One Card - 2 Ways

  I mentioned earlier in the summer that we were having a rash of 5 year old birthdays.  Well I was starting to run out of time to design a few of them and went for the same card just different colors.  I made one for a boy and one for a girl.  This is a great way to use up DSP scraps you have.  These cards are a take on this card from earlier this year.  I made the candles chunkier since I only needed 5 of them.

  This one is obviously the boy card.  I used up some pieces of the long retired Welcome Neighbors DSP from Sale-a-bration.  The candle flames are the wings from the 2 step bird punch in Daffodil Delight and covered with Crystal Effects and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds.  I popped each of them up with a dimensional to add some height since the rest of the card is very flat.

 I colored the sentiment from Bring on the Cake - LOVE that Stampin' Up! brought this set back into the new catalog, there is a birthday sentiment for everyone in this set - and then I punched it out with the largest oval punch.  I added a few lengths of bakers twine and some little taffeta knots. 

  For the girl card I used pink DSP from various packs.  I added some rhinestones to the bottom of the scallop oval punch.  And I used taffeta ribbon instead of the bakers twine.  I apologize for the poor photo.  I didn't get a chance to take the photo before leaving for our CT trip and I had to take it quickly before I gave the card with the gift when we got there.  But you get the idea right?  At least you can see the Dazzling Diamonds on the flames!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Boy- Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie (markers) Girl - Wisteria Wonder, Melon Mambo (markers)

Paper: Various DSPs, Daffodil Delight,  Boy- Early Espresso, Girl- Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White


Accessories: Bird Punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, Bakers Twine, Taffeta ribbon, oval punch, scallop oval punch, rhinestones

Clean and Quick Anniversary card

  Yes, I am alive!  I feel like I haven't posted in forever even though it's just been a little more than a week.  We had Vacation Bible School (VBS) last week at our church and I was one of the volunteers.  I was one of the craft ladies (surprise surprise!) and ran my tail off from 9-12 every day.  By the time the boys and I got home we just sat and vegged.  VBS is super fun but it certainly takes a lot out of you (the 100+ degree weather last week didn't help either!).  Then I spent any free time over the weekend designing and preparing the projects for stamp club which was last night.  I'll be getting those projects photographed and posted soon. 

  But today I'm going to share the anniversary card I gave to my husband for our 8th anniversary earlier this month.  Ever since we were first married we give each other gifts that follow the traditional list of gifts depending on the year of marriage.  For example, the first anniversary is paper, the second is cotton, third leather etc.  Well, the 8th anniversary is bronze.  I know, right??  Well that's a pretty hard one to come up with a decent gift.  If you search bronze things online you get tons of bizarre sculptures and yard art...don't need any of that.  And a lot of the stuff is girlie, vases and stuff like that.  I searched and searched for something kind of meaningful, cool and would not break the bank (like a $6,000 sculpture!).  I finally stumbled across this seller on Etsy who sells coin banks made from reclaimed wood and old post office mail boxes.  You know the kind with the knobs that turn to the special code and then open?  Well, lo and behold, these post office postal box doors are made from bronze.  Totally cool.  He had one in his store that had an "8" in the number---SOLD!  Check out his Etsy site HERE.  So I got my bronze gift for my husband.  Since it is a bank for coins and such I decided that I would find a penny dated from each year of our marriage and stick those inside the card and he can put them in the bank and I would give him a new penny every year.  I found all the years except for 2011.  I raided the boys piggy banks, hit the local grocery store, 2 bank branches and even the liquor store;  no one could find me a 2011 penny!  Weird.  So I'm still on the hunt for that one but he has 2003-2010. 

  Anyway, after all that (and you probably don't care very much!) here is the card that I put the pennies in.  I couldn't think up a good "bronze" themed card so I just kept it clean and simple with the little pop of red for Love!

  I used the lately neglected Circle Circus which can totally change into what ever kind of set you need, masculine, girlie, playful, serious.  It's a great versatile set to have on hand.  I embossed the circles with black embossing powder on Crumb Cake cardstock cut into squares. The sentiment is stamped in black on Whisper White cardstock.  I punched a heart with the 2 Step Owl punch out of red Glimmer Paper.  I love this Glimmer Paper and I'm so glad that Stampin' Up carried it over to the new catalog this year. 

