Happy Birthday!

 

A woman I met at an online retreat last Fall has a birthday coming up, so I made her this card. I used several Lawn Fawn products to create my elements.

I stamped the mice, from "Bubbles of Joy," as well as one of the party hats from "Beam Me Up," on scraps of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. (This is my preferred ink & paper combination when I use colored pencils.) I used my Prismacolor pencils to color them, then die cut them with the coordinating dies. I used a bit of liquid glue to add a hat to each mouse's head, & went over their eyes with a black glaze pen.

I used My Favorite Things' "Rolling Clouds" stencil & Tumbled Glass Distress ink to create the sky. I cut the grass with a couple of "Grassy Hillside Borders" dies from a scrap of Recollections "Watercolor" 12x12" patterned paper. I used another purple scrap from the same paper pad for my balloon, which I die cut with a "Party Balloons" die. I also die cut 3 more balloons from scrap white cardstock & glued them to the back of my purple balloon to create dimension. I heat embossed the greeting, from "Beam Me Up," on the balloon and used a white gel pen to add the exclamation point.

After I adhered the back grass layer to my card front, I glued down the running mouse. I tied a piece of white crochet twine around the neck of the balloon, & glued the balloon to my card. I stretched the twine to the mouse's paw, and used a drop of liquid glue to hold it in place. (I clamped the twine with my cross-lock tweezers while the glue dried, to keep it fairly taut.) I added the second mouse to the balloon with liquid glue. I used scraps of cardstock behind his upper part where he hung over the top of the balloon, to keep him level with the balloon. Finally, I adhered the front grass piece with foam tape.

 

Inside of card

To add a little something to the inside of the card, I die cut another grassy layer, and adhered that in place. I used a third mouse from "Bubbles of Joy," with his little party hat, and added the cupcake from Lawn Fawn's "Party Unicorn" stamp & die set. I positioned the mouse so he is looking up where the inside message will go. I really love how this card came out!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #402: "Finish the Inside"

Dies R Us Challenge #169: "Anything Goes Using Die Brands Sold by DRU" (used Lawn Fawn dies)

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Floral Happy Mother's Day

  

I created this card for my brother & sister-in-law to give our mom for Mother's Day. I used Sketch #SC741 at Splitcoaststampers.com for my design.

After I sized it in Photoshop to fit the sketch dimensions, I printed the "Coneflowers and Butterfly" digital stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint it, following a reference photo for the flowers I found online. I also printed the greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamp set, onto a strip of white cardstock, & rounded the corners with my 1/8" We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

I die cut the image panel with a "Nesting Oval Infinity" die from Hero Arts. I adhered it & the greeting to a panel of blue patterned paper from Die Cuts with a View's "The Citrus Matstack." I added that to an orange panel from the same paper pad, & adhered a strip of an orange dot paper along the right side. That finished this super-easy-to-put-together card. And yes, our mom loved it!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #247: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge #M521: "All About Moms"

Punny Mother's Day Card

 

I have always loved a good pun, & when I saw this card on Pinterest, I thought, I've got to make one myself. I used the "Color Layering Orchid in a Pot" stamps & coordinating dies from Hero Arts (discontinued) for my flower. Because of the relatively large sizes of the various elements, I made my card about 4-1/4x7-1/4"

I found some reference photos for orchids online, & one that had yellow & magenta petals with white centers intrigued me. I began by die cutting the main orchid image, so I could get the flowers & stems placed correctly. I stamped the first flower layer in Hero Arts Lemon Yellow. I used Hero Arts Raspberry Jam for the magenta, & heat embossed the centers with Ranger White Super Fine Detail powder. I stamped the stems with Lawn Fawn's Doe ink; & used Hero Arts Lime Green, Lawn Fawn Freshly Cut Grass, & Hero Arts Pine inks for the leaves. I stamped the dirt with Memento Espresso Truffle ink, & finally the pot with Lawn Fawn Moonstone. I then die cut the pot, leaves, & dirt with the coordinating dies. I used a small strip of lightweight cardstock as a backing piece to glue the pot, dirt, & leaves together, to make them easier to handle & position.

I die cut the letters for "Y'Orchid" with Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's Capital ABCs," pulling in the apostrophe from "Quinn's 123s." Then I stamped them with the coordinating stamps & Raspberry Jam ink. I stamped the first part of the greeting using Papertrey Ink's "Polka Dot Parade" alphabet stamps (discontinued). Initially, I was going to use those for the "Happy Mother's Day" at the bottom as well, but they were too large, so I opted for Lawn Fawn's "Claire's ABCs" instead.

After I stamped the top & bottom portions of the greeting, I glued down the die cut & stamped letters. Finally, I glued on the orchid, letting the very top overlap the "Y'Orchid" word slightly. My mom really got a kick out of this!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #274: "Flowers + a Sentiment"

613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions Theme Challenge M521: "All About Moms"

Hoppy Birthday!

  

The current challenge at Double Trouble is "Fun Fold." They are partnering with Crafting Happiness for their Challenge #95, "Frogs (or Anything Goes)." I am entering this card in both challenges.

 

I followed a tutorial for a Flap Fold card at Splitcoaststampers.com. I used Bazzill Marine Mist cardstock for the card base, & patterned paper from Echo Park's "It's a Celebration" 6x6" pad to decorate. I punched along the upper short panel with the "Scallop Sentiment" border punch from Fiskars.

 

I stamped the frog (from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Pals" set) onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored it with my Tombow markers. I die cut the frog with a We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Circles" die, & cut a mat from pink Core'dinations cardstock with a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die, to give me a 1/16" border. I also stamped the present on a 1" circle I'd punched from bristol paper, and colored it with my markers. I die cut a 1-1/8" pink cardstock circle for the mat.

