Disney Orange Bird Purse DIY

We are huge Disney fans in this family and we each have favorite characters.  My oldest likes the Orange Bird and has been collecting the Disney Trading Pins.  I thought she would like a small purse for running around the parks, but the one on Disneystore.com is a whopping $65!  I found this tutorial on As the Bunny Hops via Pinterest and it's cost was $19 for the purse (Amazon) and pennies in vinyl.  What a great gift!
Amy at As the Bunny Hops was kind enough to put up her Studio file, but it wasn't easy to move the file to Design Studio.  I finally found an online converter that seemed to do the trick and I had to play around to get the image through contour so I could have all the layers.
I started with the inside of the beak (cut in brown vinyl), then the full beak (yellow).  The image shows up a tad wonky in DS, showing just the lines around the inner mouth and no way to fill it so I cut the full mouth and just weeded the outer beak.  It wasn't too much vinyl (less than a 2x2" square).  Next I contoured the eyes.  I started out doing the larger part by contouring all three parts of the eye as one group so I can weed the pupil out.  (I ended up layering the white and black, but fixed that after the fact in DS, so the next time I cut it they will nest.)  Last I contoured the pupil and brows.
Once I figured out how the contour worked, I placed all the pieces back together like a puzzle and grouped them.  When you hit the Make button, it splits all the colors into separate mats.  To make it easier to put together, I used the Write function to make a scale base to build on.  I taped the picture to a light box, then taped each layer over the image as I worked.  I picked up the black cut first, taped the white to the picture and used the image to place the pupils in the right position.  Be careful not to let the vinyl touch the paper!  Once the eyes were together, I used tweezers to put the inner mouth on the beak, then taped the completed beak in place over the image and repeated my steps to pic up the mouth.  Last, place on purse and rub!
I am waffling about whether to paint the leaf a lighter green like Amy did.  I don't think it looks too bad and the more vintage pics show a bit darker green so I am thinking I will leave it.  I will say, I am looking to replace the chain strap that came with the purse, so it's off to the craft store.
Thanks for looking!  April

Hershey Kisses gift card holder

This is another item for the upcoming Jingle Bell Craft Fair at my son's high school.  I am making several in different colors and designs, but this is my first one based on the tutorial I found on Pinterest here.
The base is Cherry Cobbler and stamped in Cherry Cobbler using the star from Stampin Up's Tin of Tags.  The window is punched from the Word Window punch.  I used a layer of Very Vanilla cardstock and stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler, the string and plugs in Momento Tuxedo Black, and the bulbs in Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, and Lemon Lime Twist.  The bulbs are popped onto dimensionals.  A 1" circle punch was used to make the notch for the gift card.

The back of the gift box is also in Very Vanilla and stamps from Tin of Tags are stamped in Tuxedo Black and Daffodil Delight.
Thanks for looking!  April

Fall Pumpkin

This is a medium pumpkin I got at Michaels and added vinyl.  The images were free and found on Pinterest.  On one side, I did a Halloween theme, the other side is Thanksgiving themed.  The vinyl isn't happy about sticking to the pumpkin as it is a bit slick but with some patience and time, it stays.  I love that I will have this for several coming years and it can weather indoor or outdoor.  Thanks for looking!  April

Hello Fall pumpkin

I am not a fan of the mess involved in carving pumpkins, so I picked up a few fake ones from Michaels.  I cut a cute vinyl design on my Cricut and put it in place.  It turned out great, after I wrestled with the curve a bit, and I gifted it to our neighbors across the street.  Be on the look out for a couple more I will be making with a Halloween theme on one side and fall on the other.  Thanks for looking!  April

13th birthday

This card is for the youngest of my bestie's boys.  His milestone birthday was last month and I wanted a fun card for him that wasn't too babyish or girly.  (I will admit, I mixed up what his fav color with that of his brother -oops!)

The base of the card is kraft and stamped in Crumb Cake using Number of Years stamp set.  I inked the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink in Vintage Photo.  The sentiment is stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black.  The number is stamped on retired Green Galore with Green Galore ink, then cut with coordinating framelits.  I popped them up on dimensionals, as well as the little stars, punched from Daffodil Delight.  Last, a few flags made from washi tape, scrap Daffodil Delight, and vellum, attached with a mini staple.  

Thanks for looking!  April

16th Birthday

I made this card for my son's best friend.  I love that my best friend's kids are my kids closest buddies and her boys love every hand-made card.  I try to keep in mind their interests or favorites and work them into the card.  This time, I focused on color and the big milestone.
The base of the card is Stampin Up Smoky Slate and stamped in Smoky Slate with Epic Celebration stamps.  I used layers from Picture Perfect Party (retired paper) and Basic Grey.  It is hard to see but the Basic Grey is stamped with Here's to an Epic Celebration in Basic Grey.  The 16 is stamped in Lemon Lime Twist on Whisper White, using the Number of Years set and cut with the coordinating framelits.  The "th" and "birthday" banner are also from the Number of Years set and stamped on Whisper White in Momento Jet Black Ink.

Inside, I did a simple layer of Whisper White stamped with the sneakers from Epic Celebration and the sentiment from Birthday Wit.  I colored the images with Lemon Lime Twist using a blending pen.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney Album

This adorable album was made from a tutorial by Ginger at MySistersScrapper.  Be sure to see her videos on YouTube!  The album is made from chipboard, kraft paper, note and envelopes from Hobby Lobby, and Simple Stories Say Cheese line.  I wanted it to be a bit sturdier along the spine so I used duck cloth canvas in place of cardstock.  It bends well and the double stick tape holds it in place.  Ginger has the link to how to make the inner page binding as well.

 












Thanks for looking!  April

Disney Autograph books

So we are getting ready for another trip to Disney.  This time, we will be celebrating our daughter's graduation and she asked for autograph books for her and her friend.  First up is a Merida inspired one from Brave.  My daughter loves Brave and chose the knot design from the Cricut cartridge Believe in Dreams.  I used kraft for the design and retired SU color Handsome Hunter for the background.  I cut 40 of the background in Whisper White for her pages.  Each 12x12 sheet cut four.  TIP: note where the top of each piece is as it is NOT a symmetrical design!!!  I laminated the covers and punched the hole with a crop-a-dile before binding with a ring.
Next, I made a Sleeping Beauty inspired crown autograph book for her friend.  I used gold-metallic paper.  I had to tweak the Aurora crown in the Cricut cartridge by cutting off the two side points.  I also added her name to the cover, using Cricut Craftroom and one of the calligraphy fonts options, only cut deep enough to score the name into the front.   Because of the size, only two fit to a 12x12 page.  I also laminated and punched holes to bind with rings.  Last, I added some gemstones to the front cover. 

Thanks for looking!  April

Grad Announcement

Our oldest is graduating from high school next month an she was less then impressed with the school's stuffy announcements (and Dad was less impressed with the cost).  She asked me to see what I could do, as I had already made her thank you cards several months ago. 
Since she plans to major in Animation, I thought it should represent her artsy side.  I used the same stamps as I did for her thank yous and went with the same basic design.  The stamps are retired Stampin Up's Extreme Elements and stamped in Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, with Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, and Blackberry Bliss. 
The outside of the card is her grad info, printed on vellum using Harry Potter Lumos font from dafont.com and adhered to the front with washi tape.  Inside the card (not shown) is her senior photo and details for her open house.  I added a few smaller spatters of color using the welcome Stampin Up My Paper Pumpkin set. 
I finished it by stamping the envelopes in the small spatter print. 
Thanks for looking!  April