A Fabulous Birthday Card

I'm stopping in while out of town to share a card Brandy made.  She forwarded this picture to me and I gasped - I think this is such a wonderful card.  Brandy would tell you how easy it was to make too.  She followed the technique shared by Dawn Woleslagle from W Plus 9 in this video.  She used her Distress inks (Wilted Violet, Ripe Persimmons,  Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Peeled Paint)  to color the balloons and her Nuvo Crystal Drops to make those domed, pearl-like drops.  Easy and simple, but a fabulous birthday card to make someone feel special.  The sentiment is stamped in Archival Black Ink using a Penny Black Sweet Wishes sentiment stamp.  It is the perfect crisp finish to the card.

It seems that Brandy and I are off to a great, crafty start to the new year.  I'm out of town at the moment, but trying to stay up with your posts as well, so I'll be around soon.  Then, I hope to be home for a while with less traveling on the horizon so that I can share more crafty creations with you.

A Birthday Set of Cards

I'm back today to share some more pictures of cards made with my friend Kyle for her Christmas gift exchange.  I'd apologize for the volume of photos, but that is the reason for my delay in posting and so I'll just say that this has taken me a while.

This card set was made with my Concord and 9th You are Enough stamp onto Bristol paper using black Archival Ink  and Prima Oil Pastel crayons .  The crayons made it easy to make multiple colors of card fronts pretty rapidly.  We scribbled the solid stamps with the crayon and then mopped the stamp with water and a brush to activate the oil pastel.  This made stamping with some variation in color easy to do.

After the flower was stamped, I die cut the card front with my W Plus 9 Sunshine Layers die and a sentiment using my Penny Black Sprinkles and Smiles stamp set.  The splatters were added by flicking watered down oil pastels onto the card fronts.  A very nice effect.

It has been a while since using my Prima Oil Pastels. A great tool though with wonderful effect and a very easy card to make multiples.  In the end, we made more than 20 of these.  I gave most away all ready, but hope to use this technique again.

Another Birthday Celebration

I had stamped and colored a bunch of the Birds and Blooms images from my set last month and they've been hanging about in a plastic bag since.  I decided I needed a birthday card and a girly one at that, so I broke out those bad boys to throw this card together.  Here's what I used:

• Heartfelt Creations Birds and Blooms stamp and matching die.  I colored the birds and flowers with my Prima Oil Pastels using some Palette Paper.    
• The frame was cut using my Heartfelt Creations Eyelet Oval die.  Here the outside was cut in green patterned paper and the inside from a very old piece of cloud patterned paper.  So cheesy by itself, but perfect for this card!  

• A few green patterned paper leafy swirl die cuts to fill the space.
• On the inside a sentiment stamped from my Sweet Wishes stamp set colored with the watercolors and fussy cut to be raised with some foam squares.  

All in all, a very lovely card with only a bit of effort at the last minute.  Fun!

Another Milestone Birthday - For the Man!

My brother's birthday this year was a milestone - 40 years.  I immediately turned to my Avery Elle Balloons stamp to create this card.  I think it set the right tone for a man's birthday.  The ink is from Simon Says Stamp's Peace mini ink pad set.  This ink is definitely different in that the ink will darken in the seconds following application.  I also used my MISTI to stamp so that I could add more ink when the image wasn't quiet solid.  With this stamp set I find it most helpful as I often don't get the best first image.  


A few star stamps from the Avery Elle stamp set in the Smoke and Soft Navy inks work well with some sequins from the stash.

On the inside is a sentiment stamped in black Archival Ink using my Penny Black Sweet Wishes stamp.  A nice finish and a card to celebrate the day.

I've decided to link this card up with City Crafter's Challenge - Winter.  The colors of my card match the theme and my brother's birthday is in the winter.  I also think the little snowflake-ish additions look stylishly wintery.

I'm also joining Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge - Simon Says Let It Snow.  Come join the fun, one and all - it's winter.

I hope your day is well and that your Christmas plans are coming together.  Keep it up as there are only a few short weeks left.

An Inflated Birthday Card

I worked up this card recently to give to my dad on his birthday.  The man card can be so tough, but my Avery Elle Balloons Clear stamp and die set was just what I needed.  I used some Simon Says Stamp hybrid inks to ink up the balloons and the card.  These stamps can be a bit tricky to stamp so I just made and die cut a bunch of them.  Now I have some for another card if I need them later.

On the inside I used my Penny Black Sweet Wishes stamp set and colored with Inktense watercolor pencils.

A simple, but effective card. I've been hoping around the internet enjoying World Cardmaking Day and will be linking up with the following:

Simon Says Stamp's World Cardmaking Day post

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenege: Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #203: Anything Goes

Today's the day - get crafty and join World Cardmaking Day.  We're all having fun.