Birthday Niece #2 is a BIG Two!

This is my second great niece with a late September birthday, and she will be a GREAT big two-years old.  I had the chance to spend a little time this spring getting acquainted with Addie, and she is a delight!  She has such a funny little personality, and she is just as cute as she can be with her big blue eyes and her gigantic smile.  

I just love making children's cards because they are so much fun, and it gives me a feeling of  joyfulness during the entire process.  It allows the years to slip away and brings back fun childhood memories.  While in this nostalgic mood, I reminisced about how my brother and I used to look forward to Saturday morning cartoons, where one of our favorites was Mickey and Minnie Mouse and their adventures.  

Thinking about Addie with her adventuresome personality, I thought it would be fun to make her a really cute, little, girly Minnie Mouse card, but I needed a little help getting my children's cardmaking  mojo going after being on a sympathy card binge of late.  I went on line to check out Minnie cards on Pinterest, but found there weren't a whole bunch to choose from.  A few used embossing folder texturing and I like that idea, as it reminded me of my "happy birthday" embossing folder that I had used earlier this year on my young boy "Minion" card.  With mojo arriving, I decided on a pink Minnie rather than the traditional red, adding to my desired girly look.  Take a look below at my finished Minnie card inside and out!  I think it will bring smiles and giggles of delight when viewed by its recipient.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Melon Mambo.  Dies: MemoryBox Stitched Scalloped Circles; Spellbinders Classic Circles; Cottage Cutz Expressions-Birthday, Girl. EK Punches:  Circles-2-1/2," 1-3/4," 1," Victorian Corner (modified).  Cuttlebug Happy Birthday Embossing Folder.  Ribbon:  Stampin' Up 1/2" Scallop Dots-Melon Mambo (retired); 1/8" Taffeta-Melon Mambo; Offray 3/8" Black & White Dot.  Uni-ball White Gel Pen.  Stash: Button, Rose Embroidery Floss.  Size:  5-3/8" x 6".

Birthday Niece #1 Turns A BIG Four!

I have two great nieces who have birthdays in late September.  For niece #1, I decided to use a little punch art to make a cute little girly dress on her card for her special day.  Over the last several years, I have seen several little girl dresses on card on Pinterest, some  done with punch art and some with dies.  Needing to get my creative juices flowing, I decided to re-visit "little girl punch art dresses" on Pinterest to see what I could find.  I found one that looked like a little tutu made from pink vellum for the skirt, using Stampin' Up's Blossom Builder Punch, which is now retired, but, I am happy to say is part of my tool stash.  

Looking at this Pinterest card brought to mind several little girls I had seen shopping with their Moms wearing tutu-style dresses, as it seems to currently be a part of a lot little girls' wardrobes.  These dresses seem to come in all types of styles and fabrics from really frilly and fancy silky fabrics with ruffled tulle layers to a little more casual style with a knit top and gathered ruffles layered about three layers deep.  

Well, my juices were flowing. . .I would use my seldom used Blossom Builder punch to make my skirt and my Spellbinders Decorative Dress dies for the bodice.  I would not use tulle or vellum, but rather complimentary paper patterns.   My little tutu dress card is VERY girly and VERY pink, and I think my two-year old great niece will love her new little dress card.  Take a look below at the finished card, both inside and out.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Shimmery White.  Darice Core'dinations cardstock pack: Soft Side.  BoBunny Tutu Double Dot.  Recollection Glitter Iridescent White cardstock.  Recollections Itsy Bitsy Ditsy: Cherry Pie (floral).  Stampin' Up sentiment stamp:  Teeny Tiny Wishes.  Stampin' Up Ink: Melon Mambo.  Stampin' Up Labels Framelits.  Stampin' Up Punches: Blossom Builder, Curvy Corners; Word Window (all retired).  Ribbon: Stampin' Up-Melon Mambo 1/8" Taffeta; Offray 3/4" pink check.  Size: 6-1/8" x 5-1/4".

Little Reese Turns One!

One of my little nephew's is turning one-year old this month.  Reese has an older nine-year old brother, for whom I have always made birthday cards, so Reese gets to become one of my permanent birthday card recipients as well.  See the finished card I chose for him below:

Ingredients:  Cardstocks: Bazzill--Tapioca (yellow), Aruba (aqua).  Stampin' Up--Very Vanilla.  Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye--Be Loved/ Fond Flowers.  Magnolia stamp: Edwin the Bug Catcher.  Spellbinders: Labels Eight.  Punches: Zutter Corner Rounder; EK Scallop-LG Corner (modifed to rounded corners).  Progresso Koh-I-Noor Woodless Colored pencils with mineral spirits.  Recollections: Gold rhinestones.  Ribbon: 5/8" Offray Chocolate Double Satin.  Distressing: Colorbox Chestnut Roan.  Computer-made sentiment.  Size: 5" x 7".

