A Tip O' the Hat

Hi!  It's Kim from Katydid Cards.  For my project this month, I decided to make a St. Patrick's Day card using a technique I've never tried previously.  Here's the flying easel card I made using the Leprechaun Hat. 

But before I share my card, though, I want to remind you about the Freebie of the Day at Miss Kate's.

I must have been feeling a little too confident because I decided not to consult any sort of tutorial before making this card.  My thought being, "I've made easel cards before...how hard can this be?"  Well...turns out I learned a thing or two from my mistakes.

I cut the opening and sized my Leprechaun hat to fit.  I ran a piece of clear thread side to side through the center.  Mistake #1.  I should have run the thread top to bottom for two reasons.  First, the weight of the hat pulls down on the thread so the hat is lower than I wanted.  Second, the hat isn't balanced so it wants to tip backward.  I had to add some additional cardstock to the bottom back of the hat as a counterbalance.

But let's talk about the hat for a moment.  There are lots of luscious layers to this, giving it great depth and dimension.  I used four shades of green cardstocks, complemented nicely by the digital patterned paper.

Here's a picture of the card, folded for mailing...and a confession of yet another mistake.  Mistake #2.

When I cut the opening, I didn't give any thought to what you would see through it...it this case the greeting and sentiment.  As I didn't take that into account, I had to add a separate piece of cardstock.

Here's the card opened, so you can see both the greeting and sentiment matted and attached to cardstock, embossed with the Simply Charmed embossing folder.  I accented the bottom of the card and the hat with Pearl Bling and a bit of Glossy Accents on the hat band buckle.

If I were smarter, I would have watched this video before embarking on this card making endeavor.  Live and learn.

Happy Fall

Hello, everyone!  It's Kim from Katydid Cards.  Today I'm working with this adorable Autumn Crow cut file.  Such a cute way to wish someone a Happy Fall, with a cute little sentiment inside.

I'm eager to show you my card, but first things first!  Don't forget to get your Miss Kate’s freebie of the week.

And here's my card:

I used Stampin' Up's card stock; Peach Parfait, Pumpkin Pie, and Tangelo Twist for the pumpkin.  For the leaves, a bit of Lucky Limeade which I also used for the base. Finally, the crow was made using Basic Black, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight and So Saffron.  The sentiment inside was printed on Whisper White.  As with all Miss Kate's files, there are lots of luscious layers here; so I didn't have to do anything to add dimension.

Finishing touches include sponging the edges of the pumpkin, coating the beak with Wink of Stella and a few accents on the wings, tail, and eyes with Nuvo Drops.  Everything was placed on a rounded rectangle filled with a digital patterned paper

This cut file originally had two additional pumpkins, but I wanted to create a 3 1/2" x 6" card, so I eliminated them.  It creates an entirely new look!

Here's a close-up so you can see some of the detail in the file:

Inside, I printed the sentiment in brown on a more transparent version of the plaid using the Mister Sirloin BTN Rare font.  Here's what that looks like:

I have a friend who will appreciate my humor, so this is for her!

Halloween Scene

Hi!  It's Kim from Katydid Cards with you today!

For my card today, I used Miss Kate Cuttables Halloween Scene Borders.  I can't wait to show it to you, but first I want to remind you to pick up your freebie of the week!

Now to my card:

The cut file generously includes three borders and I used all three.  I thought these would lend themselves well to a Bendy Card and, by George, they did!

Having never made one of these "from scratch" before, it took a bit of finagling to get everything in the right places and of the proper size.  The truly important measurements are the slots into which the sections.  Everything else is just a matter of personal taste.

I used a combination of Bazzill and Stampin' Up card stocks.  As with all Miss Kate's files, there are lots of layers to give real dimension to the pieces.  All of that work was done for me!

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you return again real soon!

Rowing the Boat

It's Kim from Katydid Cards with you today!

When I saw this Miss Kate Cuttables Man Fishing cut file in the Silhouette store, it brought back a memory of something that happened long ago.  It's funny how things trigger memories.

And here's the card I made for my design team post today:

The file included a fishing pole, which I removed and replaced with oars I found on the Internet.  The waves were made using Miss Kate's Underwater Borders.  I turned it into a rocker card...great for the waves.

If you'd like to know more about the card or the story behind the memory, please come visit me at my blog.  And don't forget to get your Miss Kate’s freebie of the week.

Cat Note Cards

It's Kim from Katydid Cards with you today.  First, a reminder to take advantage of the Freebie of the Day at the Miss Kate Cuttables store.  I decided to use the Cat Silhouette Set, in honor of International Cat Day earlier this month, to make a set of note cards in their own little gift box.

