It's Your Day

Susi is my exceedingly dear and lifelong friend - a true sister of the heart.  As we're on opposite coasts, I remain everlastingly grateful for email so that we can stay in touch.  She is enamored of dragonflies, so I always have extra fun making her birthday card because I think they're beautiful too . . .

I thought it would be fun to reverse the usual color scheme by putting blues and purples on the background and keeping the dragonflies a mystical white.  The crackle paste picked up the colors nicely and the camera even showed some of the glitter.  All in all, I'm rather pleased with how this one turned out . . . I hope you like it too!

 

Cardstock:   Stedner Bright White, Strathmore #110 Bristol     

Stamps:       Hampton Text Borders, Stampin’ Up “It’s your day”

Inks:             Hero Cup O Joe, Distress Stain Chipped Sapphire,

                     Dusty Concord

Emb Pwdr:  Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Fyore “Stitched Stamp-edged Rectangles”, Love, Nicole

                     Dragonfly, Frantic Stamper Dragonfly Pair, Cottage Cutz,

                     Nested Stitched Scallop Square Set              

Stencil:        Dina Wakely Jungle

Doo Dads:    Studio 490 Embossing Paste White, Inkssentials Enamel Accents White   

Happy Birthday

There's a happy discovery I made with this layout and I am crossing fingers that the camera will pick up on it so you can see what I'm talking about . . .

 There are lots of times when I want to use glitter in a minimal way and that can be  tricky to do.  But I got lucky with this card.  The secret?  I used spray adhesive to fasten the open-work die cut panel to a solid backing.  Spray adhesive lands everywhere - even on the inner edges of a die cut panel.  So, after attaching it to the solid backing, I scattered glitter all over the front, pressed down to adhere, and brushed off the excess.

Voila!  Most of the die cut edges have the merest edging of glitter which makes the card front shimmer in such a beautiful way.  I hope you can see it . . .

 FYI:  the white butterfly folder opens up to show the words "Happy Birthday".

 Cardstock:   Bazzill White, Neenah Desert Storm, Coventry Rag

                     #140 White, Stampin' Up Vellum        

Inks:             Hero Pool, Stone Wash

Dies:            Troyal Room Happy Birthday Butterfly and text, Tonic

                     Budding Vine, Memory Box Cascadia Butterfly Trio,

                     Isabella Butterfly & Butterfly Wreath (butterfly bodies)

Doo Dads:    Sparkle & Sprinkle Fantasy Gold 

BOO

 A lot of this layout was inspired by a recent blog I saw.  I loved the pop of white and orange against such a dark background . . .

The bats were actually die cut from a dark navy blue metallic background because I didn't have any suitable cardstock in plain black.  After brayering black ink over the metallic cardstock, I was glad to see that while the color changed to the black I wanted, the metallic aspects glistened through the ink.  The bats changed from flat to a mild shimmer that made them much more interesting.  Nice surprise!

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Ash, Strathmore #110 Bristol, Generic scraps

                     Orange, Brown, Black, Metallic Blue           

Stamps:       Judikins Swirls & Curls

Inks:             Gina K Amalgam Black

Dies:            DieNamics Pinking Edge, Frantic Stamper Open Borders,

                     QuicKutz Bats, Dies to Die For Pumpkin Patch, Frantic

                     Stamper Scary Words: BOO               

Doo Dads:    Wink of Stella Black           

Memories

My dear friend Eleanor lost her husband  late last year.  Speaking from personal experience, I can attest to the fact that the first year is very much the hardest.  Being mindful of a dearly loved one's passing can be a comfort, so naturally, a card was called for . . .

 

The original design was for a single layered card front, but I can never resist adding more dimension.  The leaf die set included the leaf veins, so I covered them with my favorite textured embossing powder and that made the design much more interesting.

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Rain Forest, Coventry Rag #140 White 

Inks:              Distress Barn Door, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint,

                      Brushed Corduroy, ColorBox Gold

Emb Pwdr:   Ranger Gold

Dies:             Mama Elephant Femme Frames, DieNamics Layered

                      Leaves, Elizabeth Designs Words 4: Memories                 

Doo Dads:    Sparkle & Sprinkle glitter Fantasy Gold, Viva Paper

                     Pen Gold

Stand Tall

I have mixed feelings about this card . . .

 . . . I love the background but the rest of the elements don't work together as well as they should.  So it's back to the drawing board for another attempt.   Sigh . . .

 Cardstock:   Nicole Licorice, Generic Scrap Green, White     

Stamps:       MJ Barber Chevron Solid, Technique Junkies Stand

                     Tall (text)     

Inks:             VersaMark, Distress Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge,

                     ColorBox Black

Emb Pwdr:  PSE Ochre Tapestry, Judikins Detail Black

Dies:            Creative Dies Mehndi Collection (sun), Amy Design

                     Wild Animals (tree, birds), Memory Box Giraffe Trio     

Harmony

The original plan for this one was to have a very subtle background topped with a stenciled design using crackle paste . . .

Even with the use of two warm colors and the stamped text, the result was so blah that my plans for subtle got scrapped and I went to town with a sponge dauber and a lot more color.  I think it was a good call as the added color emphasized the crackled stencil paste and showed a great deal more texture - a look I love.

 Then without using any ink,  I randomly sprinkled on my favorite coarse-grained gold embossing powder and heated the panel from underneath to keep from sending the grains flying.  Frankly, I'm very happy with the way this turned out!

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Hershey, Strathmore #100 Bristol  

Stamps:       The Moon Rose Scrip Background, Starving Artistamps

                     Positive Words: Harmony

Inks:             Distress Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge,

                     Brushed Corduroy, ColorBox Gold

Emb Pwdr:  Stampendous Aged Gold, Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Lil Inker Stitched Rectangles, Memory Box Eva Stem             

Stencil:        Dina Wakely Jungle

Doo Dads:    Ranger Texture Paste Crackle     

Day to Celebrate

Along with thousands of others, I'm having a great time with the new Slimline cards.  The dimensions are vastly different from the usual A2 sized card and this is a good thing . . . never hurts to shake things up once in awhile and give yourself a challenge! 

I used the still-new Life Changing brushes to stencil on some color and I continue to be thrilled and amazed at the great results these brushes provide.  Color goes on powdery-smooth with no splotching and I find myself looking for every opportunity to use them.

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Simon, Lagoon, Strathmore #100 Bristol           

Stamps:       Hero Day to Celebrate

Inks:             Hero Shadow Field Greens, Pool, ColorBox Black

Colorants:    Studio Black Gesso

Emb Pwdr:  Judikins Detail Black

Dies:            Rubbernecker Slimline Deckle, Pink Fresh Slim Stitched

                     Rectangle set, Kwan Crafts Double Sewing Thread (label),

                     Papertrey Ink Bitty Button Stacks, Memory Box Cascadia

                     Butterfly          

Stencil:        Club Scrap Fern, Simon Says Falling Snow

Doo Dads:    Ranger Texture Paste Transparent Matte, American

                     Crafts Jute Blue, Gelly Roll Clear Star