A brand new guest designer for April!

Hello SugarPeeps! We have a brand new guest for April, so exciting!
Join us in welcoming Bobbi Lemanski!

Here’s a little bit about her:
Hi! I’m Bobbi Lemanski and I’m super excited to be guest designing for SugarPea Designs. I love color and creativity in all forms – cardmaking, canvas painting, interior design, etc. I love using bold colors and creating high contrast designs. I get a kick out of finding clever ways to use sets in new ways and/or combos. I like creating and giving a 5” X 7” card and if the card is interactive or includes a surprise inside, I am all for it! I live in Wisconsin with my husband, Kevin and our twins, Tarek and Olivia and our sweet dog, Stelly. 😊
I’ve been a longtime fan of Sugar Pea’s sweet and whimsical style and I’m so happy to share several fun cards this month featuring its products.

Today, I have an interactive, easel card sure to please those storytellers out there. If you love reading and sharing books, this card might be right up your alley. It takes me back to the days of reading books to my twins. Now, they are 18 years old and graduating from high school in just a few months! 😊 

SugarCut Beautiful Books die set

Hey Honey stamp set and the coordinating SugarCut Hey Honey die set

Hey Winter stamp set

Hey Summer stamp set

Are you ready to see the inside of this card?!

This card is an easel card so when you open it, Honey Bear is sitting on a wood floor, bookshelves behind him, papers scattered in front of him, reading a book to you. The card sits on its own with an easel built into the card. Let’s start with the construction of the card base that includes the easel.
Card Base/Easel Construction

To make this 5” X 7” easel card, I cut the following pieces from Neenah Solar White Cardstock in 80lb weight: 

• Cut 1 – front panel: 5” wide X 5-3/4” tall
• Cut 1 – back panel: 5” wide X 8” tall (scored at 7”)
• Cut 1 – easel support: 5” wide X 5-3/4” tall (scored in half at 2-7/8”)

Adhere the pieces together: 

• The easel support is attached to the back panel at the top of the easel support piece and between the back panel’s score line and top edge, creating a folded “mountain” shape from the side. (See photo)

TIP: Make sure to keep the 1” overlap from the back panel on the inside for a clean finish from the back. 

• The front panel is attached to the easel support below the easel support’s scored line on the bottom half. (See side view photo.) 

Now, let’s work on the fun stuff… the front and interior panel designs!
Front Panel Design

To make the front panel design, I started with stamping and die cutting the Honey Bear on 80lb cardstock. I colored him using Copic browns in E59, E57, E55 and E53. I added short black lines for texture to his fur using a fine-tip black marker. I stamped a second nose and cut it out. I attached it to the bear face using a dimensional foam tab to make it stand out. It also holds up his cute glasses! His nose was colored using C9, C7, C5, leaving a bit of white showing for a highlight.

I die cut two glass frames from the Beautiful Books die set from charcoal gray cardstock. I added clear acetate between the two frames to create the clear lens. If you look in the photo above, you’ll see the lens glare. 😊 The glasses were attached to the big bear, right above the protruding nose.

Next, I worked on the book. I die cut all the elements – pages and book cover. I wanted this to look like a child’s picture book, so I stamped illustrations from the Hey Winter set on the top pages and adhered the book together. I “bound” the book by sewing down the middle for a realistic book binding. It’s quick, easy and looks great! TIP: You could hand sew the pages together if you don’t have a sewing machine.

For the back design, I added diagonal striped wallpaper by drawing some lines and attached shelving to the wall. I simply cut 5” wide X  ¼” tall strips and drew a woodgrain look to the shelf fronts. I added books to the shelves from the Beautiful Books set and a ball from the Hey Summer stamp set. I wanted it to look like a child’s room so a ball seemed like an appropriate accessory on the shelf. To personalize, you could add your favorite book titles to the books, too. I used a white gel pen to add “bedtime” and “stories.” Vertical wainscotting was drawn below the bottom shelf using a fine-tip black marker and ruler.

I attached the bear to the card. To make big bear look like he was sitting on the wood floor while reading, I added paws to the sides of the book as if he is holding the book pages open to display the pictures. Big paws were also added at the bottom sides of the book to appear like he is in a sitting position. I hand drew and cut these out, adding claws to the hands and pads to the bottoms of the paws for definition. All four paws were colored to match his body.

Interior Panel Design

For the interior, I need a ledge for the front panel to rest on while in its upright and open position. I added a strip of wood floor measuring 5” wide X 2-3/4” tall. The wood grain was created using the same E shades as the bear plus some E43 and W2 for a gray tone mix. I also drew graining lines using a fine-tip black marker. To create a thicker ledge, I also added a 5” wide X 1” tall strip below the woodgrain piece at the upper edge to add extra thickness.I added papers scattered on the floor in front of bear for more interest. I love the one with the sticky note paperclipped to it that says, “call your mom.” 😊 I cut rectangles and drew notebook lines in blue and red, stamped the phrases from the Hey Summer set and added hole punches. I hand drew the paperclip. I left white space under Hip, Hip Hooray for a personalized message to be added.

I hand drew more vertical wainscotting below the wood floor on the interior panel, making sure to match up the wainscotting lines from the front panel. You can see in the photo that these lines show when the card is in its closed position. 

TIP: Fold the easel flat so that you can match up the lines on the front panel for a continuous plank look.

This card folds flat and fits inside an A7 envelope for easy mailing. I plan to send this one to a friend of mine who will be delivering a baby boy in April! If you like this and decide to place an order, please use the links in this post. It lets Sugar Pea Designs know what inspired you! You can shop here!     

Thanks for stopping by today. I’ll be back next week with another card to share here on the Sugar Pea Designs blog!