Dakota's Birthday Card

My #3 child turned 18 on Sunday. Man I feel old sometimes! I'm not even 40 though, lol!
I brought out some retired stuff for this card, cuz it coordinates with the only DSP that works for big boys, lol! I remember when I first got Circle Circus. I couldn't stop using it. Now it sits there forgotten. Until this weekend when I needed to make a card for Dakota. I used a Mojo Monday sketch for the layout and I think it still needs something, but I was making this while the cake baked, so I couldn't mess around too much, lol!

• Stamps: Circle Circus, Starring You
• Paper: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Very Vanilla, Muirfield DSP (you could use Brilliant Blue and Old Olive instead)
• Ink: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip ink and marker, Old Olive marker
• Other: Signo white gel pen, corner rounder punch, 1-3/8" and 1-1/2" circle punches, scallop circle punch, Pacific Point ribbon, dimensionals, SNAIL

And this is the birthday boy! My daughter, Charlene, took his senior pictures. She is going to college for photography, and she is good. No bias here! And this is one handsome boy, it I do say so myself :) we call him Sasquatch cuz he has big feet (size 15!) and is furry, lol! And he has great big bear paw hands. We love our boy, can you tell?!

March Stamp Club projects

I am just going to post pictures of our projects from tonight real quick because I need to go to work in the morning! I will post directions later this coming week.

ETA: I have added instructions in this post. 

 

This is the page we did. Lots of watercoloring on the letters and the eggs. I also did some real stitching around a couple edges with a paper piercer, the mat pack, and embroidery thread. I used Frost White shimmer paint on the butterflies which are from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit- so pretty! And a new technique with the ribbon :)

• Stamps: My Matryoshka, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Well Scripted
• paper: Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Kaliedescope DSP, watercolor paper
• Ink: Melon Mambo, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Jet Black Stazon
• Other: Aquapainter, Wide Oval and Scallop Trim border punches, Beautiful Wings embosslit and Simple Alphabet dies with Big Shot, Frost White Shimmer paint, sponge, Signo white gel pen, paper piercer and mat pack

 Here is a close up of the letters. I just love how they turned out! After cutting out the eggs (wide oval punch) and the letters from watercolor paper, I stamped then with line images with Stazon ink. It is permanent on any surface, so it will not run when you watercolor on it :). I then used markers to add a little bit of color to the images, then watercolored them with an Aquapainter. The ribbon effect is achieved by applying SNAIL to the back of the ribbon, then fold/pinch the ribbon as you stick it down to the paper. Easy peasy! You will notice that the butterflies are also shimmery. I applied Frost White Shimmer Paint to the paper before running through the Big Shot with the Beautiful Wings embosslit.

And a close up of the eggs.

This is the card that we made. I totally copied this from Lisa Reber, But I did add Frost White Shimmer paint to the embossed part, which really steps it up a notch!

• Stamps: Well Scripted, Chocolate Bunny
• Paper: Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Whisper White
• Ink: Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
• Other: Other: Petals-A-Plenty Embossing Folder and Flower, Daisy #2 die with Big Shot, Fresh Favorites buttons, glue dots, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon, Frost White Shimmer paint with a sponge

 And a close up of the details of the card. I colored the flower centers before applying the Shimmer Paint with a sponge so everything is shimmery. The bunny is stamped in Soft Suede on Soft Suede and then cut out. The Daisy and button are held on with a glue dot in the center.

Ok, this is the chipboard frame that I made to use for this technique. I cut the chipboard down to 4-1/4x5-1/2", then traced an oval and cut it out with a Hobby Blade. This would be much easier with an oval steel rule die :)

You will put this frame under the embossing folder, not inside when you run it through the Big Shot.

The sandwich goes as follows:
Multipurpose Platform with all tabs closed (the thickest setting)
Chipboard frame
Embossing folder with card stock inside
1 cutting pad

And last but not least, an Easter candy carrot! So darn cute! And I got this idea from MIshelle H who got it from Becky Roberts. Sorry, no link!

• Stamps: Woodgrain background stamp, Well Scripted
• Paper: Only Orange, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
• Ink: Only Orange, Chocolate chip
• Other: Scallop Circle die with Big Shot, Scallop Oval punch, Scallop Circle punch. 1-3/4" Circle punch, Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, small cello bags, glue dots, staples and stapler, hemp twine

To make the carrot cone, curl the edges in and staple it. Take 3 scallop oval punches and staple them to the back top. Attach the ribbon bow to the sentiment piece with a glue dot, then use a couple glue dots to attach to the carrot. To make the carrot shaped bag, take a small cellophane bag, fold bottom right corner up to left side of bag, then use SNAIL to adhere it this way.  Super easy!

I hope you like them!

