Elphie Selfie Birthday Card & Tag

Hello Crafty Friends!! Happy Hump Day!!

I'm back again with Team Xyron today, and we have something special lined up for you!!

We will be partnering up with Lawn Fawn all week long to bring you tons of crafty fun and inspiration!!

And as an added bonus, both Lawn Fawn and Xyron are each giving away a $50 prize package which includes one $25 gift certificate and one Xyron Mega Runner.

All you need to do to be eligible to win is:

1) Visit BOTH the Xyron and Lawn Fawn on Facebook.

2) Leave a comment on one (or all) of the featured 

Xyron & Lawn Fawn collaborated projects during the entire week.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, right??!!

For my project I used Lawn Fawn's Elphie Selfie clear stamp set. I was lucky enough to play with set at the Xyron AND the Lawn Fawn Booth during Creativation and immediately fell in love. Not only are the characters adorable but ,with all the different sentiments included, this set is very versatile.

 I started by first stamping my images onto Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. This is a heavy duty, multi-purpose paper, that holds lots of moisture from different mediums with minimum bowing.

Then, I traced and shaded my images using Tim Holtz Distress Markers. 

I used a Aquash Water Brush pen filled with water to blend the colors out.

Next, I used a scissors to cut out the images. 

If fussy cutting isn't your thing, Lawn Fawn also make the coordinating dies for this set (HERE). I, on the other hand, don't mind hand cutting. I sometimes find it very relaxing. 

 For my card front/ back ground I cut out patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's 

Perfectly Plaid Rainbow Petite Paper Pack to the following sizes:

White cardstock Card base- Standard A2 sized card- 5.5"x 8.5" (5.5"x 4.25" folded)

Rainbow plaid paper - 4.25" x 5.5"

White cardstock- 3.75" x 5"

Blue plaid paper- 3.5" x 4.75"

Green plaid- 1" x 4.75"

I ran the blue plaid and white cardstock through the Xyron Creative Station Lite and layered them onto each other, leaving a .25" white border around the blue.

Then I applied adhesive on the 1" x 4.75" strip by running it through the Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker (aka "X") . I attached it to the bottom of the blue paper creating a blank landscape to place my critters.

 I did not attach my landscape to the rainbow plaid at this point.

I knew I wanted a little dimension to my card so I decided to rain the landscape piece with some home made foam adhesive sheets.

To make my own foam adhesive, I simply took craft foam sheets and cut them down into two smaller pieces, and inserted it into my Creative Station lite. Once through, I trimmed the excess protective film off the sides, flipped the foam faced down and ran it through my machine again. Make sure you burnish your foam for maximum adhesion. Now both sides of the foam have adhesive on them.

I peeled back the protective film off one side of one of the foam sheets and applied it onto my landscape piece.

At the same time I was making foam I also ran through my rainbow plaid paper. This will be for when I attach the entire card front onto my plain white A2 sized card base.

Then, once that part was done, I peeled the other backing off the foam and mounted my landscape piece onto the rainbow sheet.

Now, with the left over adhesive foam sheet, I cut it into .5" strips, then down to little square and rectangles. to fit the back of the stamped images, creating little pop dots for most of my cut-outs, and attaching them to the backs.

Finally sticking them onto their little landscape. All I needed to do was peel the protective film and attach images as desired.

I had a brain fart moment and realized I forgot to stamp my sentiment. Usually I'd do this part onto my paper before doing anything else to it, just to avoid any potential accidents. But I went through with stamping anyway and just my luck... no accidents

I stamped my 'Wish Big' using VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. I love how bold and crisp it stamps.

I found some really thick dark pink and white twine that went perfect with all the colors of the card. So I decided to wrap it a couple times and tie a multi-loped bow onto my card.

I decided to make a tag with the extra paper I trimmed off making my card. These were obviously too small to make another card but big enough to make a tag. I don't like wasting perfectly adorable paper.

Putting it together was a cinch!

The created the tag by snipping off a corner to a 2"x 3.5" rectangle, I flipped it over and laid it faced down and mirroring the other side. lined up the corner to make sure they were straight and even, then took my scissors and made an identical cut. 

Then I took a .5" x 2" strip of leftover green paper and mimicked my card with a landscape view.

Next I ran my tag through my Creative Station Lite ad mounted it on white cardstock and trimmed a .25" border around it.

I also had a little ellie and a pennant leftover from my colored stamped images, to decorate my tag with.

Then,  I punched a hole at the top  of the tag and tied a bow up on top.

And for the final touch, a little faux stitching on both the card and tag, by creating dash lines around the perimeter of both.

And here is my finished Card and Tag set...

Hope you all enjoyed this project!! Thanks for stopping by!!

~Mitsyana Wright

And, just a reminder,

don't forget to enter in our awesome GIVEAWAY by visiting the Xyron and Lawn Fawn pages on Facebook!

