Masculine birthday Card

   September is going to be here shortly.  It is a month of birthdays.  Not only are my daughter & granddaughter's birthdays in September, but a nephew, uncle & brother-in-law are also turning a year older.  My nephew is the first one to celebrate his birthday in September.  Like many other crafters, creating masculine cards are difficult for me.  
  I knew I wanted to use the woodgrain IP and the sentiment from my newly acquired Think Big Favorites #7: "Birthday Wishes".  Wanting to use an image other than cupcakes, I chose the birthday present from the Make A Wish Additions stamp set.  The middle present is propped up with dimensionals

     Here's a look at the inside.

    Thanks for looking.

Supplies: CS Kraft, Ripe Avacodo , Dark Chocolate

Stamps: PTI: Make A Wish Additions, Think Big Favorites #7; Stampendous: cupcake; Northwoods Birthday Sentiment 2002

IP: Woodgrain

Other: Pattern paper, dimensionals, copic markers

August Blog Hop

     Today is the 25th of the month.  This means PTI is hosting its monthly Blog Hop. The theme this month is based upon this image. 

 

     One is to create a card by focusing on the colors, the motifs, or the idea of incorporating books or book-

print or even jars.  For my card, I was inspired by the suitcase, the color red and the flowers.

  The gardening tools are from Garden Variety.  I didn't have the die so I fuzzy cut them, and only glued the bottom half behind the basket.  They are stamped in Sepia, the same color as the basket. I also fussy cut the watering can from Garden Variety.

  

The flowers (Flower Fusion #4) are stamped with Berry Sorbet with Cantaloupe (Memento) centers. The leaves are from Harvest Berries.  All the flowers are propped up with dimensionals while only some areas of the leaves are propped up.

    Overall, I am pleased with the way this card turned out since it has so much texture.

Supplies: CS"  Pure Poppy, Sweet Blush, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, white
Stamps: Flower Fusion #4, Harvest Berries, Garden Variety, Bread basket (Large)
Ink: Berry Sorbet, Cantaloupe, Peeled Paint, Sepia
Dies:  Flower Fusion #4
Other: Copper brads, dimensionals

Bloom Builder #3 Card

     I finally created a birthday card to go with the flower I made last week using Sweet Blush cardstock and the Bloom Builder # 3 die.  It is pretty simple, but I think it highlights the beautiful flower.


I die cut a Fillable Frame # 4 out of Hibiscus Burst Cardstock.  I made french knots using DMC Floss (in a Spring Moss color) in the fillable frames.  The floss was wrapped around the card.  The leaves are from the die, Simple Sunflowers, and the sentiment from Half & Half.  Chai ink was used to stamp the sentiment as well as sponge the perimeter of the card.



Supplies: CS: Hibicus Burst, Sweet Blush

Dies: Fillable Frame #4, Bloom Builder #3

Stamps: Half & Half

Inks: Chai

Other: Hibiscus Burst button, DMC Floss

Happy 1st Birthday, Lilly!

      Today is my granddaughter's first birthday. Here she is in her party dress.



  The little bugger has begun to walk, so trying to take a photo of her remaining still is almost impossible. I did manage to get one.



    As I mentioned in the previous post, the theme of her birthday party (which was held on Saturday) was Winnie the Pooh. My daughter & I  made a happy birtday banner using her Cricut machine to cut out honey pots.



    

 Of course no party is complete without birthday hats.  Now that my other granddaughter is almost 3 she is willing to wear one. So of course no ordinary hat would do. Being the crafter that I am I made 3 hats. One for her; the others were for her 2 cousins.



     The pom poms were made out of tissue paper as was the fringe around the bottom of each hat. I used the Martha Stewart fringe scissor .

     



 The pooh face was cut out using the Cricut machine.

 

I used elastic thread secured with brads so the hats would stay on the kids' heads.

The birday girl had her own hat.    Instead of a pompom, I used a feather & netting.  

There was lace at the bottom of the hat. The number was was cut out with my Wishblade; then run through my Xyron before I added some blue glitter from Denami.  I fussy cut the Winnie the Pooh from some pattern paper and placed it at the bottom of the hat.

Surpriselingly, Lilly wore her hat.  My daughter & I figured it would be on her head less than 3 seconds.  She loved it!

       I made a card to match her hat.

Some close up shots.

A picture of my soon to be 3 year old granddaughter.  Darn! I didn't get a picture of the other children wearing the birthday hats.

Thanks for looking.  I know this was a long post.

Birthday Card

  My granddaughter, Lilly, is turning one on Tuesday.  Her Winniethe Pooh themed birthday party was yesterday. I had promised my son that I would make a birthday card for him. This what I came up with.  I had to use Pattern Paper for the image as I had no Winnie the Pooh stamps.

  Here are some close-up shots of the details.

  I'll be posting pictures of the decorations I made for the party as well as the card I made from me.

Supplies:
  Ink: Marvy: Crimson Lake, Memories: Black
Stamps:  Fillable Frame # 1, Make A Wish Additions
Other: Blue Rick Rack, pinking shears, Disney Winnie-the Pooh Paper

Bloom Builder ##

TodayI received my box of PTI goodies that I ordered Monday at midnight.  I immediately took the new Bloom Builder #3 die out so I could make a flower.  Initially, I wanted to use pattern paper.  However, I discovered that is is almost impossible to punch out because it is so lightweight.
I proceded to use PTI cardstock  and what a difference.  The flower just popped out like in Nicole's video.  It is best to push the flower down like she instructed. I made the flower as I watched Nicople's video. I am so happy with the result.

MIM # 28 Glitter Die Borders

     When I first saw the video this week for MIM, (Glitter Die BordersI I wasn't exactly thrilled.  I am not a fan of glitter.  Althought I have about 7 jars of various colors, I use it sparingly.       My first thought was which die would I use as a border.  The one that immediately came to mind was the butterfly from Dawn McVey's Signature Series.  Initially, I wanted to use blue for the butterfly.  As I was browsing through my pattern papers, I spotted one with delicate, red flowers.  After I cut the butterfly, I laid it on a Pure Poppy diecut from Sending You to outline it with glitter.  Then I propped it up with some dimensionals and added some crystal gems.



     I had practice this technique on scrap paper first. I noticed that it was hard to remove the die without smudging the glue. (Erin laid her die so a portion was sticking out; so she didn't have to deal with that.)  I tried using a magnet to lift the up the die, and it worked.  The glitter I used was actually lime sherbet.  In real life, the glitter does have a hint of green, but it doesn't show up in the photo.


     I decided to use more of the pattern paper in my card. I ran it through my cuttlebug using the Cane Print IP to give it some texture.



     The green in the pattern paper was an exact match to New Leaf.  I die cut some New Leaf  cardstock with a die from TANL and used fresh snow around the edges to soften the green.

     I added some ribbon, a sentiment from Simple Sunflower, a little red edging around the sides, and more dimensionals to create this card.

     Although I am glad I tried this technique, I don't think I will be using it as much as some others I have learned.  MIMs are awesome. They encourage me to try something new as well as use my supplies.  I hope they continue into 2012.

Supplies: CS: PurePoppy, Sweet Blush

Stamps: Simple Sunflower

Cane Print IP

Dies: Sending You, Signature Series: Butterfly, Turning a New Leaf

Misc: Denami Lime Sherbet glitter, Zig Glue Pen, dimensionals, crystals, PP (from my stash)

Tranquility Trilogy

 I made this card last month when I received my July PTI order. Every time I tried to take pictures of it, the glare from the glitter ruined the photo.  I decided to change the location and finally got a half way decent picture.  The colors are muted in this photo as I used a medium gray bazzill cs and sweet blush stamped with Memento London Fog.

The colors in this close up shot are more reflective of the colors in the card.



I love the simplicity of the designs in this stamp set.  I need to give it more love as I haven't used it since.

Supplies:  CS: Bazzill medium gray, Sweet Blush

Stamps: Tranquility Trilogy

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Die: Edgers #1

Misc: score tape 1/4 inch, hero Arts Prismo Glitter

MIM: Copic Colored Ribbon

I've always admired the beautiful ribbons Nicole Heady has created using her copic markers. This week's MIM challege on her website, Capture the Moment, involved using copics on ribbon.
Not wanting to waste any of my precious PTI ribbon and knowing how lousy I am at drawing a straight line with a ruler, I used some satin ribbon in my stash. 



Let's just say I am no Nicole Heady when it comes to drawing lines on ribbon.  I used the ribbon on a Christmas tag. It looked half way decent.  However, when I took pictures, the details were washed out, so I didn't post a picture of the tag.


I figured wider ribbon would have been better.  Realizing that one did not use a lot of ribbon, I took the plunge and tried this technique on my precious PTI ribbon.  Earlier in the week my son learned that he was selected for a new position he recently applied for as a clerk to a Federal Magistrate Judge. So I made him this card.

 

I'm still no Nicole when it comes to this technique.  I need to practice more as I haven't mastered the right amountof pressure to put on the point when one begins.  The ends of my ribbon were saturated with color and bled.  They are tucked nicely under the first layer.


Supplies: CS: Vintage Creeam, Harvest Gold
Ink:  Momento Dandelion, Agean Sea
Stamps: fillable Frame #1, Star Print, Impression Obsession Cover-a-card Thick N Thin
Other: vintage Cream grograin ribbon, Copic B45, star punch, computer font, dimensionals

MIM #26 Decreasing Aperatures

This is my second card for MIM.  When I first saw the video, the die from "Sending You" immediately came to  mind. I knew I wanted to use flowers with it too.

