Happy 18th BIrthday tags and card

My oldest niece turned 18 on March 18th.  Yep, another golden birthday!  After seeing how I made her sister's gifts (see post here), she hinted she would enjoy something similar.  So for her birthday I went about with designing something similar and yet unique for her.  

I was going to try to buy items that were in 18-packs.  But I couldn't find 18 items and many were expensive and not quite useful so I decided on making 18 gift tags and wrapping her favorite candy/gum in the Tag a Bag gift bags with a $5 bill.

When I started designing her ensemble I decided to use the Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die.  I thought it would allow me the flexibility to create different designs, while similar, on each tag.  And of course, I had to use the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. I am so thrilled to have this punch!!  It really made this project go so much faster!

To make the tags I cut cardstock into pieces that were 2" by 4" and then ran them through the big shot using the hexagon hive thinlit.  I saved the inside hexagons and used them to fill in the tags to add a little color.  I used 2-way glue to glue the hexagon hive to whisper white cardstock and then punched the tag with the scalloped tag punch.

For the numbers I used the Morning Post Numbers Stamp Set and punched them using the hexagon punch. 

I used 5 different colors, matching them to the 3/4" chevron ribbon I had on hand.  Pretty simple in that respect! 

 For the card, I followed the same theme.  I raised the hexagon hive image using dimensionals and tucked the contrast hexagons behind the raised image to add color.  I used scraps of ribbon (have a ton of that now) to embellish the card.  

I am not sure it was as much fun to open her gifts since the gifts were all pretty much the same (although getting 18 $5 bills was kind of fun).  I figured it would embarrass her if I bought her underwear like I bought her sister!

Colors: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride

Stamp Sets: Morning Post Numbers, Petite Pairs

Big Shot: Hexagon Hive Thinlit

Accessories: Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Hexagon Punch, 3/4" chevron ribbon in Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, and Blushing Bride

Forty Cheers

My Brother-in-Law turned forty this year so I made him a card to celebrate his special day.  He likes beer so I decided to make a beer card.

I used My Digital Studio to make the beer foam (New Heights-cloud 2 Stamp Brush) and the cheers greeting (Happy Hour Stamp Brush) with my e-cutter.  I made each item a little bigger to fit the card.

The beer mug is made with vellum cardstock, embossed with the stripe embossing folder.  In order to avoid perforating the vellum I embossed the vellum with no tabs on the Big Shot platform (instead of tab 1).  You can still see the lines but they vellum is not coming apart.

The "beer" in the mug is just summer starfruit cardstock.  I used the arrows embossing folder on the background.

The "forty" greeting was made using the Designer Type Photopolymer Stamp set which is no longer available.  Apologies for that, I forgot I wanted to post this one to my blog.

He enjoyed the card so I was happy!  With the e-cutter, it is so much better to have the versatility of sizing your e-stamps to fit your needs!

Colors: Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Summer Startfruit, Whisper White 

Stamp Sets:  Designer Type Photopolymer Stamp set (no longer available)

My Digital Studio: New Heights-cloud 2 Stamp Brush, Happy Hour Stamp Brush

Big Shot: Arrow Embossing Folder, Stripe Embossing Folder

Accessories: Vellum Cardstock, sponge

Good Ol' USA

My department hosted a colleague from Japan for the last 3 months.  He is returning to Japan on Saturday so I designed a card for to say best wishes and thanks for joining our department.  

I decided to use the Map It Out photopolymer set, specifically the map of the USA. A nice way to remember his stay in the US.

I wasn't sure what type of greeting to use so I went with "Best Wishes" from Petite Pairs.  I thought this greeting was appropriate as a "farewell" greeting.

The background is a mix of stamps, both Off the Grid and Gorgeous Grunge.  For the colors I decided to use Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo and Early Espresso.

The card is pretty easy to make.  I only had about 30 minutes to design and make it so I made it fairly simple.  

Baby Shower Favors

It was a very busy week so I didn't have much time to post this week.

I promised to post the baby shower favors I made for the ladies at work.  

I decided to use the same stamp I used for one of the cards (Let the Cute Begin Post).  This stamp is from the Best of Babies and Brides stamp set which is only available for another week!!

For the colors, I pulled in colors from both cards, calypso coral and gumball green.  I figured the baby tee would pull in the theme I used for the Let the Cute Begin card and the flowers would pull in the theme from the other card (Hello Baby Card and Gift Bag post).

The shower was fun and everyone enjoyed the goodies!  Now we just have to wait for the new babies to join us!  

Hole in One!

