"GIVE IT A WHIRL" BIRTHDAY CARD

 

My great-nephew celebrated his 12th birthday this week, and I'm sharing today the card that I made for him.  It features Stampin' Up!'s brand new Give It a Whirl dies and Way to Goat stamp set.  There wasn't a reason or any significance for making a card with goats . . . I just think they're cute.  This was my first time using the new dies, and I already look forward to using them again!  Years ago, in the card-making world, many stampers (including me) found this type of card (known as a Viewfinder back then) exciting--maybe more so if you were the recipient and not the creator.  Viewfinder cards weren't necessarily difficult; however, precision was paramount. But now the process is so much quicker and easier with the Give It a Whirl dies!  Just look at all the dies you get!

Not only do you get options for window shapes, there are shapes that can be used to decorate cards and also labels and tags.  I don't know about you, but those cute clouds really got my attention!  Honestly, this is a versatile set of dies that (in my humble opinion) should stay close to the die-cut machine because of how often they'll be used.  But . . . you're probably wanting to see the other two goats on my card:

All three goats were colored with Stampin' Blends.

I thought this one looked just a wee bit regretful about eating all of the cake--like he intended to leave a few bites but couldn't help himself (from helping himself).

Are you ready to make some cards like this?  The people on your mailing list are waiting to receive one!  Order your dies (and any other Stampin' Up! products) HERE.

CHIP BAGS

For the past couple of years, Mother's Day gifts (that I give to my mother and sister) seem to include something that I love and/or enjoy using.  This year, it was True Lemon packets.  These things get used a LOT in my house.  There's even a lime flavor that tastes DELICIOUS--especially in my chicken salad!  

Little packets of lemon-y crystals wouldn't be too exciting, though, so they needed a cute package.  Cue the little chip bag.

These bags are ridiculously simple to design on the computer.  I took information from the box, and below is a screenshot of my design:

The design was printed onto white cardstock.  Previously, I have used one full sheet of cardstock to make a chip bag but, since the lemon packets were so small, I was able to print two "bags" on one sheet.  Once the printed 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" cardstock was laid out, I placed adhesive on one short side and folded the other short side so that it rested on the adhesive.  I then used liquid adhesive to close one of the ends, fill the bag with the lemon packets, and then liquid adhesive was used to seal the top.  A crimper tool was used on the top and bottom to make the bag look authentic.  😉  

 

"HOME SWEET HOME" HOUSEWARMING GIFT

I needed a little housewarming gift recently, and I had a great idea . . . which turned into a gift that I could be proud of.

All I needed were the following Chalk Couture products:

House Cutouts (these are AWESOME)

Black Chalkable Chips

House Patterns transfer

Shimmer Silver Chalkology Paste

Shimmer Crimson Chalkology Paste

Shimmer Shadow Chalkology Paste

Small Squeegee

I love that the House Cutouts are free-standing!

And, of course, once the project was complete, it needed to be packaged.  I kept it really simple by wrapping the shaped house with glassine paper, and creating a decorative wax seal on the front.  Glassine paper is something I've never worked with before, but I love that it shows a hint of what's inside.

Pretty neat, huh?
 

MORE WAX SEALS + STAMPING & CHALK COUTURE ON GIFTS

 

One of my latest passions is making wax seals, but I don't always want to pay the extra postage just to decorate the back of an envelope with a seal.  I decided a while back that I needed to maybe incorporate them on cards and, when I started wrapping Mother's Day gifts last week, I saw yet another opportunity for them.  And that's the subject of this post . . . sharing some gift packaging that features wax seals, stamping, and Chalk Couture.

The above package was for my mother, and the pretty stamped images are from Stampin' Up!'s Very Versailles stamp set.  I knew that (finally) purchasing that set was NOT something I would regret--I 💓 it!!!  I used the retired Washi Label punch to cut the stamped sentiment (which is such a pretty design), and then secured the twine bow with a green/gold wax seal.  To make the bee show up better, I went over the raised image with a gold Sharpie marker.

The above photo shows the warmer (which I LOVE) that I use to melt wax and the stamp placed on the melted wax.  

In the photo above, you see the stamped image as it appeared after the brass stamp was removed.

And in the above photo, you can see how the bee image becomes easier to see after being touched up with the gold Sharpie marker.

