Seize the Birthday

Happy Thursday friends.  It is time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and this week we have the "Toppings" option of adding a bird to your birthday project.  Remember, using "birds" is just our "Toppings" option and the only requirement is that it be for a birthday.

I used an old SU Language of Friendship set and the SU Build a Bird punch (both are retired).  After I stamped the bird, I sponged some blue Distress Ink over him and added a little tan ink at the bottom and end of his wing, it doesn't show up much in the photo.  I stamped the leaf branch 6 times with SU Wild Wasabi ink, sponged more ink over them, then punched them and cut them to arrange like he was sitting on branch full of leaves.  I used MFT Circle Stax dies and Fishtail Flag dies to cut the circle and banner elements and matted them with black.  The bird and a couple of leaves are mounted with foam tape.  The white panel is embossed with SU Decorative Dots EF.  The sentiment is from SU Morning Meadow (retired).

I hope you will check out all the fabulous cards with birds the designers made over at Seize the Birthday and that you will be inspired to play along. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,
JoAnn

Sending Thoughts and Prayers

Hello friends.  Today I am sharing a card I made for a dear friend who is in the hospital.  I used the March Viva la Verve sketch when making my card.

The pattern papers are some goodies that Julie sent in my Verve order so I had to put them to good use.  I matted them with black and used the retired SU Scallop Border punch.  The sentiment is from Verve Inspire Hope (sorry, it has been dicontinued) and the butterfly is from Verve Butterfly Grace.  I stamped the butterfly in black and used my aqua brush and SU Melon Mambo ink to color it and match it to the colors and the butterflies in the pattern paper.  I die cut the sentiment and black mat with Spellbinders dies and mounted it with foam tape.  I wrapped the b/w twine before mounting the vertical panel.  The butterfly is mounted with a small piece of foam tape in the center.

My friend loves my cards and saves them all.  I know she will appreciate this one also.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Merry Monday #283 - Add a Puppy

Happy Merry Monday friends.  It is time for a new challenge at Merry Monday and this week Leanne would like us to add a puppy to our card.

This cute puppy, tree and presents are from MFT Happy Pawlidays.  I colored them with Promarkers and die cut with the matching dies.  The blue present with the red ribbon is paper pieced from a scrap of pattern paper.  I added a mixture of Fun Flock and Flower Soft to the puppy's hat brim and pompom.  I used my white gel pen to add dots to the red present and stripes to the green scarf.  I mounted all these with foam tape on a panel cut with Lil' Inker Designs Rounded Stitched Rectangle.  I used some woodgrain pattern paper and small printed paper to mimic the floor and wall paper.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  The red mat is from an older Christmas pad cut with MFT Blueprints 27 die.

All the designers have created some great cards with puppies to inspire you.  I hope you will check them out over at Merry Monday and play along with us this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,
JoAnn

Merry Monday #282

Hello friends and happy Monday.   Our new challenge on Merry Monday is hosted by Linda and she wants us to make a Christmas card using this inspiration photo.

For my card I used this really old stamp with a stained glass window and candle image.  I stamped it and colored it with Promarkers.  I fussy cut the candle and poinsettia image and mounted it with foam tape on Spellbinders Filigree Delight frame.  The card base is SU Real Red CS, to match all the red in the photo, and the sentiment is from Sweet n' Sassy Christmas Is stamp set.   A fairly simple card but I love the way it turned out.

Now head over to Merry Monday and check out how the other designers were inspired by this photo.  I hope you will join us this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Sending Birthday Bear Hugs

Hello friends.  Today I am sharing a birthday card I made for my great-grandson's 8th birthday, which is today.  I think he will like the card.

The sentiment and images are from MFT Beary Special Birthday and cut with the matching Beary Special Birthday dies.  I colored the images with Promarkers and used SU Bashful Blue CS and ink (retired).  I die cut the blue and white panels with MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangles.  I used the largest and next to the largest rectangles.  The white panel is stamped with MFT Balloon Strings Background in Bashful Blue ink.  I just fussy cut the ends of the sentiment and inked the edges.  The sentiment and the images are mounted with foam tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I appreciate it when you take the time to leave a comment.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping

JoAnn

Happiest of Birthdays for Seize the Birthday

Hello friends and happy Thursday.  It is time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and this week our "Toppings" option is to use teal and white on your birthday project. 

 I love any shade of blue as it is my favorite color, so this was right up my alley, and I love making floral cards.

I used an old SU set Vintage Vogue for my flowers and stamped them in SU Bermuda Bay ink.  The leaves are from my new Papertrey Ink Gran's Garden stamped in SU Pear Pizzazz ink.  I fussy cut the flowers and added rhinestones to the centers.  I die cut the leaves with the matching die.  I used MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Ovals and Stitched Ovals to make my frame.  The center oval is glued directly to the pattern paper and the frame is mounted with foam tape.  The large flowers are also mounted with foam tape.  I found this stripe pattern paper and it matches the Bermuda Bay perfectly.  The sentiment is from SU Birthday Blooms.

I hope you will check out all the fabulous cards made by the rest of the design team over at Seize the Birthday and be inspired to play along with us.

I am also linking this one up to The Flower Challenge #18 - Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Merry Monday #281

Hello friends and happy Monday.  Our Merry Monday Challenge this week is hosted by Kim who has challenged us to use this inspiration photo to create our Christmas cards.

