Mountain View Fun Fold - Dainty Delight Birthday Card

I love making special fun folds for special birthdays and this one is no exception. I found a wonderful tutorial on Pinterest by France Martin (“Mountain View Fun Fold” dated Jan 9, 2023). Her examples didn’t include the paper I was using though and I changed it up a little inside as well.

Inside, I added some panels of embossed card stock and since I was traveling when I finished off the card, I was missing a stamp for “and”, so I had to draw that in using a blending pen and ink spot. Not happy with the way that turned out but, this is a handmade card after all and no one can dispute that! LOL Here’s the inside:

Please check out France Martin’s blog at  Frenchiestamps.com (search for “Mountain View Fun Fold”) to get the directions making this fun fold. It’s easier than it looks!

Thanks for stopping by…have a creative day!

Cherry Blossom cards - softly watercolored with pencils

I remember this stamp set each year around this time in spring, but I often don’t get around to using it. I love it and can’t get rid of it but…actually use it?? Hmmm….LOL I don’t even remember the name of the set anymore as I just kept the stamp!! But I love the way the cards turned out and am so happy to have used the set again and so, I am sharing it here.

On the left, I did the cards in coral (Calypso Coral to be exact!)  using the Stampin’UP! watercolor pencils and brushed over the color with a water painter brush. When I was done with coloring, I embossed the panel using the Textured Textile Embossing Folder in the Cut & Emboss machine. I love the subtle texture that this embossing folder imparts, without becoming too overwhelming with the rest of the card. The punch used for the sentiments is the Double Oval and the Thinking of You sentiment came from the Paper Pumpkin kit Pick of the Crop from June 2022. I added jewel-like sequins to the card to complete the cards. Here’s a close up of the coral card design:

After I finished the coral cards, I decided that I needed to make some in a soft pink, which is more the typical cherry blossom color. So I used the Melon Mambo watercolor pencil fairly lightly and matched it with Bubble Gum card stock and a soft pink ribbon as embellishment. Tiny faceted rhinestones completed these cards:

 

And I forgot to photograph the insides and the envelopes separately but I stamped the lower bottom insert in the card with a cluster of  buds. And you can see the envelopes peeking out from behind the card also have the flower branch stamped on it.

If you like coloring with pencils and/or the softer watercolor look, try the watercolor pencils and a bit of water on a brush. See the supply list at the end of this post. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies used for this card include:

-Basic White card stock 8.5x11”  #159276

-Calypso Coral cardstock 8.5x11” #122925

-Bubble Gum cardstock 8.5x11” #161718

-Watercolor pencils assortment 1 #161700 & assortment 2 #149014

-Double Oval Punch #154242

-Water Painters #151298

-Paper Trimmer #152392

-Cut & Emboss machine #149653

-Calypso Coral Classic Stampin’ Pad #147101

-Stamp set: retired (name unknown)

-Ribbon: white or pink organza ribbon (from my stash) 

Magical Meadow Birthday Circle Easel Card

There’s a *beautiful* Designer Series Paper pack called Winter Meadow with six different beautiful prints with soft watercolor foliage! There is a corresponding stamp and die set called Magical Meadow too. Don't laugh.....but I tried to resist buying it for the longest time! And then I caved in (of course) as Pinterest kept showing me all the gorgeous cards made with the paper pack alone, and even more designs with the corresponding stamp set. 

Most recently, Pinterest presented several renditions of easel cards using this set and the Deckled Circles dies. So I decided to make a special birthday card using it. 

For the card base, I laid the largest circle die that would fit in an A2 envelope (approximately 4") on a folded piece of Lost Lagoon but moved the die so that the top part of the circle on the fold would not get cut off but both pieces would remain attached by a half inch or so. I then folded just the top layer of the circle in half so that the bottom of the circle reached the top of the fold where the circles attached and then reversed the fold so that it would fold under instead of over. Then I opened the card again to lay flat.

Next I cut another circle of the same size also out of Lost Lagoon and glued it only to the lower half circle I had just folded on the card base. 

Then came the layers of Berry Burst then the DSP, in incrementally smaller sizes of the Deckled Circles.

The card front was stamped with "Winter Wishes", which is a sentiment in the corresponding stamp set. 

Inside, I used the sentiment from the "Friendly Hello" set and popped it up using foam dimensionals to be the "stopper" for the easel card. Here's the card opened like an easel:

I also made a second card at the same time, but sent it off without photographing the finished product. I stamped the greeting on a label and added it to the center of the card front, embellishing the front with some greenery cut from vellum so as to not block the pretty DSP print. 