Check out this close up of the embossing.  You just want to run your fingers over it!

  Also a quick reminder-  If you want to take advantage of the $99 Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Starter Kit special don't wait!  This offer is only good until the end of July-- Only 5 more days to take advantage of this unbelievable deal.  If you join you get sneak peeks at upcoming catalogs, option to preorder from new catalogs, discounts, free stamp sets and loads and loads of great ideas.  Not even mentioning the great stamping products you receive in the Starter Kit!  If you have questions or would like to join just contact me and we can talk!
  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Circle Circus, Something to Celebrate (retired hostess set)

Ink: Versamark, Black

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White, Red Glimmer Paper

Accessories: black embossing powder, 2 Step Owl punch

May Christmas Card Challenge

  So yes, I am several months behind on my goal to get 10 Christmas cards done a month to be ready for the season come December.  I have finished the May & June cards though and will try to find time to make some for July.  I've wanted to use this Patterned Pine set for a long time.  It was a hostess set that retired a few years ago but I've held onto it because it's just so cute. 

   For this card I used the new In Color Lucky Limeade as the base as well as for the tree panel.  It pairs so nicely with Riding Hood Red for a non-traditional look to the basic Christmas red and green color combination.  I offset some of the bright Lucky Limeade by having a larger panel of Whisper White embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. 

   The trees are embossed (remember to use your embossing buddy!!) with white embossing powder and look really cool against the green.  I used some rhinestone jewels on the tree tops for some added sparkle to that side of the card.  I used the ticket corner punch detail on all the corners which is probably overkill but I just couldn't stop myself once I got started!  The tinsel trim is wrapped around the Whisper White panel twice.  Hopefully the tinsel trim will be released again this year since it's a great little addition to cards and gifts.  The tinsel trim is topped with a Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon fork bow.  It matches close enough to the Riding Hood Red cardstock.  To learn how to tie a fork bow click HERE.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Patterned Pines (retired hostess set)


Ink: Versamark


Paper: Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Accessories: ticket corner punch, Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, white embossing powder, tinsel trim, seam binding ribbon

 

My Boy is 5 Today!!

  I don't know how 5 years have gone by already but my oldest son turned 5 years old today.  Goodness sakes.  We had a friends birthday party at a bounce house place this afternoon, a big birthday dinner tonight (he choose to have grilled salmon for his meal!!) and a BBQ planned for tomorrow to celebrate both of the boys' birthdays (Alex turned 3 on Monday).   We are going to be all birthday'd out after this weekend. 

  Here's the birthday boy 5 years ago....       

 

  And here is he now.....

 

   All that to show this very simple, very easy birthday invitation I made for the bounce house party.  As soon as I saw the Pennant Parade stamp set and matching punch on our demonstrator pre-order I knew for sure that I wanted to get it to use for Ryan's birthday.  As his favorite color (right now) is red I wanted to make sure I included some of it on the card.  

  The matching punch has the larger scalloped pennant and the smaller straight edged one.  I used the new In Color Island Indigo, Real Red and Daffodil Delight.  I kept the background very plain since the colors were so bright to begin with I didn't want it to hurt anyone's eyes.  Once I had my pennants made I used the small handheld punch to punch circles to run my bakers twine through. The bakers twine is the perfect thing to hang up the banner.  It's thin enough to thread through the holes and doesn't add bulk or weight to the finished project.  I added the little stamped star which is also part of the Pennant Parade set.  The star punches out perfectly with the little circle in the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.  The banner is popped on dimensionals (of course).  I added the "Celebrate" in Island Indigo.

  And even though this is a horrible photo here are the goodie bags that I made.  They are exactly the same as the invitations just a bag topper.  I went old school with the paper lunch sacks since I had about 50 sitting around and they were the only bag I had on hand that the long tube of glow sticks  would fit in. 

 

   I hope everyone has a great weekend and squeezes in some stamping time!  

