Happy Birthday, Max!

I can't believe my great-nephew Max is 10 years old today! Here's the card I sent to him:

Last week's Papertrey Make It Monday technique challenge was glittered die cuts.  You want glitter?  You got glitter!

I'm not a real big fan of glitter (hate when it gets all over everything) but I'll agree it can add just the right touch of bling to spice up a card. I used Heather Nichols' tip to run my diecuts through my Xyron sticker maker (which has been sitting, new in the box, for months now).  It really works great for adhering glitter and keeps it from falling off your project.  (I still ended up with a sparkly shirt when I was finished, though!)

I used Martha Stewart tinsel glitter on the clouds - love this! - and SU Dazzling Diamonds on the stamped balloons from PTI's Up, Up and Away.  (I certainly have gotten my money's worth from this set, especially for challenges!)

I enjoyed using PTI's alphabet die to cut out the letters from some Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper.  This die comes with all the letters attached, but they're easy to separate, so I was able to cut just the letters I wanted.

Another fun element on this card is the secret compartment hidden by the zipper diecut under the Lucky Limeade DSP.  After the cash treat is removed, a message appears in the open strip:

 

I hope Max found his treat hidden under the zipper element... Happy Birthday, Max!

Reach for the sky

Here's my entry to PTI's Make It Monday challenge this week. The idea is to stamp an image more than once without reinking to produce graduated color for your images. It's a great way to stretch your palette and get matching hues.

I like the balloons from Papertrey Ink's Up, Up and Away for this effect because the lighter balloons at the top give the suggestion of being farther away. I used Island Indigo, Concord Crush, Calypso Coral and Sahara Sand (for the baskets) on PTI Aqua Mist card stock and masked the balloons (with die cuts) to stamp the clouds in Fresh Snow Ink (PTI). The mat and the baker's twine are Island Indigo and the polka dot brad is Pool Party.

It's a simple but cheery card; I think I'll stamp "Congratulations" on the inside and give it to a graduate later this spring.

Graduated background challenge

Well, I finally did it - I bought some Copic markers! I have thought long and hard about whether I wanted to invest in a collection, and until now, have decided against it, mostly because I don't color in stamped images very much. When I do, I'm usually satisfied with the results I get with my Stampin' Up! markers, since I use them mostly for informal coloring. (My preferred technique for having a multi-colored image is to use the markers directly on the stamp.)

But Nichole's demonstration on how to make a graduated color background was so enticing that I abandoned my first decision to use reinkers with a watercolor brush, and instead headed over to Michael's to buy some Copics (luckily I had a coupon for the entire purchase!) They didn't have a great selection of colors, but I found half a dozen that I liked and came home to try them out.

I have to say, they didn't disappoint! I love the way the colors blended when I repeatedly drew the brush tip over the edge where the different colors met. Something tells me that my collection of Copics is going to grow!

This card is really simple in its design, since the colors are so vivid. I decided to try something with some paper scraps from another project I'm making: I glued thin strips of the scraps together and die cut the balloons from them, then stamped the balloons with Papertrey Ink's Up Up and Away. (I don't really like the colors of the balloons but I do like the contrast.) Happy Birthday comes from one of the Flower Fusion sets (I forget which one).

I really enjoyed this technique; it's great for the sky/grass background. I also used the technique in a different way for another card - check out my next post to see.

Up, Up and Away!

Today's challenge at Papertrey Ink was to make an interactive project, as they introduced quite an array of dies to make several different playful interactive styles. (I can't wait to try the zipper die!)

Well, since their new dies won't be released until tomorrow, I used a design I've used a few times before. I used PTI's Seed Packet die with SU's new Designer Series Paper called Everyday Enchantment, from the Sale-A-Bration catalog, to make a pocket for a gift card. The background paper is the reverse side of the same paper, and the card stock and ink colors are Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Riding Hood Red. I die cut the balloons from Very Vanilla using PTI's coordinating die and stamped the balloons and clouds from Up, Up and Away (I hand snipped the clouds - gotta remember to order that die!) A little Pool Party twine (from the Occasions mini catalog) around the "birthday wishes" banner finishes it off.


I also used the die to cut just the center section in Pool Party, stamped it with the clouds, and attached a cloud and balloon with Stampin' Dimensionals at the top. When you pull the tag, the gift card is revealed!

The inside sentiment is from Up, Up and Away Sentiments.

So now Eric's ready for a birthday party on Saturday, and I get to enter another of PTI's fun challenges, this one for a $500 gift certificate - yowza! How exciting is that!