Silly Whale Birthday

Hello! Another sea-themed card. This time I'm using my old Stampin' Up! Silly Sealife set. The card sketch I'm using is Mojo Monday 560. 

I chose two papers from the Basic Grey Archaic collection because they are "wavy" like the sea. And one of them has a "bubbly" look that made me think of being under water. The one behind the sentiment wasn't "wavy" or "bubbly", but I liked how it went with the other two. 

I thought the Stampin' Up! Cheery Chat birthday greeting would go very well with the whole look on the front, and I used the matching birthday saying inside. I love the whimsy of the font.

I used the Nestabilities Labels Three die to frame the sentiment, but I'm not sure it was the best choice. Maybe a tad too wide for the look? I dunno.

And, of course, I gave in to using my Tiny Bubbles embossing folder because this card has a water theme...and...bubbles.

My happy little whale is spouting glittery water. 

It's probably hard to see, but I used the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder to create "waves" on the lower bubbly-looking paper. 

And here's the inside. Aren't those sea creatures adorable? This is such a versatile stamp set, I tell ya!

Close-up of the inside.

So, yet another sea card. I think that's my last one for awhile though. Hope you're having a good week! Take care and thanks for coming by!

Stamps: SU Silly Sealife, SU Cheery Chat

CS: Black, Ivory, SU Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Archaic designer paper

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black

Copic Markers for whale: B0000, B00, B21, BG11, E11, E13, E15

Other: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles and D'Vine Swirls embossing folders, Nestabilities Standard Circle Large and Labels Three dies, hole punching tool, foam tape, large brown eyelets, Frosted Lace Stickles glitter gel

Grandson Birthday Card

I can't say it enough...It feels good to be stamping again! I made a sort of new year's resolution that I wanted to start making cards for family and friends on their special days like I used to. And so far I'm sticking with it. The first birthday of the year is for one of my grandsons. It's his 17th.

I just pulled out a bunch of sort-of masculine papers and got busy. The only parts that I stamped are the car and the sayings inside and out. The rest is the way the paper came.

I did the gatefold design again (my favorite, apparently!) with the black cardstock measuring 5"x 10" and scored at 2.5" and 7.5". 

I had so much trouble trying to figure out what the front should look like. Then I looked through my punches and grabbed the Stampin' Up! Spiral Punch and edged one side with it and voila! I was inspired! It was not easy going through 2 layers of paper at once! I had to bear down hard to get it to go through!

 I then grabbed my Crop-a-Dile (is anyone still using this great tool?) and made 3 holes and added rivets. 

Then I realised that I would now have an issue with the inside paper showing through the holes to the outside. And there would be those ugly holes inside. So I made holes on the inside and then pressed 3 rivets with the Crop-a-Dile and glued them on the inside to cover the holes. It worked to fix the problem.

I used the SU Ticket Corner Punch to add some visual interest to the greeting piece. And I used black Velcro dots to help the card stay closed.

Inside the card I made a cellophane pocket to put a gift card in. I took an A2 clear envelope and trimmed it to fit the back of the center piece. I glued it down on all 4 sides and added 2 pieces of designer paper to hold it down and dress it up. It opens from the side. You can see the cellophane envelope in the picture below. The saying underneath was stamped before adding the gift card window.

It worked pretty well! I did have to trim the gift card a bit to get it to fit inside because it was too long, but otherwise there were no issues.

 And this is what my stamping area looked like when I was finished. I'm a messy stamper! But I do clean it up when a project is done!

April will be the next month with birthdays. Until then, I'll be working on some friendship cards. I hope you have a good week, and thanks for coming by!

Sun-Ripened Thank You

I needed a thank you card for my sister and decided to play with the retired Stampin' Up! Sun-Ripened set. I've had it forever and rarely played with it. Such a pity as it's a very nice and versatile set.

I stamped the pear stamp twice and cut out 4 of the leaves and the pear after coloring them with SU markers (see colors below). Then I colored the main image and ran it through the Cuttlebug to cut it into an oval. After that I added the cut-out leaves and pear with 3D-Dots.

I used one of the Memory Box Brandywine papers which has a soft gold undertone. I thought it would set off the yellow in the pear nicely. I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder and then sponged Really Rust ink over it to cover up the white core that was showing through on the dots. I liked it so much I sponged the ink all over the paper.

I used a design from the Ornare Decorative Corners piercing template in the bottom left corner and free-handed the continuing lines along the bottom and sides.

You can't really see it in the pic, but I sprayed a very soft layer of Pearl Glimmer Mist over the pear oval (not the black scalloped part, though). It really is pretty. I wish it was more visible in the pic.

Thanks for looking! I have one more Mother's Day card to share. Maybe I'll get that up tomorrow. Have a lovely evening!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Sun-Ripened and Cheery Chat

CS: Black, Memory Box Brandywine, white

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Really Rust

Other: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Nestabilities Classic Oval Scallops Large, Classic Oval Large, Ornare Decorative Corners piercing template, paper piercer, sponge mat, Stamp-a-ma-jig, olive grosgrain ribbon, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Creamy Caramel SU markers, 3D-Dots, Pearl Glimmer Mist, ticket corner punch, Tsukineko sponge dauber

Convertible Birthday

Our son turns 16 this coming Monday. He's a joy to us all and a blessing in every way. I wanted to make him a special card. I hope he'll like it!

All the stamps used are Stampin' Up! I used Cheery Chat for the sentiment, Collage Alphabet Numbers for the 'no. 16' and Classic Convertibles for the car.

This card is pretty simple and straight-forward. The base is Chocolate Chip and was cuttlebugged using the Traffic Jam embossing folder.

I cuttlebugged the side panel of dp (Basic Grey Archaic) with the Mesh embossing folder. I glued it to the black background and stitched it on the sewing machine.

For the circle I stamped 'Happy Birthday' on ivory cs, cut it out using a Nestabilities circle die, ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles EF, and then sponged around the edges with my awesome new Tsukineko sponge daubers using Creamy Caramel ink.

For the car, I heat-embossed it with Brilliance Graphite Black ink and Judikins Detail Black embossing powder on ivory cs. Then I colored it with a Creamy Caramel marker, layering the color heavier in some areas and barely coloring others. I finished it up by using a silver Sharpie for the chrome and metal parts and a white Prismacolor pencil for the tires.

I stamped the 'no. 16' part on ivory cs, punched it out with the large oval punch and sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel ink.

Thanks for looking! Now I better git a move on and finish up the Mother's Day cards I need to make! Whew! May is a busy month!

Stamps: All Stampin' Up! - Cheery Chat, Classic Convertibles, Collage Alphabet Numbers

CS: Chocolate Chip, black, Basic Grey Archaic, ivory

Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Brilliance Graphite Black, Creamy Caramel

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders - Traffic Jam, Mesh, Tiny Bubbles; Nestabilities Standard Circle Large and Small, Judikins Detail Black ep, large oval punch, 3D-Dots, black zigzag ribbon, silver Sharpie, Creamy Caramel marker, Tsukineko sponge daubers, sewing machine, white Prismacolor pencil (for tires)

You're the Cat's

I am all finished with my shoulder therapy sessions (3 months' worth!) and wanted to thank the therapist and the receptionist for making my therapy experience such a positive one. Challenging, yes, but positive. May I say that if you have the kind of surgery that requires physical therapy and "homework" that you DO IT? I am so glad I obeyed my therapist's and doctor's orders. I am now pain-free where once was agonizing pain (I had a torn rotator cuff). Had I not done the therapy I would have a frozen shoulder now and the surgery would have been a waste. I love my therapist and doctor!

Anywho, one of the ways I wanted to show my appreciation was by making them cards. Susan, the receptionist, always had a smile and a kind word for me. She joked around with hubs and me nearly every time we went. Her laid-back manner really helped me overcome the fear I had of what therapy was going to be like. Such a sweetie.

