All the scrapping this last weekend paid off!

A little bit of EP Springtime paper, some Doodlebug buttons and some Trendy Twine (Lime Twist).

A little card I entered into an Echo Park challenge found it’s way to the winner’s circle! This little card was actually inspired by three challenges much like the layout I posted earlier this week.  The first was a design challenge at CropChocolate in which we were challenged to create a shape with buttons.  The second was a challenge at Scrapbook and Cards Today – for a card with rounded corners.  The third was the challenge at EP - take some inspiration from one of their free pdf project ideas.  My inspiration was a  a window card  – an idea that I have never tried before.  But given some cute Doodlebug buttons and some great Trendy Twine (in Lime Twist), I thought this might be a fun technique to make my own!

The shapes on this card were actually cut out with A Walk in My Garden Cricut cartridge.  Instead of using the shape what was cut by my Cricut, I used the negative space left behind.  I simply rounded the corners of the Echo Park Springtime paper, and then placed it down on top of my backing paper – in this case, some Bazzill cardstock (Admiral).  I traced the shape of the flowers onto the backing paper and then covered the petal portion with the buttons.  Just a note – if you are using buttons, carefully consider the size of your windows – in this case, the flowers were quite narrow, so finding the best placement for the buttons was a bit of a challenge.  Finally, I wrapped the leaf shapes that were cut out with the great twine (more to come on this technique in a week or so – perhaps a tutorial!!!), rounded some more edges and glued everything together!  I love the way it turned out – it’s playful, fun and bright!  And I think it will make a great Mother’s Day card!

 

So, are you ready to try a window card?

 

Supporting OWH (and a tutorial so you can too)!

Do you enjoy making cards?  Every Tuesday in April the teachers at Miss Art’s Papercrafting School will be teaming up to bring you a card tutorial, designed to spark your creativity, teach you new techniques, and meet the specifications for Operation Write Home cards.  Each Tuesday, visit the Miss Art’s blog to view the tutorial.  Then join designers Karen Hanson, Alyssa McGrew, Tina McDonald, and Jodi Baune in creating cards to donate to Operation Write Home.

Cards will be collected at the Miss Art’s office, then forwarded as a group to the Operation Write Home distribution center.

Every card we receive will become an entry to win the Esther’s Innovations kit from Miss Art’s!  You can send as many cards as you like, earning as many entries as you like, but only cards following the OWH guidelines will be eligible.  Cards must be received by May 25th, 2012 to be eligible for the drawing.  International entries and cards are welcome.  Cards created should be shipped to Miss Art’s Papercrafting School, Attn: Alyssa McGrew, 125 Sherry Ln, Attica, IN 47918.

For more information about the specific requirements for donated cards, please view the OWH requirements page.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

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It never ceases to amaze me how giving, caring and supportive the papercrafting community can be!  There always seem to be initiatives to support those in need – everything from supporting crafters through family tragedies to large scale support programs.

I recently heard about an organization called Operation Write Home (OWH) through the Miss Art’s Papercrafting School.  OWH’s mission is “Supporting our nation’s armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them.”  Now, I know many of you are saying – hey Scrappy, the USA is not your nation.  While that might be true, I think this is a great program in support of people, so I was happy to see how I might be able to contribute!  And to be completely honest, I am always looking for a good excuse to craft!

So, out came the paper and glue, and a new card creation was born:

This card utilizes a fun, and fairly simple interactive element called a surprise pop-up.  When the recipient pulls on the tab at the top, the stamped image slides up to reveal the sentiment,  For this design, I used a cute free digi from Paula over at Handmade by Paula and simply embellished the sheep with a little fussy cut flower. Paula actually created this cute sheep and sentiment specifically for a OWH blog hop back in 2010, so I thought this would be a great chance to give this adorable stamp the spotlight again!  And finally, all the paper used for the card is from the Echo Park Springtime collection – the perfect collection to bring a fresh and bright feeling to projects this time of year!

