Tail Feathers

Hi folks.  It's Kim from Katydid Cards here with you today, helping Sunsational Stamps celebrate their grand opening.  The official opening is April 5, 2017, but the design team members are sharing their inspirational projects the entire week.

Today I made a card using one of the digital images from the Spring is Ducky collection, part of the April release.

This time of year, ducks are normally associated with Easter, but I always try to make cards for other occasions to show the versatility of the images.  In this case, I guess you could call it thinking outside the...Easter basket.

To make this gatefold card, I brought the image into my Silhouette design screen and traced around the outside edge.  From this trace, I created a 1/4" offset which became the opening for my card.  Using the cutting tool, I cut vertically down the center.  I placed the two halves in the center of a standard gatefold card.  Then, using the replicate option, I mirrored the left half to the left and the right half to the right.  Finally, I used the align tool to move the halves to the each side.  This gives you the perfect opening in your gatefold.

The mats were made by creating internal offsets at 1/8" and 1/4"  The top mat was filled with a digital plaid pattern.  I used Old Olive card stock for the larger mat and Tempting Turquoise for the card base, both by Stampin' Up.  I printed the adorable duck as well as the greeting on Neenah Solar White card stock.

When you open the card you see the sentiment inside, matched to the turquoise base.

Here's a closer look at the duck.  I colored him using Copic markers.

What you can't see from look at the card straight on is that I print and cut his adorable little tail feathers a second time and attached it to the image with a homemade wobble spring.

It’s easy to make a homemade spring.   Just take 26 gauge wire (which can be found in the jewelry section of any craft store) and wrap it around a pencil about 7 times and cut at the end of that spiral.  Next punch four 1/2” circles.  Using strong adhesive coat one circle and place on the end of the wire then take a second circle and place it directly over top to make a sandwich around the end of the wire.  The spring I made here is a smaller version.

One final idea I wanted to share about the tail, I added little "motion" lines to accentuate the feathers as they move on their spring.

So happy you stopped by.  I'll be sharing another Sunsational card in two weeks...looking forward to it.  In the meantime, don't forget to check out all the other photo-polymer and digi stamps in the store.

It’s A Ducky Life

Hi there crafty friends,

I’m so excited to be chosen as part of Sunsational Stamps new Design Team and today I’m sharing my first project with you using Lisa’s darling digital stamp “Spring Is Ducky” which can be found in her newly designed store.  Just click on this link to go there.

When I saw this cute little ducky upside down in the water I thought it would make a great encouragement card and just knew that I had to use him.  Below is a picture of the outside and inside of the card.

Outside Of Card:	Inside Of Card:

 

I always have trouble trying to figure out what papers to use for my card so with this card I decided to take a look online to see if I could find anything and I came across this cute blog, LianaScrap.com and found some really nice papers. The papers I decided to use are from the Day Dream Set.  She has lots of other cute sets so click on the link to go visit her and check them out for yourself.

I printed the image onto some white Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper and used my Copic markers to color it.   I have a mish-mash of markers but today I decided to use my Copics.  I punched it out with my Fiskars circular punch and set it aside.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out my digital paper and the scalloped image that mats the punched image.  I also typed my sentiments (outside and inside), printed them, and cut them out.  Then I layered them onto some black cardstock.  I found a graphic of a pond online and printed it.  Then I cut around it and made a small slit in the water.  I printed, colored and cut out another ducky from the set. I slid the ducky’s feet through the slit in the water so that it looked like it was swimming on the water.  I adhered the feet to the back with some tape to hold it in place.  Once I had all my pieces completed and set aside, it was time to start putting everything together.

I took an 8.5x11-inch piece of white cardstock and cut it down the middle of the 8.5-inch side leaving me with two 4.25x11-inch pieces of cardstock.  I scored the long edge of one of them along the 5.5-inch mark and folded it in half.  This left me with a card base that was 4.25x5.5-inches.  I adhered my 2 pieces of designer paper onto the card base so that they each covered half of the base.  Then I layered a couple of rectangular pieces across the middle to hide the seam.  I wrapped a piece of black ribbon around the rectangular pieces before adhering them to the cardstock.  I mounted my punched image on top of the scalloped circle and adhered that to the front of the card along with the sentiment.  The front of the card was complete and now it was time to move onto the inside.

I cut a couple more rectangles out of the designer cardstock and adhered them across the bottom portion of the card.  I adhered the pond on top and added my sentiment and the card was finished!

Thanks for taking the time to drop by.  I hope you enjoyed my project and I’ll see you soon with another Design Team share.  The supplies I used are listed below:

Lisa’s “Spring Is Ducky” Digital Stamp Set:
Copics Colors:
Bristol Smooth Paper for Copic Coloring:
Recollections Cardstock:
Fiskars Circle Punch:
Recollections Black Grosgrain Ribbon:
Tombows AquaPit Liquid Glue:
Liana’s Digital Paper (Day Dream):

Spring has sprung!

Hello!! It's release week! I'm so excited for you to see what we all have in store for your inspiration this week!

