Today I will be sharing with you a Punch Art Chick for Easter on this handmade greeting card. I love Easter, it is my favorite holiday and it is almost here {insert extreme giggles!}. And so many times the poor Easter chick is passed over in favor of the Easter bunny.
So why this card and why now? Emily and I enjoyed watching Hop together this weekend, it got us in the whole Easter spirit, and then I looked at the calendar - ack - it is almost here! Easter is early this year in March, so better get to Easter creating!
The body and eyes of this chick are made with the Owl Builder Punch. And the wings are the small heart punch. But guess what is my favorite part of the card? It is the cute little Easter egg tags. I stamped the egg image twice from the Itty Bitties stamp set in the Spring catalog (item: 128939).
I have a feeling that Emily and I will be making more of these Easter chicks this week. She is home for Spring Break and we have a lot of decorating to do for Easter!
Here is the handmade Easter Card:
Here is a close up:
I hope that you have enjoyed this card for today! Be sure to check back for more great Easter projects! 'Hop' on over to your card making supplies and whip up ones of these Easter chicks, it is all punch art, and then you too will have this cute handmade greeting card!
I am pretty sure that you all know about embossing, but what about debossing with your Borders Scoring Plate from Stampin' Up!? Just in case you don't know the difference, here it is:
Embossing raises an image, item, etc up on your project whether it is heat embossing or dry embossing. When you run your fingers over the top, you can feel it raised up off the surface.
Debossing is the opposite, it depresses your image, item, etc on your project. When you run your fingers over the top, you feel the depression. (Note: I said the depression, not that you will feel depressed, there is no depression in card making, it is all for good!)
I actually love doing both embossing and debossing and sometimes I get a little too much caffeine, thank you Dr. Pepper, and go wild and crazy and do both! (I know, living life on the wild side, right?)
And that is what I did on this card. There is a very important step in doing this and I taught it to you yesterday with my favorite tool to use along with my Simply Scored and the Borders Scoring Plate, you will really really really want to have repositionable adhesive with you when you do this.
So I know of two people that have purchased the Borders Scoring Plate from me that got it, stared at it, and stored it, then emailed me for help on it - and I can't wait to share with you my best tips for working with your Borders Scoring Plate, you will need the Simply Scored from Stampin' Up! to go with it.
Today's card uses the Borders Scoring Plate as well as the Simply Scored itself and I made a video sharing a must have tool to make this plate even easier to work with.
Here is the card for today:
Supplies Used to Create this Card (all supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated):
I think sometimes we get in the habit of sending cards only for occasions - but there is always a need to do something Just Because, right? The element of surprise by putting a smile on someone's face by sending them a card Just Because is awesome right?
This was something that I used to do with my Grandma - but in a different way. The month of March held her birthday and in case you are new to my blog, my Grandmother and I were best friends, in every way. We had no secrets, especially when she was on pain medicine (ahhh, the things she told me that I really did not want to know), we talked so much that when I was growing up, my parents made me buy a calling card and pay for it, because in case you are young, you used to have to pay for long distance phone calls.
So where does the Just Because come into play in this conversation? Every time I went and stayed with her, I would hide notes and cards all over the house, and I mean all over - under the silverware drawer, in the bottom of the sugar bowl, under the toilet seat, in a pair of shoes, behind picture frames, I think you get the idea. It became something we both looked forward to, I even caught her peeking once late at night to try to catch me doing it, it was like a kid waiting up for Santa Clause. These cards became a way for me to sneek in ways for me to tell her I love her, for no particular reason, Just Because.
I am tearing up as I write this, she has been gone for 6 years now and her birthday is fast approaching, but yesterday and today she has been in almost all of my thoughts and today I needed to express it and of course, the way it came out was through a card. I still create these cards for her, and I still write in them. Do I mail them? No, of course not. But I keep them with the boxes of cards that I found when going though her house after she died. It still feels good to share with her my love for her, and I can still imagine her finding them and opening them just like I used to years ago. Wow, I am crying like you would not believe right now.
Whew, so let me share with you the card that I am going to write to my Grandma today. It is a simple card, you can create it and make it for someone that you will either mail to that person, or keep for that person.
In case you are wondering, as we went through her home, I did not find a single card or note around the houes. She had found them all over the years, I figured I would find a dozen or so, as I normally placed about 15-20 of them with each visit. And that means that she tore that house apart over the years finding them, and that humors me to do this day picturing her looking everywhere she could think of. What I found instead was a box that was full of them, right next to her bed, I believe she kept them all.
I challenge you to make a card for someone, Just Because. You don't have to share the details with me, but please in the comments below, just share their name. There is nothing like making a card for someone, is there?
2013 brought about the iTeach Stamping Bundles and the reviews for last month were more than good, here is what Shelly said about them,
"I have a hard time pairing up my products to make projects. I know that they should work together, but the how is what I struggle with. I made every single one of the projects in the January tutorial - I can't wait to see what you create and share with us in February."
So how does it work? The bundles are announced on the 15th of each month. You have until the end of that month to order those products through my online store. When I see your order come through, your name goes on my Priority list and then on the first of the next month, those on the priority list get a free tutorial teaching you projects you can make with the bundle items.
