Zinnia Hugs for a Daughter!

My lovely daughter, Jackie, had a birthday right after my knee surgery last spring.  I was unable to make cards for several months for many reasons, but primarily because I couldn't climb stairs to my craft room or sit and stand with my leg down for any extended period of time.  I have to confess I was so out of it, being under the influence of pain medications, that I totally forgot that I hadn't given her a card or her annual birthday check!  These forgotten items finally occurred to me several months after I was off prescription medication.

She never mentioned it, but I did after several months along with an apology.  She, of course, totally understood.  My goal was always to make her a belated card (now really belated) with a nice little check for a fun shopping trip and presented at a dinner out.  I even bought a new Marianne Zebra die to use for her card, because Zebras and their black and white pattern is one of Jackie favorites.  Well, long story...it still hasn't been done with all of life's interruptions, along with trying to keep somewhat timely with my present day card requirements as well.

About a month ago, I saw that cirque du soleil, Volta, was coming our way.  Daughter Michele and I made a week-long vacation trip to Las Vegas about two years ago, and one of the shows we saw was cirque du soleil, O...my what a marvelous production!  Jackie has never been to a cirque show, so I thought what a wonderful surprise to buy tickets for her and my daughter-in-law as part of their birthday presents.  Daughter Michele and several of her friends are coming along as well for a fun and festive girl's night out with a meal tucked in too!

My daughter-in-law's birthday fell during our recent family camping trip, and she received her birthday card there with her Volta ticket enclosed.  I needed to give Jackie her ticket as well, and I didn't have time to make my planned zebra birthday card, because it would take too much time while shopping and packing for our camp trip. 

 

A quick card was needed, and I really wanted to make it fit for my last letter to complete the Splitcoaststamper Alphabet Challenge, Round 8. . . Letter Z (which her zebra card would have been perfect).   I looked up things that start with "Z," and I found zinnia flowers start with "Z". . .duh!  I hadn't even thought about that because I had been so focused on Z for zebra!  

I looked up zinnia images and found they come in a myriad of colors even white!  There are many varieties of white with several reminding me of a daisy.  Ah, light-bulb time!  I remembered a card design that I made at a Dar Peterson card class that had a big white daisy punch on it, which looked a lot like those white zinnia, except zinnia are fuller with more petals.  I thought to myself, this might be doable with just a little bit of tweaking!   You have to forgive me. . .my work career required quite a lot of document editing, and my mind runs in that mode on automatic!  See several white zinnia pictures I incorporated just below.

I pulled out the the unfinished card kit designed by Dar, and decided it could be modified easily to fit my "Z" requirements AND a card for daughter too!  My modifications started by adding two more layers of petals to fashion the daisy into a zinnia.  I also changed the word-die sentiment  to "hugs" and added another care layer with a white base.  My next step was to design an inside that complimented the front and compose a short little verse to fit the occasion.  Take a peek below and see the final version of my daughter's card inside and out with all changes complete. 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Whisper White, Night of Navy, Daffodil Yellow.  Patterned DSP--Delightful Daisy.  Dies--Lovely Words Thinlits (modified).  Embossing Folder--Petal Burst.  Punches--Daisy (three petal layers); 1/2" Circle.  Ribbon: 1/4" Double-Stitched/ Daffodil Yellow.  3/8" Facet Gem.  Other:  EK Punch--Victorian Medium Photo Corners.  Chatterbox verse (computer).  Size:      4-1/2" x 5-3/4".  (Thanks to Dar Peterson for the base card design idea).

Birthday For A Lovely Lady and Friend!

I am down in Seaside, Oregon with my older daughter, Michele, working on some updating decore for her beach house.  We have stripped some 1980's country wallpaper from the dining room walls...really ugly, and definitely not beachy!  Underneath we found old 1970 manufactured wood paneling, which we have found before in other rooms we have re-done.  We used a soft light blue on the end wall with the slider to the back yard and a buttery cream on the side walls with white wood base boards and trim.  It looks so clean and refreshing.

While we are in Seaside, Michele's mother-in-law is celebrating her birthday, so we thought we would take her out for a very special gourmet dinner to a small little restaurant on the Promenade.  I brought my "To Do" card box full of unfinished cards and kits.  I went through my box and found a card that I started over a year ago, which was almost finished, and thought it would be perfect for Dina with it soft colors and touch of lace.

This card was started at a technique-learning class hosted by my Stampin'  Up upline and friend, Liz Thayer.  The technique presented was making our own embossing impression plate using dies and lightweight cardboard.  We chose the patterned dies we wanted...my choice was leaves.  I die-cut the leaves from the cardboard three times and glued like patterns together in a stack to make them thicker.  Then, we glued the stacks onto a 6-inch square of cardboard in an arrangement that we liked.  We then placed a piece of cardstock, which was pre-cut to the size we desired our front caed panel to be, onto the cardboard embossing plate and made a Big Shot "sandwich" with its plates and base and ran it through the Big Shot to "emboss" our Plate pattern onto the cardstock.  The last step to finishing my embossed cardstock layer was to lightly sponge its surface with ink shades of your choice, giving the leaf edges definition with these ink colors.

To finish my card, I decided on a few modifications to my card's layout.  I made each of my card front layer about 3/16" smaller  so they would frame my top layer with a bit more color.  Then, I centered the sentiment on its band rather than  offsetting it to the right.  I added more So Saffron yellow to my flower color and used the vintage brad as the flower center.  With this done, I placed my flower on the left bottom of my band instead of at the top.  I think Dina will be very pleased with her vintagey birthday card.

Ingredients:  Stampin'Up products:  Cardstock--Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Marine Mist.  Stamps: Because You Care (2015 Occasions hostess).  Ink & Stamp Write markers--Always Artichoke, Marine Mist.  Dies--Autumn Leaves.  Lightweight Cardboard--Designer Paper Cardboard backing.  Vintage Brads.  7/8" Sahara Sand Lace Trim.  Technique: Create an Embossing Plate with Dies.  (Thank you Liz Thayer for Original card design and technique class.)