Today it’s a bit on the nippy side and I’m grateful to be able to spend it crafting indoors. Earlier this month Stampin’ Up! refreshed the Last Chance section and lots of products are being retired. The bundle I’m probably most sad to be losing is the Sweet Bugs Stamp Set and coordinating dies. Coupled with the Cute As A Bug Designer Series Paper (DSP) these allowed me to make quick cards with incredible detail. So for one last time here’s a card showing off that die and DSP coordination.

The card really is all about the paper so I began by finding the sheet with the various panels. First I cut out the 3″ x 4″ piece with the tree stump and lily of the valley. Then I cut a 3-1/8″ x 4-1/8″ piece of Cajun Craze Card, glued the panel on top and set it aside.

Next I found the 4″ x 6″ panel with larger lily of the valley images. After cutting this panel from the rest of the sheet I trimmed off the bottom 1″ and set it aside. Then with liquid glue on the floral side I fixed the remaining section onto the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Finally using scissors I trimmed off the excess paper using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Having done that, I cut a 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Soft Sea Foam Card for my A2 card base. With the long side at the top I scored the card at 4-1/4″, folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Going back to the 1″ x 6″ strip of DSP that I had set aside, I cut along the top edge of the grass and flowers. Then I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Basic White Card and glued the strip along the bottom edge. After trimming off the excess DSP at the sides I glued the completed layer inside the card base.

SWEET BUGS ON PARADE

Now I was ready to work on the front of the card, starting with the 3″ x 4″ panel I’d set aside. Using liquid glue I attached the panel to the centre of the card front.

Turning back to the Cute As A Bug DSP I found the sheet with a white background and individual images. Having chosen the yellow caterpillar holding the leaf I found the coordinating die from the Sweet Bugs set. As well as cutting out the image from the DSP, I also cut out three more of the same shape from Thick Basic White Card. Then using liquid glue I stacked the three white pieces before topping them off with the die-cut caterpillar. Now using simple liquid glue my die-cut DSP could add dimension to the card.

Finally for my sentiment I turned to the Sweet Bugs Stamp Set. I cut three 1/2″ x 2-1/2″ pieces of Thick Basic White Card and using Cajun Craze ink stamped “Love you lots” onto one of them. Then I stacked the three strips, gluing them together with the sentiment on top. Finally with liquid glue on the back I added the sentiment to the top of the panel and my colourful project was complete.

Sometimes I really don’t want to fuss around putting lots of Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back of intricate die-cut pieces. That’s when this simple process of stacking ‘blank’ die-cuts beneath the main piece makes my crafting life easier. I love how sturdy this makes the die-cut DSP with none of the collapsing that can happen when using Stampin’ Dimensionals. Have you tried this technique? Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

For more projects using the Sweet Bugs Stamp Set and Dies, or the Cute As A Bug DSP see these earlier blog posts:

• IDEAS Blog Hop: Cute As A Bug
• Cute butterfly bubbles
• IDEAS Blog Hop: Just a bug or two
• Cute start to Sunday
• Birthday salutations
• Hello ladybug
• Blackberry season is coming

PRODUCT LIST

LAST CHANCE: The Sweet Bugs Stamp Set, Sweet Bugs Dies and Cute As A Bug DSP are all on the Last Chance List. This means they’re being retired and once current stocks have gone they will be gone forever! As the stamp set and dies have been reduced in price it’s now cheaper to buy them separately rather than using the special ‘bundle’ item number.

BONE FOLDER TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE IN CANADA: We’ve been advised by Stampin’ Up! that due to issues at the border, Bone Folders cannot currently be shipped from the US to Canada. I’ll let you know as soon as this changes.