I really only used two layers this time instead of three,but now that it is completed, I realized I could have used the Flower Fusion #4 as the third layer. I do like how the card turned out. Looks like I need to trim the edge of that ribbon. (Definitely need a pair of scissors just to cut ribbon.) Here is a close up of the two aperatures.

I love the color combination of Pure Poppy with Sweet Blush & Berry Sorbet.  This card is going to a very sweet PTI forum member.
Thanks for looking.

Supplies:
CS: Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy
INK: Berry Sorbet, Memories Black, Marvy Lt. Green
Stamps: Botanical Shilouettes, Flower Fusion # 6
Dies: Sending You, Flower Fusion # 4 & 6
 Misc: Berry Sorbet Grograin ribbon, pearls

MIM: #26: Decreasing Apertures

Now that I am back in the swing of things, I created a card for this week's MIM #26: Decreasing Apertures.
I began by looking through all of my dies and paired up three that would go together: Tag # 1, the sunflower burst & circle from Limitless Labels.

      I picked Tag # 1 for two reasons.  I haven't used it even though I ordered it when it was first released, and I wanted to get a head start on my Christmas cards even though I am waiting (im)patiently for PTI's release of 2011 Christmas stamps.  (I wish they would do a release in July; you know the theme: Christmas in July.)


At first I picked three colors of cardstock: kraft, white and aqua mist.  But when I created a prototype using Tag # 1, I realized that I needed pattern paper under it. 


So I went through my Chrismas papers and found this:

I changed my colors to white & Spring Rain.  Here is my final product. 

The snowflake is stamped with Momento Summer Sky. You can barely see it, but I also inked around the circle to break up the white on white. I didn't stamp a sentiment on the outside.  I am hoping that there will be something in the 2011 Christmas release that I will be able to use.

After I made the card, I made a 2nd one using Enchanted Evening as the background cardstock.  The snowflake is stamped in Fresh Snow. I added pearls this time.  Even though I like the first card, I think the 2nd card is much prettier. Perhaps it is the sharp contrast. What do you think?

A close up view of the snowflake.       

Supplies:
Cardstock: White, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening
Stamps: Rustic Snowflake
Dies: Tag #1, Limitless Labels
Misc: Spring Rain satin ribbon, Hero Arts Gemstones, K& C Speciality Paper, pearls.

Love Frog

It's been three weeks since I last posted.  It seems like forever!  I was busy making cards for the #24 MIM challenge, and some goodies for my sister's birthday.  Accomplished what I wanted to do, but never took pictures.  What a bummer. Last week my sister, JoAnn,  & I flew to Arizonia  to surprise my other sister for her birthday.  (The birthday is actually tomorrow.  Happy Birthday, Vicky!)  Was she ever surprised!!!!  I wish I had taken a picture as she opened the door. We had a nice girls' weekend visiting Prescott, Jerome and Sedona.  I also had the opportunity to spend some time with my three neices who also live in Arizonia.  I got to meet Baby Liam (2 months old) and Thea (3 years old).  When I arrived home from Arizonia, my sister spent 2 days with me before heading home to Jersey.

Today I am back in my routine: spending time at the gym and in my craft room.  There's a story behind the card I created today. Back in April, I took one of my students to the Newport Aquarium in KY as she had expressed an interest in becoming a marine biologist. I had arranged for her to meet with the biologist.  She took her behind the scenes to get up close & personal with the penguins.  Meanwhile, I went exploring in the gift shop.  While browsing, a kid's purple tee shirt caught my eye.  (Purple is my granddaughter's favorite color)  It had a cute little frog on it with the vertical word:  Love.  Much to my disappointment, they did not have the tee shirt in my granddaughter's size.

I had just ordered Boy Basic: Frog Hop and thought I would use the tee shirt as an inspiration for a card.
Here's the card.  (I wish I had a picture of the tee shirt.  It was stinkin cute!)

I used dimensionals to raise the word Love.  I drew the two lines on the half & half banner.

To make the letters, I used a stamp from Boxes, Bags & Tags. I cut out the letters in the word love using the font from my Sizzlits.

After that I sponged a negative image for each letter.

Here is a close-up of the frog.  I used dimensionals to prop him up too!  Since I am new to coloring with Copics, I haven't nailed down the blending technique yet.

 I will probably give this card to my grandaughter on her first day of pre-school.
Thanks for bearing with me today as my post is lengthy.  Did I mention that  it's great to be back?


Supplies:
CS: white, purple, green (all from my stash)
Stamps:  Boy Basic: Frog Hop, Boxes, Bags & Tags, Half & Half
Dies: Boy Basic: Frog Hop, Half & Half
Misc: dimensionals, Copics