Happy Day!

 I have quite a number of birthdays in August between family and friends.  I'm feeling behind already, so I got my thinking cap on and decided to get serious!  With some help from Splitcoaststamper challenges, I came up with a vintage design that I'm really pleased with! It will be for one of my husband's sisters, who moved to Florida in this last year to be closer to her oldest daughter. I'd better get it finished and off in the mail as she lives about as far from Washington state as she could be...kitty-corner across the U.S.!

I found this wonderful vintage paper in my paper stash from Michael's Craft Stores, "Recollections Signature Vintage Country Paper Stack. It got my vintage mojo going full speed ahead, which made me really excited to get started!  Vintage is one of my favorite card styles, yet I haven't made many cards in this style during the past several years.

I used five patterns from the paper pack that I cut into varying widths and distressed inked the edges before horizontally layering them one after the other, on  a pre-sized cardstock guide.  I also used one of the patterned tags provided in the paper stack as my sentiment rectangle centerpiece. I stamped my birthday sentiment onto it using my Misti stamp positioner, and I adhered the finished tag onto a black lattice frame for added interest.  I fussy cut several identical flowers from several of the tags and layered and distressed their edges to provide additional depth, finishing off with a sparkly gem. My last addition was to add a black-striped sheer ribbon horizontally with a two-loop side bow.  Take a look at my finished card. I'm pretty pleased with its outcome.

Ingredients: SU Cardstocks--Basic Black, Gold Foil. Patterned paper--Recollections Signature Stack--Vintage Country (12x12). SU Stamps--Itty Bitty Birthdays. Spellbinders dies--Lattice Rectangles. Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black. Colorbox--Chestnut Roan ink distressing. Offray--3/8" sheer black stripe ribbon. Jolee's Boutique--Black Circle Bling Gems. Chatterbox verse. Size--4-3/4" x 6."

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).