Smiles and Birthdays

I'm starting today's post by sharing a card I made for Ka from Stamping Smiles Designs. She was in a pretty terrible accident recently (hit by a drunk driver) and had to have several surgeries. She's in the hospital and recovering, but she could use some cheering up. Heidi from Crafty Time 4 U and several other friends are compiling some cards to send to Ka to help get her through her recovery. If you'd like to participate, you can contact Heidi through her Instagram account, also craftytime4u.

I created this card because when I'm in need of cheering up, puppies (or kitties) will always do the trick! I mounted all the puppy stamps from the Playful Pooches set by Clearly Besotted on my Fiskars Stamp Press and then inked them up and stamped them all at once. I was able to stamp the whole thing twice and it only left a couple of empty spaces. I filled those spaces by manually stamping a couple of puppies separately. I colored all of the images with my Copics and then heat embossed the sentiment in white on black. That's it! Super simple, but it did take some time. I just love how it turned out though. Definitely worth the time I put into it. I hope it'll put a smile on Ka's face!

Supplies:
Stamps: Playful Pooches (Clearly Besotted), Up & Away (Mama Elephant - sentiment)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Basic Black
Ink: Versamark, Assorted Copics, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: White embossing powder

My next two cards are for upcoming birthdays. December is always incredibly busy for me because not only am I making Christmas cards, but December is packed with birthdays!

This card is for my Grandpa. I cut the panel using Mama Elephant's All Prettied Up die set. I cut a smaller panel to go behind it and heat embossed the sentiment in white so that it would show through the window. Then I used an ink blending tool to blend Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks over the top. I finished it by splattering a few water drops on top and sopping them up with a paper towel. The bears and present were colored with Copics and then I just fussy cut around them so they wouldn't have a white edge. I just think it looks a little cleaner for this particular card. I finished it off by adhering the whole thing to a Crumb Cake card panel and adding a few Sparkling Clear Sequins.

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things)
Dies: All Prettied Up (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics, Versamark, Mowed Lawn & Mermaid Lagoon (Distress Ink)
Other: White embossing powder, 4mm and 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Next up is a card that I actually ended up duplicating to give to 2 different people.

I originally made this card with one of my friends in mind, but after I finished it, I loved it so much that I duplicated it to send to my husband's aunt as well. I just loved how this design turned out and it's absolutely beautiful in real life. A picture just doesn't capture the amazing dimension that these stamps from The Ton give you. I simply created a tall panel and then silver heat embossed the sentiment. I used the layering stamps from Heart Diamonds to create the beautiful images you see. They're so easy to use and they look just gorgeous! I finished it off with a few Cobalt sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Supplies:
Stamps: Heart Diamonds (The Ton)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Smoky Slate
Ink: Versamark; Stargazer, Ocean, and Rainwater (Mama Elephant)
Other: Silver embossing powder, 4mm and 6mm Cobalt sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)