Seize The Birthday: Buttons or Rhinestones?

Oh, this challenge was fun!  Our current challenge at Seize The Birthday has a Toppings option of Buttons or Rhinestones...if you choose to use it.  As usual, anything goes...as long as it's a Birthday card!

Well, I jumped at the chance to use a few of my vintage buttons.  Love them!  I also used a vintage doily that I bought at an estate auction a few years ago.

It's been too long since I created a vintage style card, so this really was a lot of fun.  I hope you'll play along with us at Seize The Birthday.  I love seeing everyone's take on our challenges!

Now it's time to click on over to Seize The Birthday and see what the rest of the Design Team has created for your inspiration!

Supply list ~
Card stock: white (PTI)
Ink: onyx black (Versafine)
Stamps: boutique borders:birthday, button boutique (PTI)
Patterned paper: printery collection 6 x 6 pad (Prima)
Other: vintage buttons and doily (from my stash), edge punch (MS), hot glue gun

Bride and Groom -CTS #69

Hi!  I'm playing along with the current challenge at CAS(E) this sketch (CTS#69).  Actually, I intended to play along with Colour Me...! No. 12, but I missed the deadline by 1 day.  Oh well.

Anyway, take a look at the fun sketch I used.

I knew that I wanted to use a new stamp set and die that I recently received...and I need to add cards to my Etsy shop.  So, this fit in nicely.  Before we know it, it will be summer.  That usually includes a few weddings.

I layered several die cut pieces to make this thick frame for my sentiment.  The sentiment is stamped onto textured vellum, then backed with soft sky card stock.  I stamped a couple of accents onto my card front before running it through my Big Kick with an linen texture plate.
The card still needed a little something.  Well, since it's a wedding card, why not add a couple of clear gems?  Just two!

Thanks for taking a look,

Supplies ~
Card stock: pear pizzaz, soft sky (SU), white (PTI)
Ink: coastal cabana, soft sky (SU) jet black StazOn
Stamps: gatsby glamour (PTI)
Dies: gatsby glamour, linen impression plate (PTI)
Other: clear gems (The Paper Studio)

Trendy Tuesday news to share!

I was very excited last week, to receive a request from Katherine Elliott at Paper Crafters Library.  She asked to feature my Happy Birthday watercolor card from THIS POST in her Trendy Tuesday feature this week.  Of course I said yes!

Here's a peek of my featured card.

HERE is the link to the post about the current trends in Watercoloring.  The article talks about, and features a number of techniques using watercolor.  So interesting!

My card is the one at the beginning of the post.  Eeeek!  I'm just a little excited.

Thank you Katherine!

Seize The Birthday: Stitching!

It's time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday!  Our Toppings option for this challenge is Stitching...faux or real.  As always, it's your choice to use the topping, or not.  As long as it's a birthday card!

I love to stitch on cards, so I jumped at the chance to do a little sewing on my card.  How about some zig-zag stitches?

I used several patterned papers to create this card, sewing them onto some very vanilla card stock.  Then I decided to add a few vintage touches, since one of the papers depicts vintage dress pattern instructions.   The "flower" was created from a length of vintage lace.  Then I sewed on a tiny wooden spool (wrapped with a bit of thread, of course) and backed it all with some green twill ribbon.  The final touch was a pearl hat pin.

I hadn't used my vintage embellishments in quite a while, so I really had fun with this card!

Now, click over to Seize The Birthday to see what the rest of the Design Team has created for your inspiration!  I hope you'll play along.  We love to see your creations!

Supply list ~
Card stock: confetti cream, very vanilla (SU)
Ink: midnight muse (SU)
Stamps: boutique borders:birthday (PTI)
Patterned paper: print poetry (SU)
Other: green twill ribbon (SU), wood mini spool (Maya Road), vintage lace (from an estate auction), beaded hat pin (Petaloo), thread, sewing machine, glue, glue gun

Merci !

I found several great challenges this afternoon, that I wanted to create cards for.  As I looked through them, I realized that the card I had in mind would fit several of those challenges.

The card didn't go quite as planned - that's an understatement.  But here are the challenges!

City Crafter Challenge Blog, Week #200 - Do you speak English?
     We're asked to use another language on our card...anything but English.

CAS-ology, Week 84 - The cue word is Paint

Virginia's View Challenge #1 - Watercoloring

ColourQ CQC #230

Ok.  I knew that I wanted my card to resemble a framed watercolor print.  Easy right?  Just use a couple of rectangular dies to create a frame of white card stock and some black matting. 

Well, the 2nd try turned out ok. 

WARNING: Long story ahead.
Onto the watercolor paper.  For my first attempt I painted the kraft color ink across the center of the panel.  Well that just made my sentiment appear to be in a mud puddle.  NOT the look I was going for.  The second time I painted turquoise in the center.  Much better!

But...my white embossed sentiment sorta got lost in the sea of blue.  Bright idea!  Use a gray marker to draw some shadow lines along the right sides of the letters.  UGH.  More mud!
By that time I had already adhered everything to my card base, of course.

So, I used a wet brush to add a bit more water to those muddy shadows.  It helped, to work it down into the paper and "almost" disappear.  Now the sentiment was lost at sea again, so I took more turquoise ink and nearly saturated then center of the panel with it.

I'm not sure what I think of this card, by now.  But, I'm leaving it alone.  I give up.  I've got to just laugh about it all now!  I would love to hear a story or two about your misadventures in paper crafting.  Please tell me!

Supply list ~
Card stock: white (PTI), basic black (SU), water color paper (Canson)
Ink: summer starfruit, crumb cake, cool caribbean (SU), versamark
Stamps: think big favorites #3 (PTI)
Other: white embossing powder (SU), rectangle die (Lil' Inkers)