February's Bundle Projects include a great way to dress up a little gift bag, framed art and a super cute card all using:
As an iTeach Stamping VIP member, you have access to my online video classes, you get both my Advanced Card Making Class and my Scrapbooking class each month. Once you have access to a class, you always have access to a class making this an online resource area for you with project ideas, tips, tricks and more.
If you want access to the February classes, you need to become a member right away because the option for getting the February class disappears at the end of the month.
March's Advanced Card Class will be going live soon - so be sure to become a member today!
Do you ever find yourself not having all the supplies you need/(WANT) and asking yourself, 'How am I going to make this greeting card with these limited supplies?' That was my challenge for the weekend. Recently I shared a card with you using the Secret Garden stamp set and some patterned paper. Today, I am back with that same supply list, tweaking it just a bit.
Mission: Create a Card without using ANY tools - no punches, no big shot, no dry embossing. Just stamps, inks, card stock and a little ribbon. Can it be done? Let's find out.
I am a huge fan of the Print Poetry DSP stacks. To me, this is paper craft paradise, it is almost as good as a Dr. Pepper and much easier to store than 12 x 12. Don't get me wrong, I have not thrown out or would even think of dismissing my 12 x 12 DSP. But this little handy dandy paper stack packs quite a punch.
How much did I use? 2 strips of 1" x 4" and that is all! You can mass produce this card and use it for any occasion.
So I paired the Secret Garden stamp set with the Sweet Essentials stamp set, both from Stampin' Up!, this is a perfect set to use when you want any occasion, it has a great variety.
Here is the How to make a homemade greeting card with limited supplies:
So did I achieve my mission? I think so. I made this card using only stamps, ink, card stock, two strips of DSP and less than 9" of ribbon.
Here is my question to you, if you were to step this card up a notch, what is the first tool you would grab? In the meantime, I hope that you have enjoyed learning how to make a greeting card with limited supplies!
Do you ever struggle with figuring out how to keep your Framelits from moving around while you are running it through your Big Shot?
If so, here is my best tip for it. Grab your stamped image, your Big Shot, your Framelits and a Post It Note. Then all you need to do is place your stamped card stock onto your clear cutting plate, put your Framelit in place around it, then use a Post It Note to hold it all in place.
Are you a visual learner? I know that I am, which means that when I read that the first time, my thoughts were, "Yeah, right." If you feel the same, here is a picture to make it easier to understand:
I hope that you find this tip useful! If you want to see what I did with this die cut image, head over to my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/iteachstamping to see what I made with it.
Have a tool you need help with? Leave me a comment so that I can be sure to add it to upcoming Tool Tips. I hope that this one helps you with how to keep your framelits from moving around when you are die cutting!
Ahhhh, internet is somewhat back - and so today I want to share with you an easy greeting card you can make with some patterned paper and Stampin' Up's Itty Bitty Banners.
First, I really let the Birds of a Feather DSP do most of the work for me. I grabbed my 1-3/4" Circle Punch and went to town on that DSP punching out two patterns for the front and then I handcut out the birds from the DSP too. All that is stamped is the 'For You' part from Stampin' Up!'s Itty Bitty Banners stamp set in Raspberry Ripple and then die cut it with my Bitty Banners framelits. I took this card from blank canvas to this as you see it in 7 minutes.
My in laws were here this past weekend, and I was trying *again* to explain to my father in law what I do. He said, "Isn't it easier to buy a card at the store?" Now, I often get asked this question but for some reason, the answer came out a bit differently. My answer was more of a question, "Isn't it easier to hire someone to build your bookshelves for your living room, or even easier, what about buying a bookshelf that is already built?" He looked right at me and replied, "Yes, but I like to build things."
That is the same thing with card making - the exact same thing. Often it is not just about the card itself, anyone can buy a card, own a card, mail a card - but not everyone will want to take the time to make a card. There is not the same sense of pride when mailing a card if you just went out and bought it and popped a stamp on it and sent it on it's way. There is nothing like creating and then mailing - right?
I want to hear from you on this - do me a favor, let me know what it means to you when you make cards. Share a comment below and let me know your thoughts on this one!
Here is the card for today - I made it in minutes, like I said, it is beyond easy to make. And it is something that any level paper crafter can do.
Use any size circles that you have and simply layer them onto your card front. I hope that you have enjoyed this easy greeting card idea using the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set from Stampin' Up and leave me a comment below sharing what card making does for you!
2013 has brought about a lot of new changes for I Teach Stamping all designed around you! Last month I announced the first I Teach Stamping Bundle and the response has been so favorable - and that thrills me to no end.
Below is the February Bundle. When you order that bundle through me by the end of the month, you will be put on my Priority List. And the people on my Priority List will get a printable tutorial from me on the 1st of the following month showing you different projects using that bundle.
Announcing the February 2013 I Teach Stamping Bundle:
Click here to enter my online store and as always, please let me know if you have any questions. I hope that you are as excited about this month's bundle as I am!
