Spring 2024 | Happy Easter

The inspiration for this card came from a YouTube video by Jennifer McGuire that I watched several weeks ago during which she used a technique that I just had to borrow to make an Easter card this year. If you're a fan of Jennifer like I am, you may just recognize the technique!

I started this Easter card by ink blending onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper using the Simon Says Stamp "Layered Flowers" stencil set and Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Inks in the colors: Guava, Cherry, Aspen, and Field. After the ink blending was completed, I die cut the stenciled panel to using the largest die from My Favorite Things' "Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax" dies. I also cut a piece of Spellbinders' "Fern" green cardstock that was in my scrap bin to 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" to serve as the mat for my stenciled panel.

Using the Simon Says Stamp's "Fancy Happy Easter" die set, I used the shadow die to cut a hole in the center of both the fern green cardstock and my stenciled card front. After die cutting, I adhered the two cardstock panel together with liquid adhesive making sure to line up the die cut holes. I cut a Happy Easter toner sheet from the Simon Says Stamp "Fancy Happy Easter" Foil Transfer Cards and used my Minc machine to foil the sentiment with Deco Foil's "Pink Melon" hot foil. I die cut the sentiment using the shadow die I used to cut the card front panel so when it came to assembling the card all the layers would line up.

For my card base, I took a full sheet of Spellbinders' "Fern" cardstock and cut it in half to make a top folding, 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card. (I must note here... I would have had to do this next step if I had planned this card properly! I decided to make the card base out of Fern cardstock at the last minute versus white which made me have to use the sentiment shadow die to cut yet another hole, this time in the front side of the card base.). Using the shadow die from above - again - I lined up the card front panels to the card base and used the Fancy Happy Easter shadow die to cut a hole in the front side of the card base. I then adhered the card front to the card base using liquid glue and placed to heavy blocks on top until the glue dried. After the glue dried, I placed the foiled sentiment into the hole made into the card front to ensure the alignment would be perfect when the card is closed and flipped the open card face down onto my glass mat and applied adhesive onto the back of the sentiment and then folded the back side of the card onto the front to adhere the foiled sentiment to the inside of the card.

My final touch for the card was to add pink gems to all the random pink dots scattered throughout the background and also to the flower centers.

I hope you enjoyed the card and possibly found some inspiration for a card you are making.

Until next time... Happy Making!

Bulldog Bunny Slimline Card | 2023 Easter Series #1

Hi Friends! Today I want to share my first Easter card for 2023. The stamps I used aren’t new ones, but well-loved stamps. I think I’ve had the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz “Crazy Things” stamp set for many years. Like I said, well-loved and will never get rid of it in a random de-stash. Let’s get started.

Firstly, I created the slimline card base by cutting a piece of 110# cardstock to measure 8-1/2” x 7” and folded the cardstock in half – maintaining the 8-1/2” length which resulted in the card base measuring 8-1/2” x 3-1/2”.

I used the Whimsy Stamps “Slimline Cornered Rectangle” die set – the two largest dies – to create the base of this card front. I cut a piece of purple cardstock from the largest die and used the second largest die to cut a piece of white cardstock. I used my ATG gun to adhere the purple diecut to the slimline card base and trimmed the card base corners to match the purple diecut piece.

Now it’s time to start coloring the decorative panel. I used the Trinity Stamps “Slimline Layered Eggs” stencil and Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Oxides (Shaded Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo, Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Saltwater Taffy). I used a blending brush to apply color to each of the eggs using the stencil. Once the ink dried, I splattered Kuretake Silver Mica Brilliant Silver Ink all over the card panel and set aside to dry.

My next step was to stamp the Whimsey Stamps “Doggie Birthday Party 2” bulldog stamp onto alcohol marker cardstock and stamped it a second time onto masking paper. Using scissors, I cut out the dog from the masking paper and adhered it to the dog image on the cardstock. I then grabbed my Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous “Crazy Things” stamp set and used the rabbit ears stamp from that set and stamped it carefully above the bulldog’s head. I removed the masking paper from the bulldog image and colored the images using Copic alcohol markers. For a bit of ‘pop’, I used black Ranger Enamel Accents on the dog’s nose, white Ranger Enamel Accents on the dog’s teeth and black Sakura Glaze pen on the dog’s eyes. Then I got a little festive and added a layer of Distress Collage Medium to the edges of the rabbit ears and heavily dusted the gluey ears with Pink & Main Sparkling Cottontail flock to give them a fluffy, cottony appearance. CUTE!

Next, I stamped the large, solid HAPPY stamp from the Honey Bee Stamps “Happy Happy Happy” set onto a piece of white cardstock using Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Oxide in the color Wilted Violet. I stamped the Easter word stamp from that same set and cut both the HAPPY and the Easter using the coordinating dies from the collection. I backed them with Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares (as well as the bulldog image) and adhered them to the egg-decorated card front panel.

To wrap up the card, I used the ATG gun to adhere the decorated card front panel to the purple cardstock on the card base. I added Trinity Stamps “Cave Crystals” sequins in random locations to give the card front its finishing touch.

I hope you enjoyed the card. Thank you so much for stopping by to see me - I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…