A Colorful Unicorn & Rainbow Birthday!

My last granddaughter, who was five just two days after the three-year old, needed a birthday card as well.  As I said for the three-year old birthday card, all three of my granddaughter's love unicorns!  Not to disappoint any of my granddaughters, this Grandma needed to make a unicorn pop-up box for Callie as well!  Callie's favorite color is purple, so a purple rainbow unicorn card was an absolute MUST!  Finding purple rainbow paper was a challenge, but I finally found one stashed in my computer digital paper downloads, and I was ready to get it done!

Since this was my third rainbow unicorn card, and I did not need to create a new design, this card went together very fast.  I know that Callie will be delighted with her card, especially since both girls will be celebrating their birthdays together.   Take a peek below at my third rainbow unicorn pop-up box card:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up products: Papers--Tempting Turquoise, Gorgeous Grape, Basic White cs; White Glimmer (unicorn). Punches--2-1/2" Circle, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle, 2" Circle. Other: Papers--Dandelionery (Etsy)-Watercolor Unicorns Digital Paper Pack #081 (background color depth enhanced) + April 2021 Paper Pumpkin "So Cool" sun sticker (color enhanced). Dies--Cottage Cutz/ Sweet Unicorns; Savvy happy birthday die; Lawn Fawn--Grassy Hillside Borders, Party Balloons. Rainbow Duct Tape; Copic marker (color sun); Impress Cards & Crafts: fine white glitter. Glimmer scraps (unicorn, carrot, sentiment). Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

February Birthday Happiness!

 I have another friend and cardmaking buddy whose birthday is in mid-February, so yet another birthday card is needed.  I was in the mood for flowers, so I thought I'd look for a Splitcoaststamper Inspiration Challenge to get me started.

While in my E - F stamp set boxes back in January, I ran across a wonderful flower stamp set, Field Flowers, that I had used for its flourish in the past but not the flower.  I pulled it just in case I found that I could use it in the near future and here was my chance.  After finding the SCS Inspiration Challenge, I was delighted to know that this stamp set would work, but I would be able to add other challenges if I added butterflies and glitter as well.  Take a look at the finished card inside and out below:

Ingredients: SU Cardstock--Sahara Sand; Retired: Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeaide, Tempting Turquoise. Stamps (retired)--Field Flowers, Elements of Style. Dies--Sizzlits Embosslit/ Beautiful Wings. Inks--Sahara Sand (over-the-edge stamping/ distressing), Old Olive (distress L. Limeaide cs), Early Espresso (distress T. Turquoise).  SU White Embossing Powder.  SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter. 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon--Gumball Green. Punch (retired)--Scallop Trim Border.

Magical Birthday Wishes!

My oldest daughter's birthday is at the end of June, but we delayed her family birthday celebration until mid-July as my husband (her father) had knee replacement on her birthday, and a week later, he ended up returning to the hospital for another week with gastric complications.  By mid-July, we were ready to host a barbecue to celebrate Michele and her Dad's continued recovery.  Needless to say, I needed to finish her birthday card!

I have written several times about our little unicorn, Michele's 20-month old, little daughter, so dubbed during her stay in the NICU after her birth.  Because her veins were so small, her care team inserted her intravenous application into a vein in her head, which stuck up almost straight up, giving her the look of a unicorn with its cute little horn.  My inspiration for Michele's card came from this scenario.  I have acquired a multitude of stamps and dies with a unicorn theme because of this story that became part of our lives, and I thought it time the mother of our unicorn received her very own  unicorn card!  Take a look at Michele's finished card both inside and out!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  apers--Bermuda Bay cs, White Glimmer, Vellum. Stamps (2019-21)--Leave a Little Sparkle, New Wonders. Dies--Stitched Shapes--sm. circle. Embossing Powder--White. Ink--Smokey Slate. Ribbon--1/4" Snowflake Splendor (2020 Holiday). Wink of Stella-Clear. Glitter--Iridescent (ret.)  Other: Paper--Recollections 12x12--Mom's Diner/ Salt. Copic Markers. EK punch--Victorian Corners. Chatterbox Computer Verse. Size: 4-3/4 x 6-inches.

