Birthday Shaker for My Niece

My recent posts all seems to have the same theme...so little time and no time to do it!  I have a niece and two sister-in-laws whose birthdays are on October 8 and October 9!  With "no time to do it" in mind, I went to my card stash to see what I might use.  

I love to go to cardmaking events sponsored by other card-makers and just make cards from the designs they present; meanwhile, I can socialize with other cardmaking friends who also attend!  There are many times that I learn new techniques or get to use a technique that I know about, but am not all that familiar with, either because I have not used it at all or not enough to feel really comfortable with it.  Many times, I may find myself starting the card but bringing parts home to finish, because some creative idea popped in my head that I MUST incorporate into finish the card.  Sometimes, it is just a matter of adding more color layers to bring out the features of the card and making the card bigger in the process.  BUT, sometimes, I just love the design exactly the way it is, and then I just created it as is.  On all of these cards, I always finish the inside later with my own design and verse to compliment the card front.  These are the cards that reside in my stash waiting to be used when I need a card in a quick pinch.

With all that said, my first card is for my niece Shauna whose special day is another October 8th birthday, and for her, I chose a card that I started at an event hosted by the dynamic stamping duo: Dara Peterson and Luci Kirschbaum.  I believe this design was originated by Dara.  I love, love this birthday shaker card, and I completed it according to Dara's original design without modifications, except I added another color layer in the form of a new black cardbase.  The colors are all so rich and the little punched balloon, cupcake, and candle shakers are such a clever idea.  Thanks Dara for such a cute card design. . .it is perfect for my niece.  Take a look below at the finished card inside and out. . .I'm pretty sure Shauna will be delighted. 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Basic Black, Mint Macaron, Melon Mambo.  Pattern--It's My Party dsp Stack (2016 Occasions).  Stamps--Party Wishes (2016 Occ.).  Ink: Archival Basic Black.  Window Sheets (clear acrylic).  Rhinestones.  Baker's Twine/ Pool Party (retired).  Papertrey Ink stamps: Big Birthday Wishes (verse inside).  EK punch: Scalloped Corners-Medium.  Size:  4-1/2" x 5-5/8".  (Note:  On front-patterned panel popped up),

Sister-in-Law Birthdays in July - Number 1!

A little sunshine card for Dianne, a lovely lady with a sunshiny sense of humor and a quick wit.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Daffodil Yellow, Bermuda Bay, Shimmery White.  Bright Collections DSP Stack-Yellow word pattern.  Stamps--Sunburst Sayings.  Ink--Early Espresso.  Embossing Folder--Arrows (retired).  Punches--1-1/4" + 1-3/8" Circles; Bitty Butterfly.  Pearls.  Other:  Papertrey Ink stamps: Big Birthday Wishes.  Martha Stewart punch: 3-1 Classic Butterflies (inside).  EK punch: Scallop Corners (modified).

The Card's Story & Other Tidbits

As I mentioned in a June post, I have six sister-in-laws from my husband's side of the family, and of those six, two have birthdays in July.  The first July sister-in-law is Dianne.  She is one my husband's brother's wives, whom I met when we were still teenagers and all just dating!  WOW. . .that is along time ago. . .  I'd have to do the math to figure out just how many years ago that actually was!

As mentioned above, Dianne has a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit, so you would think her card would be humorous for sure, but not this year.  I attended a card class while visiting in Redding, CA, and our hostess was Darla Watson, a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  She presented a lovely card design for us to re-create, which reminds me of sunshine.  Right then and there, I decided this card will be perfect for Dianne as she can be like a ray of sunshine when her humor gets injected into our visits.  

I loved Darla's card design, and I cased her card exactly, using the new Sunburst Stampin' Up die.  The cards colors are cheerful Daffodail Yellow set off with bright and Shimmery White and a bit of contrast with the turquoise shade, Bermuda Bay.  The patterned paper is from the Brights Collection DSP Stack using the word print and also in Daffodil Yellow.  I think the sentiment circle replicates the sun shining brightly with a little butterfly spotlight for a bit of femininity.  I do think this card is perfect for Dianne and hope she likes it as well.  

While on my Mt. Shasta Girls' Get-Away, my goal was to complete as many partially finished cards and those without my finishing inside design and verses so I could claim them really finished!  Dianne's card was one I really wanted totally complete and ready to mail as her birthday would be soon after arriving home.  I  decided on the perfect verse that fit just this birthday occasion for Dianne and created an interior decoration to coordinate with the pretty card front.  For that bit of humor needed, I think she will get a chuckle out of the birthday verse.

A Sister-in-Law Birthday in June!

I have six sister-in-laws from my husband's side of the family and the first of those has a birthday in June.  With my cardmaking get-away, I am READY!  This birthday card is even going to be a week early when she receives it!  Oh my, that surely must be a first for me!.

I made this sweet little wildflower birthday card using one of Stampin' Up's Sale-A-Bration stamp sets and my favorite embossing folder, Elegant Dots, as a background.  This embossing folder turns your cardstock into such a lovely and delicate pattern, and it was perfect for the little wildflowers!  This card's original designer, Liz Thayer, presented the design at a cardmaking event in April, and I took it home partly finished. because I wanted to color my flowers with my Copic markers.  

I tweaked my card just a bit by adding three wildflowers rather than just two, as I prefer the look of an odd number of elements rather than an even number.  I think I read somewhere that this has to do with your brain and its perception of things it sees.  It automatically pairs things seen, and if there is an even number, it subconsciously reaches that conclusion quickly and becomes less alert; where as, an odd number keeps your brain alert and attuned to what it is looking at.  In other words, it does not get bored!  Whatever the reasons, that one sounds good to me!   See my finished sister-in-law birthday card below!

My finishing touch was to create an inside design that complimented the front design and choose a suitable little birthday verse.  As I am traveling, I used my Mom's Papertrey Ink birthday stamps to find this verse rather than composing one of my own and completing with my computer and printer.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding, Melon Mambo.  Patterned--Birthday Bouquet dsp (2016 Occ).  Stamps--Flowering Fields; Boys Will Be Boys (sentiment); Party Wishes (to make inside corner pattern).  Embossing Folder: Elegant Dots.  Bow Paper Clips.  Glitter: Dazzling Diamonds (flowers).  Other: EK punch: Scalloped Corners-medium.  Papertrey Ink stamp:  Inside & Out: Birthday.  Copic Markers.