Blue Birthday

A more "masculine" birthday card today... I don't know why these are so hard!

I started off with a very pink-dominant inspiration photo from a magazine, and thought I'd adapt the layout to what I needed.

Basic Grey's Periphery collection is perfect for this kind of card... lots of gorgeous blues and greens and browns, with enough detail to be interesting and fun to look at.


Stamps: Stampin' Up'! It's Your Birthday
Paper: Basic Grey Periphery
Ink: Palette Umber
Accessories: Cuttlebug and scalloped-oval Nestabilities die

Small Stamping

When I'm short on inspiration, I like to take out something small to work on that just needs a few elements. I found these Martha Stewart tags at Joann last week, and they're a perfect small project.

For this "masculine" tag, I got to use my new houndstooth background stamp from Papertrey - the set came with two sizes of the pattern, and they're easy to line up to make several rows. The striped fabric is a fabric tape I picked up at Paper Source, and it's wrapped around the back as well to give the back a little interest.

This tag is made with rows of Martha Stewart paper tape - I actually just used the tapes in the same order they came packaged in, and added a little line between each tape with a sparkle pen. Very simple, but it turned out cute!


Stamps: Papertrey Houndstooth Background
Paper: Martha Stewart kraft tags
Ink: Palette Umber
Accessories: e2 Daily striped fabric tape, buttons, Martha Stewart "Vintage Girl" paper tape, Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pen

Another Different Baby Card

At least I hope this one is kind of different... I really love this Flourishes "Rock-A-Bye Baby" set - I think it's so sweet, and sort of vintage-y and unusual. It's kind of a pain to paper-piece, with the little ribbons and things, but it looks SO good that way.

I couldn't get a great picture, but the moon is embossed with a sparkly embossing powder, so it has a little dimension and glitter.


Stamps: Flourishes Rock-A-Bye Baby
Paper: BasicGrey LilyKate, Stampin' Up! Pretty In Pink
Ink: Palette Umber, Versamark
Accessories: Ranger Holographic Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug embossing folder, eyelet

Embossing for Baby

I went to a baby shower yesterday for one of my good friends, and for whatever reason, the photos of the card on its own didn't turn out at all, but the photos of the card with the gift did. So you get to see both!

The card is a little bit of a non-traditional baby card - no bunnies or blocks, but I think it's really perfect - sweet colors and a perfect sentiment for a little one with the whole world ahead of her. The background is dry embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder to give the idea of a sky and wind, and some of the clouds and balloons are popped up on foam adhesive to give the whole thing some dimension. The clouds and balloons are heat embossed to keep the sweet colors but give them some detail.

I made a hooded swaddling blanket as my gift - it's from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones, and is one of my favorite baby-gift patterns. I make it with a simple cotton print on the outside and a thin-ish flannel on the inside... I figure in Texas, it's really not necessary to put in an extra layer of insulation or a warmer flannel. The original pattern has a sash-type tie... I leave that out, not because I'm too lazy to learn to do the buttonhole-style holes for it (although I am), but because somehow sashes and babies don't go together in my head. Seems like a bad idea. I embroidered "Sweet" on the hood (I actually had some glow-in-the-dark embroidery floss in exactly the right colors, so it glows in the dark!) - the pattern is a transfer from Sublime Stitching the book, which is from my favorite embroidery website (seriously, check out their amazing patterns - it'll make you want to learn to embroider!) - also the source of the glow-in-the-dark thread.

My goodness, I'm chatty today. Anyway, here's the whole thing together.


Stamps: Up, Up & Away and Just the Ticket, both from Papertrey Ink
Paper: Stampin' Up! Blush Blossom, Papertrey Classic White and Aqua Mist
Ink: Palette Umber, Versamark
Accessories: Dimensional foam adhesive; heat gun; Cuttlebug with swirl folder; cloud, balloon, & ticket dies from Papertrey Ink; Ranger Embossing Pearl in Silver

Fun with felt

This stamp/die set is part of the package I ordered a couple of weeks ago from Papertrey, so I wanted to get it out and get it broken in.

The die didn't quite cut through the felt, so I spent a while cutting it through the rest of the way with scissors, and then it ended up being kind of a background element... I think it would have been more worthwhile if I'd used it as a main centerpiece. I do like the effect, though, of the felt "shadow" behind the gingko leaves.

I love the sentiment that comes with this set - "Take a moment to remember how special you are & how lucky the world is to have you in it." I accented the sentiment (and some outlining around the leaves) with a glitter pen.

Something I like about Papertrey is that they frequently include with stamp sets a coordinating "Handmade just for you by:" stamp, which I can put on the back with my signature stamp. That was another I couldn't get a good close-up of (actually, that was because my camera batteries died and I need to go get some more...), but I appreciate the little touch.

Stamps: Papertrey Harvest Berries
Paper: Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Aqua Mist
Ink: Palette Umber, Ocean Tides
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Harvest Berries Die, Fine Linen felt, Sakura glitter pen