Happy Birthday Card to Wrap Up a Fun Week

What a week it has been!  The only think that could possibly top Cricut's 5th Birthday Party and release of the Expression 2 was a Royal Wedding!  I may need the weekend to recover from this fun, fun week.  I thought I would wrap up the week with a fun birthday card.

The card was created using Imaginesce cardstock and chipboard stickers, the I-Top tool, Stampin' Up stamps, and a Stampin' Up punch.   I really like the bright and festive look of this card.  The cake and present chipboard stickers really pop off of the brown cardstock on the cover, but then I took the card to the next step.  I added a stamped and punch tag, color coordinating flowers, and an I-Top brad. 

I like the fold of the card.  Begin with a 12" strip of cardstock.  Fold the cardstock in half.  Then fold the top half of the card in half again, folding back toward the fold.  You will create an uneven Z fold.  You then attach a small rectangle to the top half of the card.  The photo above shows this fold far better than I could possibly explain it to you.

The top of the card pulls to the left to open.  Inside the card I stamped Happy Birthday again and left plenty of space to write a personalized message.

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Happy Birthday Card to Wrap Up a Fun Week

What a week it has been!  The only think that could possibly top Cricut's 5th Birthday Party and release of the Expression 2 was a Royal Wedding!  I may need the weekend to recover from this fun, fun week.  I thought I would wrap up the week with a fun birthday card.

The card was created using Imaginesce cardstock and chipboard stickers, the I-Top tool, Stampin' Up stamps, and a Stampin' Up punch.   I really like the bright and festive look of this card.  The cake and present chipboard stickers really pop off of the brown cardstock on the cover, but then I took the card to the next step.  I added a stamped and punch tag, color coordinating flowers, and an I-Top brad. 

I like the fold of the card.  Begin with a 12" strip of cardstock.  Fold the cardstock in half.  Then fold the top half of the card in half again, folding back toward the fold.  You will create an uneven Z fold.  You then attach a small rectangle to the top half of the card.  The photo above shows this fold far better than I could possibly explain it to you.

The top of the card pulls to the left to open.  Inside the card I stamped Happy Birthday again and left plenty of space to write a personalized message.

Read more »

Happy Birthday Card to Wrap Up a Fun Week

What a week it has been!  The only think that could possibly top Cricut's 5th Birthday Party and release of the Expression 2 was a Royal Wedding!  I may need the weekend to recover from this fun, fun week.  I thought I would wrap up the week with a fun birthday card.The card was created using Imaginesce cardstock and chipboard stickers, the I-Top tool, Stampin' Up stamps, and a Stampin' Up punch.

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Warm Winter Birthday Wishes

Happy Wednesday everyone.  We are halfway through the first week of 2011.  I bet all of you teachers out there are counting the hours until Friday afternoon after two weeks off.  My son's school district scheduled a teacher work day on Monday to help them transition back to school.  He was thankful for the transition day.

We have two family birthdays in January, my mom and my daughter.  Their birthdays are one week apart - Bethany was late and my mom was annoyed that Bethany refused to be born on her birthday.  I wanted her to come by Christmas so I had not sympathy for mom's annoyance!!

Anyway, this is mom's birthday card.  Inside the card, which I forgot to photograph, reads Warm Winter Birthday Wishes!  I used Bazzill cardstock and Echo Park cardstock; Spellbinder's Snowflake Pendant 2010, Label #14, Lacey Circles, and regular circles dies; JustRite stamps and Popcorn the Bear stamps; Stampin' Up ink and ribbon to create this card.  Oh, and a Spellbinder's embossing plate. 

I wanted a winter themed card that was both feminine and fun and I believe that this card met those goals.  I used Bazzill shimmer cardstock and Spellbinder's Snowflake Pendant  dies to cut the adorable pink snowflakes.  I used a pink ink to stamp the circle and lacey spellbinder dies with JustRite stamps.  Again, going for feminine with all of the pink, yet fun with the embossing and less formal stamps.

I had trouble finding a Happy Birthday stamp for the front of the card.  I am not sure where I stashed all of my birthday stamps.  I finally used a Popcorn the Bear "Happy Birthday" stamp.