A Wondrous Gift is Given

More Christmas cards are needed for my 2021 Christmas stash.  This is a remake of a card made back in 2009, using the now retired Stampin' Up Lovely As A Tree stamp set that was so popular and remained current from 2001 to 2019!  My new card has more layers added, including some sparkly silver glimmer paper, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and sequins that the original did not have.  

I just love the technique of layering trees in navy ink and silver embossing with a little added Dazzling Diamonds glitter into the mix.  Unfortunately, the photo does not pick up on the glitter added, but it is quite sparkly in RIL!  I've also added some sparkly sequins scattered about.  Take a peek at an update of an old card below:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Whisper White, Night of Navy, Silver Glimmer.  Stamps--Lovely As A Tree (ret. 2001-19), Wondrous Gift (ret. 2007-09), Snow Front (2019).  Ink--Night of Navy, Versamark.  Embossing Powder--Silver, Heat & Stick.  Glitter--Dazzling Diamonds.  Ribbon--1/4" Night of Navy Grosgrain; Silver Cording.  Size:  5 x 6-1/4 inch.

Thinking of You This Season!

On to my seventh Totally Lovin' Christmas card kit.  I loved the Crumb Cake with the white embossing and layout of this sweet card, but I, of course, wanted it larger, and thought a bit more color, dimension, and texture would be good as well.

I checked out several Splitcoaststamper challenges to see what I could do to enter some of the challenges in trying to play challenge catch-up.  One Featured Stamper challenge card confirmed more brown tones would probably work well.  I added a Soft Suede cardbase and enlarged my card layers.  I changed my sentiment layer ink to a darker brown shade and left off the tree panel's corner ribbon...I thought it was too much and liked it more simple!  

I wasn't sure how Liz accomplished the snowfall, but I used a sponged-tipped make-up pen in Versamark w/ white embossing, a white gel pen for smaller snow, and added a bit of fine glitter to tree surface.  I also thought the tree would be extra pretty if it was layered.  I stamped and white embossed two additional trees, fussy cut them (lots of detailed cutting), and popped each layer up, one over the other, using large thick glue dots as I wanted the popping up to be more subtle than using dimensionals.

I was really happy with the layered tree popping...it added so much depth, plus I like the white gel pen and bit of glitter for more texture and sparkle.  This was the perfect card to send to my niece in Bend, Oregon where they are sure to see a white Christmas.  Take a peek below at my card finished inside and out.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products--  Cardstock/ Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla.  Stamps--Winter Wood (sentiment/ tree) (2019-20 Annual).  Dies--Stitched Brightly (embossed boughs-2019 Holiday.  Ink/ Soft Suede; Versamark Watermark.  Embossing Powder/ White (tree + snow drops).  White Gel pen.  Punch/ Curvy Corners (retired).  Other:  Recollections Fine white glitter.  Fussy-cutting.  1/2" glue dots (popping tree).  Chatterbox verse.  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

A Daughter's Birthday!

My oldest daughter had a birthday at the end of June.  I have been absent from my craft room for most of the last five months, except for a card here or there, and I have missed making many cards for the special people in my life.  So, I said to myself, "You really must get your creative mojo going and get a card made for your lovely daughter."  And, so I did.  Here is the card that I found a bit of creativity to create for daughter, Michele!  She was very pleased to get a handmade birthday card from Mom.  I think she was surprised and figured I was still avoiding my craft room!

And, here is the inside design and verse.  I am desperately in need of a new printer...it just won't print a clear font; therefore, it is a bit blurry on several lines.

