Megan's Engagement Card

Shannon (left) and Megan (right) freezing and watching the sunset on Presque Isle, Erie, PA.

My friend Megan and I met in college; we lived together for a year (Aug 2010- May 2011), along with our other friend and roommate, Shannon.  Throughout that year we both Megan and I were doing our Student Teaching for our undergrad.  So we were busy, but we did have time to have some fun!  

Megan's personality is like none that I have ever encountered.  She is VERY outgoing, bubbly, witty, "tells you like it is," hilarious, and  sassy, but Megan is also kind, caring, and smart.  

Enjoying the view.

Anyways....the reason for this post is that Megan's boyfriend, proposed!!!  MEGAN IS ENGAGED!  So I thought that she needed a special card to congratulate her on her exciting and sparkly news.  

To make this card I used the Love and Laughter set from SU and a background stamp by Basic Grey/Hero Arts.  Basic Grey has teamed up with Hero Arts to make large background stamps that match the Basic Grey sets.  I used the Tiny Heart Background, which matches Basic Grey's Knee Highs & Bow Ties set.  This was my first time using this brand of stamps.  They are awesome.  Some background stamps are hard to ink and cover thoroughly.  Then when they are stamped some spots end up bare.  These stamps are easy to cover and they come out perfectly every time.  I added some washi tapes along the bottom with a white sparkly bow. 

Cooper photoboming the picture.

I wish you the best of luck in your engagement and marriage.  

Girl's Birthday Cards

In another post, I wrote about all the boy's birthday cards.  Well this post is about all the girl birthday cards.  My cousin Hraina, turned 18 on August 13th.  When we were younger we so so close.  She was the baby of the group of cousins, and I was the third oldest.  Even though I am 8 years older than her, we were partners in crime, we were always together, and we were best friends.  When we were younger we would often wonder what the future would be like when she was 18 and I was 26.  I wish I would have written them down to see if they were anything like we are today.  

Hraina grew up loving everything pink and sparkly (I taught her well).  As she grew up, her favorite color choices changed and she stopped loving butterflies, flowers, and sparkles.  This broke my heart, but there are other colors besides pink and sparkly.  I wanted to keep her card simple.  I came up with this cute card, and I even snuck some sparkles in there too. 

The green candles are made from Bling Bazzill card stock.  Below is a close up of the Bling Bazzill.  This card used so many of my scraps.  I cut the strips in varying lengths, so I could put the candles in rows and none of them would be hidden.  To get the embossed dots to look random on the candles I put the strips in the embossing folder on a diagonal.  To make the candle flame, I used a water drop punch, so I did not have to cut out 18 flames by hand.  I added a simple bow and label from Stampin' Up's Label Love set. 

My neighbor Brynn turned 3 on August 23rd.  I can't believe she is 3 already, just like I can't believe Hraina is 18 and a senior in high school.  Where did the time go?

For Brynn's card I used bright colors and the ice cream scoop stamp set from Studio Calico.

Studio Calico features the work of noteworthy designers, provides online support and encouragement, and offers products that are both fun and innovative. We are dedicated to design and an old-fashioned commitment to customer care.

Each month, Studio Calico combines the latest scrapbooking products with unique finds from a variety of sources while staying true to the basics. You'll find kits filled with products from a variety of manufacturers, coordinated for ease-of-use by both the advanced and novice scrapbooker. 

• neutral + colored cardstock

• patterned papers from multiple manufactures

• at least one alphabet

• journaling aid(s)

• variety of embellishments which may include vintage items, 

stamps, ribbon, chipboard, and more!

Studio Calico also offers add-on kits to supplement the main kit, or to stand alone. Whether it's a main kit or add-on, Studio Calico is devoted to providing the resources to help members put innovative products to use.

I stacked the scoops of ice cream, using the lightest color on the bottom.  I then added numbers counting the number of ice cream scoops.  

My college roommate, Katie. Her birthday was September 17th.  Katie and I lived together Sophomore year through our Senior year.  We had some great times together.

This is us at our Senior Dinner Dance.

