Let's Party with Dinosaurs!

My oldest son is newly engaged, and they intend to tie the knot in June 2023 if everything goes according to plan.  Through this union, I have acquired what would be a great granddaughter.  She will be  three years old on her birthday in a few weeks...the same age range as are my three natural granddaughters, which is 2-1/2 to 5 years.  Her Mom and grandmother (who is my son's fiancé) planned a dinosaur-themed birthday party.  So, needless to say, I needed a birthday card and wanted to try my hand at the dinosaur theme.

I found a darling little cartoon line-art baby dinosaur, who had just hatched from his uniquely designed egg.  I thought this would be a good place to start.  Next, I found some pink, white, and green digital dinosaur  paper to add to the plan.  My next task was to search out some Splitcoaststamper challenges to fit this card into my "challenge catch-up" goal.  With all these thoughts in mind, I came with up my card design, which started with the Standing Pop-Up card fold technique. 

 

The face of Amara's card got so heavy, the card wouldn't stand up, so I invented a little paper fold "hinge" to insert into the hollow box-like rectangular front platform that allows the card to fold down flat to insert it into an envelope for mailing and also to pop-up and open to allow the card to stand on a flat surface.(1)  My "hinge" isn't a terribly difficult addition if you can do it before you form the box and while the cardbase is still flat, but it becomes much more tedious  to insert the "hinge" with the attachment flat covered in glue after the box is formed! 

With all that was said above, take a look below at Amara's finished baby dinosaur Standing Pop-Up card when finished.  I think she will love it, as well as Mommy and her grandmother!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Papers--Garden Green, Basic White cardstocks, Subtles & Brights Patterned DSP Stacks (Garden Green + Wild Washi--pattern years unknown);  Stamps/Dies--Dino Days(4), Little Letters Framelit dies; Cloudy Day EF--retired(5); Ink--Smoky Slate, Garden Green; Other: White Metallic Shimmer cs (Amazon), Digital paper(2): Cute Baby Dinosaur Dinosaurs s & Confetti Rain-Pink(2) (source unknown--computer stash); Dies--Spellbinders Grand Labels Eleven (retired); Lawn Fawn Grassy Hillsides; Copic Markers; Fussy-cutting; Verse--Chatterbox design(6); Card Size--4-3/4" x 6".

Construction Notes:  1)See "hinge" note for Standing Pop-up fold in dialogue above.  2)Digital papers printed on Amazon White Metallic Shimmer cardstock .  3) Confetti Rain-Pink die-cut letters Copic colored to change to a Rose color.  4)Palm trees from Dino Days stamp/dies; leaves die-cut from SU DSP Patterned Stacks listed & then overstamped with palm stamp.  5)Embossed Clouds: inked raised or positive side of folder to give clouds a gray outline for a typical northwest cloudy day.  Added additional very light brushed ink blending to add more grey to background and edges as well.  6 )Inside "verse" with computer = Chatterbox design (that's me);

Non-Traditional Christmas Dove!

More Christmas cards to do!!  This card's original design idea came from my Stampin' Up hostess duo's 2020 Covid Christmas Card Make-It @ Home Kits, by Dar Peterson.  It was time to get the last card finished and posted.  I tweaked the card to fit the ideas circulating in my head: enlarged the card, tweaked the dove placement, added more gems, more silver foil, and changed-up color layers...  explanations below:

I scrapped the white cardbase, changing to the dove's Roccoco Rose and enlarging the card to 4-3/4" x 6", which I prefer.  I enlarged my border layers to 1/4" on the bottom two color layers.  I added a silver foil sentiment backing to coordinate with the silver olive branch in the dove's beak.  I added three vertical rhinestones to the upper left corner, coordinating with those in the sentiment.

