Birthday Meerkat

Sunday surprise post! ;)  I had a card to share on Friday, but I thought the color balance was off on it (like, on the actual card, not that my photo was terrible) so I decided to wait and redid the card yesterday.  I loved the color combination from Color Throwdown so I wanted to take another stab at it and do something different...and I ended up doing another birthday card with an animal on it ;)

Different animal, different sketch, and a slightly different take on the colors:

This time I used Melon Mambo, Balmy Blue, and Crumb Cake.  Also, I use the Stitched Shapes dies so often that they just live on my hutch where the die cut machine is, I don't bother to put them away anymore.

This time around I used the new sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch:

Do you want to see the first version?  Here it is:

It felt like way too much Crumb Cake and not enough Balmy Blue.  I liked the sentiment on a not-white circle idea, but it just didn't work on this particular card.

The hubs has taken our spawn to go play at an indoor playground so I'm going to enjoy my kid-free time!  I already did some yoga, and next I'm going to go play in my craft room.  I just got a giant order of Stampin' Up! goodies on Friday....

Cheers!

Supplies, first card only:
Stamps:  The Gang's All Meer, Birthday Backgrounds
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Balmy Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake Blends
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Balmy Blue, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals

Halloween Birthday Cat

Hey, y'all.  Well, it's official:  I have succumbed to whatever virus my kiddo and my husband have had.  I'm kinda miserable.  But I gotta keep moving forward!

My friend Sarah's daughter was born on Halloween, and Sarah *loves* Halloween. Sometimes they ask me to make birthday party invites for Leora (I'd be invited, but ever since we all left Japan, it seems like we've been living on different continents!).  So Sarah messaged me yesterday and said Leora wants something with spooky cats.  Here's my first try:

You can't tell from the picture, but the cat is embossed with Shimmer Black embossing powder (it looks really cool IRL).  I used this sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

And Sarah sent me a picture of what Leora's cake is going to look like:

I may do some tweaks or go in a different direction depending on what the birthday girl wants (she was already asleep by the time I made my first mock-up for her).  Hopefully I can kick this virus quickly so my creative mojo comes back!

Cheers, y'all.

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Wonderfully Wicked, Itty Bitty Birthdays, Birthday Backgrounds
Ink:  Versamark, Granny Apple Green, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Shimmer Black EP, Stitched Shapes dies, Dimensionals, black crocheted trim (retired), Word Window punch (also retired)

I Love the 80s

Mornin' y'all!  I'm still not feeling well but hoping I'll be back to 100% tomorrow.  In the meantime, we've got a new challenge at SUO Challenges!  This time it's all about birthdays which is appropriate since MY birthday is on Thursday.  Since I am a child of the 80s, I decided to go with an 80s theme for my birthday card.

Black with neon colors (Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, and a banner of Mango Melody) plus a tape deck that I'm just SURE is playing the Bangles (my favorite band).  The banner is popped up in the middle with two layers of Dimensionals, I should have taken a side view so you could see.  The two stamp sets I used are Free Cake and Birthday Backgrounds, I think both of those were on sale last October for the 30th birthday celebration for Stampin' Up.

And there's the inside of my card.  My husband on occasion tries to call 80s music "oldies" and I'm like "It's not oldies, it's RETRO!"

Hope you enjoyed this blast from the past today.  Go check out the SUO Challenges blog and I hope you'll play along!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Free Cake, Birthday Backgrounds
Ink:  Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes Framelits, Dimensionals

Proud Merry

Y'ALL.  I am completely incapable of passing up a good pun!  I was trying to think of a title for this blog post, and since the sentiment on my card is so large I was going to say "Loud & Proud" and then...

PROUD MERRY, Y'ALL.  I'm not even sorry.  And even if no one else thinks it's funny, I'll sit here in my little corner and cackle maniacally to myself because I think I'm hilarious.

So yeah, this started with the Just Add Ink challenge:
 

I think I have that covered.  In fact, the Large Letters Framelits are SO large that this is a 5x7 card to accommodate them.

Add in the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge:

Once again, turned on its side (I rotated the sketch I used for yesterday's card too).  Last up is the Color Throwdown:

I used Real Red, Coastal Cabana, and silver foil for the colors.  It took me a few tries to get a picture of this card (not least because it was rainy all day yesterday so not much natural light), so here's one where the silver foil isn't reflecting the camera flash:

This is the maiden voyage for Signs of Santa, which has lots of other cute little images and such in it, and also Birthday Backgrounds (on the red strip) which I got during the Stampin' Up! birthday sale in October.  The "Christmas" stamp is part of a longer sentiment in Snowflake Sentiments; I just inked up the word I wanted with a marker and stamped it.  I'm kind of in love with this card, it turned out exactly how I imagined it.

Well, I've gotta run.  Cheers and happy Friday, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Signs of Santa, Snowflake Sentiments, Birthday Backgrounds
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black & Coastal Cabana markers, Stampin' Blends in Real Red, Smoky Slate, and Petal Pink
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Silver Foil
Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Santa's Signpost Framelits, Dimensionals