One of my nephew's birthday gifts also featured a wax seal.  😊  In the above photo, you see the mix of wax beads in the spoon, ready for melting, and the brass stamp.

I used a Chalk Couture transfer and shimmery chalk paste to decorate this gift for my mother.  If you're thinking that the bottom flowers are incomplete, you are correct.  The transfer that I used includes images for completing those flowers, but I didn't think it was absolutely necessary.  

Don't you love the shimmer?  It is soooooooooo pretty in person!

I used a Chalk Couture transfer with a cute rabbit image to decorate this gift for my sister, and I again used the shimmery chalk paste.

So you see . . . there are fun ways to decorate plain brown gift wrap!

MOTHER'S DAY TENT CARDS

 

I feel so blessed to have a really sweet, supportive, giving, and helpful mother who always goes above and beyond to make me feel loved.  It's kind of funny to admit that I am still learning from my mother, but it's a fact.  40 years ago, I would have bet money (if I had any) that I would have most of "the answers" by this time in my life.  I'm beginning to realize that I will never stop learning from--or needing--my mother.  I visit my parents every weekend, as does my sister, and those visits are special treasures.  I don't know if I should be ashamed to admit this, but I steal my mother's meal plan.  I don't know how she decides what to serve each weekend, but I always soooooooo look forward to dinner.  Most of the time, I (shamelessly) make a mental note to have that same meal at my house during the next week and am thankful that it's one less meal that I have to think about.  Of course, the meal on her table is a little more delicious than that same meal on my table, but that's the price I pay for stealing.  Speaking of stealing, I didn't come up with the design for my Mother's Day cards.  Yes, "cards" . . . as in more than one.  There are several ladies (some of them I have known my entire life) to whom I enjoy sending cards, so that meant that I had a lot of Mother's Day cards to make--and they needed to be special.  When I saw tent cards on Pinterest, I knew that's what I'd make.  So let me show some of them to you:

That gorgeous designer paper is from Stampin' Up!'s Dandy Garden collection, which coordinates with the Garden Wishes stamp set and Dandy Wishes dies.  I used the Curvy dies to create that fun curvy top on each card.  As you can tell from the first (preview) photo, there's a piece of Window Sheet that attaches to the top and bottom of the card.  

Of course, the envelopes had to be special, too:

From the feedback that I've received, the tent cards were a HIT and that is music to my ears.  

"BEAUTIFUL WORLD" BIRTHDAY CARD FOR MY NEPHEW

The Beautiful World stamp set and dies were a little late coming to live in my stamp room.  I just purchased them a couple of weeks ago, but they were on and off of my wish list from the first time I laid eyes on them.  I wanted to make a birthday card for my nephew, whose birthday is today, and you know how we are with new products . . . we can't wait to use them.

I really enjoyed making this card with all of its layers and texture!  My nephew is only 26 y/o, but I hope he sees this card as more masculine than . . . well . . . old world.  Products used to create this card include:

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Designer/Specialty Paper:  In Good Taste, Copper Foil
Stamps:  Beautiful World, World Map (retired)

Ink:  Early Espresso
Dies:  World Map
Accessories:  Sequins (non-Stampin' Up!), Stamping Sponges, Hemp Twine (non-Stampin' Up!)

After stamping the World Map image onto Crumb Cake cardstock, I crumpled the cardstock, and then very lightly sponged Early Espresso ink on the raised portions.  I also sponged ink on the torn edge of the designer paper, which gave it a burned look that I really liked.  Reminded me of the TV show "Bonanza".  Ha!  All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed working with the stamp set and dies and loved this card!  My nephew called to thank me for it and said that it arrived today, which made me even happier!

"TAILOR MADE TAGS" + MINI POUND CAKE PACKAGING

One of Stampin' Up!'s newest products is a selection of tag-shaped dies, which I already love.  I almost talked myself out of buying the Tailor Made Tags dies, thinking that it really isn't hard to make my own tags.  BUT . . . just look at this cute tag with its stitch lines and the shaped (Calypso Coral) reinforcer for the hole.  Are you thinking "be still, my heart"?  I don't know if the new catalog really has more projects featuring tags than previous catalogs or if I am just looking for them, but I'm excited.  Some years ago, I enjoyed tags on cards and other stamped projects, and I know my new dies will get a workout.

