Whittle Notes for Backpacks
by Kim Sindahlsen
I absolutely adore the Whittles! Before I move into making holiday cards, and given the challenge for this month is Cards for Kids, I wanted to do a series of cards entirely devoted to the Whittles.
The Whittles are tiny little dies and that can make it seem difficult to fill an entire card. You can do groupings of them, but my idea for today is to do little 3x3 cards for backpacks or lunchboxes. It's a tough time to be a kid right now - cards of love and encouragement will make their day! Besides the Whittles dies there are also three sentiment stamp sets that coordinate perfectly. These four cards all use just one of the stamp sets - Whittle Sayings.
I like my dies to be grounded. For example, I didn't want my deer to just be floating so I used the Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Trimmings which are very thin frames with stitching. I used a frame that was bigger than my card front, then I cut a straight piece to be the ground. Here are the Whittle Deer with their ground and two Whittle Trees.
I used the same technique for the Whittle Squirrel by putting a strip behind the Whittle Oak Leaf. Dimension can really make a difference on a clean and simple card so I folded up the bottom of the leaf and I popped the big squirrel.
Here is the Whittle Mouse. I cut him in three colors and stacked them up then added a heart from Whittle Hearts.
The "You are the Micest" sentiment actually is a one-liner so to fit it next to my stack of mice, I used a post-it note. I covered the "micest" and inked the other side and then removed the post-it. You can see what's inked.
To do the second line, be sure to clean and dry the first side. I even stamp it off a few times because if you don't you might get a shadow of the "You are the" when you are stamping the "micest". Then just reverse the above. Cover the first half, ink, remove the post-it and stamp.
Adding their little pink noses can be difficult. The easiest way is to cut a smaller piece (regular hole punches are handy for this.) Add a bit of glue on the back side of the mouse and adhere the smaller piece on the back side. If you do it this way, you don't have to fuss with the itty bitty nose but the pink shows through nicely. (See left picture). I forgot to do that before I glued the mice. So I cut another mouse in pink and left the nose in the die. Then put a small dot of glue on the card in the hole where the nose is going to go. Put the die down, it lines up easily, and use something small and sharp to lightly push it down. It goes right into the nose hole(!) (See right picture).
Last but not least is the Whittle Birds. There are Whittle Wood Frames and Whittle Clouds that make a nice scene for him.
In all of these little cards, I used dimensional adhesive on a few pieces just to give it interest. The bird is popped and so is one of the mice. The big squirrel is popped and the leaf is folded. The fawn is popped. This little detail adds so much to a simple card.
I have two sons. My "kids" are 24 and 20 and are away at college so I don't have lunchboxes or backpacks to tuck notes into. But my almost-grown kids still need encouragement so I used the same small square format as the small notes, added a strip of patterned paper and I have a full-sized card!
The Whittle Sleepy Fox has to be my very favorite Whittle just for the expression on this face. It goes perfectly with the sentiment (which is from a second set of sentiments - Whittle Everyday). That's exactly how my kids are feeling right now. There's a lot of unexpected adulting right now - "how many people are in this room - do we meet COVID restrictions" and "darn - I'm quarantined, how do I keep up with classes" or "I'm president of a club that can't meet - how do I keep the club going". I love sending them cards - and they love whatever gift card I put inside!!
I hope you enjoyed my five scenes using the charming Whittles! And you still have time to play along with Cards for Kids.
Supplies
Comments
Kim ~ You are SO CLEVER! Thank you for the AWESOME inspiration. I am ECSTATIC that you have joined the Poppystamps design team!!
SOOO ADORABLE!!! Oh these are all so cute - just love the whittles and love your cards!!!
I enjoyed seeing your cards, liked the "grounding," and all your commentary, too. Surely your grown "kids" appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness!
Hi Kim, Like you, I absolutely love ALL the Whittles, and you have showcased them all beautifully in these fabulous cards.
Lots of love from Patricia xx
Oh they are all so very cute!!