Dot & Whimsy

I have a masculine birthday card up today at 

My husband celebrated his 46th birthday this past Wednesday

and this was my card to him...he loved it!

I've used patterned papers and kraft die cut by Simple Stories and the

deer die cut from Miss Kate's

I typed out the sentiment with my computer and printer onto one of 

the patterned papers and then trimmed to size.  The cute chipboard clouds are

from Um Wow Studio!  

 And as always, Miss Kate's offers a FREEBIE OF THE DAY

each and every day, so don't forget to grab yours!

Have a happy weekend!

Hi there!  Today I'm sharing a little tutorial of how I put

together some recent 'applique' style cards using ribbon and dies.

The ribbon size needed will depend upon the size of dies that you're using.

The ribbon size that you will need to use will depend upon what size die you're wanting to use.

For this card I've used a 1.5" striped ribbon by May Arts; paper, stickers and dies

by Doodlebug Design and adhesives by Xyron.

Place adhesive on the backside of your ribbon using the 3" Sticker Maker.

Remove the top film only.  Place die over the ribbon and then run through your

die-cutting machine.  I have also found that using the silver shim plate (Sizzix) with 

this project, also helps to make a cleaner cut.

Carefully peel the die cut from the adhesive and then apply to the prepared card.

I hand-punched a scalloped border from cardstock and then backed with the 1/4" 

Xyron High-Tack Adhesive.  

Although the dies do create a clean edge, you may wish to treat the edges of the 

ribbon with a no-fray solution before adhering to the card.

Here is a peek at another card using the same method:

Experiment and have fun with it :)

I decorate all Summer long with patriotic colors, so this little display

will get a lot of use in the upcoming months :)

I started with my personal cutting machine (you can use a Cricut or download your

own star image for tracing if needed) and a general 'star' shape that comes in the basic

shapes preset to my machine.  I set the size to 5.75" and began cutting from various

patterns of paper from the Patriotic Parade Collection by
DOODLEBUG DESIGN

For each star you will need at least FOUR cut-out stars in four different patterns.

I have a total of FIVE stars, so I cut a grand total of 20 stars.  

Place each star on a score board and score down the center as you can see above.  

Using a liquid glue (because you will make adjustments when lining up the stars) begin

adhering one side of a fold to another star until you have four different stars assembled together.

Now that my stars are assembled, I moved onto die-cutting three

hearts so that I could display the letters USA between the stars.  I added a paper straw

to each heart and attached a pinwheel to the top of each!  Decorate with 

sequins, Doodle Pops, Sprinkles, etc.

Attach the sections together by using the small end of a hole punch to create

holes at the ends of the stars and hearts; insert a medium sized brad through the holes.

Stands easily to act as a display for your Memorial Day buffet table or punch holes in the 

two stars on the end and hang as a banner!

Again, you can stack as many of the star shapes together to create ornaments,

individual place seating markers or favors!  Try smaller or larger sizes too...have fun with it!

Thank you for visiting me today :)

May Arts Ribbon is proud to support our nation’s deployed heroes through

 Operation Write Home^®

 This organization has sent over one million cards overseas so our service members can

 keep in touch with their loved ones while they’re away.  I hope you enjoy all the projects 

we’re sharing on our blog – and take some time to check out OWH’s blog and all the 

others participating, starting at the top of the hop. You’ll be inspired!

I had a lot of fun making this card and using one of the sketch's 

offered by Operation Write Home:

For the base of the card, I used a star print by Doodlebug Design.

Next, I cut a mat of white cardstock and then covered with the chevron ribbon, followed

by bands of polka dot ribbon.  The puffy stars were cut apart from their strand and

added with fabric glue.  And I LOVE the new red/white/blue baker's twine!

Finally, I added a few sticker letters by Doodlebug Design.  Before

attaching them, I used a small dab of fabric glue to the back of each letter.

Come on over and see all of the beautiful cards made by the May Arts Ribbonistas!

AND there's a chance to win 2 spools of yummy ribbon :)

Happy Friday to you all!

I was up yesterday on the 

 with this fun applique cupcake idea using your

favorite cutting dies and ribbon!

You can get the details on how I put it together

by visiting the May Arts Blog :)

To all of my fellow American friends, I hope you have a safe Memorial Weekend!

Welcome to my contribution to day #4 of the 

Visit both of the blogs to see even more inspiration:
Xyron Blog Paper House Blog

For my project, I used a burlap covered mini album, which I thought would 

look so cute with the beach/cruise theme of my album!

It's pretty cool that the Tropical Beach 3-D embellishment blends right in with 

one of the papers found in the "Endless Summer" Paper Pad.

 The inside pages were soooo easy to assemble!  I cut the larger 12X12 

sheets of patterned paper down to fit the album pages and then adhered using 

the Xryon 9" Creative Station...peel and stick.  I then embellished each page

with different 3-D or canvas stickers from Paper House.

I actually made this album to give as a gift to my Mom this past Mother's Day!

She can fill it with her favorite cruise photos.

When designing the pages of a mini album, I like to stagger the embellishments

so that one page's sticker doesn't lay directly onto the next page's...it keeps

the album from not seeming as bulky.

 I really like the life-like images found in the Paper House products. 

I went a step further with the page to the left and added some actual

sea shells!  I used Xyron's 3/8" Adhesive Dots to keep them in place.

Here is a list of all of the beach-themed things that I used from Paper House:

- Endless Summer Paper Pad; Beach Comber 3-D Sticker; Cruise Adventure 3-D Sticker; 

Beach Chalkboard Sticker; Beach Canvas Art Sticker

That's a wrap for my "Travel the World" Xyron & Paper House project...

hope you've enjoyed the hop!

End-of-the-school-year greetings, friends...that time of year is quickly approaching! 

Graduation announcements will start filling our mailboxes and the scurry to find just the right
 gift for that special graduate will be upon us.  And for me, I find it a much tougher job when it
comes to buying for the guys; it's just easier to hand them a handmade card with money or a
 gift card tucked inside :) I have a couple of super cute card versions for you.

First we'll start withe the quick and easy one:

 I used one of the vertical sides from the Simply Put card and trimmed it down to the 

desired size for my A2 card.  Next, I die-cut the Tangerine Sprinkles Vellum with the 

postage stamp shape; for stability, I mounted it onto the same sized white cardstock.

The rest was as easy as layering the layers together with foam adhesive and then

decorating the banner portion of the sticker with the year of the graduate.

A little pop of orange was used on the owl's cap and we're done!

Next I have little chevron washi tape tutorial for you to make this card:

Gather up your supplies: various washi tapes...even if you only have a 

couple of colors on hand, that will work fine!  Also, a piece of cardstock cut to the

size that you need;  I've used white.

First, draw a vertical line with a pencil.  You may decide to do this down the middle

of the paper, or over to the side as I have done here.  Add a strip of washi tape just

passed the line and wrap the excess around the back of the paper.

If the washi tape has a light enough background, you will be able to use this next tip:

Press the tape over the pencil marking and rub with your finger.  Lift the tape and you

will notice a faint line on the back.  Cut on the outside of the line and then press

back into place.

Continue until the piece of cardstock has been completely covered.

Corner round the bottom edges if desired.

I added a strip of matching cardstock (that I used for the bottom mat) across

the section where the washi tapes meet.  A couple of Pixie Sticks were cut to size

and adhered with Zip-Dry glue.  I had a guy in mind for this card, so I kept the rest

of the design fairly simple and frou-frouless!

That's a wrap for my Graduate themed cards!  The Doodlebug Blog is loaded
with more ideas using this collection...see them at www.doodlebugblog.com