Cats in a Crate

I miss my two cats.  I had them for almost 17 years and their loss still hurts.  So working with the Nine Lives Stamp set and coordinating Cat Punch today was bittersweet.

I designed a Z-fold card with a wooden crate in the middle, and in the crate are several cats.

A 4 1/4 by 11 piece of Thick Whisper White card stock was scored at 5 1/2 and again 8.  It was folded in a mountain fold at the 8" score and a Valley fold at the 5 1/2" fold folding a Z-fold.

Snuggled in the fold in the center is a wooden crate.  Two pieces of the crate were die cut using the Wood Crate framelit die  and the  Wood  Grain DSP.  Prior to its construction, the bottom was trimmed off. This allows the crate to fold flat during mailing. In addition two inserts were adhered inside the crate allowing the cats to be adhered to these strips. Some embellishments were added to the crate front. It is attached to the card at both the end piece and one of the long pieces.

The stamparatus was used to stamp cats of different colours and colour combinations, and the cat punch punched them out.  Four cats were placed in the crate; two on the front.

Each of the panels is layered with Basic Black card stock, followed by Botanical Butterfly Gala DSP. On the front the Whisper White art piece die cut with the stitched rectangle framelit is matted with Grapefruit Grove foil paper and then added to the checkerboard pattern DSP.  On the Whisper White piece the word "meow" is stamped randomly a number of times.  Two cats are adhered side by side, with the multicoloured cat adhered with dimensionals. A red bow is attached to its tail, and a butterfly punched from the Botanical Butterfly Gala DSP was added at the top right.

Part of the sentiment is at the front of the card; the entire sentiment is on the back portion.  The Whisper White piece is matted with the foil paper and below the sentiment is a foil rooster.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Nine Lives
Inks:  Black Memento, Smoky Slate,  Early Espresso, Basic Black marker
Papers:  Thick Whisper White, Whisper White, Basic Black, Botanical Butterfly Gala DSP, Wood Grain DSP, Grapefruit Grove Foil
Accessories:  Cat Punch, Duet Butterfly Punch, Wood Crate Framelits, Stitched Rectangle Framelits, Dimensionals

April Showers bring - Tulips - Paper Craft Crew Challenges #289

I have been so impatient for the spring flowers to appear!

And they have been so slow in doing so.  The Ice Storm of 2 weeks ago didn't help matters, but the temperature is rising now to more seasonal levels and hopefully we'll see some action - in the plant department anyway.

For the challenge with Paper Craft Crew #289 (April Showers Bring May Flowers) I pulled out a hostess stamp set that will be retiring the end of May.

The Tranquil Tulip stamp set has been a favourite of mine and I have used in on a number of occasions.  I will miss it.

These are my spring flowers - tulips arranged in a Z-fold card.  The base of this card is Wild Wasabi (retiring), scored at  5 1/2 and one panel scored again at  2 3/4".  Each section was layered with Whisper White card stock and then the green diagonal striped Delightfully Daisy DSP.

The tulips were stamped using the Stamparatus, fussy cut, put together with dimensionals and then adhered to a strip of window sheet inside a die cut crate. 

For a sturdier structure, the crate was die cut from  a piece of Whisper White card stock stamped with the Woodgrain background stamp.  The edges were sponged lightly with Soft Suede ink.  To allow the crate to fold with the Z fold card, I removed the bottom of the crate and inserted a 1" insert inside for stability and for the tulips to attach to.

This crate was inserted into the Z of the card on 2 sides.  On the top front section I added a strip of Delightfully Daisy DSP as well as the sentiment (from Bunch of Blossoms).

Three colors(Rose Red, Rich Razzelberry and Daffodil Delight)  and 2 sizes of tulips were stamped and fussy cut.  The stems and leaves were also fussy cut, and after sponging all the edges, the flowers were assembled and adhered to a strip of window sheet.  This is turn was adhered to the inside of the wooden crate.

top view

On the front I placed 3 small single tulips in a circle on a small white Doillie and placed a triple white organza ribbon just below them.

Some clear Wink of Stella was applied to the base only of all the tulips.  I found this glitter tended to smear the colour somewhat so limited its application to the base.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Tranquil Tulips (retiring), Bunch of Blossoms, Wood grain
Inks:  Rich Razzelberry, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Basic Black
Papers:  Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Delightfully Daisy DSP
Accessories:  White Delicate Doillie, 1/4" white organza ribbon, Stamparatus, Window Sheet, Wood Crate framelit die, dimensionals, Clear Wink of Stella

(Hot) Pig in the City...

This card was inspired by a TV commercial.  Yes, you read correctly ..a TV commercial!
I was casually watching a TV program when a commercial came on advertising "Hot Pig....in the City"

So, an idea was born.

The idea did not quite materialize as I visualized it in my mind,but I'm happy with the result. I used the hostess stamp set "In the Neighborhood" with "This Little Piggy"

Thick whisper white card stock was used to create a Z fold card

On the front I constructed a fence using the Wood Crate die and Crate DSP. This was placed on "On Theory DSP".  One of the Little Piggys was colored, cut out and placed in front of the fence.  At his feet are strips of the same  In Theory DSP torn in strips, sponged with Old Olive, and ruffled to mimic grass.  The sentiment was computer generated.

On the middle panel are 2 more pigs, also colored and cut out.  They are making their way to the city, which is reflected on the back panel.

The images from the City are colored with watercolor pencils.

On the l" strip I place some Old Olive card stock embossed with the petal burst embossing folder.
Did you notice that the word "neighbourhood" in this stamp set has both the American and Canadian spelling?

Supplies Used:
Stamps: This Little Piggy, In the Neighborhood
Inks:  Black Memento, Powder Pink, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Watercolor Pencils, Marina Mist
Papers:  Thick Whisper White, In Theory DSP, Old Olive, Whisper White, Crate DSP
Accessories:  Classic Label punch, Wood Crate framelit, Wink of Stella, dimensionals.