Cycling On To A Belated Birthday. . .

It's past time to honor a long-time friend's early January birthday!  This year, it will be a belated birthday wish, I'm sorry so say!  If you've been reading my blog, you have already read that my daughter was married on January 9th, as she continued to work as a nurse and maintain her 4.0 grade point in her university classes to achieve her Bachelor's in Nursing degree.  Ultiminately, it fell to me, and thus, my entire life was taken over after I became aware that she needed a wedding planner, big time!  I instantly became a one-man wedding oversight committee to make sure things that had slipped through the cracks were fixed and to assure that nothing else followed down the wrong path (or no path)!  Thus, I missed finishing Christmas cards, and getting any of my January cards made that I usually like to do.  

As I mentioned last year in the post for this friend's birthday card, she loves to bicycle, and I would often see a Facebook bicycling adventure entry, along with wonderful pictures she always took while out cycling along scenic bicycle trails.  If you saw last year's post, I will add, "No I have not yet joined her on one of these jaunts. . .maybe after I have my knee replacement surgery.  Oh, wait, that won't be until next fall!  Sorry, Holly, really it's not just an excuse. . .LOL."

Again, I decided her birthday card should reflect this cycling passion, but this time instead of a normal bicycle, I would to venture way back into history, and throw in a vintage penny-farthing bicycle as the feature point of her card.  Did you know that the first penny-farthing or high wheeler was invented by a Frenchman, Eugêne Meyer in 1869?  Around 1870, English inventor James Starley, who is described as the father of the bicycle industry, began to produce bicycles based on the French high wheeler, which became a symbol of the late Victorian era and also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport.  Excuse my getting side-tracked, but I love tidbits of historical information. . .hope you do too!

For my card, I used the retired 2013 Sale-A-Bration stamp, Feeling Sentimental, which boasts a very vintage penny-farthing bicycle stamp.  The lacy background is made by first determining the center size desired or needed.  The Feeling Sentiment penny-farthing stamp needed approximately a 2-3/4" square in order to accommodate the stamp and the background layers I wanted add.  Next, you will need to determine the width needed for whatever border punch you choose.  In this case, I used the Stampin' Up retired Lace Ribbon border punch, which needs 1-1/4" on all sides.  I added the center plus 2 sides:  2-3/4" + 1-1/4" =1-1/4" = 5-1/4"; therefore, I cut my square patterned paper to a 5-1/4" square.  I centered my border punch on each side and punch once, and thus the pattern was developed!

I stamped my penny-farthing stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.  Next, I determined the exact sizes of my black and red cardstock layers to overlay the center of my patterned paper and to go under my penny-farthing.  I then cut the penny-farthing Very Vanilla cardstock to fit over these finished  layers, and decided on a little corner punch to spruce it up and a little Modern Label punch with brad for a corner embellishment.  I threw in a little ribbon, more brads and flowers, to which I added some Iridescent Glitter adhesive for some sparkly shine, and I was done.

My next step was to create an inside design that would compliment the outside design, compose a little belated birthday verse to finish it off!

Recipe:  SU Stamp: Feeling Sentimental (SAB 2013) – penny farthing bicycle.  SU papers: Very Vannila base, Basic Black cs, Cherry Cobbler cs. Pattern: AdornIt-Happy Holidays.  SU Ink: Basic Black.  SU Punches: Lace Ribbon (ret.), Modern Label (ret.).  WRMK Deco corner punch. EK punch: Fancy Corners (inside).  SU 3/8” and mini glimmer brads.  SU ribbon: 1/2” Cherry Cobbler Scallop Dots ribbon (reverse side), Offray 3/8” Picot Edge Satin-Black.  Recollections Florals.  Stickles-Lace (glitter adhesive).