As my crafting time has been very limited I based the birthday card on this one I made back in October 2013 rather than designing a brand new card. Cheating maybe - but I think it's interesting to revisit a previous design and make it using different colours! For this original version I used a Pink Pirouette and Primrose Petals colour combo.
This time around I went for blues, opting for Pool Party and Island Indigo. To get the multi tonal look I first inked the bloom stamp with Pool Party ink and then I dabbed on some Island Indigo ink with a sponge dauber. It's important to remember to wipe the stamp on a piece of kitchen roll paper between stampings so that the lighter colour ink pad doesn't get contaminated with the darker colour ink. I then inked the edges of the panel with Island Indigo ink and gave the blooms a touch of sparkle by dotting PVA glue here and there and sprinkling on some ultrafine crystal glitter. I attached the ribbon, glued the panel to a mat layer of Pool Party CS and that was then glued to the front of an Island Indigo A6 sized card base. I inked the bloom stamp with Pool Party ink, stamped it onto Pool Party CS and then stamped the sentiment in Island Indigo ink. I love the layered stamping look! I die cut the oval, inked the edges and popped the oval up. As a finishing touch I added a small flower with a gem centre. Hmmm, a tough call but I think I prefer the blue version!
Here's a closer look at the multi tonal and layered stamping.
Here's the inside and the envelope.
For the Christmas card I stayed with blues and made my own version of a card shown on page 12 of the SU! Autumn/Winter catalogue. The Sleigh Ride Edgelits dies were another "must have" item for me! Using ink duster brushes I applied Distress Inks to a piece of Whisper White CS, starting with Tumbled Glass at the bottom, then Faded Jeans and lastly Chipped Sapphire at the top. I then added some snow using watered down white acrylic paint and a paintbrush. I dipped the brush into the paint, tapped the brush first over a piece of scrap paper to get rid of the big blobs and then I tapped over the inked panel. The watered down acrylic paint gives a fab snow effect, the spots are slightly raised so there's a lovely touch of texture. I cut the sleigh die from Whisper White CS and then cut just the sleigh and horse portion from Night of Navy CS. I glued the Night of Navy piece behind the white piece, offsetting it slightly so that there is a shadow. I glued the white piece over the inked panel but didn't apply any glue behind the sleigh and horse - I pulled that portion forward just a wee bit to give some dimension. A simple stamped sentiment and a punched silver snowflake completed the card. I have to say I was very happy how this card turned out! Sue at card group made her card more special by using a mask for a moon which looked beautiful!
Here's the inside and envelope. I used Lost Lagoon ink to stamp the snowflakes.
The third project was another memo block and pen gift, similar to the one we made back in August. The ladies had asked to make a version that they could give away as Christmas gifts so I made the trays red and used a Christmassy colour patterned paper. When I made up the kits I used various papers from a 6" square paper pad and opted for papers that weren't TOO Christmassy in design so that the memo blocks could still be used after the Christmas season. I halved a memo block, and made the tray to sit the block in from a 5 3/4" square of Real Red CS, scored at 1 1/8" on all four sides and snipped to make tabs. I tweaked the closure of the bag this time, opting to punch holes in the topper and cello bag so that I could tie the package closed with a ribbon bow - a bit more fancy than staples!
This time around I used a label punch to make the fancy shape hole for the front of the tray rather than a die - much quicker!
Here's the memo block and pen in the tray out of the packaging.
Stamps: SU! 'Blooming with Kindness' & 'Wetlands' sets
CS: SU! Island Indigo, Pool Party & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Island Indigo & Pool Party
Tools: Petite Oval Nestabilities die, Woodware flower punch, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Island Indigo cotton ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, rhinestone jewel, Dimensionals
Supplies for Merry Christmas card:
Stamps: Merry Christmas from SU! Seasonal Wishes set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' set, PSX 'Snowflake Medley'
CS: SU! Night of Navy & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Night of Navy, Ranger Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, & Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks
Tools: SU! 'Sleigh Ride' Edgelits die set, Fiskars snowflake punch, Inkylicious ink duster brushes
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewel, watered down white acrylic paint & a paintbrush
Supplies for memo block & pen gift:
Stamps: 'Just a Note' from Marianne Designs 'Typewriter' dies & stamps combo set
CS: SU! Real Red, Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Kaisercraft 'Mistletoe' pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black,
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, SU! Decorative Label punch, X Cut corner rounder punch, circle punches, Crop-a-dile
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Real Red satin ribbon, Wilko memo block, Zebra Z Grip mini ballpoint pen, cello bag to fit a 5" x 7" card
Lovely, lovely birthday cards ... I agree, it is a tough call and I couldn't decide which I liked the best! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful creations!
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