Three Birthday Cards, Three People, For The Same Day

Hello Everyone!

Did you expect me to post again so quickly after yesterday's post? Well after I completed those cards for the 'Denim & Girls' card kit yesterday, I immediately set out to make three birthday cards for three different people that have their birthday on the same day! These people are my Dad, who is turning 87, and my two younger sisters, who are twins and turning 60! I had to get them done on time so that my sister that lives an hour away could also write in and sign the cards for the other two birthdays in time to send them off in the mail. As a matter of fact, she is the one that commissioned me to make the cards. I also had to make one for me to give to her too. So let's have a look.

Here are three cards all together.

The first card you see here should look a little familiar to some of you if you have been following my posts for about three years. I posted it here when I was teaching at Scrapbook Essentials BC after being chosen to be a Spellbinders Educator. This was a card that I hung on to for a long time because it was a favourite of mine. This is the card that I decided would suite the younger of my twin sisters.

 I just added the stamped 'Birthday Greetings' and the large '60'.

This next photo shows the '60' closer.

Hopefully you can see the four layers of light pink cardstock under the gold foil layer. I love this technique the Jennifer McGuire shows many times on her video tutorials.

Next in the first photo is a masculine looking card that I made for my Dad.

This card is comprised of Stampin' Up! stamps from when I was a demonstrator a few years back. (If you haven't seen my Stampin' Up! blog here is a link for some further inspiration for you.) I tried to make this an elegant masculine card.

You can see the layers above. You know me and layers; I love them!

I think my Dad is going to really like this card! I forgot to take photos of the inside, because I did some gold embossing on the inside too.

Now come the last card for my other twin sister, the oder of the two by 2 1/2 minutes. This one uses Altenew's "Cherished Memories" stamps and dies. I also used their alcohol markers to colour the flowers and leaves.

 The 'Happy Birthday' stamp is from Stampin' Up! however. If you look closely you can see that all the flowers around the edge are glued down to the edge of the cardstock piece, and them popped up toward the center of the the piece. I love how it turned out!

I used the same technique with the '60' again, except I used layers of white cardstock for this card.

I think I will do more alcohol marker colouring again. I forgot how much fun it is, and I'm a little out of practise.

Well, that's it for these three birthday cards. Hope you enjoyed seeing them and that they have inspired your creativity too.

Happy creativity!

Altenew Striped Floral Valentine for Dad

Hello everyone! Today's post is not class related, and I know that Valentines is a bit off into the future, but if I do not post it now, I might forget. Plus there is the time does go by quickly and it will be Valentines before we know it.

One day I was cleaning up my craft area and came across the Altenew Striped Floral stamp set. I wondered if I could make a masculine card using the set, and sat down with it deciding to make a valentine card for my Dad, and came up with this card.

Used Altenew's Platinum embossing powder on the black card stock. It looks better in real life than in the photo. Because I used my stamping platform, I was able to double heat emboss the striped flowers which helped to make the embossing smoother, thicker, and added more dimension.

I also love how the Nuvo Crystal Drops in Ebony Black look on the black card stock.

My heart shaped dies are still packed away in storage, so I had to cut a heart out of the red card stock with my scissors. Again the "for you" is heat embossed in Platinum on the the red (single layer only).

I think that I proved to myself that a person can create a masculine card with flower stamps. It just depends on the colours and techniques you use. I think my 84 year old Dad will like this card.

Thank you for stopping by to have a look! Maybe you will make your own personal challenge to create a masculine card using a floral stamp set...

Tomorrow I will share another MISITI / Stamping Platform & Altenew class, so be sure to stop by again to have a peek.

Happy creating!

Lighthouse in a Clock!

- a Father's Day project for a June class

This is a real fun project to make for a fun gift for a special man, and ideal for Father's Day. You've heard of a ship in a bottle, right. Well, when I saw Tim Holtz's new clock, I thought lighthouse in a clock! Don't ask me how that thought came to be, it was just there. So this is the end result.

White capped waves in layers with a lighthouse silhouette laser cut from black chipboard. Because of the shape of the clock, as you get closer to the front glass, the circle narrows a bit. So, I had to make different sized circles for every two layers. I cut  total of three layers using the top and bottom of each circle to create six layers of waves. Each wave sequence I drew is different.

Before I tell you more, why don't you have a look at some of the photos.

The anchor and ship's wheel are also laser cut from black chipboard, but I then heat embossed them on both sides with silver.

Now, let's take the back off and show you more.

