A quick Easter Card Challenge

 Happy Spring!  Yes I know Easter was a week ago and I'm late posting this Easter card  Of course I have an excuse.  I mean seriously doesn't everyone have an excuse of some sort?  Well mine is because of a Challenge.  Ok ok it's also because I procrastinated.  I do that often.  Wait til the last minute then ZOOM through the task at hand.  So be it with this card.  So here's my story.................................

As many of you know I have a little tiny cottage up north.  Up there...there is a little cute LLS that carries all my favorite G45 papers but that store is till 25 miles from my cottage.  They do have a FB page and recently they have finally decided to start posting things other than "this store carries G45"  Or this store has rubber stamps.  They rarely posted anything on their page.  Sometimes there would be a "Happy Holidays" post.  Anyway like I said recently they started posting "REAL" post.  They are remodeling....they are planning on offering classes, they want to do virtual card tutorials, and they want to do monthly card challenges.  Well when I first noticed this they were right smack at the end of their March one for St Patty's cards and posted their April challenge.  A double fold and card had to include Easter paper, eggs and a bunny.  So Miss Procrastinator here came up with this:

All I did was gather all the leftovers from the kids crafts, figure out what fold I wanted to do and grab some Easter paper and BAM.  Got it all cut out.  My problem was I pushed everything aside to do other stuff, then forgot until I went back on FB the other day and noticed the end date for submitting was coming.  So I quickly glued everything together, snapped a few pics and shot it over to their site to enter the challenge.   I believe the only thing you win is the praise of being 1st 2nd or 3rd place.  I figured while I was at it I may as well post the card here as well as another example of the Double Bridge Fold.

So until next time...............................................................

Its a Guy's Birthday

 Guy cards....UGHHHHH.  Alot of us dread them.  Some of us find no problem putting together a great guy card and then there are others like me who sometimes struggle.  I do not struggle with the color nor with the type of fold I am going to use.  Even at times choosing the paper is not a problem for me.  My struggle is that as I start the design the further in I go the more I tend to start reaching for flowers and butterflies. Hahahaha.

I swear I can turn any masculine card into a pretty feminine one in no time.  So when I saw this one I knew if I stuck to the plan of very little embellishments this could be a definite guy card.  Why???  Because it's a Polo Shirt card.  Yes women wear Polo Shirts (or use to on golf courses or tennis courts) but usually they are associated with a guy.  So I can do this.  Right???  Stay simple???  YIKES.  Me! Simple....few embellies....oh boy.

Ok so here's what you need.

A 8.5 x 11 cardstock of choice 10" x 7" scored at 5" save scrap you'll be using a piece of it.

A 12 x 12 of double sided DSP.  Double sided is necessary due to the collar trick.  It's a tiny touch that can be ok with single sided paper if you don't mind the collar of your shirt being white and all your accents being white.  But I prefer the look of the double sided papers.  You can get 3 shirt fronts from 1 sheet of 12 x 12 when cut properly.

First cut the sheet to measure 12 x 6.75 then cut that piece into 2 pieces that measure 4.75 x 6.75 and save the scrape.  then with the 5.25 x 12 piece that you cut off in the beginning rotate that and cut another 4.75 x 6.75 piece also saving scraps

Now with all your scrap DSP's and thinking you will eventually be making 3 card fronts you will be needing 3 sets of sleeves so you will need to cut 9 pieces of the DSP that measure 1.5" x 1.5"  you will also need 3 pockets 1.25" x 1.25" and 3 bands 1" x 5" and although I do not have exact amount you will be needing a bunch of little strips about 1/8" to 1/4" wide for detailing the sleeves and pockets.

You will also need some sort of sentiment for the bottom strip.  As you can see in the finished card below.

Cool right?  Plus it opens just light a regular card.  It's not small either.  Something I have heard some men (insert throat clear....hubby) complain about receiving dainty size cards.  Well this one is a 5x7.  Nothing dainty about that!

Pieces are minimal too. A quick photo tutorial below can help you put this together if your a seasoned card maker.  If you need more help Sam has a step by step tutorial on her channel Mixed up Crafts on YouTube.

