Very Vintage Friend

Better hope my friend who I made this birthday card for doesn't see this blog title! LOL Seriously though, at our age vintage does better than "old", right? Not sure "very" vintage sounds good, but hey, it works with what I have used here...

The new Lace Embossing Folder sure pairs up nicely with the beautiful host set Very Vintage, don't you think? I used Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide card stock as well as the ink to watercolor the image using my Aqua Painter. 

One of the things I was most excited to see in the new Occasions Catalog were Stitched Rectangle Framelits! I used a couple of them here. The cool thing about these framelits is that it cuts out both a stitched frame and a layering piece at the same time. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

His & Hers Picture Perfect Birthday

The Picture Perfect Party Designers Series Paper is full of fun colors and fabulous prints. I just LOVE this 6x6 stack! Today I have a couple of quick and simple cards to share using one sheet of the paper trimmed to make two fun cards...one for her and one for him.

The card "for her" features a Berry Burst birthday banner and some Basic Rhinestones for some extra sparkle.

To create the more masculine look on the card "for him" I eliminated the rhinestones and used Lemon Lime Twist for the birthday banner.

Both cards are fun, happy cards that are simple to create.

Lift Me Up Masculine Birthday

Here's a quick and cheery card using the Lift Me Up Bundle that is perfect for a guy or girl for any occasion. This great stamp set and it's coordinating dies will be available in the upcoming annual catalog, but they will no longer be featured at a cost saving bundle.

I used the retired Sleigh Ride Edgelits to cut the hill and pine tree out of the soon to be retiring Cucumber Crush cardstock. This color wasn't really one of my favorites, but I've been trying to use up my stash and have grown to really like it. For some added interest I stamped it with the line stamp from Gorgeous Grunge...one of my most used sets. How will I resist grabbing it all the time now that it's retiring?

The background is stamped with balloons and some clouds and then sponged. The largest balloon was stamped, diecut and popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Have a beautiful day!

Super Crazy Cake

I made a super deluxe Cake Crazy card for a friends 50th birthday. It measures 9" tall and fits into a standard business sized envelope.

She loves pink, so I used Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink and Basic Black inks. I die cut the 50 and created a cake stand using Black Shimmer Paper. A few of the cake layers also are painted with Clear Wink of Stella for even more sparkle. To create the base of the cake plate I used the tag die from the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlets and just cut both ends of a small piece of the Black Shimmer Paper to create a pedestal. A small strip of the Black Shimmer Paper with ends rounded is the cake plate. To conceal the seam I used a strip of the small Basic Rhinestones. Cool right? But wait til she opens it!

The Balloon Pop-Up Thinlets Die measures 6" wide so I added an additional 1-1/2 wide strips of DSP to the top and bottom. I lined up the score marks on my Simply Scored Tool and carefully scored the DSP to match the lines on the die cut. That is one of the really cool things about this pop up feature...the die cuts and scores at the same time!

It's then super easy to stamp with the coordinating Balloon Adventures photopolymer stamp set. Combining the Cake Crazy set with the Balloon Adventures Bundle makes for endless combinations of fun birthday projects!

Birthday Balloon Adventures

Using the Balloon Adventures Bundle it is really easy to create a total WOW card in no time at all!

I die cut the 3 detailed balloon overlays using the balloon dies from the Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits. The Silver Glimmer Paper was punched out using the Balloon Bouquet Punch. These two tools work hand in hand to create some really fun projects! The DSP I used is from a retired stack called Cherry On Top. I think the ribbons and confetti coordinate wonderfully with these images, so I went with it. There is also a great new Designer Series Paper in the Occasions Catalog that coordinates with this suite of products called Party Animal...so the possibilities are limitless!

While the outside of my card is fun & festive, it's the inside of the card that really steals the show!

I just love this cool pop-up feature! Since the stamps in this set are photopolymer it is super easy to line up the stamps on the die cuts. I stamped the Cucumber Crush card base behind the balloons with the confetti image before adhering the die cut pop-up feature. Along with Cucumber Crush I also used Bermuda Bay & Crushed Curry to create this masculine birthday card.

Have a happy day!

Butterfly Avant Grarden

Happy Monday! Hope you had a nice weekend. The weather has been really warm & drizzly here this past week. More like March/April weather than January. It could fool you into believing gardens and butterflies were not too far off...BUT this is Michigan, so the only butterflies I'll be seeing for quite a while are in my stamp room!

Butterfly Basics is one of my very favorite, much loved sets and I think it works quite well with two of the new Sale-A-Bration stamp sets...Avant Garden and Delicate Details. I stamped the images onto a piece of DSP from the Serene Scenery Designers Series Paper Stack. I water colored the line art images using my Aqua Painter.

The inks I used are: SU! Black Archival, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi & Always Artichoke. I added some shimmer to the flowers using the Wink of Stella brush pen. Here's a closer look...

I embellished my stamped piece with Silver 1/8" Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones and a retired Something Borrowed Embellishment.

