Birthday Card For Photography Buff

My brother's birthday was March 14. He is a photography and videography buff so I decided to make him a camera-themed birthday card.

Of course, the first place I looked for ideas was Pinterest. I knew I wanted to make use of the Snapshot stamp as well as the Peachy Keen stamp set. I also thought I could work in the use of the On Film Framelits. These are all retired products from Stampin Up but I love them!

The beautiful card by Michele Reynolds was the one I chose to CASE .

I started by cutting a standard card base from Thick Whisper White card stock. From Real Red, I cut a matte and embossed it using a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder called Spots & Dots because I thought it was reminiscent of camera lenses.

Black Soot Distress Ink was used to rub across the raised portions of the embossing as well as to ink the edges of the matte. I used Dimensionals to adhere it to the card front.

Using the polaroid die from the On Film Framelits, I die cut a frame from the Thick Whisper White as well as one from self adhesive Fun Foam. I also cut pieces of Basic Black and Window Sheet to fit under the frame.

I used White Stazon ink and my MISTI to stamp the sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set on the piece of Window Sheet. The MISTI is especially good for stamping on acetate because inked stamps have the tendency to slip on the acetate causing smeared prints but the MISTI keeps the stamp and the acetate stationary resulting in a perfect print.

Once dry, I used Multi Medium Matte to glue both the Window Sheet and the Basic Black card stock behind the Whisper White frame. I then glued the Fun Foam frame to the stack and then peeled off the adhesive backing and adhered the stack to the card front.

I used the small camera die to cut three cameras from Real Red and one from Basic Black card stock. I used the Black Soot Distress Ink to rub over the red cameras. I added rhinestones to the lens of each camera and then used Dimensionals to adhere them to the card front.

The Balloon Bouquet Punch was used to punch three balloons from a Real Red polka dot paper from the retired Brights Designer Series Paper Stack. I chose the retired rather than the current one because I wanted small polka dots for the balloons. I used Black Soot Distress ink to ink the edges of each balloon, adding a bit more shadow to the right side.

I tied lengths of Basic Black Baker's Twine to each balloon and then attached them to the card front using Dimensionals. I used a glue dot to adhere the twine ends under a button from the Neutrals Designer Buttons. I topped the button with a knotted 1/8" Real Red Ribbon, now retired.

For the inside of the card, I stamped once with the Snapshot stamp and three times with the camera stamp from the retired Peachy Keen stamp set, using Smoky Slate ink.

I'm pleased with how this card turned out and I think my brother will like it!

Do you have a photographer in your life? Or are you the photographer? Drop me a comment below and let me know!

Revving Up For Retirement

I had a slight mishap on Thursday that kept me home from work but luckily I was feeling much better on Friday so that I could continue as planned with my stamping group. To find out what happened, check out my Facebook post here.

My stamping ladies were busy last night, creating cards using products that are on the retiring list. It was good to work with these favorite products before they disappear!

Our first card was a departure from my usual colors and style but I wanted to create something that had a vintage feel to it.

To begin with, we distressed a Whisper White matte and a smaller piece of the same using a sponge and the retiring Baked Brown Sugar ink.

Next, MISTI came into play when we used the retiring Dictionary background stamp with Soft Suede ink. It was stamped off once and then gave a nice hint of text to the distressed matte. To further distress it, the Distressing tool was used and then the edges were inked with Soft Suede.

We used the retiring On Film Framelits to cut a frame from Watercolor paper and then sponged it with Early Espresso. We used the frame to determine where to stamp the two flowers from the Petal Potpourri stamp set.

Two flowers were stamped on the matte using Baked Brown Sugar and one was stamped on the smaller distressed piece, using Soft Suede. The centre of that flower was colored with Hello Honey using a sponge dauber and the flower was punched with the Flower Medallion punch. Its edges were then inked with Soft Suede.

A strip of Sahara Sand Lace and the previously retired Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon were adhered to the bottom of the matte and then it was adhered to a Soft Suede card base using Dimensionals.
The frame was adhered to the matte with glue dots and then the punched flower was adhered inside but overlapping the frame using doubled-up Dimensionals.

The Hello You thinlits were used to die cut the word "you" and the banner punch was used to cut two banners from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper. These were each sponged with Baked Brown Sugar and the banners were edged with Soft Suede.

"You" was adhered with glue to the top of the card. The banners were angled and adhered to the bottom right of the frame. A dragonfly bead was painted with Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and then adhered on top of the banners using Crystal Effects.

