Green and Pink Happy Birthday

This is a card that uses more scraps. The bottom, green panel is embossed with the Sizzix Flowers embossing folder. Scraps from Basic Grey's Sweet Pea/Alyssa collection are layered on top, with a border cut from Spellbinders' Fleur De Lis border die. The sentiment panel is cut from Spellbinders' Fancy Tags Three Shapeabilities set. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings and the panel is bordered with Crystal Stickles. I cut the green swirl from the Basic Grey paper and used some butterfly punches to move the eye along.

Welcome Jack - Vintage Baby card

One of the attorneys in my office commissioned me to make "the most beautiful baby card, customized with the name Jack". I actually gave this a try one night and came up with a result that I didn't care for at all. It certainly didn't qualify as the most beautiful baby card. I found a vintage carriage an decided to go that route. My style is decidedly not vintage, so I did some blog hopping and took some inspiration and a sketch from the Just Give Me Stamps blog where Julie does beautiful vintage work.



My card uses "solid" paper from the My Mind's Eye, 29th Street Market paper collection (Peaceful Dream - Consciousness/Dreamy paper pattern), and patterned paper from Heidi Grace Designs', Shimmer Glitter Paper, Tendril Vines. The baby carriage is Hampton Art's Carriage stamp, stamped in Burnt Umber Palette ink, and the image panel is sponged with Ballet Blue Palette ink. Because I don't usually do vintage, I had to spray some white lace, and cream ribbon with Tattered Angel's Crushed Shells spray. I stamped the ribbon with "welcome" from The Angel Company's Laughter Hostess set. I added a flower and button from Making Memories' Ava Buttons and Blossoms collection and cut out the word "Jack" from the Cricuit Platin Schoolbook cartridge.

Flower Pattern Kindness Card

In my endeavors to clean up the desk by using scraps, I got side tracked. I still had the pad of Bo Bunny paper out that I used in the "Treasured Friends" posts from July. As I flipped through the pad, I saw this basically white pattern with little flowers that had been one of my favorites when I got the paper pack. I found that the perfect accents for it were black, and a light green paper that I'd never used before. This is my result. I love how the black pops the pattern right off the light green, making this one of my favorite cards in a while.



This card uses a Martha Stewart border punch on either side of the patterned paper panels. The sentiment comes from The Angel Company's Kindness stamp set. The flower was cut from Spellbindeers' Flower Creations Shapeabilities die, embossed and inked with Claret Palette ink and outlined with Crystal Stickles. The black swirl behind the flower is a partial image cut on the Cricuit using the Damask Decor cartridge.

Amberly Grace Flower for a Friend

Using something several times is the surest way to remember it. So here is a third card I made using Heartfelt Creations' stamps and matching Spellbinders dies.



This card utilizes The Angel Company's Amberly Grac paper collection. The background is distressed and edged with Gingerbread Versa Magic ink. The flower is Heartfelt Creations' Innoscents Flowers chalked in blue with a glitter border. The edge design is Spellbinders' Fleur De Lis, cut, embossed and inked with Ocean Depth Versa Magic ink. The sentiment panel is cut from Spellbinders' Beaded Circles Nestabilities die, also embossed and inked with Ocean Depth Versa Magic ink. The sentiment itself is from The Angel Company's Tag Tidbits set.

Blossom Birthday

This is another card I made using Heartfelt Creations stamps with matching Spellbinders dies.



This card uses The Angel Company's Juliette paper collection and matching ribbon. The background is embossed with one of Stampin' Up's Sizzix folders. The sentiment is T.A.C.'s from Trendy Greetings stamped in Burnt Umber Palette ink. The border at the bottom is a Martha Stewart border punch. The flowers are stamped from Heartfelt Creations' Flora Grande stamp set, cut with Spellbinders' Blossoms 3 Nestabilities, with a coffee ground and glitter center.

Birthday Sunflowers

Last spring at the Adventures in Stamping show, I bought several stamp sets from Heartfelt Creations that had matching Spellbinders Dies for cutting them out. There was a demo at the booth that showed how to make a template to line up with the stamped image so that the cutting came out just right. I finally got a chance to play around with those stamps and die cuts.



This card is made from brown, yellow and turquoise solid papers. The turquoise panel is embossed with the Dot embossing folder by Darice. The sentiment panel and mat are cut from Spellbinders' Labels Nine Nestabilities and the flowers are Aztec Gold Sunflowers by Heartfelt Creations cut with Spellbinders' Blossom 2 Nestabilities. The flowers and sentiment panel are accented with chalk. For the centers of the flowers I used leftover, dried out, coffee grounds mixed with glitter. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Tulip Spray Birthday

This is another birthday card using Basic Grey Sweet Pea/Alyssa scraps from my table. The tulips are from The Angel Company's Floral Trio and the sentiment is Stamping Sensations' Thoughts Just for You #2. The tulips are colored with Copic markers RV32, RV34, G21, G24 and the ribbon is YR23.