I decided to use my daughter's favorite colors on her card...teals and blues.  I wanted to use a hydrangea bouquet and remembered Stampin' Up's Bouquet Bunch framelits.  I sponged them with similar colors, but added a touch of lilac in the flowers, plus sparkly glitter to the flowers and sentiment die-cut.  I did trim my flower stems and branches just a touch to fit the die-cut framing size that I used.  I offset the die-cut framing to the left side to add a criss-cross ribbon lacing that I learned from fellow cardmaking, Liz Thayer, several years ago.  I used Lots of Labels to die-cut a Shimmer White mat to host my bouquet and stamped it with splatters using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Highland Heather ink.  

Next, I die-cut eight of the four-petal flower bunch to overlay and overlap each other onto my flower stems to give the bouquet depth.  I sponged them with Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, and Highland Heather inks.  After overlapping them to form the bouquet, I applied Wink of Stella-Clear for shimmer, but it didn't seem enough, so before it dried, I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter, which is really sparkly, but unfortunately, it does not show up in the photo.  I sponged white cardstock in the same inks to make the sentiment die-cut and inside petite scalloped corners.  I used glue stick to apply the sparkly glitter to these pieces as well after I had die-cut the sentiment and punched the corners. 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Pacific Point, Bermuda Bay, Shimmery White, Whisper White.  Inks--Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Highland Heather.  Stamps--Beautiful Bouquet.  Dies--Bouquet Bunch framelits, Lots of Labels.  Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  Other:  Recollections Purple Passion.  BoBunny Kiwi Double Dot.  Cottage Cutz Expressions: Happy Birthday.  EK Punch: Medium Scallop Corner.  Offray double-stitch pale aqua ribbon.  Queen & Co. Iridescent Purple Goosebumps. Chatterbox verse.  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 in. 

Losing a Loved One!

A dear lady friend and cardmaking buddy has just lost her Dad, and another sympathy card is needed.  I was in the mood to make a soft and feminine card with some sort of flowers.

Following my usual pattern, I checked the Splitcoaststamper (SCS) challenges that I had not participated in to find some ideas to focus on and get my mojo moving.  Several challenges dealt with the possibility of using flowers, but I needed to come up with a color scheme and a layout.  I  found my color scheme from the newest Inspiration Challenge using a lovely coral, soft brown, and cream top from the Serengeti Fashions website and refined it with the Alphabet Challenge, Color Letter I for Ivory.  I came up with an idea for my layout from the Featured Stamper Challenge that used a quatrefoil background with a flower, though I modified my layout a bit to make more mine by using a lattice three-layered die-cut with only partial background coverage.

As my card evolved, I added more blossoms and more sizes than I first planned, and I added pearls and glitter to the flowers and to the lattice to give the card some sparkle.  Take a peek at my friend's finished sympathy card below, both the outside and  inside designs, plus the computer-composed sentiment and verse.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Soft Suede, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla.  Stamps--Gorgeous Grunge (splatters); Flower Shop (large pansy); Petite Petals (small flower).  Ink--Soft Suede, Crisp Cantaloupe.  Die--Bigz Lattice (3 layers).  Punches--Pansy; Petite Petals.  Ribbon--3/4" Chevron Calypso Coral.  Glitter--Dazzling Diamonds.  Pearls.  Other products:  My Favorite Things Die--Interactive Oval Word Window.  Computer-made sentiment/ verse.  Size:  4-3/4" x 6".

A Birthday with Lots of Technique!

My oldest daughter is celebrating her birthday today!  I've been working on her card for a couple of days trying to work out its design.  I knew only one thing for sure when I started, my daughter's favorite color is turquoise, so it would have turquoise in it somehow, somewhere.  A couple of other things I knew were that I wanted to enter the finished card into some Splitcoaststamper challenges, and if it could somehow fit one of my remaining three Round 8, Letters, I'd be pleased!

