Nautical Cards for Some Special Men

Here are two additional cards that I made a couple of weekends back using the swing card or flip flop technique that I learned from a wonderful tutorial on this blog.

Here's a birthday card for our son:






This is the card closed.  I wanted to use the pretty teal/turquoise colors because it's one of his favorite colors.

To the right is a view as it begins to swing open, the ship panel will flip over to reveal the Happy Birthday panel on the other side.

Here is the card opened and laying flat.


The sailor's knot is tied from some decorative trim bought a couple of years ago from a sewing store.  The brads don't show up very well in the photos but the have sort of a nautical/compass style to them.  They are from SU.



The right panel is a cream/turquoise color of Mullberry paper that is stamped with some Stipple Shells by SU, using Creamy Caramel ink.

Below is a Thinking of You card for my Dad.  He was in the Navy and has always loved the ocean, ships, etc.

In case you are impressed with the Sailor's Knots, well...don't give me the credit!!  No matter how hard I tried, I just could not accomplish it on my own despite drawings, online videos, etc.  LOL

My husband came to the rescue and (of course) after a whole 3 minutes with a drawing, whipped up the first knot for our son's card.  Guess I'll keep him around for another 30 years, huh?!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for taking the time to leave your comments.  They always brighten my day.

Blessings to you and yours!

April 15th - It Isn't Just for Taxes!

That's right, the 15th of April is also the day we get our duel on.  A great group of card makers on Split Coast, calling ourselves the Dueling Darlings post our cards for a monthly challenge on the 15th.  Each month two of us hosts the challenge, sending kits to our team.

This month it was my turn to host for the Dazzlers and Tami hosted the Divas.  Since it is National Gardening Month we chose a floral theme and sent out the kits.

Here's what I came up with:

This is a double swing (or flip flop) technique that I learned a week ago.  There are many tutorials out there but this is the one that I used.  I changed the size a bit to suit my size of Nestie dies and the image.

Now, about the image...Tami and I agreed to use a floral image, of course I have LOTS of floral stamps.  But my problem came when trying to match DP with any of my images.  Nothing clicked, and I didn't want to go out and buy any more DP.

So I tried the opposite approach.  Starting with the DP that I did wand to use (SEI's Field Notes) this stamp from SU's Sweet Seasons practically jumped out of the case at me!  So that's what I ended up with for the kits.

Here's a view of the card beginning to open.





 And opened a little more:

And beginning to show the other side of the flip panel:

And, finally, fully opened and flat:

This card is going off to my Mom.  With a masculine card with the same fold for my Dad.  (I'll show you that one tomorrow).

I hope that the Dazzlers enjoyed creating something with my kit this month.  I tried to include a wide variety of goodies from my stash so that everyone could find something to play with!  Links to the Divas & Dazzlers are in my side bar.  Be sure to visit each of their blogs and leave them some much deserved love!

Thank you for dropping by today.  Enjoy!

Unidentified Image Swap Reveal!

Time to reveal our creations for the Unidentified Image swap on SCS!

Our hostess this round is Carol and she selected a darling image: "A Couple of Cuties" by Clear Art Stamps.  Here's the image after it was colored with Spectrum Noir and accented with Stickles and a Spica glitter pen:

Here's a view of the whole card.  The DP is slightly embossed and shimmery, it's from a pack by DCWV called "Garden Party".

I tried to capture the vintage theme of the image with the DP and lace accent.

Thank you Carol, for selecting such a great image for us to work with this round!  I can hardly wait to receive my swap returns and find out what the next hostess has chosen for us.  It's a surprise every time, and who doesn't like a happy surprise in their mailbox these days?  Thanks for stopping by!

Crafters of Faith March Challenge

A day late, probably more than a dollar short (haha), but at last I'm able to post my card for the March Crafters of Faith Challenge!  (you would not believe the technological challenges I've experienced in the last 4 days.  Fingers crossed that every thing is fixed and happy now)

Here's the challenge from our dear Jeanette:


"Since we will be posting on Easter Sunday – March 31 – and since we are Crafters of Faith, I’d like us to create a religious-themed Easter card. No Easter bunnies and such, but instead a card that focuses on the Risen Lord! It can include Scripture and/or images, but needs to focus on the religious aspect of the holiday.

He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:6)"

And here is my card:
The card base is Whisper White, layers are Barely Banana and Lavender Lace.  Pearls and ribbon from my stash, originating at local craft stores.

The cross is from a brass stencil by Dreamweaver.  I also used Dreamweaver's white embossing paste that I mixed with iridescent embossing glitter to give it sparkle.  You have to work quickly as the paste will set up fast.  Mix the paste with the glitter on a glossy surface (I used a coated paper plate), spread with your spatula or another tool.  Again, it's important to get it right on the first pass, because you can only make one more pass with your spatula, it sets that quickly.

Carefully remove the tape and lift your stencil from one side to the other, making sure that you don't smudge it during the process.  Let it finish drying for a few hours and then continue making your card.

I must say, that the camera is very unforgiving (haha).  In person, it looks much more smooth than the picture shows.

Thank you Jeanette for such an inspiring challenge for March!  And thanks to the other members of Crafters of Faith for overlooking my tardy posting.  Be sure to check out their beautiful creations - links are in my sidebar.  Thanks for stopping by!