Story + Tidbits

Reese's card is one that I actually made during a 2010 card tutorial class on woodless pencil coloring and cardmaking skills!  The class and card designs were created by my sister, Heidi Gonzales, who owned a scrapbook store at the time.  Take a look at the wonder coloring textures that she taught us in coloring his shirt.  

Yikes, I just realized this card is way older than its recipient by over five years!  Now, don't think I have never given this card away because I hate the card, but rather, the reason is that I loved this Magnolia stamped little Edwin the Bug Catcher so much that I hated to part with him.  He also represents the last card I have of my first attempts to color using the woodless colored pencils and Gamsol for blending and setting the colors, a coloring technique I used before I jumped to Copic marker coloring.

Another reason I still had it in my possession was because I really considered it a "little boy card," and I waited so long to give it up that eventually all my nephew's grew too old for it.  With the birth of Reese last year, I decided this was the time to part with it, and to Reese it would belong even though he still a bit young for bug catching.  But, you will note that the verse ties in bug catching that will surely be in his future.

When making my card, I tweaked the design just a bit by making it larger, from a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" size to 5" x 7" size.  In addition, I used a different and larger die set behind Edwin and added a few more rhinestones to the front ribbon.  The inside is completely my own creation from paper to verse. 

A Minion Birthday is LATE!

My nephew had a birthday in the early part of April, and I blew it all to smithereens!   In other words, I did not get his card made and sent on time.  It was not just a little late but a LOT LATE!  I was totally distracted getting ready for my trip to California to visit my Mom right around the time of his birthday.  I had not been down in two years, and it seemed I was just totally out of sync trying to complete my personal packing, my cardmaking packing (now that's a chore), plus finishing up personal business before leaving, i.e, Mr. Tax Man!  I'm sure it doesn't make my nine-year old nephew feel any better, but I missed making his mother's birthday card as well, as her birthday falls six days after his.  Note:  I finished her card a few days ago and both were hand-delivered together today!  Whew! Now I'm all caught up with by late cards.

To make Parker's birthday card, I tossed around several ideas before leaving home,  and I even had a plan to color a cowboy crab at the beach. . .even down to getting the digi printed, with papers for paper-piecing and dies chosen, but I left home without them, so I had to start planning from the beginning all over again.  I was peeking at Pinterest a few days ago and saw another Minion card.  I've seen quite a few on Pinterest some with the whole card a Minion head, some with one Minion and a birthday sentiment, and several with balloons featured in some manner.  Balloons are my favorite birthday thing. . .I love to give them; I love to receive them; and, I also love to put them on cards for birthdays that I make.  My mind was made up. . .Parker's card would feature a Minion and balloons!

I was in luck. . .I had put in an order while here purchased the Stampin' Up Brights designer paper stack.  The Minion colors seem to be Pacific Point Blue and Daffodil Yellow, both from the Brights Color Collections.  I wanted to feature a layered frame look, so my new paper stack would work just great.  The first two layers of the Pacific Point blue cardbase and the patterned Daffodil Delight diagonal stripe are adhere together.  Then, smaller layers of the blue plus white embossed with Cuttlebug's Birthday embossing folder are adhered together and popped up off the cardbase layers.  I was thankful I brought along all my embossing folders from home, because I dearly love Cuttlebug's Birthday folder. 

My Mom just purchased the SU's Balloon Celebration stamps and punch, so I decided those would work in my card as well.  I searched for stamps sets in Mom's stamp stash to use on my balloons to indicate they were birthday balloons and found several to my liking.  I was also able to use stamps from Mom's stash for the inside "verse" as well.  SU's Owl punch is used to make the Minion.  Once I decided on my design and gathered all my tools, inks, and stamps, my card went together really fast.  Take a peek below. . .isn't it just too cute!

I finished my interior design in record tme as well.  I love the large birthday sentiment from Stampin' Up's Age Awareness.  I added a little BELATED from one of her Papertrey Ink stamp sets, a punched balloon out of patterned paper and a few starts from SU's Balloon Celebration stamp set.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Pacific Point Blue, Daffodil Delight.  Pattern--Color Collections DSP Stack--Brights-Daffodil Delight.  Stamps--Balloon Celebration, Pretty Petites (retired), Age Awareness (inside).  Ink--Pacific Point Blue, Daffodil Delight.  Punches--Balloon Bouquet, Owl Builder (Minion), Itty Bitty Pack-Circle.  Other:  Cuddlebug Embossing Folder--Birthday.  Papertrey Ink stamps--Inside & Out-Birthday (BELATED).  Size:  4-3/4" x 6".  (Thank you to Patty Bennett for her tutorial on how to build a Minion using the Stampin' Up Owl punch.)

The Force is With Him on His Birthday!

Happy Days!  This card was chosen as a

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF

 WEEK ENDING - MARCH 13, 2016

My oldest (son) has a March birthday, so it was time to put on my thinking cap to come up with the perfect card for this year's celebration.  As you know if you've read my blog a bit, I like to make cards that suit each person's personality, hobbies, favorite things to do, etc.  Over the last seven years, I have made him a Space Invaders card, a computer geek card, a movie mania  card, a Game On t-shirt card, a game controller card, and last year depicting one of his favorite foods. . . a pizza card.  What to do this year????

While browsing in Pinterest and on different blogs, I found a challenge blog where one of the cards had a Star Wars theme, using a Star War's character digital image from the challenge sponsor: Sassy Studio Designs.  Stars Wars...OMGosh, one of David's all-time favorite movies!  Like a magnet I was drawn to go to the Sassy Studio Design website, and lo and behold, their new monthly issue of digital images was based all around the Star Wars characters, from R2D2, to Chewy, to Yoda, to Princess Leia, and more. . .just waiting for me to bring them home . . .and home, I did bring!

My choice for my son's card was Yoda, so the search was on to learn Yoda's authentic color shades, which seemed to vary quite alot from gray green to green with tans, etc.  Even with these variations, finding Copic markers along the right hues was a bit of a challenge, because though I have over 300 marker colors, none were exactly along the right greenish to tan color lines that are depicted as Yoda's colors.  I had to select a variety of different shades and combine them to try to come out with the right greenish-tan for his face and hands.  For his robe, I decided it would be a bit more colorful than his regular robe for two reasons:  primarily, I didn't want my card to be totally drab, and I decided he would be dressed up in his best robe for a special occasion. . .David's birthday!  (Whatever works. . .right!)

After I got him all colored, then I went in search of the right cardstock colors and patterns to use for my card.  When I saw the black with gold star patterned paper, I knew I was on the right track.  I wanted some glittery stars, but decided to keep them subdue by using the Stampin' Up retired Brushed Gold for the stars, my planet, and the middle layer between the card front pattern and the cardbase.  Take a look at the crinkled planet surface.  I was able to achieve these crinkles by running my die-cut planet through on my Big Shot on the old crackled sandwich plate and adding a cardboard shim to make a really tight fit with lots of pressure as I rolled it through.  I put it through twice for good measure, and I thought it turned out pretty cool.

After putting my card pieces all together, and adding a touch of Wink of Stella-Clear to my planet, stars, and light-saber to give them a little more sparkle, I decided my card turned out better than I thought it might, and I know David will be thrilled with his Yoda card.  Take a peek below!

My finishing task was to design a creative interior with a birthday verse that coordinates with my card theme.  Take a peek at the finished interior design.

Recipe:  Papers:  Stampin' Up cardstock--Basic Black, Delightful Dijon, Pear Pizzazz (sponged), Very Vanilla (sponged), Brushed Gold (retired); DCWV pattern: Gold Stag Star.  Sassy Studio Designs digital image: Yoda Honey.  Dies:  Spellbinders--Small & Large Classic Circles; MFT--Sun, Moon & Stars, Stitched Snow Drifts; IO--Instant Photo Frame.  Punches:  Stampin' Up--Washi Tape, 1/2" Circle, Itty Bitty Accents/ Star, Itty Bitty Circle, 1/8" Circle.  Wink of Stella-Clear.  ColorBox: Chestnut Roan Ink (distressing/ sponging).  Copic Markers: Face--YG11, E81, Y11, E84; Eyes--YG11; Neck Cravet--E21, E95, E97; Robe Stripes--G99; Robe--E30, E53, E35; Saber--YG11, Y17, T7.  Size: 5-1/2" x 5-3/4".  (SplitcoastStampers Thread: March 13, 2016/ #11).

Taylor Gets a #7 Birthday Balloon!

My great-niece turned seven this month just before my daughter's wedding. . .so she was among those who did not receive a timely birthday card from me.  Aunt Carlene's cardmaking hobby got shut down big time!  Now the wedding is over, so I am trying to play catch up.  Taylor has a little sister whose birthday is at the end of the month, and I didn't dare get sister Paisley's card done on time without at least finishing a belated one for Taylor too.  I have actually finished Paisley's card and have already scheduled my post, so I really must get busy with Taylor's!

