Card - Birthday Balloons

A balloon birthday card for a boy having a celebration this week.

I watercolored a square of mixed media card stock with Not Quite Navy from the Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Let that dry and pressed flat.

I cut the balloons with a thinlet die which has not brand name on it.  

The paper is paste paper with glitter that my sister and I made years ago. Love the bright colors.

I adhered these to the watercolor with 3D foam tape. I added bright green strings and a SU Artisan Label punchie greeting the same color as the card base.

I added a quarter sheet insert and a quite envelope. 

Love how the sun through the lace curtains adds something to the photograph.

Calendar - Countdown - Simple Bethlehem

 

Frames: I used discontinued Tolsby 4x6 frames from IKEA for this calendar.  It the past I have packed these in plastic and decided not to this year.  That created some issues to overcome - mainly how to store the marker and ensure it does not disappear while on the craft table.  I created a clear plastic loop which I adhered to a piece of white 4x6 card stock with clear tape.  I then used silver glitter washi tape to make it pretty and visible. I also used a piece of clear tape to hold the marker to the frame until it is purchased. I had thought of using bubble tea straws for the loop but I mislaid them so I had to just move ahead. With the new by-law these may become a thing of the past.

Markers: The first set of markers I purchased did not have erasers included.  I spent a day spinning ideas about making dry erase board erasers and just decided to buy markers with felt erasers attached. Having to do it again I would have searched for all black markers. Maybe that is not so much fun for the kids which is the whole point.

Images:  I have designed quite a few digital Christmas cards in the past so that was pretty easy to mine my archives to find images.  Also did a photo shoot of Christmas images you can see here. Birthday is a completely different story so I just resorted to using scrapbook designer paper with banners for that side.

Tags:  I made up 2x2.75 inch tags that document the way to use the calendar. I attached the tag to the base of the frame since I decided not to enclose these in plastic.

The Bethlehem image used here is one I created digitally a while ago.  It has been created with a light blue oval background. I have used it in several projects over the years.  Here I designed a 4x6 photo with the digital Bethlehem add the words "Days until Christmas" then had the photo printed.  The challenge is to have a place light enough that the numbers will show up. The birthday side is bright designer paper in red with royal blue balloon punchies with black strings. 

Birthday Card - Olive and Chocolate

I made a couple of masculine cards.  This is coordinated designer paper in chocolate brown and olive green.   It features red, orange, vanilla triangles.

I cut the brown layer to 2.25 inches by 5.25 inches tall.  It was adhered to the left on the olive card base.  I added green piece measuring 3.75 inches square.  I layered it toward the top of the card.

I mounted a small oval greeting in the bottom right hand corner. 

I punched balloons with the Martha Stewart Balloon punch from the brown paper.  I added black thread strings to the balloons.  I adhered the balloons with 3D foam tape.

I made this card as a DSP Split.  I cut the green to 3.25 x 5.25 inches. The green is cut to 3.00 x 5.25 inches. These were taped into a single piece at the back with tape.

I adhered the designer paper layer onto the olive green card. I placed a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon across the joint and taped the ends to the inside of the card.

I added an oval greeting on the right hand side with 3D foam tape.  A couple more for my depleted stash.

Floating Balloons Card

I made this accent for photography project earlier this week.  You can check my Flickr photo stream for more info.  It reminded me of the movie UP.

Now, I could make a card out of it.

The original element was created with 10 balloons made with the Martha Stewart punch.  I chose red, yellow and blue.  I attached them to a quarter sheet of vellum.  The central yellow balloon has red spatters on it.  The first 7 balloons were attached directly to the vellum and the last 3 were adhered with 3D foam tape.  I attached white thread strings to several of them. 

For the card I trimmed the vellum down to about 3 inches wide to allow more of the sky card stock to show.  I placed adhesive behind the balloons.  I chose a Stampin Up Decorative Label greeting in a blue matching the balloons.  This was adhered with 3D foam tape to the card front with the middle points aligned along the edge of the vellum.  I placed some adhesive for the vellum where it would be hidden by the greeting.   This is off to one of my card exchange buddies.

