A Guy Card!

It seems we all struggle with ideas for cards for the men in our lives.  Flowers and butterflies are easy, but coming up with an attractive design that works for a male recipient can be a challenge.  Last weekend one of my hostesses wanted to do two birthday cards at her workshop, so I thought we should do one girlie one and one that could work for either gender.  I remembered seeing a card done by Christy Butzen on Stampin' Connection a while back and decided to try something similar.  You can view Christy's card here.  Here is my version:

Martini Card featuring the Cheers to You stamp set.

Close up of sentiment

Inside of card using sentiment from the Party Hearty set

One of the things I like about this card is that it could work for just about any occasion, including a birthday.  It isn't often I come up with something that has multiple uses.  One of the things I loved about Christy's version was the shading effect she had on her olives.  Had this card not been for a workshop of 15 guests, I would have done the same thing she did, but, knowing how chaotic a workshop of that size can get, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.  So, here is the rather simple how-to for this card:

I started by punching several old olive ovals using my medium oval punch (the one from the Holiday Mini but that is still available!) I then punched several little circles in poppy parade using the circle punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack.  Using my glue stick, I assembled my olives.  I then glued them all over a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of basic black cardstock, ensuring some extended off the edge of the page.  I trimmed those ones and then ran the whole thing through my Big Shot using the square lattice embossing folder.  I then adhered the olive piece to a whisper white card base.  I stamped the martini glass on a scrap rectangle of whisper white cardstock using Staz On ink and the sentiment using poppy parade.  I coloured in the olive in the martini glass using my old olive and poppy parade markers, rounded two corners of the white piece and layered it on a slightly larger piece of poppy parade.  I added two brass brads and adhered it to my card using dimensionals.  For the inside of the card, I again stamped the martini glass using Staz On and coloured the olive.  I stamped the sentiment from the Party Hearty set in basic black on a scrap of poppy parade and punched it out with my modern label punch.  I adhered it inside my card using dimensionals.

An easy card, perfect for a workshop and for any guy (or gal) in your life!

Another Nursery Suite Easter Card

Hi...remember me?  I know it's been a few days...sorry for my neglect of my poor blog of late.  Between being so sick last week and trying to play catch up this week while also doing three workshops in as many days, along with report cards, parents' night and the Literacy Test at school, there just haven't been enough hours in the day to fit in time for stamping or blogging!  Today's card is one that I actually made a while back when I was experimenting with the Nursery Suite DSP and Easter card ideas.  It is one I did that uses a different, but equally spring-like, colour scheme...

Easter card using Nursery Suite DSP and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the inside of this one!  You'll just have to use your imagination...or leave a comment as to what you think I might have done inside!
So...this card uses almost NO stamping!! Gasp...is is possible?!?  Yes, my loyal readers, it is.  The only stamped element on this card is the sentiment.  Those cute little bunnies are one of the patterns in the Nursery Suite pack.  You may also be wondering which Stampin' Up! punch creates that pretty scalloped border...surprise...it is also part of the DSP pack.  I just love it when I can create something cute without a lot of fuss.  Here is what I did...

I cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of the regal rose/baja breeze, pear pizzazz, chocolate chip patterned paper for the background.  I then cut a 4" x 1 1/2" strip of the scalloped square piece of die cut paper and adhered it to the left side of my background piece.  I wrapped a piece of baja breeze seam binding ribbon around it and secured the ends with glue dots.  I then threaded a leftover baja breeze XL designer button I had left from the holiday mini with anothe strip of seam binding.  I tied it to the strip I had adhered to the card and then tied a knot to secure the button.  I then cut a 3" x 2 1/2" piece of the bunny patterned paper, making sure I got six whole bunnies on the piece I cut.  Again...I didn't want to dismember any bunnies in the creation of this card.  I layered the bunnies on a slightly larger piece cut from the scalloped square die cut piece I used earlier.  I adhered the bunny panel using dimensionals.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set on a scrap of pear pizzazz cardstock, punched it out with my word window and layered it on a modern label in chocolate chip.  I also adhered that using dimensionals.

Voila...quick and easy...now if only the rest of my life were that way!

What a week from hell...

