Sometimes it is interesting where inspiration comes from. I got an email from a gourmet caramel apple company, and they had a little stuffed Easter duck perched on top of an apple with a cute printed bow in the back. It was so cute and I thought of the many punch art chicks and ducks I've seen….and the bow made me think of our new Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.

When I pulled out my pack of paper, there was this scrap from cutting out a Framelits Die Label the other day.  I thought it would make a perfect frame. And that's where I started.

The Easter punch art duckie is made with these punches:

• 1 3/4" Circle #119850
• 1 3/8" Circle #119860 
• Modern Label #119849 
• Boho Blossoms #119858 
• Bird Builder #117191 
• 1/2" Circle #119869 
• Circle in Itty Bitty Shapes #118309

Try your hand at some Stampin' Up! punch art!  Just have fun!

Here's an Easter card made with some products from the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration Catalog. Easter is April 8th so you still have time for some handmade Easter cards!

With a $50 purchase from any of the Stampin' Up! catalogs, you can earn a free product from the Sale-a-Bration Catalog.  On this card I used my free Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper #126154, the matching ribbon from the Everyday Enchantment Ribbon and Brad Pack #127279, and even the Pool Party and Lucky Limeade In Color card stock #127713. All three items are free in the Sale-A-Bration catalog with a $50 purchase.

The Everyday Enchantment ribbon is really fun, so thin and sheer…and you can curl the ends with a scissors like you might do with regular gift-wrapping ribbon.

The Easter eggs are punched with the Extra-Large Oval Punch #119859. The Sahara Sand medallion is cut from the Perfect Pennants Die #123126. The little chick is punched from the Bird Builder Punch #117191 (with his tail cut off!).

Why not make a few Easter cards to send to your family and friends?

Sale-A-Bration ends on Saturday, March 31 so don't wait to place your order HERE.

Easter is almost here, and I've been lucky enough to get a couple of Easter cards!  This one is a handmade one, of course, from my downline, Priscilla. It's made with the beautiful stamp set Easter Blossoms in the Occasions Mini.  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, maybe you can see some of the fine detail.  She applied a tiny bit of Crystal Effects and color to the eggs and the girl's hair bow as well as the little flowers in the bouquet. A beautiful Stampin' Up! Easter card!!

The Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog is only current until next Saturday, April 30th so you don't have much time left to shop for the wonderful products in this catalog!  Check it out online and put in your order whenever it is convenient for you!  Contact me if you have any questions.

Easter Parade 

In your easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, 
You'll be the grandest lady in the easter parade. 
I'll be all in clover and when they look you over, 
I'll be the proudest fellow in the easter parade. 
On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us, 
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure. 
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your easter bonnet, 
And of the girl I'm taking to the easter parade.

—Irving Berlin

Doesn't that song just take you back to another time?  When I was a little girl ladies always wore hats to church.  I always had a new hat, white gloves, dress, shoes, and maybe a coat for Easter Sunday.  I still remember getting into my grandma's closet and looking at her boxes of hats. Now some of them are in my closet as a keepsake.

To make your own representation of an Easter bonnet with lace trim, just find or make your own template for the hat and cut on folded cardstock. Just place your template a little above the folded line so you won't cut it.  I ran this hat through the Lattice embossing folder to give it the look of a spring straw hat.  Originally I planned on some Melon Mambo flowers, but then I went for a simpler look with some Crochet Trim lace, a Vanilla Rosette, some leaves punched with the Bird Punch and a few pearls along the band!  Make yourself an Easter bonnet and see what you come up with!

Easter is fast approaching, especially if you want to make some homemade cards to send to friends and family.  Here is one I had SO much fun making!  In fact, maybe I had too much fun…sometimes you have to know when to stop!  But I love this Easter card!

First I used the Big Shot to cut a basket with the Baskets & Blooms Die #113484.  It really cuts two and you can put them together to make a 3D basket…but I just wanted a flat one for this card.  I also embossed the die cut with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder #119976 to make it look more like a basket-weave.  To fit on my card a little better, I cut off the flap on one side of the basket and then scored 1/2" on both sides to fold back.  That way I could attach the basket to the card with Sticky Strip and still have an opening at the top.  To make the chick and the eggs in the basket I used my cute set "A Good Egg" #114974.  The eggs are first punched out with the Extra-Large Oval Punch #119859.  The small eggs in the grass are just punched out of designer paper and card stock with the smallest Oval Punch #119863, some cut in half to make then shorter.

Let me know if you have any questions…..and if you need any supplies for Easter cards, just put in your order at my Online Store!  And don't forget to check the Clearance Rack while you are there!

Today I was looking online and saw where someone had made templates of Easter bunny shapes, and you could use that template to draw and cut out bunnies that would stand up as a card.  However, Stampin' Up! already has a really cute stamp in the Occasions Mini, sold as a single stamp, called "Chocolate Bunny" (#116980)!  It's been very popular and fun to make things with.  So I decided I could do nearly the same thing by just stamping the bunny on a piece of card stock, putting his "rear" on the fold, and cutting out the shape!

I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig (#101049) to get the right placement on the fold.

Cut out around the shape of the bunny leaving the fold intact.  This is what the little bunny card looks like opened.  I love using my Paper Snips (#103579) for cutting like this.  Believe me, they are a great investment! 

Next I put a little bling on my Chocolate Bunny with the self-adhesive rhinestones in the Eggscellent Eggs Kit from the Occasions Mini and a little "love" tag from the Tiny Tags stamp set (#118592 clear mount), tied on with some Linen Thread (#104199).  The tiny tag is punched out with the new Medium Jewelry Tag Punch (#117190).  Unfortunately, the Eggscellent Eggs Kit is sold out and no longer available!  Next time you see a seasonable item you really like, be sure to purchase it right away!

Now if my other craft supplies were better organized, I would find a little pom pom to put on the bunny for his cottontail.  Maybe later!

If you want to add this little Chocolate Bunny stamp to your Sale-a-Bration order, be sure to get it in as soon as possible!

Just made a quick and easy little Easter card!  It's just 3×3!  I used the Eggcoutrements Stamp Set in the Occasions Mini.  You can choose either the wood-mount or clear-mount stamps.  I stamped the little border with Green Galore Ink on Whisper White card stock and then punched it out with the Scallop Edge Punch (#112091).  I stamped the tag with Pixie Pink and used the Small Tag (#108264)and (large) Tag Punches (#105934), the Crop-A-Dile (#108362) to punch a hole, and the beautiful Whisper White Organza Ribbon (#114319).  It was time to use the Bold Brights color family again for a change!