We have a wonderful new team of designers who are seriously talented, along with a new store to shop with lots of great designs!

Above you will see the set I chose to use for my project.  You can click on that photo to head right to the shop and look around.

I decided to make a box card using all the pieces because I love them all and couldn't bare to leave any out.

As you can see, I used acetate to mount the pieces, I also used a lot of crystal effects and glitter on my pieces.  I even worked some google eyes in there too!

This is a really fun card if I do say so myself!

I really loved it that our new watermarks match my card! ;)

Easter journal page created by Lorraine Hache

Good day, I am so excited to show you my art journal page that I have created today. I was chosen as a design team member for the wonderful Sunsational Stamps.

For this project I used a cardstock and painted out the colors of my background using craft paint. I enhanced the sunset background using the Dylusions paint from Ranger. Squeezed Orange and Lemon Zest to accent the sunset look.  Cut Grass color was used and highlights of different greens to give it the grassy look. For the water I used Sky Blue acrylic paint and used a Paradise Blue to make some shadow as waves and used a white pen as shading. The eggs in basket were colored with acrylic glitter paints. The Easter stamps  used were from Sunsational Stamps which can be purchased at http://sunsationalstamps.com/product/spring-is-ducky/.

Take some time to view the wonderful selection of stamps available at http://sunsationalstamps.com

Hope you enjoyed reading and viewing my post.

'A Hoppy Easter to Some Bunny Special' by Sarah Rosse

Hello crafty friends! Sarah here with you for my very first blog post as part of the Sunsational Stamps design team. I am so pleased to have been offered a position on this team....looking forward to sharing many creative and exciting upcoming projects with you!

My cards today use the 'Hoppy Easter to Some Bunny Special' digital images. Have you seen the revamped online store - check it out here. It looks amazing...Lisa really has done a magnificent job! The range of Easter themed stamps can be purchased instore by clicking here.

For my first card I adhered a piece of patterned paper (this one is a Project Life card from Stampin Up!). I then used a die from my collection to cut a window from the front of the card. The lovely patterned border and inlay that the die left was adhered to the inside of the card where the bunny was adhered to. The bunny's feet were adhered using pop dots to give it some dimension, as was the Easter eggs.

The sentiment was coloured using Tim Holtz distress inks in Tattered Rose and Milled Lavendar - a nice compliment to the coloured Easter eggs. I just love the ease of using the coloured digi images! Lets take another look at that card.

For my second card, I had such fun creating the background for this. Have you used Brusho Crystal Colours before? Brushos are watercolour ink crystals that can be used in many different ways. For this card, I wet a piece of watercolour paper and sprinkled the Brushos on the paper, one by one. Watching them react with the water is fascinating and you never quite know how they will turn out. Brusho Crystal Colours can be used on paper, canvas, or even wood. Sprinkle them directly on a wet substrate and watch intriguing organic patterns appear almost like magic. Or sprinkle Brusho Colours on a wet brush, painting knife, or texture tool to create a variety of gorgeous effects. You can dissolve them in water and apply them with a spray bottle, or add them to wax paste or gel mediums for body. Colours used were Sea Green, Turquoise, Violet, Alizarin Crimson and Sunburst Lemon. Lets take a closer look at the amazing colours...

I then cut out the pieces for the card front - I always like to go around the edges of the cut pieces with a black pen so there are no harsh white lines seen. The ducky was layered to sit in the basket, with the feet adhered with pop dots, as were the Easter eggs. Let's take a look at the card...

I hope that you enjoyed these cards and until next time, be sure to keep your eye on the blog as we have the design team members all appearing this week to flood you with inspiration and Sunsational project ideas!

Meet the Dt Team

Meet our wonderfully, talented ladies who will inspire you day in and day out.  

Paula Hatton Vines :     A little bit about myself, first and foremost I am a Christian and feel blessed to be able to share my cards on facebook. I retired in 2007 and found crafting to be a love of mine. I have been married for 42 years to an amazing man and best friend who also crafts infact he is better at making cards than I am, ha ha. We have three fur babies which rule the house and a grown daughter that is quite the crafter and makes jewelry. I look forward to this journey with all of you.

Marji Reineke Franklin:       Hi, I’m Marji, I am a stay at home Mom to a rambunctious and stubborn 4 year old, crafting is my sanity, my escape and what keeps me grounded. My daughter likes to craft with me which gives me more time to play since I can give her some supplies and she goes to town. I have been crafting my whole life, I found stamps about 20 years ago, paper piecing about 4 years ago along with digital stamps. My first love is still stamps even though I don’t use them as often as I used to. I’m thrilled to show you what I can come up with!

Helen Nile:       “I work full time as an Activity Coordinator for a charity called Abbeyfield which provides care and support for older people. Once a month I teach workshops for a local stamping company and I’m also a card designer for them including providing samples and demos for their TV shows. I regularly write articles for for craft magazines and am lucky enough to design for several other digi companies”

LeeAnn McKinney:      A little about me, my name is LeeAnn McKinney, I am 49 years old, and live in Central Florida with a wonderful husband that supports my fun. He is always there to encourage me and always wants to see my work as soon as it is finished; he is even learning some of the terminologies.
I have a wonderful family of daughters, son in laws and grandchildren who are the inspiration for many of my layouts, and card projects. I love working with my stamps, ink, paper and the crafty side of my brain.