My usual plan, as most of you who read my blog might know by now, is that I check out all SCS challenges for inspiration and ideas before I begin, which I did with this card.  I am happy to say that with my mojo, which started with the SCS Inspiration Challenge, which led to my being able to enter into Alphabet Challenge, Round 8, and others!  

See "The Story" below my card for more details.  Meanwhile, take a peek at my daughter, Michele's, card below (plus the inside design and verse).  I am truly excited about her card, how it evolved, and how it turned out, and I think she will be thrilled!

Ingredients:  Stampin Up products:  Cardstock--Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray.  Patterned Paper: 2012-2013 DSP Stack--Brights/ Pacific Point (umbrella).  Stamp--Marbling (background).  Inks--So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz, Tempting Turquoise.  Stencil--Pattern Party Decorative Masks (clouds).  SU White Embossing Paste.  Glitter--Dazzling Diamonds.  Other products:  Cardstock--Recollections Pack/ Punchy Florals.  Colourcraft Brushos--Turquoise, Grey.  MFT Stencil--Raindrops.  Stamps/Dies--Crazy Birds; Crazy Things (bird/hat).  Savvy Dies--Cityscape; Small Space Needle.  Elizabeth Dies:  Rainy Day (umbrella).  EK Punch: Med. Victorian Corner.  Techniques: Coloring Texture Paste; Copic Coloring; Marbling; Glitter Texture.  Chatterbox sentiment/ verse (computer/ Xiomara font).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

THE STORY:

EVOLVING A CARD TO FIT NUMEROUS CHALLENGES

By now, a lot of you who are also on the Splitcoaststamper (SCS) site know that I love to find inspiration from several SCS challenges. You might wonder how I do this.  So here goes an explanation:

I keep a running computer document with all SCS challenges listed chronologically by weekdays and dates within each challenge, then the monthly, annual, etc. challenges follow.  I check each week and add the challenge updates as the week progresses.  If I actually enter a challenge, I place a red check mark in front of the challenge number.  It makes it pretty easy to spot what I've entered and what I haven't, plus checking to see what inspiration I can get to decide what I might want to do to my card to fit the challenges I decide to enter.  It is often a work in progress as I create, and I may add or subtract a challenge as I work and possibly make changes to my original plan.

Almost everything on this Crazy Bird card started first by browsing the June 23, 2018 Inspiration Challenge/ Hayneedle online site for art work with blues and greens as I knew for sure I wanted to use turquoise.  This Inspiration Challenge led to seven other challenges.

#1.  Inspiration Challenge - IC655 - 6/23/18.  In my browsing through Hayneedle, several blue and green three wall art items led me to my card design:  a marbled background, though eliminating the browns shown and adding pear pizzaz and soft yellow to the turquoise; 2) a silhouetted Seattle skyline; and an aqua raindrops canvas led me to add rain and clouds. . .after all, it will be a Seattle scene!

#2. Free for All - F4A432: Baby It's Cold Outside - 6/1/18.  Since I was going to use rain and it was to be Seattle, I decided to use embossing paste and add color and glitter to my rain and clouds to evoke a cool feel to the card.

#3. Ways to Use It - WT680: World Water Day - 3/22/18. . .with all this talk about rain in Seattle, I remember a older WT challenge that talked about rain and umbrellas that I missed because it was issued just a few days before being AWOL with my knee surgery.  I re-checked and sure enough the rain and an umbrella worked for this challenge.

#4. Alphabet Challenge, Round 8 - DD8ABC21U - 1/3/18.  Letter U = UMBRELLA. . .one of my final three missing letters for Round 8!!! The BONUS challenge for using a faux finish fit my plan for a marbled background mentioned above. I was stoked!! 

