Notecards for a 50th Birthday

I can't believe I have a friend who just turned 50 -- that makes me feel old! I know it is still a ways away for me, but it's a reminder that 40 is starting to loom very large. Anyway, my friend had a 50th birthday/Oscar viewing party and I wanted to give her a special present to mark such a big birthday. She is a creative type (although she'd probably tell you that she isn't( and she appreciates handmade things. She also always tells me how much she loves the cards I have made for her daughter's birthdays (which reminds me that at some point I should post the super-cute Angelina Ballerina card I recently made for her daughter's third birthday). Anyway, I figured she'd be getting lot of other presents so I decided to make her some monogrammed note cards that she could use for thank yous.

To keep things uniform and make it look like a set, I used one layout with three different color schemes and made two of each card, for a total of a half a dozen cards. The base cards are an 8.5 by 11 sheet of cardstock cut in half to make two cards that are 5.5 by 4.25 inches folded. I ran each card through my Texture Boutique using the Swiss Dots folder (love it!). Then I cut 5.5 by 3 inch pieces from three different patterned papers leftover from scrapbook pages I had made.

I then picked out coordinating cardstock from a mat stack my boss had given me for the holidays. I had never bought a small stack like this before, thinking I'd rather have larger sheets to cut down than be limited by their small size, but I found that I really liked the wide variety of colors and the ease of flipping through them to choose just the right one. They were also just the right size to make two border strips and punch two scalloped circles from with minimal waste. I used the EK Success Parisian border punch and a Marvy scalloped punch that is about 2 1/4 inches.

I had bought a large "D" stamp because my daughter's name also starts with D (I think it's Hampton Arts? The cheapo $1 ones they sell at Michaels/AC Moore). I stamped the D with Colorbox Fluid Chalk inks (my go-to inks) in Olive Pastel, Lime Pastel and Chestnut Roan on white cardstock and then punched each one out with my 2 inch Fiskars Circle squeeze punch.

I then ran all of the pieces through my trusty Xyron. I layered each D circle onto a coordinating scalloped circle. I wrapped a piece of white ribbon (from Target, leftover from my wedding four years ago) around each patterned paper panel, adhered a border strip and then placed the layered circles on the right side of each patterned panel, over the ribbon. I attached the patterned paper sections to the textured cards and then tied a piece of ribbon in a knot around the already attached ribbon. Finally I punched butterflies using my Martha Stewart punch. I attached them by cutting pop dot circles in half and putting on each wing. Then I topped each butterfly with a crystal gem.

I used one card to write a message to the birthday girl then packaged the other five up by wrapping with some baker's twine. I put them in a fabulous feathered bag (that I wish I had taken a photo of!) and gave them to the birthday girl.

Still Stuck on Pink

What can I say? I seem to be stuck on pink lately! Well possibly because now I have a bunch of pink scraps on my desk since I haven't cleaned it off since my other projects.

This card is for my friend Kristina whose birthday is actually today but I am a bit late in the mailing. It's a bit of an odd size, slightly smaller than 5 by 7, but is is going in a box anyway. It is going to be sent with a hat and scarf that I knitted for her in this soft variegated-blue suede yarn and a pair of red, silver and black earrings with a matching bracelet that I also made. Yes pictures of these items would be nice but really I barely had time to finish them, never-mind photograph them!

I am not sure that I am loving the blue on this card but I thought it sort of went with the scarf. I also think maybe I overdid it with all of the gems AND the Stickles. Oh well, it was really late when I finished it last night so I can't claim it is my best work but hopefully she will like it.

One cool technique I did discover was that my black India ink pad stamps really well on coated cardstock and looks fabulous with this reversed alphabet (meaning the stamp makes the background and the letters stay the color of the paper). I think it will make me use this alpha more often!

