Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge PPA213

I totally missed this Pals Paper Arts Challenge (PPA213) this week, so this is going to be an uber quick post.  There's something about the timing on their challenges, that I keep missing.  It must be the East Coast time slot.  Oh well, I'll get it right next time.

Here's the sketch that got my interest up:

Here's My Card:

This is another Masculine Birthday card made with Maritime Designer Series Paper and the Open Sea stamp set.  If you like this Maritime DSP there's still time to get in on the Designer Series Paper Buy 3 Get The Fourth for Free - this special promo ends on July 31st. 

I'm so sad that the Perfectly Penned stamp set was retired this year.  It's one of my faves for masculine cards.  An alternative to this set is Sassy Salutations

The Happy Birthday sentiment in the Sassy Salutations stamp set isn't as large in this stamp set, however it's still got a heavy masculine quality to it.  The other bonus is the additional great sentiment stamps in this set, such as Feel Better and Congratulations. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  The Open Sea, Perfectly Penned (retired)
Ink:  Night of Navy, Real Red, Coastal Cabana
Designer Series Paper:  Maritime
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Night of Navy, Read Red
Accessories:   2 1/2" Circle Punch, 3" Circle Framelit, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Square Punches, Adhesive and Dimensionals.

Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens

Nautical Birthday Card

We're still basking in the sunshine here on the West Coast, and while it's been a tad hotter than is comfortable, no one, and I mean no one, is complaining.  It finally feels like summer has arrived. 

Today I want to share a masculine birthday card that began as an"idea forming", while I was making my Nautical Get Well card earlier in the week. 

How does one get an "idea forming"?  Well, to begin with, I was really inspired by the Maritime Designer Series Paper I was working with and wanted to make something else with it. The designs are beautiful.  

About the same time, I saw a card post featuring the Paper Pals Arts Colour Challenge PPA211 and I really liked the bold statement it made.  Although it was too late to participate in the challenge, I never let that hold me back, after all it's the idea that counts.

Finally, an idea started to come together in my mind, around combining the colour challenge, the Maritime DSP and a "wow easel card" design I'd made some time ago.  Once I could visualize how it would all come together I thought this will make a great card.  And guess what?  It did!

So let's begin with the Colour Challenge:

The bold combination of Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White really got my wheels turning.  

Since the piece of Maritime Designer Series paper I was working with was a mixture of Night of Navy and Whisper White, I was already two thirds of the way towards making my card.  All I had to do was add the Daffodil Delight into the mix and that was definitely a no-brainer.

Here's My Card:

If this isn't Nautical, then I don't know what is!  Here's the front view of my card.  It's a little difficult to see the side panels and folds of the easel, but you will in the next picture. 

I think this is such a manly card but imagine making it for a guy who loves the ocean or sailing. Even better!  For me, I love the colour match-up and the simple lines of the card. In this side view you get a better idea of how the side folds work. Here are a few more pictures showing some of the detail. 

Here's a view of the inside of the card.  Again plain and simple.  And what a bonus, there's lots of room to write on.

I used my Stampin' Up! Trimmer to cut and score this card.  The card base is Daffodil Delight and measures 4 1/4 x 11.  The card base can't be folded until all the score lines and cuts have been made.  Once that's done then the card will basically fold in on itself - so be patient.

I know the stamp set Perfect Punches is long retired, but I'll never get enough of this "happy birthday" sentiment.  I enjoy using it because it goes with almost all my masculine card themes.  It's kind of bold and "manly" script and it's got those non-feminine (in my mind) swirls going on.

Don't you love this ship's wheel?  Looks complicated to make right?  Actually its very simple to make.  Using the Word Window punch cut out eight spokes. Switch to a Crop-a-dile or whatever eyelet setting tool(s) you have to add the eyelet to the end of the spoke. Once you've got them all made, you simply arrange the spokes evenly around the circle. I found it easier to get them evenly spaced using the "clock method" and my grid paper first.  The clock method is simply lining up in this order:  12:00 o'clock, 6:00 o'clock then at 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o"clock.  Then fill in the gaps at 1:00, 5:00, 7:00 and 11:00.  I used glue dots to adhere them to the back of the Night of Navy circle.  Although you can't see it I covered up all the spokes on the back with another circle. 

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  The Open Sea, Perfect Punches (retired)
Ink:  Night of Navy
Card Stock:  Night of Navy, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Designer Paper:  Maritime DSP 
Accessories:  Circle Framelits, Large Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Silver Elastic cord, 8 silver medium sized eyelets, Crop-a-dile, Trimmer, Dimensionals, Adhesive.

 I hope you enjoyed my card and will leave me a comment.  

Happy Stamping! 
Penny Tokens

Soccer Theme Birthday Cards using PPA205

Earlier this week I planned to work on the Paper Pals Art Sketch Challenge PPA205 and enter it before the closing on May 27th, but guess what?  That's right, I didn't finish in time.  

My friend Sheri and I decided to tackle it anyway during our Tuesday stamping get-together just because this is such a fun sketch. We both thought it had potential as there are just so many possible ways you could use it.  

I wish I'd taken pictures of my stamping table because during our collaboration on the card it was just chaotic.  I think we hauled out most of my stamps before deciding to create our cards using the Great Sport stamp set.  

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s):  Great Sport, Work of Art, Elements of Style 
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Memento Black Ink, Versa Mark Ink
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Melon Mambo and Whisper White
Accessories:  Banner Framelits, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Starburst Framelits, Black Embossing Powder, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Basic Rhinestones, dimensionals, Tom Bow adhesive

My motive for this card was creating a birthday card for a teenage girl who's an avid soccer player.  I think I scored on this one!

I made a top fold card and rotated the design so the banners are facing downwards like an award ribbon.  Although the card has a sports theme, I wanted it to be really girly girl in style and that's why I chose to do it in Melon Mambo.

The soccer ball was embossed using Versa Mark Ink and Black Embossing Powder.  It was added to the center of the design with dimensionals.  Three basic rhinestones add a little bling on this part of the card.  I cut out the central design using the Starburst Framelit Dies and mounted this on a basic black circle that was punched out with the 2 1/2" circle punch.

The chevron banners were stamped with the brand new Work of Art Stamp set that will be available in the June 1st catalogue.  They were cut out with the Banner Framelit dies and mounted on Melon Mambo banners.  (Note: the Melon Mambo banners were cut out with the next largest sized banner die but it was too big for these pennants, so I adhered the chevron banner position the "v" over top of the one on the Melon Mambo banner and then hand cut about 1/8" off of each side of the pennant, to achieve this look).

Here is a view of the card and matching envelope.

I made three of these cards in Melon Mambo.

Here's the inside of the card.  I repeated the flourish stamp from Great Sport and topped it with a Happy Birthday sentiment that's mounted on a 1 3/8" circle of basic black. 

 

Great Sport, item #132010 is a six piece stamp set  that comes in Wood Mount for $32.95 or Clear Mount for $24.71.  This set has a little something for ever sports enthusiast -baseball, basketball, football, soccer and can be used to create invitations, tags, or to embellish scrapbook pages for your favorite sports lovers. Use with the 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punches and the Bitty Banners Framelits Dies for a coordinated look that hits it out of the park!   It's on the retiring list and will no longer be available after June 1st.