Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's 71st birthday!  I made her a special card in honour of her big day, but I will wait to post that one till a bit later.  I do have another birthday card to show you that I created  for my All About Birthdays Buffet later this month. It also happens to work for this week's "Clean Slate" challenge over at The Paper Players...  and for the birthdays challenge over at Stampin' Royalty

Birthday card featuring the NEW Just Saying stamp set and coordinating Word Bubbles Framelits...get them bundled for 15% off!

Let me say again, this is NOT my Mom's birthday card...though I'm sure she would see the humor in it!  She is the only 71 year-old lady I know who owns her own chain saw and spends all summer and fall cutting her own firewood!!  No joke...she has the ear muffs and safety goggles and the works!  She's something else!!

This is a really simple card that uses the inlaid embossing  and chalkboard techniques.   In case you want to recreate it, here is a quick how to:

• I  die cut the various word bubbles out of different colours of card stock.  Here is the list of colours I used:  Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry.  
• I glued the die cuts to a 4" x 4" piece of Whisper White card stock, allowing some to extend over the edge.  I then trimmed the overhanging pieces and ran the whole thing through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice TIEF.  I glued the embossed piece to a Basic Black card base. 
• The sentiment is heat embossed in white on Basic Black card stock and then die cut with the Word Bubbles framelits.  I adhered it to the card using dimensionals.
• For a little bling I added some chevrons punched from Silver Glimmer paper using the Chevron Border punch.  
• For the inside I stamped the cake and sentiment in black Staz On ink and then coloured it using markers.

Inside view with image and sentiment from the Best of Birthdays set.

I really love this card...it is fun and easy and perfect for just about anyone who is feeling less like celebrating the number of candles on their cake!

Chalkboard Secret

Happy Friday!!  Gotta love these short weeks!  Today I have a card I designed for my techniques class last night to learn the Chalkboard technique.  Have a look:

Birthday ensemble featuring the From My Heart and Best of Birthdays stamp sets.

Birthday Card

Gift tag

This technique is SO popular right now I just had to teach it to my techies this month.  We made both items so they got lots of practice at it, plus they got to take home a techniques card with quick instructions so that they can recreate the look at home.  Lots of fun! 
Have a great weekend...hope its filled with stamping fun!!

Going, going, gone!

Click HERE to view the online PDF of the list of retiring stamp sets.  Then get shopping to order those sets you want before May 31st!

With the approach of the launch of the new Annual Catalogue each year, Stampin' Up! must make the difficult decision to retire several beloved stamp sets to make way for new and exciting products.  Today, SU released the list of retiring stamp sets from the 2011/12 catalogue.  The list is a little longer than in past years because of the change in the catalogue system.  While it is always sad to have to say good-bye, it is also very exciting because I know there will be even better NEW designs to come!  I plan to spend my afternoon pulling retiring sets from my collection and rearranging those that remain in anticipation of my new additions.

One of the sets that is retiring is Inspired by Nature (111656).  This beautiful set is one I have had for quite some time but don't often use!  I did pull it out last week as I was preparing for my monthly techniques class, as it lends itself very well to the chalkboard technique.  Have a look...

Birthday card featuring the Chalkboard technique using the Inspired by Nature stamp set and sentiment from Apothecary Art.

It was fun to pull out my chalks for a change!  I haven't used them in ages, so I had a great time colouring those beautiful flowers.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this technique, here is a quick how-to:
Start by stamping the flower image using white CRAFT ink on basic black cardstock.  Allow the ink to dry completely or use your heat tool to speed it along (that's what we did at my class, as we didn't have time to wait for it to dry on its own!).  Using Stampin' Pastels (120692) and a cotton swab, apply colour to the stamped image as desired.  For this card I used more mustard for the centres of the flowers, pretty in pink, perfect plum and elegant eggplant for the petals and then wild wasabi and garden green for the stems.  The result is a cool, luminous effect that appears to glow.  Such a fun technique...I can't wait to see what new stamp sets will appear in the upcoming catalogue that lend themselves to this technique!  In the meantime, if you like this set be sure to order it before May 31st...after then it will be gone for good!