The Stamping Owl

In my May class we bid farewell to some retiring products and enjoyed the others that will continue on.  The retiring items we used are shown here.  Please go to bottom of this post to see all of the products used by card for May's class.

The first 2 cards use one of my new favorite sets that will continue into the new annual catalog (YAY!), which is Playful Pals.  These images were supplemented with Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series paper (retiring).

Somehow little rabbits and strawberries go together for me.  It must be that they are both little and cute.  The featured color is watermelon wonder.  To make the rabbit, I used the Playful Pals set--the same shape for the head and body and then another stamp for the ears.  For the rabbit's paws, I used the eraser top on a pencil with crumb cake ink.  The Playful Pals set has shapes that could be used for the paws, but we used them for the ears on the owl card and I didn't have 2 of the stamp set to use in class.

 This card has one of my all-time favorite critters, an owl, and could be used as a graduation card or any other congratulatory occasion.  Inside is a pocket to tuck in a monetary gift or gift card.  The finished card size is 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  Start with a piece of very vanilla that measures 4 1/4" x 10".  Score along the long edge at 4 1/4" and 8 1/2".  Fold up the flap to form the pocket.  Use the 1" circle punch to punch out half a circle tab from the small flap.  Then attach the corners using a glue dot for extra hold.  I used the Tree Builder Punch for the cloud and the branch.

I really like the Happy Home stamp set that we used to make this card.  I meant to use it more in class but it seems that time has run out on me since it is retiring.  The images remind me of a nice sunny and breezy day at the park.  It was also my last chance to use the retiring in-colors Blackberry Bliss and Mossy Meadow in class.  

This card was the feature card that was made using the set Barnyard Babies.  I really like this cow and thought she looked cute eating an ice cream cone.  The ice cream cone is cut out from one of the papers in the Birthday Bouquet designer series paper set.  I used an exacto knife around the edge of the cow's mouth to create a slit to be able to tuck in the cone and ice cream.  I learned how to do the fold on this card from Linda Bauwin (stampingwithlinda.typepad.com).  Based on the instructions from her website,  I included the directions for how to create this fold on my post from October 31, 2015.

Hope you enjoyed the May cards! 

Rabbit and watercolor message card:

After I made the Totoro card this weekend, I decided to make more cards, this time in the 3x3 size.  

I made the same Totoro as before on the 2 1/2" circle and added a little heart to it for some color.  See my post on May 22nd for how I made the Totoro.

The other mini card has another kind of Totoro and his friend, a dust sprite.  Isn't the little dust sprite cute?  It's also known as a soot sprite.

To make the basic gray Totoro, I used the Balloon Bouquet punch.  I used the larger balloon size for the body by turning the balloon upside down and cutting off the end.  The ears are punched from the Word Window punch and then cut in half.  His tummy is the small oval punch and eyes are the 1/4" circle punch.  For the dust sprite, I punched a 1" circle from basic black.  Then I tore all around the edge to get the rough edges and reduce it down to about 3/4" or less in size.  This helped to make the dust sprite look like it had fuzzy edges.  Then the eyes are 1/4" circles.  The faces for both were drawn in using the Project Life journaling pens.

I made a tea bag holder (see post from November 21, 2015 for measurements and instructions) and tucked 2 of each card with envelopes in the pockets.  I wanted to make something cute for Ralene, Norine and Cindy for SWA Night.  Ralene and Norine are helping us by bringing supplies for the project tables.  I'm looking forward to giving these to them!

Here are the supplies used to make the card with only Totoro.

This card was inspired by the character Totoro who is a mythical forest sprite from Japan.  There is a movie, stories and all kinds of merchandise inspired by Totoro and his companions.  I have a few of these items too.  Ralene has been suggesting that I make a card of Totoro using the Playful Pals set. So here it is...

The body was stamped in Marina Mist using the shape from Playful Pals.  The shapes in the set weren't quite the right shape and size for Totoro so I drew in his ears.  His tummy is a 1" circle punched from whisper white.  And the triangle designs are from the Playful Pals set.  His eyes were punched using the 1/4" handheld circle punch.  He is on a 2 1/2" circle punched from whisper white also.  The grass is from Barnyard Babies stamped in Old Olive.  I drew his eyes, nose and whiskers using the Project Life journaling pens.  Then the sentiment is from Greatest Greetings.  I used the Lucky Stars embossing folder for the Marina Mist half of the background, which matches the fun spirit of this character.  The only retiring item that I used in this project was the 2 1/2" circle punch.  

I had so much fun making this little guy that I decided to use this card as my swap for our Stamped With Aloha Inspiration Night next week.  

Stop by and visit later this week for more Totoro and one of his friends, a dust sprite (or soot sprite).  

Here are the supplies used for this project. 

My stampin' buddy and friend Pam gave me this adorable, cute and original honey bear with a label made from Bear Hugs and other embelishments.  The candy inside is Bit O Honey. She always comes up with awesome gift ideas and has a designer eye. 

Here is a close-up of the label.  The little bear has a pretty red foil heart along with a honey pot.  The images were stamped using the Bear Hugs set and then cut out using the coordinating framelits.  She used corrugated paper for the background of the tag.  And added more bling using gold sequins.

Here is the Honey Bear with other cards that she recently made for me as well.

Thanks, Pam, for your thoughtfulness and always inspiring ideas and designs!

Supplies used to make the bear tag:

Here is a sneak peek of the cards.  

We'll be making 3 each of 4 designs.  The class fee is $20 and all supplies to make the cards are provided including envelopes.  Classes are at my home and there are 4 sessions to choose from--spaces are still available in the sessions listed below.  Please let me know if you'd like to reserve a spot ([email protected]).  When you sign up, I'll send you a reminder 7-10 days before class that includes instructions to my home. 

• Saturday the 28th  Session 1 from 9 to noon
• Saturday the 28th, Session 2 from 1 pm to 4 pm
• Sunday the 29th, Session 3 from 9 am to noon
• Sunday the 29th, Session 4 from 1 pm to 4 pm

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek and that you'll sign up for class!

Here are some of the products being featured in class: