Summer's On It's Way (I think)

     Hello!  Doesn't this card make you think of the 4th of July and a BBQ?  It was an interesting winter and spring here in New England and I don't know about you but I'm so ready for summer (how many days 'til summer vacation?).
     Today's card was inspired by summer and this wonderful new technique I found over at Diary of Two Crafty Girls (here). 

     Creating the stripes on my card was super easy!  Using a brayer, I inked up the stripes embossing folders with Cherry Cobbler ink (the side with the SU! logo) and ran it through the Big Shot.  How easy is that?!
     For a little sparkle I added Iridescent Ice embossing powder to the star. I think this would make a fabulous 4th of July BBQ invite... Mmm.... hamburgers and hotdogs on a grill, I can almost smell 'em!

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark
Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Stars #2 die, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, heat tool, seam binding ribbon

Birthday Card Fit for a Man

Hello!

     Today's card was inspired by, of all things, an Embosslits Die!  Found on page 215 of the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalog, the Thanks Embosslits Die is a chemically etched die that can simultaneously cut and emboss an image when used with the Big Shot machine. 

     Being a stamper you'd think that I was pretty good at sending out birthday cards to friends and family members...  um, not so much.  I can't use the excuse that I forgot a birthday, especially since I have a Birthday Calendar (pg 170, $7.95) filled in with all the important dates. For some reason I fail to actually make the cards and get them in the mail.  Or if I do get a card in the mail it's always a store bought card (gasp!) and usually a day or two late.  I think my lack of enthusiasm for birthday cards may be due in part to the fact that there are a lot of males in my family.  While I'm pretty good at creating (or CASEing) cards with bright colors and lots of pretty ribbons and other embellishments, what I'm not so good at is creating masculine cards (men are not only hard to shop for but they're hard to create cards for!).  So I challenged myself this week to create at least one card that could be easily reproduced and sent out to family members. 

     I chose masculine colors and aimed to keep the card itself simple.  I know it's hard to tell from the photo but the stripes were embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a bit more texture.

    

Stamps: Solid Stripes, Bitty Birthday (retired)

Ink: Night of Navy, VersaMark

Paper: Crumb Cake (aka, Kraft),  Whisper White, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue (retired)

Tools & Accessories: Brads, dimensionals, wide oval, modern label extra-large and word window punches

a CASE of a CASE...

Hello!
     What do you do when it's too hot to go outside?  Stamp!  Temps today are supposed to reach into the high 90's in NH which means it's much too hot to do much of anything outdoors.  I decided the best thing to do was turn on the A/C and enjoy a guilt-free day of stamping!  *Mental note: using a fan in your stamp room is not recommended (I'll leave the visual up to you!).
     Today's card was inspired by Chat's card over at Me, My Stamps and I.  Chat's card was inspired by Mary Brown's card over at Stamper Camper's Corner - so I guess you could say my card is a CASE of a CASE! 
     To make this card more of my own, I kept the base color the same but changed the accent colors and sentiment.  I also used the stamp set Solid Stripes.  To make the stripes stand out a bit more I embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Stamps:  Solid Stripes, Thank You Kindly
Paper: Whisper White, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue (retired)
Ink: Night of Navy, VersaMark
Tools & Accessories: square punches, Bluebird grosgrain ribbon (retired), dimensionals, hemp twine, clear embossing powder