I should be back tomorrow with another Spellbinder based project.

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Warm Winter Birthday Wishes

Happy Wednesday everyone.  We are halfway through the first week of 2011.  I bet all of you teachers out there are counting the hours until Friday afternoon after two weeks off.  My son's school district scheduled a teacher work day on Monday to help them transition back to school.  He was thankful for the transition day.

We have two family birthdays in January, my mom and my daughter.  Their birthdays are one week apart - Bethany was late and my mom was annoyed that Bethany refused to be born on her birthday.  I wanted her to come by Christmas so I had not sympathy for mom's annoyance!!

Anyway, this is mom's birthday card.  Inside the card, which I forgot to photograph, reads Warm Winter Birthday Wishes!  I used Bazzill cardstock and Echo Park cardstock; Spellbinder's Snowflake Pendant 2010, Label #14, Lacey Circles, and regular circles dies; JustRite stamps and Popcorn the Bear stamps; Stampin' Up ink and ribbon to create this card.  Oh, and a Spellbinder's embossing plate. 

I wanted a winter themed card that was both feminine and fun and I believe that this card met those goals.  I used Bazzill shimmer cardstock and Spellbinder's Snowflake Pendant  dies to cut the adorable pink snowflakes.  I used a pink ink to stamp the circle and lacey spellbinder dies with JustRite stamps.  Again, going for feminine with all of the pink, yet fun with the embossing and less formal stamps.

I had trouble finding a Happy Birthday stamp for the front of the card.  I am not sure where I stashed all of my birthday stamps.  I finally used a Popcorn the Bear "Happy Birthday" stamp.

I should be back tomorrow with another Spellbinder based project.

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Batman Birthday Set

We had a birthday in our family last weekend.  We celebrated my son Aaron's birthday - my son Aaron's 25th birthday!  Aaron is a fun man.  He believes that Batman is the greatest super hero ever because he is sure that Batman has something in his bat belt to take out any other super hero.   Aaron and I had a conversation going on via facebook where we were debating who was better, Batman or Superman.  I thought (apparently in error!) that Superman could take Batman.  Batman is after all a mere human where as Superman is from another planet.  Superman can fly, repel bullets, has laser vision, etc.  Just as I finished stating my case Aaron informed me that he is sure that Batman keeps Kryptonite in his utility belt just in case Superman needs taking down!   Such intellectual debate!

It matters not that Aaron is 25, I decided that Batman should be the theme of the day.  One of Aaron's gifts was Converse All-Star high top sneakers - with Batman and Gotham cartoon print fabric!  Aaron is a high school teacher so I am sure his new footwear will be a hit with his students!  As the sneakers set the theme, I decided to let Batman be apart of his other gifts.  I found a Batman gift bag at a local store and it was perfect size for the hardcover book we had for Aaron. 

Using black, navy, cream and yellow cardstock I made a Batman birthday card and envelope.  I used Design Studio and welded two Batman heads together to create the card shape.  The face and mask elements were cut to size for the card.  A skin tone Copic marker was used to color Batman's face - though I did wonder if he should have a five o'clock shadow!  The Batman font was used on the card, except for the O; I used a circle and the bat emblem for the O. 

For Aaron's smaller gift I created the 3-D Gotham box from the Batman cartridge.  The box was super easy to make, even with my one change to the pattern.  The box is supposed to close under the bat emblem, but I decided to add sticky velcro under the light beam.

Aaron LOVED his sneakers.  He also liked his other two gifts even if they were not Batman related.  He laughed at his Bat card and gift box!!  Who would have thought that Batman would be such a hit for my son's 25th birthday!!  Well, actually I guess I did.  After all, I only purchased the Batman cartridge BECAUSE of Aaron!!!

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Batman Birthday Set

We had a birthday in our family last weekend.  We celebrated my son Aaron's birthday - my son Aaron's 25th birthday!  Aaron is a fun man.  He believes that Batman is the greatest super hero ever because he is sure that Batman has something in his bat belt to take out any other super hero.   Aaron and I had a conversation going on via facebook where we were debating who was better, Batman or Superman.  I thought (apparently in error!) that Superman could take Batman.  Batman is after all a mere human where as Superman is from another planet.  Superman can fly, repel bullets, has laser vision, etc.  Just as I finished stating my case Aaron informed me that he is sure that Batman keeps Kryptonite in his utility belt just in case Superman needs taking down!   Such intellectual debate!

