Brag Monday - A Halloween Cat In a Hat card

This is just a quickie post to share a Halloween card I made using one of the images from The Graphics Fairy.

Karen (the aforementioned fairy), has some of the most unusual, and beautifully 'restored' images anywhere on the internet. The moment I saw this cat from a children's drawing book, it just cried out to be turned into the sweetest Halloween kitten ever. (Don't you just love VERY simple images, that convey volumes of personality and style? Karen seems to have the knack for finding them.)

Here are my steps to make this very simple card:

• Saved the cat image and re-sized in Paint.net (my all time favorite graphics handling program - and it's FREE!) so that it would be the right size for my premade round card base.
• Printed it on 90 pound cardstock using black ink on draft.
• Layered a few papers in descending circles on the card base, with the center cicle being white. (Not sure how the whiskers would look on any other color, and this cat just wouldn't be him/herself without THOSE whiskers. )
• Fussy cut the cat graphic, then used my glue pen on the cat's face, and covered with black flocking. This took gluing a third of the image at a time, so the glue wasn't dry before the 'fur' when on.
• The eyes worked out perfectly, because my clear green "Dew Drops" were exactly the right size. Remember to glue anything translucent, with "dries clear" adhesive.
• A ribbon, gathered along one edge, and applied with score tape, makes a festive collar.
• The hat is just made of coordinating papers, ribbon and a sequin (from Cartwright's Sequins - the best selection of shiny goodness on this planet, or any other). 

Presto! You have a cat that's dressed for a big occasion.

Have fun visiting all the talented folks who make amazing things using Karen's images, and thanks for taking the time to stop and visit here.

Sequins On my Mind & Cards - Papertrey March Blog Hop

Come on Spring! We have had enough snow in the Boston area to last us till next winter. It's time for thoughts of flowers and sequins, and that's just in time for Papertrey's Blog Hop this month.

According to the gals at Papertrey, using sequins is the latest trend. I have always had a mild sequin addiction, fueled by the fabulous finds, online, at Cartwright Sequins, Beads, and Buttons. Her motto really should be, "If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist!".

I made a very simple (possibly painfully simple?) card using the fabulous Papertrey anniversary set 'Birds and Blooms'. I've yet to purchase the dies, but they are next on the list.

I stamped the wreath image loosely with 'Spring Moss' topped by a layer of 'Simply Chartreuse', and then stamped over that with some of the individual sprigs in 'Avocado'. I love the true-color punch of  Papertrey's dye inks. My small sequin flowers and hearts were glued on with 'Liquid Pearls'. (If I'm neat enough, the Liquid Pearls come up through the holes and form the flower centers.)

 

I decided to use a sentiment from the wonderful 'Mini Blooms' set.  I don't know where the font for that set originated, but it seems to go with just about any image. A little sheer bow, and voila....or maybe not. I tried making the card narrower, and putting a pink gingham strip of paper down each side, but it still doesn't seem right to me. I even considered using one of the great birds perched on top of the 'T', but what color ink would I use? If you have any insights, please leave me a comment. (I'd even love a comment if you are as baffled as I am.) One brain is always better than none, or something like that.

Other  supplies include Ranger's 'Liquid Pearls' in Cantaloupe, Versa Mark's 'Water Mark' ink pad, Ranger's 'Fine Gold Embossing Powder', and Papertrey's 'Vintage Cream Cardstock'. The fun pink frame, at the top of the post, is from the maven-of-all-images-vintage, 'The Graphic's Fairy". You can find the frame in black here.

If you enjoy sequins on Easter projects, you might also enjoy my posts here and here. Thanks for taking the time to stop by, and happy spring!

Papertrey March Blog Hop - Easter Egg Balloon with Bunnies

Who is this cute bunny and what is he waiting to do?

If you want to find out, grab a cup of coffee or tea. This is a bit longer than my usual post. (More pictures; not more text. Whew!)

He's the new die cut bunny (with extra details) from 'Papertrey Ink', and he will be riding in an Easter egg hot-air-balloon with this friend!

 

Papertrey's February release was a blast, and when Easter goodies came in the mail, they just begged to be put to use - immediately! The biggest thrill was the Shaker-like basket die. The basket is a breeze to make, and Nichole Heady has designed the die to make two different sizes.