The sentiment, Amaze Me, from the Crazy About You stamp set, was stamped with Early Espresso at the bottom of the card base.

To complete the card, an inside matte was created from a piece of the retiring Naturals White card stock. A flower was stamped in the bottom right corner using Soft Suede and then the edges were inked with Baked Brown Sugar.

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Inspiration for a Mother's Day card came from a creation by the Stampin' Stud.

We used a card base of Calypso Coral. A matte of the retiring Strawberry Slush was embossed with the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder and the edges inked with Calypso Coral. It was adhered to the card base with Dimensionals.

A strip of Irresistably Yours was sponged with gold ink, heat set, and then the white leaves brought back by rubbing with paper towel.

The 1 3/4" and the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punches were used to punch circles from Gold Glimmer and Calypso Coral papers. The smaller circle's edges were inked with Strawberry Slush. The circles were then layered onto a 1/4 of a Tea Doily and adhered under the strip of leafy resist paper.

A square of vellum was sponged with a combination of Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Slush, and Blackberry Bliss. The Fun Flower punch was used twice, the Pansy Punch once and the Petite Petal Punch was used once.

The punched flowers were crumpled gently to give them some dimension and then a piercing tool was used to poke a hole in the centre of each. They were then attached together with a Candy Base Brad. A rhinestone which had been colored with a R24 Copic marker was added to the brad.

Glue dots were used to secure a length of Gold Baker's Twine in a pleasing circular arrangement and then the completed flower was adhered with Dimensionals on the left side of the leafy strip. The retired Secret Garden Framelits were used to die cut some leaves from Gold Glimmer paper and they were tucked under the flower and adhered with glue.

For the inside of the card, a matte of the retiring Naturals Ivory had its edges inked with gold and then the flowers and sentiment from the Mother's Love stamp set were stamped using Strawberry Slush and Crisp Cantaloupe, respectively.

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Lots of inky hands at the end of the night but some lovely cards were produced and a good time was had by all! Though it will be sad to see the products we used retire, the space they leave behind will be filled with more great products with which to create!

What products will you be sad to see retire? Leave me a comment below!

It's All About The Sparkle

Mojo Monday definitely is living up to its name for me! Did a quick review of the various Monday challenges and fell in love with this sketch.

I knew just what I wanted to do with it, other than picking the designer paper and deciding which card stock to use for the base and which for the matte. I also tried several different ribbon choices until I felt I had the best one. The card came together quickly after these decisions.

I started with a Lost Lagoon card base of 5 x 7." I cut a matte from Smoky Slate and a piece of All Is Calm Designer paper (love that stuff!).

I used the On Film framelits to cut a polaroid frame from Silver Glimmer paper. I also cut a 3/4" strip and a snowflake from the Glimmer paper. The snowflake is from the Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies, a beautiful set of framelits.

Because I found the frame and snowflake to be so flimsy, I also cut two snowflakes and two frames from Kraft card stock. I glued the two duplicate Kraft die cuts together and then glued the Glimmer paper die cuts on top. In retrospect, I should have cut the duplicates from Smoky Slate card stock instead of Kraft; because you could see some of the edge of the Kraft, I had to color it using a Smoky Slate Blendabilities marker.

I colored the frame using the darkest Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. I love how you can easily change the color of the Glimmer paper by using the Blendabilities and you still get that great glittery effect!

Look at that wonderful sparkle!

I adhered the both Designer paper and the frame to the Smoky Gray matte. I then added the strip of Glimmer paper layered with first Lost Lagoon Ribbon and finally by Silver 1/8" Ribbon. I then adhered the matte to the card front.

I dropped a smattering of All Is Calm silver sequins within the polaroid frame, being sure I had an odd number. I find that dropping sequins from a height above the paper surface gives me a good random pattern, better than what I could come up with myself! I snapped a picture with my camera just to be on the safe side, and then adhered the sequins with a bit of Crystal Effects.

I adhered the snowflake and then added a rhinestone which I had colored with the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities marker.

I chose the sentiment from the Good Greetings Hostess stamp set. I inked it first with Versamark and then Bermuda Bay before stamping it on the bottom left of the matte. I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I find that the new stamp pads dry too quickly to emboss well so I use a layer of Versamark and then the regular ink so that the stamped image catches more of the embossing powder.

The final touch was to add two small rhinestones on either side of the sentiment.

I just love all the sparkles on this card–the frame, the snowflake, the sequins, the ribbon and the rhinestones bracketing the sentiment! Hope you like it too!

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