here's the front:-

Thanks for visiting today.  It's going to be hot again!   : )  Christine