As I "tweaked and built" this card, its color scheme grew on me.  At first, I wasn't sure I even like it, though I loved the card design.  Now, several months later, I actually really liked it!  Thanks Dar for the original card design and always encouraging us to change-up, tweak, and "build" our cards to fit our own creativity!  See my finished card below: 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Roccoco Rose, Gray Granite, Whisper White.  Ink--Gray Granite.  Patterned Paper--In Good Taste dsp.  Stamps/ Dies--Dove of Hope (sentiment)/ Detailed Dove, Wreath Builder, Ornate Frames (sentiment shape).  Basic Rhinestones.  Recycle: Silver Foil (from package backing).

No Cake for David?

My oldest of four will be celebrating his birthday in the first week of March.  He is on the KETO diet, so he wants to say, "NO," to cake...can you imagine?!  I found it is now possible to purchase KETO ice cream, so we will be making an ice cream cake for his birthday.  He won't have to say NO to cake and he can have candles!  Now, I just had to get busy on a birthday card.

When I was last visiting my Mom, pre-COVID, I saw a card she made at her Stampin' Up demonstrator workshop.  I remember its sentiment from the stamp set, Amazing Life, and thought it would be perfect for my dieting son's card.  It also used the very masculine papers, In Good Taste, which I have, and thought one of the patterns might work nicely as well.  I decided to add a little black and a some recycle coppery foil (saved from an envelope insert...just too pretty to throw away!), plus a cupcake all work together.  Take a peek below at how my project evolved into David's finished card inside and out:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Papers--Basic Black cs, Very Vanilla cs, In Good Taste dsp.  Copper Foil (saved from an envelope insert).  Stamps--Amazing Life (sentiment); Dies--Call Me Cupcake (framelits), Stitched Rectangles; Inks (sponging)--Bermuda Bay, Call Me Clover, Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mango; Clear Embossing Powder; 3/8" Black Shimmer ribbon; Metallic Brads.  Other:  Copic Markers.  Inside--Chatterbox verse.  EK Victorian Corner punch.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6."

Bubble Over with Happiness!

I wanted to make a happy and encouraging birthday card bubbling over with sunny thoughts for my  youngest daughter for her recent birthday.  Mom is a little behind playing catching with hand recovery.

I visited several SCS challenges to come up with some ideas, and I settled on two happy colors that kept popping up in all of my browsing. . .a rosy pink and yellow combination.  Those two words bubbling over stuck in my brain, and I remember a stamp set with a similar name.  A little research gave me Stampin' Up's Bubble Over set that features soda bottles, bubbles, and a bubble over sentiment.  That also brought to mind a card I started at a card class by Liz Thayer way back in early 2018 with this same stamp set.  I dug it out of my unfinished To-Do Stash, and I loved the look, so decided to continue with Liz's idea, though I liked a few more stamped bubbles and Glitter Enamel dots, as well as one more colorful mat layers and some corner punching to dress it up.  Take a look below at my Bubble Over card for my daughter's birthday.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White.  Ink--Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight.  Stamps:  Bubble Over (2018-19 Annual retired), Life is Grand (2019 Occasions-retiring).  Dies:  Bottles & Bubbles Framelits (retiring June 2019).  Glitter Enamel Dots (retired).  Other:  1/4" ribbon (unknown).  WRMK Corner Punch: Deco.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

A Daughter's Pre-Birthday Family Dinner!

The immediate family plans to celebrate my eldest daughter, Michele's, birthday this week-end with lunch at the Pac Island Grill in Federal Way.  Her sister, Jackie, discovered this little, tucked-away, Hawaiian barbecue-style restaurant several years ago on a blind date.  The family re-discovered it a few months ago when celebrating Jackie's birthday, and I think, we've decided to adopt it as a good place for family get-together, dining events.  Their Loli Loli Chicken is awesome and very similar to Huli Huli Hawaiian chicken, which you may have been able to try if you've ever vacationed in the Hawaiian Islands.

