Cakes and candles

I did it! Today I finally finished the collection of cards I've been making for my grandma. I have fifty cards for her: forty-five birthday cards and five blank cards, which she can use as additional birthday cards or as get-well, sympathy, thank-you or thinking-of-you cards.

I'll be sharing the last of the birthday cards over the next week or two, starting with two cards that feature images of birthday cakes with candles.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Blooming with Happiness
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, textured Melon Mambo
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Melon Mambo scalloped polka dot ribbon, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I've always loved this flowery birthday cake. It's cute, fun and feminine and makes a great focal point for a clean and simple card.

For this card I stamped and colored the cake and embellished it simply with a few rhinestones on the cake stand. I wanted to add a bit of color between the image and the Basic Black mat, but I didn't want another layer of card stock. Instead I took a strip of scalloped grosgrain ribbon, cut the piece in half lengthwise and then trimmed the two sections into pieces to fit around the focal image. I adhered the ribbon pieces behind the white layer so just the little scallops are visible around the edges. I think that was just the right detail for this card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Bring on the Cake
Card stock: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Soft Suede
Accessories: Alphabet Press embossing folder, Deco Labels Framelits dies, Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon, Soft Suede polka dot grosgrain ribbon, Coastal Cabana ruffled stretch trim, Dimensionals

As I was looking through the box of finished cards for my grandma, I realized that I didn't have any orange card bases. So that was the starting point for this Pumpkin Pie card. From there I chose the rest of the color pallet: Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight and Coastal Cabana. I wanted a neutral pallet, and I think this fits the bill nicely.

I used markers to apply ink to the rubber stamp so I could create a multicolored image. I die cut the image, matted it and used Dimensionals to apply it over the ribbon and embossed background.

I really enjoy making cards to give to other people -- and I know my grandma will appreciate them -- but it still feels good to have this project done. Now I can move on to other things (Easter cards, maybe?) without feeling guilty. Thanks for stopping by!

Button rainbow

Button, button, whose got the button? This card has six of them, all lined up in a rainbow. Things in rainbow order make me happy -- that's how Crayola markers must be arranged in the box, by the way -- and I love how this clean and simple card turned out.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: Naturals White
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Brights buttons, white crochet thread (DMC), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Glue Dots

The most time-consuming part of this card was tying the crochet thread on all the buttons. Once that was done, I stamped the sentiment on the card base and played with the spacing of the buttons. When I was happy with the layout I attached the buttons to the card with Glue Dots (start with the middle buttons so you can adjust the spacing and keep everything even as you go). You could change the sentiment  -- or even omit the sentiment all together -- to make the card appropriate for just about any occasion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sailing on a world map

I was excited to get the World Map background stamp in my last Stampin' Up! order a few weeks ago. But when I finally had a chance to play with it this weekend, I was a little stumped; I had an idea in my head that wasn't translating very well to paper. So I scrapped it, started over and ended up with this one:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: World Map, Sail Away
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Marina Mist
Accessories: Island Indigo baker's twine, Antique Brass jumbo eyelet, Mono Multi liquid glue

I wasn't sure how the overlapping images would work, but I'm actually really pleased with how the card turned out.

I started by stamping the World Map image in Marina Mist ink on a Marina Mist card base. I stamped the boat image in black ink over the background and then stamped it again on scraps of Whisper White and Close to Cocoa cardstock. I cut out the white sails and the brown boat and glued them over the corresponding parts of the image on the card.

I wanted to add a little embellishment, so I added a jumbo eyelet in the upper right corner -- they always have a very nautical feeling to me. I also wrapped a piece of Island Indigo baker's twine around the left side of the card and tied it in a knot.

I stamped a birthday sentiment inside the card, but this would be a great masculine card for many different occasions. Thanks for stopping by!

Itsy bitsy spiders and green, speckled frogs

If you have young children, there's a good chance that you have sung The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Five Green and Speckled Frogs many, many times. As a childcare teacher for the past nine years, I'm in the same boat. This month I created a bulletin board for each of those songs, and I think they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

This might just be one of my all-time favorite bulletin boards. The brick background is from a roll of bulletin board paper. I hand drew and cut out the downspout and grass, and the toddlers helped make the rest. They glued cotton balls on the cloud shapes and decorated the flowers with dot paints. But I think the highlights are the raindrops and, of course, the spiders.

To make the raindrops, the toddlers used sponges to paint dark blue and turquoise paint on light blue paper. I cut out the tear-drop shapes and taped them onto pieces of fishing line. I tied the top of each piece of fishing line to a push pin to add a little dimension and give them a little space to move. I did have to weight each strand with a penny taped to the back of the bottom raindrop; without the extra weight, the strands curled up because the paper wasn't heavy enough.

To create the spiders, we used handprints. For each toddler, I painted the palm and four fingers on one hand with black paint and then pressed it on white paper. I wiped the paint off that hand (important step!) and repeated with the other hand, lining up the second handprint so the bottoms of the palms were touching.

Once the paint was dry, I cut out the "spiders." I always let my toddlers put on their own googly eyes, so you never know where they'll end up. But that's what makes them extra cute.

This bulletin board is a close second in terms of favorites. The cloudy sky and blue water are bulletin board papers (although I added the dark blue waves). To make the log, I drew the shape on a large piece of brown packing paper with a permanent marker. (It was paper from an old Stampin' Up! order, actually. I've used that packing paper more than once on bulletin boards.) The paper was large enough to cover our table, so all the toddlers painted together -- some on the log, and some on the rest of the paper -- and then I cut out the log.

I wasn't exactly sure how to go about making five green and speckled frogs when I only have four toddlers, so I improvised. They each made a frog, and I made the legs of a fifth frog, jumping into the pool.

To make the frogs, each toddler painted white, yellow and green paint onto a piece of bubble wrap, popping a few bubbles along the way. When they were done painting, I placed a frog shape on the paint and had them help me rub over the paper to create the "speckles." We added the eyes when they were dry.

We made some "most delicious bugs," colored with markers, to finish off the scene. I folded up the wings on the bugs before adding them to the bulletin board to create some dimension.





Thanks for stopping by!

Remembering Your Birthday

I've been having a lot of fun with my new Remembering Your Birthday stamp set; I love the coordinating sentiments for the outside and inside of cards. For these two cards, I combined the sentiments with a couple of my retired birthday-themed stamp sets.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday, Remembering Your Birthday
Cardstock: Smooth and textured Whisper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Old Olive, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Striped Pacific Point ribbon, Brights Candy Dots, Dimensionals

For this card I used markers to ink the sentiment with different colors. It's a fun and easy way to give emphasis to specific words in a greeting. I stamped the sentiment on a Whisper White flag and tucked the end under the ribbon.

For the rest of this clean and simple card I stamped and cut out three presents, added Candy Dots at the center of the bows and adhered them to the bottom of the card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Remembering Your Birthday
Cardstock: Positively Pink, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Baked Brown Sugar, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, white gel pen
Accessories: Ovals Collection Framelits dies, Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack, paper-piercing mat and tool, Dazzling Details, Pink Essentials ribbon (American Crafts - Elements), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

To make the focal image for this card I stamped the cupcake twice: once on Whisper White and once on Positively Pink cardstock. I cut out the icing part of the pink image and adhered it over the other image, using Glue Dots to provide just a hint of dimension. After coloring the rest of the cupcake, I added a little bit of Dazzling Details glitter glue to the candle flame and sprinkles. A girl likes a little sparkle, right?

Thanks for stopping by!