Hoping you love this card as much as I do! I still have DSP left to make more...LOL

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Zany Zoo accordion fun fold card

Goodbyes are sad, especially if you’ve just recently connected with someone in your neighborhood that you saw regularly and always said hi to, but just found that connection. So when there was a small gathering to wish her well, I offered to make a card we could all sign. And I knew immediately that I wanted to use the Zany Zoo set. Why? Because it has a bunch of zoo “characters” that represent (possible) people in our neighborhood! There’s a knitting llama (yes you read that right!), a fox zooming by on a scooter, a hippo ballerina, a bear sitting in a comfy chair reading, a sloth in a yoga post, a hippo wearing a tutu on point, a skunk bird watching, a turtle singing…need I go on? Here’s a photo of the adorable paper pack:

The tough part was finding a card design that would allow me to show off several of the animal characters. I decided on an accordion fold and put panels on the front and back of each accordion fold. Then I had to decide which characters to use! And this is what I came up with and how the front of the card turned out:

Here’s the second “page”

And the third:

Because this card was from a group of people, I hoped that the zany zoo caricatures would coincidentally represent several of us signing the card (and I already knew there was a professional artist among us)… So then on the back, there was room to sign the card and a simple sentiment I printed from my computer. 

For the card base, I used a double sided 12x12 card stock from my stash so if you’re wondering, it is indeed blue on one side and fuchsia on the other!

This was a fun card to make and everyone was amazed! That’s why I love making cards …unique, one-of-a-kind cards for special people and their memorable moments. I sometimes don’t have the time, or the inspiration….but when I can,  I sure do love it!

Thanks for stopping by…

Layering Leaves Thank you card

I always take craft supplies with me when we travel as there’s always some down time in the evenings especially. These cards are ones that I made during one of our camping trips. I often overthink things and want to add another element but when I’m crafting away from home, my supplies are limited and I have to settle with what I brought with me. Still, I did like the way these cards turned out, though I wish I had packed my die cutting machine and an embossing folder! These cards use the Layering Leaves stamp set and coordinating Bough Punch. The stamp set has 4 different options for the leaves so I tried two of them. Here I stamped one design of leaves then watercolored it lightly to spread the ink color throughout the leaves. Then I stamped on a scrap piece of paper and punched the design out. The little pink berries or stems with little flowers have a coordinating stamp as well but I decided to just punch them out without further details. 

I stamped the same leaves on the background of the second card then I simply punched the leaf shape from a plain cardstock, adding once again the little spray of berries/flowers.

Not sure which I prefer…I rather like them both! Which is your choice?

Bamboo Beauty - simple any occasion card

A beautiful stamp set of bamboo stalks and leaves, this set was a “must buy” for me as soon as I saw it. But I had a hard time breaking it out of the stamp case! This is my first card made with the set a while ago. It’s a style known as SIP (Stamps, Ink & Paper) and demonstrates how beautiful a card can be without fancy die cuts or umpteen layers (which is usually more of my typical style!)  

I wanted a simple card, added a hint of a shaded background (created using a blending brush and a Pacific Point stamp pad). The bamboo and leaves were inked with Garden Green and the mat is also Garden Green. I added a pearl but left it without sentiment as I wanted it to be for any occasion. I ended up creating a dozen of these for donation to a handmade card fundraiser for a local senior center lunch program. 

And here’s the stamp set:

Stay tuned…My next post will showcase a beautiful beach scene card featuring this set….

Pampered Pets meets Animal Talk for a masculine birthday card

 I received an order the other day, for a masculine hand made card. Nothing fancy but with a cat on it was the request. So I dug out some recently retired DSP (paper pack) called “Playful Pets” and the coordinating “Pampered Pets” stamp set. And then I remembered that I still had an  old stamp set called “Animal Talk” and decided it was time to pull that one out again. The “Animal Talk” stamp set was perfect except for one thing. 

And since I love making fun fold cards for special people, I decided on a simple but fun design called a center step card. With only a single rhinestone and no ribbon (cuz generally masculine cards don’t do bling and ribbon). Here’s how the card turned out:

This card measures the same as the standard A2 card (5.5 x 4.25”) but the side panels are recessed which makes this card totally 3D! The cat “message” was a thank you sentiment but the dog one said “happy birthday”. So I used the first part of the cat “talk” and the second part from the dog “talk”. Here’s what the card looks like opened up. 

