Category: birthday cards

Posted in birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, decorative paper, masculine cards, Stampin Up

I Quit Stampin Up’s Demonstrator Program

Posted on by Be Encouraged
Tropical Oasis Designer Paper

The news is I am no longer a Stampin Up demonstrator, while I enjoyed the early catalog, lots of discounts and the new card ideas 💡 I just filled up my card making stash too quickly. The discounts and freebies were incredible and I went from having a few stamps left over from the 1990’s to being prepared for any occasion and theme. I’m even stocked up for envelopes, two sided tape, and dimensionals.

I was only a demonstrator for personal use but since in the past I’ve shared ideas on-line I wanted to introduce you to some Stampin Up Demonstrators:

Lisa provides only on-line support ( https://lisasstampstudio.com/ ) but her you-tube videos are so classy, unique, and easy to follow.

If you’re in the San Jose area and prefer in person classes, Brenda provides excellent support with pretty card ideas at http://www.keenankreations.com/ .

Diane has a wonderful e-mail / on-line presence and offers paper and ribbon shares at https://www.ddstamps.com/. .

it’s not an easy choice but now that I am stocked up for the year I don’t have to decide who to buy from, I just have to clear the cabinet.

Laying out some favorite papers for inspiration

To this end, I recently pulled out some pretty patterned 6x 6 papers and laid them out like cards, matching colors and planning embellishments. Then I realized while it’s fun for me to embellish a card with a beautiful stamped image the piece usually covers up a lot of the card front. So I decided to highlight some favorite decorative paper with a simple card Idea, adding a 3.25 x 5.5 strip to a 4.25 x 5.5 card (any designer paper with matching cardstock). A sentiment with ribbon or coordinating strip of cardstock and the card is worthy of any birthday or good deed occasion.

Cards which highlight my favorite papers

I organized my papers while working on this project so as an added bonus my paper shelf looks great. Now I have some cards ready to bless others as much as I was blessed in creating them.

Posted in Anna Griffin, birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, decorative paper, Stampin Up

A Way Through Creative Block

Posted on by Be Encouraged

My Canadian Cousin had a birthday last week and while she is a serious professional there is something about her aura that suggests she’d like a sweet garden card. So, from Grace’s Garden Stamp Set I laid out a garden scene and pulled out the watercolor pencils for her card. Then we received some bad news at the house and I just couldn’t make anything work.

My creative energy was blocked and I needed a design that relied on decorative paper more then artistry. So I used a pretty and high quality metallic plaid paper in my stash from Anna Griffin, with a strip of gold and a sentiment square of the plaid pattern turned 45 degrees. I’m hoping this super quick card looks like a gift wrapped in plaid.

I would use this format again for a gift card holder ( sorry Cuz nothing this time) especially if multiples were needed for teacher or seasonal gifts. The gold paper strip could be embossed to make it more like ribbon but otherwise the simple elegance of plaid does all the work.

Blessings

Posted in birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, Embossing Folders, masculine cards, Stampin Up

Masculine Cards

Posted on by Be Encouraged

The best thing about card making is thinking about friends and family while I create. This card is for my nephew, such an upstanding, serious, and respectable man. So why do I remember him as the cutest little trouble making scamp ? It’s a masculine birthday card created with Stampin Up’s Brightly Gleaming Decorative Foiled Paper and a strip of copper embossed with Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder.

The inspiration for the card above is a fall themed card embossed with Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folders from last year. It’s one of my all time favorite cards and surprisingly the embossing folder is still available. I made the card at Keenan’s kreations Stamp Class, such fun.

When it comes to manly cards I think metallic accents really hit the mark.

Blessings,

Posted in birthday cards, card making, craft, Stampin Up

Birthday Card for Megan

Posted on by Be Encouraged

I’m excited to have a special birthday card to share today. With the Covid -19 SIP isolation in May my friend couldn’t be there for her daughter’s birthday. So along with the other treats planned she asked friends and family to send cards. I was so happy to have such a fun reason to make a card and hopefully Megan will enjoy receiving a card from California.

Since purple is Megan’s favorite color and she loves chocolate cake, I stamped the cake image from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set in Highland Heather ink and choose the coordinating cardstock for the card’s base.

I used a color wheel ( from Michaels ) to find coordinating markers for the Highland Heather ink. In this case the color wheel triad showed a minty green which sounded delicious on a chocolate cake and a soft orange. FYI a triad color schemes consists of three colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

The image was cut on a mechanical press using coordinating dies, the cake outline around the cake image and the platter on a scrap of highland heather. I’ve had questions on this stage before so if anyone want a video clip of the process let me know.

For a soft feminine card rounded corners were added after stamping the Happy Birthday Sentiment, also from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set. I used my old corner rounder from my Creative Memory scrapbooking days.

Finally, I used three adhesives in assembly, a snail tape runner for the big pieces of cardstock, liquid glue to the thin area where the cake stand met the platter, and dimensionals to add depth by raising the cake image from the card.

At the very end I added a sheet of decorative paper with purses and shoes to liven up this card for a lovely young woman. Thanks for the card making fun and Happy Birthday Miss Megan.