Tuesday happens. Usually right after Monday! Says Captain Obvious. And what does that have to do with today’s post? Not much OTHER than the fact that Tuesday heralds the arrival of BRAND NEW WEEKLY DEALS! See what’s on offer this week at the bottom of this post. Hint: there’s a lot of good Valentine’s Day card tools for you!
So – last week, I faced a conundrum brought on by my very severe case of procrastination. Last Saturday was our friends twin boys 22nd birthday (I’m sure an apostrophe is needed somewhere here, but….?). Now, I totally knew that. My phone obediently told me – on THURSDAY! – that their birthday was Saturday. Did I respond then? Of course! – I ran out and got a couple of presents and then I sat down and toiled over two wonderful cards for them. They were unique. They were the same and yet different (as things for twins often are). I spent hours on both of them. She said – never. For certain I did nothing of the kind. I TOLD myself to do all those things and then….I didn’t.
Saturday rolls around and it’s getting time to head over for birthday dinner. I cleverly and creatively determine that the very best gift for young men is something that always fits. Is always the right size. Is versatile in the extreme. Cash! And then I sit down at my craft table and think…..now what?
Below is what I came up with. I think, considering I didn’t use any Blog sketches or ideas from anywhere other than my very own noggin, that they turned out pretty good. And, considering how quickly I made them both – they certainly qualify as Quick and Easy!
Both cards started with Crumb Cake Cut and Ready card bases. These are so beyond handy to have! Both cards are matted with card stock – Night of Navy and Cajun Craze (I’ll trust your deductive reasoning to determine which went where!). For the blue card, the front started with a piece of Typeset DSP, that I sponged with Night of Navy ink. After I SNAIL’d the DSP to the CS, I “stitched” the edge of the CS with my white gel pen.
I cut the tag from a piece of Night of Navy CS, using the Chalk Talk Framelits, and then stamped it with a background wood-grain stamp in white. Mine is a generic one that I’ve had in my stash for a while, but the stamp that comes with the Build a Bouquet stamp set would work swimmingly well (probably better!). And then “stitched” it up – by now, I was apparently going for a “denim-y” theme.
The sentiment is from Sassy Salutations in white on Night of Navy CS, also cut with one of the dies in the Chalk Talk set. Also stitched. I SNAIL’d them to the card front and then glued a bow made from a little piece of Painted Blooms Cotton Twine (Occasions catalog) to the top of the tag. The front is popped out with Dimensionals onto the card base.
The other card again started with a mat, and this time I used a piece of the Motley Monsters DSP (OBTW – I just checked this morning, and this cute DSP is still available in the Clearance Rack for only $4.39!). I sponged the edges with some Crumb Cake ink and SNAIL’d it to it’s Cajun Craze mat.
Then I cut a couple of “happy” die cuts with the Hello You Thinlits (Occasions). One is Cajun Craze and the other is black. I used some multipurpose liquid glue to adhere them together – just to give it a little depth. I used a little more to glue the happy layers to the card front. Note: SU Multipurpose Liquid Glue is excellently strong and a little goes a long way! The second part of the sentiment is cut using the Note Tag Punch (Occasions) from more of the woody Motley Monsters DSP, edges sponged and the sentiment (from the Crazy About You bundle that I bought with the Hello You Thinlits!) inked with Crumb Cake ink. I layered that piece on another Note Tag punched from Cajun Craze CS – a little offset to create a “shadow” – and then stuck it under the Happy with some SNAIL and glued a tiny Linen Thread bow on. I popped it with Dimensionals on to the card base, and called both cards complete.
At this point, I would usually show you the inside of my cards. But, I forgot to take any pictures, so….that would be hard to do. Or, even, impossible! But, they each had a piece of Very Vanilla CS put into them to give me a place to write, and I stamped the liners with “Celebrate”, from the Good Greetings set, in Night of Navy and Crumb Cake respectively (and amazingly I even got the right color into the right card!). Wayne and I wrote a little note, added the show-me-the-money-honey, and off we went to dinner! And – unless they happen to read this blog, they’ll never know that I didn’t do all this on Thursday when my phone Notification went off – thereby preserving my reputation as an organizational wizard (she says again – never!).
So – a couple of ideas for quick birthday cards. Hope that you like them, and can/do add them to your cards-on-hand-for-those-“sudden”-emergencies! ;0
One other little piece of “fun” stuff. I spent some time last Saturday with Amy Koenders and Sue Prather at the Heritage Rubber Stamp show up in Lawrenceville (Heather Van Looy was there for a little bit, but had to leave soon after I arrived). Finally got to meet Amy in person, after having e-mailed with her and joined the company because of her (my husband says “Thank you very much, Amy!). We had a great time – and met a lot of fun folks who stopped by to make our completely cute make-and-takes (designed by the very talented Sue). They featured the new Bow Builder Punch – which is really great and easy to use (I’d never used it before Saturday and was able to pick it up by watching a couple be made – so, yea, it’s pretty easy!). It’s definitely on my wish-list now. Anyway – here’s a couple of pics of the festivities! That’s me on the left-left!
Be sure to check out the new Valentine’s-ready Weekly Deals!
TTFN
Mary
FEBRUARY 1 – 28 HOSTESS CODE: RKBPBNYM Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me! But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift for February is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!
Here are the card cuts for today’s projects – both start with Crumb Cake Cut and Ready Card Bases
Night of Navy Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (mat); Thinlits Tags;
Cajun Craze Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (mat); Hello Die cut
Basic Black Card Stock: Hello Die cut
Very Vanilla CS: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (inner liner)
Typeset DSP: 3 3/4″ x 5″ (card front)
Motley Monsters DSP: 3 3/4″ x 5″ (card front); Note tag for sentiment
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Great save! I’m sure gifts AND classy cards were well-received.
Well, their good kids, so….even if they thought they were cheesy, they’d never say so!
Fantastic cards Mary! I love the “denim” look card…awesome use of stamps and the white gel pen! And definitely tell your husband that I said, “you’re welcome!!’ 😉
LOL! And, thanks for the nice comment! 🙂
Love your cards Mary, I’m with Amy, I really like that Denim look!…and the booth you all had looks amazing and sounds like you had an awesome event, way to go.
Thanks so much, Sandy. We did have a good time – and it was great to meet Amy and the other ladies! 🙂