Cards by Gina

PPA #38--To the Nines Birthday Card

   

Today’s Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge (by the terrific Margaret Moody) was perfect for the birthday card I needed for my adorable “twentysomething” nephew.  (He may not want me to reveal his age, so I won’t.) If you need a special card or just love this sketch, won’t you play along with us at PPA? We love to see what you create…always!

I have wanted to use To the Nines Specialty DSP for a long time and this seemed to be the perfect occasion for it. I followed this sketch and was very happy with the results.   

Now, I have to get this card into the mail. I’m already late so I will have to turn it into a Belated Birthday card! I don’t know why I can’t get my cards finished in a timely fashion. It’s something I have to work on. I know!Maybe I need to make a Birthday/Important Dates Calendar for myself! Now, if only I could remember to look at in time to create the card and mail it out before the event! If you have any suggestions for me, I’d be happy to hear them! J

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to play at PPA!

 

 

 

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Four Square, Perfect Chemistry

Inks: Chocolate Chip

Designer Series Paper: To the Nines Specialty

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke

Tools: 1-3/8” Square Punch, 3/16” Corner Rounder Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Paper Snips, SNAIL Adhesive, Pop-up Glue Dots

 

PPA #28--Pretty in Pink and Black Birthday Card

  
 

Wow! I don’t know where the time goes, but the weeks just fly by. It’s time for another Pals Paper Arts Challenge and this week, we challenge you to use these colors. Won’t you join us at PPA? We’d love to see your creations!

 

I love these colors—chosen by our color and sketch maven Pal Margaret Moody—and I had such a good time creating my card with them. I adore the Of the Earth Level 1 Hostess Set and found myself reaching for it once again. As soon as I looked at the label on the stamp, my idea struck me like a lightning bolt. I love the way the black image looks on top of the wooden stamp block. So that’s what I ran with.

●My Basic Black base is 5-1/2” x 4-1/4” folded at the top.

●The next layer, Pretty in Pink, measures 5-1/4” x 4”.

●I stamped my “Butterfly and Flower” image from Of the Earth in Basic Black onto two panels of Melon Mambo. Then I sprinkled Heat and Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter on top of the images and embossed them with my Heat Tool. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to give me the alignment I wanted on both panels.

●Since I needed a birthday card, I went to my go-to stamp set, Four Square, and stamped “Happy Birthday” in Basic Black onto Melon Mambo. I sprinkled Clear Emboss Powder and again used my Heat Tool to heat emboss the image.

●I punched out the sentiment with my Scallop Square Punch and adhered it to a larger Basic Black square. I propped this up using a Pop-up Glue Dot.

●I wanted something special going down the center of the card, so I reached for my Melon Mambo In-Color Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon and folded it, as you see pictured, on the plain side. Gina’s Tip: The beauty of this ribbon is that you can use it on either side. I used Mini-Glue Dots to fold the ribbon and hold it in place.

●My finishing touch was adding the photo corners which I created with my Photo Corners Punch using the small corners and adhering them to my card with Snail Adhesive.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I so appreciate having you here. Please feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you.

And please play along with us at PPA! We do have fun.

 
   

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Of the Earth Hostess Level 1 Set, Four Square

Ink: Basic Black

Cardstock: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo

Tools: Heat and Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter, Heat Tool, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Clear Emboss Powder, Scallop Square Punch, Pop-up Glue Dot, Mini Glue Dots, Snail Adhesive, Photo Corners Punch

Embellishments: Melon Mambo In-Color Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

PPA #24--Butterfly Birthday Card

 

I think by this time you know how much I love to play at PPA. And starting this week, I’ll be playing every week since I’m now on the PPA Design Team. I couldn’t be more excited! Won’t you join me and my Pals by playing along at the Pals Paper Arts Challenge? It’s really so much fun!

This week’s challenge is a sketch by Pal Margaret Moody. Her sketches are always so clean and crisp and so much fun to work with.

Here’s the sketch.

 

 

Here how I created my card.

•I made my base from Taken with Teal cardstock—5-1/2” x 4-1/4”.

•I just ordered the Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack and the Beautiful Wings Stampin’ Up! Embosslits Die from the 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog and I knew I wanted to use them to make this card. Gina’s Note: Being allowed to pre-order from the newest catalogs is one of my favorite perks about being an SU! Demonstrator. I ran the die through my Big Shot Die-Cut Machine using Pumpkin Pie and Pretty in Pink cardstock.

•I chose the Taken with Teal Butterfly Pattern from the paper stack and cut out two pieces from one sheet of this paper to match the sketch—one piece had the butterflies on it and the other only showed the background teal with a lighter teal floral pattern on it. I loved the way these two pieces coordinated with one another.

•I ran a piece of Whisper White cardstock through my Big Shot using the Flourish Backgrounds I Texturz Plate. (I know it’s difficult to see this in the photo. Sorry!) I arranged my papers once again according to the sketch and stamped my “Hi” sentiment from the Four Square Stamp Set onto White Vellum Paper in Chocolate Chip. I heat embossed it with Clear Emboss Powder and my Heat Tool to make sure the ink wouldn’t run on the vellum. I used my Pink and Orange Watercolor Pencils to color in the stamp.

•I hid a Mini Glue Dot behind the sentiment and added four Pink Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads to the vellum and through the paper and adhered it to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals, giving it a little lift! I couldn’t resist running a piece of Pumpkin Pie ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon under and over the vellum, leaving a ½” “tail” and adding a separate bow.

•The finishing touch was placing the butterflies around the card and folding up their wings. They truly look as though they’re fluttering by!

 

 

Here’s what I did on the inside of the card. I used my Eyelet Border Punch on a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped my “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the Fundamental Phrases Stamp Set in Chocolate Chip using my Stamp-a-ma-jig. And, lastly, I added some more butterflies.

I had such a good time creating this card for my first Pals Paper Arts Challenge as a member of the design team. Thanks so much for stopping by and please consider playing at PPA!

 

 

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Four Square, Fundamental Phrases

Inks: Chocolate Chip

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack

Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Whisper White

Tools: Vellum Paper, Clear Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Flourish Backgrounds I Texturz Plate, Eyelet Border Punch, Pink and Orange Watercolor Pencils, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals, SNAIL Adhesive

Embellishments: Pink Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Pumpkin Pie ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon

PPA #20--Sunny Petal Pizzazz Birthday Card

   

Welcome to another Pals Paper Arts Challenge! This one is a Color Combo Challenge.

 

Here are the colors.  

 
  
Here’s what I did:

•I created a 4” x 6” base of Soft Suede. I cut a 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” piece of Crushed Curry and ran it through my Big Shot Die-Cut Machine using the Daisies Texturz Plate.

•I used a leftover scrap of the “Leaves” paper from the Petal Party Simply Scrappin’ Kit. I cut it to 2-3/4” x 3-1/2”.

•I adhered both the Crushed Curry and the Leaves paper to the base of my card leaving room for the “Old Olive” Ribbon from the Elementary Ribbon Originals on the left side and top of my card. I adhered each ribbon with Snail Adhesive and then I created my bow separately and fastened it to the corner of the card with a Mini-Glue Dot.

•I stamped the “Leaves and the Stems” from the Petal Pizzazz Two-Step Stamp Set in Versamark onto Old Olive cardstock using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the leaves along the stem exactly where I wanted them. Gina’s Tip: I have two absolutely favorite tools that I think are must-haves for stampers--the Stamp-a-ma-jig and the Stampin’ Scrub. If you’re new to stamping, I would say that these two items should be at the top of your wish list. I then sprinkled “Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder” onto the leaves and stems and heated them with my Heat Tool.

•I chose two flowers from Petal Pizzazz and stamped them in Versamark onto the Crushed Curry and did the same as above with my heat tool.

•I cut out the stems, leaves, and flowers, popped a Yellow Circle Fire Rhinestone in the middle of the large flower and placed it on the card with a Pop-up Glue Dot. I recessed the smaller flower and adhered it directly to the card.

•My “Happy Birthday” sentiment is from the Four Square Stamp Set. I colored it with my Soft Suede In-Color Marker and stamped it onto Crushed Curry. I punched it out with my coordinating “Scallop Square Punch.” Gina’s Tip: I know I’ve said this before, but one of the things (among so many) that I love about Stampin’ Up! is that their materials coordinate so beautifully with each other. The Four Square Stamp Set works perfectly with the Scallop Square Punch.

I hope you liked my card. Please play along with us in the Pals Paper Arts Challenge. I’m inspired by all that I see there!

And, please remember, I’m always just a click away if you have any questions or comments.

 

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Petal Pizzazz, Four Square

Inks: VersaMark, Soft Suede In-Color Marker

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, Old Olive

Designer Series Paper: Petal Party Simply Scrappin’

Embellishments: Old Olive Ribbon from Elementary Ribbon Originals, Yellow Circle Fire Rhinestone

Tools: Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Daisies Texture Plate Kit #4, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Heat Tool, Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Scallop Square Punch, Snail Adhesive, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Mini Glue Dots