There's A Mouse In the House

Wow! We are at the middle of the week already!  I can hardly believe it.  It has been a busy week so I guess the time just seems to be flying by everyday.  My husband will be done with his class tomorrow and I can hardly wait to be able to spend an entire day with him. 

I am always looking for new ideas for my cards.  I am sure all of you are too.  When I find a card I really like, I tend to copy a picture of it and save it in a file of ideas to try.  That is where I found my inspiration for today's card.  It always amazes me how many ideas I have in my file.  A lot of them I collected over 2 years ago.  When my brother became ill and my life became caring for him and spending as much time with him as I could, I slowed down on my card making.  So these ideas really sat and were forgotten.  For me, opening this file is like opening a present.  I always find something new I wanted to try.  While the idea may be cased, I always try to change the color scheme of the card and believe it or not, I do not have every punch Stampin' Up! has ever made so I use different punches.    Some were retired before I became a demonstrator so I figure out what to use in the place of any retired ones which can sometimes alter the look of the card.  I happen to be looking through the card samples and found this little cutie.  I wanted to give her a try so I will let you decide if I did a good job or not.  Ready? 

 

Doesn't Disney make the cutest characters?  Minnie Mouse is one of the best and most recognizable characters out there.  I saw this card on Ellen Kemper's site a while ago.  However, she did not make it.  It was made by a woman named Anita (I do not know her last name) and was first posted on her daughter Lucia Dune's blog.  When I saw the face, I could not resist this one.  

I started with a base card of Daffodil Delight measuring 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  Minnie always has a sunny attitude so the color seemed to fit it.  I then rummaged through some retired designer paper that I had and found this beautiful Tempting Turquoise one with the dotted white circle on it.  I cut it to be 4" x 5 1/4".  I adhered it to the base card with runner adhesive.  Next I took another piece of Daffodil Delight and cut it to be 2" x 4".   I ran it through my big shot using the Finial Press impression folder.  I then attached it to the top of the designer paper.  I added white gel pen to the dots in the center of the flourishes. 

 

Since Minnie is not my own original design, I am not going to list all the punches used to create her.  Instead I would recommend you visit Lucia's Blog.  Anita does a wonderful job of giving you instructions.  I only had to substitute one punch on this one.  The one she used for the black of the eyes is a retired one that I do not have.  I used the wide heart from the heart to heart punch.  I also chose to add pearls to Minnie's bow.  I just love her in polka dots!  The colors I used for her are Whisper White, Basic Black, Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo, and Regal Rose (tongue only).  She is attached to the card with dimensionals. 

 

The greeting comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I stamped it with Basic Black ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I highlighted the edges with black ink and then attached it to a Tempting Turquoise modern label.  I added a pink rhinestone to each end and attached it to the card using dimensionals.  

 

For the inside saying, I used a non-Stampin' Up! stamp.  It is stamped in Tempting Turquoise ink onto Whisper White,  I cut it out using the new Apothecary Accents framelits and my big shot.  I edged the sides with Tempting Turquoise ink.  I attached it to the card using runner adhesive.  Jewel tone stickers were added to the top and bottom of the saying.  I also colored in the stars with a Daffodil Delight marker.  I promise it is on the card straight.  I just did not hold the camera straight I guess.

Well that's it for today.  Please come back tomorrow and I will have another share for you.  Thanks for dropping by today.  Happy crafting!

Gift Bag

As I was working on a special project the other day, my sister called and said she needed a few gift bags to place a small gift in to give to students who are graduating from ASU this year.  Now don't think she needed them for all the students.  She only needed 18 for students who are part of her college and I believe they have worked there.  So of course I said I would do it.  Unfortunately I only had a few hours to get them ready.  She had to pick them up that night and pass them out the next day at work.  So I put together a really quick design and got started on production. 

 

This is the first side of the bag.  I started with Whisper White card stock cut at 6" x 12".  I ran it through my big shot using the XL Bigz die Fancy Favor.  This actually cut out the bag shape and scored the lines where I would need to bend them to put it together.  To secure it, I knew I would need a strong adhesive so I used my sticky strip.  Now because I knew I wanted to decorate the sides prior to assembling the bag, I put the sticky strip on where it would be needed but did not peel off the top red layer of it.  That way it would be ready when I needed it to be and not stick to anything while I worked on it.  

As you can clearly see, my sister works for Arizona State University.  The school colors are maroon and gold so I chose to use Bravo Burgundy and Daffodil Delight as my colors of card stock.  My Cricut machine came in very handy to use for making the letters.  I used a cartridge for the machine called Plantin Schoolhouse.  It is an alphabet cartridge which actually came with my machine when I got it.  As you can see, I cut out sets of letters in both of the colors so I could alternate them on my cards.  I adhered the letters down using a liquid glue.  

Next I pulled out a retired stamp set called Go, Graduate.  I used the cap stamp from it and stamped one with Bravo Burgundy ink and the other with Daffodil Delight ink.  Now I could have stamped these all over the side and then adhered the letters but I wanted a simple clean look.  I also could have added glitter but I did not really have time to today.  

 

Here is the other side of the box.  I basically stuck to the same theme.  I began by using the same Cricut cartridge and cutting out numbers in both Bravo Burgundy and Daffodil Delight so I could also alternate them on here.  They are adhered with liquid glue.  Again I used the same stamp to add my decoration.  Once the letters and numbers had been adhered and had a chance to dry, and the stamping was all done, I assembled my bag together and it was ready to go.  

While I did not get a photo on the gift I will tell you we finished the bags off by placing a half sheet of tissue paper in each and then placed the gift which was a really cool key chain.  Hopefully, her students will love the key chains and take time to look at the bag.  All in all, I kept the task simple for myself so I knew I could finish it in time for her to get them.  I had a lot of fun making these. 

 Now I have a secret project to work on for someone special.  I cannot share any details about it yet since the someone has not received it.  However, I do promise to share it with you as soon as I can.  I think you will appreciate it when you see it (at least I hope you will. 

Thanks for stopping by today and please come back tomorrow.  See you all then!