MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD

My niece's husband, Matt, has a birthday this month, so I needed a masculine card.  If you're a card-maker, then you know that masculine cards are sometimes quite a challenge.  I always want to use sparkly gems, bows, and brushed glitter, but men aren't usually too keen on those embellishments.

While using Cricut Design Space recently, I came across this gorgeous Print then Cut lake/mountain image and decided that it would be perfect.  My niece's family lives in Michigan, and they seem to have some of the most beautiful parks and landscapes nearby.  Naturally, they enjoy spending time outdoors because there are so many gorgeous places to do so.  My cardstock colors are Misty Moonlight, Early, Espresso, White, and Vellum.  The hiking boots were also a Print then Cut image, and I print some extras that I used on the envelope and the signature layer inside the card.  The boots that are tied to the top right of center layer are double-sided.  I wanted to make sure that if they get flipped around, they will still look like hiking boots.  This was achieved by copying the image and then flipping it in Design Space so that the two cuts could be glued together--back to back.

You can see in the above photo that the Early Espresso layer was embossed with Stampin' Up!'s "Forever Plaid" embossing folder.  The boots were tied on with Linen Thread.

The birthday sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of Vellum cardstock and then heat-embossed.  After making sure the embossing was cool, I gave the sentiment a torn edge on the top and bottom.  I don't recall the name of the blue embellishments as they have been retired for quite some time.  I loved them so much and bought so many that I still have quite a collection.

If I didn't mention already, this card folded on the side.  You can see the hiking boots on the bottom right of the signature layer inside the card.  

Want another look at the card and envelope:

SWEET STRAWBERRIES + WAX SEAL

A sweet family friend celebrated a birthday at the end of July, and today I'm sharing the cute strawberry card that I made for her.  This was such a quick card to make but, as you can see, it was loaded with texture, layers, and dimension.

The "Circle of Season" dies from Stampin' Up! were used to cut the circle and die-cut strawberry layers.  I think these dies make such a pretty berry--the topper is perfect, the little white flower is adorable, and I absolutely love that one die cuts the seed holes from the red berry and, when used without the "seed hole" die, it cuts the brown layer to position behind the red berry.  This makes the quickest and easiest strawberry!  

I've had a little obsession with wax seals for a couple of years, but I rarely hand-deliver envelopes and wouldn't trust that a seal on the outside of an envelope would survive being handled through normal mail processing and delivery.  I occasionally put wax seals on wrapped gifts, gift bags, tags, etc., and they're actually perfect on cards.  I've learned that if I want to be sure I'll have a decent result, I should make the seal and then apply it to my project.  

The pretty eyelet layer was created with a Martha Stewart punch, and doesn't it add such a nice feminine touch?  To avoid having to punch tiny circles for the flower centers, I used brand new In Color Flat Pearls from Stampin' Up!.  They add shiny dimension without being bulky.  Love that!  

And here's one more look at this berry sweet card:

REFRESHING LEMONADE, ANYONE?

 

I needed a sweet little hello (in the form of a card), and the perfect pitcher-shaped creation was found in Cricut Design Space.  It was a design by Robin Hardy, and I nearly squealed with excitement when my eyes saw it!  The sweet lady who will receive this card recently lost her husband, and I wanted a cheery way to let her know that it's okay to not be okay.

It's a cheery little card, isn't it?

I brushed the background layer with Wink of Stella, and (roughly) smoothed Nuvo Crystal Drops onto the lemon slices to make them look a wee bit real.

The tiny lemon slice embellishments were found at Trinity Stamps.  I don't know if they're polymer clay, but they are so freakin' cute!  I really had no ideas for how or when I would use them--they were just so cute that I thought I should have them, and wasn't this the perfect project?  Have a closer look:

And let's take one more look at the card:

It makes me want a cool glass of tangy lemonade, but I just hope it makes the recipient smile.

FROM MY HEAD TO-MA-TOES

One of my favorite things about summer (and there isn’t much about summer that I love) are home grown tomatoes.  Of course, I don't have a garden because that would require me to be outside and have to reach under some leaves to retrieve a vegetable, which I'm very unwilling to do.  ETA:  My unwillingness to pick vegetables from a garden is not because I'm too good for that--it's because I wouldn't want to reach for the same veggie that a critter/slitherer might have its eye on.  My most favorite tomatoes are the ones that my daddy finds in Woodleaf, NC, and he had two gorgeous tomatoes waiting for me last weekend when I visited.  I can't even find words to describe just how scrumptious those tomatoes were!  I enjoyed them so much and decided that I should send a tomato-shaped card of thanks.

