Girl's Day Shadow Box Card

Even though I don't have any daughters or granddaughters, I still like the Japanese tradition of celebrating Girl's Day on March 3rd (third day of the third month). Eating pretty, sweet mochi is my favorite part of the day.

I also love making shadow box cards. They remind me of dioramas I used to make for the library book competition....miniature scenes were my thing.  Lawn Fawn's shadow box die set makes it super easy to produce the frame work.  I used a Kaiser Craft printed double sided card stock because it had a sweet cherry blossom design. 

All the images and the sentiment came from a Mari and Me wooden handled stamp that's been in my collection for years.  I stamped the kimono part on a piece of printed origami, fussy cut it out and glued it on to the girl before fussy cutting her out.  Copic pens were used for coloring the rest of the pieces before they were attached to the die cut green paper pieces.

The neatest part of this card is that it folds flat for mailing.  I think you'll have fun making shadow boxes too.  Look for the Lawn Fawn die set in HM Ben Franklin Crafts. Oh yeah, don't forget that you can attach a mini calendar to the back of the card.....if you have any calendars leftover...LOL!
Happy Girl's Day!

"Omiyage' Bringing Home a Gift of Thanks

Local folks know that when you return from a trip it is customary to bring home gifts for family, friends, and those who helped to make your trip enjoyable.  This gift is called an 'omiyage'. I really should make decorated 'omiyage' bags before I go on a trip....but you know how time doesn't allow this.  Therefore, after returning from the Tucson Rock and Gem Show I had to make a quick bag and tag. These were inspired by the Japanese minimalist style and used just a few sheets of origami paper.

I used a Sizzix circle die set to cut the 'o'  and wrote in the rest of the of the word freehand. Using a die from my frequently used Little B tag set, I did a similar design on the tag which I will use on plain handled bag. The 'o' could be cut with oval dies but I felt the circle 'o' had a more Asian look.

I hope this post has inspired you to make simple, quick 'omiyage gift bags and tags.  They really only take a few minutes and will make the recipient feel very special and know that you are grateful for them.  Okay, go use up those origami paper scraps!

Real Lavender Resin Pendant and Watercolor Greeting Card Kit

 Here are two more gifts that are going to another birthday girl.  The first one is a resin pendant made in a flat rectangular silicon mold. I filled it with real sprigs of lavender from a Hokaido lavender farm. I added some pieces of rosemary (from my windowsill herb pot) because the lavender leaves all fell off in transit.  I think the combination of plants looks rather realistic.  Not in the supplies photo, but truly necessary, I added a few drops of gel cleanser to release the pendant from the mold.  In the bottom photo you can see that the BD gal will also be receiving a watercolor kit that I purchased at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  This Faber Castell product has all she'll need to make some super watercolored greeting cards. Included in the kit are watercolors, a paint brush, stencils, a pen, blank cards and color pencils.  I think this is a great way to get someone started in designing greeting cards. It would be good for passing time during a long trip....I think I'll get myself a kit for my next plane ride!

Let's Eat Cake!

 Here are two versions of birthday cards using the same Penny Black image (from Patisserie stamp set).  Even though the images were stamped on the same marker paper, it's amazing how much brighter the card on the left looks.  I think I like the card on the left better because it didn't require fussy cutting.  I do like the daintiness of the doily and the 3D effect of the purple waxed cord leash (Elements from HM BFC) on the righthand card.  A Lawn Fawn scalloped die was used to cut the white rectangle on the outside and inside of the left card.  Copic pens were used to apply color to the images.  Click on images to see details up close.

 These are the insides of the cards.  I made them differently too.  They were stamped with two of my 'ancient' wooden handled rubber stamps.  The rectangle shape on the right was die cut with a Spellbinders die and stamped with a Hero Arts ombre ink pad. The rainbow colored sentiment on the left was made using a Colorbox pad sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Embellishment dots on the left card are Darice acrylic stickers (from HM BFC). The sparkly dots on the righthand card were made with Nuvo Glitter Drops. (This colored liquid is similar to Stickles but the tip is smaller so very tiny dots can be made....love them...gotta get more colors!)  Although it is easier to make identical cards when you need multiples, it is so much more fun to play around with different versions...a good time to come up with new techniques.  Celebrate card crafting!

Squirrel Love Valentine's Day Card

 Not sure why squirrels were the animals used for these Neat and Tangled Valentine stamp and die sets, but they were so cute I had to use them for my hubby's Valentine's Day card.  (Aren't squirrels hibernating during the winter?) I found the perfect woodgrain card stock ( Simple Stories) in my stash of Valentine papers. It was simple to stamp the images with Momento waterproof black ink and color them in with Copic pens.

 Using the matching dies I cut out the images and the heart shape with a Spellbinders die.  The parts were adhered with double stick (Heiko) tape (pruchased at HM BFC) or foam sticky squares. The sentiments were from a Crate Paper stamp set and the Neat and Tangled set.  The green slope was cut with a Paper Smooches die. 

 This card was very simple to create and turned out fairly close to what I imagined....so happy when that happens! I hope you'll take the time to show your sweetheart(s) how much they mean to you and make them a handmade, heartfelt Valentine's Day Card. Send a little love today!

Valentine Candy Resin Jewelry

 I had an idea that I wanted to encase Valentine candies in resin to make jewelry.  I had a hard time locating the conversation candy hearts that are my childhood memory of Valentine sweets. It turns out that NECCO (New England Candy Company) is no longer making them (out of business?). The only similar ones I could purchase locally were by the Brach candy company.  Sadly, they were of poor quality with rough shapes and faint words.  My husband did find some better conversation heart candies online, but they will arrive after Valentine's Day....sigh!  Anyway, I used silicon molds (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts) to form the resin hearts.  For the tinier molds I encased Wilton cake decorations and cookie/cake sprinkles. The HM BFC resin department also has artificial sprinkles that I used in some molds.

 I am pleased with how these projects turned out especially the purse charms.  I plan to resin onto the back of the solid charm a photo of my twin grandsons.  TIP: If your resin charms have rough edges you can file them down with a glass nail file.  Happy Valentine Crafting!

Gifts for a February BD Girl

 As I was wrapping up the gifts for one of the February birthday girls, I thought you might like to see what I'm giving.  I found the neatest kit at HM Ben Franklin Crafts for a Herbarium. "What's that?", you ask.  I think the name is a made up one, but the kit makes an awesome floral arrangement in liquid that is encased in a jar.  All the parts are included in the kit...so fabulous.

 Ironically, I was planning to make this glass globe pendant (that was demonstrated at HM BFC recently).  Doesn't it match well with the Herbarium?  It was easily made using the glass globe kit, straw flowers, sparkling threads, and LED/UV liquid resin.  I think the pendants demonstrated were filled with a liquid (like the substance used in the Herbarium) but I chose to fill mine with resin so that when it is hardened in light, there is no risk of leakage.  I really love the sparkling threads because they add just the right amount of mystery to the globe.  I hope you'll consider giving some lucky person a birthday (or Valentine's) gift of something to craft  and something you craft for her.  Enjoy shopping at the locally owned HM Ben Franklin Crafts!

P.S. The pretty lavender wrapping paper is from Celebrations and comes on a giant 10 meter x 750mm roll. The paper is nice and thick with a velvety embossed surface.  The floral ribbon was purchased at HM BFC.