A Very Special Birthday Card

I had a lot of fun making this card for a dear friend's birthday.  She's received a fair bit of my crafty stuff and so I was looking for a special card design.  My mom gave me a store bought mother's day card this year with a huge die cut butterfly 3'd out of the center of the inside.  After thinking how thoughtful the card was, my second thought was - I'm totally scraplifting that idea.  Thus, this card was born.

I stamped the butterfly on white cardstock with black Archival Ink.  I then used my Faded Jeans Distress Marker and a water pen to watercolor the butterfly centers.  A little Wink of Stella glitter brush was used, but the pictures don't do it justice.  This matched the front of the card where I used a larger waterbrush to brush ink before stamping the sentiment in black Archival Ink.

I die cut the butterfly out of the layered portion of the inside to give the impression that the butterfly "emerged" from the card.  I ran the butterfly die through the die cut twice- cutting only half of the image.  This allows the die cut to be visible around the raised die cut.  The centerpiece that pops the butterfly off the card is a 2 in. x 1 1/8 in. rectangle.  I scored the piece 1/4 inch from each end and then again a 1/2 in. from each end.  This created the 1/8in. flat section that the butterfly is adhered to.  I glued the 1/4 in. ends together to create a slightly triangular piece.  The card doesn't lay completely flat- but she didn't mind.

The sentiments are stamped in black Archival ink and then accented with gems.  I'm really pleased how this card turned out. It will be one of my favorites for a long time.

I hope your Saturday is going well.  I'm off to redo the bathroom cabinets.  More of the home reno that started earlier this year. I'm really stretching things out...

I've linked this card up with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Blog: Simon Says Anything Goes and Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #194:Anything Goes Family.  Come join the fun or be inspired.

Manly Birthday Cards (Kinda?)

It seems like I've been nothing but busy.  You can see how this plays out in my card making.  Sometimes I get a little lazy.  Still, sometimes lazy can really pay off and I think these two cards are a good example.  I had a couple of male coworkers that I wanted to recognize their birthday but didn't want to spend a ton of time making the cards.  So, I turned to Pinterest and these cards were inspired.
The sentiment was stamped in black Archival Ink using my Penny Black Sweet Wishes stamp set.  The inside was a simple Happy Birthday from the same stamp set in black Archival Ink.  The watercolor wash was made using my Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn Distress Stains.  The soft applicator top allowed me to simply wash the color directly on the page.  I did let it dry very well before stamping with black Archival Ink using my Darkroom Door Trees stamp.

Pretty effective man card.  They both thought it was a lovely sentiment- short and sweet and required nothing in return.

Thanks for checking in with me today.  I'm hoping your July is ending with rest and relaxation.  My daughter is back at school and so it feels like the fall is here, though the temperature is still high!

Hey, I decided to link this card up with City Crafter Challenge Blog Week 272: Create a Masculine Birthday Card and Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Simon Says Anything Goes.  Come join the fun or be inspired.

A Shaker Birthday Card

Popping in for simple shaker card today.  I needed a birthday card for a coworker and hadn't used these stamps that I'd give it a try.  I followed Jennifer McGuire's Shaker Card video tutorial.  The balloons were stamped onto colored cardstock and fussy cut by hand (no die here!)

The glittery goodness in the center are all from Michael's Recollection brand.  I had originally bought them for use on my son's graduation cards, but decided to go a different way.  My one regret with the card was that I think there is too much shake in this card.  I could have used quite a bit less and still had a wonderful card.

This process was simple to execute and will definitely be an added weapon in the arsenal.  Give it a try.  It is really not difficult and does create a lovely visual presentation.

I've decided to link up with City Crafter Challenge Blog Week-272 Create a Masculine Birthday Card.  Come be inspired or join the fun!

Floral Gift Bag Beauty

I found a picture of the gift bag that I gave my mom on Mother's day.  Pink is one of her favorite colors and so I thought to try my hand at decorating a plain white gift bag.  Here's the details:

• The floral swirls were die cut from multiple Spellbinders and Sizzix dies out of green cardstock.  I overlayed them to create the image you see.
• The butterfly has a layer of white embossed and then die cut image and a patterned paper image just die cut using my Heartfelt Creations Butterfly Medley stamp and die.

• The flowers were die cut from white cardstock using my Heartfelt Creations Arianna Blooms die.  I used Worn Lipstick Distress Ink to watercolor the flower petals and used Scattered Straw Distress Ink to color the centers of the flowers.  When the paper was still wet from the watercoloring, I spritzed them a bit more and accordion folded each petal.  After the accordion fold, I pinched the petal to get a good crease and then stretched them out a bit before leaving them to dry.  You can see a video here (about 8:45 into the video) on this technique.
• The centers of the flowers were completed with some I'm Amaized prills.  They provide such depth to the finished flowers.

A few pieces of pink tissue and a card and this present was fit for a mom on Mother's Day.  Look for interesting ways to use your papercrafting in your gift giving to send an "I love you" message too!

Bridal Shower Card

This card is proof that a well selected patterned paper coupled with some solid, standard dies can have a card just make itself.  I had been meaning to make a bridal shower card for a good friend's party and simply ran out of time.  I've been struggling with a few minor health issues which sidelined my creativity for a bit.  Coupled with the busyness of life and I suddenly arrived at the Saturday morning without having a card.  I'd been looking for an excuse to use my Papertrey Ink Circle Scribbles dies.  I've always thought these look like abstract roses so I paired them with this ancient Stampin' Up patterned paper set.

The circle scribbles are die cut from coordinating patterned paper from the set and simply glued onto the patterned paper.  I used my Simon Says Stamp Tilted Banners stamp and die to create the sentiment flag which I simply wet glues the ends down to create the height rather than foam squares.  The inside was a second piece of coordinating paper with a white rectangle punched with a corner punch and stamped with a Congratulations stamp in brown Archival Ink.

All in all, a very effective card.  I hope you enjoyed this quick card and that it inspires you to use up some of that patterned paper.