A Dedicated 12th Woman Seahawks Fan Birthday!

OVER THE MOON!!!

THIS WAS ONE OF TEN

OF MY 2017 CARDS RECEIVING

A 2017 SCS BEST OF FAVORITES!!

I was checking on challenges opening at Splitcoasterstampers and found three that motivated me to get started on a card I will be needing in the month of November.  See more about these challenges in "The Story" below the finished card presentation. 

My oldest son's long-time girl friend has a birthday in November, and she is an avid Seahawks fan...a real 12th Man/ 12th Woman!  An explanation of what this means is in "The Story" below the finished card presentation.  As you can see, the perfect card for Katrina's birthday has to be a card with a Seahawks theme, using layers of Seahawks colors: navy, gray (silver), and lime green.  It should also have lots of icons that depict football and Seattle as well!  Take a peek below...I think Katrina will love her card!

I finally finished this card's inside decor just in time for delivery to the birthday person!  I created the inside to coordinate with card front, and its verse with a Seahawks fan theme!  Take a look below:

Ingredients:  Papers:  Stampin' Up--Night of Navy cs; The Paper Company--Textured Linen cs (Cool Mint pack); Scrapbook Customs--Poster Diagonal Mascot/ Grungy Dots.  Darice Glitter paper--Silver, Lime (color Copic modified).  Dies:  Savvy Dies--Space Needle (Lg); MemoryBox--Cityscape Nightline; QuickKutz--Washington.  The Paper Company: Stickabilities--Football.  Pretty Pink Posh: Sequins.  

THE STORY

The first Splitcoaststampers' challenge I spotted was the new Inspiration Challenge, which features a company called Frontgate.  Browsing around their website, I came upon a sports game, called Galaxy Football Toss Game.  The game is very colorful and reminds me, to some degree, of the Seattle Seahawks colors and that inspired me to get started on a card I knew I needed in November.  But, this wasn't the only challenge that inspired me to get start on this same card.  Another is the Traveling Teapot challenge, where we are to create a card depicting apples or a city, i.e., The Big Apple...mine, of course, will be Seattle, Washington, home of the Space Needle and the Seattle Seahawks.  After deciding that my card would be a Seattle sports card, I saw the Free for All challenge: "Did You Say the Kitchen Sink," which requires "lots of stuff or layers or both."  Now, for me this wouldn't be difficult as it's right up my alley for the type of cards I love to make!

For those of you who are not football fans or who do not know about the Seattle Seahawks, their fans are called the 12th Man.  Why are they called this, you might ask?  As there are 11 players for each team on the playing field for each play, the Seattle fans represent the Seahawks' 12th Man, though they are not actually on the field but rather in the seats.  We are such dedicated and savvy fans, we know when to make noise and when not to, which helps our Seahawks team and often unsettles their opponents when playing in our home field, Century Link, thus giving our Seahawks great home field advantage.  The Seahawks organization retired the number 12 jersey in honor of their fans in 1984, and  authentic jerseys are made and sold in the team store specifically for the Seahawks' fan base.  In 2016, Seahawk's fans took on the nickname, "The 12's, to denote fans specific to the Seahawks and no other organization.  A flagpole was also installed at the south end of Century Link, and the 12's Flag is raised by a celebrity in honor of the fans before each and every home game.  We LOVE being 12's!

An Avid Seahawks 12th Woman Has A Birthday!

One of my good friends and cardmaking buddy is having a birthday today, and she is an avid Seahawks fan. . .a true dyed in the wool 12th Man!  I decided she certainly deserved one of my handmade Deco Mesh Seahawks wreaths for her door, so my daughter and I scheduled a fun-filled craft night and put our 5th Seahawks wreath together for Charlene's birthday!  See my October 4th post for my son's birthday, which shows a picture of our wonderful wreath, if I do not say so myself!

As with my son's birthday, also a 12th Man fan, I thought Charlene should have a Seahawks birthday card, but with a little more of a feminine twist to it than for my son.  I found a cute little daisy-like flowered paper in Seahawks colors in a digital paper collection called Paisley Park by Happy Heart Creations.  Out of all possibilities, I thought this would be perfect as Charlene has quite the green thumb as well!  

Once again, I got to use my new WRMK Photo Fuse Tool to make my shaker card sealed envelope to hold my shaker football confetti!  Don't you just love the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle in the shaker box background?  Here is a peek at the Seahawk's creation for my friend's birthday!

