Muse Monday #6

photo from Pinterest

photo from Pinterest

Today's Muse Monday is inspired by Pinterest and JCrew. I've gushed enough about the things I find on Pinterest and you all know I love me some JCrew. They make preppy cool. When it came time to make a birthday card for my friend Wade, I knew it would have to be colorful, and where better to look for inspiration than a JCrew catalog. Wade and his husband Lalo are some of the most interesting people I know. It's always a good time, and this birthday did not disappoint. Lalo organized a happy hour, but it was the details he put into the event that made it special. The theme was old school flight attendant (think Pam Am). From the invites-boarding passes on flight 38 (Wade's age) to the luggage filled with vintage scarves, nothing was missed.  When you untied your vintage scarf, you found wings, peanuts, pretzels, and a bottle of liquor like you get on the plane.  It was fantastic! Then, to top it off, we had a paper airplane contest- we had to each make a paper airplane (not so easy when you haven't made one for YEARS) and then see who's would fly the farthest. I took second (my husband won-what do you expect, he's an engineer). All in all, it was a fun night and I think the card represented Wade well.

Materials:
Paper: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Beet (PaperSource), Leaf (PaperSource), Lavender Moon (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Table Servce (Both Papertrey Ink)
Ink:Night Sky (Versa Magic), Versa Mark
Other: Cupcake Collection Die (Papertrey Ink), Glitter

The Magic of Oz

Forty and Fabulous. That's the mantra my BFF and I are sharing this year. We both turn 40. Can you believe it? I feel like 30 was just a few years ago, not 10. Anywho...last year my card for her was her favorite football team-Cowboys (Check it out here). This year I went with one of her favorite movies-The Wizard of Oz. How can you not like a movie that has red glitter shoes in it? They scream fabulous to me. Not to mention I think every girl under the age of 6 has a pair in her closet. Oh, and my BFF just moved back to her home town, so I thought the theme was also fitting. It's true what they say, "There's no place like home". Happy Birthday Remy!

Materials:
Paper:Wizard of Oz paper (Graphic 45),  Black (Papertrey Ink), Sf White (PaperSource), Clear Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Glitter (JoAnn), Brads (Michaels), hand drawn shoe

Muse Monday #3

 

It's already Monday? Where do the weekends go? This lovely trinket will get your week started off right. Another weekend, another birthday! I think we've had a birthday celebration every weekend since September and the trend looks to continue right on through October. Today's muse is Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere. I adore, and I mean ADORE, her style. She makes everything look laid back CA cool, but still pulled together. Check out her blog to learn more, she's like a mini Martha Stewart. She cooks, she decorates, she's in fashion... amazing!

Photo courtesy Cupcakes and Cashmere

One other source of inspiration was this room-can't say enough how much I love pinterest and the things I find. I so want to do this to one of my rooms. Once again, great inspiration for my cards. Don't you just love that chandelier. Oh, and the bedding? I swoon!

Photo courtesy Pinterest

Materials:
Paper: Sft White (Papersource), Peacock (PaperSource), Lemon Tart (PTI) Thrift Shop Polka Dot (October Afternoon), Thrift Shop Doily (October Afternoon)
Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments (PTI)
Ink: Jet Black (StazOn)
Dies: Signature Series Dress Form (PTI), Table Service (PTI), Bigz Top Note (Stampin' Up)
Other: Ribbon (Stella Rose), Pearls (Hero Arts), 

Crystal

My BFF's birthday was earlier this month, but she celebrated it this weekend by throwing party on a boat. The weather was perfect and we had tons of fun. I had been brainstorming on what to make her for a few weeks and then it finally hit me...Crystal!! Crystal is the name of her Gucci luggage bag. The thing is huge! As you can see, it's almost as big as her! Nothing's too good for this girl. Happy Birthday Halina! Cheers to another great year. XO

Materials:
Paper: SFT White, Strawberry, Paper bag (All papersource)
Stamps:Alphabet set (Joann's), Big Birthday Wishes (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Woodgrain Impression plate (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Ribbon (Michael's), Copic Markers

Silhouette

I've got a LOT of birthdays this month, which means I've been making a lot of cards. I try not to make the same one twice, making them as unique as possible. At times, I lose my creativity and have to look for inspiration elsewhere. When I need some creative inspiration, I look to Pinterest. A word of caution if you haven't been on yet... it can suck you in and the next thing you know, you've lost a couple hours.  Since I was short on time to make this card, I turned to my jewelry collection for ideas. This card was inspired by a cameo I have from my mom. I love the pink and black combo. Chic, Simple and classic.

