DIY Action Wobbler | Christmas In July | TMR #115/CASS | Video

I’m doing double-duty with this card. I think this is the first time I’ve ever done so, but the card was perfect for both of the challenge posts I needed to design for today, so I figured I’d do them together! It’s the start of our July challenge at Christmas At Sweet Stampin’ where we have the optional theme of Christmas In The Sun, and we’re also celebrating Christmas In July over at The Male Room. I created a clean and simple card with a DIY action wobble element for my card.

I started by printing the Tropical Santa – Buried digi stamp from Bugaboo onto some alcohol marker friendly card stock. I then coloured the image in with my Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers. I kept the colouring fairly straightforward, and as I usually do I put my shadows on the left hand side as if the light is coming from the top right. I changed things up a bit when it came to the sand and rather than doing flat colouring I started by putting a base layer of colour and then shadows, but then used squiggly lines and dots to add texture and interest to the sand. Once I was happy with all the colouring I fussy cut the image out and set it to one side.

I wanted to let the image be the star of the show but I also wanted to add a little interest to the card base. I watered down a little Tea Dye Distress ink and added splatters of it concentrated on the bottom of my card base. I was careful not to oversplatter as I still wanted lots of white space. After splattering I moved the card base into my MISTI and stamped a sentiment from Lawn Fawn’s Merry Messages onto the bottom of the card. I used the same Tea Dye Distress ink for the stamping. Distress ink isn’t really formulated for stamping but can work well enough for fine stamps such as sentiments, especially if restamped a couple of times, which is where the MISTI really comes in useful.

I wanted to pop my focal image up on an action wobbler but couldn’t find any in my stash. I decided I would have a go at creating my own. I find some metal thread, or thin wire, in my stash and tried using that. I cut a length of the wire and wrapped it around a pen to create a spring. I then adhered one end to the back of my image and the other to the card base. I actually ended up using two of the springs, one behind the body and the other behind the head, to make sure the image was supported enough (as it’s quite large) but still able to wobble. The makeshift wobbler works well enough but would probably have been better with a sturdier wire. If I’d been able to find any action wobblers I think I would have preferred using them to the homemade one, but it works well enough in a pinch!

Though the action wobbler doesn’t work quite as well as I would’ve liked it was fun to try making one. I enjoyed making this card and I’m pleased with how it turned out. It took me quite a while to decide what I wanted to do for Christmas in the Sun but I feel like I was successful in creating a card that meets the theme! If you’d like to enter into the challenge at The Male Room or Christmas At Sweet Stampin’ be sure to head over to the posts and link up – we’d love to see you joining in! And you can find more inspiration from the teams there or on their personal blogs via the links below.

Love,

Lady Joyful

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Challenges:

AAA Cards – Maxi White Space & Optional: Christmas In July

Action Wobble July Challenge – Christmas In July

Addicted to Stamps and More – CAS

Aloha Friday – Christmas In July (edit – where it was chosen as a top pick!)

Cards Und More – Christmas

Christmas At Sweet Stampin’ – Anything Christmas and Optional: Christmas In The Sun

Craftyhazelnut’s Christmas Challenge – Anything Christmas and Optional: For A Man/Boy

Creative Confetti – Christmas In July

TCP Tuesday – Christmas In July

The Male Room – Christmas In July

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Check out what the rest of the CASS DT made:

Charlotte (that’s me!)

Chris

Donna

Rocky

Shona

Susan

Tammy

Tracey

Tristan

Wendy

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Check out what the rest of the TMR DT made:

Ana

Andreja

Crafty Linby

Faith

Lady Joyful (that’s me!)

Lise Mariann

Ma-Mi

Monika

Wei