What a great die to own if you are a gift card aficionado like myself! It can be easily customized for any occasion…weddings, graduations, birthdays, babies. The possibilities are endless! Are you ready to “Look Here” for today’s card recipe?

Part 1. The Card Base

• Prepare a standard card base from textured Whisper White card stock and score at the top.
• Layer with the two striped selections from the Tall Tales Designer Series Paper collection.
• Adhere Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon at the interface of the two papers.
• Ink the “Giraffe” stamp from Animal Stories with Soft Suede and stamp onto Whisper White. Use the Corner Rounder Punch on opposite corners. Mat with Barely Banana, once again rounding opposite corners. Mat onto Old Olive, and adhere to the card base.
• Ink the “Happy New Baby” sentiment from the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set with Soft Suede and stamp onto Whisper White. Using Stampin’ Dimensionals, layer onto a scalloped oval punched from the “Yellow Stripe” paper using the Scalloped Oval Punch. Layer this onto a Soft Suede Large Oval and adhere to the card base.
  

Part II. The Gift Card Insert

• Align a piece of 6″ x 11″ Old Olive card stock onto the Look Here! Bigz Die. Layer the die and paper between the extended cutting pads and pass through the Big Shot. Remove all excess paper from the cut out. Note: The small rectangle of paper at the bottom edge of the die is extremely important. Make certain that you do not lose it. Plus this is a very close fit, so make sure that you carefully line the paper up with the cutting lines.
• Because I wanted to “dress” this up, I punched the selected arrows again using Barely Banana. I then adhered them to the arrows that I wanted to highlight. I also lined the upper section of the die with pattern paper from the Tall Tales collection.
• Next you need to begin folding all of the score lines. Turn the piece over and add adhesive between the half-circles and fold this section over the middle score line.
• Pop the half circles through to hold the card. Next you are ready to fold the other score lines out. Fold the next one on the back up, and then flip to the front and fold the next remaining score line up.
• Before folding the side score lines, pop out the arrows and fold them on the crease line. You can now safely fold the side lines forward (down) without damaging the arrows. (Note: If the arrows become creased or bent, they will not “pop” correctly when you open the card.)
• This piece can now be added to the card. Make certain that you are adding the top of the insert to the top of the card. Place adhesive to the back of the top portion of the insert. Make certain that the 5/8″ piece above the folded middle meets up with the center fold of the card base, while making sure that the folded sides of the top half of the insert are in the fold of the card base. (Tip: When adding the adhesive, make certain that you do not glue down the arrows.)
• Place adhesive on the back of the bottom section of the insert. It is easiest to actually fold the bottom half of the card base up to meet the insert.
• Next add a little adhesive to both ends of the tiny rectangular piece which was cut with the die. Fold into the shape of an “M” and align with the lower corner of the right-hand half-circle. Next squeeze the lower right hand arrow on to this. This will help to hold this arrow up when the card is opened. (Tip: When the gift card is added, make certain that all of the arrows are in front of the gift card.)
• To add even more interest, I cut out an elephant from the Tall Tales paper and adhered it to the lower arrow using a couple of Mini Glue Dots. I also slipped a piece of pattern paper under the arrow cut-out in the bottom panel.
• As a finishing touch, I cut a strip of elephants from the Tall Tales paper and affixed it as a border on the bottom panel.

Click here to access the Occasions Mini Catalog!
Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now!
Stamp Set: Animal Stories (116716—Available July 1st), Fun & Fast Notes (113500)
Ink: Soft Suede (115657)
Designer Series Paper: Tall Tales (115678)
Card Stock: Whisper White Textured (108693 Available only in the Neutrals Assorted Pack), Old Olive (100702), Barely Banana (102701), Soft Suede (115318)
Tools: Big Shot(113439), Extended Cutting Pads (113478), Stampin’ Up! Pop-Up Look Here (115966—Available July 1st), Scallop Oval Punch (114889), Large Oval Punch (107305), Corner Rounder (109047)
Embellishments: Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (115612)

