Gender Neutral Birthday Card

I am curiously low on birthday cards.  So I am working on building up my stash of birthday cards. Not to mention birthday cards are one of the most popular cards I sell.  So it's always good to have some on hand and in the shop. 

These gender neutral birthday cards use heat embossing and the smaller images we overlook in stamp sets to make a big impact. 

You could use this technique with any stamp set you own.  This is a great way to use the smaller images in a stamp sets to really stretch your supplies. How do you stretch your stamps? Let me know any tips or tricks you have in the comments down below.

For full details on how this card was made, check out my YouTube video below:

Products Used: 

Stampin' Up: Party with Cake stamp set

Tsukineko: VersaMark Watermark Ink

Tsukineko: Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Recollections: Detail Embossing Powder in Snow

CAS Bird featuring Spellbinders

Making this CAS card with a blue bird for a pop of color was a delight.  I focused on using the items in my stash instead of the shiny new toys. The embossing folder and little birdy die have been hanging out in my craft rooms for months. 

I am so happy with how this simple card turned out. It is a great reminder that a simple embossing folder can go a looong way on clean and simple cards. Check out the video below to see all the details on how I made this card. What do you think? What are your tips for creating clean  and simple cards?

Products Used

Spellbinders: D-Lite Thank You Dies

Spellbinders: Wedding Ring Stitch Embossing Folder

Spectrum Noir: Basics Permanent Dual Tip Markers

The Greetery: Sentiment Suit Thank You Stamp Set

Ranger: Raincloud Dye Ink Pad

Creatology: Crystal Round Cup Sequins

Cheeky Peach: Creative Stencils with Your Stash

A few weeks ago I got an idea in my head for a saucy, peach themed card. In my head the star of this card was a large, stenciled peach. The only problem is, I don’t have a stencil of a peach. But I had my heart set on making this card. For the sentiment on this card to work I NEEDED a peach. So I looked through the supplies. The only peach stamp I have is a very tiny one. I attempted to make this card with it.  It was alright, but it wasn’t what I had envisioned. So I decided to make my own stencil. And it worked! I am so happy with how this card turned out.

Front of Card: I miss your face
Inside of Card: And your booty. But mostly your face.

When possible, I save product packaging.  Whether it’s pretty cardstock, cello bags, or acetate, it finds a home in my craft room. To make my stencil I used thick acetate from old packaging. All the details on how I made this card are listed in the YouTube video below.

Supplies

Memento - Cantaloupe

Waffle Flower - Dye Ink, Oh Happy Day Dye

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Memento - Pear Tart

Distress Ink - Mowed Lawn

Versamark Embossing Ink

Recollections - Detail Embossing Powder, Ebony

Card Share: Echo Park Hello Easter Kit

Happy Easter y’all!  Last week I made a handful of Easter cards using Echo Park’s Hello Easter kit.  I wanted to share those cards with you today on my blog and youtube channel. The kit was adorable and featured lots of bright spring and Easter themed pattern papers and stickers. Include in the kit were 12 double sized 12"x12" patterned papers and a sticker sheet. In addition to the kit, I used vellum, gold foil paper, and a few Easter stamp sets for sentiments, and various sequins from my stash.

To finish the inside of each card I stamped a sentiment and added a matching strip of patterned paper at the bottom. Each card also has a matching envelope.

I am happy with the cards I was able to make, though it took some time for me to get into my creative groove with this set. I talk more about that and how I found my groove in the card share video below. I didn’t use the entire kit and still have lots of papers and stickers left over that I hope to use in the future to make more cards. 

Here's a look at all the cards I made:

Supplies Used

Echo Park - Hello Easter kit*

Lawn  Fawn - Milo's ABCs stamp set

Lawn Fawn - Happy Easter

Neat & Tangled - Eggstra Special*

Recollections - Gold Foil Cardstock

Ranger - Glossy Accents

* I couldn't find links to these products. Sorry crafty friends.