I love making shaped cards almost as much as I love a Woodleaf tomato.  As usual, this shaped card and all of its layers were designed and cut with my Cricut Maker 3.  A little fun fact . . . the font that was used on the tag is actually my son's handwriting from many years ago.  I don't remember how he created the font, but I remember the process of writing each of the letters--uppercase and lowercase.  I had my own font at one time, but it disappeared from my computer during an upgrade years ago. I remember the process involved writing each letter and any symbols you wanted on a printed piece of paper. Each character had its own small block. It wasn’t fun having to re-write the alphabet upon realizing that one or two letters didn’t connect properly, but it was neat being able to type your own handwriting.

This card clearly demonstrates that you don't have to spend half a day and add lots of layers and embellishments to send some happy mail.  This sweet little tomato made my parents' day--almost as much as they made mine! 

COUNTRY BIRDHOUSE HELLO

 

It was past time to send a hello to a family friend, so I spent some time this morning stamping and coloring.  I used one little (retired) bundle . . . Country Birdhouse . . . to create this card, along with that pretty gold foil layer.  My cardstock colors are Coastal Cabana, Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Mossy Meadow, and Crushed Curry.  

Aren't the colors gorgeous?  While this product bundle has dies to cut all of the pieces to build the birdhouse, it also includes a stamp (and coordinating die) that gave me the option to color which is exactly what I wanted to do today.  Unfortunately, Stampin' Up! has already retired this bundle, but I knew that it was a keeper!

In the center of the flowers, I used Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and I used a Wink of Stella glitter brush on the die-cut bird so he, too, would sparkle.

Above is another close-up of some of the details.

This was such a fun project to work on!  I think it also serves to remind us that when there are products that we really enjoy--products that seem to have thought of everything--we must be sure to hold onto them.  Below is one more look at the card:

ANOTHER "JUST A NOTE"

 

Many years ago--before the computer and internet age--there was an office supply store in Charlotte, NC . . . Bush Stationers.  I was a young, single, fresh-from-college-to-my-first-real-job-living-in-the-big-city girl who really didn't have the extra $$$ to spend on frivolous office supplies and stationery, and yet my '72 Camaro (BTW, it was several years old but not yet considered vintage) would just pull into the parking lot of Bush Stationers because it somehow knew that I needed a unique looking pen that was filled with an unprofessional color of ink.  I don't remember anything about my favorite pens other than their shape and fun colors, but I loved those pens that I could only find at Bush Stationers!  Would love to be able to buy them now, but they have truly become a part of history.  I wasn't fully aware at the time that not everyone had a great fondness for unique papers, pens, and other fun office-related gadgets, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have always had more ink pens (piles and piles of them) than many people own in a lifetime.  Give me all the office and stationery supplies!  Fast-forward to 2025 with the USPS always releasing new postage stamp designs, and I can say with certainty that my fascination has only expanded.  And now Stampin' Up! brings us the "Just a Note" bundle, which I used to design the cheery and colorful card that I'm sharing today:

My card features Lemon Lime Twist cardstock and a piece of Full of Life designer paper.  The front of the card was stamped with images from Just a Note stamp set.  The postage shape was cut and detailed with Perennial Postage dies and stamped with a sentiment from the Perennial Postage stamp set.  A scrap of Silver Foil was used to cut the paper clip, which held the postage shape onto the "file folder" pocket.  Inside the pocket was a piece of cardstock that was decorated on the front with space on the back for writing a message.

Just a few strips of cardstock made the front of this piece colorful, and I used a die-cut heart to let the recipient know to pull this layer out of the pocket.  Don't you love how sparkly the Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins look on the front of the file folder?

The Just a Note dies include a heart-shaped clip, which I cut from Pool Party cardstock and placed in the corner.  Notice how it decorates a corner on the front and back of this layer?

The die-cut arrow was left from a previous project and seemed like a perfect addition to my card, as did the Pool Party Pompom Ribbon across the front of the file folder.  This project seemed to have it all . . . texture, dimension, surprises, sparkle and, of course, CHEER!  

"JUST A NOTE" BUNDLE

 

I recently purchased Stampin' Up!'s "Just a Note" bundle, mainly for the adorable accessory dies.  I mean . . . what's not to love about the clipboard clip, the paper clip, and the paper edge that looks like it's been freshly torn from a notebook?  The dies in this bundle also build a binder clip and include two sizes of arrows, a small heart and star, and an adorable heart-shaped corner clip, which you will see on the inside of my card.  The only other thing that you might want with this bundle is some shiny foil cardstock.  Here's a photo of the front of my card:

This bundle has a stamp for lines (for the look of notebook paper), but I decided to use the torn edge die on a pretty piece of designer paper.  You'll notice that I also die-cut the tiny hearts from that same piece of paper.  For the clipboard, I used a piece from the "Need for Tweed" collection and, of course, silver foil was used to cut the clipboard clip and the paper clip.

Those little hearts are too cute, right?

Of course, I had to include some sparkly gems.  The sentiment is from the Perennial Post stamp set.

See the inside of the card--and that cute heart clip on the corner--in the above photo.  

I think this is such a useful bundle--especially the dies!  My plan is to cut a bunch of the assorted clips so they'll be ready to use.  Want to see what the bundle looks like:

Want to order?  Click HERE

BIRTHDAY CARD FOR MOTHER

 

My mother celebrated a birthday about two weeks ago, and it's taken me this long to share the card that I made for her.  I used my Cricut Maker 3 for all of the detailed cuts, and the pretty plaid texture was created with Stampin' Up!'s Forever Plaid embossing folder.  It's a beautiful plaid!  

I think the flowers are bluebells, and aren't they just so pretty?  This was a quick and simple card to make--and it's a little one--but I love its sweet design.  It's just so precious.

While transferring all of the cut pieces from my countertop to my desk, I lost one of the tiny buds.  Ugh!  I searched and searched, but it was nowhere to be found.  I decided to use colored gems for the buds and, quite honestly, they turned out to be a much better choice and added a perfect amount of sparkle and shimmer.

And what does every cardmaker want?  A card that folds flat for mailing, and this one did!

Have a beautiful day!!! 

"CONEFLOWER CELEBRATIONS"

 

Coneflower Celebrations . . . what a gorgeous product bundle from Stampin' Up!  None of the photos that I'm sharing in this post do justice to the colors, texture, dimension, and beauty of this project.  Let's start with a photo of the whole card:

My cardstock colors are Soft Sea Foam, Early Espresso, Garden Green, and Azure Afternoon. The embossed white layer features the Forever Plaid 3D embossing folder.  I'm so happy to have this embossing folder and wish my photos showed just how pretty it really is.  The designer paper is from a retired 6x6 collection, and the light blue gems are from a card kit--most likely a previous Paper Pumpkin kit.  

Alcohol markers were used to color the die-cut butterfly, and I also used an alcohol marker to color the Rhinestone Jewels that I placed on the flower center.  The butterfly and the center of the coneflower were brushed with Wink of Stella.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but blending brushes were used to deepen the color of the die-cut vein detail on the leaves, the top portion of the flower petals, and the edges of the flower center.   

The dies in this bundle seem to be very well thought out.  Just look at the detail on the flower center!  I used the four dies to cut my leaves, but the stamp set also includes leaf images that coordinate with the dies so they could have even more detail and depth--and either (stamps or dies) could be used one without the other.  Something else that I love about this bundle is that one (maybe two) coneflowers on a card would be just about all that is really needed to complete a gorgeous card for someone special.  There are times when I don't feel very creative and/or just don't have time to play around with ideas that I might end up not liking.  This gorgeous coneflower could take a project from start to finish in no time!  

In closing, here's the finished card one more time . . .

"FLORAL IMPRESSIONS" FAN CARD

Sunflowers and "Floral Impressions" designer paper make it easy for this card to deliver sunshine, don't you think?  The sentiments that I chose for this card are "Good Feelings" and "Hope You Know" (both retired, sadly), but they were just too perfect.

While the inside of the card has an angled piece of white cardstock, the angles were enhanced by the designer paper strip on the right side, which is behind the white cardstock, the floral designer paper at the bottom of the white layer, and the piece of dotted ribbon.  Did you notice the sequins?

Pictured above are the clear sequins.

In the photos above and below, you can better see the green sequins.  They didn't begin as green sequins, though.  They were actually clear, but I didn't like how prominent they were on the green designer paper after I had placed them.  The more I looked at them, the less I liked them.  And then it occurred to me that I could color them with a green alcohol marker.  They turned out great, huh?

This was my first fan card, and I don't know that I will make any (or many) more.  I'm not even sure this one turned out correct, but I felt that I was slicing too much designer paper and cardstock for one little card.  And that's another thing . . . this isn't a little card--it's 5x7.  It's kind of nice to have a larger card but, as someone who is used to making A2 cards, it just seems like a cardstock/paper hog.

All things considered . . . I think it turned out quite pretty, and that makes it a winner!

Have a stampin' good day!