Sister-in-Law Birthday in June!

My second sister-in-law birthday of 2015 is in late June.  I made several birthday cards while away in May at my Girls' Get-Away Cardmaking Retreat.  I immediately earmarked this one for my sister-in-law, Thelma.  After I made it, I reserved it and set it aside for safekeeping until it was time to mail Thelma her birthday card.  

This card was designed by my good friend and cardmaking buddy, Charlene Inks, who actually happens to be an around-the-corner neighbor as well.  This card was the design Charlene brought for our ShoeBox Swap cardmaking marathon.  Her original sample card was in oranges, but mine is in shades of aqua (or Pool Party as known by Stampin' Up users).  I really enjoyed learning how and making the little fold-back frame depicted on this card.  It was absolutely easy-peasy. . .much more so than it looks.  I have seen several cards made with this little fold-back frame idea over the past several years on Pinterest, and I really wanted to try my hand at it, but just never got around to it.  So, I thank Charlene for bringing this idea for her contribution to our ShoeBox Swap.

I finished off my card after coming home by designing an inside that coordinated with the outside color scheme and completing a little verse suitable for Thelma's birthday.  I hope she enjoys her handmade birthday card!

Recipe:  Stampin' Up cardstocks: Tempting Turquoise, Pool Party, Whisper White.  SU dsp: Sweet Sorbet (2015-SAB).  SU EF: Perfect Polka Dots.  Sizzix die: Flower Daisies #2. Glitter paper: white, aqua.  3/8" white satin ribbon.  Recollections: Aqua rhinestones. 

Jolly Roger Brings Birthday Wishes!

It's my nephew's birthday this month.  I recently saw this cute little pirate punch art card by Rae Harper (Wild West Paper Arts) inspired me to make this little pirate card that I thought would be perfect for Landon.  As I did with my Frankie card earlier this month, I decided I didn't just want a card made in the shape of the punch art head, but that I would incorporate the head as the main feature of a layered card.  I also decided I liked the 3/4-front fold layout of my Frankie card, so I would repeat it with "Ahoy!" as my vertical word.

While I was doing errands the other day, I found a fat-quarter at Wal-Mart with skeletal pirate heads and I thought it would be perfect for my pirate card that I planned to make the next day (though I have never used fabric when making a card before).  But, I thought, "Oh well, let's give it a whirl and see if I can figure out how to make it work."  I am pleased to say that I did!  I took a piece of cardstock and the fabric and hand-cut them to the same size.  Next, I rolled my tape gun in very close vertical and horizontal glue strips on the piece of cardstock.  I adhered my fabric onto the cardstock, and it adhere very well.  The cardstock gave the fabric body, and I was able to treat it just like a single piece of cardstock that had always been a unit.

Most of Captain Pirate's parts are cut with punches and used just like they punch out.  But, there are a few exceptions that were a bit challenging to modified, such as the 2-1/2" circle cut for the mouth and teeth.  These circles need to be re-punch cutting them into approximate 1/4 moon shapes with the teeth being slightly smaller than the black mouth.  The top curve of both then needs to be hand-cut to make a more shallow curve.  The mustache is part of the side of the Top Note die with the perforated edge hand-trimmed away and the lower shape hand-cut and shaped to match the top.  The scarf also ended up being a bit of trial and error to get it just right.  I started with a circle a bit larger than the Top Note head, but the crown was too rounded.  I re-cut it, using an oval to make it shallower and trimmed the sides to fit the width of the Top Note.  I ended up trimming the crown even more with scissors so it was curved just above the edge of the top note.  I decided to make templates so that I would not have to re-created them from scratch if I wanted to make Captain Pirate again.  Here is my finished card for Landon's birthday. . .I think he is going to like Captain Pirate a lot.

Punch Art Pirate head inspiration from Rae Harper (Wild West Paper Arts).

Recipe: SU Papers: Basic Black cs (base), Real Red.  DCWV La Crème Paper Stack. SU Ink:  Burnt Brown Sugar (pirate distressing), Basic Gray (verse distressing).  SU Die:  Sizzix Top Note (head/ mustache).  SU Punches: 1/16” circle (patch punches), 1/2” circle (earring hole), 3/4” circle (pupil/ earring), 1-3/8” circle (eyeball/ eyelid/ patch), 2-1/2” Circle (mouth/ teeth), 2” Ex. Lrg. Oval (ears), Owl Punch (nose). Scarf/ Tails:  Hand-drawn/ cut.  Sizzix Wingo Zingo Alphabet Sizzlit.  SU Chalk Marker. SU Dazzling Details: frost (alphabet glitter).  SU rhinestones (Copic colored).

A Dear Mother's Birthday!

It's my mother's birthday next week!  It will be nice to be thinking about her on her special day having loads of fun!  She and my sister are taking a four-day girls' scrapping retreat that Heidi is hosting in a small town with a cute vacation rental house where you can hear the sound of the river flowing and train whistles in the distance.  They plan to crop until the wee hours of the morning, sleep in if they want, laugh, have fun with good scrapping friends, take time out to visit local boutiques, and do whatever they want...what could be better than that!  Oh, I know, if I could be there too, that would surely be lots better!  My mouth is almost watering just thinking about it!

Happy Birthday Mom...I'm so excited you get to go away for your special day to gab, crop, have fun, and rest?? (Not too sure about that...LOL!)

Recipe: Papers:  SU cardstocks: Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze; "Stash" papers. Computer-made sentiment.  EK Tulips border punch, SU Petite Pennants punch, Recollections brad, Sizzix Daisy die, Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals, Midnight Muse stitched ribbon, "Stash" ribbon. White twine.