Scads of stripes

I love patterned paper, and one pattern I really like to incorporate into cards is stripes. They can be masculine or feminine, elegant or playful, subtle or bold. They never go out of style, and it's fun to pair them with other patterns (especially florals). So today I have three birthday cards featuring scads of stripes.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays, Strictly Sentiments 5 (WPlus9 Design Studio), Birthday Wish, Whole Lotta' Happy (WPlus9 Design Studio)
Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay card stock; Bubbles & Fizz Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Brights Enamel Shapes, Word Bubbles Framelits dies, Dimensionals, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

When I make masculine cards, sometimes I get stuck in a rut of neutral colors and nature images. Not that there is anything wrong with that -- I love those types of cards. But it's nice to have festive, brightly colored cards for guys, too, and that was my goal with this card.

For the card base I started with Bermuda Base card stock and added a panel of DSP with bright, diagonal stripes. Then, rather than added a focal image, I let the sentiments take center stage.

I pulled out my Word Bubbles Framelits dies and searched through stamp sets to find different sentiments that fit in the various die-cut shapes. For the tall word bubble I used two sentiments to help fill up the space, but I also could have trimmed the die cut so it was smaller.

With everything stamped and cut, I played around with the placement of the word bubbles until I liked the arrangement. Then I adhered them to the card base, using Dimensionals to pop up a few of them. For a quick and not-too-feminine embellishment I added a few yellow enamel stars.

I added some color inside the card, too, by stamping part of the sentiment with Bermuda Bay ink.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Party with Cake
Paper: Basic Black card stock, 80-lb white card stock (Cougar), Tutti-Frutti DSP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends markers: Real Red, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Party Pop-Up Thinlits dies, Coral Reef sequins (Close to My Heart), Dimensionals

This is another card with colorful stripes that I think is a good gender-neutral design. Again I used DSP for the background, but this time I enhanced it a bit. The original paper was just black and white stripes, so to add color I just used alcohol-based markers to color over the white. It works like a charm and is an easy way to create stripes in whatever color you want.

I did add a layer of white card stock behind the stripes to create a narrow border at the top and bottom of the DSP. For the focal point I die cut an image from the Party Pop-Up Thinlits dies out of white card stock to stand out against the DSP. (And I just realized that it's another word bubble. Funny!) I added a few white sequins to finish the card front.

I used my markers to add color inside the card by coloring in the "open" letters in the sentiment. I also added colorful dots to look like falling confetti.

Supplies (all Stampin'' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White, Basic Black card stock; Tutti-Frutti DSP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Pansy Punch, Square Flip-Its #2 Thinlits (Sizzix), Summer Sun corduroy buttons, white crochet thread (DMC), daisy trim (Making Memories), Dandelion Yellow Nuvo Crystal Drops (Tonic Studios)

This card definitely has a more feminine feel (and doesn't have any word bubbles). It started with the daisy trim, which I had originally cut to use on a different card. The trim ended up not working on that card, but I had the idea that it would look really cool on a black background. I used Nuvo Drops to add yellow centers to the daisies, and that gave me my color palette: black, white, and yellow.

I added yellow-and-white-striped DSP to a thick white card base and adhered a strip of black card stock with the daisy trim along the bottom of the card. I die cut a decorative black square and added a punched white flower for the focal image. Of course, the flower needed a yellow center, so I pulled out an old corduroy button and tied a bow of crochet thread through the holes. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white card stock, cut one end of the strip into a banner end and tucked the other end under the black square.

Thanks for stopping by!