Easter is On It's Way

Easter is practically here but can I admit that I am not happy when it lands in March? I can never seem to get prepared for it and this time is no exception. We've just been so busy with the house, a granddaughter's March birthday, church activities that it has been hard finding time to create. I usually do simple Easter baskets for my two granddaughters and goody bags for grand nieces and nephews for our Easter egg hunt at my aunt's farmhouse. Plus I like to color real eggs although I do have some plastic ones for back up. So far I have none of that done!

I also haven't completed the normal amount of Easter cards so I whipped up two simple ones yesterday.

First up, is a more masculine one. It's hard to see in my photograph but the cross was cut from gold mirrored cardstock. I just didn't take the time to get the camera in the right angle to see the metallic before I popped it in the mail. The cross was cut using a die from the Simon Says Crosses set and was attached to a white textured cardstock circle and topped with a Prima sticker from my stash. The circle was attached to a patterned paper wonky stitched rectangle with a layer of craft foam. The sentiment from the Simon Says Rejoice set was stamped directly onto the patterned paper using chocolate brown ink.

Products: Simon Says stamp and die, PTI dp and cs, Bazzill and Michael's cs, Prima sticker,  MFT dies and ink

I managed to capture some of the gold of the cross with this one. This time I used a die from the Paper Smooches Crosses set, placed on a wonky stitched circle using foam tape. The background was cut from textured cardstock and I embossed a larger wonky stitched circle and then added a strip of patterned paper. The sentiment from the Taylored Expressions He is Risen set was stamped directly onto the cardstock background. The cross/circle was attached with a layer of craft foam for more dimension.

Products: Taylored Expressions stamp, Bazzill, Michael's and PTI cs, MFT and Paper Smooches dies, Simon Says ink

I usually do the bunnies and chicks designs for the little ones but I like to make the more meaningful ones for the adults on my mailing list.

TCP Tuesday #310 - Bunnies

It's time for another TCP Tuesday at The Cat's Pajamas with a challenge to use a bunny on your project. The challenge runs for two weeks and The Cat’s Pajamas stamps are not required although we would love to see you use them.

As you know the big eared bunny figures prominently in the TCP cast of characters so I had many to choose from. I needed more Easter cards so I decided on the Sugar, Sugar set. I colored up the image with Copic Markers and then fussy cut out. I prepared the water color background using Ranger Distress in Tumbled Glass and Mowed lawn onto Ranger water color card stock. The sentiment was stamped with Ranger Archival ink. I cut the stitched cloud using the Stitched Fly CutUps die set and attached with foam tape along with the image.

Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamps and die, Ranger Water Color cs, PTI cs, Ranger Archival ink, Ranger Distress ink, Memento ink, Copic Markers
Copics: Bunny-E50, E51, E53, W00, E81, R00, R01; Basket-W00, E81, YG0000, YG01; Eggs-B0000, B000, B01, B41, B32, Y11, Y21, R0000, R81, YG0000, YG01

Here are the details:

1. Every other Tuesday a new challenge will be posted on The Cat's Pajamas blog and our Facebook page.
2. If you want to play along you just upload your design to The Cat's Pajamas blog page using the InLinkz button by the Monday, 11:55 EST before the next challenge.
3. You are not required to use a Cat’s Pajamas stamp or die but if you have them we would love to see them.
4. On the following TCP Tuesday, the winner will be chosen from the previous challenge and will receive a Cat Cash Voucher for $10 or $15 if a TCP product is used.

Happy Easter {Purple Onion Designs}

I can't believe that it is the 11th of March and I am just now posting my first card of the month. We are still extraordinarily busy here trying to get the house decluttered, organized and painted. So at this point I am only doing design team work. I hope you will bear with me while I work out a better balance between work and play.

Today's card is another one using Purple Onion Designs stamps featuring images illustrated by Stacey Yacula.

I colored and fussy cut out Ivy (bunny) during The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge last month and finally decided to get it on a card, especially since I am behind in my Easter card making. I also stamped, colored and fussy cut out two of the eggs from the Easter Eggs stamp. I created the background using the new Tim Holtz Distress Crayons (more about that later) on Ranger water color cardstock and then cut out with a wonky stitched rectangle die. To make the fence, I stamped the Woodgrain Background onto Soft Stone cardstock using Versamark ink and then white heat embossed. I then cut the fence from the stamped image using a picket fence die. I attached the pieces to the background using foam tape and attached the image panel to a Soft Stone card base.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamps, Ranger Water color cs, PTI cs and die, MFT die, Ranger Distress Crayons, Versamark ink, Memento ink, Copic Markers
Copics: Bunny-E50, E51, E53, E49, R20,  R00, R01, R02, B41; Banner-Y0000, Y11, 0; Eggs-Y11, Y13, W00, E81, B41, B32

Regarding the distress crayons, I had some trouble with them although it might be operator error. I did experiment a bit before doing my actual background. I found that a little goes a long way, plus I seem to work them better by rubbing the colors with my finger first and then misting. However, by rubbing first and then manipulating the water I experienced some pilling on my card stock background. Fortunately, I could hide it with the stamped images. I need to work with them a bit longer before passing judgement but for now I am glad I only bought one pack.