Funny how weird the colors are showing up in those pictures.  No the green shirt is not getting blue sleeves.  It is the same paper.  I guess the angle and lighting made it looks blue.  I also notice in the other photo where I'm showing how to bend the color it looks like the collar up on top is bluish.  So strange.  Anyway.  A tip I forgot to add.  When doing the bending of the collar and the sleeves.  You do not want a crisp bone folder crease down.  As you see in the one picture with the sleeves, all you want to do is rest your ruler up against where you want the bend to be and give it a gentle bend.  The collar we do not want flat so it gives some sort of dimension.  As for the sleeves...the reason for the bend is so that it fits into the envelope but looks like the fold is suppose to be there and not because you shoved it in an envelope that's too small. It gives the shirt a cute 3d look while letting you use a regular envelope.  Pretty nifty right?  Ok who says nifty anymore?  I must be showing my age.  And with that I say.................. until next time.

2 Bridge Birthday card

If a card is a fancy fold, I'm going to do it.  If it includes G45 papers?  Well that's a no brainer....I'm in!  I swoon over new collections of G45 and then travel through Pinterest to see which fancy fold I'm going to use always hoping to find one that I haven't done before as the first card I make with the new collection.  So when I got the  "Little Things" collection I was off and running trying to find just that one special card to make.  I thought I did find that "1" when I made the "Double Floating Panel Card".  Then while surfing today I came across this Bridge card.  I swear I've made this before but I cannot find a hint of one that I have done anywhere in my files.  Maybe I just did a single bridge or maybe I did a double and never posted about it.  I just don't know but I decided I'd do it now.

This card folds flat for mailing but measures 6x6 so it's one of those extra postage envelopes unless you cheat like me and mail it in a larger envelope.  The card does stand even though it does not open like a regular card.  There is just a front and a back.  It goes together quickly too.

For the base you need a 6x6 sheet of card stock.  I used yellow.  This is for the front.  For the back part of the base you will need 1 piece 5.75 x 5.75 (I used silver) and 1 piece 5.5 x 5.5 (I used yellow)

You also need 2 pieces 2.5 x 8 scored at 1, 2, 6, & 7   I used light green

2 pieces layer (I used silver) 3.75 x 2.25 and 2 pieces dsp 3.5 x 2 (I used an orange check)

8 pieces (I used silver) 3/4 x 2.25 and 8 pieces dsp 1/2 x 2

I then took one of the cut-apart cards from the collection and matted it.

The card is pretty easy and goes together in no time.

This card was seen on Sam Calcotts channel if you want to watch the video.  I was able to just jot down the measurements and by looking at the card I was    able to put it together its that easy so give it a try.  You love this one.  Super         quick.                                                                                                                                                   

                                                      

Double Floating Card

 Seems like everyone in my family and my extended family was born in the Spring.  Makes for a very busy time of the year for us.  For me it also means no repeats on the cards.  Every card has to be different.  Since everyone shows each other which one they received, I have to make sure each one uses a different paper line and different fold.  This use to be much easier when the littles were real little and didn't care.  When they would barely be able to get the cards out of the envelopes in one piece.  At that stage of their lives I made very simple cards since usually the child either ripped them or they ended up in their mouth (you know babies lol)  Now most of them are teens or preteens and they are much gentler.  Then there are their parents....also born in the Spring.  They also need different cards.  It is so nice that so many companies come out with new lines in the Spring to help me along and Pinterest is always a BIG help.

Today I start with my little sister.  Oh my she's getting old.  This year she's 68 and still looks great.  I decided to make her a Double Floating Panel Card that Iced images made on a FB live about a month ago.  Its a large card and oh so pretty to look at when displayed.

The colors in the photo above is a bit off .  The colors of the top left photo are not accurate.  The bottom left photo is more what the colors look like.  I used a G45 paper pack called "Little Things"  It is the inside of the card that is the "STAR" of the show.  When folded closed the outside is left pretty plain.  Its where you sign the card.  You could however close the card with the inside on the outside.  You would then have a highly decorated front and back with an inside that is pretty plain.  I prefer the other way.  There is a third way to close but hard to explain and when you figure it out you will see that you will need an extra large envelope and you cannot use the same methods of decorating as it would not close right.  The basic card folded will measure 5x7. 

