Bitty Birthday

One of the features of splitcoaststampers.com that I love is the ability to create a file of my favorite cards submitted by fellow card artists. It really helps me find inspiration when it's time to make cards for my monthly class.

This one is by Linda Keal, and I really liked the use of ribbon in this layout. Although I have the Chocolate Chip 1" double-stitched ribbon, I didn't want to use the color scheme she used. I already have a couple of fall colored cards, and I wanted something different.

It took several tries with a couple different combos of card stock, but Mary Jo Albright's list came to the rescue again, and I went with So Saffron, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive. I was surprised how much I really liked these colors together! I substituted the 1/2" striped PP ribbon and am pleased with the results.

The little cupcakes, which are UBER popular in the stamping community right now, are from the Hostess Level 1 set called Bitty Basics. This is an adorable little set with 10 stamps--a leaf, a heart, a butterfly, a flower, a star, a cupcake, a coffee mug (!)--and the words smile, thanks, and hello. I paired it with one of the sentiments from It's Your Birthday, and I think this would be a nice card for an adult or a child. Who doesn't like CAKE?

And who doesn't like FREE stamps? Anyone who hosts a class and has an order of $150 or more in merchandise could choose this set or Live Like You Mean It, the one I used on the card I posted earlier today, FREE! This month would be an excellent time to host a class. With the economy the way it is, making cards for gifts and a family's greetings just makes sense! Think about it...let me know if you'd like to partner with me.

PJ Day Card

I'm having a PJ Day today. I had a long, physically demanding day at work yesterday, so today I decided to lounge all day. I've read email, surfed blogs, eaten, and brushed one dog, but other than that, I've done nothing. Partly that's because my right wrist is bothering me. Too much repetitive motion in the past few days--lifting and shifting coffee urns with coffee in them multiple times during a shift--and not enough icing and stretching.

I couldn't stay away from the craft room, though. I've already admitted how good I am at doing nothing, so this should be no surprise. I wanted to create something using a stamp set that hadn't seen ink yet. I also wanted to experiment with Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, and Baja Breeze, three of the 2008-2009 InColor Collection I hadn't used in concert.

Little stamp images are a popular trend right now, and creating "inchies" with them is all the rage. Inchies are just what they sound like: 1" squares featuring tiny images or partial images. The stars that create the background and which are popped up on the scallop squares are from Bitty Basics, a Level 1 Hostess set, a 10-piece coup! Images include a leaf, a heart, a butterfly, a flower, a star, a cupcake, a coffee mug (!), and the words smile, thanks, and hello. That's a lot of stamping booty for FREE, just for being a hostess with a $150 qualifying workshop!

I also worked with the Say It with Scallops set, which is SU!'s Ronald McDonald House charities set. A portion of the sale of each set goes to the Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing to families with sick children all across the US. The Congrats! stamp made a perfect feature image. The PP scallops you see at the top and bottom of the card's center panel are made with the scallop square punch, and the images in this 4- piece set are designed to coordinate with this tool. Originally, I had the Congrats! punched out with the scallop punch, but wanted to incorporate the frame. More on that in a minute...

To get all three colors on the stamp, I stamped the entire image in PP, then used a blender pen to REMOVE ink from the star and the exclamation point. Then I inked the blender pen and applied BB and TT inks where I wanted them.

The chipboard frame is the element that I think really ties this whole design together. I used the reinker from TT and a sponge dauber to transform it from the dull chipboard neutral color. Just a drop or two did the trick. I dried it with my heat gun, because I'm impatient.

Okay, I have to go now and rest my wrist. Hope you enjoyed this creation!