Vintage Birthday Card for Mom

Happy Friday!!

MAN where did the day go ... or the week for that matter!  It's been a blur of no-schedule-what-so-ever, playdates, waterslides and sprayparks!  Today I was DETERMINED to clean the house ... alas the beautiful weather beckoned and off to the spray park we went ... again!  I finally finished my cleaning at 7:00 pm!!  Oh well ... it will all get done eventually, right?  Heck, here in Alberta we have 6 months of winter to clean house *lol*

Sooo ... it was technically bedtime for the girls 2 minutes ago but since they are still outside playing I guess THAT schedule is in the bin as well ... and that buys me a few minutes to post a card I made Tuesday.  Yes ... it was my mom's 72nd birthday on Tuesday so I figured I better make her a card!  Lucky for me she was busy and we weren't going to see her until Wednesday ... buying me more time to design something really special.

I love when I get to create a card for some one in particular.  Generic cards are nice but when it's for one person thw cards really are easier for me mentally.  My mom is a perfect example.  She loves vintage.  Her house is full of old furniture and nic-nacs from days gone by.  She has the old gramaphone, spinning wheel, pots, soap boxes, wash boards .. all sorts of treasures she has found at antique sales over the years.  Naturally I had to make her a "vintage"card.  The card took me about 2 hours to design.  I took my time and really enjoyed searchig through my papers, sets, inks an embellishments to find just what I wanted.  I really like how it turned out.  Here it is:

There are so many different little elements involved in this one.  Let me break it down for you.  I started with a piece of Very Vanilla cs for the base and made my own background using Sahara Sand with the new "Dictionary" stamp (page 100 - $16.95 clear; $21.95 wood) and the new "Off the Grid" set (page 108 $14.95 wood).  I also added a few splotches from the "Gorgeous Grunge" set (page 109 - $21.95 clear; $30.95 wood) in Pink Pirouette.  I even added a little touch of the "Very Vintage" wheel (page 104 - $10.50) here and there.  I distressed the edges with the distress tool (- page 157 - $6.95) and then used a finger dauber and inked the edges with Baked Brown Sugar.

The I got out my Tea Lace Doilies - page 156 - $3.95.  I inked one doilie with Sahara Sand ink ... and then heat set it so it would dry faster.  The doilies don't absorb the ink very quickly, as they are slightly shiny so this sped things up a lot!  The second doilie I sponged with Very Vanilla Craft Ink.  It didn't change the color a LOT but just enough so that it wasn't bright white.  I stamped the sentiment, from "From My Heart" - page 99 - $35.95 clear; $48.95 wood in Baked Brown Sugar and used my retired corner rounder on the corners (the retired rounder is a deeper "round" than the current one).  When I adhered the doilies down I added a small strip of Baked Brown Sugar 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim for a little color contrast - I really like how it added to the texture.  This ribbon is FABULOUS!! (page 173 - $12.50 per roll).  I popped the sentiment up on dimensionals.  Oh!  A little trick I used for the sentiment ... I didn't want to add the "James Taylor" that is along the bottom of the stamp ... so ... I grabbned a little piece of Washi Tape ... taped it onto the stamp ... inked the stamp and then REMOVED the washi tape and then stamped the image ... like this:

Along the bottom of the card I added 3 flowers from the flower trim that was in the last (retired) catalogue.  Yes, once again I never actually USED this product until it was retired (oh I TRIED a number of times but it never quite made it!)  I lightly sponged the flowers with Baked Brown Sugar and a little PInk Pirouette in the centre.  The highlight of the card is the butterfly.  I squealed when I made this little guy!!!  It's made from 6 layers of the Creped Filter Paper (page 156 - $3.95).  Again ... HAD it since January but it's never made it on a card until now!!!  I inked my butterfly from Papillon Potpouri )page 90 - $17.9 clear; $22.95 wood) in the new Smoky Slate ink.  I stamped it off on scrap paper TWICE to make it REALLY faint, and then stamped it on the crepe filter paper:

See?  VERY faint!  I then layered the crepe paper two thick and punched it out with the Elegant Butterfly punch (page 183 - $21.95).  You CAN punch a single layer but you almost always lose the little bottom tip of his wings (I'm sure those have a name but I certainly don't know what it is!  *lol*).  I stacked the 6 butterflies together, pierced a hole in the middle and added a brad.  I used a silver one I had.  I then added a Pink Pirouette Candy Dot on top.  Now.  You may wonder why the heck I didn't use the Candy Dot BASE that are meant to GO with the candy dots, rather than using a regular brad.  I wondered the same thing as I was taking a picture of the finished card.  It just didn't occure to me! *lol*  When I made it I first made the card I didn't have any pink on it ... it was after-the-fact that Rebeccas said "I don't mean to hurt your feelings but ... umm ... maybe it should have a little color on it" that I added the Pink Pirouette splotches, color to the flowers and the pink candy dot.  She was SO RIGHT!!  The pink pirouette TOTALLY added to the card and was the perfect soft shade of vintage pink to add a little interest ... so I added the dot to the brad totally forgetting that the candy dot base would have worked a LOT better *Lol* ... oh well ... next time!  Oh!  ... and I added 2 more candy dots to the sides of the sentiment.

I gave the card to mom and yes, she loved it.  It took a long time to make but it was very relaxing and enjoyable ... of course then there was the mess to clean up afterwards:

I MUCH prefer the creating to the cleaning!

That's it for today ... until next time, have a stampy weekend!


Tam