#5. Mix-Ability - MIX280: Losing My Marbles - 6/8/18.  Marbling led me to think of the mix-ability challenges.  I was sure there was bound to be something about marbling.  In my searched through this challenge and found this one, which gave suggestions on making a marbled background, but it also mentioned that a marbling stamp could be used.  I decided to possibly invent my own marbling by using my SU Marbling BG stamp.  To get three colors in my marbling, I used my MISTI and shifted my paper about 1/8" with each of three colors: So Saffron, Pear Pizzaz, and Tempting Turquoise and blew it dry to set the ink.  I watercolor brushed more turquoise ink as the final coat to add more turquoise and to fill in any white areas, and blew it dry.  Next, I "painted" the entire marbled surface with glitter glue and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds all over, lightly brushed off excess glitter, and blew it dry.  It looked like a HOT MESS during the process, but I was pretty pleased with the final result.

#6. Colored Texture Paste Technique. I colored my White Embossing Paste and stirred in a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Brushos Turquoise to stencil on my raindrops and blew them dry.  I also mixed a batch of light grey with a few sprinkles of Brushos Grey and glitter to stencil on my clouds.

#7. Teapot Challenge - MMTPT515: TPT Tic Tac Toe - 6/5/18.  I'd been watching out for using this one, because I love Tic Tac Toe challenges.  My diagonal Tic Tac Toe is: Stitching, Die-Cuts, and Patterned Paper.  I also added Watercoloring and Embossing (if the Embossing applies to Embossing Paste rather than just dry embossing).  My umbrella is a die-cut, and it became covered in patterned paper with hand-stitching. My bg uses watercoloring and Embossing Paste in the raindrops and clouds.

8. USEIT2018 - ongoing :  My new but dusty and never stuff:  the Crazy Birds stamps and dies and my Small Space Needle die.  I bought both at least two years ago and had not used them yet!  Also both stencils are new and have been languishing in their packages.  My used oldie is my CityScape die, which I have not used for 2-1/2 years! 

So, there's the explanation of my development of a card utilizing numerous challenges. I find this great fun, and a challenge in and of itself for me! Usually I start with a bit of an idea from a challenge then embellish upon the idea to fit other challenges, but as I mentioned before its a work in progress and challenges to be entered can change as the card evolves.

A Whirl of a Birthday!

MORE GOOD NEWS!  

THIS CARD IS NAMED A

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF THE

WEEK ENDING - SEPTEMBER 2, 2017!!

One of my favorite sister-in-laws is having a birthday at the end of the week.  Our birthdays are just one day apart, and I really needed to get busy and get a card made and mailed to California!  

I found several card parts and paper pieces in my scrap box that I had made several years ago, but not used: two pinwheel heads and a glittery cloud.  I decided it was high time these cute little items move from the scrap bin to center stage on a card front!

I liked niece's card of several years ago so well that I decided to CASE my own creation.   I knew the theme of this card would remind June of fun times we had together with our brother spouses at the California State Fair.  Another bonus that it would save me time so I could get her card in the next day's mail.  All I would have to do was finish the pinwheels, cut some new cardstock layers, and create a new sentiment and inside verse with my sister-in-law in mind. 

While putting the card together, ideas were simmering about the birthday verse and a sentiment that would keep the verse's theme in focus.  Therefore, when I finished the card, I was ready to move to my computer.  Once I finished composing the verse and sentiment, chose the font, and printed both, I put together an inside design that complimented the card front.  

Voila...I was done and off to the mailbox it went.  I think it will put a smile of pleasure on June's face when she sees her perky little card made from some things old and some things new that will take her for a walk down memory lane.  Meanwhile, please take a peek below at her card inside and out:

Just a note that I plan to enter June's card into the Alphabet Challenge, Round 7 - DD7ABC23D for Letter D = Double Bow/ Double Pinwheels and DD7ABC24C  for Letter C = Cloud.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Island Indigo.  Patterned paper: Sycamore Street dsp (2013 SAB). Clouds Embossing Folder.  Punches: Modern Label, Word Window.  Pool Party Baker’s Twine.  Dazzling Details (glitter glue).  Other products:  Recollections cs:  Cool Water pack.    Spellbinders Big Scallop Ovals SM.  Sizzilits Pinwheel die.  WRMK Corner Chomper: Deco.  Offray double-sided satin ribbon,.  Recollections mini gold brads.  Toothpicks.  Size: 5-1/4" square.

