Tag Archives: gender-neutral

First Day of School

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Today is the first day of school. My girls are very nervous this year (not sure why) and so I wanted to make today a little more special. I wrote positive notes inside the cards – trying to encourage them.

I created this card late last night (I’m an expert procrastinator). I chose Teal because that is a school color. I don’t really have any “school” stamps, so I got out Wise Owls and added the graduation cap to convey the school theme. I added the Diamond impression to the card base because, to me, it mimics the owl’s belly.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hoot of a Day
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Wise Owl, For the Graduate, Its Official;
Colors: Hawaiian Shores, Black, White;
Other: Diamond impression plate; Copics;

Thanks

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I made this card for the man who took care of our cats while we were on vacation a few weeks ago.

To start with I stamped the chair on the DSP and cut it out. Then I stamped and cut-out the pillows. To make the left-side of the chair look/feel like it was indeed in front of the pillows, I paper pieced that again as well. Doing so also broke up the line of polka-dots.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You
Stamps: Here Kitty Kitty (StarvingArtistamps); Inside-Out: Thank You (PTI); Woodgrain (SU);
Colors: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Vanilla (SU);
Other: Apple Cider DSP (SU); Copics;
Technique: Paper Piecing;

Boot Camp Grad

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My nephew is graduating boot camp this week. I sent this card along to help him celebrate. I kept it flat (for mailing) and simple (for the “guy” affect).

Just random stamping to make the background. Then a label die for the sentiment, held on with twine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Congrats
Stamps: Seeing Stars (Verve); Free Spirit Boy Sentiments (WMS);
Colors: Cherry, Navy, White (SU);
Other: twine; label die (Spellbinders);

Interesting Life

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Today is my hubby’s birthday. He is 5 days younger than me and loves to spend those 5 days reminding me I’m older 🙂

Luckily I was late in making his card, so I was able to use a Passion for PTI challenge (For the Boys) to inspire me to use PTI stamps.

I created this card to celebrate his love of “why not”. When we go somewhere I drive (because I’m a control freak), but to balance it out, he navigates – and that frequently means we learn a new way to get somewhere. He also enjoys stopping to view a sunset or read those “historic spot” signs.

Why Not
Stamps: Motivational Centers (CHF); Enjoy the Ride (PTI);
Colors: Linen, Ocean Tides, Road Trip dsp (PTI);
Other: pen (for lines);

VSN, Yee-Haw!

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Friday night there was a mini-VSN at SCS. The theme of the VSN is rodeo. Only 6 challenges – and I managed to do them all!

The first challenge was called “the grand opening” and we needed to use banners.

My kiddo’s friend will be turning 11 in a week so I thought that would be a perfect card for a banner.

Supplies:
Stamps: Big Birthday Wishes (PTI);
Colors: Rose Red, DSP (SU);
Extras: Banner die (MFTStamps); Number die (PTI); Baker’s Twine (SU);

 
 

The next challenge was called “the queen’s wave”. We could interpret “wave” any way we wanted.

I did it 3 ways: my scene is a HEAT WAVE at the beach (with waves in the background) and the card uses the Wiper Technique to create a little waving sun pop-up.

Supplies:
Stamps: Shore Thing (SU); alphabet ($bin); Birds – Light the Path (TAC);
Colors: Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake (SU); Brown (Palette);
Extras: Daffodil ribbon (SU); deco scissors; Jar Label die (PTI);

 
The third challenge was called “bring in the clowns” and we needed to use 4 bold/bright colors and have something pop-up.

Thankfully the pop-up could be completed with a simple dimensional, and that is the route I took – the bee is popped-up. The bright colors made me thing rainbows, so I chose a flower bunch to color.

Supplies:
Stamps: All About You (PTI);
Colors: Hibiscus (PTI); Gable Green (SU); Copics;
Extras: green ribbon (?); dimensionals; stickles (on bee);

 
The fourth challenge, “all that glitters”, required that we use sequins.