This card looks so Springy. I'm pretty sure my sister is going to love it when she opens it.  It is also one that I am sure to do again as it take a small amount of DSP and there are no tricky cuts and no dies are really needed.  In fact you could just use a few stickers for sentiments and be done with embellishments so pretty easy. 

Hope you enjoyed this one.  Til next time..................................................

Tricorn Birthday Cards

 Yep here I go again. Searching Pinterest for different fun folds.  Originally I was going to go back and make a few more of the Mini Miura cards that I had made in the past since I really liked that fold. (You can check those out     .  ) But then I came across this one that Sam did in 2019 called the Tricorn card.  It is similar to the Miura card but definitely unique.  This card can be made to stand multiple ways.  That's a plus for me since I love switching things up but sometimes like doing so just a wee bit.  This card does just that.

My first attempt had a few issues.  Not with the measurements or ease of putting it together.  That was such a breeze.  Sams directions were perfect.  The problems were with my choice of card stock and papers.   First of all I used 110lb card for the base which is usually my go to for a base fancy fold but this one has the center glued together shut and "Oh My" that is one thick center.  Best to use a light weight card 80lb would be great but to be honest I believe 65lb would hold up fine after layers were added.  Next I had also used G45 as my DSP on top of 80lb gold card layer.  So do you get where I'm coming from?  All those heavy weight papers and card stocks made the card a bit weighty (hmmm...that must be a word lol).  I had also found that the G45 I used, though I loved the pattern, was not ideal for the  sentiment when layered on gold and then put on top of the same G45 paper.  All in all not my favorite card combo but I do love the Vertical standing of this card.

The next one I decided to try with lighter card stock for the base.  Problem is I can't say what the weight is since it is from a generic pack of 12 x 12 clearance papers packaged at Hobby Lobby when they were clearing out old cardstock to make room for new stuff.  So it was just a pack of random sheets of different colors, weights and textures.  If I were to guess I'd say 65lb.  The silver layer was from Michaels and was 65lb and the DSP was also 65lb.  This was a much lighter card but still stood just fine.  I opted to lay this one horizontally for a change.   The square in the middle actually has a piece of brown packing material on it.  I got this in a box that was delivered here one day when I had ordered some coffee beans for my husband.  Never saw anything packaged like this before and I just knew I had to save it for something.

So what do you think?  Pretty cool right?  I'm pretty sure I'm going to be cutting card kits for the ladies group this month.  These would be great to have on hand for a quick Birthday card for an adult or a child.  Hmmmmm.....  Maybe even a Get Well card.

I picked up a great packet of paper the other day at a LSS from 49 & Market that will make such great guy cards.  That is one thing that seems so hard to make.  Not all guys have hobby's where you can use those theme papers from craft stores and you can only make so many sport type cards.  Finding papers and embellishments that are masculine to use on a fancy fold or fun fold card is always a challenge for me.  I'm hoping the papers I chose last week work out for me.  Stay tune I just might post another one of these Tricorn cards.  Oh and incase you're wondering why they are called Tricorn....well Sam say's it's because her dad said it reminded him of the tricorn hats the Military wore way back when.  

So many people have asked in PM's for instructions.  I can give you paper sizes needed but you really need to watch Sams video on how to make your markings for the folds and securing the base.  I would have to make way too many pics since I don't do videos.  Plus she should get credit for the card.

6x8 card stock for the base

(2)  1 .75" x 5.5" cardstock  for first layer

(2) 1.5" x 4.7/8" DSP for top layer

if you want all small triangles covered you will also need (2) 1.75" x 1.75" squares cut diagonally in half and (2) 1.5" x 1.5" squares cut diagonally in half.

You can check out Sam's directions HERE

Til next time.

