More Masculine Birthday Cards

I used an old One Sheet Wonder sketch from Susan Roberts for these cards.  I changed it up just a little bit by trimming the corner diagonal pieces about 1/8" so they would standout a little bit from the corresponding paper layered underneath.


I made four cards from one 6X6 piece of paper from the Authentique Essentials Collection.  My solid papers were all Core'dinations card stock and I used a Darice Stripes embossing folder on the base layer (rubbed with ink to give it more dimension).  I used my Cricut Craft Room Essentials to cut out the scallop circle (2.25") in brown and the sentiment circle (2") in cream.  The sentiment stamp is from the My Favorite Things Howdy set and the squiggles along the left edge were stamped directly on the card base using the Fiskar's Happy Birthday set.  I used Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink for all the inking.

Three cards are going to Operation Write Home.

Springy One Sheet Wonder Cards

I just did a whole bunch of spring themed OSW cards based on an idea from Jessica at Craftin' and Stampin' which she based on a tutorial from Inkin' It Up With Jessica - two Jessicas, isn't that confusing! *smile*  I took the basic cuts and modified them a little to fit on A2 cards instead of the larger cards they were originally designed for.

I cut my double sided 12 X 12 paper from a We R Memory Keepers Simply Spring Kit according to the layout but when I started laying it down I trimmed where necessary to make it fit the A2 cards.  I also added a few more layers to give the cards some extra personality.

I ended up with enough pieces to make 16 cards but if I shared all of them with you I think you'd get really bored.  So...here are some of my favorites:

For this card I took one of the solid card stock cuts from Jessica's tutorial and used my Fiskars Daisy edge punch and then backed it with some of the same gray card stock I used for the mat on the sentiment.  The sentiment is a clear stamp from Stampabilities that I picked up at Hobby Lobby just a couple months ago and I stamped it with Momento Dew Drop London Fog ink.  I've been itching to use this stamp and I think it works great with this springy paper!  I did have to cut the sentiment base larger than called for in Jessica's tutorial to fit this particular sentiment.

For this one I added some of the sticker embellishments that came in the Simply Spring kit at the top and the bottom.  The sentiment is from the Fiskars Sweetheart Set.  I inked it also in London Fog and added some Diamond Stickles to the hearts for a little extra dimension.

I think this one turned out so cute.  I love that little dog.  I was tempted to add some Copic coloring to him but in the end I'm glad I left him alone.  This was also inked with London Fog and I added a little drop of Diamond Stickles to the heart above the hello sentiment.  The sentiment is from the Fiskars Sweetheart Set and the dog is from the We R Memory Keepers Furever Friends set.

I think this one turned out cute.  I toyed with fussy cutting out the tag (from the Fiskars Terrific Tags set) and then layering it on the card stock base but in the end I think it works just leaving it stamped directly on the base.  I colored the little daisies with a touch of Copic YG00 and then put a small dot of Diamond Stickles in the middle of each flower.  The brad is one I had in my stash from an unknown makers but it's really small and flat so mailing shouldn't be an issue with this card.

The sentiment on this one is from the Fiskars Laugh With Me set.  I stamped this one with London Fog and added Diamond Stickles to the music notes.  It's really sparkly but unfortunately I just couldn't capture that with the camera.

This card is using the same Laugh With Me set and I also added a sticker from the Simply Spring kit. My husband pushed me outside my comfort zone on this one and urged me to place the butterfly off center.  I'm still not 100% positive about it but I'm growing to like it more.

And finally, my absolute favorite of the bunch and one I am going to make more of:

I love, love, love how this one turned out!  It all started with the stamp set on this one.  I've had this Dimensions Clear on Clear Thoughts of Fancy set for probably over 10 years.  It was one of the first sets I bought when I started stamping.  I stamped it in London Fog and then colored the dress with Copic E01.  I really love how the Copic color is really close to the pattern paper color.  I don't have a lot of Copics so matching things is not the easiest for me.  Once I had the dress and sentiment done and layered on top of the pattern paper I realized it was missing something.  I didn't have any paper in my stash that looked quite right so I found this flower border stamp in my stash by Anna Griffin from her Modern Graphics set and stamped several rows of the flowers creating a background directly on the card base.  

