Think Spring

How about surprising someone with an Easter card? Or a “Just Because Spring” card? I love sending cards when no one expects them. Who doesn’t love getting happy mail?! The cards today are all about Easter and Spring. For most of them, I used the shimmery Curious Metallic Card Stock and it’s on sale this month.

I started by creating the layered backgrounds using Birch Press Fiori layering dies. The set has three dies that work together. The trick for getting good results with layering dies is finding the right card stock. The colors have to look good together. The Curious Metallic Card Stock looks fabulous with these dies. So many great colors, you can hardly go wrong. Shown below are the card stock colors I used for the different cards. Every layer is a different color. But, it also looks great if you use all the same color card stock on one card.

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After die-cutting each layer, you need to remove the little pieces. A couple tools I use to do this are the Spellbinders roller brush and a paper piercing tool. The brush has a built-in piercing tool but I keep a separate one handy. I think it’s best to work from the backside of the card stock. That way any scratches from using these tools doesn’t appear on your card front. I bend the card slightly and roll the brush back and forth over the card. Whatever pieces remain, I poke out.

Next you need to adhere all the layers together. I’ve tried many different adhesives. I really like the Tombow Mono Liquid Glue for this task. It dries clear. It comes out easily and in tiny drops. It dries quickly but you still have a little wiggle room for lining things up. When gluing, I always dab the glue on the back side of a layer and adhere it to the layer below it. Less chance of extra glue seeping out the edges by doing it this way. When the layers are glued together, I place a large acrylic block and some other heavy item on top of it. Just for a minute or two. This ensure all layers are glued snugly and no corners peel up. 

Now that the layers are glued together, it’s time to decide on sentiments and images. I knew I wanted spring flowers for some of the cards and my ink swatches helped me pick the best colors to stamp with.

I used Classic Crest Bright White 100% Recycled 80# Card Stock for the yellow tulips. For the Happy Easter sentiment, I used a strip of the Poison Ivory Curious Metallic Card Stock. It’s the same card stock as the middle layer (layer B). Happy Easter is heat embossed with gold powder and brings out the back card stock layer of Super Gold.

Since, I had everything out I made a few other cards. The next one uses Pop-Tone Card Stock in Grapesicle and Grape Jelly. Both the sentiment and floral image were stamped on  Classic Crest Bright White 100% Recycled 80# Card Stock. I also added a few jewels to the card.

The next one is created with Curious Metallic Card Stock in Galvanised and Blue Print, and Basis Card Stock in Medium Blue for the very last layer. The sentiment is heat embossed with silver powder on the Blue Print also. The cute little bunny I found while checking out at Jo-ann’s. They sold me with 50% off this package of Easter critters.