Birthday Cupcake

One of my good friends recently had a birthday, and I whipped up this card to honor her special day. I based it on a layout by Mariana Grigsby in this recent Embellish Magazine challenge post. And here's an added bonus:  I'm offering a little prize if you can figure out my layout mistake. While this isn't the best quality photo since I had to use my phone rather than my digital SLR, you should still be able to see the whoopsy if you look closely. (You can click the photo to enlarge.) You have until Saturday at noon CST to post your answer. I'll select a Random.Derek winner from the correct answers. Good luck!

Cardstock/Paper: SU - choc. chip; pixie pink; tempting turquoise; glorious green, more mustard; watercolor paper; Sizzix - shantung texture, silver
Stamps: SU - Crazy for Cupcakes; PTI - Around & About Sentiments
Ink: SO - timber brown
Misc: Bazzill - micro brads; MM - stitched grossgrain; Sizzix Texturz - #20 (Birthdays), SU Backgrounds #1; machine stitching; ScorTape; pop dots

Wishing You

I was recently hired to make a birthday card for a 90th birthday celebration. I like to get a feel for the type of person who will be receiving a card that I make. The card recipient has been described as "rather traditional" and loves the colors pink and green. I knew this card would be perfect with a few simple substitutions.

Cardstock: DCWV - Luxury Stack; SU - chocolate chip, pink pirouhette;  misc. white paper

Stamps: PTI - Recipe Box Label, Fresh Alphabet, Daily Designs, With Sympathy, Through the Trees

Ink: SU - pink pirouhette, sage shadow, creamy caramel; SO - timber brown

Misc: SU - pixie pink satin ribbon, scallop border punch, Texturz Flourish embossing plate; EK success - diamond scallop border punch; PTI - rustic twine; Reflections - pink adhesive pearls; pop dots; Zots; ScorTape; corner rounder

20+ Days of Cards: Day 23

Today wraps up my post-holiday thank-you notes. This third and final design is clean & simple and was very quick to assemble.

Base: Michaels pre-scored card
Cardstock: K&Co green; misc. cream
Misc: Sizzix - Gifts & Mistletoe; Zots; SU - watercolor pencils, blender pen (shadowing); silver glitter pen; Xyron

20+ Days of Cards: Day 22

Today I have another holiday thank-you card to share with you. I used one of my new Sizzix dies to paper piece this card. I had bunches of scraps leftover from an album project that worked perfectly for the piecing.

Base: Michaels pre-scored card
Cardstock/Paper: misc. white; K&Co - holiday paper, green textured cardstock
Misc: Sizzix - Gifts & Mistletoe; green glitter pen; white pen; pop dots; Xyron

20+ Days of Cards: Day 21

When the holidays are all over, it's time to thank everyone who made them special. I came up with three designs for the thank-you cards this year - all inspired by the dies themselves. This first one screamed for something beyond paper, so I thought it would be fun to use felt. I really like how the texture of the felt gave the design added dimension and depth.

Base: Michaels pre-scored card
Misc: Sizzix - Holly & Berries; brown pen; white pen; brown machine stitching

20+ Days of Cards: Day 19

I have a gift card holder to share with you today. I used Jennifer McGuire's tutorial on the Hero Arts blog found here. It came together in a snap.

Cardstock/Paper: SU - real red, whisper white; misc. print
Misc: Sizzix - Top Notez, Texturz #10; Prima - Holiday Poinsettia; MM - rhinestone brad; misc. ribbon

Alternate view

20+ Days of Cards: Day 14

This card came together in a snap. And when you're making a lot of cards, it's nice to have some quickies, particularly if you're a slow-poke assembler like I am.

Cardstock/Paper: SU - going gray, very vanilla, pink passion
Ink: VF - onyx; SU - mellow moss, rose red
Stamps: SU - Close as a Memory
Misc: Sizzix - Texturz #15; SEI - adhesive ribbon
Inspiration card

20+ Days of Cards: Day 12

Having grown up in a farming community and as part of a farming family, the images in Country Morning really grabbed me, reminding me very much of my childhood. I, of course, wanted to include the images in this year's bundle of cards. I saw this card on SplitCoast and was inspired to create the card I'm showing you today.

Cardstock/Paper: SU - parisian breeze; lt. kraft; watercolor paper
Ink: SO - timber brown
Stamps: SU - Country Morning; PTI - Autumn Abundance
Misc: SEI - ribbon; ScorPal; SU - watercolor pencils, blender pen, eyelet border punch; Sizzix - TopNotez; Zips

20+ Days of Cards: Day 11

The first time I saw this set of Papertrey stamps, I knew I had to have them. They're so versatile. And who doesn't love to receive flowers?! Once again, Dawn's color combo came to the rescue, and I borrowed the layout from this card in the PTI design gallery.

Cardstock/Paper: SU - always artichoke, pink passion, certainly celery; cream; watercolor paper
Ink: VF - onyx
Stamps: PTI - Autumn Abundance
Misc: SU - watercolor pencils, blender pen; MM - ribbon; Sizzix - Texturz #17; pop dots; Zips; sewing machine

20+ Days of Cards: Day 9

Simple, understated, elegant. What else is there to say about this design? I simplified it to eliminate some of the intricate cutting. But I think the end product is just as stunning.

Cardstock/Paper: DCWV - Mi Casa stack; SU - chocolate chip, whisper white
Ink: SO - timber brown
Stamps: VV - Fluttering By; SU - Thoughts & Prayers
Misc: pop dots; Recollections - black gems; orange gems; Zots; EK - diamond scallop punch; Sizzix - Texturz

20+ Days of Cards: Day 6

It's nice to have a winter card ready to go right after the holidays. Whether it's for a thank-you note or just to say HI to family for the new year. This card caught my eye and was very easy to replicate. I hope you enjoy.

