Sailing Birthday Card

My brother-in-law LOVES being on the water. He moved from the suburbs of Chicago to Madison for two reasons: 1) it's only 30 min. from the family's summer lake compound, and 2) there are 2 lakes IN TOWN! Fishing, wakeboarding, skiing, jet skiing, ice fishing, and canoeing all bring Rick into his element.

So, when I saw this a la carte stamp, Sail Away, in the Summer Mini catalog, I knew it was just what I was going to use to make him a great birthday card. Be on the lookout for a fantastic Father's Day card I made using this too, because this stamp is wonderfully versatile! And it's only $9.95. LOVE THAT!

The image was stamped on Crumb Cake using Early Espresso classic ink. Then I stamped it again on a scrap of Whisper White card stock and cut out the sails. I popped them up with Stampin' Dimensionals to create a little more visual interest. I copied a card layout from the Stampin' Success magazine, a publication for demonstrators that is full of previews of upcoming stamps and such. I layered Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze, tearing those edges too.

Then I was faced with the question of where to place the sentiment. I tried it across the bottom third, but I didn't like it. What I did like there is this new Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, which I threaded through the seam of the card by creating holes using my Piercing Tool and Mat Pack and threaded the twine through the holes using an embroidery needle.

That left me with the upper right corner of the card. I stamped my go-to "Happy Birthday" from It's Your Birthday (retired) on a scrap strip of Whisper White and was surprised when I liked its position running vertically down the side of the card.

This will be one of the cards we make at my June Stamp-A-Stack, and I hope some of you who haven't had the time all school year to attend will be free to join me Sat., June 11, from 10a-1p.

Like I said, stay tuned and I'll show you a quick and easy, yest stunning Father's Day card.