Thanks for visiting today!

Lift Me Up Z Fold Birthday

Recently when showing my husband some of my creations using items from the new Occasions Catalog, he remarked on a card using the Lift me Up Bundle, saying he hoped I made him a card using the hot air balloons for his upcoming birthday. His birthday was on Monday, so I came up with an extra special card for him.

Above is how it looks coming out of the envelope...but when it unfolds it looks pretty special.

The base of the card is Pacific Point cut to 4-1/4 x 1" and scored at: 2-3/4" & 5-1/2" The Whisper White layer measures 4 x 10- 3/4" It is sponged to create the cloudy sky background. I used cloud shapes die cut from post-it notes using the Up & Away Framelits. These are used as masks before I started to sponge on various shades of blue ink. I also sponged some Old Olive along the bottom to create a hillside.

The die cut hillside was created using 10-3/4 x 2-1/4" Old Olive cardstock and a retired set of dies called Sleighride Edgelits. I then stamped it with the nice cross hatch background stamp included in the You've Got This stamp set. It is then scored at 5-1/4" & 8".

Here's another look at the card from another angle.

As you can see, I cut down the sponged background layer so that it just fit inside each scored section of the card so that it will fold open and closed easily.

We celebrated his birthday a day early, on Sunday, when our family could be here. Besides the birthday boy, we had another guest of honor who stole the spotlight the entire evening...

our 5 day old granddaughter! Isn't she adorable all dressed up in her party dress for her very first party? As you can see, Grandpa didn't mind a bit sharing the spotlight! Our little sweetheart made his special day all the sweeter.

Thanks for visiting today!

Lift Me Up On Cloud Nine

Happy Friday! Here we are...the last Friday of 2016! It seems unreal just how fast this year has flown by! It flew by almost as swiftly as a hot air balloon...like that segue?! ;-)

Well, that segue may not have been the best...but this bundle sure is! I think if I were told I could only select ONE (that would be awful hard to just pick one! lol) bundle from the entire Occasions Catalog it would be the Lift Me Up Bundle...but I LOVE hot air balloons! Luckily for me, nobody told me I only had to select one bundle because there is a LOT of great new product available in the Occasions Catalog starting on January 4th.

The Up & Away Thinlits Dies are really cool...I love that I can cut the super detailed balloon as well as sections of solid pieces to layer behind it. It sure makes paper piecing easy! The hardest thing was trying t decide on colors. I chose a couple of the colors used from the awesome Cupcakes and Carousels DSP Stack. The patterns in this stack are great, and have a vintage feel to them which I love.

This is more than likely the last post of the year for me. I hope 2016 was a good year for you and I hope 2017 is even better! I wish you much happiness, good health and lots of creativity in the New Year!

Cake Crazy & Balloon Adventures

Oh my goodness! I've been so busy with Christmas festivities and preparations that I haven't had any spare time to blog or stamp! I'm sure you all can relate! I actually did really good this year on getting my cards finished and in the mail early (for me!). I took photos of the 4 cards I designed and mass produced (about a dozen of each) to share here....but then deleted them off my camera thinking I had already uploaded them! Three of the designs were ones I shared here previously, but the fourth was something new...and I sent them all!

Oh well...on to other fun stuff! I received my pre-order box of goodies from the upcoming Occasions and Sale-a-Bration Catalogs! MERRY Christmas to me! Other than looking at everything and putting it away I haven't had time to play. waaa waaa! However, I did take time to make one card for a dear friends birthday.

The Cake Crazy stamp set is going to be a lot of fun to create colorful cards for both guys and girls! I used the color combo of Watermelon Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz & Pool Party for this card. Because I didn't have much time, I was in a hurry and dropped a stamp...which of course landed on the Whisper White background with my finished cake...#@%!!! So to salvage the cake I had to fussy cut it all out, but it ended up looking super cute popped up on the embossed background. But...the really fun part of this card is on the inside...

I used the new Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits Dies and Balloon Adventures stamp set. How fun is this!? There are some really great pieces included in both the dies and stamp set. I love the "PARTY ON! saying...it reminds me of Wayne & Garth! LOL

Actually, while I thought both were cute, it didn't make my "must have list" until I saw this video...


I may not have time to get another post in before the holidays, so if that ends up being the case...HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!

Celebrate Today Birthday Balloons

Seeing a bunch of colorful balloons makes me happy. This is the perfect card that can be used for a guy or gal of any age...just change up the colors accordingly.  

I cut a stencil out of a transparency using my Balloon Framelits. Then I sponged on the colors:

• Crushed Curry
• Tangerine Tango
• Cucumber Crush
• Bermuda Bay

Sponging vs stamping made the balloons more transparent so that you could see the colors of the overlapping balloons. After I had my balloons sponged I added some stars to two of the balloons using the stamp from Celebrate Today stamp set inked in Bermuda Bay. Next I stamped my sentiment in a bold, masculine font using Black Archival Ink. The HB stamp is from the Perfect Pairings set which was from this years Sale-a-Bration. The cluster of three stars is from the Merry Mice stamp set. If you don't already have this set I recommend adding these adorable little mice to your collection this month while it's on sale.

