Birthdays and Butterflies

Good evening Everyone!  Today I wanted to share something I created for some special ladies who have birthdays this month.  My cards' bases are Pool Party with a border of Crumb Cake card stock.  I absolutely fell in love with the Swallowtail stamp from Stampin' Up! and haven't tried to use it until now.  Using the emboss resist technique, I stamped the Swallowtail in Versamark ink onto Very Vanilla card stock, and used clear embossing powder to cover the stamped image.  I used a heat tool to set the embossing powder.  Using a sponge and inks in Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, and Daffodil Delight, I swirled the inks (one at a time) over the Swallowtail image.  After I finished using all the inks, I used a dry paper towel to wipe off the excess ink from the image. 

I stamped "happy birthday" onto scraps of Very Vanilla card stock, punched out the phrase with the Modern Label punch, and sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  I attached the phrases with small pieces of dimensionals.  That is it!  What do you think?

I wish you a wonderful week, and I hope you find time to be inspired and create!

I don't always like my cards to be exactly alike, so I tilted the stamp differently on each card.

Valentine's Day cards

Hello Everyone!  This past Saturday I held a class to make Valentine's Day cards.  It was so much fun!!  I got to host 10 ladies, and more wanted to come!  I can't wait to until next month when we will do it all over again, but with a different theme.  For this class I created three cards that would be easy to duplicate.

My first card began with Pool Party card stock as the base, one sheet of 8-1/2" by 11" cut in half at 5-1/2" on the 11" side.  I matted a piece of More Amore DSP, cut at 3-3/4" by 5", with a piece of Primrose Petals card stock cut at 4" by 5-1/4".  I cut a piece of Pool Party ruffled ribbon about 5-1/2", wrapped and clued it around the More Amore DSP.  I stamped two images from the That's the Ticket stamp set from the Stampin' Up! Spring mini catalog.  I have to confess, I love this stamp set not only because you can use it for several occasions, but you can you the coordinating ticket punch with this set to create great looks!  I stamped the Valentine's Day sentiment in Pool Party onto Very Vanilla card stock, and used one of the plain tickets with numbers to stamp onto Very Vanilla card stock in Primrose Petals Classic ink.  I clustered three flowers from the Vanilla 5/8" Flower Trim on top of the Pool Party ribbon.  To finish this look, I added three small pearl accents to the center of each flower.

My second card was a bit more simple.  I used Crumb Cake as the base of my card and using Crumb Cake ink, I stamped the En Francais stamp onto the the base of the card.  Then I used a piece of Real Red card stock and ripped it diagonally before gluing it to the card base.  I cut a heart from the piece of More Amore DSP, the laser-cut ones, to add to the front of the card.  Before adding the heart, I punched a hole in the corner and added a brad to hold a piece of Crochet Trim lace.  I punched a small heart and used dimensionals to adhere the small heart to the top of the brad.  To add a little glimmer, I covered the small heart in Dazzling Details.  The Dazzling Details was SUPER popular at my class and probably got used more than anything I brought to class.  Here is a picture:

The third card I created began with Primrose Petals as the card base.  I used a piece of Very Vanilla and embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, them sponged it with Primrose Petals ink.  Next I used some of the More Amore DSP and used the Curly Label punch twice, then used it to punch one each of Pool Party and Real Red card stock.  I used the Full Heart punch to punch a heart out of Very Vanilla and one Small Heart punch in Real Red card stock.  I arranged them onto the embossed piece of paper and glued them on.  I punched another strip of More Amore DSP with the Scallop Edge Border punch and glued it to the piece of embossed paper.  To hide the seam, I glued a piece of Pool Party ruffled ribbon to those pieces.  I put the completed piece toward the top of the front of the card.  To finish it, I used one of the stamps from the My Little Valentine set in Primrose Petals ink.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and may you find time to be inspired and create!

Welcoming Victoria

 Good morning Everyone!  This is a little late getting posted, a couple weeks in fact, because I have been incredibly busy with life.  One of my best friends, who is such a sweetheart, is having a baby!!!  I went to her baby shower a few weekends ago and I made this card especially for her and her daughter Victoria.  To date the baby hasn't been born yet, but it will be any day now.

Front view of the card.

I used Wisteria Wonder card stock as the base, and Very Vanilla for the "ruffles" at the neck and legs.  To create some texture, I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder on the front of the card.  I added 3/8" ruffled ribbon in Wisteria Wonder across the front to create a waist on the card and added pearl embellishments to the middle of the ribbon.  I also added three smaller pearls to the bottom of the onesie as the buttons (it is hard to see here because of my watermark over the picture, sorry!). 

A slightly off-center picture to see the glitter effect better.

As for the "ruffles" around the neck and legs, I used the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle and the 1-1/4" Circle punches.  I should have used the 1-3/8" Circle punch, but couldn't find it when I needed it ;).  To create a little sparkle, I used an Aqua Painter and filled it with water, then used Dazzling Details and brushed on the sparkle. 
The tutorial for this onesie can be found here.  This is a wonderful website by Becky Jensen, who I have found many beautiful creations and inspirations from!
I hope you will come back and visit soon.  Until then, please have a wonderful day and find time to create!

