Happy Birthday (by the numbers)

My father-in-law turned 78 yesterday and we got together with some of the family for a nice birthday dinner.  I think it is fun to make cards with the exact age sometimes - particularly since you can usually only buy them with ages that end in a "5" or "0."  When you are young, you are always "going on" the next age and a card with the exact number seems special.  For much of your adult life, the number isn't as big a deal and then when you are getting older, you start to brag again.  I remember my Grandmother who was 89 when she died but would always tell people she was "in my 90th year!"

I used Cardstock from this DCWV "Cotton Bloom" stack.  This was a recent find at Marshall's for just $5.99 for 48 sheets.  I am not sure when this stack came out but I suspect it was a couple of years ago.  If you check the DCWV blog, Erin posts the Ultimate Stack List from time to time as new stacks are issued.  I found a listing for "Cotton Blossoms" as a Michael's exclusive - eventually the exclusives appear for sale elsewhere (I am guessing that this is the same stack since the name is so close...). 

I decided to use part of this striped sheet for the card.  I like the plaid for a man's card and I thought the elegant gold swirls and green would make a nice overall effect.  I usually cut layers for a card front but this time I simply cut a piece at 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches to completely cover the card front.

I chose to use the dotted striped with the zig-zag edge as the top of the card so I trimmed the cardstock along that line and then cut 4 1/4 inches below in the green section.  Designs in stacks often have edges that are slightly darker (to look "inked") and I don't like to work from the edge and have one side that looks different than the other.  Since the sheet is 12 inches across and I need only 5 1/2 inches to cover the card front, I can shift the cut over to avoid the "inked' edge.  In this case, I trimmed 1/2 inch from the left side to create my card cover.

I cut the numbers for the age with my Sizzix "Fun Serif" dies that I have had for years.  I sometimes think of getting rid of these because they do take up an entire drawer but I find that I still use them for quick and easy individual letters and numbers.  The green glittered cardstock is also from the Cotton Bloom stack.  I backed the number with a circle cut from Core'dinations cardstock with the Nestabilities "pinking circle"  dies.  I used these to match the top pinking edge on the card.  I used Scor-Tape to adhere the ribbon (from my stash, I bought it many years ago when we lived in Germany) to the pinked circle and then used foam dots to adhere the circle to the card.

I stamped the sentiment on the front and then went over the letters with a Sakura Stardust Clear Jelly Roll pen.

 
On the inside of the card, I added a pocket for a gift card.  I cut a strip of the same blue Core'dinations cardstock and used the Martha Stewart "Arched Lattice" border punch on the top edge.  I chose this punch because it also has a "pinked" top edge.  I put Scor-Tape on the sides and bottom of the cardstock and placed it on the back of the top flap of the card.  If you make sure the fit is a little snug, the card should stay in even though it will be upside down when the card is folded.  The sentiment is a Studio G stamp from Michael's.

Remember that 1/2 inch strip I trimmed from the striped paper?  I used it to decorate the envelope.  I also used a strip of the same blue Core'dinations cardstock and cut the letters from the same green glitter cardstock as the number inside.  Pretty coordinated, eh?!

The card was a hit with Dad - here is a father and son photo (in case you couldn't just tell by looking!).

Here are the card and envelope together - a birthday "ensemble" to make a nice presentation for the gift card inside.

There may be a bit of a break in the weather today - it poured most of Saturday.  We'll be finishing the painting and trying to move some things in to the apartment so we have fingers crossed for some breaks in the weather!  I hope  you are having a nice weekend.

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*Scor-Tape 1/8"" Crafting Tape

*Sakura Stardust CLEAR GLITTER PENS Sparkle Accent

*Martha Stewart ARCH LATTICE Edge Punch Edger M284018

*DCWV Cardstock 12 x 12 COTTON BLOOM Stack Paper Printed

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Reindeer Games

It has been unseasonably warm here in Massachusetts - the high today was 73 degrees!  The warm weather makes it hard to believe that Christmas will be here soon.  Are you making holiday cards this year?

I stopped in at a small Joann's store the other day and found a stamp in the dollar bins that made me smile.  The stamp is by Studio G and is part of a series of six Rudolph stamps that I was able to find on the Hampton Arts site HERE.  I just had to buy the stamp and make a quick card.

I needed a reindeer that was "cute" to make this card.  I don't do a lot of "cute" and usually would prefer a more stylized and elegant reindeer.  There are several reindeer on the "Christmas Cheer" cartridge that were just the right type.  This is an older cartridge and it was one of the first (dozen or so) cartridges that I bought when I got my machine in 2007.  I cut the layers in several colors - since the pieces were small I didn't bother to use the Design Studio, Gypsy or the Cricut Craftroom to hide contours to cut only certain pieces in the colors I wanted.

In case you don't know how to do this, click here to go to the post with a video that I made a couple of years ago - just before the Gypsy came out.   The video explains how you can conserve your paper by using Design Studio to cut just the pieces that you need in the color you prefer when the cartridge has multiple items on the same key.  You can do this with the gypsy and the new Cricut Craftroom as well.  Hiding lines to change shapes is one of the best design tools these programs have to offer.

When you are adding all of the tiny layer pieces, it is easiest to put the adhesive on the base and then put the tiny pieces on the adhesive.  I wait until the adhesive has dried to a tacky state and then add the pieces.  This tends to be much neater with less chance of the glue spreading and showing on the top of the image. 

I stamped the sentiment in red on white cardstock and used a long rectangle Nestability die to cut and emboss the sentiment block.  The distinctive font was one of the main reasons that I was attracted to this stamp - I have many fond memories of watching the television special. 

I checked and the font is called 'Island of Misfit Toys" and it is available from dafont.com HERE.  I think I'll be using this for several holiday projects.  If you can't find the rubber stamp, you could just print out a sentiment on your home printer and cut it out with a die.

I added some green eyes and a big red nose to the deer.  I used a white pen on the detail lines of the face and then decided that I didn't like the way they looked, so I used a black pen to go over the white and add definition to the face.

I tied red and green twine around the card layers before I adhered them to the card front.  Then I put lots of foam squares on the back of the sentiment and the reindeer to raise them from the card face.

The patterned paper is from K and Company.  I added a thin white cardstock layer to help set off the design.  The reindeer is cut from several colors of Core'dinations cardstock

Time for bargains..

Black Friday specials are starting already - Thanksgiving is two weeks away and the merchants want to tempt us to shop now and not wait for the season to start.  Cricut.com has a sale on many Cricut cartridges - they are reduced to $19.99.  A few of my all time favorites, like "A Child's Year" and "Three Birds on Parade" are included in the sale.  Just click HERE to go to the sale page.

I have also seen images of the Walmart Black Friday ad online and there is a Cricut Imagine with two bonus cartridges for $187 - this will be on sale starting at 10 p.m. Thursday through Friday, while supplies last.

If you are looking for another way to save, there is a new bargain site called "Blitsy" that will be open to members only (membership is free).  You will need to be a member to receive notice of the special sales and deals.  You can sign up now and be ready to start receiving notice of the sales as soon as they start.  To sign up for "Blitsy," please use this link.  If you refer friends, you might have a chance to win the new set of three seasonal Winter Distress Inks by Tim Holtz. 


I'll be working on some Christmas tree decorations today - but not for my house.  My neighbor and I are doing a tree for our local museum - I'll tell you more about this in a week or so when we actually put up the tree.  Have a happy and crafty day!

A Special Breast Cancer Awareness Kit

I made this card to highlight a special pink kit that is available now from Creative Charms.  For the rest of the month Creative Charms is featuring a kit that they are calling Chris’ Kit in memory of Chris Hertel.  Chris worked very closely with Creative Charms. She was a Design Team member and also designed the catalog, the logos and all the new packaging.

This past July she lost her battle with breast cancer. She left behind a loving and dedicated husband and two fabulous children.  Her family was her joy and her inspiration. From now until October 31st, the net proceeds from sales of this kit will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help find a cure for this disease so that families will no longer have to lose their wives, mothers and daughters (Chris' wish).

Here is the list of items included in Chris’ Kit:

·         Pink 3D Sparkly Butterfly Garden Brads – 12 Pieces
·         Pink Sunflowers – 4 Pieces
·         Violet Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
·         Pink Vintage Jewels – 12 Pieces
·         White with Pink Sparkled Flowers – 6 Pieces
·         Pink Sparkled Butterflies – 2 Pieces
·         Pink Sequin and Felt Flowers – 3 Pieces
·         Pink Sheer Flowers – 6 Pieces

There are 57 Pieces and the price is $9.99 (regular price would be $23.21).  You can find the kit HERE on the Creative Charms website.

 I started with this piece of patterned paper from the Echo Park "Country Drive" collection.  The paper was cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches to layer on an A2 card.  I wrapped some thin ribbon around the card layer three times.

I taped the ends of the ribbon on the back of the card layer.

Then I applied adhesive all around the edges and adhered the layer to a green card base.

I took a short piece of ribbon and slid it under the three strands.

Then I pulled the ribbons together and tied a knot, making sure not to pull too tightly.

I slid the short ribbon up a little toward the top of the card, trimmed the ends and used a glue dot to secure the ribbon to the card front.

I chose a large pink Sparkled Butterfly (two are included in this kit) and added a couple of foam dots to the back to fit over the ribbon knot.

To give even more sparkle to the butterfly, I added a pink Vintage Jewel (also in this kit) over the body.

The sentiment was stamped on a white rectangle of cardstock and then mounted on a scalloped rectangle I cut from pink glitter cardstock with a Nestabilities die.  I added more foam dots to raise the sentiment to balance with the butterfly.

The sentiment stamp is from "friendship sentiments" by My Sentiments Exactly and it is stamped with dark pink ink.

Thanks for stopping by today and please consider purchasing one of these kits - every little bit we do to support research to find a cure counts.

A quick reminder about the challenge...

Today is the last day to participate in the Challenge I gave you in THIS POST.  You can upload any project you have made using something from Creative Charms and have a chance to win this great set of all of the colors of Vintage Jewels.   All of the details are in the original post.

If you don't have a blog - you can still play along.  Just put my blog address (or any other url) in the blank and fill in your name and email.  Then you can click to go to the next page.

When you get to the second page, you will see options to add the direct image URL (from a photo storage site like Flickr or Photobucket) or to upload directly from your computer.

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Some Creative Charms Favorites...

Today it is my turn to post on the Creative Charms blog.  Please stop over to the Creative Charms blog HERE to see my post and leave a comment - I have another little giveaway for someone who comments here or on the Creative Charms blog (leave a comment in both places to double your chances).

The winner from my last Creative Charms post is Donna

Please send me an email at capadiadesigns@gmail.com with your mailing information.  I'll be sending you one of the Christmas Multi-Dimensional Chipboard Sticker sets.

This week I made some cards in pastel colors.  I think I have had a bit too much "Christmas in July" and I just wanted to make some soft and pretty things!  This is a 5 x 7 card.  The front panel is actually something that I found at a rummage sale.  The color blocks are printed on the white card.  It was meant to be used to print an invitation or announcement.  I trimmed a bit from the edges so my lavender card base would show.  You could easily duplicate this look by using some of your scraps.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I didn't have the right shade of lavender ink so I stamped it once on scrap paper and then stamped directly on the card without re-inking the stamp.  This "second generation" stamp was much closer to the color of the card and the lavender color block on the front panel.

In order to place the butterfly brads from the 3D Sparkly Garden Brads, I pierced the card front and inserted the brads before adhering the color blocked topper to the card base.

The medium size glue dots work perfectly to adhere the floral gems to the card.

I used large glue dots to secure the Flared Flowers they are lightweight but large so the craft glue dots work best.  The sparkly centers of these flowers are so pretty.

The second card is very simple and highlights the Vintage Poppy.  This is an A2 card.  The glittered cardstock is from the 8 x 8 DCWV Nana's Nursery Boy Stack and is cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches.

The wide satin ribbon is from Anna Griffin and it is tied around the entire card front.  You could slip a gift card under the ribbon on the inside of the card.

The sentiment is stamped on ivory cardstock cut in a scalloped oval with a Nestabilities Petite Scalloped Oval die.  I used foam squares to raise it from the surface of the card.

A couple of Gradient Gem Stickers add a finishing touch to the sentiment.

I took out the pearl brad in the center of the poppy and replaced it with a  Vintage Jewel Brad.
 
There is not a new Deal or Kit of the month for August - there will be some great special offers through the month.

Don't miss this week's offer at Creative Charms - all remaining Deals of the Month and Kits of the Month are an additional 10% off this week only. Quantities are very limited so you should order right away if you want to pick up some more of these great kits! There is also a Creative Charms blog giveaway this week - click to go to THE GIVEAWAY POST and leave a comment to enter.


I haven't quite made it through all of the messages, emails and comments - but I hope to finish up today  If you are waiting for an answer on something and haven't heard from me, please don't hesitate to send a reminder note.  It is very easy for some things to get missed, particularly after such a long trip and with all of the construction activity around here!  The floors are on the agenda for today.

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