January = Lots of Birthdays!

January is a big birthday month in my family. That means I've been busy creating cards for the special people in my life. I try to choose colors and subjects the recipient will like. It's always a bit more of a challenge to create nice "man cards" than it is for me to make pretty cards for women.

Since we're stuck here in Michigan suffering with the cold, wintry weather, I thought using the Balmy Breezes set would be a refreshing change. I got this set out to create a card for my husband since he loves being on a tropical beach probably more than any place else. I love the way this one turned out!

I used Cool Caribbean card stock (what else?) for the background and stamped with turquoise using the Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel. Celery and Marigold card stock are used for accent colors. I water-colored the image with my aqua painter and ink pooled in my ink lids. For extra detail I added some faux stitching on the corners of the mat and the marigold strip across the center. To finish off the card I strung some beads and shells on some linen cord and tied it around the palm tree image. Wish we were there!

I created the next card for my Mom using her favorite colors: moss, plum & saffron. I used the SAB set Happy Harmony to create the main image, and the Leaves a la Carte and Speckled jumbo wheels to create the backgrounds. I used the Window Word punch and the Fancy Flexible Phrases set to create the tag and tied it on the moss gingham ribbon with some linen thread. I used one of my favorite new toys - the Ticket Corner punch on the image layer and first mat and then added some brads to the saffron layer.

I really love using the new Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel (it matches the Carte Postale set in the Winter Mini Catalog) It makes such a lovely background and it's so easy to use. I even used it to make quick gift wrap for a couple birthday gifts I had to wrap.

The next card I created was for my Mother-In-Law. She loves shades of coral and blue and she is also very fond of birds, so I created this card for her using Carte Postale. The original idea for this card came from an artist whose work I admire on the Splitcoast Stampers website. To see her card, click here.

I again used the Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel and the ticket corner punch to make this card. I used my markers to color the leaves and centers on the flowers stamped in the middle panel and sponged some blue on the edges. Blue gingham ribbon adds the final touch to this card.

I still have one more card to make...a "man card" for my Dad. I need to get busy with that, but will hopefully get the chance to post the finished card tomorrow.