Warmest of Wishes

Stampin' Up! has a new embossing folder in the holiday catalog, called Stylish Stripes.  It reminds me of candy canes and Christmas paper.  I also found in my Christmas an old Hostess set called Warmest of Wishes.  I don't think I've ever used the Christmas stamps.  I started with a card base that is 5 1/3 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches tall and ran the front of the card through the embossing folder.  I cut a piece of DSP 3 3/4 inches square from the Be of Good Cheer from last year in Gumball green and off centered it toward the left.  I added some Seasons of Style washi tape from the holiday catalog to a piece of scrap Vary Vanilla and flag notched one end.  The Noel image is stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla and punched with the Modern Label punch.  I also punched the same shape in Crumb Cake and flipped it for a added layer.   

The inside was finished with an oval cut with the Oval Framelits and stamped in Gumball Green the sentiment from the stamp set.  There isn't a lot of room for writing, but it's good for a short hello.

Thanks for looking!

Heat Embossed Christmas

My technique today isn't new or coming around again, but an old favorite that I often use when I need a bit of something to make a card pop.  Heat embossing is one of my favorite things, and made this Christmas card go from OK to Hey.  Just ask my hubby.   :) This is his favorite card I've made this year so far.

I started with a top folding card in Midnight Muse.  The image is taller than wide so it fits just right.  I stamped the Oh Holy Night sentiment image in VersaMark ink and added silver embossing powder, then heat set until it was shiny. I added the star image from the same stamp set to fill up the bottom of the card.

The front still looked a little empty, not in a clean and simple way, but a needs more way.  I pulled out the star punch from the Merry Mini's punch pack and punched and some silver Glimmer Paper and added a few.

For the inside I added a panel of Whisper White and stamped a greeting from the Merry Christmas Messages stamp set and blinged it up with a strip of the same silver Glimmer Paper on the bottom

Thanks for looking!

Polka Dot Birthday

I found a new challenge this week at Pals Paper Arts and the sketch challenge is perfect for my nephew's birthday card.   He's getting older, not quite a teenager and that is such a hard age group.  Especially since  I haven't dealt with boys that age yet.  

I've bee messing with the photo and cannot figure out what is going on, but here is my take on their sketch.  I started with an Early Espresso card base and added some retired DSP, Just Add Cake.  It has some repetitive circle patterns that I thought would work well for a masculine card.  I cut a layer at 5.25 x 4 inches, and cut it about 2 .75 inches, and flipped one side over.  One of the things I love about the DSP from Stampin' Up! is both sides work well together.  The two pieces on the right side are from the same paper collection cut 1 x 3.5 inches, I think. I forgot to measure.  For the sentiment banner I used the Happiest Birthday stamp set and Early Espresso ink on Whisper White.  

The circles are punched with the 3/4 inch, 1/3 inch and bitty punch pack circles, attached with glue dots.

The inside is another sentiment from the Happiest Birthday wishes set and some banners and circles to mimic the front.

Thanks for looking!

Chalk Board Birthday

It seems a little contrary to make a black birthday card, unless of course it's a big one of course. I have a friend who's birthday is this month and it's not quite a black card birthday, however, I say a card on Pinterest that captured my interest.  A black not over the hill birthday card? Could it be redone? Yes it can!

A Basic Black card base, cut and scored to fold at the top, layered with a Whisper White layer, topped with more Basic Black.  Now because I'm kind of a paper hoarder, yes its true, I die cut the shape with the Deco Labels Framelits out of the layers before I added them to the card. Yeah for saving paper!

In order to add some interest to the Basic Black layer, I embossed it with the Chevron embossing folder. 

 The Chevron banner flag is made by stamping the Positively Chevron background stamp on Whisper White with StazOn ink for that completely crisp look.  The sentiment is from word Play, stamped in Whisper White on the Basic Black label I die cut earlier.

For the inside, I repeated the chevron theme with the Tape It stamp set and StazOn black ink and a birthday sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes.

