Modern Medley and Scalloped Tag Topper Punch Birthday Cards

A friend recently asked me to make some birthday cards for her with the following specifications:

• both in black and white only
• one must include musical notes 
• one must have a bird  or two

 I designed the following cards to meet her criteria and I'm very pleased with the outcome.  Sometimes it really helps to have specifics, they work like a great sketch to plant the seed for creativity. 

Here are my cards: 

I really enjoy making cards with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  They always have that little "wow" factor going for them.  These cards were no exception.  Sadly, I didn't have any designer paper in black and white so I had to fall back on "winter white" by using Very Vanilla cardstock matched up with Modern Medley DSP.   

For the bird card I used Basic Black for the card base and Very Vanilla for the layers and then I reversed out for the second card using Very Vanilla for the base and basic black for the layers.  The designer paper is from Modern Medley* one of this year's very popular designer paper series. 

The little bird and leaf on this card were punched out of basic black cardstock with the Bird Builder Punch.  I added an extra wing and feathered both with my small scissors, just along the wing edge.  A basic rhinestone was used for the bird's eye.  The closure is made with 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, one of my absolute all time favourites.  It ties so beautifully, holds it shape and rarely frays.  The "happy BIG day" label is from the Chalk Talk stamp set and was die cut with the coordinating Chalk Talk framelit dies.  I popped it up on the face of the card with dimensionals. 

For the inside of the card I chose the sentiment "Warmest Wishes on your birthday" from the Blooming With Kindness stamp set.  I love this script, it's so beautiful. The three flowers image is from the Punch Potpourri stamp set (a retired hostess set). 

For the Musical Notes card I used Very Vanilla for the card base and then added a piece of designer series paper from the Modern Medley series. 

When I was finished this very quick to assemble card, it took my breath away.  It's clean, simple and yet very elegant and has a definite "wow" factor. 

I stamped the sentiment from the Chalk Talk set in Momento Black on Very Vanilla cardstock.  I used the next size up framelit in the Chalk Talk set to die cut a piece from basic black cardstock to mount the sentiment on.  To tie in the musical notes and take away the plainness of the card front I added three small basic pearls on either side of the label.  It's mounted to the card front with dimensionals.  

I just love the inside of this card.   It's clean and simple.  The basic black layer adds a rich look.   To make sure that the sentiment was hidden behind the ribbon when the ribbon is tied in a bow, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the sentiment between the two tag punch pieces.   It worked beautifully!

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Chalk Talk, Blooming with Kindness, and Punch Potpourri
Ink:  Momento Basic Black, 
Card stock:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper:  Modern Medley* DSP
Accessories:  a 10" piece of Very Vanilla 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, a 10" piece of Gros Grain Black ribbon, basic pearls, basic rhinestones, Bird Builder Punch, Chalk Talk Framelits, Tag Topper Punch

*The Modern Medley DSP is retiring and will no longer be available past May 31st, 2014.  It is currently reduced in price, so if you want it you'll have to order it today or tomorrow.  Don't be disappointed.  


Measurements can be found in my tutorial here:

I hope you enjoyed today's post and will leave me a comment as to which card you like the best.  I love hearing from you, it simply makes my day and encourages me to keep creating.  

Penny
Happy Stamping!

Convention Swaps Sneak Peak

The countdown is on! I leave for convention in just five more days! Before I go I thought I'd share a few more sneak peaks of my convention swaps.  I hope you enjoy them. Don't worry, I'm doing a full card reveal on Monday the 16th, so be sure to come back and see the finished cards.

Here's a peak at a card I've created for Patty Hargrove's 10+1 Full Card Swap Group 2 on Wed July 17, 2012. She's invited me to be captain for Group Two during the swap, and I'm so looking forward to this. What fun! 

Patty has worked really hard to pull this swap together and she's done a great job!  She's organized five groups of 10 swappers and a "No Show" group for this swap. 

This is a full card swap.  Each card must have at least 2-3 layers and one or more embellishments.  Only new stamp sets from the 2012/2013 Idea Book and Catalogue will be allowed and the list is fantastic.  I can't wait to post pictures of the swap and card samples. I know you're going to love them! 

Before I go on, I just wanted to say that for her "first time ever organizing a swap", Patty deserves a really big round of applause!  Being the Swap Organizer requires a lot of energy and organization and she's really worked on this one.  She's provided us with regular updates on who's participating the sets being used, as well as instructions we'll need once we're at Convention.  She's even collected all our phone numbers so we can be in touch before the session if anyone's late or whatever.  It's so exciting I just can't wait!. 

Click on this link to check out Patty's wonderful blog.  She's already posted pictures of some of her completed swaps she's and they look fabulous.  Great ideas here folks!

Okay here's a peak at my second swap: 



This is also for Patty Hargrove's 10+1 Full Card Swap - "No Show" List on Wed July 17, 2012.  This is an overflow group Patti set up just in case someone didn't show up for the swap. She calls us her "Angels in the Wings".  I guess it's appropriate I have wings on my card!  There are now seven of us in this group, and if none of the groups are shorted we'll be swapping amongst ourselves.  What fun!

 

And, last but not least, here's my third and final peak:  

These cards are for the Late Night Stampers 80+1 Swap on Friday July 20, 2012.  That's right 80+1.  This is a dinner event and will be one of the big highlights for the week.  I can't wait to see all the commotion as everyone gets together to swap!  

I had fun making these little birdies and you'll be surprised when you see them on the card.  One thing I can tell you is that after doing 80+ of these little suckers I was sure glad I own Stampin' Ups! Bird Builder punch!  LOL.  I simply couldn't imagine fussy cutting all these.