Easter Goes to the . . .

Hello everyone - I hope you are having a great holiday! Before I get into my card, I HAVE to share my latest haul from Alleystamp:

Yup - I got some of the very cool Oxide Ink Pads, and they are only $4.95 (that is the cheapest I've seen anywhere!) But, you'd better hurry - they sell out FAST! And I have to confess, after I got this batch, I went back & ordered the rest of the colors.

OK, back to the show!!

I made this card for my neighbor, Helen.  She has become a great friend to me (and if you recall my Christmas card, she has Lola!) and I just HAVE to put dogs on her cards.  So here is her Easter card:

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base
Tim Holtz Mini Cats & Dogs Stamp Set, #CMS272
Tim Holtz/Sizzix Mini Cats & Dogs Die Set, #661594
Tim Holtz Crazy Talk Stamp Set, #CMS236 (inside card)
Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit, March 2017
Spellbinders Labels Fourteen (disc., but available)
Distress Ink in Ground Expresso & Squeezed Lemonade
Clean Color Markers (Zig)
Inktense Pencils
Oval Punch (about 3/4")
Glitter Card
Googly Eyes
Computer Generated Sentiment

I had colored the dogs a while back. I get in a coloring mood and when the muse hits, I follow.  I have found that I color much better when I really want to do it but, when I do that, I typically forget what I used to do the coloring!  This time, I know I used a combination of most of my coloring utensils - I often mix them up. Anyway, I had these three dogs colored and die cut already.  I added the googly eyes to the "bunny" dog, and attached his ears.  I set them aside and got to work on the Easter basket.

I used the stamp & die that came with the Hero Arts March Kit.  I then took my craft knife and carefully slit the openings on each side of the handle.  I had a bunch of eggs I had cut for another card that I didn't use, but they were too small for this card, so I went into my punches and found this oval scalloped one.  I used it to punch out a bunch of glitter eggs and placed them into the basket, leaving one out to use at the base of the basket.

Another Look

I picked a font and printed out the sentiment that reads, "Steve was surprised when he was chosen, once again, to give out the Easter eggs. Everyone else, not so much."  I die cut the sentiment using the Spellbinders die, edged it with Squeezed Lemon ink and pop dotted it onto the card.  After I put the dogs on the card, and then the basket with the eggs, the card still looked like it needed something.  I chose the gold glitter card, made a fishtail banner, and added it onto the card.  I finished with placing the last Easter egg by the bottom of the basket.  I used Happy Easter from the Crazy Talk stamp set for the interior of the card.

I hope Helen likes the card and I hope you have a wonderful, creative, fun filled holiday! Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Easter card in the following challenges:
Crafting with Dragonflies - #78, Easter Cards
The Crafter's Cafe - #171, Easter and/or Spring
Animal Friends Challenge - #49, Easter/Spring
Paradise of Stamps - #55, Easter
Happy Little Stamps Dies Challenge - M Anything Goes with Dies
Sweet Stampers - #6, Animals
CCEE Stampers - #1715, National Humor Month
Little Red Wagon - #389, Happy Easter
Die Cuttin' Divas - #312, Easter or Spring
Shopping Our Stash - #298, Use Punches and or Dies (I used both!)
The Cat's Pajamas - #335, Use a Sassy Sentiment

Kitty Love

Hi all! I fall in love with a new (to me) stamp company about once a week and one of my newest obsessions is the Unity Stamp Company.  I adore their sentiments, beautiful flowers and, of course, their kitty stamp sets!  Plus, they really know how to throw a great sale. They have a few adorable cat sets, one of which I used to make this card.

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base
Unity Stamp Set . . .Really Kitty, UK-1009A
Embossing Ink
Detail Black Embossing Powder
Watercolor Paper
Distress Markers in Mermaid Lagoon, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke, Festive Berries
DCWV Luxury Stack, 4.5" x 6.5" (available online)
Hero Arts Stamp & Cut, Love, DC175
Die-Namics (MFT) Stitched Oval Stax
Pop Dots

First thing I did was I stamped the kitty with embossing ink onto the watercolor paper and embossed the image with detail black embossing powder.  I water colored the kitty, and the hearts, using Distress Markers and then the image sat on my desk for weeks.  I really love how it came out and I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it yet.  Another thing that had been hanging out on my desk was the decorative paper from DCWV Luxury Stack.  I had picked the pink paper to go with another project and it languished on my desk, getting moved to one spot or another.  Finally, I HAD to do something with the kitty (I was getting nervous that I'd ruin it somehow; drop some ink on it, get some marker on it or drown it in coffee, so I cut out the cat using the Stitched Oval Dies and used a die two sizes larger to cut the patterned paper.  Using the small scrap left over from the oval cut, I die cut the word "love".  I attached the cat panel onto the decorative paper panel and positioned the "love" cut out so that, hopefully, it appeared that it was attached to the patterned paper.  Finally, the panel was pop dotted onto the card base and my card was born.  

As simple as this design is, I am really pleased with how the card came together.  I have only used a few pages of the DCWV Luxury Stack and I am trying to use it more - the paper is very thick and looks like the coating is pearlized.   Perhaps my post will inspire you to use a long neglected paper in your next creation.  Have a great day! Christi

I would like to enter my Kitty Love card in the following challenges:
Dream Valley Challenges - #153, Our Four Legged Friends
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Spring Inspiration Board (I used the kitty)

SUYP Challenge - M #17, Furrything Goes or Easter
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - M #1, Must Feature a Critter
Crafting When We Can - #141, Animals
Crafty Catz - #366, Anything Goes w/ Option of an Animal
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Stamp it!