Rainbow Drip Birthday Cupcake Card

Hi there! Just a quick posting of something I've been working on lately. I have been practicing with Distress Ink and I think I've finally got it! This is what I put together this afternoon. The rainbow background blended just beautifully and I finished it off by splattering some water on it. It's amazing what simple water does to distress ink. It is pretty magical.

So here's how I did this card. First I blended four Distress Inks starting on the bottom and working from corner to corner. I used Salty Ocean, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn. These colors blended together to add purple and orange to the mix. Such vibrant pretty colors! I've had trouble blending these in the past but I finally ditched the wood handled mini blender and tried angled cosmetic sponges. What a difference! When I could really feel how much pressure I was using and didn't have 2" of wooden stick between me and the paper, it worked so much better. The sponges apply a nice finish. If I dare say so, I think it's better than the Tim Holtz sponges! It certainly worked way better for me.

The stamps are from Close To My Heart and the set came with the Cricut Artiste bundle. I stamped the sentiment first, masked it and stamped the cupcake on top. The mask makes it appear that the cupcake is behind the sentiment. Then I drew two perpendicular angled lines and cut the middle section out making sure the stamped image overlapped on the two remaining corner sections that were still intact. I colored the cupcake and wrapper with pink and blue Spectrum Noir markers.

To put it together, I placed the blended rainbow piece on top of a dark blue A2 sized cardstock. Then I put foam tape underneath the piece with the stamped image and two remaining corners and placed it on top. A few sequins with white Perlen Pen dots and some glitter to resemble sugar on the cupcake, and the card was done. This is very simple but oh, so satisfying.

Card Recipe:
White A2 sized card base
White card stock for the rainbow distress ink - 4.75 x 3.5
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn
CTMH Birthday set from the Cricut Artiste Bundle
Tim Holtz distress glitter - Clear Rock Candy
Momento black ink
Yellow and iridescent sequins
Perlen Pen - Ice White

I'm proud to enter this card in the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp-Monday Challenge, Through the Craft Room Door-Anything Goes Challenge, Cardz TV-Anything Goes, Jo's Scrapshack-#179 Anything Goes with Kenny K Stamps

Sweetheart Cafe Box

Hope the week is treating you well. It's hump day so let's give a woot! woot! Tonight's project is a cute little valentine box. The finished box measures 7" high x 6.5" wide. It's the perfect size for something special for that special someone!

This was cut using a variety of Cricut cartridges on my Explore. To start I chose a box from the Sweet Tooth Box cartridge called House Box. I cut this as large as it would fit on my 12 x 12 mat in pink card stock and the roof in a coordinated patterned card stock. Included with this cut are window frames, window boxes and bushes for the front and sides. I chose not to cut the actual windows from the box but I glued paper behind the window frames to give the illusion windows. This way, the box doesn't lose it's strength. I measured the front wall of the box and cut a coordinating pink polka dot rectangle to fit. I embossed this before I glued it to the front.

The table and the couple are cut from the Sweethearts cartridge. It's called Date Night. The cute little topiary trees are from the Bloom Lite cartridge. It's called Tree3. I cut the frame and tag from the Artiste Cartridge.

Once the cuts were done, I finished assembling the box and decorated it. The pink flowers on the trees are Tulip beads in a bottle. The sentiment and hearts on the roof are from Close To My Heart - Mad About You - S1112. I embossed the sentiment with ZING red glitter embossing powder and stamped and cut out 8 hearts from the stamp set and glued them overlapping on the roof. This was easy because the hearts were shapes included in the Artiste cartridge. Pink velvet ribbon is glued to the roof which helps with the canopy illusion.

This one turned out real cute! If you have any questions on how to make it, I'm happy to answer them.

By the way, I've had a number of new subscribers this month and I thank all of you! It's so exciting to see readership increase. Make sure you comment on the Blog Candy page so I can put you into the drawing at the end of February. Go here to enter your name for the $20 Amazon gift card. If someone subscribes that you referred to me and mentions your name, you'll get two extra entries so please send you friends my way.