My Mother-in-Law got her 3rd Hole in One so I decided to make her a card to congratulate her on her accomplishment!  She is pretty humble about it, but we can hear the excitement in her voice!

I started with Gumball Green cardstock and used the square lattice embossing folder to make a "green". I used the circle framelits to make the cup, including the black rim.  

The golf ball was punched using the 1-3/4" circle punch and then I embossed it with the Distressed Dots embossing folder.  It looks like a real golf ball!!  

Inside I used the photopolymer stamp set Sans and Stripes for the "Hole in One" greeting.  I inked the stamps with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

This card did not take took long to make!  And I am positive she will love it!

Sweet Baby Girl

I was asked by a neighbor to make her a gift bag for a baby shower she is attending.  The theme of the baby shower is tiara's and tutus so she wanted me to create something using that theme.  Challenge accepted!  

Since I was using the Baby Tees wheel recently, I decided pull it out once again for this project!  I planned to make a card and matching gift bag.  For the card I decided to play along with the Stampin' Celebration Mid-Month Sketch Challenge SC76.

 

Here is my card.  I used Whisper White cardstock and embossed the front with the Distressed Dots embossing folder.  The flag is Pink Pirouette and the greeting is from Baby, We've Grown stamp set in the 2014 Occasions catalog.  I stamped the greeting using Strawberry Slush and then filled in the BABY using the Pink Pirouette marker.

For the baby tee I rolled the stamp in VersaMark and heat embossed the tee with white embossing powder.  Then I filled in the polka dots with the white gel pen.

I wasn't sure how to make the tutu since we don't have toile in the Stampin' Up repertoire of accessories.  However, I was making flowers from the creped filter paper recently (another project to be posted soon), so I decided to see how the crepe paper would work as a tutu.  It worked great!!For the tutu, I punched a few flowers out of the creped filter paper using the Petite Petals punch from the 2014 Occasions Catalog.  I put a few glue dots on the baby tee and then used my Paper-Piercing Tool (with the black cover on) to apply the flowers to the tee.  I love the way they turned out!!

For the gift bag I followed a similar theme as the card.  I covered a kraft paper bag with Strawberry Slush DSP.  The tiara is from My Digital Studio Topsy Turvy Celebration Stamp Brush Set.  I enlarged the tiara and then cut it out with the e-cutter.

This was a last minute project for this weekend and I am so happy with how it turned out!  I can't wait to give it to my neighbor for her party.

Colors: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette

Stamp Sets: Baby, We've Grown

Big Shot: Distress Dots embossing folder

My Digital Studio: Topsy Turvy Celebration Stamp Brush Set

Accessories: 3/8" Strawberry Slush Ruffle Stretch Trim, 5/8" Organza Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Creped Filter Paper, Petite Petals Punch, White Embossing Powder and Heat Tool, Quatrefancy Specialty DSP, In Color 2013-2015 DSP

Beautiful Peacock Mosaic

It seems that peacocks are popular these days.  One day I was looking at the mosaic punch and thought that it would make pretty peacock feathers, thus began the inspiring moment.  Well, earlier this year I had the chance to sit down and design my peacock!

I have been wanting to make wall art so the peacock project was perfect.  I bought a canvas frame, a 16" by 20" frame!  Plenty big for the project.

I started with the feathers and stamped the Mosaic Madness stamp onto Island Indigo cardstock using VersaMark ink and heat embossed them with Pool Party Embossing powder.  Then I punched these feathers out using the Mosaic punch. For the green parts of the feathers I stamped the image onto Garden Green cardstock using VersaMark and heat embossed with Wild Wasabi embossing powder.  I punched these images out using the 4-petal flower from the itty bitty shapes punch pack.

Once all of the feathers were punched I shaped the feathers and then drew the body around it.  The peacock design I used was inspired by the peacock used ny the Joss and Main shopping site ;0) 

To reduce the white of the canvas I diluted some Island Indigo ink and Baked Brown Sugar ink in alcohol in Stampin' Spritzers.  I sprayed the canvas with each color and let it dry.  The colors came out too dark so I coated the entire canvas with gesso to lighten it up.  Worked like a charm!  The gesso also helped give the canvas more of a watercolored look.

The greeting is from My Digital Studio, the Fantabulous You Stamp Brush Set.  I imported the image into the Silhouette program and cut it out using my Cameo.  I enlarged the image a little since I had to fill in the canvas.

Once all of the pieces were ready, I layered them pieces onto the canvas and applied them using Mod Podge.  I outlined the body with a black sharpie and applied basic rhinestones to the feathers.

This picture is my stamp room!  I can't wait to make more inspiring pieces of art work.  I have a few in mind, just need to start working on them!