Oh, and the point. . .this pre-birthday luncheon idea was a quick, family decision, and I had not quite finished Michele's card that I was in the process of designing and creating just for her.  This forced me to resort to my card stash for an already completed birthday card to save the day.  I chose a beautiful pink card that I made back in January at a Dara Peterson/ Luci Kirschbaum Occasions Catalog Kick-Off cardmaking event.  This lovely card design uses the new rose stamps and dies to create a die-cut design that overlays the pink watercolor wash paper, Perfectly Artistic, from the Stampin' Up 2016 Sale-A-Brations flyer.  The card's design is an eye-appealing, wonderfully easy one, and I thank Dara Peterson for presenting it for our re-creation attempts.  See my efforts below:

Next steps, per my usual carddmaking completion style, is to create an inside design and verse that blends well with the card front and compliments the occasion for which the card is given.  Luckily, this was one of the cards that I completely finished on my May Mt. Shasta Girls' Get-Away with Mom and Sis.  I know Michele will love her card inside and out!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Whisper White, Blushing Bride.  Patterned paper--Perfectly Artistic-pink.  Ink--Blushing Bride.  Stamps--Rose Wonder.  Dies--Rose Garden Thinlits.  Rhinestones.  Punch--Curvy Corners.

Silent Night!

I attended a mini card class in late August this past year where the Stampin' Up 2015 Holiday catalog was first introduced to me.  There is a darling stamp and coordinating die set that is shown off in this catalog, using both the stamps and dies together, and also using them separately as well.   Our class sample card was designed by Dar Peterson, and she used the coordinating stamps and die sets together.

This was such a pretty card, I made it exactly like our sample card presented during class.  The background is sponged on with Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White cardstock, trying to leave white streaks in the sky.  I think mine ended up more opague than the sample.  To get the white splatter effect, we mixed about 1/2 cup of water with with 3 to 4 drops of Stampin' Up's White Craft Re-inker.  Then using a small paint brush we dipped it in the water/ ink solutiom and tapped it against our forefinger over the sponged navy background.  Check it out below:

I finished my inside coordinating design and verse, and I thought I'd show that  off to you as well.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Night of Navy, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer, Gold Glimmer.  Stamps:  Jingle All the Way (sentiment: silent night).  Ink: Night of Navy, White Craft Re-Inker.  Edgelit Dies:  Sleigh Ride (houses and snow slope).  Punch: Itty Bitty Accents-Star (larger Gold Glimmer star); Confetti Stars Border (smaller silver stars).  Rhinestones (colored with Copic Markers).  EK punch: Victorian corner.  Computer verse. (Thank you Dar Peterson for card design sample).

Thinking of You & Thank You!

I just had a nice, long visit with my mother in California.  I went down to help her out because she was in a car accident at the end of March where a young woman ran a red light and hit Mom's car as Mom was making a left turn on her green arrow.  Her car was totaled in that it was a 2001 model, and therefore, the repairs exceeded its value in the eyes of the insurance, BUT in Mom's eyes her immaculate car, with only 42,000 miles, was no longer her's to drive.  The car had been garaged its entire "life" and was like brand new inside and out.  Though she personally received little physical damage visible to the casual observer, she was pretty badly bruised in the knees and chest, receiving bone bruising that took over eight weeks to finally subside to a bearable level of pain.  Mom has "coughing" asthma, and actually could NOT cough when her body said she needed to because the pain was so severe.  According to the doctor, it would take from two to three months for the pain to completely subside, and the only thing she could do was try to be as immobile as possible and give her body a chance to heal.  My visit extended a little over two weeks longer than I anticipated trying to help her out by taking over the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, and driving until she was able to do it for herself again, in addition trying to help her figure out some sort of transportation for her.

I wanted to make a little card to thank her for the visit and "putting up" with me for such a long period time, and also to let her know I am thinking about her and glad to hear she is almost back to normal.  It is difficult for people as they get older to relinquish their independence, even if only for a few weeks, and have someone around all the time when they are used to being alone and being self-sufficient.  This is my little card that I started to make at a card event hosted by one of my cardmaking mentors, Liz Thayer.  I did change it up just a little by adding a designer paper layer between the top layer and the cardbase.

