Birthday's At Christmas Time

One of my sweeties was born on the 28th of December.  When I look back I wonder what I was thinking.  At the time, when I was offered an induction only 4 days over due, I was thinking YES! That wasn't over due for my kiddos and now I think, Really? four more days wouldn't have killed you.  

The poor kid gets all her good stuff once in the year.  I try to make her birthday cards not at all Christmas looking.  For her card this year I chose a challenge form Sketch Frenzy Friday.



Because she is a girl, her favorite color  changes regularly.  I decided to look through my stash and use something I haven't used in a while.

I pulled out a Provo Craft embossing folder called Hanging Lanterns, and embossed some Whisper White card stock that I later cut to 4 x 5 1/4 inches.  I found a Chinese lantern cut for my electronic cutter and cut three lanterns in Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.  I hung them across the front of the panel with Pool Party bakers twine.

I added the embossed panel to a Melon Mambo card base then added the sentiment form Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, cut with the matching framelit, in Tempting Turquoise ink.

For the inside I cut the number 10 in Daffodil Delight and hand wrote the sentiment.  I don't have great handwriting, and I write too fast, but it was what I wanted the card to say, and I don't have a stamp for that ;)  And for bling, I added some Dazzling Details to the die cuts.

Thanks for looking!

Extreme Stamps, digital version

My nephews are starting to grow up. When I sat down to make some boy birthday cards this month, I realized I didn't have very many stamps for teenage boys.  The annual catalog had some call extreme snow boarding and skating that I didn't really look at too closely, but thank goodness, they also come in digital format for My Digital Studio.

I started by printing the digital Extreme Snow Boarding in black ink on Whisper White card stock.  Then, I collected all the turquoise blues that I have, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, & Coastal Cabana, and began sponging.  I discovered that I could not drag the ink across the printed image, because printer my ink smears. But that was easy to avoid for this card.

I made a top  folding card base from a 4 1/4 x 11 inch piece of Coastal Cabana card stock, scored and folded at 5 1/2 inch.  I like to score card stock before I fold it to prevent cracking at the fold.  I added a black layer to the printed and sponged digital image.  I found a retired hostess set with this sentiment and thought it was great for my nephew.  I layered the sentiment on Whisper White and Coastal Cabana punches with the Word Window and Designer Label punches.

The inside was a simple Happy Birthday.

Thanks for looking.

2 Step Stamping, Another Way

Let me start with MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  I scheduled this post about a week ago, and it may or may not get viewed today. Today is one of my favorite days, CHRISTMAS! So enjoy, and have a great ans safe one.

Last week I posted as card I made with the Evergreen stamp set, that is a 2 step stamp set.  (Say the 5 times fast) :P 

This week I wanted to show you another way to use the same stamp set, still kind of using the 2 step stamping method.

I started with a piece of Whisper white that I sponged with Midnight Muse and Night of Navy on top and Old Olive on bottom.  I wanted a landscape kind of look.  I found that circular motions weren't the best and just went for rubbing the sponge straight across the card stock.  

When I was finshed and it looked like I wanted, more less, I got out my Always Artichoke and inked up the more solid looking tree and stamped it randomly, or as randomly as I can, going from front to back and back again, about three times before re inking the stamp. 

When I had enough trees for my taste, I inked up the Silent Night tree shape in Early Espresso and stamped it right in front. I trimmed and added the whole panel to an Always Artichoke, top folding, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base. And added some gold stickles to the star I stamped on top.

The inside was topped off with a panel of Whisper White with a sentiment from More Merry Messages and some trees on the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

I Challenged Myself

 I have some Designer Series Paper pages that I have kept because the art work is awesome and maybe more suited for scrap book pages.  But, I've had some of them for a few years and haven't scrapped them, my challenge to myself was to see if I could make a card out of those pages.  One of the pages was from the Christmas Post from three years ago, or more maybe even.  I liked the image of Santa on the stamp on the top of this sheet.  I cut it down to fit the front of a top fold, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch Cherry Cobbler card base.  Then the challenge became what now.

Next turned out to be banners.  I love how easy banners are to create and how much they add to the card.  I used some scraps of Christmas DSP from my scrap bucket and layered them together.  I wrapped the whole layer with Early Espresso bakers twine and for some shine, added a star punched from the SIlver Glimmer Paper with the small star punch from the Mini Holiday Punches.

The inside was a simple sentiment from the More Merry Message stamp set in Early Espresso ink.  I liked just the sentiment this time.

Thanks for looking!

Another Cute Christmas Digi Stamp

In my exploration of My Digital Studio (MDS) I found another digital stamp that I wanted to enlarge and color for a card.  I had the great idea to size it and cut it with one of the framelits from the Apothecary Accents set, but I didn't measure well and, it was, wel,l too big. So I just went with the flow and used it as a card front.