Thanks for looking!

measurements: card base 4.25 inches wide, 5.5 inches tall
                          Whisper White layer 4 x 5.25 inches
                           Basic Black layer   3.75 x 5 inches

There's a reason it's called "fussy cutting"!

Fussy cutting is not my favorite technique. In fact I have gone to great lengths to avoid it. :) BUT for my brother in law's birthday card, it was what jumped out at me.  He is among other things, great with tools of all kinds.  So for his birthday I new the Tool Shed background stamp was the way to go.  

I started with Baked Brown Sugar card stock cut and scored to folded at the top for a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card.  I cut a piece of Very Vanilla 1/4 of an inch shorter and stamped the background stamp in Baked Brown Sugar ink.  I stamped the stamp twice, once for background and once for the images to fussy cut. The sentiment is from Engraved Wished, I love it for masculine cards especially.  I stamped it in Baked Brown Sugar on Very Vanilla, again, and layered it on a piece of Midnight Muse, punched with the Notebook punch.  

Then came the cutting. I cut around each of the tools in the background stamp.  

 

This was not as horrible as I was expecting, given the size and shapes of the tools.  It didn't take as long as I thought it would either.  I added a couple tools to the front of the card to finish it off and then moved onto the inside.

One more tool and a Happy Birthday sentiment from Look who's turning and it's a wrap.

Thanks for looking!

He's Making a List....

One of my favorite stamp sets from this years Stampin' up! Holiday catalog is the Santa's List stamp set.  I love the sketched images and there is an outside and inside sentiment included. I love that!

For my bog challenge, I chose the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary challenge.  It thought it would work perfect with this stamp set. 

I liked the banner under the embelishment and thought, that would be a great place for the image! So here is my take on this sketch.

I started with a Crumb Cake card base, regular side fold style.  I inked the edges with Crumb Cake ink for a softer look.  I cut one piece of the DSP from Season of Style paper pack in half and the cut it down to one piece being 2 inches and the other was about 1.5 inches.  I stamped the image from Santa's List in Cherry Cobbler ink onto Very Vanilla card stock and cut it out with the Deco Labels Framelits. The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink as well on Crumb Cake paper, the Very Vanilla was too light.  I added color to the skin with the only Copic marker I own, E00 and cut the corners of the DSP with a deco corner chomper.

For the inside, I cut another, larger Deco Lable in Very Vanilla and some more strips of the same DSP and stamped the inside sentiment in Cherry Cobbler ink.  I added some Dazzeling Details to the front of the image, because Christmas cards need bling!

I hope it shows up well.

Thanks for looking!

My Friends are Becoming Grandmas

I had a startling realization recently....my friends are becoming grandmothers!!!! I'm a little wierded out by that fact.  However, it gives me a chance to make a card for a mom to be who I've known forever.

I started with Midnight Muse card base layered with a piece of DSP from the Prints Poetry paper stack.  The center piece of the card is the embossed and die cut shape.  I started with the Labels Collection Framelits and cut the shape.  Then I used the Designer Frame Embossing Folder.  The foot print is from the Baby Prints stamp set, stamped in Midnight Muse. The ribbon is also Midnight Muse.

 The inside was simple with an Oval from the Ovals Framelits and the same sentiment from the front.  Sweet and Simple.

Thanks for looking!

Direct to Paper

I haven't tried this technique before this card, and I just went with it.  I didn't like it as the pieces were being created, but followed the idea that until it's all put together, don't judge.  It went together well, but I might try again with different colors and see how it goes.

The card base is Soft Suede, I seem to be using that more and more often.  The layer is from the retired Well Worn DSP.  It had the colors I was using, except for the Pumpkin Pie.  I started with a piece of Whisper White and just drug the ink pads across it.  I would recommend making sure your ink pads are well inked.  The colors are Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red. I added the happy birthday from the Happiest Birthday Wishes, stamped in basic Black ink.  I used the same colors with the Pennant Parade stamp set and Punch set.  I found some embroidery thread in my stash that closely matched the Pumpkin Pie to use as the banner string.  