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Pennant Parade, Something to Celebrate 

Ink: Island Indigo, Real Red, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Island Indigo, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Accessories: Pennant punch, bakers twine, handheld hole punch, dimensionals

Father's Day Sailboat

  Better late than never with this card.  Maybe this Father's Day card will inspire you for a masculine birthday or for Father's Day next year.  This is the card that I made last minute pulled together for my husband this year.  I was loving the colors and supplies that I used for this card and wanted to stick with them (or they were still out on my desk).

   I did 3 squares of Nautical Expedition DSP on the right hand side.  I love the different patterns of blues in this pack of paper.  Then I stamped the Sail Away single Stamp in Cherry Cobbler ink.  To make the cool shadow effect use your stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the image again just a tad bit over from the original with Whisper White craft ink.  How cool is that?  The final touch for this card is the "Happy Father's Day" banner at the bottom with a neat little Cherry Cobbler baker's twine bow at the end.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White craft

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP

Accessories: Baker's Twine, stamp-a-ma-jig

Stamp-a-Stack Chair Notecard

  Here is the second card we did at my stamp-a-stack last month.  I feel like I never have a ready made card on hand to just grab and send.  I don't know about you all but I just don't have the time in my day to sit and make a card every time I need to send a quick note.  For birthdays and special occasions I try to make a card unique to the occasion but for sending a check to someone or to just say hi it's just not going to happen.  I designed this card with all that in mind.  Generic enough to be used for just about any reason and a sentiment can be stamped at the last minute to fit that occasion if needed but it can stand alone on its own as a note card.  Since I have them already made I won't put off sending that quick note until I find time to make a card.  I've already used 2 that I made.  The next time you have a chance to stamp try to design a simple card that you can make 5 or 6 of to just keep on hand.

  The base is Crumb Cake with the bottom corners rounded.  Are you tired of seeing my projects made with Crumb Cake?  I feel like a good portion of my recent posts have had Crumb Cake in them!  I think I still have one or 2 more to show too!  At least you can see how useful this color is and it's certainly worth it to get a pack or 2 or 6! 

  Back to the card...the chair is stamped with Chocolate Chip and then masked.  For those of you new to stamping; to mask all you do is stamp the image again on a post it note (or as I call them sometimes a sticky note).  Make sure to stamp up close to the top edge where the sticky stuff is.  Then carefully cut the image out.  Next you put your sticky mask over your image on the cardstock and then stamp your others images right over the top (having that bit of sticky on your mask keeps it right in place).  Don't throw that mask away...stick it right inside your stamp set case to use again and again! For this card I masked the chair so that the details of it wouldn't be muddied up by the A to Z stamp which was stamped with Crumb Cake ink.

   The chair panel is adhered to another panel of Crumb Cake and then a larger piece of the new Wisteria Wonder cardstock.  I punched out a little Concord Crush flower using the Itty Bitty shapes punch pack and scrunched it up a few times for some texture.  The flower is attached with a silver brad.  Behind the image panel I added a Concord Crush stitched poly ribbon tab.  The whole shebang is popped up from the base on dimensionals.

  So do you like the larger photos of the cards I've used the last 2 projects?  It leaves a weird open end in the black frame around it compared with the smaller photos but that might be a small price to pay to see more of the details that get lost by shrinking it.  Let me know which way you prefer!

  Also, check out the great deal on the Stampin' Up! starter kit when you join the Stampin' Up! family during the month of July.  Click here for details! Everything you need to get started for just $99 and you can customize the kit to suit your tastes.  Join now and you get an awesome Christmas keepsake box project as a bonus not to mention the 20% discount, free stamp sets, sneak peeks at upcoming mini catalogs and more!  Enough with the gushing...let me know if you have any questions!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Have a Seat, A to Z

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Concord Crush

Accessories: Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, silver brad, Concord Crush poly stitched ribbon, dimensionals

Happy 5th Birthday!

  The past month or so my sons good friends from school have all been turning 5.  I am definitely going to have to add to my collection of little boy stamps to use for these birthdays.  I realized that I didn't have a lot to choose from when I went to make this card a few weeks ago.  I made due with what I had and ended up pleased with how it turned out.  I'm sure Tanner didn't care one way or another but maybe his mom liked it!

