The cards we hate to make . . .

When I lived in my old house in NY I had the best neighbor ever, John. Well, with a heavy heart I had to make a Sympathy card for John's family as he passed away this weekend. John was retired from Eastman
Kodak and he loved woodworking and working on his project boat in the garage. Left behind is his wife of many years, who became blind in her later years, and their adult children.

To make a simple black and white sympathy card is not John --- this is the guy that would use his snowblower to clean the driveway of an elderly widow across the street so she could get in and out of her driveway.  In our snowy winters he would use his snowblower and make paths in the backyard for his dog, Miss Marcie, so she could get around in the deep snows. He also would then make a path across his front yard with the snowblower for the mailman to get from his house to others. In the spring he would make birdhouses and they all hung from his trees in his yard. He nursed a sickly looking Japanese Maple tree back to health and to this day it is quite sizable. He had a few rose bushes and he also tended to them.

John never complained about anything and just enjoyed life --- he was the neighbor that would pick up your mail if you were out of town, the neighbor that would run out in the rain if the UPS guy left your package by your side door, the neighbor that would help you when you put up a fence, planted a tree, re-roofed your house, and anything else to help you out.

Here is my card to remember John and black and white is not John --- I had to use a layout I have used for a card before as thinking of a new format was not working --- I used the SU stamp set Thoughts and Prayers for the tree/flowers stamp and the "Sharing in your Sorrow" is from the Gina K Designs stamp set Stately Flowers #2 that I just got at the customer garage sale @ Betty's.  Used markers and the huff method for the tree/flowers stamp and then used a small scallop punch for the blue flowers. Added clear crystals from the stash as is the ribbon. Embossed border is a folder by SU.

TFL and lucky me to have known John for the years I did. I miss him already and will miss all the email forwards he sent me. YOLO

Parts department - - -

Body parts for the Bunny Bopsie Pops -- they hold Tootsie Pops -- here is a photo of the punches I used to make the bunnies:



The metal die is the third smallest die in the Spellbinders Eggs die set and that is the bunny body --- so here are the bunnies on the Bopsie Pop holders:

Once the bunnies were on the holders I used the corner rounder punch and decided to round the corners since the bunnies are already ovals:

These holders hold the regular Tootsie Pop lollipops. To make the holders:

Cut out all bunny parts --- egg oval for the body, two longer ovals for the ears, two smaller ovals for the feet, and I used a 3/8" circle punch for the pink circle on the bunny feet. I sponged the edges of all these pieces with a light gray. Using a Qtip from the dollar store I used pink chalk for the ears. Used a pink marker for the toes on the feet. Put the bunny together using small glue dots. For the nose I used scrap pink card stock and punched out a small heart and sponged the edges of that with light pink. Make a line for the bunny mouth using a black marker and put the pink heart for the nose over that black mouth line using a glue dot. Then make two small circles with a black marker for the bunny eyes.

The holders:

Cut your card stock 8" x 2" -- score it with the long side at the top of the score board -- score it at 3 1/2' and again at 4 1/2". Use your corner round punch for the corners. Crease your scored lines using your bone folder. Make two pencil dots near the top of the holder for your ribbon to go through. I used a small circle punch to make those two holes. Once the holder is made put the bunny on the front of the holder while the holder was flat using large glue dots. Put a glue dot at the top of the Tootsie Pop and put that in the center of your holder with the Tootsie Pop upside down. Tie the holder closed using ribbon around the Tootsie Pop stick and make a bow or a knot. These are free standing and make cute favors or table markers.

For the other project to go with the Bunny Bopsie Pops I made Matchbook Holders that hold Fun Size M&Ms and for my holders I am using the Fun Size Mini M&Ms. Here are the holders:

The Matchbook Holders you can get 4 out of a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" --- cut it every 2 3/4" for your holders with the 11" side at the top of the trimmer. Score this at: 3/4", again at 4 1/2" and again at 5". Use the bone folder to crease the score lines. By doing this you will see which is the front flap of your holder --- this is important as my printed egg card stock has a directional pattern and you don't want your design to be upside down on the front of your holder. My printed papers for the front flaps are all cut at: 2 1/2" wide by 3 1/4" long. I put the printed card stocks on the front of the holders while it was flat, after I made the creased scored lines.

