Blue Birthday

Hello!

Today's card is for a guy.  No one in particular, it's going in my Etsy shop which has a shortage of cards suitable for men.  As usual, I had a rather tough time with it.  I hope to do more so that there's a selection from which to choose but also so that I'll get more comfortable doing them.  Because guys deserve nice cards too, right?

This one is done in shades of teal and brown and features distressed edges, distress inking, a curled corner and a wonderful background stamp heat embossed in gold onto the teal base layer.  (It's by Flourishes but is no longer carried in their shop.)  

The sentiment tag has inked edges, gold embossed edges and sponging in the center for a halo effect.  Gold eyelets have twine threaded through them and the whole unit is topped with a few tiny gears and then layered over a bit of distressed netting.

The inside, as always, is kept simple with layers of contrasting card stock and inked edges.

Thank you for joining me and I wish you a fantastic, crafty weekend!

Happy crafting!

Birthday Banner

1) This is my second post of the day.  For my tutorial for Creative Inspirations Paints, please go here.  (Or scroll down.)

2)  For the Inspired By Stamping Color Challenge, please go here.

Hello!

I made today's card for the current Simon Says challenge, "The Button Challenge."  And I needed a birthday card for my former employer (I'm retired), so 2+2 equals...well, you get it.

I also decided to enter the Divas By Design color challenge, with "challenge" being the operative word.

 

I LOVE these colors, so don't ask me why I had such a problem with them, but I fussed and fussed and threw this away and that until finally I came up with what you see here.  Less fussy after all and very colorful.  My work table is another story. 

The base layer was embossed with a stripe embossing folder, but that was a lot of aqua staring me in the face, so I swiped a deep teal ink pad across it this way and that until I was happy with the effect.  I've been in an ink-swipey mood lately.  Call it instant gratification.

The edges of the two purple die cuts were embossed with silver embossing powder.  I used a lot of stamp sets here, which is part of the reason why my table was a disaster after finishing.  They're all by Inspired By Stamping because they all mix and match and coordinate with each other so easily.  I used Whimsical Banners, Washi Tape (aren't they fun?), Fancy Labels 2 and All Year Wishes II, and I also used the Fancy Labels 2 Dies. 

Some rhinestones and a button complete this card.  Funny story about that button, which was the whole purpose of this card, right?  I made the card, took the photos and was just starting to post when I went to the Simon Says blog for the link, and lo, I had COMPLETELY forgotten to add a button!  ACK!!!  So after much panicked digging through my button tin, I found a lone pewter-look vintage button that was just perfect.  A dab of ribbon behind it and voila, some textile on my card to make me happy.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I hope you find time to fit in some crafting today!

I still think it's a lot of aqua staring me in the face...

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Simon Says Stamp and Show - The Button Challenge
Really Reasonable Ribbon #73 - Masculine w/Ribbon or Trim
Divas By Design - Color Inspiration
Crafts and Me #136 - Something Old (vintage button, ribbon bought in Jan. 2012)
3 Girl JAM #19 - Anything Goes w/Ribbon
Fussy and Fancy #90 - Bling It On
Eclectic Ellapu - "B" is for... (blue, black, birthday, banner, button, bling)
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes w/Optional Twist: "Celebrations"

Friday Sketch Challenge #45

Masculine card challenge - Digi Darla's

Hello!

It's challenge time over at Digi Darla's Challenges again, and this week's theme for Challenge #51 is "Make it Masculine."   One winner will receive 5 Digi Darla images, and any entries using a DD image get entered into a SECOND drawing for 3 images, so you could conceivably win 8, yes, eight Digi Darla images. How nice is THAT!  We would love to have you join us - please head on over to see what the rest of the lovely Design Team have come up with, then feel free to share your creative talents with us!

My card today is using DD Super Star Word Art, which you can find here.  I outlined the letters in glitter pen to make them stand out a bit more against the red circle and used CI Paints on the tiny stars.

The stars on the background paper were airbrushed with a dark gray Copics pen using die cut stars as the masks.  I used one of the same dies to cut some crafter's foil for the embellishment and also used some of the foil for the layer behind the red.

It was a little too silvery shiny for my taste, so I sponged on some Antique Silver and Onyx Creative Inspirations paints to tone things down a bit, then topped it with a leather knot.

I sprayed the whole thing with sheer silver shimmer paint afterwards and forgot to mask the red circle first, which was somewhat upsetting; however, I discovered lo and behold an art gum eraser erased the silver spray right off without disturbing anything else.  Hallelujah!

Thank you for joining me today, and I do hope you'll join us at Digi Darla's Challenges!

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: DD Super Star Word Art
Ink: Printer
Paper: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red (all SU)
Extras: Dies: Dienamics Circle and Star Stax; leather strip, CI paints, SB Premium Craft Foils; shimmer spray, Gelly Roll glitter pen.

Challenges entered:

Timeless Tuesday #208 - Use Red
Frosted Designs - Be Bold
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Masculine

Challenge Day

Hello and good morning!

It's Challenge Day again over at Tuesday Alchemy, and the theme this time is Anything Goes.  The prizes are awesome:

$10 Store Voucher

$10 Store Voucher

You have until Monday, December 3 at 3:00 p.m. to submit your entry (or entries!), so get busy and start creating, and let us see you there!  

This week I needed something to hold a gift card for my stepson's birthday, so I made a Crimped Envelope Pocket Card.  The instructions for this interesting gift card holder can be found over at Splitcoaststampers.   

The gift card I gave him was too big for the standard A2 envelope, so I used a 5x7 instead, which worked out perfectly.  I sponged the edges with More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and a tiny bit of Soft Suede, then stamped the balloons in the background before crimping using my crimping tool.  Then I embossed the image in gold, stamped and embossed a second image and punched out the clock face with a circle punch and pieced it to the first image.  I embossed the edges of the two background diecuts with gold embossing powder as well.

The pennants were made with the SU Pennant Punch in Early Espresso and Bo Bunny Apple Cider dp, and I attached gold grommets to each corner and hung them up with hemp twine.

I stitched around the base of my card and discovered that stitching a crimped piece tends to "uncrimp" it, so perhaps I'll hold off stitching crimped pieces in the future.  The gift card straightened it out, thankfully.

Here it is with the insert.  The gift card is attached to the back of the stamped greeting insert with temporary adhesive.

The birthday boy/man (newly turned 21) was fascinated with this card and went for it before any of his other gifts.  Made this crafter feel good!

So that's it for this project.  Thank you for joining me, and head on over to Tuesday Alchemy to join us for this week's challenge!

Happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Stamps: TCM Vintage Clocks
Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie,
Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Bo Bunny Apple Cider, SU Neutrals DSP Stack
Accessories: Petite Pennants Builder (SU), SU gold embossing powder, SB Labels Eighteen, SU Apothecary Accents Framelits, hemp twine, grommets, crimper, sponges

Challenges entered:

Paper Playtime #89 - Anything Goes
Anything Goes #80 - Stitching Real or Faux
Creative Card Crew #24 - Anything Goes
Divas by Design #62 - Use 2 or more patterned papers
RRR Challenge #60 - ABAC w/ribbon
CCEE1247 - Brown, yellow, orange and designer paper 
Pause Dream Enjoy #47 - Anything Goes
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C164 - Put a Bow On It
Drunken Stampers #107 - Not Too Shabby
Pile It On #48 - Anything But a Christmas Card