18th Birthday

Thought I would just put up a quick post of the birthday card that I made for my nephew's 18th Birthday at the beginning of this month. I really found it hard to do something that was not cricket or football as that is what he usually gets and wanted it reflect the fact that he is growing up. I don't usually use a stepper card but just thought that this would all go together and still be masculine.

For the card it was just a case of messing around with paper until I found the size that I wanted. I tyed with the idea of usng a template but then decided to do my own and it would then be exactly what I wanted rather than what I would be given. I used a digi image from http://www.mosdigitalpencil.com/ and as my nephew enjoys his food, thought an image of what not to become would suit him - did think about putting a can of beer around but as he is off to University in the US next month, it won't be legal for him there.

Spellbinder's die Lattice Rectangles was used around the image and then coloured using distress ink.The image was coloured using Copics and the background papers were from DCWV Natural Paper stack which has lots of good masculine colours. The greeting was a freebie from http://nettyscards.blogspot.com/ and just coloured on the computer.

The photo was taken on my mobile phone so not as good as it should be but wanted to ensure that I got it off in the post early rather than being late for his special occasion.

Going Native

Well, at least my stamps are rather than me. I spent a lovely Saturday in Kettering at one of Sue Wilson's workshops and the stamps used this time were the Native American stamps. The theme behind this workshop was textures, and Sue ensured that there were different textures to all of the cards - I must admit that they were superb. We were asked to pick a favourite out of all the cards that we made but I can honestly say that I was unable as I loved them all. I would make them all again.

This one above was made with a faux leather background which was done using tape, an embossing folder, distress ink and clear embossing powder and creates a real nice texture. We also cut using a Spellbinder die and the Out of the Box technique which looked easier than it was.

The one to the right was just stamped onto Hessian to give it a different look and the wooden beads at the side were coloured using distress ink and tied together using the leftovers from making the fringe and then attached with glue dots. The background was stamped using first black archival ink and then using a clear embossing ink and then dusted with gold mica. The edges of the black card and the black edge of the greeting were hole pierced. The main background was made using the Tim Holtz ruler and the greeting was pierced freehand.

The next one was made using a technique that I had never seen before but would definitely want to do again. The coloured background was made by spreading glue onto black glossy card and then dropping mica powder onto it. You did not want to glue too thick, neither did you want it to dry before heating from the underside with a heat gun until it bubbled. The bubbling gave the effect and it looks absolutely stunning in real life - much better than a photo can do justice too. There appear to be lines that are pretty even in the photo but they do not appear like that in reality. The lines are less defined and add to the overall effect. The pots were coloured using Cosmic Shimmer inks and mica powder. It was finished off just using pieces of coloured card inside the pot and glints and ribbon.

The next card was made using white glossy card for the cave painting background and sanding it both ways, putting on distress ink and then sanding again. Both the cave painting background and the brick coloured background behind were then torn before being layered. The string in the background was again more hessian string taken off the previous project .

The last card was the quickest and was stamped first with the nestie middle being laid down flat on the card and then embossed and stuck onto the card raised. The side was stamped with perfect medium and then dusted over with mica powder. The ribbon - which was absolutely beautiful was put under the gecko's tail by cutting the lower part of the tails so that the ribbon fitted under and this was done to show it can be done with lots of images for a different finish.

We were quite surprised that we actually managed to finish all five cards but were glad that we did and had such lovely cards to take home with us.

I suggested a pyjama party for the next workshop with Sue - can't wait to see if she takes me up on that but in any case, I just can't wait for her next workshop!