Happy (almost) Spring!

The days are getting warmer, the snow is melting, and ski lessons are over for the year.  Yeah!  We get Saturdays back again.  Yippeee Skippeee!

Here is a little spring card inspired by one I saw on Jackie Toppa's blog.  We are making this at my stampers' club this month.

To make that little basket, start by cutting out an oval (from Baked Brown Sugar card stock) with the largest non-scalloped oval in the oval framelits set.  Next, use the next smallest oval framelit and center it on top of the larger one (use your magnetic platform to minimize shifting of the pieces) -- making sure to put the framelit vertically into your Big Shot.  Place your top cutting pad such that the bottom EDGE of your cutting plate is right where you want the TOP edge of your basket to be.  When you run it through your Big Shot, only the "handle" part of your basket will be cut out.  You can then trim off the excess oval flap to create that top edge of the basket.  Emboss your basket with the square lattice embossing folder, and sponge with Baked Brown Sugar ink.  Adhere some Coastal Cabana ruffled stretch ribbon to the front edge.  To make the folded oval card, take a 4 1/4" by 11" strip of Whisper White card stock -- scored at 5 1/2".  Fold on the score line, and cut the scalloped card by placing the scalloped oval framelit on top of the folded white strip, so that the top edge of the framelit hangs over the folded end by about a 1/4 ".  Run through the Big shot and you now have a folded scalloped oval card.

To make the glittery Easter eggs, I adhered Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheets to some designer paper (from the Fresh Prints little paper pack in the Occasions catalog).  I then punched out little ovals using the small oval punch.  You then carefully peel off the adhesive liner, and you have a "sticky egg" that you can now dump glitter on.  For the flowers in the spring card, I first stamped the little flowers from the Petite Petals stamp set (also in the Occasions catalog) in Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, and Crisp Cantalope inks.  You then punch out the flowers using the coordinating Petite Petals Punch, and again, carefully peel off the adhesive layer to create a sticky flower.  Dump glitter over, shake off excess, burnish upside down on scratch paper to get the glitter to stick really well -- and Ta Dah! you have a lovely glittery flower to add to your project.  I used the same little punch to make the leaves -- simply punch out some green flowers, then cut the petals apart to make little leaves.

Ok! That's it for today.  Don't forget -- Sale-a-bration ends on March 31st.  If you want to get in on all the freebies, place your orders before March 31st -- get a FREE Sale-a-bration product with every $50 purchase.  Visit my website to see the SAB brochure if you don't have one.

Glitter Magic Fall Leaves

Happy Labor Day to you and yours!  The kids are dancing to music, so I am going to drink my morning coffee and post to my blog!  Yippeee!

I have been enthralled with my "glitter magic" technique idea, and had this vision in my head of a crisp, frosty cold morning, where you step outside and the leaves are covered in frost, and the sunshine hits the leaves creating a sparkling wonderland.  Can you picture it?  So, HERE is my creation -- a card we will be making at my upcoming techniques club featuring the "Glitter Magic" technique -- see this post for all the details of how to create this look: Glitter Magic Incorporated

This card also features a cool way to use your framelits to create a fun-fold card.  I saw this idea on Alisha Linn's blog, and thought it was brilliant.

Here I've used the new Window Frames framelits from the Holiday mini catalog.  I love the fact that they are a more "squarish" shape, lending themselves perfectly to many different applications.  So, to create this effect, take your 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" card base, and score the long side at 4 1/4" and 6 3/8".  Fold the card in half as for a normal card, on the 4 1/4" score line, and on the 6 3/8" mark, fold that layer back towards the "backbone" of the card.  Now, to cut the cool half framelit out, get your Big Shot framelit sandwich ready, and line the 6 3/8" score line up with the very front EDGE of your lower cutting pad -- so most of your card is hanging off the cutting pad -- only that scored half of the front panel is on your bottom cutting pad.  Now, place the framelit on top, lining up the center point of the top and bottom of the framelit (in this case the tips of the points) with that same score line, and cutting pad edge underneath.  When you run it through the Big Shot, because part of the framelit is "hanging off" the bottom cutting plate, it won't cut through that part -- only through that front half.

The rest is pretty self explanatory.  I added an Island Indigo framelit  die cut (embossed with the Fancy Fan folder), matching it up exactly with the partial framelit cut out on the card front, so the card can open and close easily.  For the leaf focal point, I stamped Fall leaves from the French Foliage stamp set in Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, and Cajun Craze inks on a Very Vanilla framelit die cut.  I then adhered my multipurpous adhesive sheet to the front, burnished it well, peeled it off, and covered it with glitter.  Ta Dah! a glittery crisp fall leaf card!  Perfect for a Thinking of you or Sympathy card.

I hope you'll give this technique a try with your framelits -- any of them will work for this project!

Remember, during the month of September, get a FREE roll of 3/8" stithched satin ribbon with every $40 purchase.  Whoo Hoo!  LOVE this ribbon. :)