Friday, January 31, 2025

THE OTTER IS IN THE BANDSTAND -- FUN FOLD

For my last card this week I have another Fun Fold.  This Fun Fold is definitely "Mantle Worthy".


It stands beautifully for display and looks very impressive.  But it is so much easier to make than it looks!  Impressive but easy -- two of my favorite words to describe a card.

Do you recognize who graces our card today?  It's Ella--our Otter who looked most likely to succeed at catching dinner for Wednesday's group of friends!  She has definitely caught a handsome Pretty Peacock fish hasn't she?  She's tightly gripping it in her paws so it doesn't get away!  She thinks it might be large enough to feed the entire ABC Otter family and their friends!


But if it isn't, she still has an opportunity to catch some more as she is surrounded by a school of Pretty Peacock Fish.

But Ella thinks this one is plenty big to feed everyone.  She is so proud of it that she swam to the local Bandstand to show it off!  

Ella asked me to tell you that she loves visiting the Bandstand and would love it if you joined her.  She's made it easy for you to visit.  All you need to do is click on the video below and you can build your own bandstand.




Did you enjoy meeting Ella at her bandstand?  She hopes so and asked that I give you another view of her bandstand.  I'm here to oblige, but don't tell her that I think she is getting a little bossy after catching that big fish!


Frankly, she's holding it so tightly that I'm thinking she may not want to share it with Alice, Benji, Charlie, Dave & Frank.

Her closing "demand" was that I tell you that she thinks "YOU'RE OTTERLY AMAZING".


Since I totally agree with her, that was an easy request!

I hope you have enjoyed our journey with the Otterly Adorable Product Suite this week.  I've had fun.  I've made myself smile, and I hope I have made you smile, too!

Use this link to download the tutorial for today's card but be sure to watch the Learning with Friends video to make it even easier.

A list of the products used on today's card are shown below.

Product List

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

OTTERS AT PLAY FUN FOLD

We are continuing to get to know the ABC family today.  Mom, Alice, son, Benji, and Dad, Charlie, have moved to a different spot on the lake today to meet their friend, Dave.


Dave likes to hang out in the weedy part of the lake because he thinks there are more fish over there.  Looks like he might be right!


Dave invited his friend Ella to join them for dinner, but he's got her hiding in the weeds as he's not quite ready to introduce her to the ABC family just yet.  If you look closely, you can see her peeking through the tall, viny weeds on the "inside" of the card.

As you may have noticed, Dave's a bit lazy and seems to enjoy watching the fish swim by as he sits in the weeds watching Benji playing in the water close to Mom and Dad cuddling on their log.


Dave invited his friend Frank to dinner also, but I don't think Frank is going to be much help in procuring dinner.    He looks about ready to take a nap as he floats on his back in the water.   I doubt he is going to catch many fish that way.  Ella seems to be the only one alert enough to catch dinner.


She looks like she's got her eyes on that huge school of fish that is swimming across the bottom of the lake.  I think she is ready to pounce!

What do you think?  Are they going to eat tonight?

If you would like the details to make this fun Double Z Fun Fold with the ABC Family and their friends, check out the tutorial at this link for all the details.  

A list of the products used is shown below.


Product List

Monday, January 27, 2025

OTTERS AT THE LAKE

This week I have a really fun and cute suite of products to share with you.  The Suite is called Otterly Adorable and it really is adorable!

Some of my favorite kinds of cards to make are those that include some sort of outdoor scene.  It may be a pretty sunset, a woodland scene or like today's card a beautiful view of a lake.  Since I live on a lake, those may be my favorite.

Today's card features a fun technique called coloring on Vellum that Brandy Cox shared with us at the recent Winter Creativate Retreat.


The lake was created by embossing vellum with a new embossing folder from the Spring Mini called Soft Waves.  After embossing I used Azure Afternoon, Balmy Blue and Pool Party Stampin' Blends to color both sides of the vellum.  Doesn't it make a pretty lake?

Before adding the vellum to the card front I used blending brushes to color the sky and the sand and then stamped the trees from Forever Forest above where the lake was going to be.  The sandy beach provided a place for my ABC Otter Family to relax and wait for dad to deliver dinner.


I cut a little slit in the vellum along one of the waves to tuck Dad Charlie's leg into so it looks like it is in the water as he swims to catch dinner for Alice his "wife" and their son Benji.  Charlie is a great fisherman and you are going to see more of this ABC family all week.

All of my ABC adorable otters were very quick and easy to add to the card because all I needed to do was to snip them out of the Otterly Adorable Designer Series Paper (DSP).

Little Benji was so excited to meet you this week that he didn't want to say goodbye.


So, I let him hang around for a while longer on the inside of my card.  He's relaxing on the sandy beach waiting for dad to catch him some more fish.
 
If you would like to become friends with Alice, Benji and Charlie check out the list below.  They would love to come for a visit at your house so you could play with them, too!

Use this link to download a tutorial for today's card that includes all the dimensions and any step-by-step assembly help you may need.

The ABC family hopes you will come back this week and see them again!

Product List