SA Celebs page

Ok, I'm making this photo really big so you can see the clever us of Shimmer Paint on the Bashful Blue card stock :)  I mixed some Frost White Shimmer Paint with a couple drops of Bashful Blue re-inker, then used that to ink up my stamps.It turned out super cute in real life, but kinda hard to capture in a photo. These were a few of the wonderful people I met when I went to convention last summer. They are kind of big shots in the SU stampers websites :) I also did a lot of faux stitching and layering of the letters and the bracket I cut out with the Big Shot. This was a really fun page to do. I hope you like it as much as I do :)

• Stamps: So Cool
• Ink: Bashful Blue, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Soft Suede
• Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Kaliedescope DSP
• Other:  Signo white gel pen, Soft Suede marker, Simple Alpha and Hearts & Brackets dies with the Big Shot, Scallop Trim border punch, Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, Sticky Strip, Sponge Dauber 

Onsie for Big Shot Swap

I participated in an awesome swap through a demonstrator website that was focused on what you can do with the Big Shot and fabric. This is what I came up with. There are so many luscious fabrics out there! It is scary.... ;)

I applied Heat & Bond to the fabric, then cut out using the Big Shot and the Beautiful butterflies die. Then I ironed them on to the onsies and hand stitched around the edges. I even put one on the butt so you could see it while little one is crawling across the floor :)  

Trendy Trees Birthday

 

This is a  close up of the card I made using Trina Caraway's  SACC44 color challenge. I thought it was a perfect masculine color combo and I have been needing to give Trendy Trees some love :) The card layout is from Mojo Monday. I also used some paper from the Welcome Neighbors DSP pad from Sale-A-Bration this year. The medallion is also from a Sale-A-Bration set called Vintage Labels. This card made me finally make image sheets for Trendy Trees to use with my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. I just took some vellum card stock to make permanent image sheets and I will keep them in the box with the stamps. I know I could have eyeballed it. I have done it many times, but I wanted a clean look to this card, which demands more precision to my stamping, lol!

• Stamps: Trendy Trees, Vintage Labels
• Paper: Dusty Durango, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive DSP from Welcome Neighbors DSP pad
• Ink: Dusty Durango, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
• Other: Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Signo white gel pen, 1-3/4" & 1" circle punches, Scallop Circle punch, Corner Rounder punch, Stampin Dimensionals

And here is the whole card :)

 

So head on over to Stampin Addicts and check out all the great challenges and resources. And I wouldn't mind a comment or two  ;)

Vintage Vogue Birthday

  

I made this card back in January anticipating my mother-in-law's birthday, which is Feb 6th! So, I am just putting it in the mail now. Wow, huh?! Maybe I need to send stuff as soon as I finish it so they make it in time, lol! Anybody else have that problem?  I really like how the petals of the flowers are curved up so they add a lot of texture and dimension to this card. It's a 5-1/2 x 8-1/2" card. A big card for a big hearted lady ;)

• Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Well Scripted, Whimsical Words (inside)
• Paper: Regal Rose, Kraft, Old Olive, Whisper White
• Ink: Regal Rose, Old Olive, Soft Suede marker
• Other: Old Olive taffeta from Mistletoe ribbon originals, Corner Rounder and Scallop trim border punches, white gel pen, paper snips, clear rhinestones, paper piercer and mat pack, Sticky strip

1. Take a 8-1/2"x11" piece of Regal Rose card stock and fold in half to form the card base. Then use the corner rounder punch on all 4 corners. The punch will go thru 2 layers. 
2. Cut a 1-3/4"x8-1/2" piece of Kraft card stock and use the Scallop Trim border punch along 1 long edge.
3. Apply Regal Rose and Old Olive ink to flower and vine stamp using markers and stamp on the Kraft card stock repeatedly, re-inking stamp each time.
4. Use a ruler and a Soft Suede marker to make a line close to the scallop trim edge. Use the marker to ink the edge of the scallops and make a little dot on each bump between scallops.
5. Use Regal Rose ink to stamp the large flower over the right side of the card (about3/4 of the card front). Then add Old olive leaves. 
6. Adhere Kraft strip to card front near the left side. Use Sticky Strip to adhere Old Olive ribbon to the card front.
7. Cut a 1-1/8"x1-7/8" piece of Kraft and a 1-3/8"x2-1/8" piece of Old Olive. 
8. Stamp "happy birthday" in Regal Rose on the Kraft piece.
9. Ink edges of both small pieces with the Soft Suede marker. Adhere together. Adhere to card front.
10. Use the Signo white gel pen to make the squiggle dot dot border around the card front, both layers of the "happy birthday" piece, and on the inside of the card.
11. On a scrap of Old Olive, stamp 2 Old Olive large flowers and cut out. On a scrap of Whisper White, stamp 2 Regal Rose small flowers, then stamping off once for each image, stamp 2 large Regal Rose flowers. Cut these out. Use a bone folder to curl up the petals of all cut out flowers, and layer together as shown.
12. Place on card front as desired, use paper piercer to poke a hole thru all layers of the flowers and card front at the same time (make sure you have the foam mat from the mat pack behind it). Push a rhinestone brad thru each hole and open up in the back. All Done!

A Little Mojo with My Forest Friends

 

I have been having a creativity dry spell lately. Sometimes I wonder if I naturally hibernate during January and February, lol! I decided I needed to jump start my mojo, so I went looking for challenges and found a great sketch challenge at Mojo Monday and a color combo challenge at www.splitcoaststampers.com called Saffron Moss Melon! This little beauty is going to go to my niece Savannah as a thank you. I hope she likes it as much as I do ;)

• Stamps: Forest Friends
• Paper: So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede, Vary Vanilla
• Ink: So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede
• Other: Big Shot with Scallop Circle die, Circle Scissor, Soft Suede and Mellow Moss ribbon, glue dots, gold brads, paper piercer with mat pack

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!