Recipe:  SU Whisper White cardstock. BoBunny Double Dot: Kiwi.  The Paper Studio: Tiny Polka-Navy Tonal.  Happy Heart Creations: Paisley Park collection (digital paper).  Core'dinations Glitter: Ball Gown.  Spellbinders: Classic Scallop Squares; Classic Squares LG.  Impress die: Seatltle Skyline.  WRMK:  Deco Corner Chomper; Photo Fuse Tool/ Waterfall 4x4 sleeve.  Party City: Football Confetti.  Pink Posh sequins.  Offray: 3/8" Navy satin-sheer.  Computer-made sentiment / verse:  Shelley Font.  Inside:  Stash: Button Dots (Copic colored).

Seahawks Birthday Card for 12th Man Son!

For my son and his wife, I made a Deco Mesh Seahawks wreath, and gave it to both of them for their birthdays.  Since Mark's wife's birthday came first, and just before the first pre-season football game, the wreath was bestowed on Ginger's August birthday so they could enjoy it from the very beginning of the Seahawk's season!   Now, it is time to celebrate my son's birthday, so I thought I should make him a little Seahawk's themed card to remind him of his early birthday present. 

I decided on a shaker card with a die-cut of the Seattle skyline beneath all the confetti.  My ulterior motive was that I wanted to use my new birthday tool that I received from one of my dear cardmaking buddies: the We R Memory Keepers Photo Sleeve Fuse.  Such a clever tool it is, and after using it, I am overjoyed with the results.  WRMK sells album sheets or Waterfall Sleeves and either can be used with Photo Fuse.  You can make any shaker baggie to hold your shaker confetti by sealing the edges to the size you desire, filling it with your confetti or shaker materials, and sealing it closed.  It has a tool for heating to trim excess edges, but I found for a shaker, a pair of scissors works just as well.

First, here is the wreath I gave Ginger and Mark for their birthdays...GO HAWKS!

Below is the Seahawk's shaker card front that I designed, which is followed by the coordinating inside design and my computer verse.

Recipe:  SU cardstock:  Whisper White, Night of Navy. Recollections: Punch Floral Green.  Digital paper: Digimania Seattle Seahawks (24 designs).  Impress Cards & Crafts dies: Seattle Skyline; Stitched Happy Birthday Square Frame (I removed happy birthday using frame only).   WRMK: Photo Sleeve Fuse Tool; 4"x4" Waterfall Photo Sleeves; Deco Corner Chomper.  Treehouse Studies sequins.  Party City: Football Confetti.  Recollections: silver brads.  Hobby Lobby: 3/8" Ribbon Boutique Navy Sheet Metallic.   Computer-sentiment. Computer verse. 

Seahawks Pre-Season is Almost Here!

I have started a new craft hobby. . .making Deco Mesh wreaths.  After viewing many YouTube videos and gathering as much information as we could, my daughter, Michele, and I decided to try making a Deco Mesh wreath with a Seahawks theme.  While we were shopping for supplies, at every craft store under the sun, we happened on an actual wreath that was completed and for sale at the Michael's store in Federal Way, WA for $89.99!  Now, it was nice, but just not fancy enough to suit what we were looking for, as it only used what we called the Pouf method.  If you know me, you know I always seem to challenge myself to start with the most difficult thing possible. . .is that trying to set myself up for failure or what!  Actually not, I have always achieve more if there is a challenge and a goal that is difficult to achieve. . .I'm all in for achieving it!

What we learned in viewing many YouTube videos that we would need an 18" wire wreath base, 21" wide mesh and 10" to 12" wide mesh.  You can not cut the 21" mesh in half and substitute it for the 10" to 12" as it totally starts to unravel or fray once cut and there is no way to stop it!   To start, take your 18" wire wreath base and twist pipe cleaners onto the center of each of the nine segments on the outside (#4) wire and inside (#2) wire.  Note: do NOT use the 4th smallest row toward the center.  Next, twist pipe cleaners onto the nine segment braces on your center row (#3).   