Vintage 21st birthday

Hello Friends!
Welcome back to another post!  It seems I have been absent for quite some time, mostly haven't had any "me" time to create anything to share.  I am quite proud of this card (my fiance says it is the best card I have done yet ;)).  I was trying to get inspired to make the perfect card for a friend of mine that just turned 21.  She is such a fabulous person, so I wanted to wow her and make her feel as special as she really is.  I spent lots of time trying to come up with the perfect color combination and with the right touch.  I finally decided to try my hand at vintage, and this is what I came up with.  For the background, I used the acrylic distress technique (I have been dying to try this for months and I'm glad I finally had an excuse!), using Pool Party card stock, I ran it through my Big Shot using the Lacy Brocade embossing folder.  Next, I painted the entire piece with off white acrylic paint and let it dry completely.  I sanded it, trying to be careful not to bend the card stock, to get off some of the paint from the raised parts on the pattern.  After brushing off the paint dust, I used a distress ink in frayed burlap (similar to Soft Suede) to cover the card stock to fill in the sanded areas.  I then wet a paper towel and went over the card stock to remove any excess distress ink.  I layered scalloped tulle ribbon in Crumb Cake on top of the acrylic distress background.  Using the Everything Eleanor stamp set I stamped the tag background for the number in Pool Party, and added some Crochet Trim Victoria lace ribbon with an Antique Brad to it.  For the flowers, I stamped each flower on Very Vanilla card stock twice so I could make them 3-dimensional using dimensionals, and finished each one with a pearl in the center.  I stamped the 21 with Memorable Moments set and cut them out by hand (note: I had a really hard time with this and I am thinking about investing in an Exacto knife).

Well, that is it for now.  I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday season and a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Another Pintrest CASEing

Hello Everyone!  It has been a nice, relaxing Sunday for me and I am excited to have had time to create another card to share with you today.  Since I have been working a lot and trying to get ready for my new job (Yay!!), I have not had much time to do anything creative.  I did spend some time on Pintrest this past weekend and found a beautiful card, and the easy tutorial at http://www.frenchiestamps.com/ .  Frenchie makes such beautiful cards and she really is great at teaching you her techniques! 

My take on this card is...

I used Raspberry Ripple as the base and mattes for the card, and Very Vanilla card stock for the stamped parts of the card.  The rose and leaves were stamped in Raspberry Ripple and Crumb Cake, respectively, and are from the stamp set Papaya Collage.  I have to admit, this is the first time I have used this set because I have been waiting for inspiration.  The sentiment 'happy birthday' is stamped in Raspberry Ripple and is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I felt that my card was missing something, so I added a little bling by attaching rhinestones to the center of each of the roses. 

Thank you for stopping by today!  I wish you a fantastic day and hope you have time to craft and spend time with the ones you love!

Pintrest CASEing for a birthday

Good afternoon everyone!  It is Saturday afternoon and I am being lazy since I have this weekend off.  I am posting this a little later than planned, but these days I am lucky to get my posting in when I can.  It was a friend's birthday this past Tuesday and I thought I would make her a birthday card to brighten her day since she had to work.  I found a card with a bookmark on Pintrest and the original card and tutorial are here.  I absolutely loved this card combo with a bookmark and wanted to make a million of them! 
For this bookmark I used 2012-2014 In Color Primrose Petals card stock matted with First Edition Specialty card stock.  I stamped the flower using the Mixed Bunch stamp set, then used the matching punch to cut it out.  I attached 5/8" Crochet Trim ribbon to the back of the flower using an Antique Brad, and used the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch some scrap Primrose Petals card stock to layer under the Bitty Buttons matching shapes to attach to the bookmark.
The card was a bit more simple.  The card base was Soft Suede card stock cut to 4 1/4" by 11" then folded in half.  The second layer was Primrose Petals card stock cut to 4 1/8" by 5 1/4", and the final layer was from the DSP Fan Fair cut to 4" by 5 1/8".  Using the same Crochet Trim ribbon, I used a piece to wrap the last two layers together, then used some to make a bow.  I attached the wrap and the bow using Snail adhesive. 
Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful day and find time to craft!

Birthday in Razzleberry

Good Morning!  I am finally able to post this birthday card I made for Stephen's mom (my soon-to-be mother-in-law!) that I created Sunday.  I sent out this card with her gift for her birthday yesterday which should arrive at her house today.  This is pretty amazing because I am always late sending gifts/cards out, and her birthday is actually on Thursday!  I really had fun with this card, not only because it is for a special person, but also because I got to use so much of my new stuff!

The base of this card is Soft Suede card stock, an 8 1/2" by 11" piece of card stock cut in half width wise.  I used River Rock card stock as my second layer or matte for my main card area cut 1/8" shorter on each side.  My third layer is Rich Razzleberry cut 1/8" smaller than my second layer of River Rock card stock.  I used International Bazaar DSP for the fourth layer (more like half layer) cut to the same length and half of the width of the Razzleberry layer.  I used my Big Shot and Labels Collection Framelits to cut the frame design out of River Rock card stock.  I stamped the sentiment using Elementary Elegance (a stamp set from Sale-A-Bration 2012) and Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink, then used one of the circle stamps from the Mixed Bunch stamp set in VersaMark ink all over the frame.  Next, I used a sponge and more Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink to accentuate the edge of the frame.  Before attaching the frame to the card, I used 5/8" Crochet Trim (the lace-looking ribbon) to cover the seam and 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Rich Razzleberry (a now retired ribbon).  I attached the frame using Stampin' Dimensionals and also used them to attach the butterflies.  For both butterflies, I used the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.  The top butterfly was stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink, punched out with the new Elegant Butterfly punch (an immediate must-have for me), and I added three rhinestones down the middle.  The bottom butterfly was stamped with VersaMark ink and I put gold embossing powder, then applied heat using a heat gun to get the pretty gold shiny (which you can't really see from the photo) effect.  I added some ribbon to this butterfly to pull it into the scheme and added a rhinestone just for some extra oompf. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today!  I hope you have an excellent rest of your day, and wish you a fun and creative day!