Spice Cake Birthday Card

I saw this card that Ann at the Stampin' Schach made and I knew I just had to copy it.  There are so many fun elements to this card.  I think that is why I was so intrigued by it.  

I did not purchase the Spice Cake paper pack but I did buy the download and I printed out my paper on 28# copier paper.  If you print out your downloads I highly recommend you use the nicer copier paper.  You will get a much nicer smoother print and I know you will be much happier with the end results.  

The base of this card is the new Pool Party color card stock.  On top of that is a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock.  And on top if that is a piece of the Spice Cake paper.  

The flower on the top layer of the card was cut out from another piece of decorative paper (image) from the same paper group.  

And I was finally able to play with the new Designer Frames embossing folder.  It was one of the first things I had ordered from the new catalog in the July pre-order!!!  And I finally got to play with it.  I'm starting to see more things on the net using this folder!!  I can't wait to play with it some more! The oval was cut out with a scissors after it was punched out with the large oval punch.  The edges were sponged and a piece of the decorative paper was affixed to the back.  I actually glued the paper to the oval.  I didn't want to tape it because I was afraid the pressure from adding the tape may smash the dots on the oval.  But I did tape it to the top of the card.  

I didn't have the same "happy birthday" that Ann used but Stampin' Up! has so many other ones that I knew I'd be able to find one to fit the space I needed it to fit, and I did!  The words were set in place with Dimensionals and so were the flower pieces.  

The pearls add a fabulous touch to the card.  I love how they go up and down the scalloped edges. A perfect touch, isn't it?

I have a very special person who is getting this card.  I will be hand delivering it.  A card like this with all of those pearls would cost extra to mail.  SO when I knew I was going to a birthday celebration, I knew exactly what card I wanted to make and here it is!!!

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

My Friend "Hello" Card

I made today's card for my "Mailing a Card a Week" promise!  I vowed to send out one card a week to a friend to let them know that I'm thinking of them.  A different friend each week.  This is week two.  It's great to be on track, isn't it?? LOL  I'd hate to think I wasn't on track so early in the project/promise!  

Ok, onto this card.  I did not buy the "My Friend" stamp set.  I purchased the download.  I played with it a bit on my computer to get the image to print out to exact or near exact same size as the image in the catalog.  I did set my printer to print at the lowest quality while I worked on the size. It only took a few tries and I got it.  SO when I was done I did save it so I can print it out another time in different colors.  I won't have to mess with the size thing anymore!!  And I did the same with the wording.

The butterflies are the "Beautiful Butterflies" Sizzlet.  I LOVE that little Sizzlet!!  

The background paper is from the "Spice Cake" decorative papers but once again, mine is from the download.  I not only downloaded the image for the "My Digital Studio" (MDS) software but I also downloaded it for the "other" software.  My "other" software is Print Artist.  I use that program when I want to print out the papers.  The MDS doesn't print out the way I want it to an I really can't play around with it.  SO I use Print Artist and I can enlarge the background to get it to fit 12" x 12". On the paper image on the screen I see 8-1/2" x 11" and I just stretch the image to go beyond that paper size to the 12" x 12" size.  Stretching it out makes image the same size as it is printed on a 12" x 12" page but I only get a portion of it printed. But that portion is in proportion and that was what I was looking for.  Though I have had times were I did like the image printed out smaller.  It all depends on what I'm working on at the time.

Anyway, back to the card. The base of the card is a half sheet of Very Vanilla folded in half on the long side.  My layers are the new "Pool Party" card stock and the ink color I chose was also Pool Party.  Printing these out makes for a quick card.  I don't make too many like this because printing them through the MDS wastes a lot of card stock.  It only prints out one at a time and it prints it in the middle of the card stock.  I have not played with the software enough to know if I can have it make the image on a full sheet of card stock and do a copy over 4 times so I can get 4 images on one sheet.  It's something I plan to play with more in the future.  

Playing with the MDS is fun and using the downloads saves a lot of money in stamps!  I don't have room for more stamps!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Cheerful Treats Birthday Card

This is the card I made for a swap I am participating in on Sunday.  I have to teach at the bead shop so I won't be able to attend the swap.  I just need to make sure I get my cards there in time!  

I had fun making this card.  I love the new scalloped ribbon!  The words are from the "On Your Birthday" set.  It's such a fun set and I love it when I can find words that fit either in the circle or the oval so I can layer them with the matching scallop!

The paper is SO adorable, isn't it?  It is from the "Cheerful Treats" Digital CD.  I printed out several pages using #30 copier paper.  Using nicer copier paper makes the printed design feel more like the regular designer paper. Plus it prints nicer too.  I only use it when I print out dp.  I want my dp to have a nice clean crisp look, just like it does if  you buy a package of it.  But with this one you won't be able to buy a package of it.  It is only available on the CD which is one of the Hostess options in the new catalog.   

I had to make 17 cards!!  I got them all done.  They are all bagged up and ready to go.  I'm excited to see what I get back in return!!!  I have not done a swap since March.  