The solid pink and yellow flowers are stamped on a VersaMark pad, and then on the color ink pad.  I then covered the flowers with clear embossing powder and used the heat gun to melt the powder. For the Baja Breeze colored flower on the right and the Pink Passion flower on the top left, I did the same technique as above.  I heated them all, to set the embossing powder.  I cut them out using the framelits. The green leaves are from the Bling Bazzill cardstock.  I used Cycle Celebration and Secret Garden stamp sets to make this card.  

Alyssa's Birthday is October 24th.  She is turning 5!  I love watching her grow up.  Here are some pictures of her over the years.  

Here is Alyssa's 5th Birthday Card!

Alyssa loves everything pink and purple.  She also loves Ballet and the stories and movies of Angelina Ballerina, which I loved the stories when I was her age.  

To make this card I used the stamp sets Bitty Banners by SU and Twinkle Toes by Close to My Heart.  The lace doily was sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Vintage Pink. The mice were stamped in black and then embossed with black embossing powder.  After I heat embossed the mice, I colored them in.  Once the marker dried, I covered it with Stickles, with little gems on the dress.  They had to dry over night.  I assembled it with some pattern papers from 6x6 packs.  I know Alyssa will love it! 

Scarlett who is Alyssa's partner in crime will turn 5 at the end of November.  Alyssa and Scarlett are so lucky to have each other. They get to go to school together, grow up together, and learn from each other.  Scarlett's name matches her personality and her beautiful red curly hair.  

To create Scarlett's 5th Birthday card, I used the new set Cycle Celebration.  I first stamped the candles in Pink Passion, Daffodil Delight, and Bermuda Bay and carefully cut them out.  I covered the flame with Stickles Star Dust (made by Ranger) and then dipped them into yellow glitter.  The only downside of using Stickles is it has to dry overnight.  I stamped the label twice once in Pink Passion and then again in Bermuda Bay.  I cut the center out in the Bermuda Bay stamped image and glued it on top of the base label.  I added some extra sparkle by adding the gems...what little girl doesn't like extra sparkle?  

After looking at this card, the only thing I would change is when I stamped the candles in Pink Passion and Bermuda Bay.  You can see the outline of the flame through the yellow glitter.  If I planned ahead, I would have inked the candle part in the color and then ink the flame part in yellow to avoid being able to see the outline of the flame.  Oh well, it's for a 5 year old little girl.  I hope she doesn't notice the colors of the flame through the glitter.  Haha!

Boys Birthday Cards

I have trouble creating masculine cards.  I do not know why, but it is just way easier to come up with cards that have flowers, butterflies, and sparkles on them.  Maybe its because I have A LOT more stamp sets that are more feminine in my collection.  So when it comes to making cards for boys and men it takes me longer to come up with an idea.  I often use Pinterest, when I am stuck or just need some inspiration.  

When autumn rolls around, it means that school is starting, the weather is getting cooler, and it gets dark way earlier.  In the card making part of my life, late summer and autumn means birthday's galore!  Sixteen birthdays fall from mid-August through November!  Many of these birthday's are male birthday's.  I live in a neighborhood, that has kids everywhere!  And of course most of their birthday's are in late summer and autumn.  So this post is for all the male birthday cards during the autumn months.

My Grandpap turned 84 back in July.  So I thought that I would squeeze his card in this post.  My Grandpap LOVES soccer.  He played travel soccer competitively till the age of 50.  

I made a soccer ball card for his birthday.  He loved it.  I used the Stampin Up hexagon embossing folder and paired it with some washi tapes.

Rory turned 8 on August 21st.  I have been seeing lots of cards on Pinterest using a bicycle stamp, that I just love.  I thought this set could be used for either male or female.  I purchased it through a•muse studio.  A•muse studio is a company very similar to Stampin Up.  

To make Rory's Birthday card, I used pattern paper that is from several 6x6 paper pads.  The yellow label is from Stampin Up's Label Love set.  I think it turned out great!  And Rory's mom texted me, how much she and Rory loved the card.  