6x6 Octagon Card

 I am on a roll.  Last week I hurt my knee.  Well kind of, it really hurt itself by having arthritis and when the weather gets goofy my knees get goofy.  So I do a lot of sitting and surfing Pinterest.  Then I hobble over to some supplies that are not hard to get to and get to work at the dining table.  Another fancy fold gets done because I have nowhere I can go and nothing else I can do.  Then Lickity split I can get back to the sofa and write up on the blog.  All while hubby cooks and cleans.  Hmmm I could get use to this if it included me being able to go out to the craft stores too hahaha.

Anyway this time I stopped again on a video by Crafting with Quilling.  She made this cute Octagonal Pop Up card .  Since I have quite a few Birthdays coming up and I'm not able to really get around I thought another fun fold would be a great thing to keep me busy.  I had also remembered that I had just received in the mail a new die from Amazon for a Belated Birthday.  How perfect.  I was unable to get together with one of my friends on her birthday due to her being ill and now I had the perfect sentiment for inside this card.  I changed the way Monika decorated her card by adding DSP to the gate flaps in front and by making a bellyband that hers did not have.

I like the peachy colors with the greens.  This paper was from an old paper pad that I had dis-assembled along time ago tossing prints I didn't care for and keeping the few I did like.  Yes I was that wasteful.  That was before I realized that papers I didn't care for could be cut down way small and used as tags or incorporated into embellies.  Boy the things you learn the longer you do papercrafting.  Now I save the tiniest of pieces lol.

If you like this stye card check out Monikas channel NO CUTTING DIES Octagonal Gatefold Pop Up Card STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL Antique Charm Collection

Till next time..................

An Fancy Fold Fan Card

 Do you ever browse through Pinterest and find a card that you think "Wow this looks easy"?  Gather all your supplies, watch the YouTube video and then think hmmmm this looks easy enough?  Well I did just that.  I found this card on Pinterest and the next thing I know I'm looking at different variations of the card.  I watched 3 different videos.  Each one was basically the same card just a bit of a different name for the fold  The Original video I watched was from Crafting with Quilling.  She called the fold "Double Diamond Fan Fold" This card had definite points on the side pieces of the card and the finished card measures 6x6 using a 12 x 6 piece of heavy cardstock to start.  She only gave measurements for the base of the card so I went on to another video which was Tina Shaw.  Now she called the fold "Double Fan Fold".  This was probably because the sides of this card were straight.  The base for this one started with a heavy piece of cardstock measuring 9x7.  The finished folded card was approximately 5x7.   Now I liked the fact that Tina gave all directions for measuring the layers making this task a bit easier but I still wanted to watch one more video.  So one to Mixed up Crafts.  Sam called her card "Double Diamond Fold"  This was basically identical to the card in the first video I watched except that Sam gave directions on measuring (helpful).  This card was also a 6x6 when finished.

After all my searching and watching I opted for Tina Shaws card.  I am not really a big fan of 6x6 cards unless I'm hand delivering (which my next one I am).  Also I had found in my stash some Downton Abbey Papers that I had bought quite awhile ago and the size she used and the straight side edges were perfect for what I wanted to do.

My friend is a huge Downton Abbey fan so this is going to be the perfect card for her.  Make sure to check out Tina blog if you'd like more details on how to make this card.  Hers is beautifully done in Christmas Snowflake papers.

Til next time........................................

.Tina Shaws video tutorial

Birthday Card Indecisions'

Don't you just hate it when you spend time making a fancy fold card for a special birthday and then decide you don't really like it?  I have done this more than once for the same person.  Part of the problem too is that she is also a card maker and when I have told her this in the past she has always said that I was probably being too hard on myself and that my card was probably just fine.  So now when I am not happy I make her a brand new one AND I give her the I am unhappy with.  Now true to form or should I say her very loving personality she usually tells me the card I dislike is perfectly fine.  I can never tell if she's being truthful or not.  Doesn't matter she's worth 2 cards anyway.

