PINWHEEL SUMMERS

When I think back to the halcyon summer days of my childhood, many images and memories come to mind. Running through the sprinkler. Fireflies. Watermelon. Four leaf clovers. Angle worms. Roller skates and skinned knees (and the key hanging on a string around my neck). Picnics. Orange pushups. A "tent" made by using clothespins and a blanket against a fence. Violet Kingdom. The occasional snake. Sparklers. Penny candy. Library books. Cut-outs (paper dolls) of the Lennon Sisters. Barbie and friends. Calling for Lolly by standing outside the door of her house, and sing-songing, "Lolll-yy". Playing kickball in the middle of Main Avenue. Exploring bomb shelters. And . . . pinwheels!

OK. So I realize I am dating myself big time. I was lucky enough to live my childhood through the 50s and 60s. Like I said, halcyon times. If only life were still so simple and good.

Pinwheels, always a symbol of happiness and whimsy, are often associated with summer occasions, such as the Fourth of July. So I decided to feature one as the star of my red, white and blue card.

Since pinwheels spin in the breeze, I decided to make the pinwheel on my card spin also. These are often referred to as spinner cards. Interactive and fun to play with, they are surprisingly easy to put together. Basically all you need are Stampin' Dimensionals, a "track" and your two cents worth.

I used the Bright Blossoms set (page 89) and retired Designer Series Paper of the same name for my pinwheel card. Not so much patriotic as summery and happy, I felt it was a good choice.

To support my spinning pinwheel, I used a label I made with my Big Shot and one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits. I echoed the dots on the DSP  by piercing around the edges of the label using the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack as my guide. To make the track in the label, I made a continuous punch using the Word Window Punch. To anchor the track piece to the card, I looped taffeta ribbon through the sides of the punched area and attached the ribbon ends on the back. 

The track is raised up with two Stampin' Dimensionals stacked together along the edges. The pinwheel is mounted to a sandwich of pennies: two pennies with a Stampin' Dimensional between them. This allows the pinwheel to spin along the track once the card is all put together. 

I had decided to add two thin strips of Island Indigo paper above and below the red piece to add a bit more variety. 

I used a craft knife to carefully slit the two ends of a Modern Label and slipped the bottom strip through the slits I created to mimic the track piece a bit. Adding two of the silver 1/8" Mini Brads on either side of the label gives a good finishing touch.

After stamping the flowers and dots on the Whisper White base, I ran it through the Big Shot inside the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to bring dots back into the mix once again.

Nostalgic

Smiles.