Lisa Copler:      My name is Lisa Cobler. I’m 49 years old. I live in Virginia with my husband of 29 years, Michael, and our fur baby Louis. My husband is the biggest supporter of my art. I’m a former nurse who is now disabled. I am a self taught mixed media artist. I use art not just to express my creativity but to cope with chronic pain from Multiple Sclerosis and being home bound.

Sarah Rosse:     Hi everyone, I am a full time working mum of two boys, married to a gorgeous husband with whom I live in Victoria, Australia with. I have been an avid scrapbooker for around 12 years now and as time passes, my obsession continues to grow. A day doesn’t pass where I don’t do something ‘scrappy’ related – whether it be seeking inspiration from YouTube, listening to podcasts, browsing new products online or getting in my craft room to be creative. I am on a number of design teams for which I am so grateful. I enjoy mixed media and all things messy! I enjoy making my own backgrounds and rarely does a page make it without at least some paint splatters! I hope you enjoy my designs for Sunsational Crafts.

Eileen Robertson:      Hi everyone! I have been crafting since I can remember, and papercrafting/scrapbooking for the past two decades. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have wonderful daughter and fabulous son-in-law, as well as a fur baby and fur grand-baby. I reside in the suburbs of Chicago. I love all different types of crafts from mixed media to card making, I am always trying out new techniques. I look forward to sharing some fun techniques and projects with you!

Sharon Gerrard Cameron:      Hi everyone, my name is Sharon. I’m 52 yrs. old, married to my wonderful husband for 32 years and together we have 2 beautiful daughters who are ages 24 and 26. Arts and Crafts was my favorite subject in school. I loved working with paper, glue, and scissors right from the get-go and always looked forward to what I would create. Eventually I got into card making and enjoy using my free time to carefully and thoughtfully craft cards for my friends and family. I LIVE to stamp, color, and create! It brings me such joy to see the faces of my friends and family when they open the envelope and pull out the card made just for them. I am always involved in blog hops and have been on several Design Teams over the years. I’m a very creative person and card making is just one way I fulfill my passion to create.

Kim Schaeffer Venezia:     Hi, I’m Kim and I live with my little dog, Katy, at the Jersey shore. I got involved in crafting many years ago; a friend brought her scrapbook when she visited me in the hospital. I was blown away by that scrapbook and loved the concept of taking pictures out of a shoe box in the closet and turning them into works of art with journaling that brought them to life. That got me hooked and I’ve been paper crafting ever since. Though now I prefer making cards with an occasional 3D project thrown in. I’m thrilled to be a member of the Sunsational team and look forward to sharing my work with you.

Marie-Christine Denis:   My name is Marie-Christine, I live in France in a small town in Brittany with my husband, my son and my little dog. I started the scrapbooking for 9 years now. I love used a lot of stamps on my creations. I like to make Mixed media Art Journal with collage, cards and tags.  I am happy to be Designer of this great team and look forward to introduce you to my work.

Mona Leonard:     I have always loved crafting, as long as I can remember.  I am a mother of two grown boys.  I love spending all my spare time in my craft room (my little heaven).  There is not much crafts I haven’t tried.  I love doing anything with my hands.  I joined Your Paper Pantry in 2011 and now I am really addicted to all paper crafting.  Love making new crafty friends and learning new techniques

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Deb Peterson Rauch:     I’m a retired nurse and have been married to my husband for 34 years. I’m also the mother of two grown boys. I’ve been crafting since I was a young girl. I’ve tried many crafts, but for the last 15 years I have been papercrafting. I have also expanded into mixed media, altered items, and most recently art journaling. I love learning new techniques and making new crafty friends.

Shylaa Shree:     I am Shylaa Shree, executive secretary by profession, mother of two kids. Since childhood, I am in love with arts & craft. Quilling is how it all began in the blogland and it was a turning point in my craft life from where i started into cardmaking, scrapbooking, alter items, make 3D projects and I make both fashion & paper jewellery. My recent addiction is towards digi stamps. Creating has become my passion.

Lorraine Hache:    Hi, my name is Lorraine.  I am married and have two children Melissa and Jason. I have a dog Chihuahua named Minnie. I have been crafting since a really young age and never stopped the passion of crafting.  I enjoy trying different things and to share my work. Relaxing for me is Crafting.

Steph Ackerman:    I have been creating in some form since I was a child. I love to create cards, mixed media, canvas and off the page projects using an assortment of products. I don’t start out with a plan in mind, I pull the products I want to use and see what happens.  I teach classes several times a month at my local Michaels, in my home studio and local library. I love working and teaching with new products as my students love to learn what’s new in the crafting environment. I constantly submit my work for publication and have had as many as 30 cards in one print magazine. So excited to be a part of this new adventure.