Thanks and until next time.....happy crafting!

- Janet

Snowman Shaker Card

Hello crafty friends! Today's post is a winter shaker card. I was inspired by a couple challenges to use the colors, the snowman theme and to depict an activity in the snow. I've never done a shaker card but have intended for some time to make one. If you're not sure what a shaker card is, read on!

In the closeup below, you'll get a better idea of it. Basically, a decorative pocket is made with acetate as the top so you can see through it. Inside are beads and sequins that can move freely when shaken; thus the term shaker card.

This is a 5" x 7" card when folded. The card base is white. I cut a mat out of blue and white paper and two more mats out of a snowflake paper and from light blue card stock. I also cut out one of my new favorite Cricut images, the scalloped circle that serves as the shaker's frame. To put some finishing touches on the mats, I punched a tree border on the top of the snowflake paper and stamped a border showing kids playing in the snow on the top of the light blue card stock. Once the light blue was stamped, I ran it through a snowflake embossing folder being careful not to emboss the top where the stamp was. To finish it off a little more, I glued a piece of glittery white ribbon just below the stamped image.

To create the shaker to hold the sequins and beads, I first stamped the snowman on a piece I cut into a rough circle shape. It didn't need to be exact because the frame covers it up and gives the illusion of a perfect circle underneath. Then I used that rough circle as a guide to draw another a circle on the fun foam and drew another circle about 1/2" outside of the inner circle. From this I could cut out a foam ring which serves as a padding between the stamped bottom of the shaker and the acetate top. I cut another circle out of acetate which I recycled from some packaging. It's always good to re-purpose things right? I don't usually save "trash" unless I have a plan for it. I have a small work area and not a lot of room. Since I knew I was going to do a shaker card, I saved some packaging for this project. You could also use acetate overhead sheets from an office supply store if you wanted. Once all the pieces were ready, I created a sandwich starting with the snowman circle at the bottom. Then the foam ring was glued to the top of it. This is when I could finally add the sequins and beads inside the foam ring. Once that was in place, the shaker was sealed with the acetate on the top. The frame went on top of it all and hides all the imperfections and gives it a pretty finished look. Kind of ingenious isn't it?

At this point, I completed the assembly. I glued all the mats down and the shaker on top of the mats. The final touches were the glitter ribbon, the flower, a couple gold snowflake sequins and some enamel dots in blue and white. It still looked a little empty so I used the same stamp set to stamp JOY on white card stock and attached it with a layer of foam tape to give it dimension.

I hope you enjoyed today's card. I'll be back again soon so stay warm and happy crafting!

- Janet

SUPPLIES:
Close to My Heart - C1468 - Winter Joy
Cricut Circle Frame Shape from Lori's Garden
The Paper Studio - Embossing Folder - Snowflakes
Flower - Prima - Flower Embellishments
White Glitter Ribbon - Hobby Lobby
Misc. sequins and beads from my stash
Misc. papers from my stash
Tree Punch - Creative Memories
Fun Foam - Blue
Recycled clear plastic
Enamel Dots - Homemade

CARD CHALLENGES
FantabulousCricut
Little Scrap Pieces Show It Off Saturday - Let It Snow
Craftin Desert Divas Linky Party
Bitten By the Bug - All Time Favorite Cricut Cut
DL Art January Linky Challenge
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #245
Cute Card Challenge #355 - What's New
Mojo Monday Challenge

Scene Card - Reindeer Christmas Gift Card

Hello! I have a great holiday gift card project for you today. It's been a little chilly here in North Carolina so it's been easy to get in the holiday spirit. I grew up in North Dakota so I know that when it gets really cold outside, the snow glitters at night like, well, glitter! This was my inspiration for today’s gift card. This project came together really nicely and I think this one might go to a teacher this year! If you like it, be sure to become one of my followers so you can see future projects.

Card Front