Hmm….but you still don’t see the 3D effect! So here are a few photos of a blank card base in white, front and back, if you can imagine that with printed paper and words: 

And in the event that anyone is interested in making one, here are the cutting and scoring (fold line) dimensions (score lines are shown as dotted lines):

Let me know if you try this, or want to but have difficulties in reading the dimensions, etc. Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Mountain Fold Fun Fold cards - Awash in Beauty DSP - Birthday & Sending Hugs/Friendship

 On a roll with these mountain fold cards. When I made my very first one, I thought “this is too complicated”. But I LOVED IT so…I made a second, and a third and by the end of the evening, I had made 8 of them! I ran out of DSP so I didn’t get to finish them all (I was out of town and crafting in a hotel room in the evenings). So some were finished at home a week later. These are the ones made with the Awash in Beauty DSP:

 I kept forgetting however that the card base is 8”! But by the end of the evening,  I had that down. Here’s a super rough diagram of the cutting and scoring dimensions (click on any photo to zoom in):

The belly band is 1” x 9” strip, scored at 2” and 6.25”. I glued the edges where they overlap in front and adhered my sentiment on top, hiding the seam. And that’s it for today. Hope this has inspired you to create something and have some fun. Thanks for stopping by!

Hand Penned Friend card

Hand Penned is a stamp set with coordinating dies from the current 2022-23 Stampin’Up! catalog. The DSP paper pack retired but the stamp set is still available and there are more and more pins with cards featuring it every day! I absolutely love this set and have used it many times. I recently found the set of card bases and matching envelopes so I created the following using some of my last pieces of the DSP pack:

The "friend" sentiment is from the "Happiness Abounds" stamp set, which is also another fave! (I can't believe I haven't posted any pics of cards made with this set or the beautiful paper pack...except that I haven't posted many cards at all period.)

The butterfly die is from my stash and creates a nice focal. Tiny pearls add a touch of elegance, but oh so subtly.  I’ll be adding these cards to my Etsy shop soon. Please visit at KikumiDesigns.Etsy.com if you’re curious. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have an amazing day! 

Black and pink floral birthday card with Hand Penned Flower Dies

Oh my, it’s been a while since I posted. It’s definitely not that I haven’t made any cards in the last month or two but just no time to post anything! And then after the holidays is the usual required clean up of an  incredibly messy craft room! Mostly done but I got fed up of cleaning up so the last bits remain cluttering the craft table while I decided to work on something else.

With the reorganization and clean up of craft supplies after the holidays, my stash of pretty DSP (Designer Series Paper)  caught my attention! Especially some straggling last pieces that I couldn’t just toss in the recycle bin.  So I’ve been trying to use up those supplies! And oh, there’s a new mini Catalog that just got released….Let me just say that it’s way easier to buy craft supplies than it is to use them up…So I made a concerted effort to use up the last few sheets of a pretty black and white Hand Penned DSP that I had laying around.  

I hadn’t done a black and pink card in a long while so I decided that would be the theme of the last few sheets of this paper pack. I paired it with Polished Pink card stock and a die cut from the Penned Flower Dies is the focal on the front of the card.

The Happy Birthday greeting is from the Heron Habitat stamp set. A few pink embellishments and a bow tied finish off the card. 

And I try to put something coordinating inside the card as well as on the envelope…usually it’s simple like a stamped image or an extra strip of the printed paper…

And on the envelope, I added a die cut from this set:

This is the Hand Penned bundle of stamps and Penned Flower dies. It’s one of my all time favorites and I’ll no doubt be posting more cards using this wonderful set:

Hope you enjoyed reading about one of my recent creations. Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Cards using the Texture Chic Memories and More Set

I bought the Texture Chic Memories and More cards the other day. I don't usually buy the Memories and More sets but I really wanted to get something from the Texture Chic Suite, without getting the entire suite of products. The Memories and More set was offered at a reduced price as one of the weekly specials in September. The Memories and More set is a collection of cards in various sizes that use the same patterns as the printed paper pack (DSP). I added card bases in white or Petal Pink then added a 4x6' card from the set for the front of my card (cut down to 4x5.25"), and a strip of the remaining card to inside. Some times the words were perfect so I save a few of those! Here are a some of the cards I made with this kit:

And there remained plenty of other material to use on more cards (or scrapbooking pages)...but that's for playing another day.