Cindy was my therapist, and she was always challenging me. At times early on, I was not happy about this. But I listened to her and she listened to me. She allowed me to have a say when I was uncomfortable or feeling pushed too hard. I very much appreciate all she did for me. She checked up on me about my "homework", making sure I was doing what she had told me to do, and she corrected me when I was doing movements wrong so I wouldn't hurt myself. She's a treasure and worth her weight in gold.

So, this first card is for Cindy, my therapist. You can't spend months with a person and not get to know them at least a little. I found out she loves cats. So it felt right to use the Stampin' Up! Cool Cat set (retired) to make her card.

I started with the designer paper I love so much by Basic Grey. I don't go ga-ga for every paper they create, but some send me to the moon! One of those is Archaic. I love every single paper in that pad!

At first I wasn't going to cuttlebug anything on this card (I know, hard to fathom). But even with the fabulous Archaic papers and the added stitching it still wasn't quite right. It was too *blah*. So I used the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder on the top and the Distressed Stripes folder on the bottom. I ran into a slight dilemma using the Distressed Stripes the way I did. I wanted the stripes to be vertical, but my card was wider than the folder. Because I put the folder over most of the lower piece to emboss, by the time I went to do the rest it wouldn't fit in the Cuttlebug machine! And there was no way I could get it to fit. So I set the Cuttlebug plates on the floor and acted like *I* was the Cuttlebug machine and stepped with all of my weight on it. It helped. Not quite the deep impression I wanted, but good enough. Thinking about it now, I bet if I had gotten the paper slightly damp I maybe could've gotten a deeper impression. Oh well, too late. The area that was less "impressive" has the 2 flowers over it. I don't think anyone will notice.

Btw, I stamped the saying before doing the cuttlebugging, but you probably already knew that, huh? You can't stamp on the cuttlebugged part. It won't come out right a-tall. Remember that. You must think ahead like I don't always do. :-P

For the kitty I stamped it first in Pumpkin Pie ink, then very lightly in Chocolate Chip, and then rolled the edges a bit in Basic Black, huffed warm air on it and stamped on the white cs. It gave the kitty a Siamese look, don't you think? I love it because it's splotchy look goes along with the theme of the Basic Grey papers. I spritzed some Copic Special Black ink over the kitty scene using my Inkworx gun to add some interest.

Did you know that you can use Copics in your Inkworx Air Art gun? Just take out the tube inside the cylinder that the screw fits into. That enlarges the holding capacity. Lay the flat side of the marker down and tighten the screw. Voila! Return the tube (after taking out the screw first and then returning it) for regular markers.

I added tiny aqua and amber gems to the collar area to give the kitty a jeweled collar and used a punched-out flower with an aqua gem on the tail. I punched the flower out of the matching paper from the bottom of the card.

I did double stitching around the kitty scene using Bashful Blue cs and black, of course.

The ribbon situation was another area I had some trouble with. At first I was only going to use one ribbon to visually divide the papers. But I felt the upper part of the card still needed something. So I carried the ribbon idea up a little higher and added the black gingham for a little "wow"ness.

The inside was pretty self-explanatory. I used the "plain" Basic Grey papers from Archaic and carried the theme from the outside to the inside. I stitched around the small piece of dp. The inside sentiment is from Stampin' Up! Cheery Chat (retired).

Well, thanks for looking! I will get to the other card soon. Running out of time. May not get it posted tonight.

Stamps: SU Cool Cat, SU Cheery Chat

CS: Black, Basic Grey "Archaic" 6" x 6" pad, Bashful Blue, White

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls and Distressed Stripes embossing folders, Sewing machine, Flower punch, Amber and aqua gems, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 3D-Dots, Black grosgrain ribbon, Black gingham ribbon, Copic Special Black marker, Inkworx air art gun