Supplies Used

Elphie Selfie (Lawn Fawn)

Perfectly Plaid Rainbow Petite Paper Pack (Lawn Fawn)

Creative Station Lite (Xyron)

1.5" Sticker Maker (Xyron)

Other Supplies Used

Mixed Media Paper (Strathmore)

VersaFine Onyx Black Ink (Tsukineko/ Imagine Crafts)

Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Ranger)

Aquash Water Brush Pen (Pentel)

PITT Artist Pen M (Faber-Castell)

Craft Foam Sheets

Deluxe Paper Trimmer (Martha Stewart)

Scoring Board (Martha Stewart)

Cutterbee Scissors (EK Success)

Pink and White Baker's Twine

Clear Liquid Adhesive

Buttons

Welcome Little One

Hey there Crafty Friends!!!

Back with a cutesy card today... It seems nowadays all my friends are having babies. Baby after baby. I shouldn't talk... I had 4! And my friends call them stepping stair babies, if you line them all up in a row from oldest to youngest they look like a set of stairs. I had them really close together and now my friends and family often joke that it's time for me to have another baby. My youngest is now 2 and all my children are about 2 years apart. But I think I have enough and we're a perfect unit the way we are... 2 girls and 2 boys... even teams!! I'm good!

I know some of my friends aren't ready to call it quits just yet... so I'm stalking up my baby card arsenal. So the next time any one of my preggy pals delivers their bundle of joy I'll be ready!!

Soft. Simple. Cute!!

I definitely wouldn't mind getting this card in the mail for my little bundle.

Supplies & Tools Used

 DCWV  DIY Project Stack- Stencils

Die-namics Blueprints 18 (My Favorite Things)

Pink and Main - Little One Stamp Set

Xyron Creative Station w/  9" Permanent Adhesive Refill

I love these new DIY Stacks from DCWV!! Not only does each contain awesome projects that come together instantly, but each stack also contains luscious paper... the same gorgeous paper made with the same awesome quality that DCWV is known for ...  these stacks are filled, to use for the projects included or to use separately!! DCWV gives you more than enough to do BOTH!!

And today I'm using their awesome Stencil Stack! Not for it's awesome Stencils that come included ... which it comes with many, believe me... but for these fabulous papers!! The patterns and colors are absolutely perfect to go with my baby card!!

Today I also decided to give some new crafting toys a whirl... I recently purchased some new dies from My Favorite Things. These are so cool! I think I'll get more later!! But today I used MFT's Blueprints 18 set to make my card.

 I started by making a simple A2 sized card ( 8.5"x 5.5" folded in half- landscape profile) for my base out of the craft cardstock that was included in my stencil stack. This is, by far, the best craft cardstock I have ever used! It is nice and thick and sturdy. A cross between light chipboard and craft cardstock. This would be great to use a base for mixed media projects. I think it will stand up pretty well to moisture with minimal to no warping... yes, that is how good it is!!

Then I took my Blueprints 18 diagonal base/mat die (the larger one) and the stitched circle die... I place the stitched circle inside the diagonal die and held on place with a piece of blue painter's tape. I ran this through my die cut machine.

Now my die cut has a stitched window!!Awesome!! I also cut a matching diagonal piece out of a fun foam sheet to give my die cut some dimension. I didn't cut the stitched circle out of this piece but cut an additional foam circle out of more fun foam and set aside. I also used the smaller diagonal die to cut out some awesome polka dot paper that was also included in my stack.

I also used the embellishment dies that were included in the same set and cut out more fabulous paper from my stack... even though none of the papers match they compliment each other very well.

I decided to use This ADORABLE stamp set from Pink and Main for my main focal point... who doesn't love baby elephants!! Too too stinkin' cute!! I want to color these with my alcohol based markers so I need to stamp my image with an ink that won't smudge or smear... my Momento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad.

I colored my image using my Spectrum Noir markers in IG1, IG3, IG4 for the elephant's ear... BGR1, BGR2, BGR3 for the elephant's body... PP2 for the teeny tiny hearts... and LG2 and DG2 for my little bird.

After I was done coloring I cut my image out with the same stitched circle I used to cut my window. This circle gives stitch marks on both the outside and inside of the circle cut line... which is an awesome added bonus!

I quickly ran all my main pieces through my Xyron Creative Station... including the circle foam die cut (not pictured).

I always make sure to give the protective film a "once over" ensuring all the excess adhesive sticks to the plastic film and not all over the top side of my project. This is some heavy duty stuff and once it's stuck...  it... is... stuck!! So I'm getting off as much excess as I can! 

Now to peel and stick on to my card base!!

I then stamped my sentiment on the little embellishment flag and pennant I cut had previously cut.

I tied a bit of twine through my paper button I had cut earlier. Then Finally glued all my little embellishments in place with some glossy accents.