I used this cute cup from Verve Coffee Helps set.  I stamped it, then enlarged it a little on my printer so that it would fill up my Spellbinders Circle die cut and Scallop Circle mat.  I cut a slit in the foam part and added the candy cane sticker by Recollections which I mounted on cardstock and fussy cut.  The cup is colored with promarkers and then fussy cut and mounted with foam tape.  I sponged around the circle with Natural ink before removing the die.  The mats are cut from SU Real Red.  The sentiment is from Verve Holiday Treats (discontinued) and cut with a Spellbinder Card Creator die and mounted with foam tape.  The pattern paper is from a Graphic 45 Christmas pad.

You can check out all the designers' cards and the rules to play along over on the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge blog.  Can't wait to see what you create with this fun photo for inspiration.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,
JoAnn

Another Anniversary Card

Yep, here is another one of the anniversary cards I am making this month. This one is also for a couple at church.  I found out they will be married 21 years.  Usually I don't know  how long they have been married and it is nice to add the number of years for a special touch.

I copied myself on this one, using this card.  I changed the orientation to horizontal, the colors to Blushing Bride and the sentiment to an anniversary.  The sentiment stamp and die is from Papertrey Ink Just A Number set.  The flowers are SU Flower Shop stamped in Blushing Bride and Flirty Flamingo (stamped off once).  I added sparkly gem stones to the centers of the flowers.  The MFT Gingham Background (it must be discontinued as I can't find it on their web site) was stamped in Blushing Bride also.  The white embossed panel is embossed with SU Lacey Brocade EF (retired)

I will link this one up to The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Happy Anniversary

Hello friends.  I am sharing a card I made for a couple at church.  I have 3 more anniversary cards and 2 more birthday cards to make for March.

I used March Viva la Verve sketch for my layout, but it is reversed.  When I put the green vertical panel on I didn't realize I had laid the card base upside down, so I just went with it and added the flowers and sentiment panel on the opposite side.

I stamped MFT Gingham Background in SU Blushing Bride for the main panel.  The green paper is from DCWV Home Basics 6x6 pad.  The flowers from PTI Gran's Garden are stamped in Blushing Bride and Flirty Flamingo inks and cut with the matching dies.  The leaves are stamped in Pear Pizzazz.  I added some b/w Baker's Twine around the green panel before mounting the flowers with foam tape.  The sentiment is from Verve's Love Story (discontinued) and cut with Spellbinder's Circle and the mat is cut with SB Scallop Circle die.  I mounted this with foam tape also.  The scallop border is cut with a retired SU border punch.

I am also linking to The Flower Challenge #18 - Anything Goes (I love making cards with flowers).

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.  All comments are greatly appreciate.

Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Merry Monday #280 - Inspiration Photo

Good morning and happy Monday.  For this week's challenge at Merry Monday, Kelly has an inspiration photo for us.  See what inspires you in the photo.

I was inspired by the candles on the pedestals so I used this older Flourishes set and colored it with Promarkers.  I added the glow from the candle flames with a marker and sponged So Saffron ink around them.  I colored the candle bases with a gold pen.  I also added Wink of Stella to the flames and the ornaments but it is hard to see in the photo.  I tried with this photo also.

It picks it up a little but is much prettier in person.  I added a gold foil mat and DSP from an older DCWV Holiday Traditions pad, which has gold in it also.  The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Christmas Is set.

Now check out how the designers were inspired by the photo over at Merry Monday.  See you in the gallery.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,
JoAnn

Anniversary Wishes for The Paper Players #382

Good morning friends.  I am sharing another anniversary card I made for a couple at church.  I have 4 more to make for March.  I used the sketch from The Paper Players.

I used the retired SU Secret Garden for the flowers and leaves and stamped them in Pumpkin Pie and Pear Pizzazz inks.  I die cut them with the matching dies, and mounted them with foam tape.  I added a glittered enamel dot to the centers.  The sentiment is from Verve Love Story (sorry it is discontinued). I stamped it on a Wonky Stitched Rectangle from MFT and matted it with black.  The pattern paper is from a Recollections 6x6 pad and the center strip is MFT Natural CS.

ETA:  My card was chosen as a Cut Above at The Paper Players.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,

JoAnn

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Hello Friends and happy March 1st.  It is time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and this time it is "Anything Goes" as long as it is for a birthday.  I would like to welcome our new Surprise Party Guest, Kim Lackenbach from Kim's Cards and Crafts.  She will be with us for the months of March and April.  You can read all about her on Seize the Birthday and visit her blog.

I made this card for a special friend using PTI Gran's Garden and matching dies.  Her favorite color is yellow so I made yellow flowers with SU Daffodil Delight and stamped the leaves in SU Pear Pizzazz.  After die cutting, I layered them over a lace frame cut with a Gina Marie Designs die.  The center flower is mounted with foam tape.  The sentiment is from MFT Pretty Poppies. I cut it in a banner shape and added foam tape just to the center part and glued the two ends.  The green DSP is from The Paper Studio pad I got at Hobby Lobby.

Now check out all the fabulous cards by my teammates over at Seize the Birthday.  I am sure you will be inspired to play along with us.  Can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Happy Stamping,
JoAnn