Penny Black Stickeroo birthday card

Hi blogging friends

Just for something a little different, I made a quick little birthday card using two Penny Black Stickeroos as I have a ton of birthdays coming up over the next 2 months:

This is also my card for the WordPlay Saturday July Challenge of "Birthday".  See THIS link for more details on the challenge.

Before I added the Stickeroos to my card, I lightly chalked the white cardstock with some blue chalk for the sky and a little bit of brown for the ground - not that you can see it all that much in the photo.   The sentiment is also by Penny Black from their Tiny Wishes clear set.  I punched a heart using a Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge punch ie: the heart is the leftover punchie from using the punch - then popped it up on dimensionals.  I added some Kindyglitz glitter glue to the heart, flowers and bee wings.

The pink cardstock underneath the image was diecut using a Nellie Snellen Doily flower multi-frames die and my Big Shot. 

The designer paper has been in my stash for a while and is by Echo Park - Country Drive.  I am still on my mission to shop my stash rather than buying papers and really just buying some on the odd occasion when I see them on special.  All the cardstock layers were trimmed to an 1/8" border using my Perfect Layers Tools.

Lastly, I tied on some ribbon and attached some pink pearls to the bottom right-hand side.  I added some Fray Stop to the cut ends of the ribbon.

I thought about adding some flowers or some other fancy thing but decided to keep it simple so it is pretty flat and I can just pop a thin piece of bubble wrap over the card to protect it and it is still flat enough to not cost more to post.  Plus I always struggle with adding lots of embellishments to my cards for some reason (?).  I love what other cardmakers do with adding flowers, flourishes, fancy corners, diecuts, bits and bobs but they just don't seem to look right most of the time when I do it - just can't seem to get the card to look "balanced" and it looks too busy.

I think you could use this card for not only a birthday but for friendship or just to say "hi". 

Before I go, I thought that I would share 10 random things about myself - just for something different to my usual posts:

1. My favourite season of the year is winter:  all that layering of clothes, wearing a scarf, mittens and long socks - snuggling down in bed with lots of blankets - sitting by the fire on a cold day - bring it on - I LOVE it!
2. I am a big fan of the UK show Time Team as I have a keen interest in British archaeology.  Although the show has now finished, I sit glued to the TV watching the repeats.  I was so sad when Mick Aston passed away a few weeks ago.   I also have a passion for Egyptian history and archaeology.
3. I was Dux of my Business College when I graduated (blush, blush) but if I had my time over, I would have chosen to do something in the field of archaeology rather than a secretary (or a bookkeeper as I became later on).
4. Apart from the UK Time Team, my other favourite TV shows are NCIS, Mythbusters and Call the Midwife - plus I watch AFL football no matter who is playing.  I also love to watch older shows like Seinfeld, Frasier, M*A*S*H and Stargate SG-1.  Not into all the reality TV Shows - it all just seems like a storm in teacup compared to being a full-time Carer!  All the so-called "drama" and couples arguing/fighting and the manufactured suspense I find irritating.  I am probably in the minority as the shows seem to rate their socks off! 
5. In my 20s, I was heavily involved in motorsport and was co-editor of a monthly motorsport magazine.  I also had my own racing car and competed in club level motorsport all over the state in which I live. 
6. I do NOT dance - EVER!  Not even at my own wedding.
7. My favourite football team in the AFL is the Geelong Cats and my favourite players are Joel Selward and Tom Hawkins
8. I am so thankful that my mother taught me how to knit and do embroidery when I was a child as I continue to love those crafts.
9. My favourite singers are Josh Groban and Michael Buble. 
10. I love to grow my own herbs and I make my own salad dressings using them.  You only need a few basic ingredients and it takes literally minutes - and tastes delicious.  Best thing is that you know what's in it and it really only costs a few pennies to make. 

