Darling Duckling Easter Card

Happy Wednesday!   Here we are, back to those gray and rainy days again.  The plan was to make something bright and happy to lift my spirits and hopefully yours too.  Maybe it was time to play with my Easter Friends set again.  In case you're looking, it's found on page 27 of the January-June Mini Catalog.  Don't you just love those cute little animals?!  Any one of those cuddly animals should make you feel happy.  Today I'm focusing on that sweet little duckling again.  It just makes me smile when I see it.  Thought it would be a good idea to make another Easter card while I still had the time.  Hope you like this special little duckling.

When I was making all those cards that had a peach theme to them last week, I had a piece of the You're A Peach Designer Series Paper left over that didn't get put away with the rest.  It was just sitting out there on my table letting me know I should do something with it.  Right now!   So after looking at the polka dot design and the soft Pale Papaya and Calypso Coral colors on it, this is what I created.  I started with a Pale Papaya cardstock base that's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  The You're a Peach DSP measures 4" x 3 1/2" and is attached much closer to the left side of the card front.

I thought the Stitched So Sweetly Dies would look nice here because of the pretty scalloped edges along with the stitching.  The largest rectangle die from the set was used to cut the Calypso Coral cardstock, and the 2nd largest die cut out some Basic White cardstock for the focal point.  Before attaching the Calypso Coral piece to the card front, it was embossed with the Tasteful Textiles 3D Embossing Folder to give it that wonderful texture.  It was then attached to the card front using adhesive and positioned more to the right of the card.

The duckling was stamped with Pale Papaya ink onto the white about 3/4" up from the bottom edge.  That gave me space to stamp in some grasses for it to be dancing in.  The grasses were stamped using Pear Pizzazz ink and were stamped 3-4 times, re-inking each time.

I used Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends to color the body in sort of "sketchy" and make sure it wasn't really heavy and solid - more fluffy looking.  😄  The beak and feet were colored with Pale Papaya Light and Dark Stampin' Blends to give them some definition.

The sentiment is from the A Wish For Everything stamp set.  The 'happy' was stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink and Easter was stamped with Calypso Coral ink.  I liked the two different fonts for the sentiment that continued the light-hearted theme of the card.

Before attaching the white layer to the card front, I attached a 10" piece of Pale Papaya/White ribbon under this to run diagonally across the card for more interest.  Then the stamped layer was attached using Dimensionals.   Looking at the card, it still needed some contrast on the focal point.  I remembered that the Peach Dies set has some small flowers that would be a good accent.  I die-cut 3 flowers from Calypso Coral cardstock and scattered them in the grasses at the bottom.  They are attached with Mini Glue Dots.

I thought 3 of the 2021-2023 In Color Jewels in the Pale Papaya color would perk up the corner of the Calypso Coral layer. They would relieve that large expanse of color and give the card a softer look.  I think they're a good addition to the overall look.

For some reason, I couldn't get a really good picture of the inside of the card.  After 6 tries I gave up.  This is the best of the bunch.  I guess you'll just have to bear with me and use your imagination to see the wording better.  😕  Both the words and chick were stamped with Calypso Coral ink.  The chick then had a bed of grass stamped in under it with the Pear Pizzazz ink.  The words are from the A Wish for Everything stamp set.

That's it for today's post.  Hope this cute duckling

puts a smile on your face too.  I just want to give it some music to dance to now!

The retiring list of stamps and accessories is coming out soon!  Be sure to check back so you know the latest news.  If you're thinking about ordering any of the 2020-2022 In Colors that will be retiring, best to do this quickly before the supplies are sold out.  This seems to happen early on each year, and I don't want you to miss out on something you're going to need later.

Thank you to all of you that have been ordering online and using the Host Code when you do.  That's the main reason that I'm still able to be part of the Stampin'Up! community.  Your support has been invaluable.  It's been great to share ideas with you here on my blog and I appreciate any and all feedback.  Plus, I'm really looking forward to this Friday when I'll share some lovely cards that have come in the mail lately.  I can't begin to tell you how special each and every card and note is to me.  You make my day so often.  Thank you, my friends!

Happy creating and sharing!

Sharon

Floating Layers Card

 Hi friends!  Glad you stopped by today.  There's a technique that I've been meaning to try for months, but there was always something more important that I had to do first.  You know how that goes?  Well, today was the day for making a card using the "floating layers" technique.  It didn't sound hard at all when I had investigated it months ago, and it wasn't.  It just took a little thought beforehand to decide on colors, etc.  When I was finished with the card though, I considered taking the sentiment off and changing it to an Easter sentiment instead.  Even my grandsons thought it looked like an Easter card.  Will it work for a birthday card though?  I need some input here...

Does it have too much of an Easter feel to it to be considered a birthday card?  Should I change it?

It starts with a Highland Heather card base that's cut to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" then scored and folded in half.  The main layer of the card is Sahara Sand cut to 4 3/4" x 3 1/2".  This was attached to the folded Highland Heather card with adhesive.  Then both layers were embossed with the Tasteful Textures 3D Embossing Folder to give it some interest.  This is my favorite embossing folder right now and I tend to use it maybe too often.  Or is that even possible?  Anyway, the subtle texture here is just enough - without being too much.  Now on to the "floating layers".

Choose what colors you want to use for your colored strips of cardstock.  For this card, I used Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Pool Party, and Mint Macaron.  The strips ranged in width from 1/4" to 1/2", and each strip was attached to the Window Sheet (sold in the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog) with a very thin bead of Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  When attaching the strips, make sure you leave a small gap between each of them to get the "floating" effect.  You can add the colors randomly or in a sequence like I did.  It's totally up to you.  

