Falliday Fun Faces

Some of my favorite die sets are card size character dies - these sets from Paper Smooches were perfect for my Falliday Fest challenge! My challenge is called "Let's Face It", and we're putting faces on all the things - making face cards or adding a face to stamped images or die cuts. 

These first two cards were made using dies from the Santa Card Set - here's what that looks like:

All those pieces can mix and match to create all kinds of character cards - I've seen everything from from elves to lumberjacks! So fun. 

Another fun companion set is the Snowman set, which makes for quick and easy cards or other projects with such a smile factor. 

Here's what that set looks like, and again it's easily customizable. 

A couple of years ago I made a bunch of cards with the animal sets (HERE and HERE) to make cards for Ronald McDonald House - this year I'll be making a bunch of these Christmas themed ones to send!

Another new obsession.......

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen the earrings I've been making - I've been having fun making a wide variety and trying different things!

I've found that some of the thinner faux leather can be cut with regular dies - these feathers are from Paper Smooches (HERE and HERE).

Some of the deeper dies can cut denim and other thicker materials. (These dies are from Taylored Expressions.)

This die wasn't intended for earrings, but it's a deeper one, and I had fun creating this design. This die is designed to cut foam adhesive dots, and it's from Maker's Movement.

This is another die from Taylored Expressions - these are pieces of brayered or gel printed matboard.

These are new designs and I love the movement of the leaves. New charms too! This is a quilting set from Crafter's Edge, but I got mine on Amazon.

One more from the TE set above, with gel printed and stamped matboard.

All of these earrings are for sale in my Etsy store! If you see anything you'd like in a different color or combination, let me know - custom orders are fun!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Halloween Character Box

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a cute treat holder for Halloween! 

A card sized box is used in the photo tutorial, but I've been saving these salt and pepper shaker packages from the Dollar Tree - I'll share my shaker project later... I just thought this size would make a cute treat package, and it did! The boxes are about 3-1/2" x 3" x 1-1/2", so I adjusted the tutorial measurements using the formula there. Very easy!

The dies I used are from the most adorable set from Paper Smooches - it's this one:

All those fun pieces work together to make all kinds of Halloween characters, from monsters to jack-o-lanterns, and all things in between! They work on card fronts, goodie bags, tags, and more - so fun to mix and match.  I added some slightly larger circles to outline the eyes, and in the box below I used a die from the Santa Card set, which is similar in concept and so much fun. Just picture those bangs as Santa's beard!

Have a great week!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Pocket Portfolio

I have a new tutorial up over at Splitcoast - today I'm sharing how I make Pocket Portfolios! The ones I make usually get tucked in with my portrait orders, but they can be made for any occasion, and they're useful for quite a lot!

These are the ones I have been making, sealed with a logo label, but I think I may start using a belly band for the closure instead - I like how my other card came out, and I can do a simple medallion with my logo, or add some die cuts for pet portraits. Hmm!

I had fun putting this card together, and I don't normally mix brands but I did today! The curvy border is from Whimsy Stamps, the circles are a sneak peek of some new sets coming from Impression Obsession (shh!), the coffee pot is one of my die designs from Impression Obsession, and the sentiment is from Paper Smooches!  

Inside I was able to fit a packet of hot cocoa and a gift card - so many possibilities for this design. Hope you're having a great week! I'm having a busy one!!

Splitcoast Tutorial: 3D Frame Display

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a 3D Frame Display - be sure to check the gallery for lots of different ideas!

My mind went in  couple of different directions with this project, so I have 2 samples to share. I had seen the Paper Smooches challenge yesterday, so I made one frame with the die cut opening over to the side to match the April sketch. The cupcake die set I used can be found HERE, and the sentiment is from a discontinued Hero Arts set.

The card front is 2" wider than the base, and scored 1/2" in from each side to create a tab that folds around to the back. The extra inch creates a curve on the front, and it stands by itself. Fun design! I love the negative cut design on this one. These will need to be hand-delivered or mailed in a box, just so you know.

For my second card I pulled out the May 2018 Hero Arts kit - these monthly kits are packed fulllll of stamps and dies, and they're such a great value. I love that you can purchase any kit without subscribing - there have been a couple of times I couldn't help myself! I actually have an alarm set to check the kit each month on the release day (first Monday of the month), just in case. You can find the newest My Monthly Hero kit HERE.

The tree frame die is from the kit. I had the gel printed background in my file - the clouds are die cuts from Impression Obsession that I laid onto the press after covering it with paint. The figures inside are die cut, and the kite is stamped. The butterfly is another IO die, and the banner die is HERE.

These are fun and easy cards to make, and they can be made in any size - just determine your base size, and make the top piece 2" wider! 

Hope your week is going well!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Bunny Bag-a-lope

Today's tutorial over on Splitcoast is a Bunny Bag-a-lope! Such a cute little project.

The base of the project is a mini treat bag made from an A2 envelope - the base when it's completed is 2" x 2-1/4", and it's about 3-1/2" - 4" tall. The bunny is done with various die cuts - the tutorial sample is done with all hearts and ovals, but I have some animal die sets from Paper Smooches and Lawn Fawn so I used a few of those pieces as well. The sentiment is an old one by My Heart Stamps For You.

Super cute, timely project - hope you'll put one together! I need to pick up something to tuck inside, and I think this one will go in the mailbox for our carrier!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Santa Pants Basket

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is an adorable gift container for the holidays - click over to view the Santa Pants Basket tutorial!

I decided to go my own way with the tutorial and create some elf baskets. This first one is a little more traditional - I used a die from Paper Smooches to create the zig-zag border, lining it up and repeating the cut across the bottom of my long strip of paper. This die is actually from a Halloween die set - I have started a collection of the "Card Dies" from Paper Smooches, and this element was perfect. 

I also thought a nod to Buddy the Elf would be fun - so...

The curved cut was done with another Paper Smooches die (Snowman Card set). To cut the buckles I used 2 Spellbinders dies together to create a frame - I folded the cardstock underneath the dies to cut both buckles at once.

These are actually quite roomy containers, with a 4" x 5-1/2" base - they'd be great for a bag of goodies or small gift.

Have fun!

Splitcoast Stuff!

Today's a big day over at Splitcoast! We're excited to be kicking off our fifth Hope You Can Cling To card drive with 3 challenges today, brought to you by the Splitcoast Team. My challenge is up, and I'd love to see your cards featuring some kind of handle (either in a shaped card or on a stamped image) as we encourage the recipients of these cards to hold on to hope.

Here's a clean and simple card I made as a sample for my challenge - these stamps are by Paper Smooches, one of our sponsors for this month's event.

 I kept it clean and simple, stamping the silhouette images and then shading with Prismacolor Pencils.

In other site news, the lovely Clare Buswell is joining us to share how she makes her beautiful Quilled Flower Bookmarks - hers is so much prettier than mine! I'm tucking mine in with my HYCCT cards - I love that big sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.

Come and join us!