To get the whitecaps I used my little Studio gesso bottle and gently squeezed out a little and in small circular motions while spreading it around. You can just barely see the shine reflected from the Glossy Accents that I applied in the same way.

Here you can better see the layering.

I tried to load the short video for you to view, but for some reason it's not working today. So I'm trying to link you to YouTube so that you can view it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPHZP7lqknk
Hopefully this will work.

Thank you for stopping by to have a look. Happy papercrafting everyone!
 

A Proper Gentleman - Masculine Cards - Scrapbook Parade Class

Even though I don't often make them, I do enjoy making masculine cards. Most men can't be bothered with cards, but if done right they can appreciate them more than they might admit. The key I find, is to keep them looking simple even if they really aren't.

After preparing for the Father's Day gift class, there is enough of the paper left over to have two masculine card classes. I've prepared cards for one class, and we'll see about a second. The focus of these cards is the paper, so mainly there is paper cutting and not much stamping and techniques.

Here they are.

And here they are individually for a better look.

You'll have noticed that a couple of the cards have a sentiment banner or tab that is blank. I left it that way as in class they will be left up to the customer to decide what they wish to stamp. The rest are sentiment free like an all-occasion card. Though, there is room to add a sentiment if they wish to.

Thank you for stopping by to see what some of my future classes will be. I have tons more to work on as come September we wish to have the last four months of the year ready for signing up. So I hope you'll keep checking in to see what fun things we'll be doing for the rest of the year, and to inspire your own creative versions.

Happy crafting everyone!

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

PAPER: Graphic 45 "A Proper Gentleman"
Ranger Liquid Pearls: Gold & Copper
SPELLBINDERS: Standard Circles, Standard Ovals, Petite Ovals 
EMBELLISHMENTS: Graphic 45 Brads, Bulk Metal embellishments from the store
INK: Versa Magic Red Brick

A Proper Gentleman Father`s Day Project - Scrapbook Parade Class

Father`s day is soon upon us, and I have this fun project for a class. Using a mini printer`s tray and the last of the Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman paper collection I will be having class to make this wonderful Father`s Day gift.

 

We will take this tray/shadowbox...

 

 

...and make this!

And here are a few close ups. First, the top.

Did you see the two little jars? Second the upper compartment...

Then the hidden photos.

Next, the lower compartments with mini-shadow-box scenes.

And lastly, the back with a hidden tab/tag card. I find most men are not card people, so I thought a hidden tag at the back of the project would be more their style.

This will be a fun project to put together on Saturday, June 9th. This will be following my Monochromatic card class on the same day. 

Thank you for stopping by to peek. I`d love to hear what you are making for Father`s day, and if this project inspires you in any way. ;) Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday

After a quick consult with my 6-year-old son, it was decided that the masculine card I had to whip up today would feature a guitar. I believe this is the first time I've put my Boy Basics: Rock On set/die to use.

Rock on!!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone
• Stamps: Boy Basics: Rock On
• Ink: Smokey Shadow, Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Crushed Olive Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
• Dies: Rock On
• Other Tools: Mustard Seed Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)

Moxie Fab Horizontal Sketch and Fall Frenzy Link Party

They've had some mah-velous sketches on Moxie Fab coming from the new Card Ideas magazine! The horizontal sketch was actually my least favorite. I had plenty of ideas for it, regardless, and ended up with a one layer, masculine, somewhat monochromatic, autumn-themed card.

I started out by stamping the leaves and sentiment in brown ink and heat embossing them with clear powder. I applied the background stamp with Versamark ink and then inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The kraft heart tag was die-cut, the edges inked and a very minimal amount of ink to sort of stamp a heart in the middle. The tag was attached to a wooden brad with jute button twine. I stabbed the brad through a fragment of scrunchy seam binding that I got from Steph via the Papertrey Ink forum (can't thank you enough, Steph!!) and attached it to the card.

Here's a better look at the embossing detail:

[Edited to add:] Linda over at Craftaholics Anonymous is throwing a Fall Frenzy Link Party! This has been my only Fall project so far this year but I hope to add more soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

• Cardstock: Terracotta Tile, Kraft
• Stamps: Leaf Prints (leaves), Tiny Tags (very faint heart in tag), Falling for You (sentiment), Fancy Phrases (Waltzingmouse Stamps - small flourish), Weave Backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa and Versamark (both Tsukineko), Walnut Stain Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
• Dies: Tiny Tags
• Other Tools: clear embossing powder (Filigree), wooden brad (unknown), seam binding (unknown)