Stampin' Up - Gift Tags - a teddy bear birthday card

Hi blogging friends

I have been wanting to upload this card all week but the weather has been terrible:  extremely windy and rain then drizzle and all dull and dreary - rather useless for photographing outside and not even bright enough to use my kitchen bay window. Anyway, I managed to get a photo or two today as it was brighter for about ten minutes - and now the drizzle has set in again .   I am hanging out for spring, that's for sure.........

I made this card for the Splitcoaststampers 'Free for all Friday' F4A68 Challenge of 'Give me your tired, your poor unused stamp sets'.  The image I used is from an old retired Stampin' Up set called "Gift Tags" which I bought second-hand on EBay ages ago for a song - mainly because I loved the teddy and one of the other images that had snowmen (I am nuts for snowmen and teddy bear stamps) - but sadly, I hadn't got around to using the set at all - and I don't know why because I really love it. 

I stamped the image (the sentiment and teddy are all on one stamp) onto watercolour paper and coloured it with watercolour pencils.  I really wanted the teddy to have lots of texture, so instead of colouring directly onto the teddy, I scribbled various browns/yellow hues onto a scrap of watercolour paper and used a wet paintbrush to dab into the colours starting with the lightest colour first, touched the paintbrush onto some paper towel so it wasn't so wet, then dabbed it onto the teddy, and kept building up the layers of colour.  You can see the technique a little better in this close-up of the teddy:

I added pink transparent glitter to the teddy's bow and present and lemon transparent glitter to the bow on the present.  The main image panel is popped up on doublesided foam pads.

The pink cardstock side panel was run through my Cuttlebug using a Caramello embossing folder.  The ribbon was attached in two separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  The button originally had a shank on it, but I snipped it off with a pair of my DH's tinsnips from the garage (ssssh - don't tell him....).  I then glued the button on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.

The plaid designer paper has no name on the back so I have no idea who made it.  If you know, please leave me a comment and I will update this post.  Lastly, I added the gorgeous  plaid fabric brad - here is a wee close-up:

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

SCS 'Free for all Friday' F4A68 (as already mentioned)

SCS 'Ways to use it' WT188 'Mad for Plaid'

I had best be off.  My little cat Ruby is banging on the computer room door and miaowing incessantly.  It would appear that she doesn't like the cat food I gave her and she is certainly letting me know.  I don't know why they don't just make mouse-flavoured catfood.......

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Gift Tags (2000) - retired

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  unknown

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Caramello embossing folder, Spellbinder Scallop circle nestabilities, 140lb watercolour paper, Faber Castell watercolour pencils, small round #2 paintbrush, pink gemstones, Art Institute pink and lemon transparent glitter (from Shabby Chic set), Designer dries clear adhesive (for glitter), gingham ribbon, Bow Easy, pink button, doublesided foam squares (dimensionals), fabric plaid brad, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue (to adhere button), Cardstock:  brown, pink

Punches:  Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop

Penny Black: Frolic - birthday card for my daughter

Hi blogging friends Welcome to my blog and an extra-special welcome to my new followers - it's lovely to have you join me

It will be my daughter's birthday in a couple of weeks and I have finished her card already!  I think that's the first time I have finished her birthday card so early.  But I have most of my extended family's birthdays coming up in July and August (lots of them men....sigh.....) and are trying to get ahead.  I have a family birthday party to organise for my daughter too so that will keep me very busy!  Anyway, onto my card......

I love Easel cards - they are fun to make.  A bit more time consuming than a regular card but worth the extra effort IMHO (in my humble opinion).  Now tell me that you are NOT smiling at that happy cat with his bunch of flowers!  Isn't she just so sweet?  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper and coloured it with watercolour pencils; I added some areas of pink and blue around the image which shows up better in the next two photos.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the wings on the butterflies and glued them on top of the butterflies on the main panel to add some dimension.  I added some orange gemstones to the flower centres and both the butterflies and flowers have been glittered within an inch of their lives LOL!  Here is a close-up photo of the butterflies so you can the dimension:

And here is a close-up of the image itself:

The bow was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my fabby Bow Easy.  I sewed the heart button to the bow centre before I glued the bow on with fabric glue.

For the sentiment section of the Easel card:  I added some Doodlebug velvet brads but didn't quite push them all the way through so that they would stick up a little and hold the front panel in place more securely.  The sentiment panel was diecut using my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder Labels 10 nestabilities.   Here is a little close-up of one of the brads so you can see how soft and velvety they look:

And here is a close-up of the sentiment panel.  I coloured around the edge of the white panel with a pink watercolour pencil.

