A Very Special Birthday Gift

My co-worker's request for help in celebrating a milestone birthday was extended.  She worked with Tarzana Joe to create a poem especially for the occasion.   It's a really neat result of a heartfelt and touching poem that captures the essence of their friendship and camaraderie as they have worked together toward building a business.  Check him out as he has a really interesting story.

Needless to say, how to present said poem as a gift?  It is, after all, just words on a page unless you spruce it up.  So, I set about the sprucing.  I wanted the gift to match the coloring and style of the card I'd created.  This is the final result.

The flowers were created using vellum and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink along with my Heartfelt Creations Vintage Floret stamps and dies.  I decided against applying the Glimmer Glam.  There are a couple of reasons- first is that the glam is liquid and the stamped flower detail was somewhat lost in the final result.  This is good sometimes, but in this situation I had shiny glass overlaying the image.  So, second reason, I thought that a crisper image was good given the framed result, size and overall feel.  Some flowers were finished in the Heartfelt Creations' fashion with a little tiny bud in the center and others were finished with some pearls.  The green flourish were cut from cardstock using my Spellbinders Floral Flourishes die set.  The bling comes from a set so old I've lost the packaging and I ended up adding a couple of pearl hat pins to draw the eye.  The poem was printed out onto linen textured cardstock and I really liked the final look of the product.  I edged the cardstock with some Vintage Photo ink to create a little interest. The background paper is a sheet of Basic Grey that was found in the stash. 


I couldn't leave it alone at that.  In the end, the card I'd previously made was used to wish a happy birthday from all of us at the office.  This gift begged a small gift card for the giver to write a small sentiment.  I pieced together this 3 x 3 card using the leftovers from the frame set that I'd made.  The frame is from Cricut's Straight from the Nest card (birdcge2) where I cut out the bird and the bottom half of the cut.  The frame is finished using the Rusted Enamel technique and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  There's real texture to that frame, but the photo doesn't do it justice.





I just couldn't resist a couple of pearl hat pins here as well.  This close up really shows the beauty of the Vintage Floret stamp.  I must use this more in the future.  It's easy to forget about your better stuff sometimes...










 
I ended up making the envelope from scratch using my Envelope Punch Board.  This little tool makes envelop making a breeze and I whipped up this puppy in a matter of minutes.  I stamped a small floret in the front face using my Shaded Lilac and glued a small flower on the back with a glue dot to hold the envelope shut (this was hand delivered, no seal needed).  It also makes it easy to place a liner on the inside.  The entire thing was a big hit.  That's reward enough.

I've linked this card up to the Inspiration Journal's  July Monthly Challenge:  Happy Birthday America & Other Birthday Celebrating.  Come join the fun!