First Class Birthday

I am back from a fabulous holiday in beautiful Malta, on the Mediterranean Coast. It was warm, the food was fantastic, the company was awesome, and I'm left wondering if I want to move or not :) If you do go and see one thing, go see Comino - the waters are just unreal but prepare for a large amount of tourists! And this photo is just from my iPhone... so you can imagine photos do not do this place justice.

 Comino & Blue Lagoon - an island belonging to the Maltese Archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea

My brother in law is a huge fan of planes... which means, I use a specific set: Horizons over and over again. I'm hoping to expand my collection of plane stamp sets eventually. However, this time I had accidentally double ordered a set for a customer of mine that included a first class fun tag - just perfect for the same flight theme.

Inspiration: http://stempelwiese.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/geburtstagskarte-stampin-up-rosette-sonnenblume-031012.jpg

I hauled out an old set of the Level 2 Assortment from Lucky to finish this off. After all, doesn't everyone dream of flying first class one day? I wanted to play a bit more with distressing, so I crumpled up some paper towel and went to town with Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta and Outdoor Denim.

On the inside, I used one of the borders that you can cut off the 12 x 12 patterns from Skylark. Some left over goodies from my workshops that went awesome!

Other:
* Cream Cardstock

CTMH:
* True To Life Stamp Set
* You Are My Happy Sentiments Set - retired Constant Campaign
* Card Chatter Birthday Set - retired
* Horizon Set - retired
* Dreams Come True - retired
* Skylark Level 2 Paper Pack
* Barn Red Ink
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Autumn Terracotta Ink
* Goldrush Ink
* Lucky Level 2 Chipboard Assortment
* Designer Ribbon Blue Collection - retired
* Blue / Green Epoxy Adhesive Bubbles

Where did the heat go?

Mom's birthday...

So close to being 100% CTMH materials! Mom's birthday was about to arrive back in August (yes, another slightly outdated post) and I figured that instead of giving her real flowers, I'd decide instead to stamp flowers all over the front of her card. Besides, they don't require much care.

I decided to take a bold move and not use any one inspiration, but here is where I confess my addiction to Case Study. It was probably a combination of all of them.

All the cardstock is from CTMH, but the exception is the butterflies - they were cut with a limited edition butterfly punch from Creative Memories. If you look really closely, there are a few red rhinestones scattered all amongst the flowers. As this was done so long ago, the fun part is remembering all the different inks I used to stamp the different flowers.

As always I brought the flower motif inside the card down the left hand side of the card, using two of the colors from the front of the card. By turning the stamp every so often, it gives a look of tumbling flowers. I can't figure out which set the sentiment was from!

Other:
* Creative Memories limited edition butterfly punch

CTMH:
* La Belle Vie Paper Pack Level 2
* Joyful Birthday
* Dreams Come True
* Ruby Ink
* Barn Red Ink
* Smoothie Ink
* Blush Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink

The air is getting nippy again but October and Halloween are coming!

Congratulatory card...

... there is nothing like seeing my little sister (in law) accomplish her dreams of becoming a doctor. And touching to be able to be there to sit through her convocation ceremony. Didn't understand a word of it however, but that's ok.

It may have taken me six months to get all my stuff together and find her a pretty necklace as well as come up with a card.

Inspiration that triggered it: Case Study Challenge 148 : Iwona Palamountain's interpretation.

And I brought the roses inside along with a saying from Scrapbook Statements - Everyday Life. I learned so much from a Copic tutorial on blending that Iwona Palamountain posted a while back and it has made a world of difference - my colors blend better and I learned to work dark first as opposed to light first. I also realized through that post that sometimes you can use all sorts of combinations of colors - you don't necessarily have to stick to one set of shades.

I was so thrilled with  my blending technique... but I think pigment inks would be a better choice for not bleeding next time. I've picked up a set of these mini pigment pads - basic - and can't wait to play with them.

CTMH:
* Dreams Come True (retired)
* Scrapbook Statements - Everyday  Life
* Happy Valentine's - Jan 2013 SOTM
* La Belle Vie Level 2 Paper Pack
* Adhesive Pink Rhinestones
* Adhesive Opaque Pearls
* White Daisy Ink
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Smokey Plum Ink

Others:
*... will post the Copic Marker #'s later!!
* Cream cardstock

Congratulations again to my little sis for becoming a doctor - she's gorgeous, smart and has a huge heart. I wish her all the success in her career.

Butterflies and Mother's Day

I just needed an excuse to use my newest stamp, Delight, but it also so happens that I need to make a second Mother's Day card for my mom who lives here and feeds me and my husband every Sunday! She deserves a card too and of course she will come over for dinner which is often a three course meal.

Today's inspiration is a mix of iheart2stamp's March SFYTT and Amber Hight of The Stamping Scrapbooker's interpretation, Mr & Mrs.

I wanted to do three butterflies, but it wasn't big enough - however, two seems to be just perfect. They were embossed with Dutch Blue embossing powder with a bling button in the middle. You can't see from the photograph, but I glued the middle of the butterflies down and then added foam tape to their wings to pop it up a little.

The third butterfly has made it's appearance on the inside, which is an echo of the colors used on the front of the card. I also decided to distress the sides of the cream cardstock so that it had a bit of a fuzzy look to tie into the blue background.

Michaels etc:
* Cream patterned paper, CM
* Solid cardstock, Michaels
* Ribbon, Michaels
* Fiskars Edge punch and embosser

CTMH:
* Delight
* Classmate Alphabet
* Dreams Come True
* Dutch Blue embossing powder
* Bling buttons
* Lilac Mist Ink
* Moonstruck Ink
* Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

It's almost Easter! I can't wait!

Believe enough to heal...

A close relative of mine found out that the cancer he beat successfully 9 years ago has made a return, to the dismay of his family and of course, myself.

I'd like to send a card as he took the time to come to both of my wedding celebrations over 3 years ago. Nothing like a homemade card to bolster the positive thoughts that they are holding to in order to get through each day. And the rest of us are hoping that he will be successful in beating the disease the second time around.

Today's inspiration is another one of Got Sketch?'s designs, Sketch 128

I didn't want to use a huge big flower but given that Hope is such an important concept for cancer survivors whether they have battled or are still battling, that the Hope For Japan set was a good choice instead. My color scheme was based on fall with bright, sunny colors. The inside uses the Angels set; sometimes healing is nothing short of a miracle.

Although I felt the message both on the outside and inside were a bit mixed, it still means that they should believe in the fact they will have the strength to beat this monster.

Michaels:
- Cardstock
- Fiskars border punch
- Rhinestones

Dollar Store:
- Ribbons

CTMH:
- You and Me set (retired)
- Dreams Come True
- Angel Sent
- Chocolate Ink
- Outdoor Denim
- Desert Sand
- Ponderosa Pine