• Prepare a 7-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ card base from Handsome Hunter Textured Card Stock.
• Layer with purple paper from the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper collection.
• Ink the “Jack-o-lantern” stamp from The More the Merrier with Basic Black and stamp onto Stampin‘ Up!s Watercolor Paper. Color by using the following Stampin‘ Pastels and a Blender Pen: Pumpkin Pie (of course), Old Olive, and Yoyo Yellow. Mat onto “Small Retro Flower” paper from the Razzleberry Lemonade collection, followed by Handsome Hunter. Make a vertical block from a coordinating selection of Razzleberry Lemonade, round opposite corners using the Corner Rounder Punch, and mat onto Handsome Hunter. Round the opposite corners of the Handsome Hunter mat also.
• Position and adhere the vertical block and image block onto the card base.
• Ink the “happy halloween“ sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes (also available July 1st) with Dusty Durango and stamp onto Very Vanilla. Punch using the Word Window Punch. Layer onto Handsome Hunter which has been punched with the new Modern Label Punch. Add a snippet of Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon, and adhere the sentiment and ribbon to the card base.As a final touch, prepare a designer brad by using the Build-A-Brad set. Simply punch a 1/2″ circle from the Designer Series Paper of your choice. (I selected the “Retro Floral” so I could showcase the little flowers!) Adhere it to the brad base, add an acrylic bubble, and you have an instant “Wow” factor. I popped my brad into position with a Stampin‘ Dimensional.

If someone would have told me that Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper could be used to make a Halloween card, I probably would have said, “No way!” But the Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango and Crushed Curry hues certainly work for fall and Halloween. It is definitely a collection that I will want to keep on hand!

Please feel free to leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you! Until next time…

Click here to access the Occasions Mini Catalog!

Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now!

Stamp Sets: The More the Merrier (Level 3 Hostess 115322—Available July 1st), Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370)
Inks: Basic Black (101179), Dusty Durango (115654); Stampin’ Pastels (105542), Blender Pens (102845)
Designer Series Paper: Rich Razzleberry (115675)
Card Stock: Very Vanilla (101650), Textured Handsome Hunter (12” x 12” Rich Regals Assorted 108696)
Tools: Corner Rounder Punch (109047), Modern Label Punch (116630), Word Window Punch (105090), ½” Circle Punch (104390),
Embellishments: Pewter Build-A-Brad (109128), Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (115613)

Stampin‘ Pastels, Stampin‘ Write Markers, and Blender Pens were all that I needed for this effect. After masking the area where the pheasant was to be positioned, I established the horizon. I did this by touching the tip of the Blender Pen onto the Always Artichoke pastel. I then gave the illusion of a tree line in the background. Because I did not feel that I had enough definition, I outlined my mounds of trees using the thin tip of the Always Artichoke Stampin‘ Write Marker. To soften this line, I once again applied the Blender Pen.

To achieve the look of the sky, I used a Blender Pen and the Brocade Blue pastel. Because I was using Stampin‘ Up!s watercolor paper, I was able to “scrub” the color, giving the sky a natural, patchy appearance. The foreground utilizes Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa pastels and blender pens. I made it darker closer to the tree line and lightened up as I neared the bottom edge. Once again, scrubbing the colors gave a more natural appearance. When I finished the above steps, I wasn’t quite happy with the end results so I added just a touch of Always Artichoke pastel with the blender pen to the lower left hand section of the foreground to break up the brown.

My next step was to remove the mask and stamp the pheasant image. Of course, for this step, I definitely had to rely upon the Stamp-a-ma-jig. Because I wanted to showcase the new In-Colors, I inked the stamp with Soft Suede and stamped away.

After researching the colors of ring-necked pheasants, I looked for Stampin‘ Pastel colors that would work for their natural coloring. I dipped my Blender Pen into Rose Red and proceeded to tint the feathers around the eye. Oops! Do you know what I forgot? Since Soft Suede is not waterproof, the Blender Pen began to smear the ink slightly. A close look at the photograph will reveal the proof of my “blender pen blunder”. I should have used Basic Brown, but it was too late. At this stage, I moved to Plan B: pastels only. The breast of the pheasant is Bravo Burgundy, fading into Pumpkin Pie as we near the wings. Barely Banana was then brushed over the wings.

As I took one last look, I felt that the tree line was still missing something. As a final touch, I added the bare trees by using the fine tip of my Soft Suede marker. I also underlined the bottom of the pheasant and the tail feathers to make him “pop” a little more.

For all of you who emailed me with questions, I hope that this helps. So what’s in store for tomorrow? How about a little sneak peek at the Level 3 Hostess gift, “The More the Merrier”!

Please feel free to leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you! Until next time…

Click here to access the Occasions Mini Catalog!

Order Your Stampin‘ Up! Supplies Now!
(For complete card)
Stamp Set: Autumn Days (115452—Available July 1st)
Inks/Markers: Soft Suede Ink (115657—Available July 1st), In-Color Stampin’ Write Markers (116329—Available July 1st), Always Artichoke Stampin’ Write Marker (105113)
Paper: Manchester Designer Series Paper (112464—Last Chance List), Textured 12 x 12 Very Vanilla Card Stock (106530), Dusty Durango—for button thread (115321—Available July 1st), Water Color Paper (105019)
Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049)
Other: Stampin’ Pastels (105542), Blender Pens (102845), Fresh Favorites II Buttons (107422)