Oh my. I don’t have many sequins. The ones I do have are bright colors. I decided to make shaker balloons. I really don’t have a use for such a “young” card. I need to find some place to donate cards – any suggestions?

Supplies:
Stamps: Say it With Style (PTI);
Colors: Real Red, Brilliant blue (SU);
Extras: circle dies (Spellbinders); Black/White Baker’s Twine (?); Label die (MFT Stamps); sequins; acetate (SU);

 
The fifth challenge, “sunset on the plains”, required a brayered or sponged sunset.

I was a little stymied at first, so I had my hubby help – he decided the sunset should be orange and set in the African plains. I chose to do a giraffe because he likes them and with the “miss you” sentiment I can pop it in his suitcase for his next business trip.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wild Things (SU); Paper Tray (PTI);
Colors: Tangerine, Glossy, Black, Daffodil, Pacific Point, Night of Navy (SU);
Extras: white EP;

 
The final challenge was to be inspired by the lyrics of an 80’s song (Wild Wild West).

I don’t have any western stamps, but these mustaches paired with twine and a wood-grain paper make me think “cowboy”! And I’m getting double-duty out of this card – I took a picture before I adhered the sentiment and I can upload it as the index for the Many Mustaches gallery category, yee-haw 😉

Oh, and speaking of the sentiment – those letters are cut from different sentiments from the same PTI stamp set – Say it With Style. I’m feeling smart!

Supplies:
Stamps: Many Mustaches (SU); Say it With Style (PTI);
Colors: Early Espresso, Vanilla, Wood DSP (OLD! SU);
Extras: Twill, Twine, Brads (SU);

Rainy Day

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I really have missed stamping! This is the second card I made today 🙂

This one was specifically created for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge (wmsc54). I flipped the sketch around. I added a bit of Stickles (Patina) to the larger rain drops.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thinking of You
Stamps: Asian Gardens & Asian Gardens Additions (WMS);
Colors: River Rock (SU); Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist (PTI);
Other: dimensionals; Stickles (Ranger);

Proud of You

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My nephew, a rising senior in high school, is currently at boot camp. He is joining the National Guard to become an MP. Obviously I have mixed emotions about this, but I am undoubtedly proud of him. He’s allowed to receive post, so I wanted to send him a card to remind him that we’re thinking about him.

I don’t have many “service” type stamps (guess I’ll need to remedy that 🙂 ), but this ribbon from CTMH certainly does work (I originally bought it to make cancer ribbons, so I don’t always remember it when thinking military). To do the two toned ribbon, I stamped the image twice – once in blue, once in red – and cut out the “front” piece from the red image and glued it onto the blue one.

I kept the card very simple – apparently any cards that are over the top (mushy or frou-frou) earn the receiver a few extra push-ups! I just used lots of dimensionals to give it depth. And the blue mat is textured paper.

I am entering this in the “Krafts-men” challenge at CAS-ual Fridays (cfc9). CAS-ual Fridays is a new challenge blog dedicated to clean and simple stamping. CAS is definitely the style I prefer. I heard about their challenge before they even started – because I was already following a few of their design team members – but this is the first challenge I’ve managed to complete. I still have a text flower I created for their first challenge!! Maybe I’ll get it on a card one of these days, lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Proud of You
Stamps: Remember (CTMH); Fresh & Simple alphabets (PTI); Sanded background (SU);
Colors: Poppy, White, Kraft (PTI); Crumb Cake ink, Not Quite Navy (SU);
Other: dimensionals;

Thanks to the PE Teacher

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This card is for the physical education teacher at our school.

I don’t have any sports stamps, so when it came time to make a card for the PE teacher, I thought I would have to do quite a bit of improvising. After lots of failed attempts, I went back to looking through my stamp collection for inspiration. I decided to use the Simple Circle die and use punches to create the different sports balls.

I went looking for layout inspiration to use the die and found, of course, an awesome card on Maile’s blog (last card).

