For Father

I haven't had much stamping time the past couple of weeks with all of the birthday hoopla around here, so I have a card I designed a while back when I first received my Look Up to Father stamp.  It is super simple, but a perfect man-card:

Father's Day card featuring the Look up to Father stamp from the Occasions Catalogue as well as the Woodgrain background stamp.

This was a quick and easy card.  Even the watercolouring was done in a hurry with an aquapainter.  Sometimes I really enjoy just quickly throwing together a card without agonizing over layout and composition.  I started with a Very Vanilla card base that I stamped in Early Espresso with the Woodgrain background stamp.  I then sponged the whole thing in Soft Suede and the edges in Early Espresso.  The tree image is stamped in black Staz On and then watercoloured with an Aquapainter and Soft Suede, Old Olive and Garden Green ink pads.  I wrapped and tied some linen thread for texture and then  I layered the somewhat textured watercolour paper on a slightly larger Very Vanilla layer and popped it up with dimensionals.  I also added dimensionals when I adhered the image panel to the card base.  (Have I mentioned that I'm addicted to those things??)  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso on a strip of Very Vanilla card stock and trimmed into a pennant.  The finishing touch was three Candy Dots in Early Espresso. 

Inside view

On the inside I stamped the sentiment from Delightful Dozen in Early Espresso ink.  I inked the tree image using my markers and stamped it in the lower right corner.  Quick and easy and done in less than 10 minutes!

Whew! What a weekend!

Well, I survived my crazy weekend!  It was my son's 7th birthday and we held his party on Saturday.  It was, of course, a Minion theme, so I had to come up with a Minion birthday card to match.  I found a cute one on Pinterest designed by Paula Dobson, so I pretty much CASE'd it because I didn't have much time to get overly creative.  Paula didn't provide details about how to make her version, so it took some trial and error to figure it out.  Here is what I came up with:

Punch Art Minion birthday card featuring the Just Sayin' stamp set.

Cute, huh?  The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was the hair...not very Minion-esque.  Too much hair...as my son pointed out!  If I did this one again I would definitely do the hair differently.  In case you ever find yourself in need of a Minion card, here is a list of the the punches I used:

• Body:  3rd smallest die from the Window Frames Collection Framelits cut from Daffodil Delight card stock with the left and right "bumps" trimmed off.  Sponge edges with Crushed Curry ink.
• Overalls:  same die cut as above cut from Midnight Muse Core'dinations card stock.  Trim off the bumps as above and also cut in half.  Then insert each side into the hexagon punch about 1/8" and punch the "bib" of the overalls.
• Straps:  slot punch (retired) If you don't have this punch you could hand-cut small strips
• Pocket:  Banner punch reinserted at the points and punched to get the angled bottom
• Patch on pocket: I hand-cut a 1/8" square and added the smallest circle from the Owl Builder punch in Midnight Muse to the centre.
• Sand all pieces of overalls with sanding block and then sponge with Midnight Muse ink

• Legs:  pennant punch (non-scalloped triangle) - punch two and overlap.
• Feet:  heart from the Owl Builder punch with one of the bumps trimmed off
• Hands:  Four-petal flower from the Itty Bitty shapes punch pack, trim one petal off
• Arms:  Punch a 3/4" circle from Daffodil Delight, then punch around the resulting hole with the 1-1/4" circle to get a ring.  Cut in half and use one half for each arm.  Sponge with Crushed Curry ink.
• Strap for goggles:  Word Window, trimmed
• Goggles:  3/4" circle in Silver Foil, largest circle from Owl Builder in white, medium circle from Owl Builder in Chocolate Chip, smallest circle from Owl Builder in black
• Hair (in case you like this minion's faux-hawk):  ornament from the Merry Minis punch pack, fringed with paper snips.

Here's a better look:

Here are a couple more shots from the big bash on Saturday:

The littlest minion:  my 18-month-old nephew modeling the party hats I made from toy construction hats, fun foam, black pipe cleaners (for the hair!) and card stock. 

My big 7-year-old birthday boy minion, blowing out his candles.

It was a great day...Max said it was his best birthday ever, which is all I needed to hear!  I'm just really glad I have a year to recover before we do it all again!

TGIF!

I am SO glad today is Friday...I just wish it was going to be a relaxing weekend!  No such luck though!  This weekend my baby boy turns seven!!  Not sure how the heck that happened...he tells me he just can't help growing up.  Wish I could find some way to slow him down a little!  Anyhow, tomorrow is the big Minion-themed birthday bash...more on that later.  Suffice to say spending Saturday with a house-full of 6 and 7 year-old boys isn't my idea of a restful weekend! 
Not sure I'll have much stamping time this weekend...in the hope that you will, here is a little inspiration for you.  It is another project I created from a repurposed leftover kit for my upcoming card buffet. 

Birthday card featuring the Simply Stars and Perfect Pennants stamp sets.

For this one I didn't change much from the original design...I simply changed the stamp set I used for the background and added texture with the Decorative Dots TIEF.  (By the way, did you know that TIEF is going to be in the new Annual Catalogue?  If you missed out on it during Sale-a-bration you can still purchase it beginning June 1st!)

The colour scheme is Coastal Cabana, Basic Gray and Real Red...suitable for just about anyone.  I love having generic cards like this on-hand for those card emergencies!

Inside view with sentiment from the Family Reunion (retired) stamp set

This is another one of the projects that will be available at my Brides, Babies and Birthdays buffet coming up on April 24th and 25th.  The session on the 25th is currently full, but there is still space on the 24th if you haven't yet registered.  Click the Upcoming Classes tab at the top of this page for details.  In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Everything Old is New Again!