I bought a stamp set called Build A Birthday last June when the new Stampin' Up annual catalog was first published, and I have never had a chance to use it. . .I decided now was the time as I have an idea running around in my head that involves a birthday cake, candles, and the number seven.  Unfortunately, there is no die set with this stamp, so I had to fussy-cut all the pieces of the cake, candles, and flames in order to assemble them as a unit and then pop this unit onto the front of the card.  

I decided that I would make what I am calling an off-center double folded flap card, because I have no idea if it has an official name, as I had already decided I would pop my birthday cake onto this flap.  I also bought an Avery Elle stamp and die combination set called Numbered Balloons, and I used these stamps and dies to marked Taylor's seventh birthday with a die-cut number balloon.

I love the Stampin' Up Cherry On Top paper stack, also found in the June 2015 Annual catalog, which is full of brightly colored papers just right for a birthday card.  I used the multi-colored balloons and polka dot papers, which feature some of the new Stampin' Up In-Colors for 2015 through 2017 of Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush.  I think Taylor's card is just right for a seven-year-old, and I hope she thinks so too!

According to my usual posting fashion, below is a peek at my inside coordinating design creation, plus my little composed verse suited to a seven-year-old, which I accomplished with the use of my computer.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks/ Paper--Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White; Cherry On Top DSP Stack.  Stamp--Build A Birthday.  Inks:  Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush, Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana, Tip-Top Taupe.  Punch--1/2" Circle.  Other products:  Cuttlebug-Birthday Embossing Folder.  Avery Elle Stamp/ Die Combination:  Numbered Balloons.  Doodlebug Baker's Twine--Green/ White.  (Size: 5" x 5-1/2")

Belated Big Birthday Wishes for My Little Niece!

Still playing catch-up with my cardmaking, and with this heat we are experiencing in the Northwest, it feels like I'll never get there!  We don't have air conditioning in the northwest corner of our United States because it's not supposed to be in the 90's for weeks on end, and with it not cooling off much at night, it's difficult to get the house cooled down overnight for the next round!

Enough grousing and procrastinating!  I finally got my little niece's birthday card finished. . .her birthday was June 17th!!  ABOUT TIME, I say!!!  Now, don't get me wrong, I have been thinking about it since I got home in mid-June from my little venture to Seaside, Oregon to help my daughter with beach house bedroom redecorating/painting work, but we came home into high 80's heat, and it continues on, so putting thoughts into actions has been difficult.  

I had decided on a little ballerina card for niece Audrey, and of course, knowing me, I had to research just what digital images I had or could find online before making a final decision.  I found lots to choose from, but when I found a free Precious Moments ballerina color book image, I just had to use it.  Then, I couldn't start to color her until I came up with my card ideas because I had to size the image to fit the size of the card I would decide to make.  That done, digital image sized and printed, but my little ballerina still couldn't be colored until I searched for and found just the right patterned papers to combine with her.  

Finally, I had the papers and even decided to make my own piece for one of the layers by using one of my My Favorite Things big background stamps in a diagonal check.  I found Memento's Sweet Plum was the perfect shade to stamp it with.  I tried Stampin' Up Perfect Plum, but it was too dark, but I did decide it was perfect for my card base.  I finished coloring my ballerina and was really excited to begin to decide on the exact layout and put the paper layers together.  I'm pretty pleased with my final outcome. . .such a sweet little card and SO MUCH FUN to make.

I chose papers for the inside design from those used on the outside, and then made up a little verse for the inside, using my favorite BIG BIRTHDAY WISHES digital image grouping it into my words for my verse.  I then colored my wishes words with my Copics to match the little ballerina on front.  I was quite pleased with the outcome, and I'm sure Audrey will enjoy her little card from Auntie Carlene. . . better late than never!

Recipe:  Papers - Stampin' Up Perfect Plum (card base/ layers); Basic Grey: Koshi/ Lily Child (front & back); Authentique: Renew/ Rejuvenate (back).  Precious Moments Ballerina color book digital image.  AGW Stamps: Big Birthday Wishes.  Copic Markers.  MFT stamp: BG Fine Check Background (diagnonal check).  Ink: Memento: Sweet Plum.  Dies: Spellbinders - Big Scalloped Ovals SM; Classic Ovals SM.  Fishtail: handcut.  Stash:  Lilac lace, 1/2" Plaid Taffeta ribbon, Iridescent enamel dots.  Colorbox Chestnut Roan distressing.  Computer sentiment: Baroque Antique Script/ 14.  Inside verse: Andalus/ 13.  Size:  5-1/2" x 5-7/8".

A Birthday Boy Card!