So here's what I had been working on.  Its another Susan Campfield tutorial that I followed.  She called this an Overlay fun fold card.  I have done her cards before and before I forget you can find this YouTube tutorials HERE There she has links to her blog where you will be able to find all her other tutorials.  Anyway I loved using this plum paper I had and I had a sheet of 12 x 12 floral print in various plum colors that I had no idea how to use.  It was very busy but using so little on the card did not make my eyes go bonkers.  Then I had a sheet of this wrinkled green specialty paper.  I do not now the brand but it reminds me of a homemade paper and I got it at a LSS many years ago. I think what I disliked was the die I used for the sentiment.  Though I liked the sentiment, it did not show up well on the floral paper and I think it would have been better if I had something that said happy birthday across the green banner instead.

The next card was also from Susan Campfields YouTube channel.  This one she called Diagonal Gatefold.  This was the one I replaced the above card with.  I was much happier with the results of this one.  I was also surprised with the little twist Sue did to make this.  Very clever.  Check out her video.

I love this card and I'm so glad I have extra paper that I can make another one.  Of course just as I thought my friend liked both cards and saw nothing wrong with the first one.  Ok this time I know she was just trying not to hurt my feelings because that first card did not work at all as a birthday card.  In fact, I took all the left over pieces of papers and turned them into sympathy cards.  So much better suited.  I'll show you those later.

Now with that being said I'm off to the next set of cards. So til next time...................

Gnome for Valentine Card

 Hello.

On Sunday my son and his family were here for family dinner and as usual my youngest granddaughter asked if I had a craft for us to do.  Well this time I was ready for her.  Wish I was ready for me.  As I totally forgot to take most pictures of her creations.  Shame on me. 

First we had a heart garland to make for draping across their fireplace.  I had made one similar with my ladies group but ours was with wooden hearts.  I did not have time to go out searching for wooden ones so I made some with a die I had and then punched out a few smaller ones to embellish.  She stamped words, threaded string and searched through a ton of beads for as many red and white heart pony beads that she could find.  It turned out just as cute and her mom did send a picture after my granddaughter decorated.

On to the next project, Valentines Day Cards for family.  I had received the cutest Gnome die as Happy Mail.  Noticing that it only cuts on 3 sides I realized it was probably for a card front but a small card.  Like a 4x4 size.  Perfect Valentine size.  My granddaughter had never used my Gemini before.  She always used the Big Shot but the Gemini was out and I decided this die would be a good introduction to electric die cutting.  She had so much fun.  Of course again I was forgetful on the photo taking.  She was slipping the last card in the envelope when I  yelled:  "WAIT".  I quickly snapped a pic and we went on our merry way.

The white heart is where she signed the card.  I made all the envelopes.  She tried but she wasn't strong enough to punch down on that envelope punch board by WRMK then to finish off the envelopes she used those heart seals I had made and told you all about in a previous post. (see I told you I'd use them eventually, well at least some).  I think it added a nice touch.

Of course, now she wants to make wax seals.  So, I suppose for Easter we will find some sort of idea to use the wax seals and she can learn how to make those next.

Oh before I forget here's her heart garland strung across the fireplace at her house.  It's a faux fireplace so no worries that the paper is right in front of it.

Well that's it for now.  Til next time......................................

Forgotten Toys

 Something "Old" is always "New" again right?  Well sometimes.  I guess it's all in how you look at things.  So lets look.  I got my inspiration to look from a friend and fellow Blogger.  She joined a challenge series this year called "Unused No More".  Each month a group of ladies post a card using something they have that they have not used yet.  One thing my friend loves doing and is really good at is challenges.  Me????  Not so much.  I never can commit, I'm never on time, and I don't seem to follow rules very well. Just ask my friend she will agree hahahaha.  Anyway, I did like the idea somewhat.  

Down in my craft room sits on a top shelf this really cute machine that I just had to have many many years ago.  I did not want it when it was Black but when it came out in Pink..............well I was hooked.  Yep it was the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine that was all the craze in the early 2000's and the limited edition Pink one was a must for me.  Who cares that it only embossed and that you could do the same exact thing with your Big Shot .  This was a cute little thing that looked like a purse that looked adorable on the shelf in my craft room and that's what mattered at the time.

