Christmas Cardinal

This card is based on a few similar cards that I've seen while browsing the Internet this year, particularly this one. 

I'm not sure whether it was the clever use of the Bird Punch, or the Hardwood background stamp as a fence that attracted me to it, but I had to recreate it! 

After stamping the pine tree/needles, I wanted to add in some snowflakes, but I knew they'd barely show up if I just inked them … so I heat embossed them in white. I also liked the idea of putting in a notch along the fence top  … that was just done freehand with scissors. Of course, it then begged for some  glitter to represent a bit of icy snow. For the greeting, I used the greeting from last November's Paper Pumpkin kit.

Supplies Used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Shaving Cream Tutorial - FMS158

As promised yesterday, here's the tutorial on how to do the shaving cream technique… it's a super fun way to create your own patterned paper. And the great thing is that when you use your Stampin' Up! reinkers, you'll have coordinating cardstock on hand too!

Before you start, gather the following items:

• Shaving cream (a dollar store can will work just fine if your spouse isn't keen on you stealing his ;)
• Reinkers: you should choose 2 or 3 coordinating colours. You may wish to have them all handy though, cause it does get addictive!
• A container or paper plate to contain the shaving cream
• Popsicle stick, piercing tool, or paint brush for mixing the colours
• Pre-cut cardstock that you'll be using as your canvas
• Piece of stiff cardstock/box board to wipe the shaving cream off the card
• Paper towels for easy clean up

Spray some shaving cream into your container. You really don't need a lot - the more you put in, the more you'll have to remove when you want to make a new pattern/change colours.
Smooth out the shaving cream using the popsicle stick. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, and even having some peaks can contribute to a varied pattern. Experiment :) Drip some drops of reinker onto the shaving cream. I found it was better to squeeze the bottle a bit and then flick my wrist to that the drops were smaller .. it made more opportunities for colour mixing with an equal amount of ink used.
With your mixing device (popsicle stick, piercer, or paint brush), swirl through the colours a few times to get the effect you're looking for. It's a balance, but you don't want to over-mix or it'll look too muddy. The larger the device you use, the bigger the strokes will look. In this pic, I used the piercer. See below for when I used the paint brush.
Place your pre-cut cardstock on top of the shaving cream and press down gently to make sure you have contact with all the ink.
Lift the cardstock out of the shaving cream.
With your boxboard piece, scrape the shaving cream residue off the cardstock. Wipe any excess off with paper towel.
Repeat with different colour combinations :) You will need to set your masterpieces aside to allow them to dry.
Another option when you've pulled off one sheet and want to make another pattern conserving shaving cream is to smooth it back out mixing the colour as you go. This will give a deeper colour as a background.
Once it's smooth, add in some more reinkers, and mix again slightly .. this is where I used the paintbrush to give some broader strokes.
These are the two sheets that were made with the same 'batch'. The first one was just mixed with the piercer and the second was made with the paintbrush (and the coloured shaving cream). These are the two sheets I used for yesterday's card.
And tada! Here's the finished project with one of my other designs.
I used the sketch challenge over at Freshly Made  Sketches to put it together.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial - I'd love to see some of your creations! I will say that it was incredibly fun and the next time I play, I'm going to make a 12x12 background paper!! 

Supplies used:
Stamps: Four Feathers, Gorgeous Grunge, Kinda Eclectic, Good Greetings
Ink:  So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake
Reinkers: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Paper: Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Embellishments: Gold Baker's Twine 
Tools: Bird Punch, Feathers Framelits, Snowflake Card Thinlits

Happy Birthday Card-in-a-Box

Have you seen a 'card in a box' yet? I've seen quite a number of variations of these, and just had to try one myself - but had to wait for a special occasion - Happy birthday, Kelly! The box itself is fairly quick to put together (I used this tutorial), but the decorating can be as detailed or as simple as you want.

I included the side view so you can see that you just build each section and then attach onto the little tabs you add in the middle of the box. It was super fun to make - the only suggestion I have is to stamp on each piece before punching/cutting it out. The solid coloured pieces just don't pop as nicely as the ones with ink on them ;)

Supplies used -
Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Tag It, Mixed Bunch
Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Very Vanilla cardstock, This And That Epic Day Designer Series Paper
Tools: Boho Blossoms Punch, Blossom Punch, Bird Punch, 1/2 Inch Circle Punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch (retired), Floral Frames Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits
Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents, Daffodil Delight Pompom ribbon trim (retired)

Dr. Seuss Lorax baby shower card

I was challenged to make a card for a friend for a Dr. Seuss themed baby shower... and I came up with this Lorax card using the owl and the bird punches and the onesie shape.  I didn't use a specific template for the onesie, but just cut the sleeves at 2" and then free hand cut the angles to the bottom of the card. I also hand cut his bushy eyebrows and mustache - isn't he cute??

Supplies used:
Paper: Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Basic Black
Tools: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 2" Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch, 3/4" Scallop Circle punch, Owl builder punch, Bird builder punch