Card Club - Sept - Bright Balloons

I created a bright card with balloons.  The balloons are punchies done with the Martha Stewart punch. The balloons were punched from designer paper scraps in my drawer. I chose papers that coordinated.  In this case the patterned and solid solids. I created a greeting layer and chose the colors according to the colors in the balloons.  The greeting layer is glued to the card front.  The balloons are then adhered to the greeting layer at the end of the balloon strings.

Birthday Party Invites - Easily Personalized

I`ve developed a few birthday party invites.  These are distributed as digital files which are personalized then forwarded by email.  They can be printed at home, at the photo developer of your choice, or sent out digitally to those invited.  Makes it very quick and easy for busy Moms.

The one on the left features balloons which are my own art.  I have filled them with some of my watercolor backgrounds.  It has a banner across the top which has been colored to complement the balloons.  This one is designed as a quarter sheet of a regular letter sized sheet.
Updated: I've changed the background on this one which works much better.


The one on the right features one of my watercolor backgrounds and my happy birthday cake on a stand graphic.  The cake has been designed with the colors in the background.  This creates a bright and catchy invite for any party.  This one is 4x6 inches.





This one is in contrast to the bright and bold ones below. It's feel is soft and gentle. It was done with one of my bubble paper backgrounds in green, purple and turquoise.  I added the polka dot overlay to repeat the concept of bubbles.  I added my own daisy graphic in a coordinating color to add a feminine touch.  I chose to put the words in a delicate font to go with the overall feel of the background. 

Pink and purple for girls.  This one is in the wide orientation with the same birthday cake graphic from the top one.   The colors have been changed to work for a girl's party.  This is 4x6 inches.

 

Another watercolor background with wonderful feathered edges featuring bolder colors. The birthday cake graphics has again been used in this invite. The blues and purples in the background have been repeated in the cake.  This one is in the tall orientation and is 4x6 inches.















This one features ink spot decorated paper I made a while back.  I choose this one because of it's bold & bright colors.  The circle invite repeats the circles in the ink spots. The details are placed on a shaded box to insured they are visible and easily read.

These all can be personalized and will be delivered digitally.  They are available in 4x6 photo files or 2 or 4 quarter sheets in printable PDF. This makes printing at home easy. You can find them on my Digital Cards tab.

I will have samples at the Vintage Bazaar on March 19 2016.

Card Club - Feb - Button Trio

I started with a navy card and some blue striped decorative paper which I have had forever!  I thought I would offer several options for this card. So I have red flowers, orange balloons, and yellow stars. These were all cut with the Cricut and the Create a Critter cartridge. I wrapped a red grosgrain ribbon around the decorative paper leaving room below for buttons and above for the flower. The ends of the ribbon were taped to the back of the blue piece. To the red flower added a small circle punched from the same card stock and it turned over. The flower was glued to top left corner. The small tag was cut with a Cuttlebug die and the sentiment was stamped with a clear stamp in red ink. It is held in place with a red brad. The 3 buttons are each held in place with a Zot.
 

Gift Card Holder - Baby Boy

One of the girls in the office had a baby in February. I put together a large card for everyone to sign and offer their wishes for the new baby and his parents. We had a great shower for them today.
I started with a MS Accordian Card. It was covered with brown fabric with an elastic to hold it closed. It provided plenty space for the sentiments. The first page had baby's name and a bit of a poem embossed on a ripped piece of vellum. The last page had a vellum envelope to hold the gift card. I saved one page so a photo could be added with a few balloons. The teddy bear is a Sizzix die which was cut a couple times for the different colors then layered. I added a ribbon around his neck and cut some balloons with the MS punch. All the elements were touched with a brown ink pad.

Cards - Kid Cards

I thought I would work on cards for kids. I had purchased some balloon punched shapes a while back so I designed with those in mind. I thought they would make birthday cards for boys. I tried a new Cuttlebug embossing folder (Distressed Stripes). I made a variety of color combinations. This was traditional primary colored one very suitable for boys. I drew the strings in with a black marker. I wish I owned this punch.

Card Club - January - Kid Card

I had a request for kid card kits so I had to stretch myself a little to design something I was happy with. I thought balloons would be great but with no punch or die to cut them I was stuck. My sister came to my rescue. She sent me a collection of different colors. It worked out great. The purple one I put a pop dot under as well as giving it a real string.