Cap It Off Alpha

Easter Wrap Up – Spring Cards Galore

Posted on by Lynn Hill

Sorry to be late posting to my blog this week but you know how people get busy and then time gets away! However, I didn’t want to let Easter get by without one last post of some really cute cards that made their way out of my mailbox and into the hands of some of my mini friends this week (**ALERT** I have heard reports that some have received theirs while others in the same households are still empty handed. That seems to be the way of the postal services these days. I hear their machines – both human and mechanical – are overworked and in under abundance).

I won’t give a lot of details for this week’s cards, mostly just pictures, but I did want to give a couple of little tips that I have found make my card assembly much easier.

Adding lettering to the front of a card using a word die looks really nice but can be a frustration when trying to line it up properly. I have found that cutting cardstock letters from the die then placing the negative of the word in the location I want it on my card makes this task an easy and frustration free endeavor. Run the letters through a Xyron 150 sticker maker, remove them from the backing, then place them back into the negative. Give the inserted letters a good rub to make sure they are fully adhered. Then, lift the negative away and your word will be aligned neatly on the front of your card.

My second tip is a perfect way to add artwork to an A2 card. Place the A2 card into the corner of your Misti. Add adhesive to the artwork and align it with the edges of the Misti. No more crooked card alignment.

When raising a panel on your cards for effect, how many 3D foam squares or strips is too much? some people place a sheet of foam over the entire back of their panel and others just make a rim around the four sides. I love using foam strips and have found that the 1/8-inch strips are perfect for this job. I surround the outer edges of my panel then make an X in through the center. Finally, fill in any large areas that might find themselves sinking if they become pressed in during the mailing process. Finally, if a card needs extra protection add a foam card cushion inside the envelope. This keeps the mail processing machinery from damaging your artwork or tearing the envelope open. But, be sure to add extra postage if you use one of these handy little pieces of foam because the extra depth will signal the USPS that your card is too thick for the minimum payment. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click the link for Card Cushions in the supplies list below for a visual.

And now for my last Easter cards of the season – Check the supply list if you are interested in any of the tools I used – And if you have questions about a specific card, please add a message below and I’ll be sure to respond.

  • TE – Oh Hoppy Day
  • MFT – Over the Moon for Ewe
  • TE – Cap It Off Alpha
  • TE – Iconic Wishes Sparrow
  • TE – Be Joyful Sentiments
  • TE – Bunch O’ Bunnies
  • Avery Elle – Sending Hugs

Supplies:

I do not receive compensation for listing the items I have used in this post; however, I like for you to be able to easily click links to order any items you might find interesting. When Possible I have included two links in case items are out of stock on one site.

Oh Hoppy Day Card:

Over the Moon For Ewe Card:

Cap It Off Alpha Card:

Iconic Wishes Sparrow Card:

Be Joyful Sentiments Card:

Bunch O’ Bunnies Card:

Sending Hugs Card:

Miscellaneous Tools Used:

** MFT Items that have been discontinued are often available from FranticStamper.com, Doodlebugswa.com, and Scrapbookpal.com. When possible I provide links to directly to MFT.

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Thanks for checking out my post. I hope you have had a nice Easter holiday and that you were able to share it with loved ones whether from a distance or fully vaccinated and in person. Please come back next week when I will have another new card to share with you.

Quick and Easy Die Cut Duplicates

Posted on by Lynn Hill

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! As an Irish-blooded lassie I couldn’t welcome you to my blog post any other way today. My mother’s maiden name was O’Neil and her mother’s maiden name was McStravick. A few years back my brother and I were looking through some old pictures and papers of Mama’s and we found my great-great grandfather’s naturalization papers from 1916 and the U.S. Passport he received six years later. He was born in 1855 in Ireland and arrived in America via Ellis Island. The O’Neil side came to America by way of Belfast and Ellis Island as well. Yep, official Irish here – and family proud.

I pray the luck of the Irish is with you today!

For my project this week I thought it would be fun to make cards for several of my mini friends for the Easter season. While doing so, I realized I should share my easy way to cut multiple pennants (from Taylored Expressions Pennant Parade) without having to line up and tape each die before cutting over and over again. We’ll get to that as we come to it.

I wanted these cards to be in primary colors so I chose card bases and scalloped backgrounds using the TE Bold paper pack. I selected coordinating Buffalo Plaid Brights 6×6 paper from My Favorite Things to provide the visual background for each card.