Cameron turned 8 on September 3rd.  Cameron LOVES Angry Birds.  He has an Angry Birds lunch box, back pack, pencil case, shirts, pencils, erasers...you get it...the kid loves Angry Birds anything!  So I had to make him an Angry Birds birthday card, it seemed to fit!  So I first looked through Pinterest to see if there was a template I could use, but then I found Pink Paper Bakery blog and one of the posts was how to make an Angry Bird using only punches. The post even has step-by-step pictures with detailed measurements, which was very helpful.     I just changed his eye brows because I did not have that particular label punch in my collection, so I improvised with two skinny rectangles.  Below is my Angry Bird.  

In the game of Angry Birds, to complete the levels you have to catapult the birds through the sky to knock down structures and crushing the helmet wearing pigs.  So in order to make the sky, I used the Stampin' Up cloud embossing folder.  

I think this Angry Bird card turned out super cute!!  Can I say cute for a boy's card?  Below is the final card. 

Rory's older brother, Cole turned 10 on September 13th.  Yes, Friday the 13th.  

I made him a bicycle card, similar to his brother's card.  I sprayed the white card with Heidi Swapp's new Color Shine Spray's in Tinsel.  Then I used two patterns of washi tape as a border on the bottom of the card. The bicycle washi tape is from Scotch. The pattern paper is from a 6x6 paper set.  The bicycle is from a•muse studio. (Link is above)  The "let's party" stamp is from { my mind's eye } set Indie Chic .  The red happy birthday banner is from SU and is the Bitty Banners set.

A Long Break

I had to take a break from posting, because I kind of lost interest in writing about every single card that I made.  So today August 30, 2013, I am going to try to get back to writing about my cards. 

One of my favorite new sets is the Dressed Up set from Stampin Up.  I only have the Dressed Up framelits set in my collection because I thought that I would get more use out of them rather than the stamp set.  I wanted to use the dress framelit to make a wedding dress.  I had seen them done on Pinterest, so I thought that I would tackle one myself.  Once I had finished it, I wanted to keep it for myself, but I had made it for my friend, Charlotte.  

I met Charlotte in college, she was working on her masters, when I was a senior.  After I graduated with my Bachelors, I decided to follow in her footsteps and go to Graduate School.    Charlotte got married to an awesome guy named Casey on July 13th, 2013.  This is the card I made for their wedding.  

Charlotte and Casey's wedding colors were lavender and gold.  Instead of using a gold background on top of the card, I used a kraft pattern paper to resemble the gold color.  I added a purple embossed piece to matte the misted doily.  I used the framelits to make a dress shape.  I then added more paper onto the white dress to build a base for me to put the flowers on.  I used that red double-sided, really sticky tape.  I ran strips of it horizontally along the dress in rows.  I covered the tape with white roses that were actually a ribbon.  I cut them off the tulle and squished them together to make the bottom of the dress.  I love it.  I have a few more weddings coming up, and many more in the future; it might be time that I buy the set.  I have been borrowing the Love and Laughter set from a woman in a Stamp Club that I belong to.  

My Favorites

These are my favorite card layouts.  They are very feminine and can be done in a variety of ways.  

Supplies:
Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive and Marina Mist
Stamp Set(s): Fifth Avenue Florals and Kind Thoughts
Paper: Olive, Light Blue and white card stock
Other: lace doily, embossing folder (Cuttlebug), white ribbon, gems, butterfly punches (Martha Stewart), round circle cut out (Coluzzle)

These cards are beautiful, but where I live it costs extra money to mail them.  Therefore, I only make them when I am actually giving them to the person.  To make this card and the card below, I used many layers.  The first layer is the light blue card stock on top of the olive green base card.  Next is a white matte behind the olive embossed paper.  Before attaching the doily to the card, I tied a white ribbon in a bow around the light blue layer of paper.  Then I attached a lace doily and on top I stamped with a single flower in Old Olive and Marina Mist inks.  I used a Coluzzle to cut out a perfect size circle to fit in side the lace doily.  (A little tip, I tried to stamp directly onto the inside part of the doily, but the paper is too thin and I could see the adhesive squares and other layers of paper through, so I had to cover it with card stock.)  Then I punched out several butterflies of varying sizes and on different materials and neatly arranged them on top of the other pieces of the card.  I used mini Zots to attach the butterflies to the card.  To finish the card, I added a few mini gems to give the card some sparkle.

