Two Gifted Stamp Sets

My sister Dotsy and I share a common malady -- purchasing items that we already own.  I couldn't tell you how many times I have purchased a stamp set and subsequently found out that I already had it.  Fortunately, we also share a common interest -- stamping.  So when either of us duplicates a purchase, we can share the extra one with the other person.  I have two cards today that I made using shared products.

The first one is a cute little stamp set from Kindred Stamps based on the movie Up!  As I was trying to design something to use this set on, I wondered if the Karen Burniston Raising Platform would work with it.  Guess what -- it does!  I found a small scrap of balloon paper that I just couldn't throw away, and it was just enough for the front of this mini slimline card.

The Raising Platform Pop-up was actually the perfect base for the house/balloons on the inside.  I added a few clouds to the sky and stamped an appropriate sentiment on the strip across the bottom, adding a balloon from Karen's Big Birthday Charms set.

Dotsy's second duplication was a cute tennis player named Gigi from StampAnniething.  It had been a while since I used Karen Burniston's Rockin' Rectangle set, and I love making acetate-front cards using it.  I love the way you get a hint of what's on the inside with this type of card.  I have one really old vertical "Happy Birthday" stamp, and it worked great on this card.

There's a little play-on-words on the inside.  I'm not a tennis player, but I know that "love" is the word for no score in tennis.  And that little tennis ball is mounted on a short strip of acetate so that it looks like Gigi is ready to hit it away.

It's nice that, when our brains don't quite remember what is in our stamping arsenal, we have someone with whom to share our duplicate purchases.  I have done the same with Dotsy as well.

Buzzing By

I recently watched a video of a card that Karen Burniston made using the Lorna Label, on which she cut a frame into the label.  I thought it was so clever that I wanted to try it.  

My card measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  As there is no word die for the "buzzing by," I used the KB Mini Alphabet & Numbers set for that part of my sentiment.  The bee on the front of the card is from the Flower Pot Pop-Up set.  He is placed at the center of three dies from the Circles - Crosshatch set.

I didn't think the honeycomb would be easily seen if it were placed directly on the floral background, so I cut a white label and placed it behind the frame.

Here is a close-up of the frame.  This bee and the honeycomb are part of the Flutter Charms set.

I'm very happy with the result of my experiment.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- "Thirst Quencher"

The theme of this month's Karen Burniston Designer Challenge is "Thirst Quencher."  The new Tea & Coffee Pop-Up was the perfect choice.  I was really happy when I saw a tea cup in the new release.  It seems that the world drinks coffee, but I'm a tea drinker.

I made a birthday card for my challenge card.  The front is pretty straight-forward with a congratulations wish for the recipient.  I did add a small teacup up in the corner from the Tea & Coffee Borders set.  The mat layers are shiny gold.  The "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY" sentiment was computer-generated.

But the inside has a little play-on-words for the sentiment, using the Mini Alphabet set.  I decided to "fancy-up" the teacup with some gilding.  I sponged on some gold ink for the design and drew in the gold lines with a pen.  The cup handle and the spoon are gold cardstock.  

I had tried to use vellum for the steam behind the cup, but it didn't show up well, so I used a white cardstock of a different shade than the cup for some contrast.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My Irish ancestors would be unhappy with me if I didn't make cards for St. Patrick's Day.  I don't want to be haunted so I always plunge right in.  This card was made with the Karen Burniston Landscape Rectangle Acccordion die and a couple of other previously released sets.

The backgrounds on the first and third panel were made by sponging ink through a Kindred Stamps stencil, while the middle panel is patterned paper.  I also cut out the cute gnomes from another section of the patterned paper and popped them up with foam squares.

I hope you have a very lucky St. Patrick's Day this year.  And, if you are so inclined, have a mug of green beer!

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge "Bunny Ears"

Easter is at the end of this month, so it was appropriate for the theme of the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge for March to be "Bunny Ears."  I chose the Landscape Rectangle Accordion die as the base for my card, making a little scene for the front, using the bunny rabbit from the Spring Animals set and some small flowers from Fun Flowers for the front panel.

I found some cute Easter egg paper in my stash for the second panel, just adding the Happy Easter and Shadow.  

The third panel is just a little different.  I used two of the small frames that come with the Landscape Accordion and added an Easter basket from the new Animal Add-ons 5 and a butterfly from the Backyard Charms.

As you can see, I used another one of the new dies, the Easter Borders, along the bottom edge of the entire card.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my Designer Challenge for March.

A Very Merry Un-Birthday

Did I say that I love the new Karen Burniston Tea & Coffee Pop-Up?  Well, I do.  And after seeing fellow DT member Jennifer Webster's Mad Tea Party card, I was inspired to make one of my own.  I've had a set of Alice in Wonderland-inspired stamps from Kindred Stamps, and it was perfect for my card.  I stacked three of the teacups from the Tea & Coffee Borders set on the table.

I used the same gingham patterned paper from the table on the front for the inside, adding my teacup and two panels from the Fancy Label Accordion for my sentiment.  

I loved reading Alice in Wonderland as a kid.  There's also a second book by Lewis Carroll -- Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.  I have a very old copy of this book, which was my mother's when she was a child.  The cover page is missing, so I have no idea how old it is -- but she was born in 1919 and the pages are quite brown around the edges.

Surf's Up!

I'm loving the new release from Karen Burniston.  One of the new dies is Beach Elements -- perfect for a Floridian!  Today's card features this set and the monkey from the Monkey & Lion set.  The front has a serene beach scene with the beach umbrella and surfboard from Beach Elements.

But the sentiment promises a little more action -- the monkey is taking on the surf.

FYI, that monkey actually faces the other direction if used as it is cut with the die.  But I turned it over and used the back so that his tail is trailing along behind him as he rides the waves.

The middle set of waves are attached with strips of cardstock cut, scored and formed into two cubes -- very similar to the mini pop-ups in Fireplace Extras 1.  I trimmed the waves in one spot so that the surfboard could sit flat on top of the left-hand pop-up.  I cut two slits in the surfboard and inserted two small strips of cardstock which were glued against the front of the pop-up cube.  They were covered with the front set of waves, as you can see in this photo.  The strips stick up far enough for the monkey's feet to be glued to them.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today to see my surfing monkey.