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!

New Year Party Wishes

HAPPY 2016!!! 
Wishing you a peaceful New Year filled with happiness, good health and much creativity!

This card was created using the new Party Wishes stamp set available on January 5th in the Occasions Catalog. There are balloons, cupcakes & candle images in this set which all coordinate with the Party Punch Pack of punches!  While there is a "happy birthday" sentiment included in this set, the word "HAPPY" used here is actually from the Celebrate Today stamp set...because it was way easier to just ink up the single word rather than using markers. Plus, Celebrate Today is a photopolymer set so it was easy to line up.

On the Basic Black layer I used the new Confetti Embossing Folder. Then to make it look even more festive, I used Silver Dazzling Details to add some sparkling confetti dots and attach a few Bermuda Bay Sequins.

Colors used: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry

January 1st not only marks the start of the New Year, but it is also the anniversary of starting this blog. Can you believe that it has been 9 years today since my first post!? I can't! But it's true, I first starting sharing my cards & more back in 2007. At that time I didn't know for sure if I would stick to it, but thought it would be fun. I never dreamed that 9 years later I would still be at it! Thanks to all who stop by and visit...it's always nice to get the occasional comment (that isn't SPAM! lol) or email from you. 

This little look back at the past has given me an idea for a new weekly feature I would like to try...each Friday I will do a Flash Back Friday post featuring one of my favorite retired stamp sets. I have kept so many of my favorite sets from years past but don't get the opportunity it use them as often as I would like.

CHEERS to 2016! Lets make it a GREAT year!

Happy Balloons

This fun, die cut birthday card fits in a standard sized business envelope and is perfect to send to the guys in your life.

I used the Celebrate Today stamp sets and the coordinating Balloons Framelits...available in the Occasions Catalog. The Basic Black background is embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but each balloon has a letter die cut from it, and is popped up from the background using Stampin' Dimensionals. Take a look from another angle.

I was inspired by this cute card I originally saw on Pinterest.

Have a GREAT weekend! It's supposed to be sunny and warm here...FINALLY!

Over the Hills and Far Away

I love sets that have coordinating framelits! Especially when the set is so versatile like the Celebrate Today stamp set! I love that the balloon image can be used for the traditional party balloon or as a hot air balloon!

It was fun to create this adorable scene using Pool Party card stock and the Cloudy Day Embossing Folder (retired) for the sky and Wild Wasabi card stock and the Tiny Triangles Embossing Folder for the rolling hills.

The "thank you" sentiment is from the Painted Petals stamp set. Both of these can be found in the Occasions Catalog.

Thank you for visiting today!

Celebrate Best Year Ever

I have another card to share using one of my favorite new stamp sets...Celebrate Today. I love that this set has coordinating framelits! Actually there wasn't a whole lot of stamping done on this card...just the balloon basket and the sentiment and the rest was done easily using the Balloon Framelits Dies.

The DSP used is the Best Year Ever pack that is FREE during Sale-A-Bration! It's super cute, isn't it? I used three different patterns here.

We will be making this card at my All Occasion Card Class on Thursday. If you are thinking of coming, please let me know...today is the last day to register.

Happy Birthday From the Herd

Here's a fun birthday card using many new items from both the occasions and Sale-a-Bration Catalogs.

As you can see this card is much larger to incorporate all the elements I wanted to use. (It's one sheet of Coastal Cabana folded in half for the base.) I used die cut balloons from the Celebrate Today set (the cute little pennant and tassel are from that set as well) The coordinating Balloon Framelits make cutting all those elements super quick and easy!

The strips of DSP on the middle are from the Best Year Ever pack...which is FREE during SAB! I chose my color combo of Coastal Cabana & Crushed Curry from the DSP and threw in Real Red to make it more festive.

Another great FREE selection during SAB is the Big Day stamp set...which is where the "Happy Birthday" sentiment came from. Lots of fun new stuff, right!? Here's a closer look...

These adorable barnyard characters are in the new set From the Herd. They were fun to color using the Blendabilities.

Have a great weekend...I "herd" it is going to remain very cold with more snow on the way! Keep warm!

Celebrate Today!

Today certainly is a day to celebrate...saying goodbye to 2014 & hello to 2015! And, I just happen to have the perfect card for the occasion...using the new Celebrate Today stamp set!

This was the first stamp set that caught my eye in the new Occasions Catalog...and of course the coordinating Balloon Framelits made it even more irresistible! I love the little pennant banner die and the tassel die...here's a little closer look at that detail...

You can also see the new Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim...how fun is that!? I also added some loose sequins to the background to look like confetti.

The color combo I used here is: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz & Tangerine Tango.

Wishing you all a very HAPPY, HEALTHY & CREATIVE New Year!!!