Happy Anniversary Shaker Card

 This card is being sent to my sister and her husband who have an anniversary just a few days after ours.  I wanted to make a Hawaiian-ish card since they live in WA and I wanted to remind my sister of her Hawaii roots.  I was short on time (as usual) so I decided to use a recently purchased Hero Arts Fancy die which makes a card seem complicated.  Actually the delicate cuts take only one pass through a Big Shot machine.  At first I thought that I would make a mostly white card with a light watercolored background but after using Distress Oxide ink pads and sprays the background became very dark. (I love playing with the Tim Holtz inks LOL!)  Since I used watercolor paper for the top and bottom of the shaker, it was easy to use watercolor pencils to add color to the delicate die cut top.  I stamped and embossed the words with silver ink and powder (sorry the silver sparkle doesn't show up well in this photo). The clear sword stamp is flexible so I was able to arrange the words in a curved shape, but I still had to cut off some of the coconut fronds so that all of the words would show.  A die cut acetate oval was glued behind the die cut scene. To create the channel behind the acetate, I cut another oval from a thin foam sheet and then cut out the interior leaving only an eighth inch border of foam which I glued (with 3 in 1 Beacon glue) behind the acetate oval.  In hindsight, I could have probably glued a thin cord behind the acetate to form the channel.  The whole shaker oval was adhered to a white oval card that was formed by cutting two ovals and double-sticking just the left edges.  Oh yes, don't forget to put the sequins in the shaker. I discovered that HM Ben Franklin Crafts has lots of really great sequin packs like the brilliant blue green one that I purchased...sorry my photo didn't capture the cool heart and leaf sequins. Well, that's it for this post...gotta write a message and send this card off to my sister.

Mickey and Minnie Anniversary Card

 My husband and I are from the generation that was glued to the TV when the Mouseketeer Show was on the the tube so it seemed appropriate that I should make him this anniversary card.  It started with the Disney 'True Love' die which I used to cut the intricate iconic characters from silver foil card stock (DCWV). Next I decided that I wanted the background to be retro polka dots that were a little distressed like us.  From my stash I found two papers that were suitable and I ended up layering the more colorful one on top of the yellow one with white dots (this was the card base).  I used 3 in 1 Beacon glue to adhere the characters to the card front. The next photo shows the shine of the foil better...it's really silver not grey.

 From Avery Elle I used one of the sentiments from the 'And Then' clear stamp set.  I really love this set because of the usable words in varied fonts.  I stamped the meaningful words and then used the heat embossed the Nuvo black sparkle powder.  Even though this card is super simple, I think it is one of my better cards and well suited for my hubby who is a sweet, simple man....the perfect Mickey for Minnie me!

P.S. Everything used on this card was purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.
      M-I-C See you real soon....K-E-Y Why? Because I like you....M-O-U-S-E!

Cherry Blossom Boxed Note Card Set

 I finished another box of Diamond Bakery Cookies so of course I had to up-cycle the neat hinged box.  Since I had recently purchased some crinkled washi paper from Daiso ($1.50 per long roll), it seemed the perfect choice for covering the box.  The texture of the paper is very forgiving to wrinkles and sloppy edges.  For contrast I chose a cherry blossom print from my stash.  Unfortunately, I only had a 9x12 sheet so I could just cover the box top (inside and out).

Luckily, I remembered that I had a cherry blossom punch (an old Carl one) so I used it to cut the flowers. There was enough cherry blossom paper to punch out all of them.  The small blue squares were cut from the leftover Daiso crinkled paper with a small Sizzix square die. (The Daiso crinkled paper rolls also come in other colors....I got the pretty green and purple ones too.)

 I used both 3-2-1 Beacon glue and Daiso double stick tape ($1.50 per roll) to to put this project together.  The centers of the flowers were adhered with small foam dots so that the petals would still be loose and delicate like real cherry blossoms.  Well, I guess it's time to eat more Diamond Bakery cookies (lots of new flavors) and get more boxes to up-cycle!

Da....I....So Clever Citrus Gift

 Did you catch my Daiso pun in this blog post title?  Yes, this is another post featuring some super Daiso $1.50 items. The citrus sock and coin purse were my recent finds from our Piikoi Daiso store. I thought they would be a cute combo with the resin charm kit that I purchased awhile ago from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.