I ended up finding a font to make the soccer ball – doing your own is much harder than it looks! I did make the basketball, baseball, tennis ball (yellow paper and white gel pen), hockey puck (in case you didn’t know what the small black circle was for), and a red kick ball (embossed with the canvas impression plate!!).

I didn’t have high hopes when starting this card, but I’m really happy how it finished!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks
Stamps: Background Basics: Text, Fillable Frames Additions 1 (PTI); sentiment (old All Night Media);
Paper: Black, Kraft, White, Harvest Gold (PTI); Pumpkin, Riding Hood (SU);
Ink: Crumb Cake (SU); Black (PTI);
Other: 0.5 Pen (CTMH); Fillable Frame 1 die, Simple Circles die (PTI);

VSN Swabbie

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So this weekend was VSN at Splitcoast. The theme was pirates – hence my post title (swabbie because I only managed 5 challenges, so definitely not “captain” material and I figured “VSN wench” wouldn’t go over well with my family 😉 )

I wasn’t actually going to participate – I have stamping chores to do (and they don’t really work well with challenges). But I got a couple chore cards done earlier today and then I saw a post by Carly (here) and was completely inspired by her cards and figured I had to give it a shot.

First up was a color challenge – aqua, light green, and kraft. I snuck in the craft as the color for the sentiment. The card stock is Aqua Mist and Spring Moss from PTI.

Since the stamps I chose to work with were small, I made a small square card. I really like this card and I can use it to fill one of my stamping chores – bonus!
 
 
 
 

Next up, a challenge to use colorful birds. Of course, there was another part to the challenge which I neglected – making a square card. So this card is already walking the plank!

At least I can use it as one of my stamping chore cards!
 
 
 
 
 

Moving on, another challenge was to use bling. That should be an easy task, you can add a rhinestone just about anywhere! I got the idea to use this dragonfly image because the wings have little open spots on them – perfect for placing rhinestones. The dragonfly has smooch spritz on it too, though the photo doesn’t show that bit very well.

I used die cuts to create the flowers/leaves. I added a bit of sponging to the flower centers before adding the bling. Before I glued it all down, I wasn’t sure whether to leave it on a white card base or not. I tried a few light colors but none of it looked quite right. I need something to anchor the images, so I pulled out a large label stamp. I am quite happy with how that turned out!

I had to do the next challenge because it was hosted by my friend Patty! It was an awesome challenge – and I actually tackled it first because I got an idea immediately.

I’ll be giving my hubby this card on father’s day (if I remember to take it with us on vacation, lol).

Oh, I have to tell you how I did the label – I’m feeling a bit genius about it (not an ounce of humility in me, lol). I don’t own PTI angled labels (yet), but I do have Fillable Frames #9 – which is a cool tag shape. Well, if you cut the tag, then turn the die cut around and put it back in the die, you can trim both ends with the tag shape!! As you can see lining up the stamp image is a bit trickier, but a stamp-a-ma-jig would make it much easier.

This is the last card I did tonight. You can tell my mojo was wanning. One day I *will* find a black ink that stamps perfectly. Until then, I’ll just deal with my meager results.

This challenge was to use sponging. I was going to do a “ray” type sponging, but was just too lazy to cut the masks I would need. I am definitely in awe of Theresa Momber who can work a sponge so amazingly!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thanks to the Music Teacher

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I created this card for the music teacher at our school. We have a male teacher, so I stayed away from the frou-frou.

I was very inspired by Maile’s card during the recent PTI countdown (last card). She oriented her cardstock and impression plate so that a piece of the card base at the top and bottom went un-embossed. I did the same thing. The rest of the layout I sorta cased as well, but I used a real die cut instead of an impression for the label.

The instruments were stamped from the wheel, watercolored, and then cut out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks
Stamps: Symphony wheel (SU); Fillable Frames 4 (PTI); Trendy Greetings (TAC);
Colors: Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa (SU); Black, Cream (PTI);
Other: Fillable Frame 4 die, Music impression plate (PTI);
Technique: watercoloring