Summer Sun Birthday Card

I saw some sandpaper at the hardware store and thought of using it for a beach!  I borrowed the waves and beach chair and sun die cut from a neighbor and scrounged through my stash and --

VOILA!

The beach chair and sun are die cuts from Sizzlits. The wave border is from Taylored Dies.  I used a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Framed Out #6:   Celebrate today.  I had an old die from QuicKutz which I had originally used for a bridal shower invitation.  When I was done, it was missing something in the upper right corner. I found a stamp from Hampton Art Ditto of a swallow--and hope that stamped in white ink it looks like a gull!  It had a tiny heart that I colored red to match the chair and umbrella stripe and pole and make that dark red "pop."  Happy Birthday, Amy!

Moose Sighting!

I finally finished the curtain project for my son's family's pop-up camper. The fabric was dark green with large moose.

It was a great fabric with a plaid border edged with wood. The moose were large and lifelike!  The coordinating print was a houndstooth check with teal, green and aqua.  The panels were attached by velcro to sliding plastic connectors with sticky velcro squares.  That's a pillow in the center.  I had just enough fabric left over to make it, too.

Here they are in place!

Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge 7.9.12

Stamping on Texture--

Two Variations on an Anniversary Theme

I needed two anniversary cards for two nephews and their wives who live in Indiana and Colorado.  I watched Heather Nichols stamp on texture on Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday and decided, for the first time, to join the challenge.  I used Papertrey Ink's Background Basics: Text Style to stamp on two different textures using similar themes on slightly different colored backgrounds.

On grey and white cardstock, I embossed texture using Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots and Lifestyle Crafts' (formerly QuicKutz) Diamonds and Dots embossing templates.  Using Penny Black's day-dreams stamp, I die cut and embossed the image in an oval with Spellbinders' Nestabilities' scalloped oval set. I then colored the stamped image with a variety of Marvy Le Plume markers, a blender pen from Stampin' Up, and ink pads from Plaid: periwinkle and citrus green. 

I used the Plaid ink pads to stamp the text style on the textures, using periwinkle on grey Diamonds and Dots and citrus green on white Swiss Dots textures. The white stamped texture did not contrast enough with the white oval so I distressed the textured and stamped background around the edges and near the oval with Papertrey Ink's Fine Linen Dye Ink Pad to make the oval contrast more with the stamped texture.

I added some faux pearls from Recollections, a sheer lavender ribbon and bow from my stock, and a sentiment from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations set: Happiness Always.

I hope the couples will get the same message--in different textures and colors!

Family Event Cards

I made this card twice, one for each new grand-niece to welcome them to the family.  I included a sterling silver spoon of my mother's inscribed with "CJ". Callie or Caroline Johnson was my mother's grandmother and the babies' great-great-great grandmother. I had each spoon engraved with the girls' initials.  Welcome, little girl cousins Samantha and Margaret, to the family.

My grandson, Craig, was 12 on July 5th.  He received this card in the mail.  I used the Rosie Posie hexagons from Papertrey Ink and some pre-made embellishments to make it fun for him to open.

This helped make it a twelve-year old boy's birthday card, too!

Greeting Cards for July

Bonnie brought this card design to our workshop and we all made a card from her kits. She said it was difficult to fit the squares on an A2 card.  I think she did it--and the colors are lively.

Bonnie's other design was a lovely color combination with lacey doilies and butterflies.  Even the background was embossed with butterflies.  Can't wait to send it to a niece for her birthday in July.

Carol's design used a floral border stamp that we colored with markers, some honeycomb yellow patteerned paper and a great ribbon.  I used Bonnie's bee stamp for some action.

I brought a design with two variations on a similar theme. I used the Rosie Posie stamps from Papertrey Ink and stamped directly on the patterned paper as shown in the most current Make It Monday from the same company.  I added a bee stamp and the turned up corner for some dimension.

My other design used more masculine colors to go with the brown grosgrain ribbon.  The flourishes were stamped directly on the patterned paper.  The sentiment was stamped with a flourish on the embossed oval die-cut.

We all have different styles, but together we make a great group and a wonderful bunch of cards.