Lobster and Crab Double Easel Card JRC_076

I decided to make another card for JustRite Friday Challenge #076 - "Stars & Stripes".

For this card, I used some striped and matching red CS with a very subtle Checkerboard pattern that I bought last winter at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, I don't remember the brand. It was one I hadn't seen before. I used a variety of stamps and dies from JustRite. The Lobster, Crab, and stars are from the Oceanside Oval Medallion - Cling set, and the tiny scallop shells and the saying are from the Sea Shell Bay Labels Twenty Two - Cling set. The lobster and crab were cut with JustRite's Custom Nested Oval Medallion Labels Dies and the large star for signing the card was cut with JustRite's Custom Nested Medallion Labels Dies.

All distressing was done with Antique Linen, and the stamping was done with Distress Fired Brick. I traced inside the die on the crab and star shapes with a red sharpie, and ran my sponge dauber around the outside of the die cuts with Fired Brick. When I was trying to decide what to put on the opposite easel from the lobster, I found that the crab and the saying would fit together perfectly inside the same die as I used for the lobster, and I really liked that saying. I really like the fact that so many of JustRite's sets compliment each other so you get even more variety every time you buy a new set!

Bird and Clover Double Twisted Easel Card ODBDSLC114

I finally got a chance to finish this card while the kids were out hiking today. I made it for the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge ODBDSLC114, which was to make any creation with Our Daily Bread Designs Stamps.

For my card, I used He Watches Me, and once again turned the sparrow into a bluebird because I just love bluebirds. I cut the die with the matching ODBD Custom Sparrow Die.

For the other side, I used the Simple Things stamp set and cut it with the matching ODBD Custom Clover Die .

For the labels, I used the Mother Theresa saying from the Simple Things Set, and a label from the Bird and Butterfly Labels and cut them with the matching Spellbinders Labels Eighteen.

The stamping was done with VersaFine and Distress Peeled Paint, and the label with the saying was distressed with Peeled Paint. All the coloring was done with Copics. I wanted to add a little sparkle to everything, so I used various Jellyroll pens over the copics in many places. (The sparkles don't show up in the photograph, I suppose because they are subtle). I also outlined all the diecuts with a Krylon 18K pen.

I had cut out some ODBD Butterflies to use on the card as well, but they were too large for my design, so I punched some Martha Stewart ones to use in place of them. I mounted the butterflies onto some blue mulberry paper and cut around it so there would be blue inside the butterflies' holes, and used Copics and Jellyrolls on them too.

The background papers are mulberry paper in green, dark blue, and light blue with grasses in it. These were mounted on white CS with my Xyron and cut with Spellbinders Labels One.

Since the card is 5x10, and would be a strange size, I made it so it folds in the middle, so the bird is on the front, and the clover is on the back when folded completely up. This way it will fit into a 6x6 envelope. I had originally planned on making it a triple easel with a vertical Bird and Butterfly label as the center easel, but I thought the card might be more difficult to mail that way, and I wasn't sure I could devise a way to fold it with the center easel.

I'm proud to say that this card won at Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge Thank you so much!