Materials:
Paper: Sweet Blush (PTI), Stamper's Select White (PTI), Black (PaperSource)
Stamps: Flourish (PaperSource), Simple Sentiments (PTI)
Ink: Frost White (ColorBox), Versa Mark
Dies: Signature Series Dressform, Mat Stack #4, Double Ended Banners (All PTI)
Other: Damask Impression Folder (Stampin' Up)

Birthday Shoe

It was my girlfriend's birthday this past weekend and you know what that means-I made her a card. I think this might be my new favorite. I found a template online to make the shoe shape and then created the shoe to look like a chevron printed Louboutin. I think it looks fantastic. My girlfriend loves shoes more than anyone I know- she's even built a separate closet for just shoes. It showcases them beautifully. Hopefully she loves the card as much as I do. 

Materials:
Paper: Stamper's Select White (PTI), Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Paper bag (PaperSource)
Stamps: Background Basics Chevron Stripes (PTI), Tiny Tags (PTI), Wonderful Word Additions (PTI)
Ink:Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Wonderful Words (PTI)
Other: Online Template (Sara Sandberg) Baker's Twine (PTI)

Mehndi Medallions Birthday

I was so excited when I got this stamp set recently. I love mehndi and this stamp is a great replica of the wonderful Indian tradition-it's so intricate and beautiful. My girlfriend's birthday was this past weekend and this was the perfect design for her card. I'm loving how it turned out. Can't wait to make some invitations for our Indian themed party in early fall.

Materials:

Paper: Sft White (Paper-Source), Leaf (Paper-Source), Peacock (Paper-Source)

Stamps:Mehndi Medallions (Papertrey Ink), Wonderful Words Additions (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:Turquoise (VersaMagic) Night Sky (VersaMagic)

Other: Wonderful Words Die (Papertrey Ink)

30th Birthday {Card Post}

A week ago, my friend Anne turned 30. Her boyfriend threw her a fantastic party a great Pub in Minneapolis. It was such a great time. My first time meeting Anne was an all girls Valentine dinner at my place a few years back. It was when she was first introduced to my Trifle (posted here) and I think that's why we hit it off. I like a girl who loves to indulge in all things dessert and this was no exception. By the end of the evening, all of us were digging into the bowl with our spoons. It was the best Valentine's Day ever believe it or not. 

Materials:
Paper:Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink), Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Grey (   ) Silver on Sunrise (Paper-Source)
Ink:Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies:Signature Series Dressform (Papertrey Ink), Mat Stack #4 (Papertrey Ink), Wonderful Words (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Jewels (Michael's)

Birthday Desserts

Remember last week when I posted about this dinner party? Well, it was Kathryn's birthday and my main reason for attempting the red velvet cheesecake.  This was the card I made her. I'll admit that I made numerous versions of this card until I found the right color combo and layout. Sometimes it's a longer process that I'd like. My creativity isn't like on-demand tv. I can't just turn it on when I want to (although I wish it was!). HA.

Materials:
Paper:Ripe avocado (Papertrey Ink), Peacock (Paper-Source), Melon berry (Papertrey Ink), Striped paper (All about girls stack by DCWV)
Stamps:Cupcake Collection (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Cupcake die (Papertrey Ink), Ribbon (Michael's), Copic Marker in peach (R32)

Crazy for Navy

I might have a slight obsession with navy. I've never really been a fan of the color, preferring black or grey. Then BAM, out of nowhere I seem to have more navy than I know what to do with. All my purchases at JCrew last week were navy and I bought these super cute Superga sneakers (in navy!) from Zappos today. I'm patiently waiting my purple gingham ones from Gilt (photos to come soon). 

My realization to this new obsession hit me this weekend when I made a navy card for my friend's 30th birthday party.  I love navy and olive together (obviously, did you see my post yesterday?) and it seemed most appropriate for a guy's card.

Materials:

Paper: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up), Ripe Avocado(Papertrey Ink), Pacific Vineyard (Papertrey Ink)

Stamps:Birthday Bash Sentiments, Fillable Frames #8 (Both Papertrey Ink)

Dies: Fillable Frames #8, Mat Stack #4 (both Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Night Sky (Versa Magic)

Ribbon: JoAnn's

Make it Monday {Papertrey Ink}

It's been a while since I participated in a "Make it Monday" Challenge. After watching this week's video on Nichole's blog about using their dies as embossers, I knew this technique would be perfect for my girlfriend's birthday card. I had started a card for her three different times and just couldn't get the creative juices flowing. I knew I wanted to use the dress form in some way. I originally started with that being the item embossed, but after a few not so great tries, I got the idea to use the fillable frames #10 die as a mirror for the dress form. I'm super excited about the end result and will be using this technique a lot more. Kris- Happy Belated Birthday... I'll be packing this with me to Maui and you'll get it then!