Directions:
Cut card to 5 by 7 side-opening and scallop the right edge of the front panel. Trim strips of patterned paper to 4.5 inches wide and approximate heights as shown. Wrap ribbon around pink panel and tie bow around the ribbon. Attach all strips to card, aligning with the fold. Glue strip of black pp inside the card front so it shows behind the scalloped edge. Punch scalloped circles from black & pink pp and layer with foam flowers. Top with rhinestone flower and tiny clear gem. Die-cut swirls from white CS using Slice. Position above and below flower embellie on blue panel. Slide corsage pink through the bow and into small foam flower. Top flower with small clear gem. Stamp name with alphabet stamps using black ink on glossy CS. Cut out individual letters and attach. Edge strip of black dotted pp with upper crest punch. Attach tiny gem in each "valley." Apply Stickles to ends of each swirl.

Supplies:
Strips of patterned papers left over from other projects (bottom pink strip is DCWV Summer stack, blue is Target $1 spot, white swirl I stamped -- see the previous post, pink strip is cut from a gift bag), black & white ribbon, white cardstock, Icicle Stickles, foam flowers from kid's craft dept, corsage pink, letter stamps, rhinestone flower, tiny gems, Slice, Fiskars Scallop Sentiment & Upper Crest punches, Marvy scallop circle punches, Xyron

Pretty in Pink

I have two new cards for you today! Both of them are pink, which seems odd, considering it's October. The first one is a birthday card for my friend Katie. It's a bit of a takeoff on the last birthday card I posted. I bought her two books (craft cozies -- knitting fiction!) for her birthday and the gift bag I used was black, white and hot pink with dots and swirls. I'm not sure that these are really her colors, but I figured I'd make a card to match. We are going out to dinner tonight and I am excited to see her reaction.

I recently mentioned to Katie that I had crocheted some small flowers to use on cards and scrapbook pages and she said she hoped her birthday card would include one of the flowers, since we often "Stitch 'n' Bitch" together. I didn't use a birthday sentiment on the outside because I know she is sentimental and will probably keep the card, and this way she can put it in a frame if she wants. The card is 7 by 5 inches. I was excited to find in my stash the pink dotted flower but had the hardest time figuring out how to use it. I was happy to finally use some of the black flock that JoAnn's sent me (four containers instead of one!)

Directions
Cut white card to 7 by 5 bottom opening card. Stamp swirls repeatedly on white coated cardstock with black Staz On. Let dry. Trim, along with three other patterned papers, into 1.5 by 5 inch strips and attach to card. Use Treading Water punch along bottom of front panel of card. Trim black paper to 2 by 6 and round the corners on one end. Pierce holes around the edges and draw stitching lines with white gel pen. Wrap pink ribbon around bottom and tie bow. Die cut swirls from black paper and letters from white cardstock using Slice. Run through Xyron and then brush with glitter glaze while still attached to backing. Let dry. Attach letters to black panel. Attach panel to right bottom. Punch scalloped circle from white cardstock. Apply glue rub-on and cover with flock. Press in and then brush off excess. Attach pink silk flower and white crochet flower with crystal brad. Attach to card with foam squares. Attach swirls to card, applying gems to the ends. Attach flower gem to dot "i" with small glue dots.

Supplies
White cardstock, white glossy cardstock, scrap black glossy paper, DCWV Summer Glitter Stack pink patterned papers, unknown black dotted paper; Inkadinkado and Autumn Leaves swirl stamps; Black Staz On ink; Marvy scalloped circle, Fiskars Treading Water punches; K&Co (?) rub-ons for flocking; Black Stampendous flock; Slice die-cutting machine; White Stabilo gel pen; Making Memories clear glitter glaze; Xyron adhesive machine; Pink silk flower (from JoAnn's but unsure of brand); Crochet flower (I made it!); Offray ribbon; Making Memories crystal brad; Pink self-adhesive round and flower gems (unknown); foam squares; Zots glue dot


The second card is rather like the one I made for my husband's grandmother's 80th birthday, but I forgot to scan or photograph that one before I gave it to her, so I somewhat recreated it for my stash. What I like best is that I cut around the stamped butterfly wings, leaving the body attached, so the wings fold out from the card. I also messed up and forgot to add the stitching before I glued down the pink and flowered papers, so I cut a strip and attached it behind my scalloped edge to cover the stitching inside. Awkward to explain, but it looks really good, especially since it it two-sided paper so the flowered pattern make a border on the inside.


