Birthday Wishes

Birthday Wishes is the simple sentiment on this card.  Everything Eleanor creates a lovely background for the sentiment, and Primrose Petals Core'dinations paper with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder and sanding block make a wonderfully soft background for the entire card.  Delicate Details Lace Tape and Basic Pearls are the finishing touches.  The base of the card is Midnight Muse, layered with Raspberry Ripple CS.  Sorry for the poor lighting in the photo.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Guest Stampers

These are some of the cards made for a swap by one of my Stamp Clubs.  These ladies have grown so much in their stamping creativity.  I love to see what they can create.

This card with the lovely velvet DSP was made by Billie Pryce.  It is simple and elegant. 

This Valentine was created by Judy Besancenez.  She used lots of texture & dimension and created bling simply by using Red Glimmer Paper. 

 This cute little Valentine pouch came with a yummy Ghiradelli chocolate square inside.  Yum!  Julie Morgan created this one.

This chalkboard Valentine was created by Melanie Papciak.  It is whimsical and kind of nostalgic, since  white boards and smart boards are most commonly used now.  Chalk boards are becoming a thing of the past.  I loved my chalk board when I was a kid!  I especially loved the colored chalk. 

Directions for the Gift Bag Card

Following is a simple tutorial for making the Gift Bag Card.

It really is a fun and easy project to make the Gift Bag Card.  I am not usually a fan of combining two different DSP patterns, but these dots and stripes just screamed to be used together.  LOL!  I used one 8 1/2" x 11" piece of Pacific Point CS, scored at 5 1/2".  I layered a piece of  5 1/4" x 8 1/4" DSP to the front.  I rounded the bottom corners on both the Pacific Point and the DSP and put the ribbon handles on with glue dots.  I added a couple strips of  the striped DSP to the front of the bag to create a little interest and give it the appearance of being taller than it really was.  The For You sentiment was stamped twice:  first with Pacific Point, then Melon Mambo ink.  I punched out the Melon Mambo center with the Large Oval Punch, and popped that up with dimensionals on the Pacific Point image that I had cut out with the Apothecary Accents Framelits.  Then I adhered the pieces to the front with more dimensionals and added the bling.  Again using  dimensionals, I added the strip with the scalloped edge to overhang by 1/2".  I cut the strip 6" x 1 1/4" before running it through the big shot with the Adorning Accents Scalloped Edge.

For the inside left, the 5 1/4" x 8 1/4" Very Vanilla CS is simply adhered with snail, again rounding the bottom edges.  On the right side, I attached the tissue strips with snail and the ribbon handles with glue dots.  Then I attached the 5 1/4" x 8 1/4" DSP (bottom corners rounded) to a piece of  5 3/16" x 8 3/16" Very Vanilla CS (bottom corners rounded) for stability.  I cut the Very Vanilla CS 1/16" smaller than the DSP so I didn't have to worry about the CS peeking out from behind the DSP, just in case I wasn't precise with my layering.  This piece was then attached with dimensionals to the right side of the card.  Now you have created the illusion of tissue inside the bag.

Using Sticky Strip, I attached the pocket for the gift certificate, leaving the inside edge open so the gift certificate can slide in.  I added the piece of Pacific Point CS scalloped with the same Adorning Accents Edgelit to the pocket before I adhered it, just to break up the two DSP patterns.  You can make the pocket as wide/deep as you like, depending on the size of your gift certificate.  I made my gift certificate personalized on the computer.  The one in the picture is my tester.  The finished one was printed on Very Vanilla CS and mounted on black CS.  I wanted the recipient's name and amount hidden, so she would be even more surprised when she pulled out the certificate.  That's how I determined the width of my pocket.  The only part showing was the words Gift Certificate.

I stamped Happy Retirement in Pacific Point ink on Very Vanilla CS and punched it out with the Word Window Punch.  I layered this with the Modern Label Punch in Pacific Point and popped it up on dimensionals on the pocket.

You will have to custom make an envelope using a 12" x 12" piece of matching DSP.  I used the dots, since the inside then matched the topper on the card/bag.  Since the card was so large and I didn't want to bend the handles, I put the card in the envelope keeping one of the short ends open and just had the top of the bag showing.  It was more of a pocket this way than an envelope.  I tied a piece of matching Melon Mambo Striped Organdy Ribbon around the envelope with a bow for a finishing touch.  Obviously, it would have to be hand-delivered or mailed in another larger manilla envelope.  I used this video as a tutorial for my envelope:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RteEo44re7M. 

Gift Bag Card

Here is the Gift Bag Card I made for my Aunt Phyllis.  It was a retirement gift to her from her co-workers on her last day of work.  It contained a gift certificate for $215 in Stampin' Up! products!  Wow, was she surprised, especially since her close friends had taken her out for a retirement dinner celebration and presented her with a $100 Stampin' Up! gift certificate a couple weeks prior!!!  She was definitely moved to tears.  I made it from a full size piece of card stock so there was room for lots of signatures.  I used the super fun new Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP (126922), Pacific Point and Very Vanilla Card Stock.  The sentiments come from Layered Labels (127072),  Friendly Phrases (126151), and Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370).  Melon Mambo and Pacific Point are the ink colors, the ribbon handles are the new 3/8" Melon Mambo Striped Organdy Ribbon (129293).  The Adorning Accents Edgelits (125595) created the sweet scalloped edge on the gift card pocket and on the bag top.  The punches I used were Word Window (119857),  Modern Label (119848), and Large Oval (119855).  Also used were Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246), and Dimensionals (104430).

This was so very much fun to make!  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.