Late last week, I made a pound cake for my husband--using my mother's delicious recipe, which I know he loves--and I made two mini cakes with the intention of giving one to my parents and one to my sister.  With a room full of craft supplies, it would have been rude to not present the mini cakes with fun packaging, right?

I didn't have the perfect size box, but the Tag a Bag Gift Boxes (retired) worked nicely with some pretty fabric tucked around the cake and filling the ends of the boxes.  I used a heart-shaped doily to adorn the plain brown craft paper band and, of course, I had to scatter some sequins on the doily.  The sentiment that I stamped on the tag is from the (retired) Yippee-Skippee stamp set.  I'll bet some of you kept that stamp set (like me) because it has some really cute sentiments!

We (the family) always think yellow when we think of my sister, so I tucked some of The Pioneer Woman's Charming Yellow Check fabric in her box and used a Daffodil Delight die-cut hole reinforcer on her tag.

Didn't these packages turn out cute?  The pound cake turned out pretty good, too.  :-)

BIRD HOUSE EASEL BIRTHDAY CARD

 

Cousin Mildred will celebrate her 80th birthday this week, so she deserved a special card.

How cute is this easel card that's shaped like a bird house?  The dies that I used to cut the bird house and those adorable birds are from Poppy Stamps, but all other products are from Stampin' Up!  In the photo below, you can see how easily the easel portion folds into shape.  I used fringe scissors to cut a grassy border to give the front of the card a place to rest.

And another view of the card on display:

I love that the die impresses a texture on the front of the bird house and, as you can see, this neat little card folds flat for mailing.  BTW, the leafy branch was cut from Pear Pizzazz cardstock, and then I used an Early Espresso marker to color the branch portion.

Let's talk about those adorable flowers.  I punched them in assorted colors using the soon-to-be-retired Confetti Flowers punch and then shaped them with a couple of McGill flower-shaping tools that I have had and loved for years!  It isn't really necessary to shape the flowers since they get flatten during mailing, but I like to hope they maintain a little bit of the shaped dimension.  After the flowers were punched, I laid them on a foam pad (the Simply Shammy might work for this) and used the appropriate sized ball tips of the McGill tools to shape each flower and leaf.  Did you notice the cute ladybug?  It's adorable on this card!

The sentiment that I chose is from the Quite Curvy stamp set.  It's perfect, right?

I didn't have an envelope in the perfect shade of yellow, but I thought this one would suffice.  It, too, was decorated with images from Quite Curvy and colored with Stampin' Blends.  Lately, I have really been enjoying those alcohol markers!  Interestingly, I have spent a small fortune on an assortment of Copic and Prismacolor alcohol markers in the past, but the absolute EASIEST to use (for someone who wants to just pick up markers and start coloring) have been Stampin' Blends.  I still have my Blendabilities from Stampin' Up! and use them along with the Blends.  The more I use Stampin' Up!'s alcohol markers, the more I appreciate that there's no guess work . . . you choose your color, and then apply the light and dark shades of that color to your stamped image and get beautiful blending and shading.  

Stampin' Up! products used to complete this card:

Dies:  Birds & More, Little Numbers (retired)

Punches:  Confetti Flowers, Bitty Blooms 

Stamp Set:  Quite Curvy

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Blends, Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker

Cardstock:  Thick Whisper White, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Poppy Parade, Mossy Meadow, Balmy Blue

Tools:  Fringe Scissors (retired), Stampin' Blends

Accessories:  Ladybug Trinkets, White Baker's Twine

GLIMMERY "DRAGONFLY GARDEN" SLIM CARD

One of the best things about being a card-maker is being able to make whatever size card you want.  Sometimes you might want a card to fit a particular envelope, and other times it might be necessary to tweak the size of the card to the size of the image you wish to use.

The tall, narrow image from Dragonfly Garden would certainly fit on a regular A2 size card, but doesn't it shine on this tall, slim design?  I wanted the dragonfly to be the focal point and was very pleased with how this card turned out.

I used Stampin' Blends to color the dragonfly.  The sentiment was stamped with Highland Heather ink onto a strip of white cardstock with distressed edges.  

I thought the sequins were a nice embellishment, but adding the So Saffron tab to the end of the sentiment strip was a nice decorative touch, along with the Baker's twine bow and rhinestone.  The finished card was approximately 3.5" x 8.5" and easily fit into a letter-size envelope.  

And, of course, the dragonfly wings had to have a touch of Wink of Stella glimmer!