Have a super birthday!

Saturday already? These weeks are flying by! I'm here with my card for this week's challenge for Our Creative Corner. This week our host is Paula McClane, and she has a fun challenge for us - she is hosting a murder mystery party for her birthday, which is today - so happy birthday to Paula! The theme of her party is super heroes - so we are being asked to make a layer-cake birthday card in red, yellow and blue. Here is mine:

For my cake I chose the image from Make a Wish. The colors I picked are Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight (plus white). I did one layer in each color, cut them out, and popped them up in the center of a framelit-cut oval. The indigo label was embossed with the polka dot folder, then I added cherry faux stitching with a marker and a cherry seam binding bow. The simple background is two panels of designer paper, then I added the sentiment from Itty Bitty Banners.

I hope everyone has a great weekend - guess what, it's going to snow again here in Massachusetts! Maybe I'll get some extra stamping time if we get snowed in. I hope everyone gets to play along with our challenge, and before you join in, go check out the rest of the samples from our wonderful design team! Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday primroses

Good morning! I'm back with a vintage-style card for this week's challenge with Our Creative Corner - which my club members are also making this weekend. The OCC challenge is a sketch challenge this weekend - we hope you'll play along!

This was one of those cards that went through a lot of false starts. I had a few different techniques I was trying and nothing really worked out like I planned. But I like the end result. The card started with the Natural Composition specialty paper, which I sponged all over with Raspberry Ripple ink, and Soft Suede around the edges. For the border trims I used the scallop edgelit die and the decorative label punch layered three times. (All the paper was sponged with Soft Suede on the edges.) The outer panels are Crumb Cake polka dot paper and River Rock cardstock embossed with the fancy finial folder. I had a really tough time putting the focal image together. I had already dyed the vanilla flower trim with Primrose Petals reinker, accented with Raspberry Ripple from a marker on the edges. I thought I was going to use a stamped or watercolored flower image but nothing was quite right. The oval was stamped with the flourish from Everything Eleanor in Crumb Cake, then I put the three roses on top of the die-cut leaves. Finally I added the sentiment from Curly Cute - I put the right end into the decorative label punch and adhered the crochet trim and bow.

I'm off - it's a busy weekend around here! I hope everyone will come and play along with our sketch challenge. We always love to see what you come up with for our challenges. And be sure you go check out the rest of the design team's creations - they are always worth a look!

You mean the world to me...

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm posting a card that I made for my hubby, and my club will also make it this weekend. (I think it could be more than just a valentine, and I hope they agree!) I used the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary.

 

I was inspired to create this just based on the sentiment (from Word Play) and also because Todd and I are planning a trip to Germany with our kids this summer. We love to travel and this will be our third trip to Europe together, but the first with the kids along. So this seemed appropriate for him today, and for our relationship and life together. The compass and map are clip art I found online and printed on white cardstock. I added the stamped oval (from Oh, Hello in the spring mini) behind the compass and a strip of Real Red cardstock embossed with the chevron folder.

I think that's it for this card - I will be back on Saturday with my next card for Our Creative Corner! Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Memories of New Orleans

Greetings from snowy Massachusetts - we are in the middle of a blizzard and I'm having fond memories of a warmer climate! The challenge this week for Our Creative Corner is a Mardi Gras photo.

I have to admit, this one stumped me good. I don't have anything in my stash that goes along with this theme. But I do have photos from when Todd and I visited New Orleans last April, so even though it wasn't Mardi Gras then, I decided to go with that and use the colors and style of the photo to create a scrapbook page in My Digital Studio. The layout is from an MDS challenge blog called MDS Monday.

Hm, not my favorite MDS page I've ever done - it's been a while and I felt a little rusty. But I do like the gold glimmer paper as the background, and the colors are bright and fun - much better than the winter wonderland outside my window!

I know the DT has some fabulousness to show you over on the OCC blog so be sure you stop by to see their creations. Then put on your party hat and celebrate this fun challenge along with us! Have a great weekend, and if you're like me and suffering through the blizzard this weekend, stay safe and warm out there!

Happy birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's 70th birthday - happy birthday to my dad! He's always been there for me for the past (almost) 42 years so I'm honored to celebrate his special day.

The timing for this card matched up perfectly with the latest sketch challenge from Seize the Birthday, which was a masculine card this week. I wanted to something a little techniquey (is that a word?) so I chose stamps that would work for reverse masking. This is my first time inking up the Papaya Collage set, which is great for a vintage look.

The center panel frame was stamped in Early Espresso, then I masked off the frame to stamp in the center. First I sponged some Crumb Cake ink over the opening, then I stamped the leaf (three generations) with Old Olive. The fussy cutting on the frame took a bit of time but was totally worth it over the background of retired DP and argyle-embossed olive card stock. The tickets use the new punch and stamp set That's the Ticket, with the sentiments coming from Up, Up & Away and Family Reunion. (See the little "70" written in for the ticket number?) Everything was sponged with espresso ink on the edges to give it even more vintage style. Finally I added a piece of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon and an espresso button (linen thread looped through the buttonholes twice) to finish off this special card.

So that's it about the card - the only thing that would make this day better is if I were with my dad to help celebrate. Happy birthday - I will raise a glass in your honor today, Dad! Love you!