Otterly Awesome Floating Bridge Card

Hello friends and happy Saturday to you!   It's been a crazy busy week and I've done lots of stamping.  That means I have another card to share with you.  From the title, I'm guessing you think it's going to be a card featuring the Awesome Otters.  And you'd be right!  I wasn't sure I'd get this set, but after seeing so many cute projects on Pinterest, yes, I broke down and got it.  And it's free because it's one of the Sale-a-Bration items you can get for spending $50.  I already had the Simply Marbelous DSP which is another Sale-a-Bration free item that I've been having fun with, so I was set to create!

To showcase both the otters and the gorgeous DSP, I made a floating bridge card which is a very easy fun-fold card when you know the dimensions needed to make it.  I'm going to list all the cardstock and DSP dimensions here at the beginning of the post, so you've got them handy all in one place.

Card base - 4 1/4" x 8", score at 1 1/4" and 2 1/2" from each end.  Make sure you cut the cardstock to 8" or it won't fit into a medium envelope!

Bridge - 1 1/4" x 5 1/2"

DSP - 2 3/4" x 4", 1" x 5 1/4" (for bridge), 1" x 4" (2 needed) 

Basic White - 2 1/2" x 3 3/4" (front center layer), 2 3/4" x 4" (for back side), scraps for stamping extra images.

After the card base has been scored, add the 3 pieces of DSP to the corresponding areas using adhesive.  Also add the 1" x 5 1/4" DSP strip to the bridge - set aside for assembly later.

Now it was time to stamp those cute little otters and the sentiments.  The center Basic White piece was first.  I stamped the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink in the top left corner.  Under this approximately in the middle the otter in the water was stamped with Tuxedo Black ink.  The happy birthday sentiment is from the Party Puffins set and was also stamped with Tuxedo Black ink.  On scrap pieces of Basic White cardstock, the standing otter and party hat were stamped.  Looking for a gift idea for otters, I remembered the little fish tied up in a bow from the Party Puffins set.  I think the otter would love that for a gift, so I stamped 3 of them on scrap cardstock.  

Now it's time to color.  All the colors used are Stampin' Blends.  The otters were colored with Soft Suede Light and Dark.  Not sure what a real color for otters would be, but this worked for me.  The noses were lightly colored in with Smoky Slate Light.  The fish were colored with Balmy Blue Light and had Real Red Light ribbons tied on.  The party hat was colored with Balmy Blue Light and Real Red Light to keep the red as an accent color with all the blues.  The water around the swimming otter was sketched in with Balmy Blue Light and Dark with touches of Misty Moonlight Light to accent.  To add even more movement to the water, little swishes of Wink of Stella were added following the lines of the waves.

At this point, I added touches of Shimmery Crystal Effects (page 128) to each of the water splashes and the otters' eyes.  This takes a good hour to dry, so don't rush it and mess it up.  Take my word for this, as I touched an eye and smudged it a bit.  Oooops!

It's amazing that the Crystal Effects stand up so much that it throws shadows in this picture!  Can you see them under one eye and under some of the splashes?

While waiting for the Shimmery Crystal Effects to dry, the other sentiment from the Awesome Otters set was stamped on a 1/2" strip of Basic White.  The Banners Pick-a-Punch was used to flag both ends.  

The fish and party hat were fussy cut with Paper Snips, and so was the standing otter after his eyes dried. 

Now that everything was dry and cut out, it was time to put it together.  The swimming otter was attached to the center panel.  I attached with adhesive, but you could use Dimensionals if you liked.  Carefully check placement, add 4 Dimensional on the left end of the bridge so it will only attach to the front fold.  Do this.  Then line up 4 more Dimensionals on the other end to only attach to the fold on the right side.  The card has to be folded at this time to attach together.  To mail the card, fold it either to the left or right and it should lay flat and fit your envelope.

Now it's time to add the sentiment to the right side of the bridge.  I used a couple Dimenisonals to attach.  Then the otter needs to be attached to the left side.  Because the bridge is on Dimenisonals, only add a Dimensional under the otter's head, the body is left flat.  Each of the fish presents have a Mini Dimensional to pop them up where desired. 

You should have one more piece of Basic White cardstock left.  It's for stamping and/or writing your sentiment and attaching to the center back of the card.  You're finished with this cute little otterly awesome floating bridge card.

Hope you enjoyed the floating bridge card I shared today.  There are so many other possibilities for showcasing on a floating bridge card.  We have to explore some of those ideas at a later date.  Sorry to harp on this, but Sale-a-Bration ends Monday night.  Any last-minute order you need to place, now's the time.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Have fun stamping and sharing all your lovely creations.  You can be a blessing when you brighten someone else's day!