For the inside, I added a Whisper White layer and a sentiment from the same stamp set stamped in Soft Suede. 

Thanks for looking!

Celebrate, Anniversary Style

In addition to the 8, yes 8, masculine birthday cards this month I get to make, I also get to make 2 anniversary cards.  The cool thing with anniversary cards is it can be anything you like, and, with the right sentiment you're cooking with Crisco, so to speak of course. 

The first anniversary is my brother and sis-in-law.  She is my crafting buddy and I hate that she is so far away now that they moved back west. I miss him too of course ;)

I wanted to use the Feeling Sentimental set, I love it.  And the Ferris wheel seemed like a good choice for a party or celebration.  I started with a Pool Party card base and layered a piece of DSP from This and That Epic Day collection.  I stamped the image in Crumb Cake on Whisper White and layered it on Calypso Coral.  The banners are Gumball Green, Pool Party and Crumb cake with a hint of So Saffron, punched with the Dotted Ribbon Lace punch.  I used the sentiment from the same stamp set to add to the banner.

For the inside I added some washi tape from the Epic Day collection and stamped the sentiment from the hostess set Express Yourself, quickly becoming my favorite sentiment set.

Thanks for looking!

Musical Birthday

I have a bunch of male cards I get to make this month.  I'm not sure how I'm going to come up with new masculine cards for them all, but I will try.  This one is for a family friend, a friend that lets my young son call him brother and plays with him like he is a brother.  Not many teenage boys are that cool. He also plays the French Horn in out high school's marching band; thus the music card.

The school colors are green and blue, so I chose a Gumball Green card base. It's a top folding card with finished dimensions of 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.  I added a layer from the retired DSP News Print. The top layer is Midnight Muse, embossed with a Provo Craft embossing folder called Allegro   The sentiment is from Happiest Birthday Wishes, stamped in Gumball Green and punches with the Modern Label punch, layered on its self. The extra music notes are cut with my die cut machine, and shined up with Enamel Accents.

The inside is a simple Whisper White layer with another sentiment from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set.  

Thanks for looking

Sunburst No. 2

Last month I posted a Wednesday technique called the Sunburst with patterned paper.  I found a Stampin' Up! video show casing anther way to get a similar effect.  I didn't  spray the color onto my card, like in the video, but sponged it instead.

I was a bit worried at first, because I wasn't sure I was making the mask correctly.  So I watched the video again and again and paused it while I made the mask.

The card base is Basic Grey and the ink colors I used are Melon Mambo, So Saffron and Baja Breeze.  I used a piece of a stamping sponge and circular motions starting on the mask and going onto the Whisper White card layer.  The blending went better than I thought it might. Over all I was pretty impressed with how it turned out.
The monster is from the retired Greeting Earthling stamp set, that I love.  I colored it with the So Saffron and Melon Mambo markers with jerky motions trying to get some fur like detail.  I mounted the monster to a piece of Baja Breeze and added googlie eyes. The greeting was a combination of two stamps and some careful use of a stamp-a-ma-jig and painters tape.

Thanks for looking!

A Different Kind of Challenge

My challenge card this week isn't from a blog challenge, it was just a challenge! One of my nephews had a birthday last week and I wanted to make a card he would like.  I know he likes Mine Craft.  I have very little idea what that actually is.  It's old style graphics, using squares to build stuff.  I searched Pinterest and found a card that seemed easy enough to recreate.

So I cut out little pieces of every color green Stampin Up! sells and went to town. This is what happens when I go to town.

The card base is Basic Black with a Whisper White panel.  I put tons of tape runner on a piece of printer paper and taped the green squares to it.  I tried to be random, but I tend to over think random.  I ran the green squared paper through an embossing folder from the Paper studio, I cannot find the name of it.  Then I cut some more squares for the "face".  The sentiment is from the Look Who's Turning stamp set.

A insert of Whisper White and a simple Happy Birthday Wishes sentiment and the challenge was complete.

Thanks for looking!