All Birthdays, All The Time!

For my co-worker's birthday, I wanted to make a fun, colorful card. I love the look of offset scallops and the accordion flower so I went to town with some retired DSP - Bali Breeze. I had made a simpler card for my mother in law using the same colors and I just couldn't stop myself... it was out of control! Maybe it happened because I was watching Outsourced and the colors of India were inspiring? I don't know. Anyway, here is the result. (I am also linking to The Paper Players' Anything Goes challenge.)

I like it. I used different sides of the patterned paper to create the design. I also interspersed solid strips of Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive and Taken with Teal with the DSP to keep the designs from overwhelming the eye. Not sure if it worked since the colors are pretty intense... Topped off with double stitched ribbon in Guava and Pomegranate. I created the medallion from the DSP and Teal and Whisper White punched with the Decorative Label Punch. The mat is created from 2 punches, trimmed and layered behind the white. I sponged the white sentiment shape and the medallion with Taken With Teal - Craft ink since that's all I had. It worked.

I lined up all the scalloped strips, glued them together, and then trimmed the edges rather than adhering everything directly to the card.

A card with this much dimension needs to be delivered in a clear envelope if you aren't giving it along with a gift. Of course I had to say something snappy inside, in this case - "Make sure you're out of jail by Monday" ... :) It's lots more fun in the office when we're both there!

All supplies listed are from Stampin' Up!

Stamp Set: Sincere Salutations (What? Not Curly Cute???)
Paper: Bali Breeze DSP (ret), Groovy Guava (ret), Purely Pomegranate (ret), Taken With Teal (ret), Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Taken With Teal Craft Ink
Other: SNAIL, Scallop Edge Punch, Decorative Label Punch

Mom's Birthday Card

For my mom's birthday, I wanted to give her something special and classy, just like her. :) Classy some of the time, except when she's being crazy and awesome. Which is most of the time. I started with a banner, which I will post later, and accompanied it with a card. I had been taking my Blender Pens for granted, so I knew it was time to 1) make sure they worked and 2) get them back on the front lines. The layout and techniques are very straightforward, but the result is soft and lovely. 

I'm not sure why the vintage look appeals to me so strongly. I'm not good at the bordering-on-cluttery look, but I can do a simple, soft project with a vintage twist, which suits me better. Here, I used Basic Grey to stamp the outline of the hydrangea from the Because I Care hostess set onto a Very Vanilla panel, mounted on Perfect Plum and popped up on Dimensionals. I filled in with ink squeezed into the lids of the Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke Classic pads, picked up with the blender pen, and dotted a few flower centers in So Saffron. I also sponged the edges with Perfect Plum. Loving the Victoria crochet trim and Antique Brad topped with a Basic Pearl. The background is tone-on-tone with the small flower from the same set, all mounted on Very Vanilla card stock.

Gotta have a matching envelope, so I inked up the stamp with Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke markers and stamped in the corner.

Mom loved it!

All supplies listed are from Stampin' Up!
Stamp Set: Because I Care
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum
Ink: Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, So Saffron
Markers: Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke
Other: Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL, Stamping Sponges, Basic Pearls

What I need to do...

Gotta do it - gotta make a watermark for my images, gotta con my friend into helping me fluff up my nonexistent design, gotta work on my photography skills! For you, my lovely reader, deserve a fun place to visit if you spend time with me. I promise, this will be a cute space very very soon! Under construction!!
Becca

CAS First Birthday

I created this card to give with the "K" medallion shelf art I made for my little friend's birthday last month. I had grand plans for this, with a bunch of cupcakes all matted on coordinating circles... it got more and more complicated the more I punched, and I got more and more annoyed and overwhelmed. I cleared the card and put on just one cupcake... and I thought, "THIS IS IT. This is all I need." Good thing, too, because I put it in a clear envelope and she decided it was a way cool crinkly chew toy! Babies. They just don't appreciate our hard work. :)

The colors were picked to go with the Strawberry Lemonade party theme. Once again I used the Curly Cute set, inked in Versamark on Regal Rose and finished with clear embossing powder. The circle mat is So Saffron popped up on Dimensionals, and the entire cupcake is punched from various sheets of Sweet & Sour designer series paper using the Build a Cupcake Punch. Just ONE candle, of course!

A note on the supplies - I am SO GLAD I bought the Build a Cupcake punch. It's come in very handy. I've gotten so picky about what I buy. Everything has to have real value in my stamp room or it can't come in to play! The Sweet & Sour paper is so awesome. The colors are bright and the glossy accents really make the designs pop.

Anyway, since the birthday girl decided the card was good enough to eat, I will take the compliment and call this one a CAS winner!

Becca

Curly Cute Congratulations

We have several graduations to celebrate this spring. Since all the announcements we received were from girls, all of my cards are feminine!! All use the Congratulations stamp from the Curly Cute set.

