make a Puppy Ears card (Craft Camp)

This is a reprint of a guest tutorial I did for Skip To My Lou's Craft Camp. Enjoy!

Hey, Craft Campers! I'm Larissa Holland of mmmcrafts and I'm glad to be a summer craft counselor again this year. Enjoy my earlier Craft Camp paper projects here and here. This year we will make a silly, flappity-eared puppy card that has a tongue pull tab! It's just the thing to make to say Hi to friends you miss, or just give to someone who could use some puppy love. Are you ready?

First things first. Gather your materials! You need:

• Letter sized sheets of white, blue, yellow, orange and red card stock
• Scraps of white and black paper
• Tacky Glue
• Scissors and/or craft knife (Remember the craft knife is sharp! Be careful!)
• Circle punches in 1 inch and 5/8 inch sizes
• Ruler
• This PDF template
• Printer

Get Started:

1) Download the PDF template, open it, and follow the directions on the template to print on your card stock.

2) Score and cut out all the pieces as directed on the template. "Scoring" is simply making a dent in the paper so it folds easily. I use a ruler and the back of my craft knife* (not the sharp side) to score. You can also use a regular ol' table knife (the kind you use to spread butter on bread) to score the folds. Keep the extra uncut pieces to make a card in opposite colors later!
*Get a grown-up involved if you are using a craft knife. It's sharp!

3)  Cut the white piece of card stock in half so that you have two pieces that are 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Fold them in half. You'll use one for this card and have an extra to make another card later. 
 

4) Glue the tongue to the ear piece. Note the writing is facing up on the ears and facing down on the tongue.

  
5) Glue the semicircle to the bottom of the blue piece, flush with the bottom edge. Note the text is face down on both pieces.

6) Feed the tongue through the slit from the back.

7) Put glue only on the top and sides of the text side of the head and center it flush against the top edge of the blue.

8) Punch two white 1 inch circles and two black 5/8 inch circles. Make eyes by gluing the black onto the white. Then glue the completed eyes on, being sure they are in a spot that is hidden by the ears when they are folded down.

9) Use a template piece to trace a nose on black paper with pencil. Cut it out and glue to the face.

10) Fold over the blue side flaps toward the back and crease them well.

11) Add glue to the back side of each flap, then attach it to the front of the card you made in step 3. It's easier for me to add the card to the back of the puppy instead of the other way round, but be sure you have the card opening on the correct side.

12) Open the card and fold over the yellow flap between the ears and glue it to the inside cover of the card.

13) Test the ear action! Pull the tongue down and watch the ears flip up! Push the tongue back inside and the ears can fold back down.

14) Using a gel pen or thin magic marker (not a permanent marker - those may bleed through your paper), add the word "PULL" to the lower part of the tongue that shows when the ears are laying down. Add a message to the inside of the ears if you like, for example:

Hi There!

Miss You!

Happy Birthday! 

or 

Whoa, Nellie!

Tada! Your Puppy Ears card is now finished! Write a note on the inside of the card and send some silly puppy love in the mail. This card fits in a 5 x 7 inch envelope.

Please enjoy this template and tutorial for your personal use! Commercial use is not allowed. Please don't pin or post any in-progress shots, or repaste my text. Feel free to pin or post the finished card with a credit and a link back. Thanks!

TravelWees pattern available!

Say cheese! *chk-zzh* 

The new TravelWees pattern is now available via download in my Etsy shop!

Did you notice these TravelWees look a lot like my Travel Bugs? Yes, I renamed them because there is a cool geocaching dogtag on the market with the same name. I like the name TravelWee better anyway! It makes them seem maybe Scottish. That blue one looks like he could be a Nac Mac Feegle.

The pattern includes instructions to make what you see, including the poseable TravelWee doll, teeny tiny camera with strap, salad-to-go, and tin liner. It also includes a printable tag for the inside of the tin lid. All designed to fit inside an Altoids® Curiously Strong Mints tin, so young travelers can stow them in pockets and backpacks.

This pattern is for a toy with very small parts and may pose a choking hazard. I would not recommend making it for any globe trotter who is under the age of three.

You can make them seem more girly or more manly depending on the color and thickness of the synthetic shag fur you use. It is pretty fun to style their hair. Jetsam's bright blue hair is very thick, and Flotsam's hair is more wispy.

I recommend using cotton pipe cleaners for their arms and legs. They are available at cigar/pipe shops and also online. They are so soft, have a shorter nap, and seem to be stronger than regular craft pipe cleaners. Though admittedly the color choice is more limited. I did manage to snag a box of IDEAL rainbow assortment off of ebay. But there's always white!

You can use an old map or road atlas to line the Altoid tin. Maybe your hometown or destination city. If you don't have any recyclable maps, decorative paper is also an option.

Here's a closeup of the printable tags, leaves and cameras. I'd love to get shots of TravelWees in exotic locales. I hope you enjoy the pattern!

father's day cards

Fun with paper ties. The one on the right was made by me for the girls to give to Michael. They wrote on the inside:

"This is what our Daddy's SuperSuit looks like."

It is indeed his SuperSuit. He wears it six days a week. But no cape.

big floral papercut

I worked on this big ol' papercut a while back while I was in the groove of the floral papercut cards. It didn't turn out very well at first, so I put it aside and waited for inspiration to strike so I could finish it.

I love the strong black background and the punch it gives to the arrangement on the mantel. I have a terrible urge to drop what I'm doing and make an applique quilt just like it.

Made from art papers, cut by hand, with colored pencil accents. In an IKEA frame.

(I have felty plans for that bell jar too. Found it on sale at Ballard a while back. It needs something taller in it for sure.)