Tuesday, January 29, 2008

What a Swinger!!



Would you believe I did NOT plan to make this card when I came up with this monkey pose*?? I know, right?! It just CAME to me after looking at him for awhile(which is just how these "things COME" to me), he kind of looked like he had his leg kicked up in wild swinging abandon! And believe it or not, making this card was VERY easy! You'll need: a pen, a straight edge, scissors, a brad, and a piercing tool.

Stamp your monkey at an angle. Then draw kind of a patch or long john-looking flap on his bottom for the swing's seat(you can do it, it's just a couple lines!) Take a straight edge and line up the top of the "seat" through the middle of his hand, and draw a line through it, skipping over the hand so it looks like he's holding the "rope". Then move your straight edge about a half inch to the left to draw a parallel line for the other rope. The length of your ropes will depend on your card lay out. (I freehanded mine, but I messed up the angle a little bit(but didn't redo it, lazyartist), you'll have much better results with a ruler!) Color. (Watercolor crayons and aquapainter here, as usual)

Cut around the monkey and ropes with your snips. Depending on how much time you have and what kind of background you'll be using, you may want to also cut out inside his arm and leg with a hobby blade/craft knife. LEAVE the space between the ropes as is, as you'll need this to attach your brad.
Poke a hole between the two "ropes" at the top. Punch out a circle (or two in different sizes if you want a mat like I did here) of CS, place on top of the ropes, and poke through the same hole, then lay on your card, and go through this last layer(the card) with another hole. Now add your brad through all three layers and bend back. Now it will swing around 360 degrees, whoop dee dooooooooo!
If you want don't want the brad to show inside your card, you can pop up a very large circle with a greeting or something on it over the brad, just make sure your dimensionals are on either side of the flattened brad, so it can rotate fully. If you don't have circle punches, you can skip this step and just put the brad straight in the card, or put it through some other fun embellishment(example to come later, check back!)
You could also choose to omit the hand that's on the back side, cut it off, or have him holding his sign or flowers or he swoops past! Here, I just did a "Look Ma, one hand!" kind of thing..yeah, I'm his mama, he's my baby...

Speaking of babies, here are MINE(and coincidentally, the inspiration for my original monkey drawing), Jonathan and William, or as my DH likes to call them, "Monkey #1 and Monkey #2" :) (Plan to hear about their adventures(misadventures often) I'd share one that happened TODAY, but I'm still MAD, going to have wait AWHILE 'til I can tell it and laugh about it, grrrr!)

Check back for another "swinger card"**, next time with a different kind of swing!
PS Have you read about my CONTEST??? Scroll down or click on my link to the left about FREE STAMPS!

*You have heard how I came up with the pose by now??(as revealed during the last release party in the Gina K Splitcoast Forum***? oh yeah, juicy stuff is revealed there, you don't want to miss them...!) So I was thinking about my set while driving behind this huge TRUCK ...


**Cool, I invented a NEW card (The Swinger Card-rowwwrr!) Remember, you saw it here first! ;)



***NEXT release party, Sunday, February 10th, be there or be square!






18 comments:

  1. Sooo cute! What a great way to use your cute little monkey! And btw your boy monkeys are adorable too. :-)

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  2. what a CUTE idea! LOVE it...and love the pics of J & W

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  3. The monkeys in the set don't do your inspirations justice. They are too cute. Don't worry you'll laugh about the mishap someday. My Johnathan, at about age 4 decided his hair was just a little to long and wanted to take some off of the top in the middle of naptime. He got up to "go potty" and used my husbands mustache trimmer to shave a reverse mohawk, YEP!! right down the middle of his head to the SKIN!!He then quietly got back in bed and went to sleep. When he woke up and came toddling down the hall boy oh boy was I fit to be tied (Family Pics scheduled the following week and he looked like a Hari Krishna all he needed was the sheet)

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  4. You always have the cutest things on your blog but the picture of your "little monkeys" is the best!! The card is cute too! ;)

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  5. I love the swinging monkey card! So cute! And I can't believe how big your boys have gotten! What handsome little men!

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  6. I absolutely love this card! What a great inspiration you are. My youngest son is my little monkey that is for certain. Speaking of mommy moments that you get a little mad at now and calm down and then laugh about later... I am in one at the moment... needing to breathe, let it go, give it to God... then hopefully laugh. You are not alone! Hugs

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  7. Love your swinging monkey, what a great idea. I'm sure J and W are fighting over who gets to play with it first! What I love most about your "Just So Hippy" set is that it has such a happy sense of FUN. The expressions on your animals faces put smiles on my face and make me want to play...

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  8. Oh how FUN!!! What a cute and creative idea with that monkey!! And I've got lots of nieces and nephews who'd get such a kick out of that!!! And what precious little guys you have!!! I know how some of "those days" go.......but don't blink.......before you know it they'll be teenagers like mine are!!!! :) Oh, Oh.........I cannot wait for the next release party!!

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  9. Great card! Thanks for sharing your creation. :0)

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  10. Oh My Goodness, those monkeys are so big!!! I can't believe it's been that long since I've seen them.

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  11. I am amazed at all the stuff you come up with. Great idea for the monkey. I will be interested to hear what your boys did. They sure are cute. I bet you won't stay mad for long.

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  12. I love this.....what an adorable way to use that monkey. Your other two monkeys are adorable too!!!!

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  13. Oh MY gosh! A swinger card, that's a hoot-n-a-half! I love it and must try it immediately! Ok, now how is possible that these two sweet angel babies could do anything to make you mad? My theory is that's why God made 'em so stinking cute--so we don't destroy them, lol! ....isn't it the 10th yet?! tfs, Melanie! ~hugs~

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  14. The card is adorable, as usual.

    J&W are SO different now! I love all that thick hair! Too cute.

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  15. Soooo cute!! I love it, Melanie!

    Your boys are so adorable too!!

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