Hybrid Chalkboard Background Birthday Card

My cards need to lose some weight. I love embellishments and layers but unfortunately that can create heavy cards requiring extra postage. And since some of my cards need to be sent internationally, that can add up.

So I decided to hybridize this one by making most of the card digitally with just a couple light embellishments.

Since chalkboard printables are very popular right now, I decided to go with a chalkboard background. added a chalky font for the sentiment, added a shabby frame, paper flowers, a balloon and even a strip of digital washi tape. I used My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to make this.

Then all I needed to do was print, trim and mount. I used a coordinating polka dot background paper to cover the front of my 5x7 card. Added two rhinestones and some baker’s twine and done.

Here’s the image I used if you have a birthday card you need to whip up quickly.

 

It’s sized 4x6 but you can make smaller in any photo editing program.

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First Cards of 2013

My first projects of 2013 happen to be my first craft love, cards. I have a few January birthdays. Proud mom moment when your College age child asks when you’ll be making the thank you notes he needs to write for Christmas presents.

I am on a mission this year to,  if not craft SOLELY from my stash ( hear that Mr. Chocolate…I did not say I was not going to my homes away from home so you cannot quote me on that no way no how) but to bust a lot of it.  So everything I’m showing here I already had in my stash.

For the first card ( above) I used a watch themed paper by Recollections. This paper is so great I hardly needed to add anything to it. But we can’t have that now can we? I ran a piece of kraft cardstock through my Cuttlebug using a Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder.

I distressed my embossed watch panel with Tim’s ( we’re on a first name basis even though we’ve never met) Distressed Inks in Black Soot and some mica gloss inks in silver. Added a couple of sprocket gears , also from Tim’s line.

For the second card, I used a paper pack from EK Success “Life’s Little Occasions” line. I picked up a bunch few of these at JoAnn’s on one of my trips…they come in coordinated color packs and they also have sticker sets in themes like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. They’re usually in little bins on  the scrapbook paper or sticker aisle (this one’s called Black Punch Pack) and they’re great for bits and pieces or scrapbook journaling. Sorry…forgot to take a pic of the pack!

Pulled out three different pieces and added a black mat. The silver ribbon? Recycled from Christmas wrapping.

The tag in the middle is by Jolee’s Boutique French General line. Picked up a pack of these last year when they were 50% off. I embellished with another piece from my Life’s Little Occasions pack, and some leftover rub-ons.

For College Boy’s thank-you notes, I pulled out these fun black and white cards I picked up for $1 at Michaels some time last year. They’re by “Ditto / Studio G” and I know they still carry a bunch of their stuff at reasonable prices because I have had to force myself to keep walking past them! See? I can be good.

On another prior Michaels trip, I’d scooped up a bunch of vintage rub-ons in their then $1 section. College Boy likes things clean and not fussy so I kept these really simple and just applied them directly to the cards.

Do you have stash to bust in 2013? Please tell me I'm not alone :)

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Giving Thanks Card with Pendant Focal

This will be a very different Thanksgiving for us because it will be the first one we’ve spent without our son. College Boy will stay at school for the holiday because it’s just too crazy for him to fly back and forth for such a short time, especially when just over two weeks later he'll be home for a month long Winter break.

We’re thankful though that he was invited to his Academic Adviser’s home for Thanksgiving. I’m sending along a token of our thanks and made this card for him to give to his hosts.

I had this fun brown and black floral paper in my stash , along with these die cut leaves.
Included in the design team supplies I received from Blue Moon Beads was this beautiful wood pendant.

I was debating what to do with it and it just went perfectly with my card so it became the focal.

The colors, the feather and flower charms all just tied together with the paper.

The card is 6x6 so I cut the papers to fit and layered them together as shown. Then I glued the pendant to the center panel and embellished my card with paper flowers.

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More Fun With Tutera Celebrate Including A $50 Giveaway!

A sweet couple, friends of The Mumster, are celebrating their 60th Anniversary this month. 60! I hope when we celebrate our 60th Anniversary we’re as energetic and on the go as they are.

You might remember last week, I posted about the new David Tutera Celebrate line at JoAnn’s? Well they sent me so much fun stuff to play with you’ll probably see several future cards made from this line. I used it for this card along with some other stuff I had in my stash.

Here’s the even more fun part. The wonderful folks at Core'dinations who sponsored my post last week are giving one of my readers the chance to win a “Celebrate” prize pack of their own, valued at $50. I’ll be using Rafflecopter for this giveaway which will run from today through October 30, winner announced on Halloween. Kind of a reverse trick or treat! Like I said in my post last week, ANYONE can be a cardmaker with this line.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Sympathy In Brown and Gold

I’d love it if I didn’t need to make a sympathy card for a long while, but unfortunately, that need arose again .