It matters not that Aaron is 25, I decided that Batman should be the theme of the day.  One of Aaron's gifts was Converse All-Star high top sneakers - with Batman and Gotham cartoon print fabric!  Aaron is a high school teacher so I am sure his new footwear will be a hit with his students!  As the sneakers set the theme, I decided to let Batman be apart of his other gifts.  I found a Batman gift bag at a local store and it was perfect size for the hardcover book we had for Aaron. 

Using black, navy, cream and yellow cardstock I made a Batman birthday card and envelope.  I used Design Studio and welded two Batman heads together to create the card shape.  The face and mask elements were cut to size for the card.  A skin tone Copic marker was used to color Batman's face - though I did wonder if he should have a five o'clock shadow!  The Batman font was used on the card, except for the O; I used a circle and the bat emblem for the O. 

For Aaron's smaller gift I created the 3-D Gotham box from the Batman cartridge.  The box was super easy to make, even with my one change to the pattern.  The box is supposed to close under the bat emblem, but I decided to add sticky velcro under the light beam.

Aaron LOVED his sneakers.  He also liked his other two gifts even if they were not Batman related.  He laughed at his Bat card and gift box!!  Who would have thought that Batman would be such a hit for my son's 25th birthday!!  Well, actually I guess I did.  After all, I only purchased the Batman cartridge BECAUSE of Aaron!!!

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Epic Card with Imagine and JT

I know this is not my usual paper craft style, but I am putting this out here anyway.  This Epic card was created with the Cricut Imagine and the Cricut Imagine JT cartridge.  I also used an Imagine pre-loaded shape as the background mat.  And in keeping with my theme of Imagine elements, I also printed the background paper from the JT cartridge.

There are so many things I could share about how wonderful the Cricut Imagine is to work with, but today I am going to focus on just one particularly appealing aspect of the Imagine.  My friend Susan from Seneca said that she loves the Imagine because all of the papers and colors on a single cartridge are already coordinated for her!  She likes knowing that the selections she makes will all look wonderful together in her completed projects.

 

In this specific project I chose the flourish accented skull and the wing accented word Epic as my main elements.  Using the layers feature on the Imagine, I split the skull cut into layers and recolored the top layer, the face, with the skull print paper on the JT cartridge.  I thought it would be more striking if the skull had skull print.  I will say that you loose a few details when you cut the skull alone, but it is worth it for the layered effect.

 

I cut the word Epic using only two layers.  You can actually choose to cut this piece in four layers, but I liked the overall print better.  I cut this in two layers so that I could layer to two pieces.  The headphones were cut as a single layer.  I did not want the headphones to over power the skull. 

The photo above shows the inside of the card.  I used just a top layer of the skull with a larger set of headphones.  This leaves plenty of room for personalizing the card.  I see this card as a potential birthday card for one of my sons (both have birthdays in the next 60 days).  While one son is very into music the other often uses the word Epic!  Alas, there will be choices to make....

After layering the elements together I added think black and white gingham ribbon over the tag matting, but under the skull flourish.  I tied the to strips of ribbon together with rough twine.  I added a touch of the twine around the i in epic.  I actually tried using wire as an embellishment for this card, but it blended together too well and there was no POP effect.

I will be back tomorrow to share an on-going project with you.  See you tomorrow.

Read more »

Epic Card with Imagine and JT

I know this is not my usual paper craft style, but I am putting this out here anyway.  This Epic card was created with the Cricut Imagine and the Cricut Imagine JT cartridge.  I also used an Imagine pre-loaded shape as the background mat.  And in keeping with my theme of Imagine elements, I also printed the background paper from the JT cartridge.

There are so many things I could share about how wonderful the Cricut Imagine is to work with, but today I am going to focus on just one particularly appealing aspect of the Imagine.  My friend Susan from Seneca said that she loves the Imagine because all of the papers and colors on a single cartridge are already coordinated for her!  She likes knowing that the selections she makes will all look wonderful together in her completed projects.

