Birthday Toast

 

Maybe your birthday person would rather have a drink then a cupcake.  I used the same set on this card as I did on the cupcake card I last posted.  Just turn the dome over and add a few olives and you get a drink.  I think this is suppose to be a martini, is that right?  I don't know because I only drink the kind of drinks that have cherries and umbrellas.  I call them sissy drinks because they have to be sweet and very little alcohol. 

Birthday Cupcakes

I have had this set for a year and just made my first card with it.  I have got to do better at using new sets.  I stamped the dome on vellum and cut it out.  It is hard to attach vellum without the adhesive showing even when you buy adhesive that says it won't show through the vellum.  Trust me it shows no matter what they say.  To avoid this, I put glitter around the top of the dome and the little accent at the top.  I used two way glue just on the part that had glitter.  The glitter covers the adhesive.

Cake and Ice Cream

This is such great designer paper to use for birthday cards.  The package has not only this with ice cream but also some with cakes and pies and one with cupcakes.  This card is the one I will be using this year for most of the girl birthdays.

Balloon Fiesta

It is hard to take pictures of these mini-scrapbooks that I make.  You really have to see them in person to understand how they work and how much time it takes to make one.  I also don't want to post a lot of pictures on one day because you would get bored looking at them.  So I hope this gives you an idea of what they look like. 

 

 

 

Candy and Pinwheels

I like making pinwheel cards because they remind me of my youth.  My mom liked to buy us pinwheels which we stuck down into the wire in the fence so we could watch them spin.

Last Sympathy for Awhile

 

These are the last two sympathy cards I made using the same stamp set that I have used the past two posts.  Yeah,  I know it is a different stamp but it was in the set along with a few other stamps.  The sentiment is not a part of the set.  I got it at a stamp store when I was in Las Vegas a few months ago.  There is a store there that I wanted to see and I always feel like if I spend an hour in a store looking I need to buy at least something.  I needed a different sympathy greeting anyway.

Baja Blue Sympathy

 

Here is another sympathy card that I made from the same stamp set that I used a few days ago.  I saw one like this on splitcoaststampers and have been wanting to make it.  I hope I don't have to use it though but I need so many sympathy cards that I like to stay ahead. 

CAS Sympathy

  I needed a few sympathy cards for my stash.  I saw a few on splitcoaststampers using this set and decided to use them.  I  have another one using the same set that I will post in a few days.  This stamp had never seen ink until the day I made these cards. 

Escher Butterflies

One of my favorite artists is M C Escher because he is very mathematical as well as artistic.  One of his works features butterflies that appear to fly off the paper.  I saw a card similar to mine
http://lezardsdecilou.canalblog.com/ and thought I needed to make something like it to honor Escher.  I stamped on a piece of Epic Day This and That Stampin' Up! designer paper.  But my trick was I used two butterflies to make this card.  As the butterflies approach the end of the paper I attached them with first one then two dimensionals.

This and That

I was very curious about the Stampin' Up! version of a smash book called This and That. I bought one, covered it with Epic Day designer paper, made some extra envelopes, punched a few shapes, and took it with me on my trip to Scotland.  I came back with a book full of pictures and various memories of our trip.  I still have pictures waiting to be put to use from last year, but this year's scrapbook is complete.   I think I will be buying one to take on my next trip whenever it is.  What a great idea this was for me. Here are two of the inside pages and the front cover.  There is so much room that I did not need the extra envelopes that I made. 

Happy Fourth of July

I know I promised all cloisonné techniques and This and That sample  this week, but with today being July 4 I had to post a patriotic card.  Thanks to all of the women and men of our military who continue to protect our Independence.

 

More Cloisonne

Here are some other examples of the cloisonné technique.  This time I stamped on a page torn out of a magazine.  You would think I didn't have a whole closet full of designer paper to use.  I don't get any magazines so I will be sticking with DSP.  Wondering where I got these magazine pictures.  I had a dentist appointment and his office has a lot of magazines.  Don't worry, both sides of the pages were just advertising not the end of any article someone might be reading.  Click on the Coastal Cabana card and look close at the bottom right wing. 