A tip for the M&Ms Fun Size bag --- shake the M&Ms to one end of the bag --- then fold the end flap to the back of the bag -- then put this in your holder, with the folded end behind your 3/4" scored line and then staple it to the holder --- by folding the bag to the back the M&Ms will not flop all over when the recipient opens the holder. ALSO -- when you staple this staple closer to the fold on your holder than the straight edge as you need to be able to tuck in your holder front --- this is explained better in these photos:

Used the "Happy Easter" stamp from the Stampin Up stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes and stamped it all over white/GP card stock in different ink colours. Then cut out the greetings using the Simply Charmeed banners die set from Spellbinders and tied a greeting on the front flap of all my holders --- the ribbons are only around the front flap of the holders --- so when the recipient opens the holder they will see the ribbon from the inside of the holder. Here are more photos of the Bunny Bopsie Pops and the Easter Matchbook Holders:

Just enough chocolate treats for the Easter holiday --- TFL and YOLO

More Easter Cards

Busy week and have not had time to post the other Easter cards I made. This card has a card stock base of a lavendar, white is GP, and the bunny print is from Hobby Lobby. Doily is from the dollar store and I used punches for the greeting and lavender circle behind it. Used the Stampin Up Petal Punch for the flowers and the sprigs are made using a M Stewart punch. Added crystals from the stash.

Card on a card stock base from Close To My Heart, white is GP, and the print is Sapna. The "happy easter" printed card stock is from Hobby Lobby and it came in a clearance pack of card stock from Hobby Lobby. I wanted to use the egg shaped die to cut this piece out but with it being a printed card stock it would be too thin. So I cut a piece of this larger then the die is. Using the ATG I ran adhesive all over the back and put that onto a piece of white/GP card stock. Then put the egg shaped die on top of it and cut that out in the Cuttlebug. For the bunny I used a die from Impression Obsession and cut that out of flocked card stock. The flocked card stock would be flimsy so I also cut a bunny out of scrap kraft card stock. Ran a glue pen over the kraft bunny and then put the flocked bunny on top of that. Put the card pieces together and then once the egg was on the floral print I put the bunny on that using pop dots. Wanted to bring the greens of the floral card stock to the bunny so used a M Stewart bow punch and punched out a bow from green checked card stock.

The above photo shows the bunny is raised off the print using pop dots.

Bunnies in the grass -- similar to a Make N Take card we made with Mandy @ Betty's.

The above card is a window card and I used an oval die to cut out the oval and then a larger oval die to cut out the checked 'frame' for the oval. Used the SU Petal Punch for the flowers and again the sprigs punch from M Stewart. Once I had the flowers on the sprigs I spritzed them with Pearl Shimmer Mist for a little sparkle:

Again cut out a flocked bunny and a kraft bunny and put those together using the glue pen. For the bow on this bunny I wanted it to look like it was in the back of the bunny so using scissors I cut a small piece of the pink card stock to look as if it is tied around the bunny neck and then into the bow:

Added a pink crystal to the center of the bow.

This card is on a pink card stock base, white is GP, and the floral print is from Sapna. The printed card stock has a border along one side of the page so I used that border to work on this card. Doily is from the dollar store and I used circle dies for the circles. I used two M Stewart butterfly punches for the butterflies and I used a crimper on one of the butterflies and an embossing folder on another. Added pearls to the butterflies. TFL and YOLO

Blessed Easter Card

Card stock on a base of SU Mellow Moss, white is GP, and the dotted card stock is from Hobby Lobby. Used the new Blessed Easter stamp for the tulips piece. I inked the tulips/leaves only on the stamp using StazOn black and stamped that onto SU glossy white card stock. Used the old method -- blender pens and the stamp pad lid -- to colour the tulips and the leaves.

Once that was set I cut it out with the Cuttlebug using the Spellbinders Ovals die set. Then using the Lacey Ovals die set from Spellbinders I cut out an oval from SU Pixie Pink card stock scrap. I did not want to use the larger Lacey Ovals die as I just wanted a small amount of the Lacey Oval to show behind the tulips piece so I used a small die. Put the tulips onto the Lacey Ovals piece using the ATG.  Put these on the card front using large glue dots.

For the greeting I used the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set from SU and cut that out using the SU Bitty Banners die set. Once that was cut out I tucked it behind the tulips piece and put a glue dot behind that to hold it on the card front.

Added a sheer bow made with ribbon from the stash. Easy card to put together and the tulips from the Blessed Easter stamp set will get a lot of use I am sure --- :0)   TFL and YOLO

Easter Spring Basket

Card is on a card stock base of SU Pixie Pink, white is GP, and the green checked is from Hobby Lobby. Had recently placed an order from diesrus.com and this Spring Basket die was one of the dies I had ordered. It is by "die-namites" and using waxed paper I cut out the white basket. The basket was cut out of 110 lb white card stock from Mikes. All other colours used for the basket are from scraps.

For the greeting I used the Happy Easter stamp from the SU Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set. Cut the greeting piece out using a die from the Spellbinders die set Simply Charmed. The pink crystals for the bow and greeting banner are from the stash.

Here is the die:

To get all the small pieces for my basket -- the eggs, ribbon bow, ribbon woven into the basket, and the flowers I just cut out this die in different colours and put it all together on the card front. Used a glue pen for the small pieces for the basket. Simple to do and this is a very nice die that all my pieces fell right out of the die since I used waxed paper. TFL and YOLO