Any Occasion Bunny Card

Hi all, today I am showcasing a cute little bunny card. This card originally began as an Easter Card, complete with the little bunny holding an Easter basket.  But, as Easter came and went, this little card was still left on my desk.  So I decided to change things up a bit.

What I Used to Make my Card:
Hoppy Easter by Lawn Fawn, stamps, LF1319
Hoppy Easter by Lawn Fawn, die set, LF1320
Die-Versions Stitched Nesting Squares, DV-572
CUTplorations Sweet Spring Wishes Die, CUTPL-070
Small Detail Water Brush
Pastel Cardstock
Clean Color Markers
Watercolor Card
Small white "puff" (for the tail)
Purple Scrap
Small Heart, punched out

First I want to share a picture with you of the original card. I know it doesn't look too different, but it's different enough! Notice the basket and the flat (no puff!) tail.

Back to when this was still an Easter card, I had stamped the bunny on watercolor card and used my Zig Clean Color Markers to lightly color the body of the bunny brown, with a slight tint of pink on the ears. I used the same technique to color in the basket as well. It's easy to get a very light wash when you are using a water brush. Just scribble some marker on your craft sheet and water the color down.  Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take it away and dry your watercolor card thoroughly before adding more color (a mistake I made all the time until I finally got it through my head.  I could never understand why my water color paper was always pilling so badly, no matter the brand, when everyone else's seemed fine.)  I die cut the bunny and the basket and set them aside.

I decided that some pastel papers would look very springy and pretty so I cut

out three squares using the DieVersions die set; one of each in blue, peach and yellow.  I stacked the squares together, glued them and set them to dry under my drying tile.  At this point I still had Easter in my mind, so I attached the basket to the bunny and set the card aside for everything to dry.  While the card was drying it hit me that I had a bunch of "puffs" hiding in a small drawer, that were eons old and would look charming on the bunny.  I attached the puff to the butt of the bunny and put the card aside.

The card stayed aside for entirely too long, but I really like the stamp/die set, so

Another Look

I decided to upgrade to an all occasion card.  I needed to find something that was slightly larger than the basket the bunny was holding, which I did. I punched a heart out of pink cardstock, then carefully removed the basket and attached the heart.  While I was pleased with the look, it needed something more, not bling, but something.  Wracking my brain, I discovered the word die from STAMPlorations hiding under a pile of stuff on my desk.  I die cut the sentiment out of lavender cardstock and used only the "sweet" portion of the cut.  Now my card was ready to go!

Thank you for visiting the Dies R Us Inspiration Blog and I hope you get inspired either by me or one of my fabulous teamies.  Perhaps inspired enough to join in the Dies R Us Challenge? We'd love for you to visit and follow all of Dies R Us pages, click below for an easy way to check them all out. Thanks again! Christi

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I am entering my All Occasion Bunny Card in the following challenges:
Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes, #255
Fussy and Fancy - Pamper Your Pets, #189
Delicious Doodles Challenge - All Creatures Big & Small, M June
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes w/ a Critter, M June
Creative Inspirations - Our Furry/Feathered Friends, #277
Deep Ocean Challenge - Use Die Cuts, Chipboard and/or Punches, #157

Playing with Oxide Inks #2, Happy Birthday!

I know I have been missing a bit from Blogland - I had foot surgery done and have to wear this walking boot. For the first week I was literally on my couch taking advantage of the nice pain killers. I am feeling better and will be back to full steam ahead shortly! 

I had seen some cool stuff made out of the oxide inks on black cardstock so I decided to give it a whirl.  Perfect timing as I had to make the Man a Birthday Card.  This is what I came up with:

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base
Black Card
Mini Ink Blending Tool
Distress Oxide Inks: Wilted Violet, Worn Lipstick, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade & Faded Jeans
Tim Holtz Mini Stencil, #10, Flourish
Tim Holtz Mini Stencil, #4, Blossom
Quietfire Designs - Happy Birthday Plain & Simple, #5899
Sizzix/Tim Holtz, Labels, #660060
Piece of Blue/Gray Card from Stash

I would have liked the colors to be more vibrant, but the muted colors are very pretty as well.  On this card, at first, I didn't use any spritzes of water - nothing

but the inks themselves.  I had been building on the color and building on the color when I remembered a technique where you could use stencils, and I had just gotten those 2 new mini sets, so I stopped my mad inking, went to Pinterest (I am totally, without a doubt, addicted to Pinterest) and found the technique I wanted. This one uses a baby wipe to remove some color through the stencil, which I did, then I used the ink directly through the stencil with the mini ink applicator.  On the left side of the card I used the flourish stencil; on the right, the blossom stencil.  I couldn't tell you which inks went where.  That, I think, is my favorite property (so far) about these Oxide inks - you literally cannot make a mistake and if you don't like your pattern, colors, etc. just keep inking until you do!  I've been inking paper after paper, incorporating Ken Oliver's Liquid Metals at times.  It reminds me of the old way of making Polished Stone with alcohol inks and Krylon leafing pens (way back in the day prior to Tim Holtz). I have lots more to show you, but let me get back to this card.  I put the black card panel under my drying tile and left it there overnight. 

Another Look

The next day, I stamped the sentiment on a piece of scrap card, using the Oxide Ink in Faded Jeans, and die cut it with the Labels die cuts.  I am absolutely thrilled with how the card came out; I'm really happy with all the new tricks you can do with these inks.  I've been making backgrounds like crazy but I had to have some minor surgery on my foot, and that is keeping me out of the craft room as I need to keep it elevated.  But, I promise, the wait is worth it! Thank you so much for your continued loyalty and perhaps I've inspired you to check out some new techniques! Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Man's Birthday Card in the following challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown - #347, For the Men
Everybody Art  Challenge - #405, Happy Birthday
Cards in Envy - You're the Man
Just For Fun (M) - For the Guys