Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Now then, before you think I am completely vain, let me assure you that the Melissa in question is not me, but actually a co-worker. Would you believe that including me, there are FOUR Melissa's who work in my division (and there aren't THAT many employees!)!!!

The Melissa in question happens to be a good friend of myself and DH, so I had to make her something pretty for her birthday. She is a very exuberant person, so I chose bright, cheerful colors for her card.


I used Partygirlabella for the main image, and colored her in with copic markers. I stamped an extra set of the balloons and popped them up (no pun intended) to make them look like they are actually floating. I went over the balloons with SU Crystal Effects, and I'm pretty happy with how realistic it made them look. Bella needed some bling, (doesn't every girl?) so I added some stickles to her outfit, hat and cupcake.

The sentiment, ribbon, card stock, and designer paper are all SU.

office birthday

I think I have mentioned before that I am the official birthday card maker for my office. We have 2 birthdays in August, so I've been a busy girl. You can see the August birthday girl's card in the previous post. I also needed a card for the August birthday boy, and as you all know, guy cards are some of the hardest to make. What do you think of mine?

The birthday boy in question loves animals. He has multiple cats, a dog, a snake, fish, and I forget what else, but trust me, he has a lot of pets. I thought Attitudy Cats from Stamping Bella would make a purrfect card for him. The cats bring to mind his pets, but could also be his office mates wishing him a happy birthday. Do you like their hats? I let you in on a little secret... they were originally Christmas trees from the retired SU set, Crazy for Christmas.

The cats were colored with an aquapainter and SU's watercolor crayons, and the hats used the aquapainter with some ink picked up from the lids of the new SU in colors. The image was then layered on SU Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point. The embossing is a piece of SU Baja Breeze which was ran through my Cuttlebug. The speckled background was created with the SU color spritzer tool and markers.

For the sentiment, I used a stamp from Vivas Las Vegas Stamps. I masked off the "It's your birthday!" for the front, and then used the rest of the sentiment for the inside of the card. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, but the rest of the sentiment says: "Demand attention. Expect to be waited on. Don't do anything you don't want to do. In other words, party like a cat!" LOL! Gotta love it!

Happy Birthday Tim!

I thought I would share the card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday. I kept it rather simple since it is for a guy and for some reason they don't seem to care for all the glitter and such that we women seem to like. LOL!
I combined cakeabella with the fella from babyfellabella so it looks like my husband and I are presenting the birthday cake. (even though the bellas look nothing like us, of course) I think Em needs to come out with a *ahem* plump bella, and a *ahem* plump fella (with a beard and ponytail), how about you?
On to the details: The images were colored in with copics, all paper is from my scrap pile, and the pretty brads are from my 3 little DReaMs kit. Oh, yes, and the brown paper was embossed with the Cuttlebug birthday folder.
I seriously doubt my brother-in-law actually reads my blog, but just in case...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!!!

view master card

I am the official card maker at my office. One of my co-workers is going on maternity leave soon, and we are having a little get together for her on Monday. I got thinking about the whole currently being pregnant but soon to deliver thing, and decided to see if I could translate that into a card. What do you think? I've never done a view master card before, and let me tell you, I spent hours working out all the kinks!

I used the head from Expectafellabella and the bottom from Babyfellabella and attached them to the front of the card with mini glue dots. I stamped and colored each of the four mid-section pieces, cut them out, and glued them onto the pink view master insert after the card was assembled so that I could line them up properly.



Here's the first view, with the mid-section from Expectafellabella.

The mid-section for the second view is from Teddybella. Doesn't she look like she is going to pop any second now?

In the third view, with Babyfellabella mid-section, baby has arrived. Aren't they sweet?

And here in the last view, with the mid-section from Dogwalkabella, we see that my co-worker is trim and fit and ready to return to work.

Stamps: Expectafellabella, Babyfellabella, Teddybella, Dogwalkabella

Paper: SU Pink Pirouette & Soft Sky, Heidi Grace designs Garden Flower

Accessories: Aquapainter, SU inks in Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette, and Barely Banana, SU creamy caramel marker, prismacolor marker, stickles, Soft Sky ribbon, silver cord, assorted punches, Nestabilities

I've recieved a few questions on how I made the card, and will try to answer them. First off, read the view master card tutorial on SCS for the basic directions. Now on to specifics...

1. The brad is hidden under her skirt. (Get your mind out of the gutter! Really!) I used a mini glue dot to hold the skirt in place and it seems to be holding up well.

2. For the nice dark skin tone, I used a SU creamy caramel marker. I also highly recommend the SU creamy caramel or close to cocoa watercolor crayons.

3. I made 6 "washers" to put between the brad and the view master insert to give it room to spin. To make them, I punched a hole with my 1/16th" hole punch, and then lined my 1/4th" hole punch over that hole and punched again. Wah lah! Instant washer.

Welcome, baby!

My new nephew is due to arrive in mid-September, so I've been having fun working on baby projects while waiting for him to get here.

When I saw this sketch:

for the Whiff of Joy guest designer call, I knew I had found the perfect layout for a card for the baby-to-be. I don't normally make square cards, so this was a challenge for me. I really like this layout though, so I think I will use it to make a matching page for the scrapbook I am working on for baby.

The adorable baby image is from Stamping Bella. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the stickles I added to the blanket and the car on his shirt. I've always loved that sparkly yarn they make for baby blankets, so I tried to get that effect with the glitter. I should learn how to crochet one of these days so I can make a sparkly blanket for myself!

hello!

As promised, here is the last of my projects for the 3littleDReaMs design team.
I used SU Ruby Red and Close to Cocoa cs, and designer paper from heidi grace designs. Mwahbella was colored in with a combination of Copic and Prismacolor markers. The pretty scalloped edge was done with Fiskars Threading Water punch, and the holes in each scallop were covered with bella's baubles for a little extra bling. The flowers are primas with more bella's baubles for centers. I didn't have a red prima, so I used the Prismacolor marker I used on the shirt to color a prima to match. The ruffled ribbon is from the Basic Grey Urban Couture collection (which I found at Big Lots!!!).

little things...

This is the second card I made for my design team application. I am actually using this one for a swap I am in, so I had to make 6 of them all total!
The main image is Minivanabella, and the sentiment is a dollar bin find, most likely from Michael's. The bella was colored in with my trusty aquapainter and a combination of SU ink and watercolor crayons. (I use my aquapainter all the time - it's my all time favorite tool!) The image was then punched out and layered on SU Blue Bayou cs using my circle nestablities set. (My nesties are my second favorite tool. I just got the oval set, and plan on giving it a work-out in the weeks to come!) I added some icicle Stickles to the image and left it to dry while I worked on the rest of the card. The pretty scallop on the blue designer paper (heidi grace designs) was done using the new Fiskars Threading Water punch. Then this piece and some SU Soft Sky cs were layered onto a base made of SU Blue Bayou. I added some pink rick-rack (Joann's) and prima flowers with bella's baubles for centers as the finishing touch.

So I've told you what my 2 favorite tools are, what are yours? Inquiring minds want to know!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the last of my design team application projects...

say cheese!

Here is the first of the cards I used for my design team application. I'm a bit of a shutterbug myself, so I just love Saycheesabella! She was colored in using a variety of Copic and Prismacolor markers* (I only have a few of each, so I use them interchangeably depending on the color I'm looking for). You can't really tell from the photo, but after I finished coloring in the camera, I went back over it with the clear Sakura Gelly Roll pen to give it a metallic sparkle. The edges of the designer papers (Making Memories) were ran over a SU Chocolate Chip ink pad to give them the feel of an old photo. The finishing touch, the pretty stitched chocolate ribbon, was a Dollar Tree find.

*These are a new purchase for me, and I am still learning how to use them properly. If this applies to you as well, check out i like markers, a very useful blog by Marianne Walker. Marianne is a product specialist for Copic Markers, and has wonderful tutorials on her blog with lots and lots of photos. But be warned! Once you see all of the amazing things Marianne does with her Copics, you are going to want to own them! I know I do!

Stay tuned for the remaining 2 projects from my application...

coaster desk calendar

Springtini from Stamping Bella was colored in using a aquapainter and a combination of SU markers and ink, and then the glass was covered with stickles to make it sparkle like a real martini glass would when the light hits it. LOVE my stickles! You can see all the sparkle better in the close-up.

The corners were then punched with my all time favorite punch - the ticket punch - and layered onto SU Pretty in Pink and Soft Sky cs. The yummy yellow and pink striped paper is from a bulk I found at my local Big Lots. I ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, punched the corners with the ticket punch, and then layered onto more SU Soft Sky cs. This was then glued onto a 4 inch coaster (I use 2-way glue for this, awesome stuff!). I printed off a calendar from a template I found on SCS, hooked it together with pink brads, and attached it to the second coaster with removable tape so I can reuse the base next year with a new calendar. I used the crop-a-dile to punch holes through each coaster, and tied them together with some pretty SU Soft Sky double stitched ribbon. For the finishing touch, I added Bellas Baubles in the punched corners in shades of pink and aqua.

Bellas and Boxes...

I've been having fun playing with my Stamping Bella stamps this week. I felt like making a 3D project over the weekend. Do you like my little box? It is the perfect size to put a small gift, 3x3 cards, chocolate or tea bags in. Want to make one yourself? Thought so!
Start with a 1o x 5.5 piece of cardstock (I used a pretty double sided paper from Making Memories). Score the long side 1" from each edge. Score the shorted side at 3.5", 4.5", 8", and 9". Trim out the 4 tiny squares and fold all of your scored lines inward. Fold the box and glue the long flaps together (I used Terrifically Tacky Tape). Now fold the top pieces together. If you want a ribbon handle (I used SU's pink taffeta), cut a piece to your desired length, and stick the ends between the top flaps when you glue them. You might want to use a piece of the Tacky Tape on each side of the ribbon to make sure the sides stick together.
Now decorate the front however you'd like, and wah lah, you have a lovely little gift box to brighten someones day.
Here's a second view with the lid up. I put pop dots on only the bottom half of the scallop, so the lid tucks neatly under it to keep the box closed. Neat, huh?

Don't forget to leave me a comment on the previous post to get your name in for the drawing!

Something borrowed, Something blue

There was a bridal shower on the Stamping Bella forum on SCS the other night, and I had fun participating in the card challenges. Below is the card I made for the Something Traditional challenge. You had to use "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue".

Here are my "somethings":

Old: the "celebrate" stamp from SU's Wonderful Words set
New: the pretty yellow and pink striped paper I bought this week
Borrowed: I cased the layout for the card from this adorable card by llevans
Blue: I used SU's Soft Sky ribbon, paper, and ink on the card

Leave me a comment, telling me what your favorite "something" is (this can be anything - doesn't have to be wedding related) by 8pm EST on July 4th. I will randomly select a winner to mail this card to.