Recipe:  SU cardstocks: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Old Olive.  Pattern:  Crate Paper: Paper Heart Collection.   Copic Markers.  SU products: Stamps/dies-Secret Garden; Stamps: Happy Days; Perfect Dots EF; Dazzling Details; 3/8" Coastal Cabana Ruffled ribbon; Delicate Details Lace Tape.  Recollections: pearls. EK Basketweave Corner punch

Christmas & Hot Chocolate Go Together! Tag Card #5

I just love this Stampin' Up stamp and die that creates a hot cup of...hot chocolate, hot toddies, coffee, tea, etc.  I made quite a few paper, ribbon, and layout changes to this tag, plus added a scallop border and embellishments.  I also had this lovely sheer snowflake ribbon that just absolutely begged to be used.  I didn't have a picture at the time I was making this tag, so I just ad libbed with the pieces that I had.  I was really happy with how my tag and card turned out.  Hope you like it as well!

Inspiration from Christmas Tags by Heidi Gonzales - mylilscrapcorner.blogspot.com.Recipe:  SU stamp/die set: Scentsational Season (cup), Jolly Bingo Bits (snowflake). SU dies: Two Tags Bigz, Holiday Collections framelits, Snow Flurry Bigz. SU Punch: 2-3/8” Scallop, Scallop Edge Border. EK Punch: 3/4” Scallop Circle, Medium Scallop Photo Corner, Scalloped Scallops Edge Border. SU papers: Cardstocks-Early Espresso base, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla; Snow Festival dsp (scallop trim), Festival of Prints dsp stack, Silver Glitter paper. SU Ink: Soft Suede. Colorbox Chestnut Roan (distressing). Rhinestones. Stash: Cream crochet thread; Snowflake glitter ribbon (Michaels).

Merry Christmas Gingerbread Man! Tag Card #2

With my first tag card conversion under my belt, I learned I need to decide on the card papers and layers to go along with my tag before I assemble my tag because the manila background on most of the tags doesn't show off the tag well against the Stampin' Up Festival of Prints papers Heidi used.  This is probably because the papers use white rather than cream in their design.  On the first tag, I made the tag first and then  added a piece of Cherry Cobbler to back the manila to make it show up against the paper better.  Fortunately, I found that my Zutter corner rounder had the exact same shaped corners as the tags, so I was able to cut a rectangle slightly larger than the tag dimensions and round its corners to match the tag's corners.  It did not have the curved top, but the ribbon through the tag hole covered up this omission so it doesn't show.  

With this 2nd tag card, I, fortunately, have the exact tag die that was used, so I cut a tag outline of the patterned paper she used at the bottom as an accent.  This covered the entire tag, so I did not use it as an accent piece.  Instead, I added a strip of Cherry Cobbler accent and placed my scalloped silver glimmer on top.  Below is my 2nd card, along with Heidi's picture of her original tag.  In comparing the two, you can see the changes I made to develop my tag into a card!

  

Inspiration from Christmas Tags by Heidi Gonzales - mylilscrapcorner.blogspot.com.
Recipe:  SU stamps: Scentsational Season (gingerbread), Mixed Medley (snowflake), Teeny Tiny Wishes. SU dies: Two Tags Bigz, Holiday Collections framelits. SU Punch: 2-3/8” Scallop, 1-1/4” Scallop, 3/4” circle, Decorative Label (modified), Word Window. SU papers: Cardstocks-Whisper White-base, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla-tag, Cherry Cobbler; Silver Glitter paper; Festival of Prints dsp stack. Be of Good Cheer dsp. SU Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake. Colorbox Chestnut Roan (distressing). SU Rhinestones (Copic color). Queen&Co. Twinkle Goosebump-green. Hug Snug seam binding Spring Green. SU Linen Thread.