We learned there are three different styles to fashion your mesh into:  Poufs, Bow-Ties, and Tubes.  Poufs are the easiest and can be really big and billowy poufs or low-level poufs. . .kind of like a bra size: from a DDD to a B. . .by taking a 21" wide mesh roll and about 15" to 12" down its length, gather it up, with your hands, and tie it to your wire wreath base with a pipe cleaner, continuing around your wire wreath in each of the nine segments in this manner.  The Bow-Tie and the Tube versions both use the 10" to 12" wide mesh instead of the 21".  For each of these, you cut this narrower mesh into 10" to 11" lengths.  For the Bow-Tie, gather in the center, raw edge to raw edge (cut edge) from one end to the other (looks like a bow tie) and tie it down with a pipe cleaner to your wire wreath base.  For the Tubes, you take the 10" to 11" cut length and roll it with the raw edge as the length and the mesh "selvage" being the edges of the tube.  We used the cardboard tube of a 12" tube as our rolling tool.  You make three of these Tubes usually in various colors, and tie them down to your wire wreath base.

Michele and I decided to combine two different styles.  We started with the Poufs in three different colors, applying the first two colors in a criss-cross manner (our idea because it was more difficult...right?) and using the outside row and the inside row of pipe cleaners (pipe cleaner wires #3 and #1).  Then, we applied our third layer of poufs on top of the criss-crossed mesh by using the center row of pipe cleaners.  We considered this entire process our base layer.  Next we added sets of three Tubes in each of the nine wire wreath base segments to the outermost row and to the third inside row (pipe cleaner wire #3 and #1).  By this time our 18" wire wreath base, looks MUCH bigger in circumference!  Next, we add a set of two different 12" wire ribbons to each segment to the middle row of pipe cleaners and a single 12" wire ribbon to the inside row.  The final steps are to add embellishments: one as the center circle focal point and other smaller embellishments to the mesh surface to spruce it up to your liking.

TAH DAH!!  Here is my first wreath. . .one for myself. . .after all I am a 12TH woMAN and ready for pre-season SEAHAWKS football!!!!   My second one made for my dauthter-in-laws birthday, which is TODAY!!  Happy Birthday, Ginger!

Birthday Son is a 12th Man Seahawk Fan!!!

Happy Days!  This card was chosen as a

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF

WEEK ENDING - OCTOBER 5, 2014

My youngest son, Mark, is having a birthday in October, and we are celebrating early because it falls mid-week!  I usually pick a theme for my birthday cards that represents something about the person for which it's made.  The first card I made Mark was an Accu-Cut die of an old pick-up that matched his first "car" when he was a teen-ager.  The next year I made a card embellished with metal tools...he's quite the handyman and a carpenter by trade.  The following year it was a Copic-colored dirt-bike rider on his bike.  Last year's card depicted Mark's love of camping and the outdoors with a bear lumbering into the campsite with two foaming beer steins in paws...don't know if the bear stole the beer from the campsite or was bringing his own BYOB for a campsite visit!  

This year I decided I would make Mark's card with our football team, the Seattle Seahawks, as the theme as he is quite the 12th Man Seahawk fan.  He even has the Seahawks' stretch bird streaming complete around his walk-in closet, which he just added to his master bedroom by going into unused attic space!   The streaming bird is compliments of his wife's artistic drawing and painting abilities...it looks absolutely great...just like the logo stretch bird shown below! 

I decided to make the focal point of his card a T-shirt with a Seahawks' graphic by using my My Favorite Things Masculine Graphic Tee die and a Space Needle die from Impress Stamps.  First, I went online to look for a Seahawk's graphic that could be added to my t-shirt front.  I then chose a shimmery navy paper for the background of the  t-shirt with a touch of shimmery green at the neck and sleeve edges.  I chose some patterned paper possibilities, and the rest of my card design fell into place very swiftly.  I love it when that happens!  I am really pleased with the finished card design, and I think Mark will be surprised and very pleased as well.  He is always so appreciative, as are all of my kids, with my card dabbling art in honor of their birthdays, holidays and special events!

And the inside and verse created follows:

Recipe:  Paper - SU cardstocks - Night of Navy/ Lucky Limeade; SU Printed Poetry dsp (stripe);  DCWV  Lemoncello stack (houndstooth); DCWV Shimmer stack (navy/ green); Bo Bunny Learning Curve Recess (navy grid); Recollections Glitter Opal.  Dies - My Favorite Things Masculine Graphic Tee; Papertrey Medium ZigZag; Savvy Space Needle; MemoryBox Alpha.  Punch - SU 3/4" Scallop Circle.  Other - Lyon Metallic Yarn.  SU Candy Dots.  (SplitcoastStampers Thread: October 5, 2015/ #4).