Hawaii Ink Blog Hop

I am a member of Hawaii Ink, a group of about 90 Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. I am so excited to be invited to participate in my first ever blog hop.  We are sharing with you some ideas from the new 2013 - 2014  Catalog.

You have just come from Lisa's blog,  http://lisacurcio.blogspot.com, who is my upline.  Don't worry if you are just starting on the hop because you can complete the hop no matter where you start.

I was so happy to see Swallowtail in the catalog.  It is a large background stamp so the base of my  card measures 5 1/2  by  5 1/2.  I wanted to try the faux cloisonné  technique, you know like the old time jewelry of the same name.  I thought the butterfly would be perfect to stamp on designer paper.  I inked the stamp with Versamark and stamped onto a Calypso Coral piece from Epic Day This and That.  I sprinkled with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.  I love heating it and watching the  powder magically turn gold. 

 

I cut around the butterfly and adhered it with Stampin' Dimensionals, to Coastal Cabana cardstock. Then I attached the panel to a Bermuda Bay base.   Hopefully the close up pictures give you an idea of how the gold shines.  If you click on any picture you can see them even closer.

Starting Tuesday of next week,  I will be featuring some more of the techniques and designer paper that I have shown you today.  You won't want to miss the last post of the series which will happen sometime the following week.

Next on the hop is my friend Whitney, http://whitney69.blogspot.com, who does amazing work. I was happy to see my blog between the two people who have taught me so much about stamping.  They both provided me with emotional support during a rough time in my life.  Stamping is so much more than a craft, it is friendship as well.

If you get lost on the tour here is a list of all us participating.

Brooke Doerfler http://brookestamps.wordpress.com

Emily Abad   http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/ucdesigns/blog

Jen Timko http://stampinonthefly.com

Jo Anne Waterhouse  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/getcardedbyjoanne/blog

Lisa Curcio http://lisacurcio.blogspot.com

Sue Gilroy http://www.kilroykrafts.blogspot.com

Whitney Richardson http://whitney69.blogspot.com

 

Scotland 2013

 

Jim and I have just returned from a trip to Scotland.  This is the only picture I am going to put on the blog because they take up too much space.  If you want to see a few more pictures they are on Jim's Facebook page.  The highlight of the trip for me was finding my great great grandparent's grave.  I used the thank you cards I posted previously for the group to put in the tips for our bus driver and tour guide.

Musical Thanks

I needed a thank you card with music on it  and thought the shadow box technique would be a good choice.  The card was to give to our tour guides and bus driver on our trip.  More about the trip soon.

Birthday Peacock

Here is the peacock again used with different colors and for a different occasion.

Happy Father's Day

Yeah, I know it says Happy Birthday because that is the way I used the card.  But I think it would make a nice father's day card too.  My dad did not fish, in fact he didn't eat it either.  When Jim's dad moved to North Carolina he didn't fish but he went out with the guys getting scallops. 

Sunflowers

The first Stampin' Up! stamp that I bought was Serene Sunflower.  It was retired a long time ago but I don't think I will ever get rid of it.  So many girls in the family me included love sunflowers.  I have made so many different cards using this set.

Summer Fun

I love this vintage looking stamp set that I got free during Stampin Up's SAB.  I never had a bike like this one but I sure rode lots of ferris wheels and other kinds of bikes.

X is For.......

This is the card I sent my brother for his birthday.  He is a professional percussionist and mallet work is his specialty.  I saw this on splitcoast awhile ago and thought of him of course.  So I have been saving the idea to do.  Then I made him the card I will post in a few days except changed it to birthday forgetting this idea completely.  But I had to do another music card and found this one again.  So glad I hadn't already sent the fish card.