 

I use a 1-1/2" circle die to cut the hole in my card base. After I adhered the patterned paper on the front lower flap, I glued my matted focal circle within the opening, adding the glue only to the bottom area of the circle. I adhered the present circle with foam tape over the edge of the top flap, as a closure for the flap. Finally, I stamped the greeting on the upper flap.

 

Inside of card

 

For the inside of the card, I cut a 4" square of cream cardstock, & added a 1" tall border of patterned paper to the bottom edge. I masked off the border strip with a piece of Post It tape, & stamped the balloon & inside sentiment. I stamped the balloon again onto bristol paper, colored it, & fussy cut it out. To finish, I glued the colored balloon over the stamped on on the inside of the card.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist).

Happy Mother's Day

 

Double Trouble's Challenge #80 theme is "Something, Anything, Everything," with an optional challenge twist of coloring. I made this Mother's Day card to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids, inspired by that challenge. The design for my card is based on Sketch #SC843 from Splitcoaststampers.com.

I got the "Flower Boy" digital image from Just ME Digital Stamps. (Sadly, they are no longer in business.) I thought it would be perfect for a Mother's Day card from a little boy.

I did the image/greeting panel in Photoshop. I created a blank "canvas" to the size I needed, & copied the image onto that. Then I resized the image to fit. For the greeting, I used a font on my computer. I typed each word on a separate layer, and moved them into place, so they snugged together in the space under the flower. Finally, I printed the image/greeting onto a piece of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper that I'd cut to size.

I used my Prismacolor colored pencils to color the boy & flower. I went for a complementary color scheme with his orange shirt & blue jeans. I have been into purple & green for a few years now, and so I colored the flower in those colors. I made the flower center yellow, which is the complement of purple, to keep with a complementary color scheme idea.

I matted a piece of patterned paper from Echo Park's "Fine and Dandy" 6x6" paper pad with dark blue cardstock, playing off the boy's jeans color. I matted 3 sides of the image/greeting panel with grey cardstock, added a green cardstock strip to my background, & adhered the main panel in place. Finally, I mounted my card front on a white A2-sized card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Easter/Spring"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Repeat Impression's Challenge: "Anything Goes" ~ M2421

One-of-a-Kind Mom

 

Send a Smile 4 Kids needs Mother's Day cards, so I created this one for them. The theme of Double Trouble's current challenge, "A Magical Day," inspired the imagery & the font for the greeting. I also did the Double Dare for this challenge, by using a "Checkered Frames" die from Impression Obsession. The inspiration for this card came from one I saw on Pinterest.

I downloaded the unicorn image from Pixabay.com. I opened it in Photoshop, and sized it to fit my panel inside the frame. I used the Springtime Flourish font on my computer for the greeting. I typed each line on a separate layer, and then used the Move tool to position them. After I merged just the greeting layers into one layer, I added a purple-to-pink gradient layer for the unicorn. I created a clipping mask so it would affect just the image. I did the same gradient--reversed--on another layer, for the greeting, & did a clipping mask for that as well. Finally, I printed it onto a piece of white cardstock.

I die cut my frame from a piece of purple "Watercolor" patterned paper from Recollections. I also cut a panel of white cardstock with the same frame die. I adhered the outer white cardstock frame to an A2 size card base, and inlaid the purple frame inside. I saved the squares from the white cardstock I'd die cut, & inlaid each into its place in the purple frame.

I matted my focal panel with some more of the purple "Watercolor" paper, and adhered it to my card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue on sequins around the unicorn's neck, & added Star Dust Stickles to the horn.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create March Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Repeat Impressions "Anything Goes" Challenge ~ M2421

Have a Magical Day!

  

Dies R Us Challenge Blog has teamed up with the Double Trouble Challenge for the current challenge. The Double Trouble theme is "A Magical Day," with the optional twist of using a metal die. For Dies R Us, the challenge is to use a metal die. I created this card to send to a woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall, whose birthday is coming up soon.

I recently received the "Party Unicorn" mini stamp set & coordinating dies from Lawn Fawn as a gift during my birthday month. I had not gotten to play with it yet, but thought it went perfectly with the themes of both these challenges. I stamped the unicorn & cupcake on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper in Simon Says Stamp Fog ink. I used my Tombow markers to color the images, and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

For the background, I used the "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil from My Favorite Things to add a rainbow cloud sky. I used Kitsch Flamingo, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, & Milled Lavender Distress inks. After I finished inking, I splattered the panel with water droplets, let that sit for several seconds, then blotted with a dry cloth to create some bleached spots for a more ethereal look.

I die cut a cloud from a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper with a die from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Clouds & Raindrops" set (discontinued). I lightly inked the bottom edge with Milled Lavender & did Tumbled Glass on the top, just so it wasn't so stark white.

I wanted some accent around the edges of my background, so I die cut with the largest of the "Large Cross-stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I adhered that to a white A2-size card base. I adhered the die cut cloud with foam tape, to help it stand out from the background a bit. I glued the cupcake to the unicorn, and adhered her in place. I added foam tape behind her head, & glued her flat to the cloud. That way she is on the same level as the cloud. I added Diamond Stickles to her horn & the heart topper on the cupcake, & streaks of it on the die cut cloud.

I used a greeting from Lawn Fawn that they had also sent me for my birthday month. I stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Fresh Lavender ink. I wanted a soft color to go with the whole look of the card, but that would still show up against the background. Since I had foam-mounted my images, I did use my MISTI stamp positioning tool to stamp the greeting, just in case I didn't get a good impression on the first try. Thankfully, it stamped well & I didn't have to re-stamp. As a finishing touch, I added Diamond Stickles dots around the panel, because you always need more glitter with unicorns! :)

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's March "Anything Goes" Challenge (not playing the twist).