A Daughter's Birthday!

Happy Days!  This card was chosen as a

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF

WEEK ENDING - JULY 15, 2012

 

Daughter, Michele, celebrates her birthday today!  I had to get my creative juices flowing to make her a special birthday card that said, "Yes, this card was made especially for Michele!"  For the past year, I've been thinking about making a card for her using a vintage seed packet, depicting gardening, because she so likes to work in her yard.  She has been wanting to plant some roses...especially Mr. Lincoln (a blood red with a delicious smell) to commemorate her late Grandfather Bill, his favorite.  But with their move to West Virginia in the near future, that will have to wait three years until their return as roses need careful tending here with all our rain and cool weather!  But meanwhile, her new rhododendron garden is looking beautiful...so fitting here in the northwest where they grow wild!  Here is her card that evolved from perking slowly for almost a year...LOL! 

Happy Birthday, Michele...enjoy!

Ingredients:  Papers: Backround/ Aqua: Mind's Eye (Laundry Line/ Breaking Free); Paisley/ Red dot (behind seed packet): K&Company-Classic K Balley pad; Tools/gloves: K&Company dimensional stickers; Butterfly: Martha Stewart (sponge daubbed); Fence: Die-namics (My Favorite Things).  (SplitcoastStampers Thread: July 15, 12/ #9).

HUGE Congratulations in Order...

This post is bittersweet for sure!  My son-in-law has been promoted to Warrant Officer in the Coast Guard...that is absolute GREAT news!  Now the bittersweet part, they are being transferred from Washington state to West Virginia!!  That is just a bit of a distance...approximately 2,700 miles or 42 hours of driving!  Hmm...right now I drive to Michele's house in 10 minutes...that will be a HUGE change for three years, and who knows after that!

To celebrate and congratulate Don on this GREAT promotion and wonderful milestone in his career, here is my card: 

Ingredients:  Night of Navy/ Cherry Cobbler/ Baja Breeze cardstocks (Minds Eye stripe/ stars unknown).  Embossing Folder:  Square Lattice.  Stamp set:  The Open Seas - gold embossing lightly applied/ heavy to anchor.  Denim/ Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine.  Applied faux patina process to Baja Breeze embossed with Square Lattice, using stamp pads:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy: sponge daubbing followed by Versamark/ heat-set Gold Embossing powder.  Sentiment: computer-generated; Stampin' Up Modern Labels punch.

Father's Day 2012 is almost HERE!

Several weeks ago I returned from a loooong visit to California, and I've been trying to get my car full of scrapping tools and materials back into the house and put away.  Of course, not only did the old stuff come home, but lots of new goodies as well!  It is taking a lot of creativity to get it all stored away, but not the kind of creative juices I really wanted to employ!

 In the back of my mind, I've been fermenting an idea for a card for my husband for Father's Day.  Over the last several months, I've seen several cards using maps, and with that idea in mind, I just had to see what I could come up with.  The other day an overwhelming urge drove me to get started (even though my room's still a mess...LOL).  After much "that's good" and "no, not good" attempts, here it is.

Father's Day card...June 17, 2012

I had blues and browns in mind and some sort of vintage car, depicting traveling and a journey.  Internet surfing brought me this little 1930 Austin in just the right color, and I was on my way.  I only had two papers with maps and neither would work...so again to my computer.  I found several maps and passport stamps and downloaded them; tweaking their colors to get just what I wanted, even sponge daubed Canada...it was too white!  (I really liked the shades of blues on an Antarctica map, but didn't see John traveling there, so had to discard that thought...but, I really like the colors...oh well...another day!) LOL

And here is the finished inside...

Another Graduation Owl...

I soooo love this little owl punch!  I needed to make another graduation card for John's great-nephew, Tim...I just had to do another card using this lovable little guy.  I really got myself involved in this one.  School colors were forest green and silver and it had to be a guy card, too!  I just wasn't finding  paper I liked or in the right shade of green, so I decided to make my own.  Out came the green cardstock--I composed a Word document with definitions of all things graduation to make my star paper, and then I was on a roll.  Didn't have gray thread for the tassel, so out came the Copics...love how you can use them to color embellishment, even ribbon, the right shade!  Here is my new little star owl:

Congratulations, Tim!

And then, I finished the inside:

Graduation Owl Contratulations!

Very late last night, my son contacted me with a brilliant idea (he knows I'm a night owl, LOL).   But, the catch was he needed help with his idea!  Hmm...the question is, should I say yes or no, which is the right answer!  Dumb me, I just don't know how to say no!  Lo and behold...it was a graduation card needed for the daughter of an old friend.  The catch was he needed it by 8:00 a.m. the next morning because that was when they were leaving for Idaho for the graduation.  Guess who was up all night getting this wonderful card done...but, I am really happy with how my little graduation owl turned out:

Your welcome, son!

And, here is the card's decorated inside with verse:

Working on June Birthdays!

I have several birthdays in June, so I am diving into my stash of cards I made during the last month and tweaking them here and there to suit these special birthdays.  One of my signature traits is to always decorate the inside and compose a verse or poem to suit the person who will be receiving the card.  So far, here is what I've come up with. . .

This card will be for John's mother's birthday TODAY!

She IS 97 ...WOW!

This card was taught by Amy Muhly at a Stampin' Up workshop.  

I loved learning this embossed brayer technique...very elegant!

I tweaked my layout a bit and my sentiment ribbon is a birthday, 

but the flavor of Amy's design is retained.  Stampin' Up Beautiful Wings Embosslit (Sizzilit die) die-cuts the butterflies.

And now the inside decorations and a verse for a wonderful lady...

Happy Birthday Alice!

This little girl will be a birthday card for John's aunt...her 91st!
The card's techniques were taught by my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner):  tri-fold card design, coloring with woodless-colored pencils and paper-piecing (skirt).  I enlarged the card from its original design.

And now its verse...Happy Birthday, Aunt Joanie!

I think this is the perfect card for my sister-in-law, 

who lives in warm and sunny California.  I'm sure they must be at least 20 degrees warmer than our northwest Washington location!

(Card class by Heidi Gonzales to introduce Stampin' Up Smooch papers.)

And now a verse for my newest sister-in-law...Happy Birthday Thelma!

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.)