Another Birthday Card



This is a second take on  Freshly Made Sketches current layout.  I have had to separate it from the first because, although you can enter more than on card in the challenge, it's linking tool will not accept the same URL twice.  For this one, I used Champagne and Smokey Plum cardstock, slate satin polka dot ribbon, blue sparkles and more clear bitty sparkles, a slide from a retired mini medley and another sentiment from "Say It In Style," a very useful set of stamps, all again from Close to My Heart.

I will be back in a few days with more birthday cards.  In the meantime, thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

'Tis the season of Birthdays

 

 

This is the time of year when it seems like every time I turn around, someone in my life has a birthday coming up.  I have made cards for my husband, daughter, and nephew.  Now it is time to make cards for friends.  Yes, you have seen this stamp from Inkadinkado a few times before.  I love cats and sparkles, so this is my go to stamp, particularly when the person I am sending it to is owned by a spoiled rotten cat.  Both of these are based on a layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  For this first take, I used Moonlight paper, a button from the pewter mini medley, purple sparkles and clear bitty sparkles, long retired ribbon and a sentiment from the "Say It In Style" stamp set, all from Close to my Heart.

 



 I have a second take on this layout in my next post.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

This Birthday Card is Not for a Boy

If you know my daughter, then you know this card is not for a boy.  She loves all sports, but baseball is her first love, so she and Tim spend their summers at our local minor league park where they are longtime season ticket holders.  I used Cranberry, Grey Wool, and Daisy White cardstock, Cranberry brads and a sentiment from the Say It In Style stamp set, all from Close to My Heart, along with baseball themed paper from A. C. Moore and 3D stickers with pop up foam by Paper House.  The layout is based on this Monday Mojo sketch:



 

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



Neutral Color Dare

 

 

I knew it!  When I posted  a card for Freshly Made Sketches last week I found myself thinking "How much do you want to bet there will be a neutral challenge next week that this card will be too late for?"  Wouldn't you know it?  The Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog's first challenge of the new year is to use only neutrals.  There are a number of color challenge blogs, but I am going to start doing this one occasionally because it uses Close to My Heart colors, so I don't have to try to figure out which colors are equivalent to ones used on other blogs.  Anyway...  Tim needed a thank you card which meant neutrals with no embellishments, so I used Bamboo, Colonial White and Black and a sentiment from *Hansi hangs her head in shame* Stamp It Up.  What can I say?  My sister has a friend who is a demonstrator, so I sometimes receive their products as a gift.  Not being able to help myself, I snuck in a little embossing with the Tiffany Cuttlebug folder which I very carefully trimmed around the edges.  The end result is a clean, suitable for a man to use, unHansi card sooooooo:

 

 

 

 

I made a second card with the same layout, colors and embossing, but used the Artist Cricut cartridge to add some embellishments.  I sponged the edges of the flower petals with Bamboo and a touch of Desert Sand to give them a vintage feel, sponged lightly over the embossing with pigment inks in Bamboo and Colonial White to give it some pop and used a sentiment from the CTMH set, "Thank You."  A few black sparkles completed the card.

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi 





A Lesson In Letting Go

 

 

 

Today is my husband's birthday which, of course, means I needed a card for him.  Although I make pretty, romantic "I love you/appreciate all you do" cards for him through out the year, I feel like his birthday card should be more "manly" and masculine is always a challenge for me.  I had an idea for a card which played off his interest in astronomy, but no matter how many times I reworked it, I just didn't like the result, so I let go of that idea and made this card instead.  I should mention that he is an avid Scrabble player.  I have seen a number of cards featuring pieced wedges and decided to give it a try.  The papers are "Lucky," "You and Me" (A special kit which was never in a catalog), "Victory," "Cruisin," and "Typeset" combined with Bamboo and Outdoor Denim cardstock.  I clipped the prongs off the brads and attached them to the star with liquid glass and then attached the star with pop up foam.  I am sorry that the Milepost Shapes are on the retirement list.  The sentiment is from the "Blue Ribbon" stamp set.  On the whole I am happy with the this card and see it as a reminder that sometimes you have to let go of your plans and be open to something new.

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



Sunrise, Sunset

 



I find myself thinking about the song, "Sunrise, Sunset" from "Fiddler on the Roof."  That little boy got a driver's license, then he graduated from high school, and now (OMG!) my nephew is turning 21.  But you know?  He is still enamored with penguins, just as he was as a toddler.  When I saw these stickers a few months ago at Michael's, I had to get them for him.  To evoke the feeling of not so pristine snow, I used the "Cracked" folder from Sizzex to emboss the top part which also gave me an excuse to play with my new Cuddlebug (Yes, you can use other maker's folders in it.) and a punch by EK Success along the bottom.  I also used Close to My Heart's liquid glass for the first time to get a glossy 3D effect on the Cranberry cardstock.  The Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge made cutting the numbers and circle a breeze.  I based my layout on this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

 

The package had a second adult penguin, and not wanting to waste a perfectly good penguin, I peeled off the pop up foam and put him inside.  The sentiment is from CTMH's "A Little Everything" stamp set.

 

  

 

 

 

In terms of a card and gift, I am ready for my nephew's birthday.  Whether I am ready emotionally remains to be seen!  I am going to enter this into the Heart 2 Heart "Snow Much Fun" challenge.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



My New Toy!

I finally have a chance to play with my new Cuddlebug, a Christmas gift from my husband.  It only seems only fitting that he should get the first card made using it.  You know, sort of a "Thank you, I love you and by the way, this is what the gadget you got me for Christmas does" kind of card.



This week's Mojo Monday sketch was a good layout to start with.  I used a folder from the Heritage set to emboss some Champagne card stock from Close to My Heart.  This is becoming one of my favorite colors.  The pink cast gives it a softness that most other neutrals lack.  The rest of the paper comes from a small (4.5 x 6.5 inch) pad called Once Upon a Time by DCWV that I picked up when checking out the new A. C. Moore arts and craft store.  To make the flower I cut four <flower 8> in graduated sizes using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, sponged the edges with Saddle layered over Smokey Plum, curled the petals, used a Colonial White Designer Brad (retired) topped with a brown opaque to hold them together and attached with pop up foam.  The little tag is from the Colonial White (I know it looks blue in the photo) Mini Medley (retired), the button from the new Antique Gold Mini Medley and the sentiment from the "For Evey Occasion" stamp set.  The ribbon came from the Dollar Tree.  This is the inside of the card.

 



Many of the papers in the paper pad are embossed or have glitter on them which may not agree with my Cricut, so I had to (gasp) cut the heart by hand.  On the whole I am pretty pleased with how this card came out.  I stumbled across A Blog Named Hero which is challenging its readers to try something new, so I think I will enter this card.

This is the Mojo Monday layout I used:

 

 

Now it is time to make a birthday card for my nephew who is turning 21.  I am sure I can find a way to work in some embossing...  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi