Let the Inside Out!

Hi, there!  Hope you had a lovely Easter.  Did you have a lovely start to spring?  Ours has been a little gloomy and cold, but I can tell the flowers and trees are starting to bud - showing off their pretty colors.

Kind of like the inside of these cards - the insides wanted to show off!  Letting a little bit of the inside of your card peek out is fun way to change things up a bit.

The inside of this one is peeking out at the bottom - easily accomplished by cutting the top a little short.  I added that tiny border die to decorate the shortened top and added another pretty border and flower to peek out the bottom.

Seriously.  Look at that sweet image.  Did your insides melt just a little?

If you would like to create a little sweet something with the girl, her burro and black cats, it's ready to download below.

On this card, the insides are peeking out not only at the bottom, but the side too.  That was also easily accomplished by cutting the card base larger than the scallop die cut that's forming the top.  

The top of the scallop die cut is scored about 1/2 an inch from the top and folded to create the fold for the card.    I turned this one into a Mother's Day card simply by adding the sentiment.  For a note to a friend, it could be left blank for room to write a note.

Download Girl, Burro and Cats HERE.

Download Girl Mailing Note HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

So...be a little bit daring...let the inside out!  
Have a lovely day!

Adorable Easter Chick + Floral Stamped Background

Cute and sweet and colorful, too!  Love this little Easter Chick.  He's all ready for you to download, if you would like to create a little Easter something with this cutie!

We had an early Easter in Savannah.  Dennis went with me (Lauren gave her daddy tickets to the Savannah Home Tour for his birthday).  I stayed with Louisa while they visited all the houses.  Below are a couple of pics from Louisa's first Easter Egg Hunt...

Do you like to create stamped backgrounds?  If you haven't tried it yet, I've got a few tips.

To make a stamped background easier, you can start with colors in your image.

If you are using large and small stamps, start with the large ones.

Use odd numbers.  For example, on this card there are 5 pink flowers, 5 green leaf branches and 3 yellow flowers.

You can turn the stamped image all different directions and stamp some off the edge.

Fill in with smaller stamps.  

Use the theme of your card.  I added Easter egg stamps to this one.

Use dots!  I really like the dots on Mama Elephants Water Blooms stamp set.

Finally, these "rules" are all made to be broken!  Go with what you like and just have fun!

Download Easter Chick HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

I took some eggs and our old easter basket (poor Dennis had to lug it through the airports) that was used by my uncle, me, Lauren and now, Louisa.  After breakfast, we stopped at one of the squares in Savannah.  Her Daddy put out the eggs.  She loved carrying the basket.

Here she is, figuring out that there are goodies inside.  Louisa took all the eggs out and lined them up on the ground.  This is why I use all my money and fly to Savannah every three weeks!

Happy Easter!

Easter Carrot Treat Box + Free Template +MicroFine Glitter Tag

Bunnies and carrots go together, of course.   And so do bunnies and carrot treat boxes.

I've got a carrot treat box template for you to download below.  You can print it right on top of your favorite carrot paper.  

And I've got a video that shows just how easy it is to make.  

On the video, I also share some tips on making a tag with micro fine glitter.   This is the cool highlights version.

It's super hard to photograph just how lovely this glitter is.  It really is my favorite.  I used it on THIS card (with warm highlights) and used my copics to color on top of it!  So very cool!

Here's the video:

Download Easter Carrot Treat Box Template HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

I'm going to be taking this carrot to Louisa, my little honey bunny.  Do you have a little honey bunny (or a big honey bunny) that would enjoy an Easter Carrot Treat Box?

Easter Girl Card with Inlaid Die Cuts

We had a bunny:  Little Bo Binkin.  He lived 13 years.  He loved cinnamon toast and would actually beg for it.  He really like carrots, too, but cinnamon toast was what he lived for!

Isn't she sweet with her little bunnies?  These bunnies obviously love carrots!

The background of this card is really pretty with inlaid die cuts.  Packs a lot of punch for something so easy!

I just got these pretty medallion dies and think they're perfect for this technique.

Basically, inlaid die cuts is just placing the die back into the negative space created when you cut the die.  Simple, but effective.

This Easter cutie is ready for download if you would like to create a little something with her.

Download Easter Girl with Two Bunnies HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

Little Bo was really a great pet, but he had one BIG problem.  He would chew anything and everything.  Furniture feet?  Yummy.  Couch pillows?  Yummy.  Lauren's toys?  Yummy.  When he was out we had to watch him like a hawk.  It was a little stressful.  At least, I can enjoy these cute bunnies without having the chewing issue!

Have a lovely week!

Easy Custom Envelopes + Gift Card Holder + Sweet Girl and Kitty

Do you make odd sized or shaped cards?  I never think about the envelope until I have the card finished.  You should have seen me in the past, flinging open drawers, slinging out envelopes, pulling out my hair...  

I have a LOT of envelopes.  Seriously.  Drawers Full.  And still half the time, I've made a card that just WON'T FIT or is dwarfed by the envelope.

Solution:  Make envelopes.  Well, okay.  But.... (confession here), I really don't have the patience for that really cool envelope maker that I have stashed away.  I just can't figure out how to make envelopes with it that work for my cards.

Real Solution:  Make really easy envelopes.  Okay.  How?  Here's how: 



  The video shows how to make easy envelopes for small, large and shaped cards.  I use my score pad, but you could use a straight edge and a bone folder to make the scores.

One fun thing to make with this method is gift card holders.  We love books in our family, so this gift card holder has a Barnes and Noble gift card.  And see that little cat reading?  Adorable!  The kitty with the party hat is stamped on sticker paper.  It will be the seal for the back of the gift card holder.

This card is long enough for some envelopes I have, but it's too skinny.  So, a custom envelope it is.

This is another of my Agnes Richardson images.  I just love the sweet little girl and the black kitty.  You can download her below.

Download Agnes Richardson Girl with Black Cat HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

Louisa made valentines when I was there last week.  We didn't make them until February 15th, but oh well...  I die cut some hearts and then printed unicorns on sticker paper.  I peeled the stickers for her and handed them to her.  

She really did a good job and had a lot of fun.  She made 6, which was just about right for a 15 month old.  I rubbed some baking soda on the back parts of the unicorn stickers that stuck out over the hearts to keep them from sticking to anything.  

You can see I also made envelopes the same way as I show in the video.  

So, go ahead and make those small, large and shaped cards.  Envelope?  I've got you covered.

Have a wonderful week!

Valentine Angels and a Meow

Valentines.  Angels.  They certainly go together.  These old valentines are so pretty.

I used these angels a couple of years ago on top of a fan-shaped candy box. 

You can see that I basically cased myself to create this card.  I love the box, so why not a card?

The download has the angels on white and also on gorgeous old ledger paper.

And if you love that heart rosette (isn't the gold and pink glitter so pretty?), I have a video from a couple of years ago on how to make them.  



The little bon bon box is also from that time.  You can see more about it HERE.  

You may remember me talking about how Louisa loves to "RAWR" and that I made THIS Valentine card for her.  Well, she also loves to "MEOW!"  

When she's here, she meows at the top of her lungs and follows kitty around saying "Hi, Kitty!"  When she saw me a couple of weeks ago, she asked, "Kitty? Kitty?"   I had to tell her No, that Kitty did not come with me, that he had to stay home.  So, I made this sweet black kitty valentine for my mom and dad to give to Louisa.  

You can download the Valentine Angels HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 


Happy Valentine's Day!

Easy No-Tabs Heart Box

Heart Day is coming up soon.  If you're still looking for a darling gift idea, I've got you covered!

This heart box is super easy to make, the printable is super cute and I have a video to show just how easy it is.  

Included on the printable (and in the video) is a bonus project idea:  a partial pop-up card.

I believe this partial pop-up is the way she was originally meant to be.  You could use it for a card or a place card for a valentine party or maybe a valentine cookie party.

I show in the video the basics on putting this together.  The download includes a back piece to make her more polished.  Then I added a white scallop writing panel just to dress it up a little more.

I thought this vintage image would also made a super cute heart box topper.  The box is large enough to hold three chocolates. 

I like the way this heart box goes together.  It works better for me than dealing with all the tabs that come along with most heart boxes.  The video included all the tips.

The download comes with a template for the top and bottom hearts for the box.  You don't have to use my heart templates to make a heart box this way.  This  method also works for heart dies or hearts that you have cut with your electronic cutter.

Here's the video:

Download Valentine Girl with Heart Box Template HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you.

So glad you stopped by.  Have a wonderful week!