Make It Monday: Step-it-up Embellishments and a Sunshine-y tip!

I finally finished a pair of cards for this week's Make It Monday, and I also have a tip to share! Lots of photos in this post! :) See the bottom of the post for my tip on "expanding" the sun rays in the Hello Sunshine stamp set.

The challenge for Dawn's MIM tutorial is to make similar cards with varying amounts of layers and embellishments. I didn't make my cards as similar as Dawn's, but they do have similar design elements. I used the new Hello Sunshine set for both. The first is the "stepped down" version. I created the sunburst background using Summer Sunrise and Hawaiian Shores ink, and used the Happy Day label die-cut for my sentiment focal point. I stamped the medallion from Lovely Layers (a perfect fit!) in Harvest Gold, and then stamped the sentiment from Beautiful Butterflies on top.

I finished off the focal point with a few clear gems and popped it up on the sunburst panel, which is then adhered to a Harvest Gold card base.

My second card, the "stepped up" version, is for my son's upcoming 9th birthday! Since his birthday is July 3, it's always easy to work with a red/white/blue theme. This card is larger than the one above - the sunburst panel (in Enchanted Evening and Pure Poppy) is 5.5x4.25, and the card base is 6.25x5.

For the focal point, I have a Mat Stack 5 stamped in Pure Poppy with the stars background from Est. 1776. I then layered a Pure Poppy Doily Details die-cut, and a By the Numbers number "9" die-cut. I used two Tiny Tags, stamping the square one with the "happy birthday" from Tag-Its 1, and the little stars from Est. 1776. The "celebrating from Big Birthday Wishes is stamped on a double-ended banner die-cut.

The Enchanted Evening mat, the Mat Stack 5, and the number 9 are each popped up on foam adhesive for more dimension and visual impact of the layering. I finished the panel off with 3 little brads in the bottom corner, and by inking the edges of all the layers with light brown chalk ink.

Now, here is my tip, which might be obvious but I'm not sure I've seen it mentioned before. Because I wanted to layer the sunshine "bursts" behind a larger focal point, I wanted to "expand" the sunburst. But I still use the ingenious starburst circle positioner in the set, to get a perfectly spaced, "even" sunburst. So here is what I did.

First, I used a gridline stamping block and very carefully and deliberately lined up the sunburst so that the center line of the block goes right down the center of the sunburst, and so that the tip of the sunburst is right at a "crossroads" of the gridlines. Here I inked it up with black ink to make sure you can see what I mean:

Now, stamp the positioner sunburst circle in whatever color you want - I used black since it will be covered up when the card is complete. Then ink up the sunburst, but instead of positioning it BETWEEN the lines of the circle with the point in the center, you will position is at the END of the line, with the "crossroads" at the tip right at the end of the line, and the center line of the block directly OVER the LINE of the positioner circle, like so:

I worked my way around the circle like this, stamping in Hawaiian Shores at every other line. Then I went back in with the solid sunburst and stamped the same way, and the alternate lines. This is what I ended up with:

Using this method, you can "expand" the overall size of the sunburst as much as you want, whereas if it was stamped in the usual way, most of the pattern would be "lost" under the larger focal point that is layered on top of it. It also allows the sunbursts to reach further to the edge of the card, especially if you are putting the center point "off center", as I have on these two cards. Notice on the 9th birthday card above that ALL the "rays" reach to the outer edge of the A2 sized panel.

Well, thanks for stopping by, and thanks Dawn and PTI for another great Make It Monday!

Summer Camp card - last one! (for now!)

Here is the last of the three cards I made for my son to receive at Boy Scout camp. He is home now, but he said that he enjoyed getting them! I used the Summer Camp paper pack, and added the sentiment from Fillable Frames Sentiments, using the Framed Out #3 die and stamp set.

The twine and kraft button added that perfect, masculine finishing touch. :)

Thanks for looking!

another Summer Camp card

Here is another card that I sent to Ryan at Boy Scout summer camp. Again, I used the Summer Camp stamp set and patterned paper. I also used a piece of paper from Authentique's Glory 6x6 pad - look at that fleur de lis, the Boy Scout symbol!! How perfect!

I just love this sentiment, which I stamped by selectively inking the stamp so that I could "split" it and make it go across the card horizontally. The camera is stamped with Versamark.

Love those footprints!

The sentiment panel is popped up on the card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

a card for my Happy Camper!

As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and oldest son went off on their first week-long Boy Scout camping adventure yesterday! So PTI's Summer Camp stamp set and patterned paper really came out at just the right time for me! I made a few cards to send to my son at camp this week. I remember how fun it was to get mail from home when I was at camp! But this first one, I actually sent with my husband to give to Ryan on the first night. It was inspired in part by Heather's card from the countdown, here.

I used Trendy Tree Tops for the tree, and the Simple Stripes impression plate on the cream panel. The tent and fire are both colored with copics and hand-cut.

Thanks for looking! I have a couple of other Summer Camp cards to post later this week, so check back soon! :)

Two Father's Day cards for Two Special Dads!

I have two Father's Day cards to share today. First up is the one I made for my dad, using PTI's Modern Wood Mats and World's Greatest, and a background strip from WMS Off Beat Backgrounds.

The color combo is Blueberry Sky, Canyon Clay and Vintage Cream. I used the Pinking Shears border die on the strips, and the Simple Stripes impression plate on the blue panel. Love the look!

Next is the card I made for my husband. I'm so pleased with how this turned out! The camping theme was perfect, as he and our oldest son just left this morning on a week-long Boy Scout camping trip. What a perfect excuse to pull out PTI's Summer Camp set. I also used the Summer Camp patterned paper. Notice how nicely that little tent coordinates? Originally I was going to stamp it and color with Copics, but then I noticed that on the "stars" patterned paper, there was an open area (with no words or stars) that was large enough to stamp the tent! So I used that and hand-cut it.

The focal point sentiment is from World's Greatest again, and I also pulled out Simply You, for the "You are my moon, my stars, my everything" border around the edges. I thought it went well with the star-themed paper. The little moon is from a Verve set, and the fire is from Summer Camp, copic-colored and hand-cut.

Thanks for looking, and Happy Father's Day!

TSG160: Circles! And a zoo-per birthday card!

Oh my poor neglected blog! I even have a backlog of un-shared cards, but I just haven't been very good about getting the posts written. But I was so happy to play along this week for the very first time with the There She Goes Stamps challenge TSG160 - incorporate circles into your project design! I just got my first order of TSG stamps recently and let me say that I love them! I already have a growing wishlist.

For this card, I used Zoo-pendous... how cute are those little zoo animals?? I stamped the peacock, snake and giraffe using masking, and then cut them out with a Spellbinders circle die and colored with Copics. I used the Spellbinders Lacey Circle die as an accent behind the focal point (half-circles!). More circle shapes are found in the PTI Summer Sunrise polka dot paper, the PTI circle-shaped Tiny Tag, and the teeny scalloped border.

The circle focal point is popped up on the 5.5" square card base.

Thanks for the fun challenge, TSG! I can't wait to break in some more of my new stamps! And thanks for stopping by!