Here is a close up of the charm. I used a little too much green colorant on the top but I think this makes the yellow lemon slices show up more.  I wish this photo showed the side view of the charm because it has pretty cake layers.  I used LED resin with the LED light (takes only a minute to harden the resin) so this charm was a quick project. The kit has all the parts including the ball chain!

 With the sock rolled up and inserted into the coin purse, you can see that this combo of citrus items would make a sweet, unique little gift for a friend.  Below is a photo of the items purchased from Daiso and HM BFC.  Go and check out our Daiso stores to see what goodies you can find to turn into a Da...I...So Clever project.

Wish Big Grandson Birthday Card

 For the second twin grandson's card, I chose a Lawn Fawn box die.  This is a cute set that even provides additional pieces to make banners, the inside structure pieces, and other shapes.

I used Avery Elle stamp and die sets to stamp and cut the larger foxes.  They were colored with watercolor pencils.  A Lawn Fawn die was used to cut the grass from green card stock.

                                     
 The other animals with the instruments were stamped and die cut from Lawn Fawn sets. The banner and words are also made from LF stamp and die sets.

 This card can be folded flat for mailing. Hopefully, each twin will like his handmade card (or they can trade...LOL).  I'm already planning my cards for their next birthday. Just call me a proud grandma!

Grandson's 1st Birthday Card

Unbelievable as it seems, my identical twin grandsons will be celebrating their first birthday this weekend.  I thought of making one card with twin characters on it but opted for two different cards with forest animals on them because that's the theme of the party. I don't want the twins to have to share even their birthday cards.

 This 3D card base was made using a Lawn Fawn die. The woodgrain print card stock came from a Lawn Fawn 12x12 pack.  The trees and grass were cut using an additional coordinating die set. The animals were from two stamp sets that had matching dies.   Colored watercolor pencils were used because they provide more control and give a child-like coloring book look.

 Here is a top view showing how the card is structured.

The sides of the card have die cut #1s for the first birthday. The back of the card has a die cut Happy Birthday circle where I plan to write the twin's name.

 This is what the card looks like flattened for mailing.  I added a rectangle of printed card stock onto the envelope because I had planned to use the forest animal card stock to make the card but the print was too large so I was determined to use it somewhere...LOL! I hope you enjoyed seeing the birthday card I made for one of my twin grandsons.  Please visit this site again to see the one I made for his brother.

Thank You Card Sets in a Jar

 Here are the resin charms I made to match the stenciled dot thank you card sets.  I used the twisted rectangle silicon mold sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I happened to have a package of dots that I think someone gave me as a freebie for purchasing some craft items.  You could probably just use a small paper punch to make your own paper dots or find some candy sprinkles.  I used LED resin to slowly fill the mold and gradually added the dots.  With a LED light (sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) I was able to set the resin in about a minute.  Next I added a bail (from HM BFC) with a dab of resin hardened with the LED light. 

 I purchased from Daiso some large ziplock bags that looked like corked glass jars (3 for $1.50).  I thought the thank you card sets would look great in the jar bags...sort of like candy in a jar.  I tied on some skinny ribbon (from Daiso too...only $1.50 for a roll of many colors).  The dot charms were added to complete the gifts.  I really like how these gifts turned out and can't wait to mail them out.  Isn't it amazing how a little imagination can craft something unique for very little cost?

Stenciled Dots Thank You Card Sets

 Recently, two nieces helped out on the guest sign-in table at my son's wedding reception so I wanted to thank them with a small gift. I thought it would be humorous to thank them with thank you cards. LOL!  To keep it simple, I used a stencil (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts).  I chose three of my favorite Ranger Distress Oxide ink pads.  Using a blending foam pad I randomly rubbed the colors onto a piece of paper larger than the blank white card.  I used a stiff brush to flick water onto the stenciled designs and blotted off the excess water. Once the inks were dry I cut them to fit onto the card blank.  Next, I cut the thank you words from gold foil card stock using the 'thank you' Lawn Fawn die.  I ran the die cut foil words through the Xyron sticker maker and adhered them to the card fronts.  I love how each card is similar but different due to the hand rubbed Distress Oxide colors.  I hope you'll try to make card sets like this one.  It's so easy and HM Ben Franklin Crafts has so many stencils that would make gorgeous cards.  Thank you for visiting this site and please return soon to see how I packaged the cards and added a cute matching resin charm.