 

  The base of the card is textured Pumpkin Pie cardstock just for some extra interest (and I have a lot leftover from another project that just used the smooth 12x12 pieces from the package).  I then punched out a whole bunch of stars from the Sale-a-bration DSP pack Welcome Neighbors from 2 years ago.  I just love the smaller scaled patterns in this pack and would love to see a similar one released again someday by Stampin' Up.  I adhered the stars randomly on a piece of Island Indigo cardstock and then ran it through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  We used this same technique on this card at stamp club earlier in the year.  It's called inlaid or embedded embossing. 

  Next I stamped "Happy Birthday" in Island Indigo ink.  This sentiment is from the Bring on the Cake set.  I am so glad this set made it into the big catalog.  There is a perfect birthday sentiment for any card in this set so I know it will get a lot more love in the coming year.  I colored in the letters with my markers (one of my favorite things about Stampin' Up is the fact that all of my markers perfectly match my inks and my papers!  I never have to dig around to get things to match.)  It's hard to see in the photo but I filled in each of the colored letters with Crystal Effects so they are raised and shiny.  I trimmed the ends of the Whisper White to make a banner.

  I used my Big Shot to die cut a "5".  I did 2 layers, one a thin piece of cardboard (I used the piece that comes in the DSP package) and the top layer DSP.  That makes the number stand out a little more.  I tied a little piece of linen thread around the top of the "5" just because.  I punched out one more star and then covered it with Dazzling Diamonds.  The banner and "5" are both popped up with dimensionals.

  If you've ever thought that you might enjoy being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to teach others about stamping or just enjoy the 20% off discount for yourself there is a great deal on the Starter Kit through the month of July.  For just $99 you get a ton of stuff to get you started.  Check out my sidebar banner or contact me for more details.  I love to have you join the Stampin' Up! family!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Island Indigo, markers- Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Pool Party

Paper: Pumpkin Pie textured, Island Indigo, Welcome Neighbor DSP (retired SAB), Whisper White

Accessories: star punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Simple Numbers die, linen thread, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects

Father's Day Birdhouses

  Now that I'm back in Virginia and all of our Father's Day gifts have been delivered to all the dad/grandpa's I can show what my family made for the big day.  It was a total group effort though my husband definitely did all the hard work.  We had some furniture delivered on a pallet back in the spring and we decided to keep the wood to see what we could do with it some other time.  I came up with the idea of building birdhouses for father's day.  Matt went to work designing and building them which wasn't an easy task when you have an almost 3 year old and almost 5 year old "helping".  But in the end we had 4 pretty cool looking birdhouses.  Check them out!

  Next we put a drop cloth out on the driveway and let the boys at the houses with craft paint and sponge brushes.  They did a really good job and most of the paint actually went where it was supposed to!  Ryan and Alex were very proud of themselves and had a great time helping to make the gifts.

Ryan

Alex

  We keep joking that we hope the birds are colorblind or these houses might stay empty for a really long time!  I used a spray sealant after the paint dried so hopefully the colors will stay for years.  Here they are with all four painted birdhouses.

  Now I'm sure you're asking how this all ties in with a stamping blog...well of course I had to do my part (besides just being the idea lady) so I designed a little tag to tie onto the birdhouses.

  Usually I try to match the card/tag colors with the gift or wrapping.  You've seen the colors on the houses so you can understand why I didn't go that route!  And I had received my pre-order with the new In Colors so I wanted to use some of them so the whole matchy-matchy thing went out the window! I cut the tag with the 2 Tags Die out of Island Indigo.  Then I stamped the sentiment in Crumb Cake and the birds (see 4 birds...4 Mertz's...2 big adult birds and 2 little kid birds???).  I used Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo stamped once and then again without reinking to get the lighter shade and last is Pool Party.  I rounded the edges of the Whisper White panel for a more polished edge and then sponged some Crumb Cake ink all the way around.  I used the Crop-a-dile to set the jumbo eyelet (just retired-  Boo-Hoo!!) and then used hemp twine to tie the tag to the birdhouses.

  So there it is...totally homemade Father's Day gifts! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Aviary, Something to Celebrate (retired hostess set)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party


Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White


Accessories: jumbo eyelet, hemp twine, 2 Tags Die, corner rounder