For this one, I used a Stardreams brown metallic pre-made card , and Basic Grey’s “Hello Luscious”  paper along with American Crafts Brads and cappuccino baker’s twine from The Twinery.

The paper is reversible so I used both sides along with some coordinating paper scraps. Stamped the focal on white cardstock and embossed with gold glitter embossing powder.  Matted it on a brown scrap. The stamp is by Magenta:

I used the glittered gold brads from the package to coordinate with the glittery gold embossing powder, wrapped the twine around one of the panels and slipped the stamped focal between the twine.

The card is for my brother in law who just lost a good friend. I thought the “Friends” stamp was a good fit for this.

Memorial Day Birthday Card

One of our nephews celebrates his birthday this Memorial Day weekend, so I decided I’d make him a Memorial Day themed card. It was also the perfect reason to use some washi tape I recently ordered from Pick Your Plum!

I grabbed some striped red white and blue paper from my stash along with some matching blue cardstock, and stamped  cupcake on white cardstock w/ yellow ink. I stamped the cupcake again on a scrap piece of paper and cut out the bottom to make a mask. I sprayed the top of the cupcake w/ Elmer’s spray adhesive and “frosted” it with Recollections tinsel glitter.

What’s a cupcake without frosting? I trimmed the cupcake image and mounted it on blue cardstock wrapped with red and white baker’s twine and added some rhinestone swirls.

I used the red and white polka dot washi tape from my recent purchase to add to the card and then stamped “Happy Birthday” in the yellow ink on a white scrap, trimmed with deckle edge scissors and framed with a blue scrap.

Finished off with the rest of the rhinestones and baker’s twine.

Pink Poppies and Butterfly Cards

I’m not normally drawn to pinks but you might remember the Recollections “Fashionably Chic” paper stack that attacked me at Michaels:

There are several patterns within each color family  and the pink papers immediately reminded me of two ladies I know. I think the flowers are poppies but Martha and I part ways at gardening so whatever they are, I liked them and chose a couple of coordinating papers from the stack.

Made my cards (5x7) and covered with the coordinating papers. Mounted the floral paper onto some lightweight cardstock and then trimmed around the flowers, spritzed them with Elmer’s spray adhesive, and then a good shake of Recollections extra fine iridescent glitter. 

The swirly embellishment is a Memory Box steel die. The chipboard butterfly is from a package of chipboard shapes I found at Michael’s (20 pieces for $1) by Studio 18.

 

Finished off the cards with coordinating self adhesive rhinestones I had in my stash.

Fortunately  I can deliver these cards  in person because they would cost me more to mail them than to make them.

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Recollections "Fashionably Chic Mother's Day Cards

I’ve confessed my paper addiction before. It’s not getting any better. I wasn’t even looking for paper when I walked past the paper stack section at Michaels and Recollections “Fashionably Chic” jumped off the shelf at me. Practically attacked me. It did!

The cover doesn’t do it justice. It repeats the same series of patterns in several colors and within a color family, you can mix the patterns.

I  made several different cards because I always like to recognize the special women in my life on Mother’s Day.

For the first card, I glued the scrapbook paper to a piece of cardstock to give some body, and then cut out the flower, hit it with a spray of adhesive and glittered it.

I used another piece of the same floral paper and a piece with a coordinating damask print for base panel of the card . Used foam dots to adhere the glittered flowers to the card.

For this one, I used a different floral pattern and dotted the inside of the flowers with iridescent Stickles. For the focal flower, I used Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Floral die and cut the flowers using my Cuttlebug.

I don’t like to waste pretty paper so I use scraps to make embellishments to use in cards and other projects. This double sided tape I got at my local stamp store and is by a company called Sookwang. You can also use this tape to make your own washi tape.

I also played with another color combination from the stack:

I'm telling you. Paper just jumped off the shelf at me. Really.

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Gold, White, And Sparkly Bunny Easter Cards

Back when my favorite paper store was going out of business, I found this gorgeous handmade paper that I knew immediately I would use for either Easter or Mother’s Day cards.

The pic doesn’t do this justice but it’s a gorgeous rough silk like texture with metallic painted flowers.

So that was a couple of months ago when I thought I had tons of time until either of these holidays, then the calendar sped up and life happened and EEEK! It’s time to make Easter cards!

Thankfully, printables can be re-sized so I used my HOP printable as my card focal.

I used a cream cardstock for the card, then a gold speckled vellum for the background paper. Layered my handmade paper on top and then my re-sized printable, mounted on a coordinating panel.

Since everything looks better with glitter, I went over my little bunny with Stickles glitter glue so Mr. HOP would pop.

What’s a bunny without a little adhesive pearl cotton tail?  Other embellishments include punched flowers and more Stickles dots of glitter.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its waaaaaayyyyyy.

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