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Flower Fest Wednesday Sketch Challenge

This weeks sketch challenge was a fun one.  I really liked this layout.  I was ok with it until I colored in that 3-a spot with the Wild Wasabi.  The white was too drab and the Wasabi was a bit too much.  UGH!!  Other than that one spot I like the card.  And I REALLY like the sketch.  I'll have to play with this one and see if  I can't come up with something better.

I did print out a piece of the new "Cheerful Treat" decorative paper.  It is one of the items you can pick from in the Hostess section of the new catalog.  It was such a great deal and it has fun papers too!

The flowers, leaves and butterfly are from the "Flower Fest" set.  I have used that set a lot and am still not tired of it.  

The white background was textured using the "Lattice" embossing folder.  It added a nice touch to that area.

Like I said, it was a fun card to make but I would have done something different with that one panel. But what I don't know.  Any suggestions??

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Delicate Doilies Card

First of all I can't believe it's July 1st already.  This year is just flying by and it always seems that after the 4th of July the rest of the summer goes by even faster.

And since it is the first of July you may want to check my web store for retired stamp sets.  I have added a lot of brand new ones plus used ones. 

Now onto this fun card!  I made it using the My Digital Studio and the "Delicate Doilies" download.  I really do like this set and will be ordering the 3-D one too.  What I like about digital designing is you can resize the images to fit your needs.  You can also just print out as many as you need or want without getting any ink on your fingers!!! LOL  I only printed out one card but I did save it so if I want another one later it's there waiting for me.  And the images always come out nice and solid too!  There are a couple of things I can't do with it.  I can't emboss and I can't do multi colors like you would with the direct to rubber technique.  But other than that you can do everything else you would with rubber stamps.  Including stamping off.  You just change the opacity level and it looks like it's been stamped off.  It's fun and I could spend hours playing with it.

I have a fun weekend project coming up for you!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Sail Away Digital Studio Birthday Card

I'm sitting here laughing at my card!  Ok, not so much the card. I do like how the card turned out.  It's the sun in the background.  It's shining through one of the sails making it look like they are transparent!  I noticed it after I got the card all put together. I didn't reprint because I wanted to show you how easily things can get missed when you are not paying attention.  I was having fun making the card and adding stretched punches to create more waves in the water and having the sun the right size and making sure it is not behind the background, etc.  And I didn't pay attention where the sun was placed.  A quarter inch more to the right and it would have cleared that sail and it would have looked normal!!  All I need to do is go back into the program and move the sun over just a bit and it will be fine.  I am saving my creation on my computer so I can print one up quickly when I need it.  

I had purchased the "Sail Away" digital image last week and just got around to downloading it.  This card was very easy to make and very fun and now a bit funny with that big error on it!  

The words are from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set.  I didn't digitally add the wording.  This way I can use this for a masculine Sympathy card if I need to, or a Father's Day card too!  

I can take the card and add some chalks or watercolor crayons to it to give it more shading if I want.  I just like it that I was able to just add a few elements to the card and it was done.  The image on the card printed out larger than the rubber stamp image.  I didn't scale it down to size.  I liked that it took up most of the card and I could have made it a bit bigger if I wanted too.  So, a handy tip for you!  Pay attention to details or you could get the sun shining through transparent sails or other things!!! LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Vintage Vogue My Digital Studio Card

I made the background on this card using the "Vintage Vogue" download and "My Digital Studio."  This one was actually pretty easy to make.  I opened up the "Vintage Vogue" folder and dragged the flowers over.  I did have to resize them.  What was funny about this is when I took the original stamp to the larger flower I had resized it to the exact size!  What an eye!! Ok, it was just sheer luck!  I placed the large flowers around and then I filled in with the smaller flowers.  And when I checked the size of them, they were exact too!!! Am I good or what?  I REALLY think it's the "or what" but I'm going to run with "good" for now!!! LOL

After I got the flowers placed I added the leaves. Which, by the way are not the exact size.  The are smaller than the rubber image.  So now you know that I really don't have that great of an eye for the size!!!  I told you it was just luck!

Once I got the leaves on and put behind the flowers (Ctrl and the arrow down key takes care of putting the pieces behind the flower, it moves it to the back).  I did pick a color (Old Olive) for the leaves before I added them all.  But as for the flowers I didn't add the color to them until I was all done.  I didn't want to have to be moving them around to get the colors to where they were pleasing to the eye.  It's not really a big deal but I didn't feel like moving each leaf every time I moved a flower.  I've done that before and realized that if I had added the color of my flowers first after they were placed where I wanted them, then add the leaves.  SO much less stuff to move around.  And I did have to move a few flowers even after I had all the leaves and colors in.  I just wasn't happy where they were at.  Once I was happy with it I printed it out and this is what I got.  I could have printed out a second one and cut out some flowers but after spending the time I did on the digital part I didn't want to spend much more time on this card. 

