Another Happy Birthday

This is most definitely not the best card I've ever made, but it's not awful...

I used the same layout as I used for Gabriel's card and quickly made two for two more nieces--one for Gracie and one for Lydia.  January quickly became a very busy birthday month for us, lol! 

The giraffe would be better on the other side since he should be looking toward the middle of the card instead of off it.  I tried to offset that by having him "talk" to the lion on the lower right. 

At any rate, it's a fun stamp set and I do so like the contrast between the red and black.

This card uses:

Stamp Set: "Wild About You", "Stem Sayings"
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black
Ink: Black Staz-On, Real Red
Accessories: Real Red polka dot grosgrain 

Hoppy Birthday, Gabriel

 

 

Friday is my sweet nephew, Gabriel's, third birthday and I needed to get a card together for him.  Jessie told me green is his favorite color, so I immediately knew I was going to use my "Unfrogettable" stamp set.  Additionally, I wanted to play along with the Paper Players and this week's sketch challenge.  You see, while color challenges are difficult for some, sketch challenges are the ones that make me stretch my creative abilities. 

I absolutely struggle with sketch challenges...give me colors or inspiration photos any day of the week and I'm good to go.  I know, I know, bass ackwards, right? :shakes head:

But, I did it!  I'm pretty pleased with the results too. :o)

This card uses (all SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Set: "Unfrogettable" (retired), Daisy wheel
Inks: Black Staz-On, Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake
Paper: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black
Accessories: Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon, dimensional

Well, here's hoping Gabe-Man likes it...
--Rach

Pink Blossoms--Or as Brien Says, "Woah, That's Girly!"

This is the other card I made using the "Easter Blossoms" set.  I made an effort to color these more like apple blossoms, but still don't know how successful I was.  Oh well.  They're still lovely. :o)

I wanted to give the background some texture so embossed the paper.  And then, because I wanted that texture to "pop", I sponged it with some Rose Red.  And, who doesn't love a great big bow?  I mean, besides Brien? ;o)

This is another one of those cards that I think doesn't really need a sentiment.  I make those from time to time. This cards seems to scream "spring!".  :o)

This card uses:

Stamp Set: "Easter Blossoms"
Inks: Early Espresso, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: dimensionals, Pink Pirouette ribbon

--Rach

Apple Blossoms?

I'm not certain what sort of blooms these are, whether they're apple, red plum, cherry, or some other fruit.  What I am certain of is I love this stamp. :o)  I made two cards using this stamp yesterday, one vertical, one horizontal.  Since I posted a horizontal card yesterday, I went with the vertical today. ;o)

Once again, I felt the white space was just a bit too white, so I used a background stamp to make it a bit more subtle. 

When I was younger, I really didn't care much for pink.  Now, I adore it!  Since I decided these were apple blossoms, I made an effort to color them as such.  Then, after coloring these, I realized I had colored them more like our purple plum tree blossoms than like an apple blossom.  Oh well. :oP  I used my blender pens to pick up Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink and Rose Red and tried to shade, laying on the darker color over the lighter ones. 

This card uses:
Stamp Sets: "En Francais", "Easter Blossoms"
Inks: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso
Papers: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red
Accessories: Scallop border punch, Swiss dots embossing folder

This is such a sweet, feminine card, I have to find just the right girl to send it to. :o)

--Rach

Blue Blossoms

My box of new SU! goodies arrived the other day and also helped jump start my mojo a bit.  I had impulsively purchased "Easter Blossoms" from the Mini, having fallen in love with the sweet silhouette of the little girl.  Unfortunately, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with her...

I also rather impulsively picked up a pack of "Springtime Vintage" DSP--I have NO idea what possessed me, as "vintage" is not something I'm very good at--and it seemed to be made to go with the dancing sweetpea.  I loved the tiny little blossoms on the blue and determined that was the paper I was going to work with. 

From there, it all seemed to fall into place.  (I assure you, even though it looks as if the image has been mounted crooked, it is in fact straigt IRL.)  The only other hurdle I had to cross was the vast emptiness of white space in the background--it just seemed too bright somehow.  I picked up the apple blossom branch and stamping off, used Baja Breeze in the background. 

I think she's pretty sweet and can't wait to play with her a little more. :o)

This card uses:
Stamp Set: "Easter Blossoms"
Inks: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Papers: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, "Springtime Vintage DSP"
Accessories: dimensionals, Victoria lace

I'm not sure to whom I'll be sending the card, but I know it will be someone who likes blue. ;o)

--Rach

A Thank You for Sister Rose

Our girls were baptized two weeks ago, and my dear friend, Sister Rose was such an amazing help that day I wanted to send her a thank you note. 

Alas, I was stymied, I had no idea what to do, how to do it.  I have been out of the studio so long the ideas were stalled and NOTHING was coming to me.  OH NO!  My mojo was gone!

Thank goodness for Jaydee!  She posted her card for this week's Paper Players challenge--a color challenge--and I was immediately struck with inspiration.  :happy sigh:

The challenge was to use Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, River Rock and Rose Red in a project.  I wanted the Rose Red to be a little "pop" of color to draw interest to the sentiment, so I stamped the sentiment in the Baja Breeze and then had a butterfly from my "Beautiful Wings" embosslit resting on it. 

But, then I worried, maybe the sentiment was lost?  Maybe it needed to have a little more "pop" to it? So, I created this card:

I'm not sure which one I like more.  I'm leaning towards the first one, as it is a bit more subtle, but this one is lovely as well.

I lined the inside of the card and added another butterfly to tie the front and inside together.

This card uses:

Stamp Set: "Short and Sweet"
Paper: Very Vanilla, River Rock, Baja Breeze and Rose Red
Inks: Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Accessories: "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder, "Beautiful Wings" embosslit

I'm hoping this has now opened the floodgates and I'll be back to stamping once more.  :fingers crossed:

Happy Birthday, Brien

Today is my sweetheart's birthday and I needed a card.  I knew it was going to be tough to get something together today, for you see, Miss Ellie is teething and as such is a wreck of gigantic proportions. 

I was able to pull out a card I had previously made and repurpose it by simply changing out the sentiment.  No, it's not particularly masculine, but it's not too feminine either.  I happen to love this card and this is really a go to set for me because it is so versatile. 

This card uses:

Stamp Sets: "Sincere Salutations", "Inspired By Nature"
Papers: Early Espresso, More Mustard, Garden Green, Whisper White
Inks: Early Espresso, More Mustard, Garden Green
Accessories: hemp twine

One of my goals for this year is to get more time in my studio, so hopefully my poor neglected blog will be up and running once again. :o)

--Rach