More Christmas Shoebox Exchange Fun!

Earlier in December, I attended a Christmas Techniques Shoebox exchange (see my November 18th post for more details about this event), and I wanted to share the card I made using my friend Carla's design.  The technique she was using was using texture paste to achieve dimension, and I might add she made her own texture paste from stratch!

This lovely card uses Spellbinders Elegant Labels Four Card-Creator, which is where we got the beautiful blue die-cut background and the white sentiment tag with the sheer organza ribbon woven through.  We also used the Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments die to cut out and leave the negative space on the blue background.  We cut an additional white cardstock ornament, and an ornament topper in silver foil.

After all my die-cut pieces were cut out, I stamped our wintery scene onto the white ornament die-cut.  I applied texture paste the the  barn roofs, the mountains, and the drifts around the barnyard scene.  While the paste was still wet, I applied fine glitter, tamped off the excess, and set it aside to dry.  Meanwhile, I attached my blue die-cut background to my white cardbase and stamped my sentiment tag and prepared the woven ribbon.  This tag was popped up off the blue die-cut background.  While my ornament was drying, I made a smaller double bow with my wood ribbon maker.  Now to finish my ornament, I inserted and adhered my white ornament onto my blue background.  Next, I glued the silver ornament topper at its top and using my bone folder, I "drew" lines down my topper to replicate the grooves often seen on ornament toppers.  My final step was to glue-dot my ribbon bow onto the top of the ornament topper.

Take a peek below at this wonderful card that my friend Carla designed for our Christmas Techniques Shoebox Exchange.  It is so very beautiful and I loved making it and having the opportunity to work with texture paste in one of the many varied ways to use it.

After getting home from our fun shoebox day, I went right to my paper stash to see if I could find a match for the blue Carla used on the outside.  I wanted to create a verse and interior that would compliment this card's beautiful outside.  I was in luck, Carla and I must have both shopped at Michaels and bought the very same pack of papers in five shades of blues, because my piece was an exact match!

Ingredients:  Recollections cardstock:  White, Cape Code Stack (5 shades of blue).  Darice: Opulent Opal Glitter cs (inside snowflakes).  Stamp: Embossing Arts/ Snow-capped Barn; Sentiment--unknown.  Ink: Memento-Paris Dusk.  Dies: Spellbinders--Elegant Labels Four Card-Creator; 2011 Heirloom Ornaments; SU: Top Note BigZ (inside-retired).  Recollections punch: Mini Snowflake.   Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter.  Pink Posh: sequins.  Stash:  5/8" Sheer White Shimmer ribbon.

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.

Vintage Girl and Her Easter Bunnies!

I found this cute little vintage digital postcard image online today and thought what a cute Easter card it would make.  I had to work with it a bit in PaintShop Pro because it was pretty narrow and I knew I would want to frame it with either a circle or a square frame.  I added an extra border around the image to widen it and cloned and smudged in the background color shadings all around the picture, so that when I printed the image, it wouldn't jumped from a nice shaded background to the white of the cardstock showing in the picture frame.  It also had some printing at the top and bottom right, which was extremely light and totally not legible in such a small image.  It cluttered up the image, thus I decided to removed it entirely.  Now, it was ready to size and print for my card.

I found some pretty pink and green papers and decided to do an alternating crisscross paper pattern for the background behind my little framed girl and bunnies.  I also decided to try applying a light film of glitter to the picture to add a different flair, using spray adhesive.  I think I like the way it turned out.

Recipe:  Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White (base); WRMK Cotton Tails 6x6 pad (patterns); Martha Stewart Love Notes Mat pad; Bazzill Irish Eyes (frame). Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares, Squares LG.  Vintage Easter digital image (online).  Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  HugSnug seam binding: Moss Green/ Vivid Pink.  Prima paper flower.  Recollections colored pearls.  Colorbox Chestnut Roan sponge distressing.

Mom's Beautiful Easter Egg!

In my newly created stash of vintage Easter images, there was one image in particular that jumped right out at me and said, "This is the perfect image to make a card for Mom for Easter...she absolutely loves the colors in this beautiful decorative egg."  The decision was easy, but finding just the right papers with the right color hues was not so easy.  I must have looked through almost all the paper I own (and that is no small amount), but still I procrastinated and looked some more.  Finally I found three that I was satisfied with.  So, to work I went and created a simply vintage Easter egg card just for Mom.

While I was at it, I noticed that the Shabby Tea Room is having a challenge, which also helped to inspire my card, so I decided I should enter the Week #213 - Floral Fantasy challenge with Mom's Easter card made just for her.  The challenge requires you to create a project inspired by the multitude of soft pastel roses in the photo provided and to include flowers and ribbon/ lace.  

My card inspiration for this challenge and for Mom's special Easter card is shown below.  Don't forget to go and check out the other cards entered in the Shabby Tea Room challenge this week by clicking on the link below:

http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/2014/04/week-213-floral-fantasy.html

Recipe:  Bazzill Lily Pond cs (base); Deck the Halls (mat); Basic Grey Serendipity 6x6 pad; Authentique Promise-Four 6x6 pad.  Spellbinders Floral Ovals + Ovals LG.  HugSnug seam binding-Moss Green + White Copic colored R14.  Prima paper flower.  Queen&Co. Pearls.  Elmer's Craft Bond adhesive spray.  Stash: Crystal glitter (used on image + frame).  Colorbox Chestnut Roan sponge distressing.

A Birthday Spin!

My little great niece will be celebrating her 5th birthday today all the way across the country in Georgia.  Her mother and family are transplanted to Georgia from California while her daddy is stationed there on military duty.  Though I miss seeing them all on my visits to California, I am happy they are on U.S. soil, and Daddy has finished most, if not all, of his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I wanted to make a whimsical card for Taylor, so thought of the pinwheel Sizzilit I had stashed in my cardmaking equipment and of a card I had previously made at a Stampin' Up class given by Liz Thayer and thought I'd begin there.  My little birthday spin evolved into the card below, and I hope Taylor likes it!

Recipe:  SU Island Indigo cs, Recollections Cool Water cs pack, SU Sycamore Street dsp (2013 SAB). Spellbinders Big Scallop Ovals SM.  SU Clouds Embossing Folder. SU punches: Modern Label, Word Window. Sizzilits Pinwheel die. Offray double-sided satin ribbon, Mini gold brads, SU Pool Party Baker’s Twine, SU Dazzling Details (glitter glue), Toothpicks. Becca’s Bowmaker.

A Sister-in-law Birthday Following Mine!

Another of my sister-in-laws celebrates her birthday in early, early September, but this one is special...her birthday is the day after mine!!  I made her this little card using my new Stampin' Up flower stamp set with lots of glitter added to match my glittery paper.   A card by Liz Thayer at a shoebox crop I attended inspired me.  I adapted a similar fold idea, but went with a deeper 3/4-fold, added a background edge to the flower stamp, used the Dotted Scallop ribbon border on the flower and the sentiment added to the front.  I finished off the card with inside decorations and a personalized verse.

Happy Birthday June. . .hope your had a delightful day and you enjoyed your card made just for you!

Recipe:  Stampin'Up stamp: Blooming with Kindness.  StampinUp Ink & Markers: Stazon Black; Midnight Muse, Wisteria Wonder.  Paper: SU Midnight Muse; DCWV-Plaid/ Stripe Stack.  SU punch: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border.  SU Ribbon: Taffeta Midnight Muse. SU Button: Vintage Faceted.  Computer-made sentiment.