So there you have it - a little bit more about me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:   Sentiment from Penny Black clear set Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer paper:  Echo Park Country Drive 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Penny Black Stickeroos from 'A Bunch of Love' sheet, pink stitched grosgrain ribbon, Fray Stop, Kaisercraft Hot Pink pearls, Kaisercolour chalks, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Nellie Snellen Doily Flower Multiframes dies, Big Shot, dimensionals, Perfect Layers Tools, cardstock - white, rose pink, buttercream

Punches:  Martha Stewart Looped Hearts punch

Penny Black: A Bunch of Love Stickeroos bookmark + card

Hi blogging friends

When I went to a Craft Show late last year, I picked up some gorgeous Penny Black Stickeroos which I have had sitting in my stash and then about a month ago, I picked up a copy of the February edition of the UK mag "Quick Cards made easy" at my local newsagent and was totally inspired by Katina Killey's article on using stickers to make cards.   Katina made 10 cards using the Helz Cuppleditch Neighbourwood sticker collection of foxes, mice, owls etc. Wow - they were so gorgeous! Katina has a blog too called "Katina's Cards and Chat" which I discovered last year and I just LOVE Katina's style of cards.   But the cards Katina does for the mag are not on her blog - you will have to get the mag to see them (not that I could see anyway - correct me if I am wrong).   

I am sure that many of you have stickers sitting in your stash unused but too good to throw away just like me - so go and dig them out and have a play!   I decided to make some quick and easy bookmarks (I will just share one now and the others on another post) and then made a matching card - a fun little gift set which you could use for lots of occasions such as birthday, Mother's Day, friendship, etc.  Once I worked out how to make a bookmark (I have never made one before), it was easy peasy to make a couple in one sitting and I just changed things up a bit with each bookmark by using a different border punch and embellies.   The Penny Black stickers are really great quality stickers and I love how the sticker edges just seem to blend into the cardstock. The sticker sheet that I used has around 17 stickers which is great value for only a few dollars.

I love, love, LOVE the designer paper I used on my projects.  It is by Echo Park:  A Country Drive (6 x 6 pad) and the colours on all the pages are right up my alley.  I will have to try and get a few more pads before they become too scarce!

Bookmark:

I lightly chalked underneath the hedgie sticker with green chalk so it looked like a bit of grass/ground and added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the flowers. The pink glitter butterfly on the bottom of the bookmark was punched out of pink glitter cardstock using a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and I added some green glitter cardstock underneath.  I used a 1/4" round hole punch to punch a hole at the top then threaded through some scrap threads from balls of yarn plus some Cotton Candy and Limeade twine.  I love the texture that the funky fibres added to the bookmark.  Finished bookmark size is 165mm long x 65mm wide OR imperial 6-1/2" long x 2-9/16" wide.

Card:

I again coloured the ground underneath the sticker with a bit of green chalk and around the sky with blue chalk (not that you can see it all that well - it is subtle) and stamped on the sentiment then added a Hero Arts pearl heart.  The panel was diecut using Spellbinder Square Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug.  I added Kindyglitz to the hedgie's cheek and all the flower petals.  The pink glitter butterfly was punched using a Carl Butterfly-A punch and pink glitter cardstock - I know it looks dark in the photo but it is really a pale pink that matches the pink cardstock.

I grabbed three pieces of twine - Cotton Candy, Lollipop and Limeade and very patiently plaited them together, tied a knot at each end then tied it around the bottom panel - something a bit different to do with twine but I really like how it looks.  The bottom and main image panel are up on dimensionals.  Finished card size is 120mm or 4-3/4" square.

Challenges:

I am entering my card / bookmark in the following challenges -

Papertake Weekly Challenge - In the Garden

Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC334 - Rosenberry Rooms - I was struck by the gorgeous pink and green colours on THIS Duvet Cover which was why I chose the designer papers that I used.  I had forgotten how much I loved pink and green together!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Week 201 - In the Garden

Thanks for stopping by!  And thanks especially to Katina for the inspiration!

Jocelyn


Bookmark and Card Recipe:

Stamps:  'For you' sentiment from Penny Black 'Tiny Wishes' 30-026 clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer Paper:   Echo Park - A Country Drive 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:   Penny Black Stickeroos 'A Bunch of Love' #10-165, Kaisercolour green and blue chalk, Perfect Layers Tools, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, scraps of wool, Cotton Candy (pale pink) twine by The Twinery, Limeade (green/white twine) + Lollipop (dark pink/white twine) by We R Memory Keepers - Sew Easy Fancy Floss, dimensionals, Hero Arts CH173 Hearts Accent Pearls, cardstock: white, pink, green, pink glitter, green glitter

Punches: Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A, Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly, Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop edge punch