Masculine Birthday Card

I made this card for one of my grandsons who turned 19 recently. I really need to increase my collection of masculine stamps, not to mention, birthday sayings! I keep reusing them and it's kind of embarrassing!

But one thing I didn't reuse for the umpteenth time is the Tim Holtz Steampunk embossing folder. Why I don't use it more, I don't know.

I feel like so much of what I use is obsolete now. So many stampers with blogs work for stamp companies, so they're always getting new stuff. I imagine new stuff is a lot more interesting than old stuff, but I refuse to go into debt just to always be using "the latest thing". And I have no interest in being a salesman for stamp companies. This is a hobby after all. For pleasure only, in my case.

Regardless of how old and obsolete my stuff is (Basic Grey paper, anyone?), it's all still useful to me. So even if I'm only posting obsolete stuff here and talking to myself because I fell out of the stamping loop, so be it. I do like having a place to say what I want about each card I make.

I used some of the new Papertrey Ink cardstock I bought to prop up my poor old cardstock collection. When I took all of my stamping stuff out of storage, I realized that cardstock does not do well with temperature fluctuations. The Papertrey Ink cardstock is pretty decent, but it's easily damaged, despite being pretty thick. I'm hoping to find an even better quality paper in the future.

The color I used was Scarlett Jewel. It reminds me of the old Stampin' Up! color, Cranberry Crisp. In fact, I used some Cranberry Crisp ink on the Happy Birthday background with the old SU! background stamp, Canvas.

I had not pulled out my SU! Artifacts set in a long time and figured it was a good masculine set to work with. I only used the clock image, but I like how it turned out. Makes me think of a Tim Holtz design and kind of mimics the cog shapes in the embossing folder. The designer paper came from the Basic Grey Recess 6x6 pad.

I used the SU! Spiral punch along the edge of the decorator paper for extra interest. And I still keep trying to use brads and eyelets despite my inability to set them in a straight line. I just used some black brads along the bottom of the main piece to oomph it up a bit more.

The Happy Birthday saying is from CTMH's Spunky Greetings. The "19" was from Purple Onion Design's Girls Are Weird numerals.

Well, that's it! Take care.

Stamps: SU! Canvas, SU! Artifacts, CTMH Spunky Greetings, Purple Onion Designs Girls Are Weird numerals

CS: Black, Papertrey Ink Scarlett Jewel, Basic Grey Recess designer paper, White

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Cranberry Crisp

Other: Tim Holtz Steampunk embossing folder, SU! Spiral punch, Black hemp twine, Foam tape, Black mini brads

Birdie Get Well

Hey, I stamped! It about whooped my shoulder, so I'm not sure when I'll stamp again, but I'll take what I can get.

I needed a card for my MIL's best friend who is going through breast cancer treatments and is a dear, dear lady. She's always got a cheerful countenance and I wanted to send her a cheerful card. This bird from Inkadinkado's Birds Galore set seemed just right.

I stamped the bird in Brilliance Graphite Black to get a really bold image on the designer paper (K&Company K-ology 6x6 Hannah paper pad). Since the stamp was a clear stamp I put the pad on the stamp rather than the stamp on the pad. This helped me get a better overall impression. I just kept kissing the stamp with the pad until I didn't see anymore light spots. Brilliance ink is a hybrid of dye ink and craft ink. It dries slowly enough that you can emboss with it and fast enough that you can use it as a regular dye based ink, but with a bit of a waiting period. It's also a true black, not a really dark brown, blue or purple like some black inks. It's a very versatile ink.

I used the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder on the designer paper because I can't help myself. I sponged Rose Romance and Ruby Red inks on it to pop out the embossing. I used the Doily Lace punch by Martha Stewart on white cs to tuck under it because I love the effect. Just love the look that punch gives everything it touches.

I used the corner punch, as you can see, and a rectangular scalloped Nestie. I put white rhinestones on 3 of the flowers behind the bird. I sponged the bird section like I did the top portion.

For the base of the card I stamped with the SU Canvas background stamp on Ruby Red cs with Rose Romance ink. Worked perfectly with the designer paper colors. Unfortunately, the Canvas stamp is smaller than my 5" x 5" card base and I ended up with a line of demarcation due to overlap. So I worked it into the design and added more lines. Fixed that boo boo, quick! It might be hard to see in the pic, though.

I popped out the main portion of the card and the "get well" piece and punched holes around both the "get well" piece and the black cs.

Ugh, my shoulder can only take so much typing. It's starting to feel fatigued. Let me get the recipe up and be done. Thanks for looking!

Recipe:

Stamps: Inkadinkado Birds Galore, SU Canvas, CTMH Spunky Greetings

CS: Ruby Red, Black, White, K&Company K-ology Hannah designer paper

Inks: Brilliance Graphite Black, Rose Romance, Ruby Red

Other: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch, Nestabilities Scalloped rectangle, Silver brads, White rhinestones, Sponges, Sticky Doos, 1/16" hole punch, Paper piercer, Sponge mat from Mat Pack, Diamond Glaze (to glue down rhinestones), Corner punch, Black polka dot ribbon

For You Floral

This will be known as my Hurricane Gustav card. I spent all day yesterday watching and listening to a Louisiana broadcast online of the coming hurricane while I was stamping (still watching). I had a hard time focusing on this card as my mother-in-law and brother-in-law are in Louisiana weathering the storm (they're doing fine, though). So please forgive its imperfections. My mind was quite distracted, but I needed to do something with myself. So I stamped, of course.

I began with a black cs base, but the Mellow Moss cs is where the card opens. I stamped the SU Hand Stitched background stamp in VersaMark ink on the Mellow Moss. After stamping the "For You" sentiment in Basic Black ink on Real Red, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder.

I punched the edges on the floral Anna Griffin paper and the black with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch and ran the floral paper through the Cuttlebug using the Traffic Jam folder. I was careful to line it up above the lacy edge. I used Dimensionals between the floral and the black and the red. Probably too many Dimensionals! lol

I used the Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes and set the eyelets. That was a bit tricky and they aren't lined up perfectly. I added the plaid ribbon and adhered the whole mess to the Mellow Moss cs.

For the girl, I stamped her in Basic Black ink on Vanilla cs. Using a water brush, I painted her dress with Ruby Red ink, going over it several times in some places to add depth. I used a white gel pen to whiten her collar, sash and sleeve edge. I used Mellow Moss and So Saffron inks to paint the grass. The flowers and butterflies are in So Saffron (marker). I used the Blush Blossom marker to paint her skin and Close to Cocoa to do the tiny bit of her hair.

I ran the girl piece through the Cuttlebug using a plain oval Nestie. Then I dry embossed the edge. I ran the black cs through using a scallop Nestie. I paper pierced the black scallop using a straight pin and the mat pack cushion after attaching the girl piece with Dimensionals (I find it easier to paper pierce the scallops that way).

Close-up of paper piercing:

Thanks for looking! Be safe if you're in this hurricane or are waiting it out elsewhere. God be with you!

Stamps: SU Hand Stitched, SU Summer By the Sea, CTMH Spunky Greetings

CS: Black, Mellow Moss, Real Red, Anna Griffin floral (AG 024), Vanilla

Inks: VersaMark, Basic Black, Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, So Saffron

Other: Cuttlebug Traffic Jam and Swiss Dots embossing folders, Martha Stewart "Doily Lace" punch, Oval plain and scallop Nestabilities, Crop-a-Dile, Black eyelets, Dimensionals, Water brush, Plaid ribbon, Straight pin, Mat pack cushion, Blush Blossom marker, Close to Cocoa marker, So Saffron marker, White gel pen