CAS Lemon Blossom

Yall, I love all things lemon. They are bright and beautiful to look at, they taste amazing in any form, and they have the most cheerful, uplifting aroma. And they make me think of sunshine. So I made a clean and simple lemon themed card that just sings spring to me.

The star of this card is the Lemon Blossom stamp set from The Greetery. I purchased this set back in December, but am just now getting around to it. The images are beautiful and because it’s a layering stamp set the images have a realistic look. And I love that the set had some fun,cheeky sentiments. I am excited to make more cards with it.

For the first layer of the lemons I used Waffle Flower’s You Said What ink. For the second layer of the stamp I used Memento’s Cantaloupe ink.  When I remade this card a week or two later I used Waffle Flower’s Oh Happy Day ink, a bright orange, for more prominent detail. For the leaves I used Memento Pear Tart for the first layer and Cottage Ivy or the second.  Once everything was stamped I used the matching dies to cut the images out.

 

To make the background of the card I did some ink blending on a 4” x 5.25” for panel of 80#cardstock.Using painter’s paint I masked off the outer edges of the card panel. I grabbed Waffle Flower’s Peace of Mind and New Fish in Pod inks to do some gradient ink blending.

To stamp my sentiment I used Versafine Onyx Black ink. I did a little bit of masking on the stamp to make the message I wanted. The original stamp read “you are my main squeeze”.I masked the sentiment so my card would read “my main squeeze.” With the sentiment done I added the die cuts to the panel. I used foam tape to adhere the panel to a standard A2 card base. A sprinkle of sequins finished the front of the card.

For the inside of the card I stamped a sentiment from Stampin’ Up and glue a die cut lemon slice to the inside of the card. And voila, card complete!

For full details on how I made this card check out the video below. Happy crafting!https://youtu.be/aMxruCLG84A

What did I use?

The Greetery - Lemon Blossom Stamp Set 

The Greetery - Lemon Blossom Die 

Stampin’ Up - Picture Perfect Birthday

Waffle Flower Dye Ink - New Fish in Pond 

Waffle Flower Dye Ink - Peace of Mind 

Waffle Flower Dye  Ink- You Said What 

Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Cantaloupe

Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Pear Tart

Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Cottage Ivy

Versafine - Onyx Black 

Creatology - Crystal Round Cup Sequins

Sloth Hugs: Shaker Cards Using Your Stash

Now is the perfect time to send some paper hugs. And is there anything better than
a cute, lil sloth delivering that hug in a shaker card? I think not.

My goal with this card was to use some of the goodies in my stash.  I keep most of
the clear packaging that comes when I buy new products, especially stamps, dies and
stickers. I keep it all stuffed in a drawer and I wanted to work on using it up. So I
decided this needed to be a shaker card. As I was looking through my stuff, I found
a really cute set of sloth themed stickers that I purchased at Dollar Tree a few months
ago. They are adorable stickers that put a smile on my face as soon as I saw them. So
I knew they needed to but put on some cards.

To see how I made this card check out the video below. Happy crafting!

Products Used:

Kat Scrappiness  - Stitched Rectangle Dies https://www.katscrappiness.com/products/stitched-rectangle-dies-by-kat-scrappiness

American Crafts - Zing Embossing Powder, Gold

Creatology - Crystal Round Cup Sequins https://www.michaels.com/crystal-round-cup-sequins-by-creatology/10488573.html

Get Well Prickly Pear

Let me begin this post today with a PSA: Wash your hands folks! It seems to me that everyone is sick right now. Most people I talk to are mid cold or just got over a cold or feeling like they might be getting a cold. I don't know what's in the air but it's nasty. It probably doesn't help that in Virginia the temperatures around here have been swinging from the low 40s to the seventies. So it seemed like as good a time as any to make some get well cards.

I was playing around at my craft desk when inspiration for this card struck. I saw this Prickly Pear stamp from Spellbinders and was immediately inspired. The stamp has a cool 3D effect that adds depth and shading to the image. I absolutely love the way it looks.