One of my nephew's has a birthday in April.  I can't believe he is already going to be eight!  For some reason making little boy cards throws my creative juices into a panic.  Probably, because I find making masculine cards much more difficult whether they be for men or boys!  It's also probably because I have had far less experience with this cardmaking genre than with feminine cards!  I need to force myself to make several masculine cards in a row, so I can feel what the masculine cardmaking groove feels like!  Maybe, I can learn to enjoy it right from the get go, and not start with that, "Oh no. . .a masculine card, what will I do!"

I saw recently saw a card by Diana Eichfeld using Stampin' Up's Boys Will Be Boys stamp set and the sponging/ burnishing effect using the Sale-A-Bration Irresistibly Yours designer paper in a rainbow array of colors.  I loved the look of it so much that I decided to CASE her card.  Thank you Diana for your ideas using this stamp set.

I did change my card some by adding a zigzag punch border around my card front before adhering it to the double mat layers of white and red cardstocks.  I also double matted my image using the Spellbinder's Pinked Circles, which look very much like Stampin' Up Starburst framelits, but there are many more sizes to choose from with the Spellbinders dies.  Color choices on my little robot are my own, and my sentiment is double matted and uses the Apothecary framelits as well, but I did modified my die cuts considerably to achieve the double mat effect.  I also used gears from the Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets instead of modifying the Starburst framelits.  I think my little nephew will be excited about his little robot card.

Below is the inside created to coordinate with the outside design, and my little robot's birthday message explaining his late arrival.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up: cardstocks--Real Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Daffodil Yellow, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Brushed Silver; dsp--SAB/ Irresistibly Yours; stamp--Boys Will Be Boys; inks--Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Yellow, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive; framelits--Apothecary Arts (modified); 3/4" circle; 1-1/4" circle.  Spellbinder dies: Circles SM, Pinking Circles, Sprightly Sprockets,  Punch: EK Zig Zag border.  Copic markers.

Another Wee Niece Has a January Birthday!

As mentioned earlier in the month, I have two birthday nieces in January, and they are both in the same family!  My second little niece is going to be two this year!  I made her new sister a baby card earlier this month as well, though she was born in September.  (I was a tad late welcoming her to the world.)  This new little sister got a cute little giraffe card, and while searching for just the right giraffe for that card, I came across this pack of zoo animals going to a party.  I thought it would be just right for Paisley's second birthday!

My method for coloring my digital images is to find the paper first that I think will go with my digital image, and then, the coloring seems to fall in place.  So, I settled on this cute glittery polka dot paper in pastels, and chose to bring out the pinks in the paper since the card is for a wee girl.  

I just bought the Stitched Curved Rectangle STAX from My Favorite Things, and knew the largest would work out perfectly for cutting out my little animals.  I was super happy to see that my large corner punch fit the curves on the rectangles perfectly to use on an underlay mat.  I also recently bought some Cottage Cutz word dies that I had been dying to get my hands on, so, I was equally anxious to try out the happy birthday words on Paisley's card.  I hope Paisley finds her card as much fun to look at, as I had fun making it.

And the inside:

Recipe:  Paper - SU: Whisper White cs, Strawberry Slush cs.  Darice: Pastels Patterned cs, DCWV: Dots, Stripes, and Plaids Stack.  MFT die:  Stitched Rounded Rectangle STAX.  Martha Stewart Large Corner Rounder.  Stampin' Up Punch: Scallop Edge Border.  Cottage Cutz Word dies: Happy, Birthday.  Digital image: unknown.  Copic marker coloring.  Queen & Co. Pink Twinkle Goosebumps.  Stash: 7/8" Pink Satin Sheer ribbon.

Belated Wishes Little Niece #1's January Birthday!

Two of my nieces, who are sisters, have birthdays in January.  The oldest is first, and she celebrated her sixth birthday.  I had in mind to make a birthday card with balloons on it.  I don't have any dies to cut out balloons, so I decided to use my Spellbinder Ovals to imitate a balloon and found a good idea on Pinterest of using the owl's feet from the Stampin' Up Owl Builder Punch for the balloons "blow-up valve."  What a great idea. . .it worked perfectly!

I have seen numerous cards that have tied balloons to a bicycle die cut.  I thought it would be a great idea to tie my birthday balloons to the handle bars of the old-fashioned, penny-farthing bicycle from Stampin' Up's 2014 SAB Feeling Sentimental stamp set.  For some reason, finding just the right papers for my card became my next challenge.  After much indecision, I finally settled on October Afternoon's Cakewalk birthday papers for the major portion of the card's designer papers.  

I am pretty happy with the way this little card turned out, but just after I finished creating the card front, I realized the card will be late.  Evidentally, I entered the wrong date for Taylor's birthday in my date book.  This forced me to come up with just the right inside birthday verse acknowledging and sending belated birthday wishes.  I hope Taylor likes her finished card inside and out!  (Hmmm...do you suppose that's where the phrase better late than never came from?)

