Mimi the Easter Bunny and another Di's Digi !

Sorry for being such a blog slacker lately, but not only have we had cold and snow, we have also had a couple really nice days then a huge hail storm, falling temps and a tornado that touched down east of Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago. Its been absolutely CRAZY weather here lately!! We are currently having another cold spell and had some snow which many of you know is my arch-enemy. So when my legs hurt, I dont like to blog, chat or even email. Im hoping this weather will soon warm up for that early spring we were supposed to have....yeah right! I have to have another talk with that groundhog it seems!!

While I havent been around I have made some cards that I want to share with you. I still have to take pictures of about 6 or 7 of them, but will share the ones that I have pictures to share.

Mimi the Easter Bunny

The following Penny Black Mimi Bunny image was perfect to make Easter cards for the lss store owner's (Margie) granddaughters. Since I wanted them all to be the same , I decided on Mimi in the bunny outfit from the Mimi and Miles clear acrylic set. The lamb and the inside chick are from the Penny Black Fresh New Day set. Please excuse the color of the cards, they are brighter in real life, but with the cold weather we have also had overcast skies.

Here is a little tip from making this card:
I paper pieced the lambs head and body, but had stamped the image directly to the background DP. I love how it turned out and no need to cut out those teeny tiny legs, ears and flowers!! I colored the cards with Copic Markers and used Spellbinder nestabilities for the ovals.

On the inside of the card I made a little surprise. From the Fresh New Day set there was a very very tiny chick which I thought was adorable. I used my 7/8 inch oval punch and using the DP, I punched out little 'Easter Eggs'. I then slipped them into the corner of my Stampin' UP! designer label punch and created a type of cracked egg look. I then took the chick and glued them to the inside of the egg and added them to the inside of the same colored card. Just a little something for the inside of the card which sometimes is forgotten.

Another tip from this card:
The Happy Easter sentiment on the front of the card is from a $1 clear acrylic stamp that I actually cut apart to just get the sentiment. I normally would not cut apart my acrylic stamps, but since it was $1, I figured the worst I could do is destroy it, and honestly I may be cutting more as I need them. It really worked well and you can actually reassemble the clear acrylic stamps back together for the entire image on your acrylic block. I used a Stampin' UP! word window punch for the sentiment.

I do not own many Stampin' UP! items, but the ones that I do own I find I use quite often as when I bought them I did for a certain purpose that I would use often. So for those of us who are very budget conscience, make your craft purchases count. Buy things that will last and maybe pay a bit more but in the long run, you can use them for many different purposes. Dual purpose items and quality items make a huge difference when making cards.

Speaking of quality items.....As many of you may have on your wish list is an ATG gun, here is a tip that I used to get mine. I first tried every type of adhesive I think there is known to man. Glue, double sided tape, runner after runner filled and refilled with adhesive that ran out on every other card it seemed. I finally found an ATG gun that fit my budget and my pocketbook for refills. I purchased the newest Scotch Pink ATG (Advanced Tape Glider) gun which holds 1/4 inch adhesive rolls. The rolls of adhesive are 36 yards in length and refills are sold in a box of 2 for 72 yards of sticking any and everything you can think of. The gun (using a coupon) was under $30 and the refills were less than $5 and they last what seems like forever. The adhesive is also acid free for those scrapbook memories. At first it took a bit getting used to since it is larger than I realized, but within a day, I was taping like a pro. I also like the 1/4 inch size of adhesive since you can use it on small areas, and I feel it is a good investment to save on adhesive purchases.

I still use my Xyron machines...yes, machines...I have the X, the 2 1/2 inch and the 5 inch when I either have very tiny items or want to glue a full sheet on the front of a card. I find that it saves time and they are also good for making sure that your items stay on your card. Nothing worse than having something falling off of the front of your card!

And where would I be without my pop dots? Foam dots and Stampin' UP! dimensionals are also staples in my craft stash. Glue dots are another good purchase since they are clear and you can add some minis to hold down a bow, or tuck a pieced image to your card. They come in a variety of sizes and they even have one for Vellum.

Ok...Sorry for rambling about adhesives..LOL

I have one final card to share with you today only because it was also for Margie for her Granddaughter's birthday. When I made this following card, you will see that it was a Miss You card. When Margie saw it, she said it looked just like her granddaughter Taylor who is turning 6, so I revamped the card and changed the sentiment from Miss You to 'Taylor is 6 ! ' . Nothing else was changed, I just took the card and replaced the sentiment and reattached the front. It makes a much better Birthday card than a Miss You card anyway! The image is from Di's Digi Downloads and there is a link to her adorable digital images on my right sidebar. Please stop over to see Di, her images are so cute and you will find something for every occasion! I also colored the image with my Copic markers. The little dog did not have patches of white, but as I colored him, I thought he would look cute if I gave him a few. I think he is so cute!!



Thanks once again for enduring my ramblings, and hope that everyone has a wonderful April Fool's Day without any trickery!!

*Hugs*
~Andrea