Best Wishes in Burgundy

I was doing some web surfing recently and saw a card that really inspired me, both in color and sketch. I played around with it a little bit and created something a little different.



This card uses Core'dinations cardstock with the core being lighter than the surface. I cut out two shapes on the Cricuit from the Lacy Labels cartridge (one for the panel and one for the mat), changing the size and dimension with the Gypsy. I ran the smaller piece through the Big Shot in the Cuttlebug Swirls folder and then sanded to bring out the lighter color. The scalloped circle is Nestabilities Heart Circle. The sentiment panel is stamped with a solid circle with swirl from Raisin BOAT's Symphony for the Soul stamp set, and the Best Wishes Sentiment is from The Angel Company's Rejoicing With You stamp set in Maulted Mauve Versa Magic Ink. The swirl is highlighted with a clear glitter pen and some butterflies were punched to bring the eye to the right.

A Little Whimsy Birthday

I was trying to use up some scraps that were laying on my desk, in an effort to actually see the surface. One of the things I had laying on the desk was the scalloped panel I created in the spring as part of my trade for Rita's gathering. These were the ones that were made to go with the ice cream punch design I was demoing, and there were some extras left over. After looking in my collection, I thought it would be fun to match it up with some other scraps of paper from TAC's A Little Whimsy paper collection. This is what I came up with.



The cake is from TAC's Let's Party set, colored with Copic markers. The cake is E57, and E59 with frosting in R83 and R85. The candles are YG11 and YG61, and YR32 and YR38 with a hint of Orange Peel Stickles. The scalloped panel comes from the Preserves Cricuit cartridge, amended in size on the Gypsy and then run through the Cuttlebug for embossing. The right side of the card was scored on the Scor-Pal.

Hanging up the wings, but not the memories

This week, The Angel Company announced that they're closing up their doors; hanging up their wings so to speak. It's a shame that so many people and small businesses have been hit so hard by this economy. I truly enjoyed my time as an angel. I loved going to seminar, meeting new people, making new friends and keeping up with old ones, getting inspired, and learning new techniques. I have made many friends through TAC, and I fully expect those friendships will continue, as will my own personal creative journey.

For anyone wondering, I have no plans to join a new direct selling company. Most people who know me, know I'm not a sales person. Monthly sales goals aren't for me, which was made TAC the perfect fit. That being said, I still plan to have Stamp With Me nights so friends can get together and have a good time and maybe get a little stamping done, and I'll still have classes and sell things I've created to supplement my obsession, because the social part was what I enjoyed most. And of course, I'll continue to post things I create to my blog.

It was a wonderful flight. Now it's time to see where the next current takes me.

Hang In There

A former co-worker (who is now a client) recently got a promotion at her job. She's understandably a little nervous, since the new position has a LOT more responsibility, although I'm sure she can tackle it with flying colors. This is the card I made for her to let her know that I'm thinking of her, and that even though it's a daunting job, I know she can do it.



This card uses The Angel Company's retired Four Fab Frogs set. I colored the image panel with Copic markers. The frog is in G21, G24, G28, YR20 and YR23. The branch is E57 and E59 and the stippled sky is BG10 and BG11. The frog's eyes are also BG11. The "hang in there" sentiment is from Stamin' Up's old Mini Mates stamp set.

Black and White Wedding Card

Tom and I went to one of his co-worker's wedding this weekend. This is the card I made for her and her new husband.



This card is simple black and white. The border punch at the bottom is a Martha Stewart punch. The medallion comes from the Cricuit Damask Decor cartridge and the swirls are the from the Monarch set that doesn't have a company name on the packaging. The bling at the top was added last minute, which I guess was a good addition, because it was what my husband said he liked when he saw the card.

Miscellaneous Flower Card

I really liked the look of the Treasured Friend post last month, and I got lots of compliments on that card, so I decided to use the same scraps to make one that was very similar, but a little different.



This card uses Taylored Expressions' Discover Your Wings stamp set inked in Mango Madness, Jumbo Java and Hint of Pesto Versa Magic ink, laid out on a scrap of the same Bo Bunny paper used last month and accented with more Grass Green pearls.

Another Vintage Birthday Card

I seem to have accumulated a lot of scraps on my craft table, so I'm trying to use some of them up. This card is made from scraps of the Basic Grey Sweetpea Alyssa paper that I used on the CBL's Vintage Birthday card post last month.