Recipe:  DCWV 12x12 Cardstock Stack (kraft).  DCWV Glitter Red.  October Afternoon: Cakewalk-Paper Straws (diag. stripe)/ Sugar Stix (ray collage).  BoBunny Double Dot: Buttercup Dot.  Carta Bella: It's A Celebration/ Candles (backside).  Pinecone Press: Sweet Plaid.  Stampin' Up Very Vanilla cs.  SU stamps:  Feeling Sentimental (2014 SAB); Happiest Birthday Wishes.  SU Ink:  Mossy Meadow.  Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Scallop Squares ;  Spellbinders Ovals (balloons);  SU Stars Framelits.  SU Owl Builder punch: feet.  Stash:  Gold Metallic Twine; Glitter Brads.  Distressing: Colorbox Chestnut Roan.  EK Corner Punch: Medium Scallops.  Size: 5-3/4" square.

A Superhero for My Great Nephew's 11th!

My grand nephew turns 11 in October.  I purchased a stamp set from Stampin' Up several months ago that was intended to be used on Landon's birthday, Calling All Heros.  It is a cool stamp set with different kinds of hair-dos, masks, and mouths, including a city scape, lightning bolt, word bubbles, letters, etc.  I had such a myriad of choices. . .where to begin?

This was a card that evolved as it got built, even changing out some of the papers I was going to use for others as I went along.  The scene is set in the dark of night and I made my city skyline very 3-D looking by layering it three deep.  I also had to extend my buildings because my card size was larger than this stamp set was built for and I trimmed their height/ shape to suit the skyline.  That turned out to be relatively easy, and I stamped on yellow cardstock to make the windows lit up. 

I decided I would use the full head mask that covers the nose---kind of Batman looking.  I was not happy with the stamped blue on my superhero's head as it was not opaque enough to suit me.  I found the Copic marker B28 was a perfect match to the ink that I used, so I over-colored it to fill it all in.  This also allowed me to add the Batman ears, which the stamp set did not come with (copyright rules, I'm sure).  This stamp set comes with letters, so I made my own sentiment using  the jagged word bubble provided.  My birthday fishtail flag is cut with paper cutter/ scissors.  I made my own batman search light oval and a bat from another die set as the stamp set did not provide these either. . .again, copyright issues I'm guessing.  I'm pretty happy with my little superhero guy, and I hope Landon likes him as well.

My next usual step is to find or build an inside verse that fits the theme of the card and the occasion, and then, to create an interior that compliments the front design.  Here is what I came up with, and I think it meets all the criteria!

Recipe:

Papers:  Stampin' Up -  Black cardbase, Real Red cs, Hello Honey cs; BoBunny - Double Dot:  Denim Vintage Dot, Harvest Dot, Buttercup Dot; DCWV - The Glitter Stack.  SU stamps: Calling All Heros.  Ink: SU Real Red; Memento Danube Blue, Tuxedo Black; StazOn Black.  Dies: Spellbinders - Circles, Pinking Circles.  Sizzix - Bats #3.  Punch: Stampin' Up Large Oval.  Other:  Copics: 100 (Black), B28.  Technique: Fussy-cut.  Size:  6-3/8" x 5-1/4".

My Niece Has Her 7th Birthday!

I've decided to enter into a few challenges this week after making my little niece's birthday card:

Love to Create #118 - Happy Birthday
Crafting From the Heart #21 - Anything Goes
Cards Galore Encore - Digi or stamp
Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper June Challenge
Crafty Creations #264 - It's About "S" - Sweet Seven, Scallop Lace/ Borders
The Shabby Tearoom-Week-221 - Vintage Love

Visit their websites to see all their fabulous design team samples and other entries.

The Card Story:  My little niece is having her 7th birthday in mid-June!  She is a beautiful child with gorgeous eyes and hair and very much a girly girl.  I decided a very pink card would be  just right for her with a lovely lacy pink dress to grace its front. . .very girly girl!

Out came the Stampin' Up Dress Up Framelits for the dress form, but I decided to use the Spellbinders' Decorative Dress Forms dies for the little puffy sleeve dress, using only the bodice and cupcake liners for its skirt.  Note: I did have to trim the dress a bit from under the arms and down to the waist to make it fit perfectly.  To do this, after cutting the puffy sleeve dress with the die, I cut off the skirt about 1/2" below the waist (as it is shorter waisted than the Framelit dress form), I traced the dress form outline onto my cut bodice and cut along the traced lines, and I trimmed out the curve of the bodice neckline just a bit to add paper doily lace to its new lower scoop, as well as to the bottom of the puff sleeves.  The shoulders of the two dress dies match perfectly.  I sponged the bodice top with the Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink (retired) ink pad to blend with the skirt color a bit better.  I gathered one organza rosette cut from ribbon trim, making it into a little flower bud and sponging it with the same ink to add to the dress waist.  I was pleased with my little pink dress for Audrey's birthday card.  I hope she enjoys her card as much as I enjoyed  making it.

