A Special Friend's Birthday!

In August this past summer, I made one trip during the COVID pandemic to meet my sister and mother for a cardmaking holiday!  We traveled to Sister, Oregon, which was about a 5-1/2 hour drive for each of us.  I traveled south from Washington and they traveled north from northern California.  Each of us were a bit leery to do this even though we were in a lull in COVID outbreaks in the areas from which we traveled, as well as where we traveled to.  We quarantined in preparation just to be sure, and  brought an arsenal of remedies to wipe everything down in our Airbnb rental just in case.  We were fortunate to have no mishaps as a result, and we were very, very careful.  We bought groceries and prepared our own meals, and only ventured out twice, sanitizing thoroughly during and after our return.  We were happy to see the businesses mandated masks; were only allowing a few in their shops at a time; and requiring alcohol washing before entering and after leaving.

To save having to pack a lot of cardmaking supplies and because my creative mojo was pretty well shot, I focused on bringing only card kits, extra cardstock, foil, glimmers, embellishments, plus a few stamp sets that I thought might work well with the different kits.   My focus for my trip was to try to make birthday cards and thinking of you cards that I would be needing for friends and family so that my lackluster performance in my craft room would not continue to prevent me from getting needed cards out in a timely manner!  

My oldest kit was a Stampin' Up one that I purchased in May 2019, "Made to Bloom."  I thought I'd start out with it and make a card for a special friend's birthday that was about six months or so into the future (I missed her 2020 birthday with no mojo juices flowing)!  Though I liked at least two of the four card designs suggested, I decided to see what alternative card I could self-design from the materials at hand.  I mixed and match the background papers and flowers, did some fussy-cutting and layering not called for, and arrived at a card that I was pretty happy with.  Today, I finished my inside design and verse, and it is now totally ready to send when her birthday gets a little closer.  Take a peek below at this card that was made with my dear friend's birthday in mind.  I hope she enjoys it when her birthday time comes around. 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Products:  Papers--Basic Black cs, Gold Foil, Very Vanilla, Whisper White.   Kit--Made to Bloom (retired Occ. 2019).  Artistry Blooms sequins (2020-21 Annual).  Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Other Products:  Reverse Confetti "Beautiful Banners" sentiment.  MemoryBox "Stitched Country Borders."  Cottage Cuts Stitched Ovals dies.  Spellbinders--Lacy Ovals dies.  Colorbox Chestnut Road ink (edge distressing).  Chatterbox verse.  Fussy-cutting.  3-D Paper Piecing.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6". 

Ladybug Birthday Greetings!

 I have several birthdays in February that I like to make cards for...one is for a dear friend and cardmaking buddy.  To lift her spirits and mine during this glum COVID pandemic, I thought we might both be in the mood for something lighthearted and whimsical.  This Little Ladybug stamp/ die set should be perfect for Carla, who loves to garden.  These little friends can be placed in her garden to multiple and flourish to eat to their heart's content while keeping her garden free of aphids come spring when it is full production!

If you've been reading my blog of late,  you know that I've had no creative mojo for months upon months.  In the last six months, I have resorted to kits, both homemade and purchased, and using them to try and spark my interest.  Another thing you may know from reading me in long ago posts, with a card kit, I just can't make the cards as they are designed.  They always spark ideas that I think I might make the card even better or will change something to make it a more me card!  Once an idea is sparked, I just can't resist, and I just have to try it out!

I have an old card kit from the Stampin' Up 2020 Sale-A-Bration freebie catalog, that I've only made one card with, using my own alternative design with the aqua kerchief paper.  I have not yet touched the red kerchief paper, and I thought it would be perfect with the cute little ladybug stamps.  Of course, this will be my own total alternative card design rather than one that came with the kit itself, which all feature popped flower designs with the die-cuts provided.

With this card, I got in some Copic coloring while creating my own card design...haven't done image coloring in many a month!  Take a peek below at my finished Red Kerchief paper alternative card design, both front and inside:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  2020 SAB Kerchief Card Kit (red kerchief paper / stitched sentiment die-cut); Cardstock--Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Garden Green, So Saffron (inside); Stamps--Little Ladybug;  Dies--Stitched Scalloped Rectangles;  Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black.  Other:  Copic Markers (ladybug coloring); MFT /die-namics--Fresh Cut Grass; EK Punch--Medium Scallop Corners.  Pretty Pink Posh--gold small sequins.  Size--4-3/4" x 6.

A Snowflake Merry Christmas!

This is another of my January New Year's resolution Christmas cards.  It was also another 2019 card kit from my Stampin' Up mentors, Dar Peterson and Luci Kirschbaum.  Its original design was presented by  Luci, and again I did quite a bit of modifications that came to mind and to make the card more me, plus fitting some Splitcoaststamper challenges along the way!

First, turned my cardbase from horizontal to portrait, and I added more cardbase layers, one in Balmy Blue to add more color to the card front's framing.  I kept the white snowflake embossed layer to host the geometric card front shapes.   For this geometric card front, I  re-arranged, re-located, re-sized, and added to the patterned geometric shapes.  I used the same dsp patterned paper supplied in the kit, and when I cut and added to the number of these shapes.  My geometric placements were a lot more uniform and balanced and not quite so random.  I also centered up the sentiment layer and positioned only one glitter snowflake at its upper left corner, eliminating the second snowflake all together.  In addition, I added a few more sequins to finish.  Take a peek below at my finished card:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Whisper White, Balmy Blue.  Pattern dsp--Snowflake Splendor.  Balmy Blue Glimmer (glitter paper).  Stamps--Itty Bitty Christmas (sentiment).  Dies--Stitched Nested dies (sentiment layers); So Many Snowflakes dies.  Ink--Balmy Blue.  Embossing Folder--Winter Snow EF.  Ribbon--1/4" Snowflake Splendor (2020 Holiday).  Gems--Blue Adhesive Gems (sentiment/ glitter snowflake).  Sequins--Artistry Blooms.  Size--4-3/4 x 6 inches.