Happy Birthday Cassidy!!!!

Our sweet little Cassidy turns 18 today!  It seems like just a few years ago we took this picture of her with her favorite hat!  Now, we are literally up in Bozeman, Montana, celebrating her 18th birthday and saying good bye as she starts college at Montana State University, studying architecture.  How she has changed over the years!

Now, a card story about Cassidy.  I couldn't go without a cardmaking post now could I?  I have told Cassidy for years that any time she needed a card for a friend's birthday or a thank you card for a gift, she could go into my craft room and either make one herself or get one out of my boxes of cards.  For the first few years, she would go in and make one but as she got older, she would just go in and take one of mine.  Well, this year at Mother's Day, I opened my Mother's Day card and found a card that I had made!  Cassidy said "you said I could use them when I needed one!"  We all got a great laugh out of how I received my own card on Mother's Day but the special sentiment she wrote inside makes that card very special!

Stampin' Up!'s Best Friends Forever....

Today's card is one that I introduced at a recent workshop.  My friend Connie gave me a picture of a card she found with this layout but with another company's stamp set.  I used the Best Friends Forever stamp set for the leaves which really turned out pretty.  The card I actually made for the workshop had a sentiment from the Herb Expressions stamp set which I borrowed from my mom for use at the workshop.  Naturally by the time I got around to making my card, I had returned that set back to her so I used the "Thanks" from the Tagstastic hostess set.  I colored the pearls using a Sharpie so they would coordinate with the ink color of Garden Green.  The cardstock is Always Artichoke.  The ovals were cut from the Ovals dies.

Another Letterpress Card Using Greenhouse Garden....

Here's another card I made using the Letterpress plate and Stampin' Up!'s Greenhouse Garden stamp set.  I love the new In Color Wisteria Wonder.  We really needed a pretty lavender!  The background piece is Lucky Limeade and the printed piece is from the In Colors Patterns Pack.  The flowers were stamped with Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush.

Stampin' Up!'s Fancy Fan Letterpress....

When Stampin' Up! first released their Letterpress plates, I wasn't really excited about them but I just love the one they introduced in the new catalog this year! I just inked the Lucky Limeade cardstock with Lucky Limeade ink and ran it through the Big Shot. I embossed the pear image from the Faith In Nature hostess set (a bargain at $8!) and then watercolored using Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz and Lucky Limeade. I added a few pearls and came up with this beautiful card!

Do you ever have trouble getting your pearls or rhinestones spaced evenly? Here's a little trick - use your mat pack. The pearls and rhinestones fit perfectly inside the largest holes and you can get them lined up perfectly straight on your card.

UPDATE TO POST (5/29/14): Several people have asked how to get one of these mats to space out your pearls and rhinestones. The mat shown was retired by Stampin' Up! a couple years ago but can be found on online auction sites. However, I thought I would show you how to make your own.

Here's what you will need: Crop-a-Dile, window sheet piece, Cardstock piece to draw pattern on, ruler.

The holes in Stampin' Up's mat are 3/8" apart. Measure and draw a straight line along one side of the Cardstock piece. Next, measure and draw 3 or 4 lines perpendicular to the other line, making each line 3/8" from the other line.

Lay the window sheet over the top of the Cardstock and punch out where the lines cross, making sure it is centered.

Now you have a clear piece to add your pearls or rhinestones. Note that the pearls are the same size as the punched hole so you will need to be careful lifting the sheet off after placing your pearls/rhinestones.

 

 

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Making a Full Size Card from a Pocket Size Card....

Do you remember last week, the little 3"x3" card I made from Stampin' Up!'s convention Make 'n Takes?  Here's a card that I made using the exact same pieces that they provided to us but I added the Peach Parfait cardstock and the Whisper White card.  The Cherry Cobbler piece was the exact same piece that Stampin' Up! provided for the little tag.  Here, I just layered it in the corner.  Also, I used the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder but I didn't want the embossing over the entire card so I placed only half of the cardstock in the folder and ran it through my Big Shot. 

Technique Tuesday - Easel Card....

In today's Technique Tuesday, I am going to show you how to make an Easel card.  This variation of an easel card is a circular one.  The card can also be made square or standard card shaped.  You can also used stamped images to hold you easel in place instead of the ribbon in my example.  Let's get started.....

 You need the following items:

• The Big Shot
• Scallop Circle Bigz Die
• 3 1/2" Circle Die
• Fun Flowers Bigz L Die
• Blossom Petals Builder Punch (not pictured)
• Embossing folder - I used Elegant Lines
• 1 1/4" Striped Ribbon - I used Basic Black
• Large Brad - I used In Color Designer Printed Brad in Island Indigo
• Cardstock - I used Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo
• Designer Paper - In Colors Pattern Pack
• Inks - I used Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade

 One piece of the Lucky Limeade cardstock needs to be 5 1/2" x 11 inches and then folded in half.  Place on the Scallop Circle Die with the folded portion at the top leaving 4-5 of the scallops visible at the top.  This way, the Big Shot will not cut at the top along the fold.

 Here's what you need cut from the various dies and punches. 

• Scallop Circle - the folded piece and one full circle from the Pool Party cardstock
• 3 1/2" Circle - one Island Indigo circle, then run through Elegant Lines embossing folder
• Blossom Petals Punch - two leaves from Lucky Limeade punched and highlight edges with Lucky Limeade ink.
• Fun Flowers - Pool Party DSP with polka dots on one side and words on the other.  Sponge edges of all four pieces to highlight with Island Indigo ink.

 Adhere Island Indigo circle to full Scallop Circle.

 Layer and adhere flower pieces together.  Attach leaves to the back.

 Attach flower to top left corner of scallop circle.

On folded scallop circle, score horizontally half way from the folded edge on the top scallop. 

 Place adhesive on INSIDE top half of the top scallop.  (Believe it or not, the these two pictures are of Pool Party cardstock - not green cardstock!  I don't know why they turned out this color???)

Attach full size scallop to the inside top half where you placed the adhesive, lining up the scallops as best as you can.

 Lay a 12" piece of ribbon out on your work surface.

 Take each end and fold it under and over to the other side so you make a loop with tails out to each side.

 Punch a hole approximately 1" up from the bottom of the bottom scallop circle.  Scrunch up the center of the ribbon loop and put it inside brad legs (or whatever you call them!).  Place through hole and open brad legs to secure.

 Here's my card opened as an Easel Card.

Here is the card when it is laid flat for mailing.

Card Display Banner from Stampin' Up! Convention...

Our final Make 'n Take was this adorable banner to display our Make 'n Take cards on.  What a cute way to display your beautiful handiwork!