Here’s how you can create a standard A2 surprise pop-up card too:

Materials:

• Paper Cut to: Piece 1 – 4 ¼” X 5 “, Piece 2 – 4 ¼” X 10”, Piece 3 – 3” X 4 ¾”
• Adhesive
• Craft Knife
• Metal ruler
• Scoring board
• Optional – ribbon or other fiber

Instructions:

Step 1

Cut 3 pieces of cardstock to measurements

Step 2

• Using Piece 1 – Place the paper down so the 4 ¼” edge is across the top.  Measure in ¾” from the left and right side.    
• Use these marks to draw 2 vertical lines – one on the right and one on the left side starting and ending ¾” from the top and bottom edges.
• Connect these two vertical lines across the bottom.
• Use a craft knife and metal ruler to cut each line you have drawn.

 Step 3

You should now have a flap in the middle of your card that is till connected at the top edge.

 Step 4

Note - the 3rd score line should be at the 4 1/4" mark (to join the ends of the cut lines)! Thanks Centralnyscrapper for catching this!

• Using Piece 1 – Rotate your paper 90º so the 5” edge is across the top and the “bottom” edge is lined up at the 0 mark.
• Score at the 1 ¼”, 2 ¾” and 4 1/4” mark.

 Step 5

• Using Piece 1 - Turn your paper over so the wrong side is facing up
• Apply a strip of adhesive along the tab created by the bottom cut and first score line.

Step 6

Using Piece 3 – Line up and center one 3” edge with the bottom of edge of the flap (where you just applied the adhesive).  Press down.

 Step 7

• Using Piece 2 – Fold in half
• Using Piece 1/3 – Apply adhesive along the sides and bottom edges of piece 1/3

 Step 8

Using Piece 1/3 – Turn it over so the right side of your paper is facing up and the adhesive is facing down.  Line it up with Piece 2 and adhere the pieces together.

 Step 9

You now have your completed pop-up element.  Embellish the pull tab with ribbon and add your stamped images to the flap and the hidden compartment.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope this little card brings smile to your face! Oh, and I would love to know if you have ever made cards for OWH (or are now inspired to do just that) – leave me a comment below!

Happy Birthday little one!

My youngest daughter turned 1 this weekend, and it was quite the weekend!  For those of you who don’t know anything about this little gal, here’s a picture that sums her up pretty well:

Here she is after crawling under the kitchen table and getting into my crafty supplies. And as you can see, she is pretty proud of herself!

Based on that picture, I’m sure you can imagine that she was a lot of fun to use as an inspiration!  So this week, in honour of her first birthday, I thought I would share some of the crafty creations that were invited to the party.

Bopping back and forth...

Our littlest has already fallen in love with giraffes.  She has a couple of small stuffies that make her light up, so we thought it would be fun to use giraffes as a theme for her celebration!  So, first up - a little card…well, actually, the card isn’t that little!   The giraffe that I paper pieced was a little larger than I had planned, but she still fit onto a folded 8 1/2″ X 11″ piece of cardstock!  Phew!

Made with Echo Park Sweet Springtime and Dots and Stripes paper, this cute friend actually has a head that swings back and forth! I love the colours on this card because they remind me so much of our birthday girl – sunny and bright!

...and back and forth...

I created the giraffe and bird by paper piecing a design I created, and the coloured a bit with my new Copics.  The leaves were cut out with my Cricut (Create a Critter cartridge), and the flowers were actually fussy cut from the Echo Park Springtime collection.  A few accents were added with Liquid Pearls and some simple doodling, and together with some twine and some distress ink, this card made it off of the creation block just in time for celebration time!

Most important, you know I love my interactive elements on cards, so I had my hubby help me to modify the standard spinner card to a mechanism that I found reacted more consistently and appropriately for this head shape.  He’s a wizz with this kind of thing, and I am so glad I can bounce ideas off of him!  He helps to make my cards do exactly what I want them to do!

...and back and forth! This giraffe has rhythm!

Want to know how you can make one too???  Sorry – today is just a tease!    But I promise to come back tomorrow and share the whole tutorial with you!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!  We are so lucky to have you in our lives!  This cute giraffe has nothing on you!