Materials:
Paper: Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink), Destination Paradise Printed papers (Me & my big ideas paper pad)
Stamps: Signature Series Dress form (Papertrey Ink), Fillable Frames #10 (Papertrey Ink)
Die: Fillable Frames #10 (Papertrey Ink), Dress form (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Orchid (Colorbox) Versa Mark
Embroidery Thread
Jewels: Micheals

Papertrey Ink {Make it Monday}

As I've mentioned before, Papertrey Ink is celebrating their four year anniversary. Along with this celebration comes contests and challenges where you can win some REALLY great prizes. Today, we were introduced to Make it Mondays and I'm quite giddy about this. Every Monday they will post a new technique video and challenge us to use this new technique to make a card. Through out the week they will pick a "special" project and tweet it. At the end of the week, one of the special projects will be selected as the grand prize winner. This winner will get to chose a stamp set of their choice. Because I'm always looking for new techniques and ALWAYS making cards for friends, family, and co-workers, I plan to participate regularly. Today marks the first Make it Monday and the challenge is to go through your stamp sets and find a common sentiment and make a card using those stamps. It just so happens, that I needed to make a Birthday card this week, so that is the sentiment I made. 

Materials:
Paper: Poppy (PaperSource), Gravel (PaperSource), Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink), Mat Stack 2 (Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Tag Sale 1 (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Versa Mark
Ribbon: Memories (Joann Fabrics)

Ticket to celebrate {Birthday card}

It took me some time to get my creativity flowing for my 3rd and final birthday card tonight. It's difficult for me to make cards for guys. I typically like to make girly cards related to fashion that include embellishments, ribbon, glitter, etc. Not exactly what you would put on a card for a guy. So after some thought, this is what I came up with. It's simple, to the point, and the colors are masculine. 

Materials:
Paper: White (yours truly), Moss (Papersource), Peacock (Papersource), Pool (Papersource)
Ink: Versa Mark, Night Sky (Versa Magic)
Stamps: Just the Ticket (Papertrey Ink), Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey ink)
Dies: Bigz Top Note (Stampin' Up), Just the ticket (Papertrey Ink)
Ribbon: recycled from a gift

Enjoy the Ride

A friends birthday snuck up on me two weeks ago and I finally got around to making the card. This one took some thought. I find it's always harder to make guys cards - they don't like any of the fashion things I like to make. Since he likes to ride his Harley any chance he gets, that was my inspiration. I hope he likes it.

Materials:
Cardstock: True Black, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Colored Pencils: Stampin' Up Watercolor Pencils, Colorless Blender (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink), Snoopy and his sidekick (Stampabilities)

Cute as a button

It's been a while since I've posted a card project - mainly because I've been so busy I haven't had time to work on any. A friend's sweet little girl turns one this weekend and when I got the invite to her party, I knew I had to make her a card. The invite was done in green and brown, and coincidently, I had just received my new green ribbons, buttons and paper from Papertrey Ink.

With the color scheme in mind, I set out to create a simple card. I think it turned out sweet, yet still chic. What do you think?

Materials used:
Paper: New Leaf, Pine Feather, White (all Papertrey Ink)
Ribbon: Pine Feather (Papertrey Ink)
Buttons: Pine Feather (Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Mat Stack 4 (Papertrey Ink), Bigz Top Note (Sizzix for Stampin' Up), Happy Birthday (Sizzix)
Stamp: Duck (Inkadinkadoo), Candle (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Timber Brown, Jet Black (Staz-on)
Markers: Eggshell, Sunburst Yellow, Pale Vermillion, Apple Green (all Prismacolor)

Card-igan

After a quick trip to LA for work earlier this week, I'm back home working hard to get invites out for the Shop and Share event I'm hosting at J.Crew next week. I changed my design from the original sketches because as I was waiting to board the plane, I had an idea to use a sweater for the card. The card would be a cardigan opening where the buttons normally are. My inspiration was J.Crew's Infinity cardigan. I always travel with it. It's versatile in any temperature and great for layering. When I set out to make the cards, I decided to make each card different, but within the same color scheme of cream and black. I added a ribbon closure to keep the card shut. I think they turned out wonderful.  What do you think?

Shop and Share sample cards

Materials:

Paper: Sft White (Paper*Source), Black and cream printed paper asst (La Creme matstack by DCWV) Black Cardstock (Archivers)

Ribbon: Black  (Michaels)
Sweater pattern: drawn by hand and used as template

Hats off to you!

I'll be posting a lot more cards this week - a co-worker had a baby, I have a wedding to go to, and it seems everyone has a birthday coming up in the next few weeks. The first card this week is for a friend of mine who is turning 30. I remember when I turned 30, I thought it was the end of being hip, but I soon realized you are only as old as you feel. This leopard print fedora was my inspiration (we all know how much I LOVE leopard print - see this post). Since I didn't have a stamp or die cut to make the hat, I had to draw it free hand.  Then, I used my copic markers to color the leopard print. I think it turned out pretty good and I hope she likes it!

Materials:

Paper: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Sft White (Paper*Source), Peacock (Paper*Source)

Copic Markers: Burnt Umber (E29), Yellow (Y06), Black (100),  Colorless blender

Ink: Staz On Timber Brown

Impression plate: Vintage Wallpaper (Stampin' Up)

Twine: Archiver's