I wanted this image to really stand out on the card as the focal point, so I opted for a simple, one layer card. First I grabbed an A2 card base made of white Recollections 110 lb heavyweight cardstock. Since I was stamping directly on the card base I used a stamp positioning tool to ensure I got a good impression. I carefully stamped the cactus portion of the stamp using Limeade Dye Ink Pad from Ranger. I stamped it two or three times to get a really good impression. Next I stamped the pot of the cactus using Stampin' Up Tip Top Taupe. I carefully made sure to get the taupe ink on only the pot, wiping away any ink that got onto the cactus portion of the stamp.

While I liked the way it looked overall, there were a couple of white spots I wasn't so crazy about. To fix this, I used a water brush and the ink colors to fill in the respective white spots on the card. I wouldn't normally watercolor directly on cardstock, but this cardstock is thick and I used a very light amount of water so it worked out okay. 

With the image done it was time for the sentiment. I grabbed the Get Well stamp from Picket Fence and once again use my stamp positioner to get it just right on the card. I stamped it with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink then embossed over top with black embossing powder from my stash. 

And just like that the card was complete! I am so happy with how it turned out. Do you find yourself needing to stock your stash with get well cards? Go forth, craft, and wash your hands so no one needs to send you a get well card.

First Card of 2020

A little late, I know, but here is my first card of 2020.It is not what I expected for my first card of the year, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. When I saw that Kristina Werner was challenging herself and others to mail 1 card a week on Mondays, I wanted in. I am guilty of making cards but rarely mailing them.  So this challenge is a great motivation to actually put my cards in the mail.

The first Monday back to work after the holidays, I really just wanted to hang out with Netflix when I got home. I am at towards the end of a nasty chest cold and the idea of chilling on a comfy couch was very alluring. But I dragged myself from the couch to make this card. 

I  needed to mail a birthday card this week for one of my brothers in law. Thinking of a card design for him was a bit difficult. I struggle with making masculine or conventionally gender neutral cards, but I was up for the challenge.  He loves football, beer, and hiking. Initially I was thinking of doing a nature card. The problem was I don't have many scenic nature stamps.  So instead I looked through all my stamps and pulled any sets that leaned masculine. The Junk Food Artist Trading Stamp set from Fun Stampers Journey stood out to me. He loves good food, as do I, and what better way to celebrate special occasions than with delicious foods? The stamp set has some wonderful sketched images of a hamburger, hot dog, and pizza that I just love. 

Using Verasfine Onyx Black ink  on a 4 1/4  x 5 1/2 piece of cardstock, I stamped the images in multiple rows to create a to create a background. I briefly thought about coloring the images on the panel, but it was late and I was tired. I thought the sketchy images looked neat and simple so opted for a black and white card instead. I trimmed the panel down to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8. Then I used foam tape to adhere the panel to a black A2 card base made with black Recollections Heavyweight cardstock.

With the background complete, it was time for the sentiment. I pulled out the Stampin' Up Party With Cake stamp set. I found this gem at a local craft thrift store and quickly fell in love with the fun and sassy sentiments.  I chose the sentiments "Happy Birthday" and "Calories don't count today" for the front of the card. I used VersaMark ink and Recollections Detail Embossing powder in the color Snow to emboss the sentiments on a piece of black cardstock from my scrap pile.  I cut the sentiments down to size and popped them up on the card with more foam tape.

Now it was time for the inside of the card.  I took a panel of white cardstock cut to 4 x 5 1/4 and stamped the sentiment "sending many wishes your way" with VersaMark Onyx Black ink.  To tie the inside of the card with the outside, I stamped the 3 food images at the bottom of the inside panel using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in the color soft granite.  I used the same ink to stamp the images in the corner of a white A2 envelope.  And voila! A gender neutral black and white birthday card.  It was definitely not what I had in mind when I sat down to create, but I love how it looks. Do you have any tips, tricks, or advice for masculine cards? I’d love to hear it in the comments!