Here's the full set with the gift box in the back:

I made the cards and the box with card stock and note cards from Stampin' Up.  The cat silhouette is cut out of the red and the same silhouette was cut from black.  I placed the black cat in the cut out on the red and attached them to a mat of black.  Then I embossed it using the Square Lattice embossing folder.

To fill an empty corner, I cut a circle framed cat paw in crumb cake and placed it on a slightly larger circle of  black.

Here's a picture of the gift box in which the cards are stored.  I made this using a cut file in the Silhouette store.  It was actually intended as a box for a thick card, but I changed the dimensions to work with these note cards:

And here's an individual picture of one of the cards.  You can see the remaining cards on my blog, if you're interested.

Waste not, want not...I used the red cut out inside the note card for a cute little accent.

I know just who is getting these notes cards.  They will be purr-fect for her!

See you next month with another project!

Need a Hug?

Hi there!  It's Kim from Katydid Cards with you today!

I'm eager to share the card I made for my design team post, but first I want to remind you to check out the Freebie of the Day at the Miss Kate Cuttables store.

Okay, so I'll show you my card first and then talk a bit about it:

I did something with this Cute Octopus that never occurred to me previously.  I turned it into a digital stamp by converting the cut lines to print lines, making them thicker and selecting the print lines option.   I don't know why I never thought about this; but I just more than doubled my digital stamp collection by doing it and will look at cut files I may have passed over before in a whole new way.

I printed the octopus on water-color paper and cut it in a stitched circle.  I colored him using Copic markers and dotted the bubbles with Glossy Accents.  The mat is an inverted scallop Basic Black circle from the Silhouette store.  Here's a closer look at that:

I found two patterned papers I purchased l-o-n-g ago and embossed them with the D-Vine Swirls and Retro Circles embossing folders and placed them on a mat of Basic Black, punching all the outer corners with the ticket punch.  I wrapped some coordinating fiber across the middle before attaching the mat to the Whisper White card base and the focal image with dimensionals.  The greeting was typed in black using the CK Fairytale font; punched with a mat of Basic Black from a retired punch from Stampin' Up. Two large eyelets to the upper right for a finishing touch!

Inside, I typed a sentiment which plays off both the octopus and the greeting using the same font.

I encourage you to try doing this with one of your cut file to see if you agree it opens up a whole new world to you.

See you next month with another project!  In the meantime, I'd love it if you came for a visit to my blog and, if you do, please be sure to say, "hello".

Happy Birthday Trio

Hello everyone!  It’s Kim from KatydidCards.  This is my first post as a Miss Kate Cuttables Design Team member and I’m just so happy to be here with you. 

First order of business…I want to remind you to get the freebie today (and every day).  Just click on this link.  I’ll wait here for you if you want to do that now…just don’t forget to come back as I have something fun to share with you!

Here’s my project, made using the Happy Birthday Title.  I had a bit fun with it, though, turning it into a card, tag and gift bag set.   I saw a video on making a stacked card front with a die cut and I was sure I could use one of the many Miss Kate's titles to do something similar...even better since it's so much easier than using die cuts.

Let me show you the card first and then I'll tell you a bit about how it came together.

I sized the title for the card front and then created a quarter inch offset of just the word Birthday.  Then I centered the offset in a 4" x 5 1/2" rectangle and ran a cut line across the card, slightly above center.  To set it up for cutting, I placed the title back inside the offset and cut this in five different colors.  I also cut the party "confetti" with each color.

As you can see from the picture I slightly offset each panel by about 1/16".  I trimmed top and bottom of each piece to allow a 1/4" space to allow the card base to show.   The Birthday was also layered which looks really cool from the side as you can see all the colors.

I then placed the layers for the candle on top and the various pieces of the confetti and made them all sparkle and shine with various products.

I cut the happy and attached it at the top of the card...with more sparkle and shine.

Taking my cues from the title, I created the sentiment for inside the card and used the balloon which is included with the cut file.  I also created lines the same colors as the layers on the front.
 

I enlarged the candle and confetti and placed them on the front of a dollar store gift bag and added still more sparkle and shine.

Then I shrunk the card front cut file to make this adorable tag.  I printed the birthday on the white card stock rather than cut it as it was too small to cut.   I punched a small circle on the side and ran some Bakers Twine through it.  I think this is my favorite of the three pieces…I love miniatures.

And here's the set all together.  Ready for the next birthday celebration.

 

I hope you liked my project.  I'll be back again next month with another.  In the meantime, I'd love it if you came to visit me at Katydid Cards and said, "hello".