Sunday, June 24, 2012

Congratulations to Richard!

My godson, Richard, graduated recently from Minuteman Regional Technical High School. I was pleased to see that his final report card was covered in A's!

To celebrate, I made this card for him.  Not typical for a graduation card, maybe, but Richard is an avid snowboarder (he teaches the sport on Mount Washington during the winter weekends and holiday breaks).  I hunted down the stamp through Stampin' Connection (an online community of Stampin' Up! demonstrators) and set about designing the card around the image.

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I think this quote from Thoreau is perfect for a graduation card; it is from a (retired) set called Live Your Dream.  The mat (retired Bordering Blue) was embossed using a (retired) Texturz Impressions embossing plate.  The Basic Gray mat was cut using one of PTI's Mat Stack 3 dies.  The image was stamped, with a couple of ghost impressions, on a Bordering Blue oval and heat-embossed in Pewter.  It was impossible to get a color-correct photo of the whole card; in order to show what the embossed image actually looks like, I used the flash on the picture below, but then the card stock colors look very different.


Inside was a zipper die cut enclosing a secret cash gift - I love these dies for this purpose, since then the money doesn't just fall out of the card when it's opened.


The little sentiment from PTI's Movers and Shakers Sentiments was stamped sideways underneath the zipper, to be revealed upon opening.


I also made a set of thank you cards for Richard's use to write his thanks to his family and friends.


Same colors, smaller notecards, with an interior sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes.


 
Richard, I am so proud of you for your hard work and wish you the best at UNH!


Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy Birthday, Michael!


My nephew Michael turned 11 recently.  I made this card to wish him much happiness on his birthday.  It has a secret zipper compartment under which a treat of $$$ was hidden.  I love PTI's zipper dies (thank you, Linda!)


The balloons and gifts are from Patterned Party and stamped in Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party and Island Indigo; I popped up the gifts and a few balloons for interest.  "Happiness" is from PTI's Movers and Shakers Sentiments.  The little bow of baker's twine is a cute finishing touch. 


I love celebrating birthdays with my loved ones!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Wow, it's hard to believe that 13 years have passed since you came into my life, Eric...


In honor of Eric's milestone birthday, I made a large card (4 1/2" x 9 1/4") using two of Stampin' Up!'s new In Colors, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse, and a new stamp set called Morning Post Alphabet to add his name to the diecut white triangles.  The smaller blue triangles are embossed with a new folder called Argyle; the diecut letters were first stamped using PTI's Text Style.  I tied the triangles into a banner using some Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, and added some score lines to the Crumb Cake layer as well as on the card front.
The interior is stamped with an image from Patterned Party (I added another flag on the inside top of the card with a personal message from me).


 I also made him a zipper card with an I-tunes card tucked inside... (using PTI Text Style and Movers and Shakers Sentiments.)


I wish you love and luck and much success as you grow ever closer to adulthood, my son!  Happy Birthday!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sister!


My sister Judie (whom I call "Toots") loves lavender roses.  As a matter of fact, her business is called Lavender Rose - she makes fabulous all-natural skin care products with essential oils and other gorgeous ingredients - see her website here http://www.thelavenderrose.com/.

So for her birthday, I usually try to make her a card with a lavender rose.  This year I used PTI's Year of Flowers Collection and tried my hand coloring the rose with my Copics to match the Perfect Plum and Pale Plum card stock.  I stamped (retired) French Script with PTI Fresh Snow ink on the panels.


I used the Labels Collection Framelits to make the mats and also to cut an opening to make a swing card.


The inner label was stamped with an image from Apothecary Art and colored using Copics.



It's a simple card, but pretty, the sort of card my sister loves.  (Looking at it now, I wish I had cut the sides with the elegant Adorning Edgelits...  I'm going to have to make another one to try this out!)


Hoping this year brings you much joy and love, Toots!


Monday, June 4, 2012

Friends are the flowers

Just a quick post to add my entry to Papertrey Ink's weekly Make It Monday challenge. This week's tutorial was how to make a pocket card - simple but sweet.


I used PTI's Wildflower Garden with Versamark on Baja Breeze to create this easy but pretty card. A little Pear Pizzazz strip made with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch makes a nice contrasting accent.


This is one of the quickest cards I've made to date, especially for a challenge, but it's a nice result. I'll be sure to keep this style of card in mind the next time I need a card in a hurry!