Unfortunately her Angel Policy does not allow sales of items created with her products to be sold on the Internet so I will be shopping for a different stamp to create the background for future reproductions of this card.  I try not to use anything that I can't eventually sell on Etsy.  That's too bad because this set has quite a few really nice images in it.  I think it would also be nice if I took a gray white-core card stock and embossed it with a polka dot folder and then sanded it to expose the white core.  I think I'll go try that now!  Isn't it great when you come up with solutions using things you already have?!?

Birthday and Hello Cards

I made some feminine cards with that same OSW recipe I used the other day when I made the masculine birthday cards.  I made this card especially for my husband's cousin - we love her bunches!!  She has a birthday today and we wanted to let her know we were thinking about her more than just posting a happy birthday message on her FaceBook page.

 

Outside

Inside

The sentiments are from the Fiskars Happy Birthday set.  The flowers and the tag border came from the Fiskars Terrific Tags set.  I used Momento Dew Drop inks in Tangelo and Bamboo Leaves for the stamping and some Diamond Stickles in the centers of the flowers to give them some sparkle.

The paper is from the We R Memory Keepers Simply Spring 6 x 6 pad.  I love this pad and wish I would have bought all they had when I found them at Tuesday Morning.  I also got the larger 12 X 12 boxed set that I plan to use soon on a mini album.  If you see either of these sets at your Tuesday Morning I highly recommend them.  The paper is really high quality and coordinates well.  The background paper is some solid card stock from Core'dinations that I embossed with a Darice Large Petal embossing folder.  I used some American Crafts twine on the tag that I cut out with my Cricut using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge.

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I also used the rest of the OSW cuts to make some additional Hello cards for OWH.  

For these cards I  used all the same paper lines but changed up the sentiment.  I got this sentiment as a free digi from TLC Creations.  She has the cutest sentiments!!  You can see this one at:  http://createwithtlc-createwithtlc.blogspot.com/2014/03/sunday-freebie_9.html

I cut the sentiment paper at 1.5" x 2" and then rounded two corners on the one design and all four corners on the other design.  I used Momento Dew Drop Ink in Tangelo to ink the edges.





I ended up being able to make seven Hello cards and the one birthday card for our special cousin out of just two sheets of patterned 6 X 6 paper!!  These OSW layouts are the best!!

Here's the link to the OSW layout I used for this set of cards:  http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com/2008/09/6-x-6-one-sheet-wonder-challenge.html

One (well...maybe two) Sheet Wonder Masculine Birthday Cards

I ran across something fun on Pinterest the other day and wanted to try it out.  I've seen one sheet wonder cards made with 12X12 sheets but when I saw the one for a 6X6 I had to try it!  I prefer making cards from the smaller pads because the prints tend to be scaled down and I think they just work better for the small A2 cards I tend to make.

I used the diagram and sketches that Julee Tillman has on her blog (http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com/2008/09/6-x-6-one-sheet-wonder-challenge.html) but I messed up my cutting somehow and ended up with something just a little different.  I love her design though so I'm going to try it again.

I used two coordinating sheets of 6X6 paper from the We R Memory Keepers For the Record pad but you could use a double sided paper and then it would truly be a one sheet wonder.  I picked this pad up at Tuesday Morning a few weeks ago for an astounding $1.99!!  If you haven't checked out the craft supplies at Tuesday Morning, it's definitely worth the trip!

I used Core'dinations solid card stock for the base papers and ran the mustard color through a woodgrain embossing folder made by Darice.  I used Crushed Olive and Vintage Photo inks by Tim Holtz to give everything a little bit of a vintagey  and more masculine feel.  I used a Fiskars Happy Birthday sentiment stamped onto a scalloped circle I punched with a Fiskars 2" punch.

I ended up making 8 cards with no waste from my pattern papers at all!  I have a hard time throwing away scraps so using this technique will definitely help me wrangle all those scraps.

These cards are going into my Operation Write Home box that is just about full!