The words on the card are from the "All Holidays" set.  I think the swirls on the wording enhanced the look of the card.  I added some pearls to the center of the flowers and layered it on top of a half sheet (folded in half) of Old Olive.  Ok, I added it to the Old Olive card stock first and then added the pearls.  I've done it the other way and it's pretty difficult to add tape to the back of the card without causing warping or even folds.  Now I just need to add a trimmed piece of white card stock to the inside and it's ready to sign and give to mom on Sunday!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,

Wanda

The Open Sea Masculine Card

I am SO loving the digital downloads for the My Digital Studio!  I had some paper left over that I had printed out using the Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper download and I thought I would make a masculine card with it.  I liked the anchor part of this paper so I tried to keep as much of it as I could while cutting it to fit the card.

The ship was scaled way down.  I had made a few extra of those when I was making them for my tiny notebooks last week.  You can see them by clicking here.  A little bit of layering and a few minutes and I had a masculine card.  I did take one of those minutes and used the Lattice embossing folder and added a textured background.  It was just what the card needed.  If you click on the photo you can see the details of the ship better.

I will add this to my small masculine stash of cards.  You can never have enough nice masculine cards on hand!!!  This card can be used for quite a number of occasions too!  Gotta love that, I know I do!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

The Open Sea Father's Day Card

OK, this is the last "The Open Sea" card I will be making for a little while.  I SO love this set.  Well, the digi set that is.  My clear mount set will be arriving next week.  I will try to refrain from playing with it for a week or so.  But it's SO hard not to.

As I was setting this card up to take a photo, I was admiring how crisp every line of the image is.  Well, of course it would be crisp, it wasn't inked up and stamped.  Sometimes not all of the details come out when you stamp and it's ok, it's part of the art of stamping.  Though being the perfectionist that I am I do like to see a perfect image.  Anyway, what I saw in this ship was a fun idea.  I thought it would be fun to print out a bunch of them at 50% opacity and make a notepad with the images.  I'll be giving that a try but not right now. I'll give the image a break for a little while.  

And don't you just LOVE these papers too?  I used the "Nautical Expedition" Designer Series paper downloads #3 and #4.  I think these knots on the paper are FABULOUS!!!  What I did was I printed out a whole sheet of each on 30# copier and cut off what I needed. Just like you would do with the original paper from the pack.  

I printed out the ship but this time I made it smaller.  It is still a bit larger than the image in the mini but that's ok, I wanted it bigger for this card.  

And the "Happy Father's Day" came from the "All Holidays" set.  That image is much smaller than the one in the catalog (or the original image).  I wanted it smaller to fit this card.  I can't wait for my order to come.  As I look at this I can see that the "Happy Father's Day" image would be SO cute if it were punched out with the new "Postage Stamp" punch!   The image would have to be made even smaller for it to fit in the punch.  Anyway, there's lots of fun stuff coming up so I'm pretty sure I can leave this ship set behind for a bit and play with something else!!!  

Thanks for putting up with me today!
Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by,

Wanda

The Open Sea Birthday Card

I was SO thrilled when I saw the new Summer mini catalog had some wonderful masculine stamps.  "The Open Sea" is one of them!  I don't have my stamp set yet but I did purchase the download so I could play with it.  And I did need a card before the order would arrive so why not?  The download was only $4.  I do love downloads and the only disadvantage to them is you can't heat emboss with them. 

If the ship in the mini is the accurate size then this ship is almost twice as big.  One thing with downloads is you can shrink or stretch the image and if you stretch it too much you get a window reminding you that if you keep the image as big as you selected it could pixelate.  That just translates into a grainy image.  

I used a couple of other images form that set too.  I chose the globe and the log register.  The globe covers the entire background and I set the opacity to 50%.  It's a computer version of stamping off.  The log register was moved to the left side and I chose Early Espresso for the color and then did the same thing with the opacity.  I didn't want it to be a solid image since the ship was to go on top of it all.  

I added the ship and chose Night of Navy for my color.  I did stretch the ship out to it's maximum allowable size.  I also used the compass up in the upper right corner.  Kind of like the sun because I chose More Mustard for the color and I did not change the opacity level of that image.  

The words are from the "All Holidays" download.  I just left them in black and they were set on the image the size it opened up to on the screen.  I do regret not moving them up a bit higher and over a bit more to the left.  I really wanted a bigger layer showing.  But all in all I think it turned out just fine.  A GREAT masculine card for my nephew's birthday on the 8th.  Which also happens to be our wedding anniversary of which we will be celebrating a couple of days after that since we both are too busy to make it on Friday the 8th or Saturday the 9th.  I don't know when our lives got to be so busy!!!!

This is only the second card I've made using the "My Digital Studio."  I rather enjoyed it and am amazed at how quickly a card can go together with this.  I can always add embellishments to it if I wanted or had any that would work with the image. But I'm just going to leave it like it is because I really do like it! Isn't it a great masculine card?

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda