Easter Cards

I taught another class on Tues. afternoon (March 23rd) at "A Place to Belong". They were soooooo excited about their creations. They asked the coordinators if I could come back again so they could make Mother's Day and Father's Day cards. I'm booked for May 4th and I am planning to have alternate verses incase Mother's and Father cards are unneeded. You all know that I'm "easy challenged".  Therefore if you see some easy guy cards, I NEED to see them.

A Place to Belong is a social setting for people go to that are having mental difficulties. When demos coined the saying that Stamping is rubber therapy, I don't think this is what they had in mind, but it's right on the mark! Seeing their faces as they look with pride at their cards is priceless. The coordinator said they really look forward to me coming and it's all they talk about for days afterwards. Even though these classes result in no sales, the feeling that I've really made a difference in someone's day is so amazing and fulfilling. And that's therapy for me!

Bunny card details:
7 minutes, 35 seconds is all it took me to make my display card!!! Yeah!! I'm pretty proud of myself about that! When you say chocolate bunnies and baby chicks, it reminds everyone of Easter!

Supplies:
Crushed curry; paper & ink, Chocolate Chip ink, Gold brad, blender pen. The inside is stamped with God's Blessings in chocolate chip ink: Sharing with you the miracle of new hope and new life through the glorious gift of Christ the Lord. They also stamped the little chick and broken egg shell next to the verse. Obviously the yellow envelope is not SU, it's from my before SU stash because I only had enough white ones to give them 1 each. 

Stamping Tips: 

--- Stamp the bunny in the corner  on the whisper white layer before doing the embossing. --- Stamp the inside verse before assembling the card & if you muck it up refold the card so it becomes your front. You can cover up the mucking with your embossed whisper white bunny layer.

Supplies:

Pretty in Pink paper, retired stamp set: 1998 Easter Blessings, retired Raspberry Tart DSP 3"x4",  Mellon Mambo ink, the little flower is from Eastern Blooms, Crystal clear brad. The inside is stamped with God's Blessings in mellon mambo: Blessings brighten when we count them! THANK YOU for blessing my life in such a wonderful way!  White SU envelope. One of the things I so appreciate about doing these classes with "A Place to Belong" is they have provided me with an opportunity and have encouraged me to use retired products. 

To make the flowers: I had them put the punched pieces in the palm of their hand and then rub the petals with the bone folder to add curves. One of the members was worried about the wrinkles in the paper, and I said it made them look like the veins in real flowers. The edges of the flowers are sponged and then attached with dimensionals. My original sample didn't have sponging on the edge of the card, but a couple ladies asked if they could sponge the edges like last time. Then others asked what that meant, so I used my card to show them how it would look. Before long everyone had sponging all over - on every edge you can think of, even the envelopes and the flaps. 

I'm showing two different variations of the same card because one lady had trouble stamping on the inside of the card and smudged the verse. Tip: Stamp your inside verse before embossing the front of the card. This horizontal version of the card has the DSP in the middle to cover up the previously stamped and smudged image. I did this card to show them that there's no mistakes, just revisions in the layout. I think I may even like this one better. If I would have put the saying in the opposite corner it would have looked great vertically also.


Another tip: Never leave home without extra supplies for a couple additional cards.

Inspiration for my cards came from Lisa Reber and Debbie Currier cards on Stampin' Connection. It's an awesome website only for Stamping Up! demonstrators. I'd love to help you sign up to be a demonstrator so you can access to  all the wonderful ideas, examples, and discussions.