Following is a picture of the card and the little verse I made to go inside.  Again, I apologize for the blurriness.  As before, the equipment available to me while traveling is not what I use to when at home.  I do hope you can enjoy the card and can visualize it as if it were shown to perfection.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up papers: Wild Wasabi cs (card base), Crumb Cake cs.  Recollections/ Essentials Distressed.  Tapestry/ Geo Breeze.  K&Co./ Watercolor Bouquet Specialty Pad.  Stampin' Up: Dress Up Framelits (dress form); Eyelet Border punch (retired); Ink: Pretty in Pink; Pearls.  Spellbinder dies: Decorative Dress Forms (puff-sleeve dress)/ Labels 4.  Zutter Corner rounder.  Wilton: 4" White Doilies; Baking Cups.  Michaels: Celebrate It-Luxe: White Rosette ribbon.  Stash ribbon: Pink satin; lace.  Colorbox Cat Eye: Chestnut Roan (distressing).  EK punch: Fancy Photo Corners (inside).

Nephew's Birthday to Celebrate!

One of my little nephew's celebrated his 7th birthday.  I bought the Blast Off! Stampin' Up stamp with him in mind, and I decided I would work on his birthday card at my annual Mom-Sister cardmaking retreat in Mt. Shasta, CA.  My sister, Heidi Gonzales - My Lil' Scrap Corner (blog), came up with a new surprise to occupy us this year. . . five homemade challenges for the three of us to complete while on the retreat.  My idea for Parker's Blast Off! birthday card fit Color Challenge #4 to a tee.  I was stoked.

I used the same chevron Jillibean paper that I used in February on my husband's Groundhog's Day birthday card for this card's paper-pieced rocket ship.  It is a great guy paper and fit the green/blues color palette just right. I added a grass-patterned paper to the card bottom that I sculpted with a cut-grass border die from the Cat's Pajamas to be my rocket ship's liftoff point.  I am pretty pleased with how the card turned out, but I must apologize for the picture shown here.  I do not have my usual tools for getting a jpeg image incorporated on my blog that I do when I'm at home.  The picture is not only a bit blurry but also has too much light on the right side, and it doesn't do justice to the green and blue color combination in the true richness of the paper colors.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up cardstocks: Bermuda Bay (base), Island Indigo (mat layer), Subtles stack: Pool Party (sky), Daffodil Delight (flame).  Jillibean: Macho Nacho Soup - 2 Parts Boy (chevron).  Creating Keepsakes - Grass.  Cat's Pajama's Grass border die.  SU stamp set: Blast Off! SU Ink: Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Pumpkin Pie.  Ribbons:  SU-Gumball Green Satin Stitching; Stash-Gathered Blue Velvet ribbon.  SU-Googlie eyes.

Valentine Girl!

My third Valentine friendship card that I made was also for a cardmaking buddy!  I decided to use another card kit provided by my sister Heidi Gonzales: My Lil' Scrap Corner (blogspot.com).  Fortunately, I had the patterned paper used on this card because I really wanted to make it a 5-1/2" square card from its original A2 size (4-1/4" x 5-1/2").  To do this, I had to make a new cardbase, so I decided to switch it to brown and add a mat layer in Flamingo pink BoBunny Double Dot.  I had to add another piece of the patterned paper below the brown cardstock belly band.  I got out my Copic markers to color the little Magnolia stamp.  I thought my card turned out well, and I really like the change in cardbase color and the added Double Dot.  They seemed to bring out the colors in the background pattern my little colored image popped better.  I hope my friend, Charlene, liked her little Valentine Magnolia card.

Recipe:  Stampin Up Chocolate Chip cs (base), BoBunny: Flamingo Double Dot, My Minds Eye pattern.  Magnolia stamp.  Memento Ink: Tuxedo Black.  Michaels' Celebrate ribbon.  Recollections pearls.  Copic markers.

A Birthday Spin!

My little great niece will be celebrating her 5th birthday today all the way across the country in Georgia.  Her mother and family are transplanted to Georgia from California while her daddy is stationed there on military duty.  Though I miss seeing them all on my visits to California, I am happy they are on U.S. soil, and Daddy has finished most, if not all, of his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I wanted to make a whimsical card for Taylor, so thought of the pinwheel Sizzilit I had stashed in my cardmaking equipment and of a card I had previously made at a Stampin' Up class given by Liz Thayer and thought I'd begin there.  My little birthday spin evolved into the card below, and I hope Taylor likes it!

