A Happy 19th!

My niece, Molly, turns 19 in December this year. However, we decided that we would celebrate her birthday while she and her family were visiting for Thanksgiving. The current Stuck On U Die Cut Challenge to incorporate numbers in your project was the perfect inspiration for my niece’s card:

I decided to do something a little different from the standard A2 design and chose the side-step pattern for my card base, which is cut from Lagoon Cardstock. I used the hip and happenin’ Laughing Lola paper pack by Close To My Heart for the pattern paper. The sentiment, from the Just A Number stamp set, is stamped in Lagoon Exclusive Ink on White Daisy cardstock. I cut the sentiment out using a punch from my collection and layered it onto Black cardstock and Laughing Lola patterned paper and then popped it up with dimensional adhesive. I used two tiny black sequins from the Mini Medley Black Accent collection and added two bitty sparkles in the middle for some bling.

The 19 and Polaroid-style frames were cut using the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. I cut the 19 twice and used the White Daisy numbers as shadows for the plaid. The white makes the numbers pop off the raspberry background. The heart and polka dot background are both stamped in Lagoon Exclusive ink on White Daisy cardstock. I fussy cut around the heart and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. The polka dot background is layered on Black cardstock and Laughing Lola paper. I added a larger sequin and sparkle combo for pizzazz. The bow is made from Color Ready Seam Binding ribbon, to which I added a black sparkly button from the Mini Medley with a medium rhinestone from the Laughing Lola assortment attached to the center.

I cut the Polaroid frames twice–once in Laughing Lola and once in Lagoon cardstock and layered them together. This gives them a little extra stability so that I can attach them to the card off-center. I added some more Color Ready Seam Binding ribbon with a large button and bling combo to finish everything off.

Here’s a view from the side. The card is too thick at the base for a standard envelope (especially when you slide in a gift card!), so I created a little envelope box to pack it in.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For more number inspiration, stop by Stuck On U sketches and see the beautiful creations the rest of the design team has made for you. Have a fantastically creative weekend!

A Little Help From My (Furry) Friends

Hey All! Welcome to another die cut challenge from the Stuck On U Sketches team.

Some friends of mine just had a little baby girl last month. I’m a little late with the card and gift, but that just keeps the celebration going, right? Anyway, I decided to use the help of a few furry friends to welcome little Abigail into this fantastic, wild world. Let’s take a look:

For this A2 (5 1/2 x 4 1/4-inch) card, I used a White Daisy card base and added patterned paper and embossed resist cardstock from the retired Dream Pop collection by Close To My Heart. The heart photo frame that is holding the sentiment, along with the giraffe and the lion are cut using  CTMH’s new Artbooking Cricut cartridge. (All three were also cut from  Dream Pop paper.) The sentiment and animals are from the CTMH Wild Wonders stamp set, and the hearts are from the retired Whooo’s Your Valentine? stamp set. I stamped the monkey in Lagoon  and the hippo in Hollyhock Exclusive inks, and then fussy cut them and adhered them to the card. I stamped the bird twice, once in Gypsy and once in Honey Exclusive inks. I fussy cut the body of the Gypsy bird and layered it on the Honey bird. I then fussy cut the whole thing and adhered it to the card. The giraffe and lion are popped up with dimensional adhesive.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I hope you enjoyed my furry friends. For more inspiration, hop on over to Stuck On U Sketches and see what the design team has in store.

And don’t forget to go out and create something beautiful today!

Cheers!