Supplies:

Ink:  Purely Pomegranate and Tempting Turquoise (SU)

Stamp Set(s): Fifth Avenue Florals (SU)

Paper: Purple pattern (Basic Grey), white and turquoise card stock

Other: white lace doily, gems, butterfly punches (Martha Stewart),  scallop border punch (SU), sheer white ribbon

This card was made for my good friend Charlotte's birthday.  She likes the colors purple and teal, so I used those plus white to balance it out.  Same procedure as the light blue and olive green card above.

Supplies:

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, and Old Olive (SU)

Stamp Set(s): Fifth Avenue Florals, Butterfly Set- name unknown at the moment (SU), Sincere Salutations

Paper: white, dark and light pink, brown, olive card stock

Other: white lace doily, gems, small butterfly punches (Martha Stewart), large butterfly punch (SU), green ribbon, Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), scallop border punch (SU)

The card above is done in a similar way as the other two cards.  The only big difference is the rose is stamped directly on the doily.  The light pink and dark pink matte are slightly visible through the doily. I also like how the outside rose petals are stamped on the lace part of the the doily.  Next the butterflies are stamped  and punched and arranged on the card to make it look as if they are flying upward across the card.  When all the layers were attached, I stamped "Birthday Wishes" using Chocolate Chip.

Supplies:

Ink: Pretty in Pink, and Lovely Lavender (SU)

Stamp Set(s): Sincere Salutations, Fifth Avenue Florals

Paper: Light blue, purple, and white card stock, Pink sparkly card stock (Bazzill), vellum

Other: lace doily, sheer ribbon, gems, Zots, pink and blue paper flowers (Prima), circle cut outs (Coluzzle), butterfly punches (Martha Stwart), pearls

Sorry I didn't realize how blurry this picture is blown up, but in order to see the details it is better big.  This card is very similar to the last 3 cards.  The only major differences are the double matte on top of the lace doily with the flower stamped on top.  I used two paper flowers (Prima) to add even more of a feminine touch to this card.  Instead of arranging the butterflies in a "flying across the card pattern" they are arranged here and there on the card.  Almost all of the butterflies have a gem in the middle of them.

Christmas in May

These are all the Christmas cards I made for friends and family this past Christmas.  They all turned out very nice.  My favorite is below.

This card was made for my friend, Jess.  I LOVE butterflies and I saw a card that had rows and rows of mini butterflies in the shape of a tree.  Mine is slightly different because I could not get the tiny butterflies to be perfectly in line with each other.

Supplies:

Ink: Real Red

Stamp Set(s): Mini Greetings? (retired SU)

Paper: white, red, and green card stock

Other: red and gold gems, Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), butterfly punches (Martha Stewart)

To make this card I used a green base card.  The white piece of card stock on which the tree is attached has been sprayed with clear glittery spray from Tattered Angels.  I then matted the white with red and then with white again.  Before I attached the butterflies to the paper, I ran them in an embossing folder through my Cuttlebug.  I then added a few red and yellow gems.  After the glittery white paper was completely dry, I stamped "joy" at the bottom.

Supplies: 

Ink: VersaMark

Stamp Set(s): Tree Trimmings, will post soon (SU)

Paper: red, green, and white card stock, pattern paper (Basic Grey) 

Other: Gold Embossing Power (SU), Embossing Folders (Cuttlebug), Ornament punch (SU), gold rick rack ribbon, red and green ribbon

The card above is made on a white base card.  I used a piece of Basic Gray patterned paper for the background.  I found another scrap of Basic Gray red paper and used the scallop border punch to add a scallop edge.  I stamped two ornaments with VersaMark covered them with gold embossing powder and embossed them using a heat gun.  Then I punched out three other ornaments and ran then through the embossing folders in different patterns.  I attached them to the ribbons and then to the paper.  To finish the card, I stamped "Celebrate" and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.  

Supplies: 

Ink: VersaMark

Stamp Set(s): ?