 

In this specific project I chose the flourish accented skull and the wing accented word Epic as my main elements.  Using the layers feature on the Imagine, I split the skull cut into layers and recolored the top layer, the face, with the skull print paper on the JT cartridge.  I thought it would be more striking if the skull had skull print.  I will say that you loose a few details when you cut the skull alone, but it is worth it for the layered effect.

 

I cut the word Epic using only two layers.  You can actually choose to cut this piece in four layers, but I liked the overall print better.  I cut this in two layers so that I could layer to two pieces.  The headphones were cut as a single layer.  I did not want the headphones to over power the skull. 

The photo above shows the inside of the card.  I used just a top layer of the skull with a larger set of headphones.  This leaves plenty of room for personalizing the card.  I see this card as a potential birthday card for one of my sons (both have birthdays in the next 60 days).  While one son is very into music the other often uses the word Epic!  Alas, there will be choices to make....

After layering the elements together I added think black and white gingham ribbon over the tag matting, but under the skull flourish.  I tied the to strips of ribbon together with rough twine.  I added a touch of the twine around the i in epic.  I actually tried using wire as an embellishment for this card, but it blended together too well and there was no POP effect.

I will be back tomorrow to share an on-going project with you.  See you tomorrow.

Read more »

Popcorn the bear wishing a happy birthday

Popcorn the bear is back to wish you a happy birthday!  This little cutie is going to my friend Ruth as part of her series of bear cards.  I created two similar versions of this card, each using core'dination cardstock and my Stampin' Up punches.
 

The packages were time consuming to color with my Copic markers, but were actually a great coloring exercise.  I learned a lot about what my markers can and cannot do.  I really enjoyed the plaid package - easy to do one color at a time.  I used my white gel pen to add the dots to the blue package.

I added a small Party Time phrase to the front of the card using a stamp that came with the Popcorn set and Stampin' Up ink and oval punch.  I finished the oval with dots and dashes in white pen.

I finished off the bottom edge with a Stampin' Up border punch and a bit of lime green ribbon.  I actually made two versions of this card and did not use floral print ribbon on the other card.  I was hoping that the floral ribbon feminized this card a bit.

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Popcorn the bear wishing a happy birthday

Popcorn the bear is back to wish you a happy birthday!  This little cutie is going to my friend Ruth as part of her series of bear cards.  I created two similar versions of this card, each using core'dination cardstock and my Stampin' Up punches.
 

The packages were time consuming to color with my Copic markers, but were actually a great coloring exercise.  I learned a lot about what my markers can and cannot do.  I really enjoyed the plaid package - easy to do one color at a time.  I used my white gel pen to add the dots to the blue package.

I added a small Party Time phrase to the front of the card using a stamp that came with the Popcorn set and Stampin' Up ink and oval punch.  I finished the oval with dots and dashes in white pen.

I finished off the bottom edge with a Stampin' Up border punch and a bit of lime green ribbon.  I actually made two versions of this card and did not use floral print ribbon on the other card.  I was hoping that the floral ribbon feminized this card a bit.

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Happy Birthday with Loralei

I think I may have a new addiction - Loralei stamps!  The Loralei stamps are a product of Loralei Productions.  While in Chicago at CHA I met Loralei and her model/friend Susan.  I have not used my Susan stamp yet, but soon....

 I am going to confess that what I like about the Loralei stamps is their lack youth!  They remind me of me and my middle-aged girlfriends; the wide hips, the not quite perky bosom, and the mature facial features.  These women rock!

I added a small package to the lower left corner of the card - the package is one of several smaller stamps included in the Loralei stamp package.

The card is constructed of smooth white cardstock with a piece of patterned cardstock affixed to the front of the card.  Using a two inch scalloped circle punch, I punched three circles and attached them to the left side of the card. I tied a ribbon around the card vertically over top of the circles. 

I finished the card by affixing the Copic colored stamped images to the front of the card using pop dots and stamping a Happy Birthday sentiment inside the card.  I still have two unused Loralei stamps to share with you... But those are for another day.

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