Each child’s name was cut from bold colors using the Taylored Expressions Cap It Off Alpha set. They were cut a second time using white cardstock to provide the outlines. I selected one letter in each name to be replaced with a Bunch O’ Bunnies silhouette and a puffy pom-pom tail. 

I am constantly writing notes to myself so I am always searching for a great paper desk pad. I generally use My Favorite Things’s grid pads but they have recently discontinued them. I ordered both Simon Says Stamp and Taylored Expressions grid paper pads to test them out. The Taylored Expressions pad is officially my favorite now because it not only has a grid for measuring and aligning, but it also has alignment windows to help line up and center A2 cards (horizontally and vertically) and a 6-inch square alignment window, too.

I cut each buffalo plaid sheet with a stitched rectangle die then aligned them on the grid paper using the A2 lines. I used a piece of vellum folded in half to help create a straight line for my lettering. The vellum was aligned and taped across the plaid paper ¼ inch from the bottom. I didn’t have to measure it, I lined it up with one of the grid lines that just happened to be ¼ inch from the bottom of the paper. 

Each letter was assembled with a white outline and then fed them through the Xyron Create-a-Sticker 150 machine. I actually used glue on two of the cards but decided the mess was more than I was interested in dealing with so I thought I would give the Xyron a try. Whew! That made my job ten times easier and much quicker too. I didn’t have any trouble with the letters coming apart after the adhesive was applied. 

After attaching the letters and bunny I tied a bow at both ends of a piece of 1mm burlap string. I used trial and error to decide my string length. I tied the bow on the loose end and then tied the second bow on the spool end of the string…retying until the length was not too long or too short to create a banner for my pennants.

I needed at least 25 pennant pieces because I wanted to make five cards with five pennants each. I almost dreaded the repetition until I realized I could make a template to make my project much easier.

I will explain the process I used to stamp and cut the templates but if you want to scroll down to the video you can actually see the process and maybe understand it a little better.

I used the Misti stamping platform to align five pennant stamps in a row. Using similar bold colors as those used for the names, I applied ink to the stamps in one color, adjusted the cardstock in the Misti, and repeated the process with another color until I had six rows of pennants in six different colors (Catherine Pooler Premium Dye Ink – Rockin Red, Orange Twist, Limoncello, Grass Skirt, Fiesta Blue, and Queen For A Day).

I then stamped one more row of the pennants on a separate card to create my cutting template. The Pennant Parade pennant dies come in a set of three so I aligned the three dies on the first three pennant stamps, cut them out, and then aligned two dies on the remaining pennants and cut them. 

Having a template really sped my cutting process. I was able to align the template on a stamped row of images and tape it in place. I then slid the dies on top of the template where they locked in place once they were in proper alignment. I cut three of the pennants at a time in each color and then repeated the process with the final two pennants in each color.

Sometimes a visual makes things easier so I have attached a video I made while stamping the pennants, making the template, and then cutting the pennants from cardstock.

Before I took the stamps from the Misti door I stamped a few more rows of various colors of pennants and placed them in an envelope with my template. Once you have removed the stamps from the Misti door it would be nearly impossible to replace the stamps in the same pattern. By going ahead and inking the extra stamps makes it possible for me to reuse my cutting template in the future.

Once the pennants were cut I was able to adhere them to the card using 3D Foam squares. I tucked the string behind the pennants and assembled the cards. My mini friends always enjoy getting mail and I know they will love these bright and cheerful cards when they arrive.

Supplies:

I do not receive compensation for listing the items I have used in this post; however, I like for you to be able to easily click links to order any items you might find interesting. When Possible I have included two links in case items are out of stock on one site.

As usual, I would love for you to share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you liked what you saw today and would like to be sure to catch all of my posts, scroll to the bottom of this page and subscribe to my blog via email. I also try to post regularly to Instagram (@LynnHillIsACraftyMess) and occasionally on Facebook (@LynnHillIsACraftyMess). 

Last week I was lamenting about not being able to find any purple tape in the “old” style. I asked around this week and hear that the new style is not currently available either. I hope that means they are reformulating it back to the original style!! Today’s question has to do with the Pennant Parade dies. Does anyone else wonder why the dies don’t come in a five pack since all of the Pennant Parade stamps come in sets of five? I guess I’ll just have to order a second set of the dies to that I can get the best use out of the templates I make. Thanks for stopping by today, and Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to you!