Inspriation for this card came from this awesome card created by Maura. I just adapted it using the products I have on hand. Thanks for visiting today!

A Birthday Balloon for Wyatt

The Labeler Alphabet is great for creating personalized cards. Here I used it along wit this adorable image from Bella & Friends for a cute birthday card for my little nephew.

I also created a second card to keep on hand. It can be left as is...maybe add a few enamel dots across bottom right or add a suitable greeting when needed.

Colors used are: Pool Party, Real Red, Bermuda Bay & Pear Pizzazz. The Confetti Embossing Folder was used on the background, and Layering Oval Dies to die cut the the three ovals.

Have a beautiful day!

Birthday Feista

I cannot believe today is the last day of August! Where did the month go? We had a Mexican themed birthday party here this past weekend and of course I had to use the Birthday Fiesta stamp set for the birthday boy!

I just love the fun banners in this set! I can't wait to use them on some scrapbook pages. This summer has been crazy busy and has not left me much time for scrappin' or stampin'. We've been so lucky to have had such beautiful weather so I've been outside a lot. Our veggie garden has done well so I've spent a lot of time in the garden and this past week I made some fresh salsa and pesto sauce...so good!

I've also been working on a couple large projects I can share here soon. Anyways...back to the card! LOL Colors used are Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango & Daffodil Delight. To color the sentiment I just used my markers to create the multi-color effect.

Don't forget...today is the last day to use your Bonus Coupons and to order the Thoughtful Branches stamp set and coordinating framelits.

Enjoy your day!

So Long Little Letters & Numbers

So many awesome dies and punches are retiring this time around! Today I have a birthday card to share that uses the Little Letters & Numbers Framelits. These little dies are the perfect size to use on both cards and scrapbook pages.

I used papers from the It's My Party Stack and some from the Cherry On Top 6x6 Stack to pull in the more "manly" colors of Cucumber Crush and Bermuda Bay. I created a fun balloon bouquet using what else...the Balloon Bouquet Punch!

For embellishments I used Bakers Twine Combo Pack, Bermuda Bay 1/8" Stitched Ribbon and some assorted sequins scattered among the confetti background. Yes, a lot going on here...but a fun card I think.

Check back again soon for more projects featuring my favorite retiring products. If you would like to add them to your collection...better do so before they are gone!

Botanical Birthday Blossoms

This birthday card uses several items available from the Occasions Catalog and one freebie from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.

The adorable DSP is from the Love Blossoms paper stack. The prints are perfect for Valentines Day, or anytime you want cute, spring-like designs. It works well with the Botanical Builder Framelits too...which I absolutely LOVE! The die-cut leaves and the strip on the right edge are all stamped with the Timeless Textures stamp set...another favorite!

I used the Clear Wink of Stella Brush to add some shimmer to the die-cut flowers, and the center of the largest flower is cut from Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper for a real pop of glitter.  Here's a closer look...

The Happy Birthday sentiment is one of the stamps included in the FREE Sale-A-Bration set, Sky is the Limit...you know, the great set with the biplane. It's one of the "Limited Time" products only available through Feb 15th. So make sure to get it before it's gone!

Timeless Texture Botanicals

I just love the way this card turned out! I combined several of my new favorite stamp sets, along with some of my favorite colors...

For the background layers I used a couple of the stamps from the Timeless Textures set. The Happy Birthday image is from the Sale-A-Brations set Perfect Pairings. I love that the font has a little bit of worn texture to it...which really works well with the background.

The flowers and foliage were all cut using the Botanical Builder Framelits. I just love these dies! I've been busy working on some scrapbooking pages using them...I'll share those later this week. Here's a closer look at the details...

I think you can see a little better how there is paper piercing around the circle and on the sentiment piece. The colors I used are: Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry & Mossy Meadow.

Thanks for visiting today. :-)

Flashback Friday: Prehistoric Party Wishes

Last Friday, in my New Years posting I mentioned that I planned to start doing a Flash Back Friday post each week. So here I am with my very first one! This card combines brand new products along with a stamp set that's so old it's prehistoric!

Prehistoric Party was featured in Stampin' Up!'s 2004-05 Winter Mini Catalog...that was way back when I was a brand new demo. I've used it here with the Party Wishes stamp set and Party Punch Pack. Along the bottom you can see some It's My Party DSP...I just love all the cute party prints in that paper stack! I've also used the Confetti Embossing Folder as well. These new products can all be found in the 2016 Occasions Catalog.

For the sentiment I used a great new Sale-A-Bration stamp set called Perfect Pairings. It's a 9 piece set that includes sentiments for many different occasions...it's another winner! This set can be yours for FREE during Sale-A-Bration.

Colors used: Cucumber Crush, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry.

Thanks for visiting today...have a GREAT weekend!