19 May 2008 Spring's Crackin', Pigs May Fly and a Challenge

The three lil' pigs are in trouble! I got this idea from the Paper Crafts magazine, Stamp It!. Didn't see an issue number, but it's hot off the newstand. The magazine used a Gina K stamp from the Down on the Farm set, which I don't have, so I improvised with punches. Forgot to give the piggies legs. That's why they're in trouble, or would be if they came down to earth! Don't worry, I'll ink in some legs. The clouds were made by dabbing on some white Color Box ink.

I'm not a designer, but one of those stampers whose cards are inspired by others' ideas. I particularly love this card, because it is an original idea. Okay, okay, you've seen other hatching chick cards. But the way I made this one came from my own head. It occurred to me that two of my oval punches would make wonderful egg shapes. I punched the chick's egg with the smaller of the two, then zig-zag cut it with regular scissors. The chick is made of two punches, and his beak was free-hand cut. Try picking up such eensy pieces! I tried using tweezers to pick them up, finally found that long nails--mine--worked best. Gluing the eensy beak pieces was another challenge, because they didn't want to leave my fingertips.
The background is the Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls.

The "A Winter's Night Dream" card is the answer to a challenge by Michelle of Ink Stainers. I wanted to make the title, "A Midwinter Night's Dream" as a replique to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream, but didn't have room for the "mid". Bravo, Michelle, for getting the images off to us in spite of moving and still settling in to a new place.