Other Tools & Supplies Used

We R Memory Keepers Evolution

Canson Illustration Paper 150lb

Momento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

Spectrum Noir Markers (IG1, IG3, IG4,BGR1, BGR2, BG3, PP2, LG2, DG2)

Fiskars Stamp Block Set

Martha Stewart Deluxe Paper Trimmer

Fun Foam sheet (school bus yellow)

Embroidery Thread (marigold)

EK Success 3D Dots

Ranger's Glossy Accents

I hope you enjoyed my project! See you all next time!!

Big Time Fun Double Scrapbook Page Layout

Hello Crafty Friends... I'm gonna make this a super quick post. Sorry 'bout that in advanced. But it's still a super cute & fun layout!

I used my Sizzix eclips machine in conjunction with the ecal software and Designs On Cloud 9's Circus In Town file set for all the circus animals and tent. For the ornate label I used the Labels With Shadows set. And for the fonts I used Big Top( for the words Big Top) and  Cafe Rojo (for the word fun). Both are free downloadable fonts.

Below I have addition close up pics of the entire layout.

And there ya have it... told ya this was gonna be quick.

I'll make it up with my next post...

Til then,

Happy Crafting!!

Hindi Album, Bunny Gift Set, & Lovin' Ewe

Hello Crafty Friends! It's been a while. I thought with the arrival of Spring it was adios to cold & flu season. Boy, was I wrong! I came down with a nasty bug and was down & out the whole week. Thankfully it was just me that got sick and not my entire clan. And, even though I was sick it was sure nice to catch up on some much needed rest. So, just in case anyone was wondering that's what happened to me and why I was M.I.A..

Any-who... I got  a few crafty projects I wanted to share.

The first is a 

Hindi inspired accordion style photo album.

Believe it or not... This was by far one of the easiest projects I made.

 What made it so easy was I purchase a pre-made accordion style photo album. This album held photos that measure 4"x 6". So, I just cut out an assortment of papers into 4"x6" rectangles and slid them into the pockets.

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I used the elephant from the Lil' Wild Thing from Design on Cloud 9. I also used tags from the More Artisan Labels file to dress the elephants.

The frame is a retired Sizzix Bigz frame die called Frame Ornate#2.

See... Easy-Peasy! You can transform any thing from plain to adorable in a matter of minutes.

My next project is a super cute 

Bunny Card & Gift Box Set.

To create this gift set I used the Bunny Cuties File from DC9 for the sitting bunny and peeker 

Martha Stewart's Around the Page Eyelet Lace Border Punch for the lacy paper trim

And Accucut's Box- Gable.

I used the bunny from the basket

I thought the bunny would be extra cute holding onto the bow instead of just peeking over the border.

I just love this little bunny holding her feet!

OK... Last project... promise

I finally did a double layout... I don't think I've done one within the last few months. In fact I think the last double layout I made was in November of last year. Wow!

I call this one...

Lovin' Ewe

I used DC9's Egg-stra Cute Ewe set for the sheep. And Snowman Skaters for the trees. Sorry, the eyes do not come with the Egg-stra Cute Ewe file set. It is a svg file I personally created. I call them my "pretty eyes".

For the picture frames I used Sizzix's Wavy Frame Bigz Die

and Accucut's Frame & Background- Wavy Die

I also used Martha Stewart's Around the Page Wild Flowers Border Punch and EK Success' Scalloped Scallop Edger Punch for the border trims.

I hope you enjoyed looking at all my creations because I enjoyed making them.

And, as always HAPPY CRAFTING everyone!!

Elephant Card

Happy Friday! 
I am pooped! The last two weeks have been soooooooo long and tiring! We visited my mom & dad for the fourth of July and me and the kids  spent part of the afternoon swimming and later that evcening we popped fireworks till after ten. We didn't get home till after midnight.  There is no Red Bull (my equivalent to a cup of coffee) in the house... sigh...
today is gonna be a long day, I just know it!

Now onto the fun stuff...

Here's a cute card I made for this week's Designs on Cloud 9 newsletter.

cute elephant card

I used the Designs on Cloud 9's Lil' Wild Thing file for the elephant, bird, & wagon and for the ornate shape I used Laurie's Labels shape #3. Mod background was a previous freebie from miss kate cuttables. The card measures 5" x 5", the inner mat was cut at 4.75" and so was the label. The assembled elephant measures 3.6" x 2.7" and the wagon measures 4.2" x 1.5".

And let's not forget it's also Freebie Friday at DC9. Todays freebie is...

Travel Icons

You can download it off the Designs on Cloud 9 website here. These would be great with all those family vay-cay & road trip pics you take this summer! Makes me almost want to pack up all four of my rugrats, hop in the car, and  head out onto the horizon seeking adventure...almost.

Ummm... maybe we'll save all those adventures for when they get older and can feed themselves and wipe their own backsides... yes, that sounds like a plan!

Well, while I'm home-bound, I guess I'll just keep on scrapping!

Craft on, my friends... craft on!