80th Birthday!

My dad celebrated his 80th birthday last week - wow, I can't believe I just wrote that :-)  My brother had the family over to his house in the country for lunch and cake and general get-togetherness and a great time was had by all - specially Dad!  He was proud as punch to be surrounded by not only his kids, but his grandkids as well.

To mark the occasion, what could I do but make a special card for him?  This turned out to be quite a challenge, as a "milestone" card like this can't be just any old thing - it has to be something special!

I hope that this card meets that expectation:

Inspiration was heavily drawn from this card which I found on Pinterest - which was in its turn, inspired by another picture on Pinterest ... I wonder if my card will end up on Pinterest in some sort of Pin-vortex?

Anyway, I specially liked the cut out circle with the image below - I dressed mine up a little using the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack and my trusty paper piercer.  And that embossed layer is popped up a little with Dimensionals ... lots and lots of Dimensionals.  I can honestly say I've never used so many Dimensionals on one card before :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Memorable Moments
Cardstock:  Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Midnight Muse, Whisper White
 Ink: Lucky Limeade, Midnight Muse
Other:Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Midnight Muse Striped 3/8" Satin Ribbon, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Stripes Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, 3/16" Metallic Brads, 3/4" Circle Punch

Pretty in Pink - and Gray

I was cruising Pinterest the other night,  specifically looking for inspiration for my new Everything Eleanor set (love those flowers - they're a little fiddly to cut out but totally worth it) and stumbled across this card.   I've always been a sucker for the pink/gray combination and liked the simplicity of the original so had a go at my own interpretation.

Okay, so my interpretation is pretty much the same.  Sorry, I was out of ideas that night :-)  I did add a cute little pearl as the dot on the "i", though.  That counts, right?

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock:  Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Whisper White
 Ink: Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray
Other:Stripes Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Basic Pearls

Everything Eleanor

A new stamp set that might well be my new favourite (although time will tell) is Everything Eleanor.  It's another of those sets with different, "collage-y" type elements that work well together and with other similar sets.  Here I have teamed it with my all time fave background stamp En Francais (sadly stamped a little crooked - my fault for cutting the frame shape before stamping - you'd think I'd know better by now) and a little bit of Creative Elements (along the bottom - look carefully).

I'm also loving the new Bitty Banners Framelits - you can use them with the coordinating stamp sets, or just any old set that happens to fit as I've done here with Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Creative Elements, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze
Other:Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits

Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake

Something a little bright for a change ... I realised just how much Crumb Cake I was using lately and decided to ramp it up a little.  Heavily inspired, may I add, by this card - I love the colour combination!

Here's a close up of the new Chevron Embossing Folder - love it!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Topsy Turvy Celebration
Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Raspberry Ripple, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Raspberry Ripple
Other:Labels Collection Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Chevron Embossing Folder, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Raspberry Ripple and Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write Markers

Gable Box

While on the hunt recently for a project to make showcasing the Simply Scored Tool, I stumbled across this adorable little box over at Splitcoast Stampers

"I'm game", I thought ... one sheet, not too much in the way of measuring - sounds like my kind of project.

And it was exactly the kind of project I like - sooo easy.  Of course, I had to comprise a little with the base, as I was using A4 cardstock which is only about 8-1/4" wide, but it really made no difference in the long run.  I trimmed it down to 11" long and away I went.

My only comment is that I switched steps 10 and 11, and folded the sides in before sticking down the side tab.  It just seemed to make more sense that way.  You could also trim those side flaps off, but then I don't think the edge would look as good.

The box is stamped in Crumb Cake with stamps from the Everything Eleanor set, which I suspect is going to become my new "go to" favourite set :-)  The giant swirly shape is gorgeous!

The greeting is a combination of three separate stamps from Fabulous Phrases, which I see as the stamp equivalent to fridge magnet poetry - 30 stamps with all sorts of cute and useful words, ready to mix and match to suit your occasion.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Other:Extra Large Oval Punch, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Simply Scored Tool, Corner Rounder Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits

Happy Birthday John!

Following hot on the heels of my sister in law's birthday each year is my brother's birthday ... so it's easy enough to remember his (and, after all, I have a lifetime of knowing when his birthday is).

I find cards for guys to be ridiculously hard ... when it comes to buying stamps I am drawn to flowers, butterflies and other girly stuff (and a long time follower of my blog will be aware that I'm quite fond of pink as well).  So I had to hit the internet for inspiration, and broke in a new stamp set (Postage Due) I just received last week for the occasion.

I used to do a lot of the "collage" type stamping, back in my pre-Stampin Up days, so it surprised me that it was kind of hard to put this together at first.  Guess I'm out of practice.  Of course, the background here is all one stamp, so that was pretty easy LOL.  I placed the stamps along the right hand side to cover up the flower image (not very masculine).

And here's a closeup of the Bitty Banners framelit with the coordinating stamp from the Itty Bitty Banners set, as well as the large shape from the Apothecary Accents in Summer Starfruit, which I have embellished a little by adding pierced holes using the new Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack.  And look!  Something else from the new catalogue!  I used one of the Delicate Designs embossing folders to fancy up the strip of Midnight Muse cardstock.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Postage Due, Itty Bitty Banners
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse

Other:Delicate Designs Embossing Folders, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Postage Stamp Punch

Happy Birthday Sophie

It was my gorgeous sister in law's birthday last week, and as is traditional, I had completely forgotten and had to whip a card up quickly to get in the mail in time to reach her.  It just wouldn't be a birthday without a last minute card, after all it's not like I have all the stuff lying around ready to make cards... um, well, I probably do.  I'm just forgetful and slack.

Anyway, happy birthday Sophie!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party,Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

Other:Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Basic Pearls