Cardstock/Paper: SU - real red, always artichoke, wintergreen d/p; watercolor paper; silver paper
Ink: VF - onyx
Stamps: SU - The More the Merrier
Misc: SU - watercolor pencils, blender pen, scallop edge punch; Recollections - silver pearls; Stickles - frosted lace, crystal; Sizzix - snowflakes

20+ Days of Cards: Day 5

It can be difficult to find a sympathy card that isn't too frilly or flowery. Sometimes you just want something simple, perhaps even a bit more masculine. That's what drew me to this design when I first saw it. It adapted very well. Enjoy!

Cardstock: SU - always artichoke, barely banana, real red, very vanilla
Ink: SU - really rust, more mustard, garden green, ruby red, mellow moss, creamy caramel; SO - timber brown
Stamps: SU - Thoughts & Prayers
Misc: MM - square brads; Sizzix - SU Texturz #1 Flourish

20+ Days of Cards: Day 3

You may remember this gift set from last year. When I made this for my grandmother, it was with the full intention of refilling it each year. The card showcase you're enjoying is this year's refill set. Five of the designs (2 birthday, 2 sympathy, 1 thanks) were packaged in gift sets for several friends & co-workers. Each recipient was thrilled with their set of cards, and I couldn't have been more pleased! Enjoy today's sample.

Cardstock: DCWV - The Luxury Stack; SU - rose red, creamy vanilla
Ink: SU - rose red, handsome hunter
Stamps: SU - Close as a Memory
Misc: Sizzix - SU Top Notez; gel pen; SU - very vanilla grossgrain; Zips
Inspiration card

20+ Days of Cards: Day 1

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope yours was as good as mine. Now that all of the gift-giving is through, I can finally show you what I've been up to the last several weeks. I've been a busy bee, I tell ya.

I hope you enjoy 20+ Days of Cards!

Cardstock: Michaels - pre-scored card; SU - taken w/ teal, kiwi kiss; DCWV - Mi Casa stack; white
Ink: VF - onyx
Stamps: TCP - Smells Like Cake
Misc: SU - watercolor pencils, blender pen, tangerine tango brad, kiwi kiss brad; EK - scalloped diamond punch; pop dots; Sizzix - SU Texturz Backgrounds #1, Stars #2
Inspiration card

Congrats

I made this card for an office baby shower. I knew the shower theme was birds, so I kept this card design in line with the overall theme. I based my card on this design from SCS. I really love how it turned out.

Cardstock: SU - pink pirouette, brocade blue, whisper white, pretty in pink
Stamps: SU - The More the Merrier; VV - Practically Perfect
Ink: VF - onyx
Misc: SU - watercolor pencils & blender pen, Ribbon Originals Dress Up; Sizzix - SU texture platez #4

4 Baby

This seems to be the year for babies. I have five friends with babies due before the end of the year. Needless to say, there are lots of baby gifts to give & cards to make. I really like the way this one turned out. I based it on this card by TravelingMama. I've had this SU! paper for ages and use it here & there but hadn't yet found a way to incorporate the oh-so-cute birdies into a card. I was pleased as punch when I saw the inspiration card & knew exactly what I was going to do to adapt it. (No stamps/ink required!)

Cardstock/Paper: SU - Good Morning Sunshine, pink pirouette

Misc: Prima - aloha petals; AMM - chipboard 4; Sizzix - Broadway Melody; MM - gem brad; gems; Zots; Xyron; corner rounder; chipboard; Stickles - cotton candy


Did you notice my new floral frog? I've admired Dawn's for a long time and finally happened upon this one in Michael's last week. And it was only $3 - what a steal!

Birthday Thanks

I had quite a few thank-you notes to write after my birthday. And I after I saw this card on the Amuse blog, I knew that it would be perfect so I whipped up a set to send out to my friends & family. I adapted the design to suit what I had on-hand. They turned out pretty good, eh?

Cardstock: SU - choc. chip, very vanilla; Sizzix - shantung assorted metals self-adhesive

Stamps: Studio G - typewriter alpha

Ink: StazOn - timber brown

Misc: Zots; gems; Sizzix - leaf #4

Beach Bums in Maui

Ahhhh, beautiful Maui - also known as the sunbather's paradise. This was the only port of call in which we chose not to schedule a daytime tour. Two whole days of relaxation. This is the beach day (obv). Look at that beautiful blue water!


Cardstock/Paper: TLC - Runway; DCWV; SU - chocolate chip
Stamps/Ink: PTI - Simple Alphabet; SU - taken w/ teal
Misc: grossgrain ribbon; K&Co - chipboard, stickers; Sizzix - Sassy Serif; Zips; Xyron; pop dots

Kona Le'a Coffee

Our day in Kona was one of our most-anticipated. We chose to take the Explosion of Flavor tour on which we would visit the Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, Kona Le'a Coffee Plantation, and the Hawaiian Vanilla Company. We were certainly not disappointed - it was an "explosion of flavor" and then some!


Cardstock/Paper: TLC - Runway
Misc: Luxe - travel rub-ons; chipboard; Sizzix - Aphrodite; MM - rub-ons; pop dots

Pub Crawl!

One of the many things we really loved about our Hawaiian cruise was the fun ship-sponsored activities. We never found ourselves wanting for anything to do. On one such afternoon, we participated in a pub crawl where we got to sample a drink at each bar, play some games, and make some great friends. We laughed ourselves silly that day!


Cardstock/Paper: TLC - Slumber Party
Misc: chipboard; pink gems; Sizzix - Broadway Melody; Uniball - Signo white gel pen; DCWV - rub-ons; misc. satin ribbon; Zips; Zots; Xyron; pop dots