...this has been!!  I can't believe how rough this week was!  My entire family was struck with this horrible stomach bug that absolutely knocked us flat.  My son took the brunt of it with violent stomach cramps, bloating and all the other nastiness that goes with the flu.  I can't tell you how heart wrenching it has been to listen to my sweet little boy screaming in pain all day long.  It has made my being sick that much harder because I haven't been able to help him.  Talk about feeling helpless!  I honestly don't know how parents of children with chronic health issues do it...I've been a complete mess! 
Anyhow...I'm happy to report that today was a turning point.  He almost seems like himself, full of the beans and talking non-stop.  He hasn't had cramping once today, so we are hopeful that the worst is finally over.  It has been a very long 10 days of this!  His big birthday bash is next Saturday, so he MUST be well by then!
Now, on to a card!  This card features the new Strength and Hope set from the up-coming Summer Mini catalogue as well as the items from the Spring is Blossoming promotion which begins April 1st (that's Friday...no fooling!)  I made this while I was completely out of it with the flu...I don't really know how I managed to put it together, but all the brads at the bottom have a story that goes with them.  First...the card:

Card featuring the Strength and Hope, Hope Happens and Four Frames sets as well as the Paisley Prints DSP

Close up of sentiment from the Hope Happens set as well as the frame from the Four Frames sneak peek set.

Inside of card.

I've shown you several other cards using the new Paisley Prints DSP, so you already know how gorgeous and rich the colours are.  These patterns are no different...just lovely!  The  text and the butterfly are from the Strength and Hope set which you'll see in the upcoming Summer Mini that goes live May 1st.  Two dollars from every sale of this set will be donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation, so not only are you getting a beautitul stamp set, but you are also helping out a very worthy cause with your purchase!  Be sure to request your Summer Mini from me before it goes live...send me an email to request your copy FREE!
The other special items on this card are from the up-coming Spring is Blossoming promotion, which begins April 1st.  The DSP and the Four Frames stamp set are both available for purchase only through this promotion...they will not be in any catalogue or mini until the new Idea Book and Catalogue is released July 1st.  You can purchase both of these sneak peek items with a qualifying order of just $25 during the month of April.  PLUS if you host a qualifying workshop in April you'll earn BOTH the DSP and the stamp set FREE in addition to all the fantastic regular hostess benefits!  WOOHOO...gotta love free stuff!!  Call or email to book your April workshop today and start planning which projects you are going to use these gorgeous items on!
Now...I have to tell you the story of the brads on this card.  There are a lot of them.  Yes, the card is very heavy.  No, I did not set out to design a card that weighed five pounds.  Here is what happened...
I sat down to make this card for a workshop that one of my new recruits was having.  I wanted to have some samples to give her that use the new promotional products.  Unfortunately I was in the early stages of the stomach flu while trying to put this card together.  I managed alright (except that I had to stamp the butterfly and text component twice...that's a whole other story) until it came time to poke the holes for the brads.  I had originally planned to just use two small brads...one on either side of the sentiment.  Then I had issues with my poker...it just wouldn't poke equally spaced holes!!  I tried and tried and kept ending up with holes that were uneven.  I even got out my ruler and measured...still no luck.  By the time I had holes that were sort of even I had so many holes that I now had to try to cover them up somehow!  Hence the extra LARGE brads.  They are covering the multitude of holes I poked!!  Thank goodness there is always a way to fix our mistakes...even if they do end up with a card that will cost $10 to mail!!!

Friday Mashup Easter Card

I suddenly realized I hadn't posted this yet and that if I wanted to be considered for this week's challenge over at Friday Mashup I had better get on it!  So here it is...the sketch challenge and my Mashup Easter card...

Easter card I designed for the MU36

I used the Crosses of Hope stamp set and the gorgeous new Paisley Petals DSP

This card is really quite simple but involved a lot of fussy cutting of the flowers from the DSP.  I decided it was high time I made a sacred Easter card...bunnies are cute, but the cross is the reason for the season.  I'm still not 100% and really not up to posting much more than this...I hope you can figure it out from the photos if you want to CASE it.  If not, leave a comment with any questions and I'll try to answer them.  See you tomorrow...Friday...YAY!