Sweet Clean and Simple style here... I can't remember the name of this designer paper so if you can fill me in I will be grateful! I used Certainly Celery CS and ink, my scallop edge punch, and a doodad from the filigree brad set with a rhinestone brad in the center. Loving the background? A great shot taken at work (again - shhhh!!!) I accented the envelope with the flower from the Nature Walk set.

Stepping it up a little - here I used some Brushed Silver card stock to echo the bling around the Medallion image. I love the look of tone on tone, and Marina Mist did not fail me here. What a great color, and so nice against the silver. Accented with Basic Rhinestones and another Filigree brad with a rhinestone center. I don't think I have used a single plain brad to fill those filigree flowers yet. A note on this one - the adhesive back on the rhinestones didn't want to stick to the ink so I had to supplement with a little liquid glue. I think that gray cubicle wall really sets it all off, don't you? :)

Last, I used the accordion fold again to make fans for this more sophisticated look. My daughter came in while I was working and freaked out - she LOVES houndstooth. Interesting choice for a 12-year-old! I used the "journey" stamp from Define Your Life on Tempting Turquoise for a shot of color. These stamps fit so nicely with the Designer Label Punch, with a little room at the top and bottom to decorate if you wish. I matted it on black and ran a line of black glitter glue around the edges. This was then popped up using dimensionals. I used the same glitter glue for the black accents on the fans. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Very Vanilla and noticed it was a little off center, so I used the creative opportunity to add a black brad. ;) I'm very happy with this card.

I think Curly Cute is my favorite basic greeting set. I love the font and the clean look of the images on my cards. It's been getting a workout. A note on the black ink - I have found that the Basic Black Classic Ink in my stash has a blue cast, so I rarely use it. I rely more on my Jet Black StazOn for sentiments and outlines.

Congratulations to all the 2011 graduates!! Preschool, kindergarten, middle school, high school, any level of college - it's a great accomplishment!

A very special birthday

My friend's daughter's first birthday was a very special occasion. This baby was a long time coming and she is a very sweet, very loved little girl and I knew I needed to make something really cute and unique, just for her. I had been playing around with accordion fold medallions, making them into award-style ribbons, and I didn't have any actual fabric ribbon that was suitable. I made some from paper instead. This was a very inexpensive project in terms of dollars, but I put a lot of heart into it!

I started with a cheapo dollar frame that I coated with white acrylic paint. The party was a strawberry lemonade theme (cute, right??) and I had Razzleberry Lemonade paper from last year's catalog... close enough!! I picked my colors and went to town. First, I made the medallion from a 1-1/2" strip of DSP. I "thumped" the K from the Broadsheet Alphabet with Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry markers, stamped, and punched it out with the Decorative Label punch. Sponging is Melon Mambo. I matted this with Rich Razzleberry card stock and glittered the edge with Champagne Glass Glitter, a gift from SU! Regionals in Minneapolis. A snip of Melon Mambo CS makes the accent "ribbon". The entire piece is popped up on dimensionals.

Rather than using fabric ribbons, I used more of the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and coordinating card stock to make the tails. I gave them a curve for dimension with my bone folder.

Notice the almost tie-dye effect on the flourish and flower from Baroque Motifs. I used the marker thumping technique again, with the colors from the DSP - Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry. Where the Melon overlapped the Curry, it looked just like Dusty Durango!! I accented the corners with a scatter of flowers punched from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack and blinged with some crystals from my stash, securely held in place with mini glue dots.

The finished product... now sitting on Miss K's bedroom bookshelf. She got some CD's from us too - Raffi and Veggie Tales 80's!

All supplies listed are from Stampin' Up!
Stamp Sets: Broadsheet Alphabet, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (retired), Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry (retired)
Ink: Melon Mambo
Markers: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Punches, Etc.: Decorative Label, Itty Bitty Punch Pack; Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL, Champagne Glass Glitter
Other/Non SU: Frame, acrylic paint, colored adhesive crystals

PPA94 Graduation

My first post ever! Excuse the boring page, it will be fixed soon. I saw this sketch challenge on Pals Paper Arts and had to participate - it took about 5 minutes at work (shhh - don't tell) for me to formulate exactly how I wanted this card to look, and when I got home I made it happen! I used a glittery black embossing powder, but you could achieve the same look by mixing black embossing powder with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.



This card will go to the daughter of one of my best friends, for her high school graduation. Hope she likes it! I made another one of the same design, and the sentiment didn't come out quite as straight... oh well. I really like the color combination, made even easier with the fantastic designer paper. I think it looks so rich. If I were to do it again, I would move the flowers slightly to the right. I centered the flowers before I added the leaves.

All supplies Stampin' Up!
Stamp Sets: Flower Fest, Curly Cute, Elements of Style
Paper: Love Letter DSP; Red Riding Hood, Always Artichoke and Basic Black card stock
Ink: Versamark, Always Artichoke, Jet Black StazOn
Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Black Glitter Embossing Powder 

Thanks for looking!!
Becca