I have another card buffet coming up at the end of the month and as I sat down last weekend to start designing the samples I wanted to see if I could repurpose some of the unused kits from my last buffet for this one.  So, I pulled out one of the kits and started playing.  Thanks to a fabulous layout by Rita Wright that I saw on Pinterest, I came up with this:

Birthday card featuring the Startburst Sayings and Banner Greetings stamp sets.

I love this colour combo of Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo and Old Olive on a Basic Gray background.  It is perfect for a teen or tween, which is what I had in mind when I put this one together. 

The DSP is from the Quatrefancy pack.  I used the Hexagon TIEF to add a little texture and who doesn't like a little bling on their birthday?? 

Inside view with sentiment from the Full of Life (retired) stamp set.

The best thing about this card is that I used almost everything from the original kit and added only the DSP the Old Olive panel.  Quick and easy prep is the way I like to operate!  Now to do the same with my remaining leftovers!  Stay tuned!!

Candy Bouquet, Anyone?

No fooling, it's April!!  Bring on the spring!!

You may have noticed I've been neglecting my poor blog of late. In addition to the challenges my family has faced over the past couple of weeks, I've also been busy preparing for my school's annual Arts Awards event coming up this Thursday.  Each year the fine arts department puts on a big shindig to honour the students who have made significant contributions to the arts programs at our school.  This year we are doing a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme.  The decor, entertainment and food will all centre around candy and chocolate!  Fun!!  I am in charge of table settings and decor and (naiively) decided to make candy bouquets for the centrepieces, thinking I'd be making ten, as we usually have about that number of tables.  Here is what I came up with:

Candy bouquet made using the (retired) Flower Folds die and the (current) Spiral Flower die.

Fun, huh?  Well...surprise!  We sold 150 tickets, which means 36 centrepieces!!  Yikes!!  That's A LOT of flowers...19 per bouquet to be exact!  My poor Big Shot has been working overtime but I got them done last weekend.  In case you're wondering, here is what 36 bouquets look like:

Thank goodness I have a large diningroom table!  My son and I had quite the assembly line going...he was a big help!  Lots of work, but they look great!  I think my students will love them...some will even be taking them home as we are giving them away as doorprizes.  Just a word to the wise, if you ever volunteer to do something like this make sure you know exactly what you're getting into!!

Twisted Masking Tape

Happy Monday!  Today is a good day...it finally feels like Spring may just be springing!!  Warm sunshine, birdsong and melting snow...sure looks like spring to me!  Today I have a springtime project I designed for this week's challenge over at The Technique Twist.  We are all about the Masking Tape technique this time and I decided to  use it to create a soft background for an Easter card. 

Easter card featuring the Masking Tape technique and using the Papaya Collage, Petite Petals, Lacy and Lovely and Blessed Easter stamp sets.

Pretty, huh?  Here are some quick tips:

• I used Soft Sky, Pistachio Pudding and Pink Pirhouette ink for my masking tape background.  
• I die cut the oval after I had applied the ink so that I could get the best possible coverage.  I also stamped a doily from the Lacy and Lovely set in Sahara Sand ink to add a little bit of interest.  

 

• The foliage is from the Papaya Collage stamp set and is heat embossed in pewter.  
• The flowers are stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe and are punched with the Petite Petals punch. 
• The sentiment is from the Blessed Easter set in the Occasions catty and is punched with the Bracket Label punch.
• The background is embossed using the Beautifully Baroque TIEF.

I left the inside fairly simple, stamping the foliage in Sahara Sand and the flowers in Crisp Cantaloupe. 

Just a friendly reminder that today is the LAST DAY of SALE-A-BRATION!!  Last chance to earn fabulous freebies...after today they are gone for good!  Be sure to get your order in before midnight to qualify for your free Sale-a-bration rewards.

Pumpkin In the Bag

Happy Friday!  I know I've not been around much the past couple of weeks.  Please bear with me, as our family is going through some challenging changes of late.  My stamping time has been very limited, not to mention the fact that my stamping space still hasn't completely recovered from our flood.  I am doing my best to stay on top of things but when challenges arise, it's the fun stuff that tends to get pushed aside.  I have a couple more weeks of craziness to get through and then (hopefully!) things will settle down again.

I am so loving the latest Paper Pumpkin kits!  The March kit was so much fun.  As usual I made one sample just as shown in the instructions and then I played a little...check it out:

February Paper Pumpkin project.  The kit contatined FIVE gift bags and tons of accessories to decorate them.

I made this bag and three others like it to give to my monthly Techniques Group ladies.  I thought it would be a cute way for them to take their projects and technique cards home with them and I knew they would appreciate the little surprise :)  (I was right!!)  The March kit included five generously-sized, heavy-weight gift bags, pre-printed letters, sheets of self-adhesive die cuts, twine and clothespins, as well as two background stamps and an ink spot.  A great value!
Then I decided to use a few pieces from the Heartfelt Banner Sale-a-bration kit...

I added the little canvas hearts on either end of the little banner.  Not much, but it adds a little something extra. 
Then I stepped it up even further.  I found some plain Kraft gift bags in my stash and added more pieces from the Heartfelt Banner Kit...

Fun, huh?  I love those little pom-poms!  They add whimsical pops of colour against the plain background.

I really have been very impressed with the latest Paper Pumpkin kits.  They offer great value and tons of fun project ideas.  If you haven't tried Paper Pumpkin yet, now is the time!  Until the end of March you'll receive a bonus pack of In-Colour markers when you subscribe...that's a $19.95 value, which is almost the equivalent of your first month's subscription for FREE.  It is such fun to receive the kits each month in the mail...it's like getting a little birthday surprise every month.  The best part is there is no obligation...if you aren't satisfied you can unsubscribe any time...but I know you'll love the fun projects you'll recieve each month.  To subscribe visit mypaperpumpkin.com and be sure to do so before March 31st to claim your free set of markers!