Not sure if you can see, but the designer paper is very glittery and sparkly.  I almost couldn't cut into it - it's so gorgeous.  I picked it up from a scrapbooking store in Bright when I was there on holidays last year - yes - it's taken me 8 months to use it!  How's that for hoarding?!  Now, go on:  admit that you have done it too so that I will feel better.......

Challenges:

This card fits the following challenges -

Papertake Weekly - Anything goes with the optional extra of white

My Creative Moments - Word Play Weekend #6 - Birthday

On a slightly different note:  here is a gorgeous card made by my blogging friend Samantha Post of Ryemilan's Blogspot.  Sam sent me this card to say thanks for the baby card and present I sent following the recent birth of their new baby boy.

Isn't Sam just so talented?!!  Sam is a whizz at punch art cards too and making jewellery, cake decorating, sewing - wow - the list goes on......!  You can check out Sam's blog here. 

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me - my email addy is on the LHS of my blog sidebar - just scroll down a little. Or leave a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - Frolic 3972K, sentiment from Penny Black - Party Time 30-049 clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Best Creation - Once upon a time - Item #GP362

Accessories:  140lb watercolour paper, Faber Castell watercolour pencils, small round #2 paintbrush, yellow gemstones - Hero Arts CH126, ribbon, Bow Easy, heart button - Trimits, pink sewing thread, Kindyglitz Crystalina, Doodlebug crushed velvet brads - 1884 pastel, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Labels 10, Cardstock:  green, dark pink

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace

Penny Black: Bundle of joy - baby girls are so sweet!

Hi blogging friends  

It  feels like forever since I last posted.  It all started when I dropped a Spellbinders die down the back of my chest of drawers which holds most of my craft stuff.....nuts.......which meant I had to move my plastic boxes which contain more craft stuff off the top of the chest of drawers so I could move the drawers away from the wall....and then I thought I should have a tidy-up while I was at it......yadda yadda yadda.....and before I knew it, a week had gone by before I finally retrieved my die!  But, my craft room looks so much neater and I was able to get together a nice pile of crafting magazines which I put in the magazine swap box at my local library.  I was so pleased that after I dropped the magazines off and went into the library for a browse, by the time I came out, most of the magazines had already been snapped up by a very happy little group of ladies

Anyway - onto my card........  I made this CAS (Clean and Simple) card for our family's Osteopath and his partner who have just become a parents for the first time to a little girl (obviously).  He and his partner had a bit of rough time with the pregnancy and the baby came very early and is still in hospital in a humidicrib.  The baby is doing very well but they are not allowed to hold the baby yet and had to go home without the baby!  I can't imagine how that must feel - to go home without the baby - but they are keeping busy buying baby things and setting up the baby's room as they had virtually nothing ready:

The gorgeous embossing on the pink cardstock was done with one of my fav folders by K Kingdom.  I coloured the image with OMS and Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and added some Kindyglitz Crystalina to the teddy's bow and the nappy pin on the hedgie.  I cut out the image and popped it up on 1mm doublesided foam squares. 

The tag is a fabby new die and clear stamp set by My Favorite Things.  The set comes with several sets of dies apart from the tag itself including the baby growsuit which I have used on my tag.  There is also a variety of sentiments and other images in the stamp set.  Love it!  The dies use the same sandwich in your Cuttlebug as for Spellbinder dies.  I added a strip of pink rhinestones underneath the sentiment.

Once I tied on the ribbon, I glued part of the tag to the ribbon so it would stay in the right place then glued a heart-shaped button to the bow centre.  Here is a little close-up peek:

This card fits the following Challenge:

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to use it WT325 - Dying for Diecuts - where you have to show them your diecuts.  Of course, I used my new tag die set.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by   

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - Bundle of Joy 30-043 clear set, My Favorite things Notched Tag clear stamp set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, K Kingdom KEM117 Flowers and Dots embossing folder, My Favorite Things Die-namics Notched Tag die set, pink gingham ribbon, pink heart button (Spotlight), Kindyglitz Crystalina, Basic Grey bling-it rhinestones, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, 1mm double-sided foam squares, Cardstock:  pink, KW Doggett Knight white, American Crafts kraft

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner