Cake, anyone?

I saw Jennifer Maguire's post recently on monochromatic stamping, in which she made a cake card, and was intrigued with the idea.  I always need birthday cards, so I found this cake stamp by Hero Arts for half price at Joann's and went for it.  I think it fit the bill!

Here is Jennifer's original post:   http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2017/03/mono.html

I have used all of the inking products she mentioned in her post previously, but never came up with such a WOW idea!

Instead of just framing the images, though, as she did in the post, I decided to turn my images into shaker cards.  One for a guy, one for a gal!   It's a party!  Love, love this technique!

Colorful Birthdays!

Those of you with January and February birthdays will know I am a little behind in my birthday card making!  I may have caught up!  Take a look at these colorful creations!  They are made with the Richard Garay 3D embossing folders I saw on a blog post from Laura Bassen for Simon Says Stamp.  I was so taken with the images I had to search high and low for them, since they are a discontinued product from Spellbinder's.  This rosette embossing folder was part of set released by Spellbinder's some years ago as part of a birthday set of related images, including stamps and papers.  I also found the two other embossing folders in the set online and will post my creations made from them in future.  Here is a link to the Laura Bassen video that showcases how she colored these images.  Her video was my inspiration for these cards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgiyVwvh5h4&index=57&list=PLV4sFhcxLIHLf9ORS9T1NYaYdGq5kWFvo

I used Distress Inks for most of the coloring, but also used Tombow and Copic markers for some of the brighter images.  I found that using a heavier weight paper really helped the images pop, and for these I actually used a glossy cover stock I have had for some time.  The glossy paper really holds the ink.

Aren't these fun!!  I am so excited about my new 3D embossing folders!  I also got a leaf one from Sizzix and some from American Crafts that have geometric designs.  I think they will all make beautiful cards.

Happy Birthday, in case I missed yours this year.  Have fun stamping!

Cricut Explore Birthday Card

I am always in need of birthday cards, so I jumped at the chance to make this cute candle card from the Cricut Design Space ideas.  I have a subscription, so I didn't need to pay any extra for the design.  I cut out two of these and will make many more.  I also added some Stickles to the candle flames (not shown in the picture above.)  I liked the idea of a design already planned out and ready to go, including the envelope.  The Explore cut everything out fabulously and all the images line up perfectly.  No sweat, no brain power, just simple crafting fun.