Hello Spring & Happy Easter Cards

As I am writing this, there is a fresh layer of snow on the ground here in Michigan.  But I find it encouraging to know that spring is on it's way!  

A few days ago, I sat down at my craft table with the Hello Easter stamp set, which is in Stampin' Up's  Occasions catalog.  These are the designs that I came up with . . . 

I personally think that this is one of the cutest cards I've ever created!  I love everything about it . . . the wood background, the lace doily, the brown bunny with a tiny bow, the soft blue card base, and the little bit of green. 

I made this card using the exact design as the first card, minus the paper doily.  Somehow it has a slightly dressier look, even without the lace.  I thought that this paper from the Delightful Daisy collection had a nice springtime feel to it.  

In the two cards above, I used this tip:

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #31 --- Tie a length of solid baker's twine around the neck of a stamped or punched animal.

See there . . . that little bow adds such a charming touch!  And solid baker's twine is perfect for making teeny, tiny bows.  It is available from Stampin' Up in 5 different colors.  One spool of 25 yards is $3.00.  A very inexpensive way to dress up any card! 


Here are a couple of other cards I made: 

I love chocolate eggs at Easter, don't you?!  I chose brighter colors for the flowers on this card.

  This green background paper is also from the Delightful Daisy collection.  I really like the purple & green color combination.  Purple is not a color that I use very often, but for some reason I associate purple with Easter.  Maybe because of this classic book from my childhood . . .

  

Here is a look at all of the stamps from the Hello Easter set:
 

I like that this set is not limited to just Easter; with the flowers, the bunny, and the "Hello Spring", it can be used throughout the spring season.

I hope this has brought a little touch of spring into your day, regardless of the weather where you live.  And remember  that Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend . . . spring forward!

Cat Lover's Card

I made this card for my granddaughter, DeDe.  She and I share a love for cats.  She finally got a kitten on her birthday a few months ago, after wanting one for a very long time. 

I have been without a cat for about a year (long & sad story), but I know that eventually we will welcome a new kitty into our home, whenever the time feels right.

I stamped the card above using one of my favorite new items in the new Holiday Catalog from Stampin' Up, which is this fabulous cat punch!

It is part of a suite of Halloween products, but certainly is not limited to Halloween stamping!  If you love cats like DeDe & me, or if you know people who do, you NEED this punch!  

I chose the words on my card from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set.  All of these words make it easy to create a customized sentiment.

Here is a similar card I made with this punch.

The bow on the cat's neck is tied from a piece of Crushed Curry Solid Baker's twine.  Lately I've been obsessed with gluing tiny bows on my cards!  (See last week's post.)

Both of these cards use the following tip:

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #13:  Adhere a punched image to a large piece of patterned paper.  Add greeting.

This tip would work with any punch and any paper.  This is a fast way to make a cute card.  There is a large variety of both punches and paper in our catalogs, which you can browse by clicking on the catalog images in the right sidebar.  If you have any questions, email me at godismydelight@yahoo.com.  I will see you here again next week!