Come on...who can resist that?  Well I used it for awhile and now for at least the last 12 maybe 15 years it has sat.  So after reading my friends Blog I decided to kind of use their idea of using something once again.

With Valentines Day coming it's the perfect time to make some simple and quick Valentines by embossing some backgrounds.  So pulling out some Pink and White paper, heart dies and punches I got to work.

You might have to zoom up to see the embossing but both cards I used a folder that had tiny flowers on it and the top card I used another folder on the hearts that was kind of like a lattice effect.  I have no idea what these folders were called as there are no markings on either one so I assume they are just generic ones.

By the way my friend Is an AWESOME stamper and colorer.  If you love stamping and coloring you should check out her work.  You can find her Blog HERE 

 I had all intentions of going simple with my Valentines and at first I was a bit hesitant.  Simple is not my style.  But I am really glad I read my friends post and that my Eagle Eye noticed that little pink purse way up on the shelf.  That gave me the idea that simple could still be very pretty even without a Fancy Fold.  Now BAM!  I have 8 Valentines all ready for the mail!  Whewwww....early for once.

Til next time..................................................... 

A HEARTFUL CARD

 Its nearly Valentines Day and I have gathered supplies to make the cards needed this year for the grands along with supplies for my youngest granddaughter to make a few simple ones herself.  Then I get the notice that my nephews BFF from college is now getting ready to send his just turned 13-year-old into surgery for heart surgery the day before Valentines Day.  We have also grown close to this family and they all call us Aunt and Uncle and I was told that my young "Bonus" niece was not upset that she needed to have this surgery (which has been known since birth) but more upset that she was going to be missing the Valentine festivities in the community and the Dance at school. So to raise her spirits her mom had asked for people to send her some Valentines.  Well, that is right up my alley.  So, all other cards got pushed aside and off to work I went on her special card.

I didn't want just any old card and who am I fooling?  I usually make fancy folds anyway.  So a 3D Floating Card was what I decided to make.  It's one that I have seen from Iced Images where she shows 3 different sizes and calls them Framed Hexagonal Pop Up Cards and then from Sam Culcott where she calls it a Floating Hexagonal Pop Up Card.  Hers is a 5x7 only and done just a wee bit different.  A bit easier though the panels are not as wide as Iced Images are.  I took the easy route.  Its going out in the mail next week so she'll have it in time for Valentines Day.  I just love how this card turned out.  

I do not want to take credit for the card directions so head over to Sams YouTube channel to see how this is made.  Or if you'd like a different size check out Iced Images also on YouTube.

Now if you'll excuse me I really must get back to my Valentine Days cards.  Being behind this year I needed to go simple so no fancy folds this time.  YIKES!  Hope I'm forgiven.

Til next time......................................

Wax Seal Embellies

 Well here I go again.  Jumping 100% in on a new adventure for me.  Wax seals.  Well kind of new adventure.  Way way back when I was young and it was a "Thing" to have "Pen pals" from different countries it was not unusual to dabble with wax seals.  Those adorable old fashion wax closures you would see on letters in movies, especially ole Victorian movies when special letters were sent through the post.  This was to assure the receiver that the letter or special papers had not been seen as long as the seal on the envelope had not been broken.  My mother being quite a crafty person (probably where I got it from) made me my own seal by taking a brand new Nickle and rubber cementing it to a small spool of thread (as the handle).  I would then drip the wax from an actual candle on the envelope after I had licked it shut then impressed the wax with the Nickle.  

I decided to bring back the wax so to say!  Excited to re-try something old (but not with a Nickle) I hit up Amazon for some supplies.  Valentines Day is on it's way so I indeed wanted a heart stamp and I might as well get an easter one.  Then while I was at it I leaped toward 2 Christmas and then thought I should at least have 2 everyday ones.  Because of course you should never try something new with the bare minimum right?  Then of course I needed wax.  Well there are the candle type ones that you light and drip. But I think those are more for letters.  I want to do embellies so I kept looking.  Well they had these chips.  Well ok....but then you need the spoon and the warmer base and the tea light candles to melt the chips.  Ahhhh...here we go I found wax glue sticks.  I have a bunch of glue guns so I could dedicate 1 to wax.  So I bought a pack of pink for Valentines day and a pack of metallics just because I wanted them.

