Valentine Ladder Shaker

Ever have one of those cards that seems to take WAY more time than it should?  My card this evening is one of those.  It’s for the color challenge (Petal Pink, Poppy Parade and White) at Splitcoaststampers so the color choices were fixed.  First I couldn’t decide on the stamp set.  My first thought was the new set Mini Meows from My Favorite Things but I had at least 4 other sets on my desk that I looked at, thought about, and played around with.  And I finally ended up using Mini Meows.  Sigh.

Then it was design.  Again, I just couldn’t come up with what I wanted.  As I do when I need inspiration I checked out the MFT website and Pinterest.  I saw a similar design and coloring of the cats so I used those as my starting point.  I hit on making this a shaker card, that's where everything clicked and from there the process went fairly quickly (at least as fast as a shaker card can go.)

My cats are colored very simply.  I really love detailed coloring but every so often (and it’s happening more lately) I find that simple or flat coloring is what the card needs.  Here was one such occasion.

Engineering this card took some time.  I call this a “ladder shaker” because I wanted three individual shakers not one large one.  I cut a second “ladder” and glued my background squares behind it. 

I glued that to the card and attached my foam.  I had to be very careful to make sure there were no gaps. 

After that it was simple.  I guessed about right on the amount of shaker elements.  This can be the toughest decision in shakers because once you’ve attached the top there is no going back.  I try to err on the side of too much because too little isn’t much fun.  I wish I had a formula for you, but my basic method is “eyeball it!”

This card will be going to my youngest daughter for Valentine’s Day.

 

This is also for the NBUS challenge this month.  My Never-Been-Used-Schtuff? The Mini Meows stampset (just arrived!) and the Photo Booth Strip (had for ages).

Products used:

• Stamps and dies: MFT Mini Meows
• Dies: MFT Photo Booth Strip, MFT Basic Stitched Edges 2
  
• Markers: Copic W1, Stampin’ Blend Petal Pink Light
• Card stock / Paper: Whisper White, Subtles DSP (retired)
• Accessories: Stampin’ Up! From My Heart Faceted Gems

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