Recipe:  SU Island Indigo cs, Recollections Cool Water cs pack, SU Sycamore Street dsp (2013 SAB). Spellbinders Big Scallop Ovals SM.  SU Clouds Embossing Folder. SU punches: Modern Label, Word Window. Sizzilits Pinwheel die. Offray double-sided satin ribbon, Mini gold brads, SU Pool Party Baker’s Twine, SU Dazzling Details (glitter glue), Toothpicks. Becca’s Bowmaker.

A Little Niece's Birthday!

I had a yen to make a child's card and Audrey's six-year birthday provided me with an excuse to satisfy that whim.  I pulled out my "To Do Stash" and decided I really wanted to do a little coloring with my Copics as I had not done this in quite some time!  In my stash, I found a card kit with an uncolored Magnolia stamped image provided, which were designed by my sister, Heidi Gonzales, (mylilscrapcorner.blogspot.com), and I thought it would be perfect.  I did change the original card a little as I wanted it to be a bit larger and square, but loving the little ribbon embellishment, I kept it just like it was.  I took the papers provided and re-arranged their layout, added the orange below the argyle and added a kraft matting layer behind.  I also used Copic markers instead of the original woodless-color pencil technique provided in the card instructions.  I was pleased to find my coloring technique return and began to feel more comfortable again as I worked.  I think my little jumping rope Tilda turned out really cute. I hope Audrey likes her.

Get Well Card for Niece./ Cheer Up to Niece!

My three-year-old great niece just had her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday...a bit of surgery!  My family wanted to send her some get well wishes along with a DQ gift card for ice cream...what better way to get well!

Taylor's get well card

(sample card seen in a current card magazine)

And then a little verse inside to help with recovery!

I made a little card to let my niece know we are thinking about her during this bit of a stressful time. . .

Shauna, we have you and your family in our thoughts and prayers...
keep your chin up!
(Card made during Amy Muhly Stampin' Up card club.  I tweaked the "Thinking of You' sentiment from original design.)

My inside card design and sentiment (Stampin' Up products used: Top Note Die, Butterfly embosslits, Itty Bitty punch.)

2012 Birthday for Nephew, Parker!

I bought a cute little turtle riding a bicycle from CC Designs several months ago to use for Parker's birthday.  With his little bike helmet, he reminded me of a Ninja turtle, so I colored him with Copics so that really did enhance the idea in your brain.  I'm always a little uneasy when coloring with Copics because I have not done a lot of it, and I'm always worried that it just isn't going to go well.  But, this little guy went very well, so I was stoked.  Then, the search was on for papers that would work with my coloring job.  I don't usually color first and then find paper.  I find it is usually easier to find the paper you want to use with the type of image and then color the image to coordinate with the paper, or at least that works best for me.  But, in this case, I knew I wanted him to be greens and almost on army camouflage idea for his shell.  I did wait to color his bicycle, basket, and pavement until after I had the papers chosen.  I think Parker will be really please with his little turtle.

Birthday 2011: The Boy is Four!

On my spring visit to California, my little nephew always has his birthday.  It gives me a really good excuse to make a little boy card!  Parker loves to go out with his Dad or Grandpa on the huge lake on far from their home.  All the men in that family are huge fishermen.  Dad and Grandpa even travel to entry fishing competitions. . .and since Parker has already started fishing with his junior pole, I have a feeling that he will soon be entering contests as well.  Most of their fishing is "catch and release," but occasion when they'd like a little trout for dinner and it's not a contest, they keep a few.

I didn't have a fishing-type boat, but I thought Parker would enjoy the little sailboat that I could make with my Sizzilit die.  I remembered the paper with the schools of fish and my "Catch a Wave" border die.  I only had a few hours to make this card, because his birthday party was shortly after I arrived.  For such a short time, when my scrapbooking stuff was barely unpacked, it had to be simple, but I think it turned out just fine!  I hope Parker will enjoy his little card with his movies gift certificate.

Learning to Color...

So, I wanted to learn to color.  In the Fall of 2010, while visiting in Redding, California, my sister (Heidi Gonzales, My Lil' Scrap Corner) gave several classes in coloring with woodless colored pencils (available at Michael's in the art department) using mineral spirits to set the color between shadings and finishing.  Following are several of my favorite first attempts. . .

Edwin - a Magnolia stamp

Ladybug Tilda - a Magnolia stamp

Dragonfly Tilda - a Magnolia stamp

A C.C. Design stamp (or digital image)...isn't she cute!