So my supplies come in and I think I'm ready to go.  Well...Slow down Susan.  This is harder than I remember.  I had a silicone mat to use and melted some pink wax, went to impress it and...hmmmm.  How long do I have to hold this?  When I lifted it was stringing.  So I set it back down and let go of the stamp piece and it sunk so far that when I was able to pull it off the stamp it was nearly translucent.  Try again  This time I held it. Dang it when I lifted it wasn't cooled enough on the bottom and it got a ripply bottom.  Try again.  Hold......hand tired....this is dumb.....can't be right....how long does this take?  I think I need YouTube.

You can see the seal on the far top right how thin it is that's my first.  Then the one on the middle left is the bottom with the blubs from when I lifted too early before it was fully cooled.

Instead went out for coffee with my BFF and had a long talk.  Certain things came to light.  One was that the pink sticks were not wax at all.  They were labeled Acrylic.  The metallic ones are labeled wax/resin.  Still have not tried those.  Another thing we talked about was real glue sticks.  Could those be used?  Could you then use Mica powers to highlight them?  Hmmmmm interesting.  So home I went to check out these ideas.  Interesting....glue from your normal glue gun works!  Mica powders work great too and so do Dollar Tree Mermaid eye shadows.  Its subtle but pretty.  I also found that the metal stamp pops right off quickly if you are using both a low melt gun and if your metal stamp is cool to the touch.  So I kept it on top of a bag of ice and rotated which stamp I was using.  I then took off and tried an entire bag of Dollar Tree mini glitter glue sticks with excellent results.  The less intricate the design the better with those sticks but it worked!

Regular hot glue before using eye shadow

or Mica powder

I can't wait to show you what I make with all these as soon as I figure that out Hahahahaha.

For now this is it. I need to make more of the Pink ones for Valentine cards I want to make.   I'll be back next time with what you can do with these beauties.  Til then Happy Crafting!

Accordion Tag Card

 One of the hardest cards I have to make are birthday cards for boys.  You would thing those would be the easiest for me since I raised 2 boys, my sisters all had boys, my brother had twin boys.  I was surrounded by boys.  But I am ALL GIRL!  I love making "PRETTY" things.  Flowers , Butterflies, Birds, Pinks, Purples and so on and so on and so on.  So of course it took me all day trying to figure out what to do for a 9 year olds card.  Now top it off with the fact that this 9 year old has Fragile X Syndrome.  An inherited chromosome disability.  Jack will probably just toss this card aside and never really look at it.  But his mom will and she cherishes the cards I have made for her other 3 children and I do not want to skimp on Jacks just because he won't care.  Though the card may be viewed by him for a brief second I do know that he loves yellow.  Sponge Bob being a favorite of his to see on TV.  I had already made a few Sponge Bob cards so no way I was doing that again but yellow I could stick with.  Bright colors are also a favorite of his so I went through some of the papers I put aside for my granddaughter to mess around with and found some really bright prints.

The only yellow cardstock I had was pretty thin cardstock.  I think I got it from Michaels in a small 12x12 pack that had primary colors.  This may have only been 65lb.  So I decided to make an accordion card so that I could beef up the thickness with layers and make it sturdier.  I also decided to make pockets on the inside to hold some tags.  I chose to hold only 2 but you could fill each pocket with a tag or maybe one of them with a gift card.  One of my tags was just for show the other I used to sign the back.  I then went ahead and used the scraps to decorate the envelope to match.

The finished size of this card measures 3" x 5.5".  I used a standard envelope that I bought from the Dollar Tree and just decorated it.  There is no glitter or sequins on this card so there is nothing that Jack could ingest that could harm him it is all only paper.  Although truth be told he will probably not even open it.  But his mother will love the fact that I have made him a special card just as I have made all her other kids special cards and that's what matters.

Now I can go back to "Girlie".  LOL  I need a card for a friends birthday next week.  Whewwww.  She loves frilly stuff.

Til next time.....................................