Birthday Wishes - Western Style GCA 125

Hello all!!!  So sewing was not that popular last week!  This week we'll try something fun and easy!  Birthday cards!  That's it.  All you need to do is make a birthday card.  It can be for a man, woman or child and whatever colors/theme you like.  It just needs to reference "Birthday" somewhere on the front.

My card this week is for three challenges.  Mine and the Late Night Stampers Yahoo group I belong to.  The challenge for LNS was to make a masculine card.  I think this is masculine!  I also used the Monday Lunchtime Sketch challenge on the Technostamper Blog by Mary Jo.

The card base is Marina Mist, layered with Soft Suede and Crumb Cake.  Very Vanilla is my neutral. 

It's hard to see on here, but on the Crumb Cake piece I did the Faux Suede technique.  I also stamped the hat and boot on there in Crumb Cake and spritzed with Soft Suede.  On the Soft Suede panel I stamped the horseshoe and steer head, but they are pretty much covered up on here.

The thing I like the most is the "stitching" on the scallop square piece.  That was done with linen thread, needle and free hand!  I like the rugged look it gives here.  The Soft Suede square was distressed with my distressor tool and then layered with a piece of the Crumb Cake Faux Suede.

The cowboy, from the Out West set, was first stamped on Very Vanilla in Brown ink.  Then he was "cut out" using the Out-of-the-Box technique.  I just love doing this technique with this image.  Once I had him cut to where I wanted, I colored him with my aquapainter, stamp lid inks and markers.  The main image/Crumb Cake piece is up on dimensionals as is the entire scallop square.

My birthday sentiment is from the SAB set, So Happy For You, stamped in Marina Mist.  I tried the curly/pennant tag on here.  Need some more work on that!

On the inside I stamped the boot in Soft Suede, steer head in Crumb Cake and the hat in Night of Navy on Marina Mist.  The hat is popped up.  The sentiment is non-SU!

Upload your creation to either your blog or to an online gallery and post a link to your creation to this blog entry by February 26, 2011 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner the next day. If you upload your card to SCS, PaperCraft Planet, Stampin' Addicts, Stampin' Connection (for SU! demos) or Stamp TV, please put GCA125 in your keywords. That way everyone can see all of the wonderful creations at once!

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenges and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it! And yes, my challenge is open to everyone who visits, even if you live outside the US!



Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~~ 

Playdate Goes Western!!

Hello all!!!  Here we are at the end of 2010!  Kind of hard to believe that in 24 hours, or less, we will be starting a New Year!  Do you have your resolutions ready?  And can you keep them for more than a day??? LOL!!

Today I have 2 cards for you that I created using my newest set, Out West.  This set is perfect for any and all male cards.  And, if you are like me, those are not the easiest to create!!  Both of these cards actually started, and were completed, with scraps/leftovers on my craft table.

Each card uses pretty much the same supplies, just in different ways.  The background piece is what started it.  This was left from the strips I used on my reindeer scrapbook page.  It's rolled with the Rough Texture wheel in Crumb Cake and stamped with the Sanded bg in Choc. Chip.

What I really want to point out are the techniques on the two cards.  On the first card, I used the out-of-the-box technique with the horse and cowboy.  Normally I would leave a little more of the base card, but every time I placed it on the square layers it looked liked just a little more needed to come off!!!  I do like how the cowboy and horse seem to really be coming off the card!  They were colored using my aquapainter and stamp pad lids.  Once dry, I went over some of the highlighted areas with my markers.

On the second card I used the "Depth of Field" technique I learned from Technique Junkies.  You have to look very carefully, but the horseshoe is there, stamped in So Saffron.  Then the cowboy hat in Old Olive and the steer in Choc. Chip.  Not sure how many cowboys wear green boots, but it certainly does make the boot pop off the card!!  The felt ribbon is from last year's holiday mini and the baby safety pin came from a recent clothing purchase.  It was just sitting on my craft table and tried it on here.  I like how it looks on here.  This will be my card for my supervisor who is retiring in April.  Since he likes "cowboy coffee" I thought this set was appropriate!!

I'm also entering both of these in Shelli's monthly So Shelli contest.  This month is focused on techniques!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

A Nature Thank You - DIC128

Hello all!!  This week the UDI inspiration piece is 3 very yummy looking cocktails.  Each in their own fabulous color.

I mainly went with the colors from the piece to build my card, but still not quite sure how the cocktails translate to birds!!!  Anyway, I love how this came out and I just love this new set coming out in the Occasions mini, January 4th!!!

While the overall look of the card is clean, it not necessarily simple!!!  I combined alot of techniques on this card, once again!

The first is using the dry embossed method with the new Framed Tulips embossing folder and Perfect Polka Dots folder.  However, the fun part is that I double embossed them!  To do this you run your secondary folder through first and then place your card stock into your primary folder and run it through the Big Shot again.  You will still notice the secondary embossing, but just not as pronounced.

The second technique I did was Out-of-the Box.  This is a fun and fairly easy technique to do.  The tough part is making sure you don't cut into your image when trying to trim part of the card stock away.  To do this you stamp your image onto the card stock and then trim away parts of it.  You should cut your card stock as close to the size you want to end up with.  The idea is to leave part of the image "cut out" of the card stock.

The third technique is watercoloring.  Pulled out my watercolor wonder crayons and blender pen, and colored away.  Not sure if there is a bird this color in real life, but I think it's pretty!  The eggs were colored with markers direct to the stamp and then cut out. 

I couldn't resist the fly on here, since the cocktails are fruity and flies also come around with the sweet things!!

If you have a chance to play this week, check out the UDI Blog and see what you come up with.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~