I found this sentiment in the Merry & Type digital stamp set.  I ended up cutting off some of the added detail while I was rethinking the card.  I used the color feature of MDS to color the works different colors, and chose Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler and Basic Grey.  I was unsure of The Basic Grey, but I love how it turned out.

After printing the stamp on some Whisper White card stock, I decided on a Basic Grey card base.  I cut it at 5 1/2 x 11 inches and scored it at 4 1/4 inches and made it a top folding card.  I added a layer of DSP from Be of Good Cheer,  cut 1/4 inch smaller than the base. I taped it flat down after I added some Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon. The bow totally went nuts while I was fiddling with it and I didn't notice until I was getting the photo ready for this blog post :)  I layered the digital stamp onto some Cherry Cobbler by taping the stamped image down and cutting around it.  I added dimensionals to the back and presto Christmas card ready for the mail.

I finished the inside with a Whisper White panel and some Cherry Cobbler punched with the Dotted Scallop punch. The sentiment is from the More Merry Messages stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Two for One day

The card I made today was made to show the 2 step stamping technique, and ended up being a two for one deal because I also made a patterned paper. 

The stamp set is the Evergreen set. It comes with a couple trees and the Silent Night words in tree shape.  I started with an oval I cut with the Oval framelits left over from another card.  I stamped the tree shape in always Artichoke and then stamped the words in Chocolate Chip.  I also inked the edges of the oval in Chocolate Chip ink.

The paterened paper was stamped with the Positivly Chevron background stamp in Always Artichoke on Very Vanilla.  It created a chevron paper in a color that I didn't have.

I rounded the corners on the pattern paper and added the oval and wrapped it with Cherry Cobbler bakers twine.  I added the whole thing to a card base in Cherry Cobbler, cut 4 1/4 x 11 inches, scored at 5 1/2 to be a top folding card.  The card front is embossed with the Snow Burst embossing folder.  I added Cherry Cobbler dazzling details for some shine.

The inside was matted with a piece of Whisper White and a message from More Merry Messages and some trees stamped in the corner.

Thanks for looking!

Just in the Nick of Time

This is the third time I have began this post.  Between our horrible internet today and my computer and my 18 month old, I'm beginning to feel like it's a conspiracy.  Not to mention that I was sure I had this all written and scheduled to post. Manic Monday for sure!

The challenge this week is from Freshly Made Sketches.  I used it to create a birthday card for my sister whose birthday is right before Christmas.  

I started with a Coastal Cabana card stock, cut it half at 5 1/2 inches and scored at 4 1/4 to make a top  fold card base.  I Added a layer of Whisper White cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches and stamped the washi tape with the Tape It stamp set in Crushed Curry, Raspberry Ripple and Coastal Cabana.  I love this stamp set. You have endless options of washi tape in your hands.

The center layer is Coastal Cabana cut 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches, I think. I forgot to measure.  I just stamped the butterfly from Papillion Potpourri and cut around it.  The butterfly is in Coastal Cabana with Chocolate Chip antenna.  It's mounted with dimensionals for a little lift.

The banners are in Whisper White and Chocolate Chip, stamped with the express yourself stamp set in Chocolate Chip ink. I made the white banners first and made it folded on the ends, and added the Chocolate Chip because it blended too well. I hope you can see the banner folds.

The inside was finished off with another layer of Whisper White and a greeting from the Word Play stamp set in Chocolate Chip, with some butterflies in the left corner using the same inks as the "washi tape" on the front.

Thanks for looking!

Deck the Halls

The digital stamp I used for today's card is from the Merry and Type set in MDS.  I placed a bunch of stamps I wanted to use this year on the "paper" and used the color option in MDS to color the words different colors.  

I used Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green and Basic Grey to color the image. I made it larger than my origional plan, failure to measure twice on my part, so I trimmed it down and layered it on a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock.

The card base is basic Grey, which is an unusual color for Christmas cards, but it worked.  I added a layer of DSP from Be of Good Cheer, retired, and some Cherry Cobbler seem binding ribbon. The bow went all wonky when I tucked the glue dot under to hold it in place, but oh well. It's cuter in real life.

The inside was finished off with a piece of Whisper White, stamped in Basic Grey with a sentiment from More Merry Messages.  I punched a strip of Cherry Cobbler with the Dotted Scallop punch and added it to the bottom for a lacy look.

Thanks for looking.

What a Week to Need a CAS

We has some winter weather this weekend that resulted in two snow days for my children.  Don't get me wrong, I love the no alarm thing, but my already crazy life descends quickly into chaos when my schedule is messed with. ;)

I didn't even realize that the post for today wasn't scheduled until this morning, when on day three of our winter weather, we had a delay for school, but at least the are learning again, right.

The technique I chose for today is CAS Clean And Simple.  The idea is that the card is one layer, or nearly one layer, not too many embellishments and lots of empty space.  It is one of the hardest techniques for me.  I hover around too little and too much.  I think I pulled it off in this card though and in the process created another type of card, the hybrid; both digital and traditional.

I used the All Holidays stamp set from MDS to create the fancy sentiment.  I love that you can re-size and color the stamps to fit your needs.  I positioned the stamp on the page where when it was printed, it would print far enough down that I could add some stamps later.

I used the Ornamental Keepsakes stamp set from the Holiday catalog last year to stamp the ornaments in Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, and Summer Starfruit.  I used the bird cage stand from the Aviary stamp set to make the "string".  I just don't draw straight enough without a ruler and there wasn't a ruler on my desk.  I added some bows in Early Espresso bakers twine. Oh and the wishing you is from a birthday stamp. I used my markers to ink only the words I wanted.  Cool hu.  I love the way you can use stamps outside their original design.

The inside was finished off with a sentiment from the More Merry Message stamp set in Gumball Green and some Season of Style washi tape in Cherry Cobbler.

Thanks for looking.

Sunshine and Chevrons

My challenge card this week is for two blogs.  I could't decided which one I wanted to use more, so I decided, both.  Pals Paper Arts has a great color challenge this week, and the sketch is from Sketch Frenzy Friday.






I try to avoid traditional Christmas colors for birthday cards I make in December.  The color challenge gave me a great place to jump off, because my head is in Christmas now.  

I started with an Elegant Eggplant cards base that measures 4.25 x 5.5 inches.  I embossed the card front with the Positively Chevron embossing folder.  I cut a shape in Very Vanilla with the Apothecary Accents Framelits and stamped the sentiment from the Feel goods stamp set in Smoky Slate ink. I sponged the edges with Smokey Slate ink to add some depth. I punched the hearts in Elegant Eggplant and Smoky Slate with the Small Heart Punch.  

The inside is a simple greeting combination from the Express Yourself stamp set, stamped in Elegant Eggplant.  I added more hearts to the inside to keep the flow going.  Last thing was some Glossy Accents to make the hearts look shiny and puffy.  

Thanks for looking!

Digital Stamps

Stampin' Up! has a digital program, My Digital Studio (MDS) that I use not nearly to it's potential.  I mostly use it for the digital stamps.  There are sets that I prefer to buy in the digital format. Usually,  it's one I will not use a lot and I'm saving my storage space.  Product Friday Posts this month are going to showcase some ways to use digital stamps.  My card to day is a hybrid card, digital and traditional techniques all mixed together.

I began with a card base in Early Espresso. The DSP layer on the card front is a piece of retired DSP, Letters to Santa. The centerpiece of this card is a word art stamp I printed from my home printer on Whisper White card stock.  One cool thing about MDS is how well the colors match after they are printed.  I printed the image and cut it with the Deco Labels Framelits and added an Early Espresso layer behind it.  

I added some of the Silver Ribbon from the Holiday Catalog and some Dazzling Details for that holiday bling all Christmas cards need. ;)

The inside is finished with a panel of Whisper Whisper card stock. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny wishes, stamped in Early Espresso.  The stamps are images punched with the Stamp Punch from the same DSP as the front layer.

 Thanks for looking!

O Holy Night the second time around

Last Tuesday for the technique I showed a card using this same stamp set but heat embossed.  Today I want to show how versatile any stamp can be.  For this card I used my Many Marvelous Markers  in Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green and took each phrase from the O Holy Night stamp set and colored it in a different color. I think is looks a little like an old sign this way.  After I colored and stamped the image, I layered it on a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock.

I then layered the panel on a banner cut from the Be of Good Cheer DSP.  I made a top fold card base from Gumball Green and stamped the card front with a stamp from Pennant parade in Gumball Green ink to add a little spunk.

The inside was finished off with a panel of Whisper White, with a layer of Seasons of Style washi tape on the bottom and a sentiment from Many Christmas Messages.

Thanks for looking!

Birthday Bakery

My card today isn't a challenge card, although I'm sure I could find a blog challenge that it could fit in.  I needed a belated birthday card for a young lady I know who's birthday I remembered and then forgot.  I wanted it to be cute but not little girl cute.  I really liked how it turned out.

I started with a Crumb Cake card base cut 5 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches tall, but folded on top.  I used two different pieces of Domestic Goddess DSP to begin with and then went to town stamping and coloring.   I stamped the cake image from Birthday Bakery in StazOn black ink and chose some ink colors from the DSP.  I used Calypso Coral, Pool Party, So Saffron, Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar.  

I stamped the image on Whisper White and layered a piece of Calypso Coral punched with the Scallop Border Punch.  Then I found some scrap pieces of card stock in the same colors and pulled out my Cupcake Builder punch and stamp set.  It took a bit to lay out the cupcakes so the card stock didn't blend with the DSP and disappear.  The sentiment is from the Birthday bakery stamp set in Baked Brown Sugar on Whisper White with Pool Party candy Dots.  The cupcakes are topped with a little gold glitter glue for sparkle.

For the inside I simply stamped a sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes in Baked Brown Sugar, and later wrote her a little note. 

Thanks for looking!

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