Paper: red, ivory, olive, and white card stock, tan pattern

Other: Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Scallop Edge Border (SU), small scallop oval punch (SU) 

To create  this card I used a red base card with several mattes on top.  The first layer after the base card is a creme piece of card stock that has been run through an Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug).  The green card stock is edged with the scallop border punch (SU).  On top of that is a piece of pattern paper from a huge Christmas Matte Stack.  Then finally is the stamped image of a reindeer.  The reindeer was stamped in VersaMark and then heat embossed using red glitter embossing powder.  After I attached all the layers together, I added a scallop punch oval (SU) with the word "joy."

Supplies:

Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Forest Foliage

Stamp Set(s): Delightful Decorations & Lovely as a Tree

Paper: white, olive, and red card stock

Other: ribbon, gems, circle punch (Creative Memories), Ornament (SU), Scallop Edge Border (SU)

To make this card I started with a white base card.  I added a red background and green matte on top.  Before attaching the green card stock to the red, I used a scallop border punch (SU) along the right side.  Next I cut a piece of white card stock.  To make the Christmas Tree branches I used the top of the single pine tree stamp.  In an uneven pattern I stamp a section of Christmas Tree.  I stamped the ornaments on a separate piece of paper with Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and Chocolate Chip and then punched them out using the SU ornament punch.  Before I attached the ornaments to the white paper, I used Zots to attached a ribbon to each of them at different lengths.  After attaching the ornaments to the white card stock I added a few gems to add some of the sparkle that the Christmas season brings.

Supplies:

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy, Basic Black

Stamp Set(s): Delightful Decorations and Sincere Salutations

Paper: kraft and white card stock, pattern paper (will let post soon)

Other: white ribbon

For this card, I used Kraft paper as the background on the white base card.  You can't tell from this picture, but the pattern paper has a slight shimmer to it.  These pattern papers were scraps that I had left over from a 12x12 scrapbook page.  Before attaching the pattern papers to the card stock, I used a scallop border punch (SU), to add some softness to the card.  Then I stamped the ornaments in Real Red, Sahara Sand and Night of Navy, after I punched them out using the ornament punch (SU).  Then I added a ribbon curl to the top with a Zot.  I stamped Holiday Greetings along the bottom.  To make the ornaments look 3D, I put thick pop-dots underneath.

Merry Christmas in May!

Dare to be Fabulous

When I make cards I don't always write a blog right after I make them or as I am making them.  For instance the cards below are from 2009.  

My friend, Nikki, (I made a set of cards for her in a previous blog)  used to be a competitive gymnast for 9 years.  She would of continued through college, but during her senior year of high school, she tore her ACL and wasn't able to continue competing.  After she got hurt, she couldn't just walk away from the sport that she still LOVED and had a passion for, so she decided to go back and coach at the gym that used to be hers.  She  coached up until a year or so ago, because she had to graduate from college and find a job.  

These cards were ones that she had asked me to make for some of the girls that she was coaching.

Supplies:

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Rose Red 

Stamp Set(s): Dare to be Fabulous (SU)

Paper: white, light blue, dark pink card stock

Other: brown dotted ribbon, clear gems, VersaMark, clear embossing powder (SU)

Supplies:

Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Yolo Yellow, Pretty in Pink, and a (retired orange)

Stamp Set(s): Dare to be Fabulous (SU)

Paper: dark pink, white, and black card stock

Other: ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder (SU), small scallop border punch (EK Success)

Supplies:

Ink: Lovely Lilac, old retired purple, Night of Navy, Orchid (retired)

Samp Set(s): Dare to be Fabulous (SU)

Paper: black and white card stock

Other: butterfly rub-ons, silver gems, sheer purple ribbon, Aquamarine Glimmer Spray (Tattered Angels), chip board letter

Supplies:

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green (SU retired), Yolo Yellow (SU retired), Pixie Pink (SU retired), 

Stamp Set(s): Dare to be Fabulous

Paper: black, white and orange card stock

Other: paper flowers (Prima), gem brads (Memory Makers), corner rounder (Creative Memories)

I think they turned over very pretty, and perfect for Nikki's girls.