Party Hearty, Guys!

I have another order for a set of 20 birthday cards, 10 for guys, 10 for gals. Here's what I came up with for the dudes...



I used SU!'s Party Hearty set on all the cards in this post. By request, the inside greeting on each card is by Dawn Houser/Uptown Rubber Stamps, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? - Satchel Paige" The "Birthday Celebrations" stamp used on some of the cards is from the SU! Upsy Daisy set.



Card 1: Wild Wasabi and River Rock (both retired In Colors)






Card 2: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Hawaii Papaya DSP






Card 3: Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Prestwick DSP






Card 4: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Hawaii Papaya DSP






Card 5: (done in the wee hours of the morning, so a little different than the rest) Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango






Card 6: Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Prestwick DSP






Card 7: Basic Gray, Real Red, Prestwick DSP; CASE'd from a card posted on SplitcoastStampers.com by Wendy Janson






Card 8: Basic Gray, Brocade Blue, Prestwick DSP






Card 9: Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Prestwick DSP






Card 10: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point; CASE'd from a post I saw on SplitcoastStampers.com -- if it's your original idea, please let me know so I can give you credit!

Dreaming and Discovering

Yay me! I'm finally caught up on swap cards, having finished this card for a Black and Pink "Hep Cat" trade. Yeehaw!



This card came together pretty quickly, probably because I've been thinking on it since I signed up. I stamped the card base, which is Passion Pink, with the Tres Chic background stamp. The "dream and discover" is Hero Arts. I used a sponge dauber to make the flower black. The rest is, I think, self-explanatory.






Next project: 20 birthday cards by November 4th ... Wheeeeeee!

F is for...

This lovely little card is for a swap with the theme "F is for..." I took the opportunity to pull out one of my favorite Judikins/Paula Best stamps (the face) as well as a seriously cool Hero Arts stamp (dream and discover). I embossed the face onto Pink Pirouette cardstock and colored in some sections with a blender pen. I trimmed this piece and layered it on some white textured mesh and then on a mat of Purely Pomegranite. The DSP is retired Berry Bliss, and the card base is also Purely Pomegranite. I used a regular hand punch to add to the scalloped border on the DSP. The felt flowers, held on by a gold brad, are Flower Fusion Accents and Elements. Now that I've taken a picture of the card and don't have to worry about reflections, I plan to paint some Crystal Effects over the hearts, lips, and maybe eyes. I'm really pleased with how this card turned out!

Halloween Cards 2008

So, here's what I've been up to this week: Halloween Cards!



It all started when I borrowed the Spooky Skyline Stampin' Around jumbo wheel from a friend. I hadn't planned on making Halloween cards this year, but when the wheel arrived, how could I not?



I started out by brayering onto glossy cardstock with the Late November SU! Spectrum pad (discontinued, but very close to the Creole Spice Kaleidacolor pad) and the Cappuccino Delight Kaliedacolor pad. I put a Basic Black cartridge into the handle and went nuts (meaning I ran the wheel over all the brayered glossy pieces -- not that I lost my mind!) (Then again... )



The 16 cards below are all made with pieces of that glossy stuff supplemented with SU! cardstock (Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Night of Navy), non-SU! designer paper, and embellishments such as black grosgrain ribbon, pumpkin and celery brads, punches, and rub-ons. I also ran the Spooky Skyline wheel over many of the card bases with VersaMark ink. I used the Bats About You and Haunted House retired SU! stamp sets, as well as a mess of non-SU! stamps, to jazz up the insides and envelopes.



Blah, blah, blah. Just look at the cards already. *wink*

Pink Monochromatic Swap Card

I know it -looks- like I haven't been stamping this week, but in fact it's been a grueling marathon to get my Halloween cards done. But more on that later...



I feel the need to share with you a card I made tonight for a swap in my Happy Stampers Yahoo group. The theme: Monochromatic. (For those of you who need a refresher, that means using different shades of one color.) I've been planning a black/grey/white card in my head ever since I signed up for the swap, but to my amazement a PINK one fell out of my fingers! I think after working with black for many of the Halloween cards, I needed to do something in a pastel color.



I used the Stampin' Up! colors of Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose. I don't remember offhand where the central image stamp is from, but if you need me to look it up for you, leave a comment. The card base is Regal Rose, and the Pretty in Pink layer on top of that is stamped in Regal Rose with the retired Victorian Lace SU! background stamp. I pulled out my Pretties kit and used a sponge dauber to color a white flower Regal rose, and then used the dauber to color the half-pearl in the flower center. A couple colors of pink ribbon and -- voila! a finished card!

Celebrating Samantha

A dear friend of mine just became a first-time grandmother, so I put this card together to send to her as congratulations.



Stamps: Always, So Many Scallops

Colors: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP

Punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge

And: Paper Piercing Tool, Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon






Welcome to Planet Earth, Samantha!

Happy Stampers Swap Cards

I've been dawdling a lot playing games on Pogo and watching Netflix, only to discover some deadlines snuck up on me for swaps with my Happy Stampers group. Eek! Nothing like an adrenaline rush to make stamping all that much more interesting. *grin*



"Bleaching" is the theme of this first card. I sponged bleach on black cardstock to create a cool nighttime cloud effect, and then invited a little owl to sit on a branch under the full moon and stars. The owl is stamped in bleach on red textured cardstock. I added a little visual texture to the branch by running my Batik Stampin' Around wheel across it a few times. I accented the branch with some leaves I cut freestyle. A little bleach sponged onto the yellow moon gives it a bit of a cratered look. The bitsy stars are from a corner punch I dug up. This sure isn't my usual style of stamping, but I rather like the card.






The theme for the next card swap is "E is for..." I ran across these two elephant stamps in my stash a few weeks ago, and just HAD to use them for this card! Aren't they gorgeous? Yes, there are two. One is the larger one used on the card front, and one is a smaller version of the same which I used on the envelope. I went out of my comfort zone and pulled out some textured burgundy cardstock as well as some brushed gold cardstock from SU! The elephant is embossed in Bmuse's "Razberry Dazzle" Very Fine Detail Embossing Powder -- absolutely gorgeous burgundy-ish powder with flecks of violet and gold. (You can see the gold shimmer in the smaller detail picture below.) I used the Batik wheel once again to create a background on the burgundy card base. The rest is layering and punches. I'm particularly proud of my first use of a brand new Boho Blossoms punch in creating the 5-layer accent design.









My dawdling days are over for awhile (or better be!) since I have Halloween and holiday cards to work on as well as other special event cards to make. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in stamping!

Happy World Card Making Day!

I made this card for a Black-and-White swap in one of my Yahoo groups.



Stamps: Leafy Glade background, Pocket Silhouettes






Now I need to get crackin' on my chores so that I can enjoy World Card Making Day this afternoon! Are you playing, too?