Directions
Trim ivory cardstock to 5 by 7 inch side-opening card. Scallop the edge of the front panel of card with border punch. Stamp butterfly on pink paper with brown ink. Trim around wings, leaving body attached and fold wings out. Stamp leaves below butterfly. Trim to fit, leaving scalloped edge showing, and attach to top half of card. Trim flowered paper, wrap lace around and attach to bottom of card. Stitch along edge. Trim strip of green paper (opposite side of flowered paper) to about 1 inch by 7 inches and attach to inside edge of card to cover up stitching. Layer pink Prima on cream one and attach to card with glue dots. Attach flower gem with glue dots. Attach pearls and pink gem to body of butterfly.

Supplies
Ivory cardstock; Pink SCWV paper; K&Co. Brenda Walton flowered paper; Lace scrap; Prima flowers; K&Co. butterfly stamp; Chestnut Roan and Olive Pastel Colorbox Chalk Inks; DMC brown embroidery floss; Fiskars border punch; Flower gem (unknown); adhesive pearls and pink gem (Nicole?); Zots glue dot

Couple Friends

Two posts two days in a row, whoo-hoo! Go me.

This is a page I did over the weekend. I was doing some cleaning and came across my friend Jackie's wedding invitation from 2005. Looking at the invitation got me thinking about how I regret not having gone to her wedding. One of the main reasons I didn't go (besides it being 7 hours away and on Labor Day) was because that weekend I moved in with my husband, who was just my boyfriend at the time.

But another reason was because the guys hadn't even met each other yet and she was really little more than a girl I met on Craigslist that I scrapbooked with. I guess there was no way then to know that we would all become such good friends! I do feel fortunate that we all hit it off since I know it can be hard to find couple friends where both girls and both guys get along. I'm not sure that I captured that message as much as I would have liked but I guess it's an idea for a future layout.


I started with the invitation, which was printed on white cardstock, and built the layout around it. Then I saw the small aqua friend tag (top right) that came in a large coordinating kit I recently picked up at BJSs and it became the basis for my color scheme. I recently bought a bunch of Basic Gray paper off of the clearance rack at AC Moore (25 cents apiece!) that coordinated with the aqua. I selected two sheets from the Blush collection for the top and bottom of the layout.

It took me forever to find letter stickers that worked until I remembered these from K&Co. They were on a sheet with fall colored letters that surprisingly contains an entire alphabet in each style. I wanted to emphasize the ampersand and again it took awhile to find the perfect one. First I thought chipboard but I couldn't find anything the right size. Finally I found this aqua ampersand on a sheet of pastel colored letters (not sure of the brand as I had removed it from the original packaging).

The K&Co journaling tag, from the Wild Saffron collection, just randomly seemed to work as I sorted through my recent purchases. I liked that it used both the aqua and the red from the papers and it was (almost) big enough to tell my story. When I wanted to add just a bit more, I saw that the red label (also K&Co Wild Saffron) would be perfect, plus there are so many of them in the package that I don't know how I'll ever use them (a good problem to have I suppose).

I've been thinking about paper flowers lately, having recently bought some Primas from eBay (50 various sizes for $2.50 -- good deal?) and a whole can of white Primas from Two Peas that I am still waiting for. I am trying to find a better way to store them, as right now I have them in a small divided box, separated by type, which I will obviously outgrow. I also think I'd like to sort by color.

So while I was looking at my current stash, I saw the large gridded cream and aqua flower, which I have several of, and it seemed like a good opportunity to pair it with the dotted aqua flower that came in the same set. I thought a brad would be good in the middle but then I saw the K&Co Wild Saffron felt embellishments and liked that I could incorporate the red and a bit of yellow. I thought the bottom needed a bit of pink to bring in the pink of the top patterned paper so I used a small pink paper flower with another felt embellie. I attached the flowers with Glue Dots.

I put the friends tag underneath the top flower a bit and added "Couple" using small Making Memories ledger stickers. Finally I added some hand stitching to bring in some more brown and help ground the letter stickers. I made the stitching holes using a template that I made by piercing through a sheet of plastic packaging and then sewed some zigzag stitch using two strands of DMC embroidery floss. The top right corner seemed bare (I seem to have a problem with that) so I lightly traced around a random die cut swirl that was on my desk, pierced holes and back-stitched.