Happy stamping and creating!

Sharon

Birthday Party Puffins

Happy Friday to you all!  I have a confession to make.  I've had the Party Puffins stamp set (found on page 67 of the Annual Catalog) for months, and I haven't touched that rubber to ink yet.  What's wrong with me?  I thought it was so cute, and it is.  I thought I'd use it a lot, but I haven't.  Oops!  My goal for today was to finally use the Party Puffins stamp set to make a birthday card.  Then I won't feel so guilty about it sitting there being unloved and unused.  My other goal was to use the Sale-a-bration freebie Sunshine & Rainbows 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper so that I could post one more time about it.  Yes, I'm running out of time to do that!  Sale-a-Bration ends Monday!!  So why not be very practical and put those two goals together and make one fun project?

Here's what I made today.  And look, it's even a Fun Fold into the bargain.  I guess I really checked off all the boxes on this card.  Hope you're interested in seeing how it's made.

The card starts with a Basic White cardstock base that's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  Pretty basic so far.  The first layer of the Sunshine & Rainbows DSP is the Bermuda Bay diagonal stripe that's cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  This is attached to the card front with adhesive as usual.  From now on, the card is on its side with the fold along the top edge.

Next you cut a piece of Basic White cardstock 1" x 5" and fold in half.  This will attach in the back and hold the layers together in the front.  Put adhesive on one half on the inside of the folded strip and carefully measure where the center of the card is.  Then attach it to the back.  You can see the flap is standing up at this time - only attached under the card back.

The polka dot print is the next piece to work with.  It is cut at 6" x 4 3/4".  This is folded to make it 3" x 4 3/4".  One of the folded sides of this is then tucked under the original card as a flap to go around it. It also covers up the bottom end of the white cardstock flap you just attached to the back.  The other half folds up over the card front making another layer.   I hope this makes sense.  Check the pictures carefully to see the striped back side of the polka dot paper that shows when it's opened up.

Here is how it looks when the bottom flap is opened up.  This also shows how the sentiment layers are added to each consecutive opening flap.

For all the sentiment layers, I die-cut hexagons from the Beautiful Shapes Dies (found on page 50 in the 2022 January-June Mini Catalog) using Basic White cardstock.  The front flap has the largest hexagon shape.  Underneath this is the polka dot layer of DSP which uses the 2nd largest die to hold a sentiment and 3 little fish.  (This is also the size die I used to cut the striped Bermuda Bay DSP that covers the back of the large hexagon.)  When you open the polka dot flap, you find the last hexagon which is the smallest of the four in the set with another sentiment.

The images and sentiments used for this card are all from the Party Puffins stamp set.  The wording was all stamped with Bermuda Bay ink, and the puffin and six fishies were all stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The puffin was stamped on the largest die-cut hexagon.  'Make a wish' and 3 fishies were stamped on the next largest hexagon.  The 3 extra little fishies were all stamped on a scrap of Basic White. The coloring on the puffin and fish was done with Stampin' Blends in these colors:  So Saffron, Mango Melody, Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Granny Apple Green, Magenta Madness, and Flirty Flamingo.  The little fish bodies also have a light coating of Wink of Stella for fun.

After coloring the 3 extra fish, they were cut out with Paper Snips.  They were added to the card with Mini Glue Dots.  I debated about using Dimensionals, but with all the overlapping layers, I thought it'd be too bulky for mailing.

When the final flap of the card is opened, you get to the last sentiment with plenty of room to write your own sentiments.  The 'happy birthday' was stamped on the inner card using Bermuda Bay ink.

The very last item was adding a little bling for this party card.  The multi-tonal gems that were available with the Eden's Garden bundle were used here.  Surprisingly they pick up so many of the different polka dot colors and flash them back at you.  

Thanks so much for stopping in today to see what's going on.  Hope this multi-flapped card wasn't too confusing.  Just remember that you have one small flap going up, one pulling down, another going up, and then the inside of the card.  Hope that helps.  To be honest, I've read through this post three separate times now, and this is the best way that I can explain the card.  If you get real mixed up, give me a call and I'll try to walk you through it.

Thanks to all of you that have been placing orders.  I truly appreciate your business so much.  You've been much more than a customer to me; you've been my valued friend.  Keep having fun planning and making your cards.  And make sure you send them out to bless someone else's day.

Many hugs,

Sharon