Happy 40th Birthday (Masculine Handyman Theme)

One of my favorite parts about card making is the ability to customize a card for someone by using their hobbies, profession or even their favorite colors.  My friend Christine asked me to make a card for a special uncle's 40th birthday.  The info I was given was that he is a very handy person, and is always the first to lend a hand on house projects and is great with tools.  This is the card I came up with:

Supplies:
Paper: Core-dinations, Ten Seconds Studio Metal Sheet
Ink: Distress Ink (Barn Door)
Misc.: Tim Holtz Alterations Rulers Embossing Folder, Bringing Crafts to You Embossing Folder
Tim Holtz Sanding Tool, Silver Cord

I used the Rulers embossing folder for the background as every handyman I know has a tape measure and/or a ruler close at hand and used my sanding tool over it to show the core in the paper.  I thought it would be fun to highlight the "40" in the folder with Distress Ink as a way to include his age in a different way.  I used the sanding block over the metal sheet to give the tools a metallic look.

Christine was very happy with it, and I am looking forward to hearing back from her after she gives it to her uncle.

Wishing you a great weekend ahead!  I am hoping that spring will show itself a bit and it will be warm enough to get outside a bit in my yard to assess what will need to be done after this hard winter!

Until next time!

Congratulations, Graduate!

Hi, guys! Graduation season is upon us!  I was asked by a fellow blogger to make a personalized card for her sister's MBA graduation.  I wanted to tie the business aspect with the graduation theme, so I decided to use my Tim Holtz Alterations ledger embossing folder for the background.  It is aged with Vintage Photo & Black Soot Distress Ink.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ditto G, Hero Arts
Paper: Gina K
Ink: Black Archival, Distress Inks
Misc.: Tim Holtz Alterations Embossing Folder, Alpha Parts-Ideology 

I thought it would be fun to make my own flags to personalize the card.

I was very happy to hear that the graduate is an accountant, and so the ledger background was a great idea!

Congratulations to Lesley on such a wonderful accomplishment!  Keep reaching for your dreams!

Until next time!

So Thankful For You, Babci

Hi, guys! Hope all is well.  Today I am sharing a card I was asked to make for my friend to send to her husband's grandma. They call her Babci, which means grandma in Polish.  I understand she is a very special woman who lives far away and loves nature.  I thought I would make leaves using my Tim Holtz Alteration dies and Distress Inks.  I embossed the sentiment to add some shine.  I colored the leaves by using an ink pad I made last Christmas.  Tim Holtz had showed the technique on one of his 12 Tags of Christmas.  My ink pad was rather dry, so I used ink refresher spray on it, and just applied the pad to paper and got this great patchy look.  I then cut the leaves out.

Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado
Paper: Gina K Designs (Brown)
Ink: Distress Inks, Adirondack Espresso
Misc.: Scalloped Rectangle Punch,  Computer Generated Name, Tattered Leaves Alteration Die

What a fun card to make and hopefully it will make Babci happy.

I hope you know that I am very thankful for each one of you who visits.  I love this community and the sharing that takes place. What blessings you all are to me!  Enjoy your day, my friends!

Happy 87th Birthday, Cal!

Hi, guys! Hope all is well!  Today I will be sharing a card I made for my father-in-law Cal for his 87th birthday.  I decided to emboss the front using the Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder. I used Core-dinations Kraft cardstock (new to me) and sanded it to reveal the kraft center.  Remember those Scrabble Tiles I have been saving? Well, they found a home on this card.  I used Distress Stains to color the ribbon and age the appearance of it.

Supplies:
Paper: Recollections Kraft Note Card, Core-dinations (Kraft Core)
Ink: Distress Ink (Vintage Photo), Distress Stain (Vintage Photo)
Misc.: Mini Scrabble Tiles, Tim Holtz Gears, Tim Holtz Ribbon, Tim Holtz Alterations Pocket Watch Embossing Folder

For the sentiment inside the card, I used a stamp by Sweet 'n Sassy that reads: Your Influence In My Life is Timeless.  Perfect to use with pocket watches, I think.

Wishing Cal a very happy birthday!

Hope you have a great day and find a few moments in the day to do something you love!

Happy Birthday / Happy Cooking!

Hi, guys!  Hope all is well!  For today, I thought I would share a card I made for a friend's son.  He is a cook and is celebrating his 33rd birthday.  I happen to love this chef from Stampin' Up. It is an oldie, but a goodie!   He looks as if he likes his own cooking a bit (don't you think?).  To add the recipient's age to the card I used a bingo marker from Tim Holtz Alterations.

Supplies:
Stamps. Stampin' Up
Paper: Gina K(White & Black), Stampin' Up, Canvas Home Basics
Ink: Memento Black, Distress Ink (Black Soot)
Misc.: Bingo Marker, Circle Punches, Copic Markers, Corner Rounder

One of my favorite aspects of this stamp set is the ability to put different things on the tray.  I have a second set that has more food and fun stuff to put on the tray.  I find that I use the food (like the turkey for instance) for other occasions.

I wish Joey a very happy birthday, and as my favorite chef, Jacques Pepin, always says, "Happy Cooking!"

Hope you have a great day today!

Creating with Duck Brand Tape

Hi guys! I received a sheet of Duck brand tape while at the BlogHer'12 conference over the weekend. It had a tie-dyed look to it.  I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I decided to use it to make a birthday card for a special friend.  I took a piece of the tape and applied it to a piece of white card stock and ran it through my Vagabond machine to cut out flower shapes, using a steel rule die to cut through it, then stamped a stem sentiment and made leaves out of circle punches. The center of the flower was attached with pop dots to add a bit of dimension to it.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Paper: Stampin' Up
Ink: Stampin' Up
Misc.: Duck Brand Tape, Circle Punch, Alterations Tattered Floral Die, Ribbon

I can't wait for our friend to receive it.  I know it will be the first birthday card made with Duck Tape that she will have received!  I know it was the first one I have ever made. 

Hope you have a great day, and spend some time doing something you love!

July Design Team Submissions III- The Finale

Hi, guys!  Hope all is well.  Today I will be sharing the final cards for the July Design Team Submissions of The Ink Pad NYC.

The first card I am going to share with you today incorporates both stamping and using dies for the butterflies.  I used images from Stampers Anonymous from the Nature's Discovery Set.  I also sprayed Dylusions spray inks on paper and cut out tiny butterflies using The Memory Box Die Butterfly Delights. They are so adorable!  Using the spray this way made them all different.   The background was embossed using the Tim Holtz embossing folder Honeycomb.

For the last card, I decided to use black glossy cardstock for the base.  I used Maya Road Stamps for the butterflies.  I am really enjoying the new Summer Distress Ink colors, so I used them for the images.  I used twine for the butterfly trails.  To make them stiff, I used Claudine Hellmuth Matte Medium.

My four-month term on the design team is ending this month.  I want to thank The Ink Pad NYC for allowing me to be on their first design team.  It meant a lot to me and I hope you enjoyed my creations. It sure was a lot of fun for me.

Hope you find a few moments in your day to do something you love!

July Design Team Submissions II - Fluttering By

Hi, guys! Hope you are all doing well today.  I am sitting here in front of my air conditioner (literally!) as I write this post.  I am sure hoping this heat breaks before it breaks me!

I thought I would share the next two cards I made for the July Design Team of The Ink Pad NYC.  The theme this month was butterflies.  I also had to incorporate the Ranger Dylusion sprays, and wooden buttons.

I decided to use dies instead of stamps for the butterflies this time.  I used the Memory Box (Moonlight Butterfly) die to cut out some butterflies after I sprayed the papers with  Dylusions sprays.  It was a fun way to add color to them.  The background is embossed with a Tim Holtz Embossing folder. I also decided to spray the wood button and it worked great. The sentiment I stamped on the butterfly is from Maya Road.

For this next card, I decided to use one large butterfly from Hero Arts/Basic Grey from the Butterflies Print set.  I thought it would be fun for this one to keep it one solid color to show the print on it.  I scored the card along the bottom and inserted the sentiment there.  I thought this green and brown wooden button would go nice with it.

Hope you like these cards.  It is a lot of fun sharing them with you.  I hope you find a few moments in your day to do something you love!   Until next time!

Father Knows Best!

Hi, guys!  Father's Day is right around the corner and so I thought I would share a few cards I made for this great occasion. 

This first card I made for my father-in-law.  I used gold metal and embossed it with a fun embossing folder of various tools.  My husband told me his dad always works with tools and would love it. I sanded the metal down a bit to accentuate the embossing.

Supplies:
Stamps: Studio G
Paper: Ten Seconds Studio, Stampin' UP
Ink: Stampin' Up
Misc.: Craft Tools Embossing Folder



The next card I am sharing I made for a friend's father-in-law.  I decided to use the metal sheet again and emboss it with Tim Holtz's embossing folder of pocket watches.  I sanded this one, too. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet & Sassy Stamps
Ink: Stampin' Up
Paper: Ten Seconds Studio, Stampin' Up


I am sure you noticed that I didn't share the one I have made for my dad.  I know he checks out my blog and don't want to ruin the surprise.  It is a fun one and I will share it after he receives it.

Have a great day!