"Hippo Birdie Two Ewe" Birthday Card

 

This is a cute card I made for a boy turning 5. The inspiration came from a background I created using a turnabout stamp I got off Aliexpress and a AAA birthday card challenge which I you can link to here.

If you just want to watch a card process video on how I made this card then please click here or the link below...

 

The first step was to trim my background to fit an A6 card base.

Next I grabbed the black circle and die cut animals from my stash that I wanted to use and arranged them onto the background to get an idea of how I wanted it to look. The die cut animals were made using a stamp set I got off Aliexpress - I loved the play on words that the sentiment 'hippo birdie two ewe' presented and the stamp set came with stamps for the animals to match. I had already colored these animals in using my STA dual tone aquarelle watercolor brushmarkers; click here for a link to a review I did on them.

I took the 'hippo birdie two ewe' sentiment and placed it onto the black circle - I decided the critters would 'dance' or sit above the main sentiment. The position of everything also needed to accommodate the recipient's name below the main sentiment.

Using silver heat embossing powder, I heat embossed the 'hippo birdie two ewe' sentiment onto the black circle.

After that I used double-sided tape to adhere the black circle to the background. Ideally in the middle of the background but I'm lazy so I just eye-balled this one.

Then I arranged the die cut creatures around the circle and sentiment again to make sure I was happy with the arrangement before using double-sided tape and liquid glue to adhere them. I used liquid glue to lessen the chances of the tiny little details on the edges of the animal diecuts to catch on something and rip off the card front. For my review on the glue pens I use click here. To make sure that images stuck down flat whilst the glue was drying, I placed an acrylic block on top.

I decided to stamp the recipent's name "Robert" using the capital letters from my Concord and 9th perfectly penned stamp set and my ranger archival ink in jet black. I just used an acrylic block to this, stamping each letter individually onto a yellow sentiment strip of card that matched the cardstock used for the background. To finish it off, I cut banner edges to each end of the sentiment strip.

Final step was to adhere the front notecard to the card base using double-sided tape.

Of course my laziness meant I had to re-trim my card front because it overhung the cardbase. Don't be like me and eye-ball trim your background, just measure it properly otherwise all your work might end up with an unbalanced looking card front.

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting.

 

CAS Simple Trees Christmas Card

 

A simple tree outline card to add to my CAS cards. This card was inspired by the CAS christmas card challenge which you can link to here.

 

For the process video on how I made this card see the link below or click here.

 

SSS Clean Line Christmas stamp set has three tree outlines so I decided to line all three up next to each other on the front of a white notecard. 

First I used ranger archival ink in sap green to stamp all three images, then removed the two tree images on the left and right to leave the centre tree image. I then use momento cottage ivy ink to re-stamp the centre tree image with a darker green to give it contrast and interest. Of course I'm using a stamping platform here to make it easy for me to re-stamp exactly on top of the image I'd already stamped.

Next step is the sentiment. I chose a sentiment stamp with "season's greetings" inside a rectangular box and decided to heat emboss that using black embossing powder.

I decided I wanted to mount the card front onto a red card base but I wasn't fond of the high contrast between the white notecard and the bright red card base. To combat this I decided to grab a blending brush and my Stampin' Up Cobbler Red ink pad and quickly add what I'm going to call a 'red fog border!' I liked how this softened the feel of the whole card; I just hope it doesn't break the CAS Christmas card challenge rules (sorry blog moderators if it does, but hope you enjoyed visiting my blog anyway).

Anyway, happy crafting.

Mel Crafting.

CAS Engineering Tree Christmas Tree Card

 

This is a very simple CAS christmas card. I used the Altenew stamp set "Engineers Rule" so it is a more masculine christmas card perfect for engineers or handymen. The motivation for this card was to enter the CAS Christmas card challenge which you can find here.

If you prefer to watch a video on how I made this card there is a link below or just here.

The first step was to mask the triangle for the tree. On a standard note card I used a ruler to mark the centre of the card then used purple masking tape to form a triangle. I taped the notecard to my 'We R Memory Keepers Precision Press' (just a stamping platform!) then arranged the small engineering images from the Engineers Rule stamp set inside that triangle.

Using Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink in Jet Black, I stamped the images onto the notecard a few times to make sure I got a good impression.

I then removed the masking tape. I used a ruler and a black ink pen to draw a dashed line to outline the tree.

The tree needed a stand or trunk and I found a 'Merry Christmas' sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Christmas stamp set that lined up perfectly with the base of my 'tree' to give a metaphorical stump. I decided to stamp that sentiment using Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler ink and my precision press stamping platform.

I then trimmed down the edges - mainly to trim off the tear in the card (caused by my impatience when removing washi tape in an earlier step). Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the notecard to a navy blue card base.

In hindsight, I think it would have looked better had I heat embossed the sentiment and spotlighted some of the images making up the tree. However, it was a very quick card to make and I'm sure one of the engineers in my life will appreciate it.

Happy Crafting!

Mel Crafting.