Saturday, April 28, 2018

An Abundance of Birthdays

If you have read my blog long enough, I am notorious for saying “special people deserve special birthday cards”. I needed two birthday cards for two long time friends with birthdays that are just a few days apart. I try to not make cards for them that I have made in the past... this can be a challenge since I don’t always remember what stamp set I used, I try to use a brand new stamp set or newly learned technique. This year I combined a little of both.

Jennifer McGuire recently posted a video using Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze. I love her videos and how she takes things step by step and really makes you feel that you can accomplish the same thing she is doing. That was the case here. When I was done with the technique, I was in awe. I then had to decide what to do with this pretty paper I created. It looked liked water... so it would be perfectly paired with a mermaid stamp I recently purchased. Instead, I used my Altenew alphabet dies and cut out the letters h-a-p-p-y and created two birthday cards from the one sheet.


Stamps:
Sunshine Wishes (Stampin Up Retired)

Paper:
Whisper White (SU)
Tempting Turquoise (SU Retired)
Pacific Point (SU)
Tim Holtz Alcohol Cardstock (Blitsy

Ink:
Tempting Turquoise (SU Retired)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Faded Jeans (Blitsy)
Tim Holtz Disress Oxide Broken China (Blitsy)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Cracked Pistachio (Blitsy)

Accessories: 
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Bold Alphabet Dies (Altenew)
Classic Label Punch (SU)
Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (SU Retired)
Tim Holtz Distress Micro Glaze (Blitsy)

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Amazing Friend

After the week I just had, I was looking forward to some relaxing time spent at home, hoping to lift my spirits. Looks like my crummy week wasn’t quite over yet. The cherry on my sundae was our kitchen sink needing a repair. It was a minor one if you were the plumber, but a major one to us. This gave me some unplanned extra time to be crafty, but all this bad news really zapped my creativity.

I stared longingly at my supplies with no initiative to begin...so I closed my eyes and randomly selected something. I picked my Concord and 9th Dahlia Turnabout bundle. While I have never had any luck getting the stamp exactly correct, I was able to get the die perfect on every try. With this card I made a stencil using the turnabout die, then sponged on Tim Holtz Distress Oxides. My template was made from cardstock, but the next one I will make from acetate, hoping to make it reusable. I blended Picked Raspberries on the outer petals and Wild Honey in the center. The space where they meet is a beautiful soft orange shade. 

I made two of these cards and sent them to a couple of my “amazing friends” who served as cheerleaders for me and kept me in good spirits over the past two weeks. Friends like these are simply priceless. 




Stamps:
Dahlia Turnabout (Concord & 9th)

Paper:
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Hibiscus Burst (PTI)
True Black (PTI)

Inks:
Black Onyx Versafine (Simon Says Stamp)
Versamark (SSS)
Picked Raspberries Distress Oxide (SSS)
Wild Honey Distress Oxide (SSS)

Accessories:
Marvy Heat Tool
Clear Embossing Powder
White Embossing Powder
Dahlia Turnabout Die (C9)
To The Point Edgers Die (PTI)
Die-namics Essential Fishtail Sentiments Strips (My Favorite Things)

Saturday, April 14, 2018

This Post Stinks

This post stinks, literally. Okay... that's only because it has a skunk in it. This is one of my favorite cards to make, and one of my best 'Non Christmas' selling cards at my craft fairs this past year. I love this set and all the animals that you can create with it. but I keep coming back to the skunk. Sometimes things in life just stink. Loss of a job, fender bender, a breakup with a friend or significant other, or maybe you are just having as Clint Black would sing "A Good Run of Bad Luck". 

I was hoping to see this stamp and punch survive the Stampin Up catalog retirement list just released this past week, and was glad to see that it would be around for another year. The animals in this set make cute baby cards or early toddler birthday card as well. The white stripe in the skunk tail was easily done by punching out a second tail and then using a post it note and offsetting it in the punch to make it smaller.




Stamps:
Foxy Friends (Stampin Up)
Stinkin Cute (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:
Basic Black (SU)
Basic Gray (SU)
Whisper White (SU)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black (SU)
Soft Suede  (SU)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot  (SU)
Fox Builder Punch (SU)
Woodland TIEF (SU)

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Friends of Unity April Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity April Blog Hop. This month is all about April Showers. When I first thought about the theme, I thought of baby showers! I have had four people I know this year have babies... the end result was split: two girls and two boys. One of the babies was a surprise, meaning mom and dad didn't know the gender in advance. Twenty years ago I gave birth... also waiting in anxious surprise for the delivery date to find out if I was going to have a boy or a girl. (Spoiler alert: it was a girl)

Long gone is the surprise factor behind birth announcements. There are still a few couples who simply don't want to know. I know that I was met with many curious questions from people who wanted to understand my logic behind leaving it a mystery. That is also the reasoning behind this card... I opted to leave it gender neutral. There is a very faint blue hue to the balloon, but not enough there to indicate that this is a card intended for a baby boy.



Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see their creations. Psst... There is also a giveaway!
Jeanie Hayes
Eileen Mathys (You're Here!)
Wynne Grob
Dawn Fields

Stamps:
Sweet Elle (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:
Basic Gray (Stampin Up)
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Bazzill Patterned Paper (Joann Fabrics)

Ink:
Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Accessories:
Copic Sketch Markers (Jerry's Artarama)