When you have the strips attached, decide which die set you'll use to cut out the piece.  I used the largest die from the Tasteful Labels Die set. 

TIP:  Run the die through your machine at least 4-5 times to cut through all those layers!  Any sections that still didn't cut through can be easily cut with your Paper Snips.  The lines to cut on a quite visible from the back side.

My apologies here - I still have some of that gorgeous Be Dazzling DSP from the last Sale-a-bration.  I love it too much to quit using it as it's a fabulous glitter paper that die-cuts so nicely.  I keep tucking in little bits here and there on my projects.

For the focal dies, I used one of the Harvest Dies to cut the Be Dazzling DSP (retired).  Next I wanted the long-stemmed flower from the Meadow Dies added.  But it needed color, so I used Blending Brushes with Highland Heather and Mint Macaron inks to color a scrap of Basic White cardstock.  Then I die-cut the flower stem from that.  Very pretty.   

Both die-cuts were attached to the floating layer with Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  This whole layer was attached to the card front with Mini Dimensionals.  Be careful to only put the Mini Dimensionals under the cardstock strips so they don't show through on the front of the layer!

A butterfly from the Meadow Dies set was cut from the blended-color cardstock also.  After cutting, a few strokes of Wink of Stella were added to the butterfly to give it some shimmer.  This was added to the card front with Mini Dimensionals

The last part of the card was the sentiment.  It's from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  This was stamped with Soft Succulent ink so it would be darker than the colors used so far, but still blend with them.  I also used a scrap of Soft Succulent cardstock trimmed up and layered behind the sentiment.  This was attached on the left side with adhesive and on the right side with a Dimensional to keep it flat.

That's it for this card - no other bling or doodads added.  I was happy with the way it turned out.  I love the floating layers technique, and it's so easy to do.  I have a segment of it leftover, so now I need to design something to use that up!  And then try different color combos and have some more fun creating.  

Hope you give this technique a try!  If you have questions about the technique, please get in touch with me.  I'd love to help you do this too.

Keep stamping and creating!

Sharon

Peaceful Holly Card

Today I have a bold and bright Christmas card to share with you.  It took me awhile to get it right.   I shared the first version of this with my friend Ruth and my sister Connie.  They both agreed that it was way too busy and really needed help.  Connie and I brainstormed a bit, then I went down to my craft room, tore parts of it off, changed up parts of it and put it back together again.  Both ladies now gave it a thumbs up.  So here it is being shared with you today!

In person, it really is a bold, beautiful card with lots of layering and textures for all of you, like me, who are always 'touching' the cards that come in the mail.  I love the different textures and layers that make a card really stand out as different.

The card starts out with a base of Real Red cardstock that's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  There is a section of the Painted Christmas 12 x 12 DSP that is cut to 5 1/4" x 4".  This is attached to the folded Real Red card base using MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.

Over this is a section of Real Red cardstock that is 2 1/8" x 4 1/4".  This has two pieces of the 1/4" Gold Shimmer Ribbon wrapped around it and attached on the back.  Then this is attached to the front of the card, just a little lower than center.  To give this area some texture and interest without becoming overpowering, I added a layer of Real Red cut 4" x 1".  Before attaching to the card front, this was embossed with the Tasteful Textiles 3D Embossing Folder.  I think this bit of extra texture really adds so much to the finished look.  If you don't own this embossing folder yet, you need to get one for yourself!  It's such a wonderful basic look that enhances just about any card you might make.

Now on to all the 'fun stuff'!  The sentiment label was cut from Basic White with the Seasonal Labels Dies.  The sentiment was stamped with Real Red ink and is from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  A Blending Brush and both Shaded Spruce and Evening Evergreen inks added a little color to the edges.

The holly, berries, and pine needles are all from the Christmas Season stamp set.  The berries were stamped with Real Red, the holly leaves with Shaded Spruce, and the pine needles with Evening Evergreen inks.  Each were die-cut using the coordinating Seasonal Labels dies.  This makes it so easy to add all those wonderful pieces!

All of the stamped and die-cut pieces were added to the card front at this time.  They were either tucked under the sentiment or were attached with Dimensionals over it into a pleasing cluster.  While arranging all the pieces onto the card front, I decided to add 3 of the Gold Holly Leaves.  This brought out the shine of the bands of gold ribbon across the card.

One last picture to show the finished inside of the card.  I had a couple extra holly leaves and one little berry left over.  I couldn't neglect them, so I just had to tuck them in right next to the sentiment.  This sentiment is from the Perfectly Plaid stamp set. I love the font on this Merry Christmas and it seems to be the perfect size to use on so many cards.  For this card, it was stamped with Real Red ink.

As a finishing touch, I had a 1/2" strip of one of the smaller prints from the Painted Christmas Designer Paper.  I thought it was a cute addition to add to the bottom of the Basic White layer and ties all the colors together.

That's it for today.  I know I'm cutting it really close to Christmas for sharing these cards.  But at this point in time, I'm really not making much of anything else.  I'm trying to get all my own cards out in the mail.  Unfortunately, at last count I'm about 15 cards short of my goal.  Guess I need to get back to my craft room and make a few more.  Hope you're farther ahead than I am and have all your Christmas cards out in the mail already.  Oh well, better late than never is going to be my motto this year.  I might even get around to making a cookie batch or two during the Christmas break for the grandsons and they can have some fun helping.  I don't think they'll care too much that the cookies weren't made weeks ago!

Christmas Blessings to you and your family!

Sharon