I've always loved the vintage Easter postcards, with decorated eggs playing the part of a hot air balloon. With dies for a basket, bunny, clouds, and butterflies (all from Papertrey), and a 4&3/4" Styrofoam egg, I decided to whip up a ride for the darling rabbits.

I started by covering the large egg in blue felt.

The felt was trimmed to the circumference of the egg, divided into four equal sections, and pined around the center and pinned together at the 'poles'.

The excess felt was cut away,

and the seams sewn together with a whip stitch. (You can even just pin the seams in place if you cover them with ribbon afterwards.)

Now for the fun part, decorating. I chose to pin on the clouds and butterflies.

The butterflies were a bit plain so I added sequins. (Cartwright Sequins is bling heaven. If you can't find your sequins there, you probably can't find them.) Thick black button thread forms the antennas.

Now on to the basket; the small version of Papertrey's new 'favor die' basket. All the parts were cut from felt, and a heavy weight paper basket bottom, made stitching the sides to the base much easier. A strip of felt (on the inside where the brads are inserted) added reinforcement and structural support for that side.

Next, the passengers. Papertrey's new bunny die, slays me, but it needed a front as well as the cute back. The eyes are just leftovers from die cutting felt, the nose is a little brad, and the arms (drum roll please) are from a large snowman die. (If your bunny's going to ride, it needs to be able to hang on, right?)  Attach the tail to the back side, eyes and nose to the front and button hole stitch them together.

The arms are actually attached to the inside of the basket with the toes hanging over. When you sew the bunny body to the basket, it will hide the sewn on arms.

This side has a scared bunny holding on with both paws. A length of bakers twine is sewn on to the two long sides of the basket (and topped with four small Mokuba ribbon flowers),

and hung over two small buttons pinned to the balloon sides.

Now to fly it and enjoy an Easter ride.

Bye for now, and thanks for going along for the ride.

Please leave a comment if you liked this post, so I know if I should do more.

Papertrey Ink Supplies: Shape Up Series: Snowman Die Collection, Polka Dot Parade #1 Die, Favor It Box 9 Die Collection, Beautiful Butterflies Die Collection, Heart-2-Heart #6 Die Collection (clouds), Lovely Layers Die Collection, Felt - Harvest Gold

Other supplies: Rayon/wool felt, small brads, Mokuba ribbon flowers, turquoise baker's twine, white trim, sequin pins, Plasteel 'Dylite' large egg, and all sequins from Cartwright Sequins

Easter Eggs on Fabric Postcards

Nothing gets me in the mood for lots of color and reflected light like Spring. For the past couple of years I've made fabric postcards of fabric colored eggs with sequined, beaded and embroidered details. If you're not familiar with fabric postcards, they are usually 4"X6" mini quilts with a middle layer of stiff material (like Timtex or thick Pellon) as the 'batting'. The very stiff surface allows marvelous detail to be applied without worrying about keeping the fabric taught.  Rumor has it that they can be mailed, but I've never put mine to the test.

 Above are three postcards in various stages of the process. I chose three fabrics that worked together for the egg image, and then cut through all three layers of fabric so I could mix and match. (I love having three slightly different 'canvases' on which to work because I can try out different approaches in the same color scheme. The far left card just has the background and egg image fussed (I use 'Heat n Bond') on one side.

The middle postcard is finished on the front with everything but some detailing on the background. I tried to use the embellishments to transition between the three fabrics comprising the egg. The wonderful sequins come from Cartwright's Sequins, Beads, Buttons, and Glitter. I stumbled on to her site many years ago when she first started online. Since then, Cartwright's has grown to be the largest selection of sequins I've seen anywhere. If you love hand sewing with beads and sequins, or use glitter, you owe yourself a trip to her site!
A little ribbon embroidery makes the fence and the butterfly, and that gate handle is the smallest eye (from a hook and eye closure) I could find. The fabulous bunny is a hand carved bone bead from China.

 The card to the left is finished. After embellishing the front, I iron fabric to the backside, with the front side placed on a deep soft surface so the sequins and other fragile items are not crushed by the heat and pressure. To bind the postcard, polka-dot grosgrain was folded over the edge and whipped down with a blanket stitch.

Voila! You now have a bit of art to send through the mail, or if you aren't finished admiring your handy work yet, put your eggs in a basket and watch people marvel as they pick up your 'Faberge' eggs.