The sentiment is from Stamping Sensations, Thoughts Just for You #1 stamped in Black Momento ink, over a swirl from a clear stamping set that I got somewhere. I don't know the company name, but the name of the set appears to be Monarch. The swirl is in Sage Green Versa Magic ink. The pointed flower at the corner are stamped from a Heartfelt Creations set meant to be used with the Blossoms 2 Nestabilities and the rounded ones come from a punch. I gave them a little umph by coloring part of them with the RV95 Copic marker and adding Cinnamon Stickles to the centers. The smaller ones are edged in Jumbo Java Versa Magic ink. The ribbon is from Michael's Christmas ribbon sale bin.

50th Anniversary

Last week my husband and I were lucky enough to attend his Aunt and Uncle's 50th Anniversary. It's such an inspiration to see couples that have been together for 50 years and have weathered the bad patches and celebrate the good. We had a great time. This is the card I made for them.



This card uses off-white linen paper embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder with Encore Gold Ink brushed around the edges. The medallion is from the Cricuit Damask Decor cartridge laid on a background of gold paper and stamped and heat embossed with a gold 50. There is a further band of off-white linen cut with a large Martha Stewart border punch wrapped with a shear gold ribbon.

3D Lilly

It's been a busy week, so no posts, but here's something to make the wait worth while. A co-worker has had a 3D Lily card on her bulletin board for a long time, and every time I saw it, I thought, I should figure out how to do it. I finally asked her if I could borrow it, and brought it home to play with. 4 hours later, I came up with a reasonable likeness. Nothing as commercial as hers was, but still pretty cool.








The flowers and leaves are cut from the Cricuit. The leaves are from Walk in My Garden and welded together on the Gypsy. I don't remember if I picked a flower from Walk in My Garden or another cartridge. I spent a lot of time looking for the one that would work best. The flower is stippled with Sunflower and Iris Palette ink, and the leaves are Water Lilly Green. There are three flowers, one folded in half and two that are folded more and taped so they spring open when the leaves are pulled. The funny thing about it is that although it's basically the same fold, every flower ended up different, so it wasn't something I could duplicate over and over (which is part of the reason why the CBL won't be making this card).

Overall, it's still a really neat card, and I have a friend that has a penchant for cards that fold or have moving parts, so I gave it to her for her birthday.

Happily Ever After

When I made the civil union card from my prior post, I actually created two cards, since I wasn't sure what kind of look my friend was going for. This was the second card I made for her to choose from (except this card originally had a blue circle cut from the same Circle Hearts Nestabilities die, and the white panel I ultimately put on the pink card, could have been layered onto the circle hearts, had it been her choice). When she chose the other one, I brought this one home, and kept thinking that it needed a castle to go with the happily ever after theme. I found this castle in a set of Disney stamps someone had given me and changed up the card to match the theme.

Vintage Birthday

The Create A Bunch at Lunch group asked me for more feminine birthday cards, so this month, we did the one from my last post, and this pink and green one.



This card uses some old Basic Grey paper from the SweetPea Jack Collection that I had in my stash. I used my Cricut Gypsy to amend a label from the Lacy Labels cartridge to fit the size I wanted for the card, and cut some flowers from the Walk in My Garden cartridge as well. The sentiment panel, with the Happy Birthday greeting from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set, is layered over a pretty pink ribbon I got from Michael's on Black Friday last year when they were all 75% off.

More Tulips

In a prior post, I had submitted a purple and green tulip card that I made for a friend's birthday, and said it might amend it a little bit for my Create A Bunch at Lunch group. Well, here is the amended card.



This card uses cheery red and yellow. The white background panel is sprayed with a yellow watercolor mist. The flowers are stamped with The Angel Company's retired Dancing Tulips stamp. The flowers are stamped in Pearlescent Poppy Brilliance ink, and the leaves are Pearlescent Thyme Brilliance ink. This time I stamped them more in the middle of the card, and placed a ribbon directly below the flowers. Stamping the flowers in the middle left room at the bottom for the Happy Birthday sentiment from The Angel Company's Ordinary Greetings stamp set.

Pink and Green Flower Card

This is a card I made for a friend's birthday, before I came up with another one that I thought suited her better.



This card uses some scraps of Colorbok's Baby Girl Stripes that I had left over from some unconventional Christmas cards I did last year (and never got to post because things were so crazy). The image panel is stamped with The Angel Company's retired Fanciful Flowers stamp. The leaves and stems are in Versa Magic Sage ink and the flowers use the rock n roll technique and Versa Magic Pixie Dust darkened with Pink Grapefruit ink and highlighted with Crystal Stickles. I also found that Paper Trey's New Leaf Ribbon matches exactly with Queen & Company's Grass Green pearls.