Sweet Birthday Blues

Hello everyone,

Today's post is another simple masculine birthday card that could also be considered neutral.

The printed paper is from the dollar store and is layered on Close To My Heart Sky.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up Delightful Dozen stamped in Pacific Point on Whisper White and layered on more Sky.

I always check out the paper crafting offerings at the dollar store because you never know what you'll find.  Case in point was a great pad of 'blue' 6X6 patterned paper.  These blue squares are 'retro' and wonderful.  I love the randomness and angled design of these rounded squares.  Of course, it was a no-brainer to round the corners of all the elements.  I had originally planned to add some square embellishments but once I affixed the sentiment element, I decided nothing else was really needed.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Pretty In Purple

Hello everyone,

Sometimes, pretty is just what you need to craft.

The printed paper is DoCrafts Papermania Lucy Cromwell layered on Stampin' Up Whisper White and Close To My Heart Petal.  The butterfly was die cut with Sizzix Butterflies Thinlits from a piece of specialty paper of unknown origin.  The sentiment is Gina Marie All Seasons stamped in Close To My Heart Smokey Plum on Whisper White.  The embellishments are Mark Richards 3mm silver metals.

This butterfly couldn't work more beautifully with this Lucy Cromwell paper if it were planned.  I love crafting all cards but this type of simple, monochromatic beauty makes me so very happy!  It's was so very easy just by keeping the layout straightforward and using an intricate die.  I particularly like this set of Gina Marie sentiments.  They have wonderful fonts and I've been able to use them often.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Birthday Dots

Hello everyone,

When my girlfriend decided to come to a recent charity crop I wanted to design cards that she needed.  She asked for Christmas cards (the last few posts) and birthday cards.  I designed five female and five male birthday cards for us to craft.

The printed paper is Momenta Amylee Weeks layered on Recollections Black and Close To My Heart Juniper.  The sentiment is Close To My Heart For Every Occasion stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on Recollections White and layered on more Juniper.  The banner is die cut with Sizzix Banners Framelits from Recollections Black.  The embellishments are brads of unknown origin.

I love the simplicity of this card.  While intended to be masculine, it really is rather neutral.  The black really pops and when paired with the Juniper, it really wonderful.  The embellishments were, purposefully, intended to mimic the printed paper.  Overall, a simple card and a great result.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Berried Bannered

Hello everyone,

Today's post is the last of the Christmas cards I designed for a recent charity crop.

The printed paper is Little Yellow Bicycle Wonder Wishes "Merry Little Berries" layered on a solid red and a solid green each of unknown origin.  The sentiment is Inkadinkado stamped in Close To My Heart Topiary on Stampin' Up Whisper White.  The banners are die cut with Sizzix Banners Framelits from more red of unknown origin.  The sentiment and banners are highlighted with Xmas Red Stickles.

This is a great sheet of paper.  It's a wonderful scale for carding and, unlike yesterday's card, offers some excellent shading for coordinating.  I like the busy background as it offers a couple of options.  It's great underneath an image or, left like this, as the predominant background element.  It's perfect for embellishing, which I didn't do in this case, but left it alone.  I love the vintage aspect to the design which works great with this particular sentiment.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

A Christmas Challenge

Hello everyone,

This is another one of the Christmas cards I designed for a girlfriend and I to craft at a recent charity crop.  It was planned to be simple yet impactful.

The printed paper is American Crafts "Holiday Sinterklass" layered on a brushed silver and a green of unknown origin.  The sentiment is DeNami Design stamped in Stampin' Up Garden Green on Whisper White, highlighted with Sakura Clear, Red and Green Gelly Roll pen, and layered on more green.

This is not necessarily my favourite printed paper.  I thought when I bought it, it would be fairly straightforward to choose coordinating colours but without any shading, the red, green and grey are pretty unforgiving.  I've tried any number of embellishments and glitter but nothing makes me love this paper any more.  The scale of the images is great for carding but it's those colours that make it so very challenging to use.  I'm actually quite glad I've almost used up this sheet.  Notwithstanding all this whining, this is still a lovely card.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Ornaments A Pretty

Hello everyone,

I was in the mood to craft a really pretty Christmas card.

The printed paper is Kaisercraft Christmas Carnival "Bauble" layered on Stampin' Up Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery, and highlighted with Sakura Clear Star Gelly Roll pen.  The image is Stampin' Up Ornament Keepsakes stamped on Pink Pirouette, heat embossed with Stampin' Up white embossing powder and die cut with Sizzix Holiday Ornaments Framelits.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up Embellished Ornmanets stamped in Close To My Heart Twilight ink on Whisper White and layered on Certainly Celery.  The ribbon is of unknown origin.

I just so love making Christmas cards.  It doesn't seem to matter if they're traditional or not, simple or elaborate, sparkly or plain, I love them all.  This is such a fun card.  It's pretty and different and not necessarily what you'd expect in a Christmas card.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Another Wonderful Winter Case

Hello everyone,

This is another card that I cased from this one I crafted this past July

The printed paper is atd Snow Days layered on a textured rust Bazzill.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Wishes Come True stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on Recollections White and layered on more rust Bazzill.  The ribbon is American Crafts.

These lovely boots, mittens, scarves and hats make for such beautiful paper that, like the card I cased, I kept the layout and embellishments really minimal.  The card also needed to be simple because I ambitiously planned to have my beginner cardmaker craft ten cards in one evening.  Simplicity in this case makes for a great Christmas card.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle