Hello Friends!

Today I popped over to SUO Challenges to find that this week’s challenge (#SUOC260) was “Birthdays”.  Well, that leaves the door WIDE OPEN to create as one pleases!  Who doesn’t need birthday cards, right?  Birthday and Thank You cards are by far my most needed cards to stock up on!   With not a lot of time for creating lately, I elected to select just a single stamp and repeat this image across the page to maximize it’s effect.  Flowers work especially well for this technique.

Sponging ink is one of my favorite ways to create a background, layering the color to achieve some depth.  Just remember to always start with the lightest color first, and then build upon that with the darker colors, overlapping and blending with the color before.   Keep a piece of scratch paper underneath your panel, and start the sponging process on the scratch paper, working your way onto the cardstock to prevent a heavy “smudge” of color.  (Maybe I like sponging ink because I usually end up with INKY fingers, which ranks right up there with horse-dirt on my hands!)

In this case, I chose to start with Balmy Blue.  I started at the top and applied ink about three-quarters of the way down the panel, letting it lighten the further down the panel I got.

I then moved to Pacific Point.  Again, start at the top and work your way about two-thirds of the way down into the Balmy Blue, allowing the color to fade as you move down the panel.

Finally, I topped it off with just a hint of Night of Navy across the very top.

I used my Stamparatus to assure continuity in height of my poppies across the panel, stamping the taller flowers first, and then coming back in with the two shorter flowers.

I colored the poppies with Stampin’ Blends Combos: Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive.

As usual, I couldn’t leave the card front looking pristinely clean, so out came a Stampin’ Spritzer with a little bit of water and a single drop of Night of Navy ink from a re-inker.  A couple squirts across the top of my “sky” gave it the little bit of distressing that I feel adds more character to a piece.  I think either looks great, it’s just a personal preference of mine to give an image some distressing!

Pristinely clean                               versus                       Slightly distressed

                     

I wrapped a piece of Braided Linen Trim across the front, securing the ends with tape on the back; tied a small bow with the same Braided Linen Trim and applied with a glue dot.

The “happy birthday” sentiment is from the Timeless Tulips stamp set and stamped on a scrap of Whisper White CS in black ink.  I then hand trimmed it into a rectangle.

I used the Triple Banner Punch to crop the ends of a scrap of Pumpkin Pie DSP from the Regals Designer Series Paper, and applied the sentiment on top of it.

Three graduating sizes of Champagne Gems in the right upper corner finished it off with some bling!

This card is easily reproduced without a lot of fuss, so it’s easy to make several to keep on hand for upcoming birthdays!

The cool Fall weather we’ve been experiencing has gotten me back outside and in the saddle more.  I managed to chalk up three rides this week!

We also brought home our first load of steer calves for the year.

The grass is growing and turning green again, even while my flower beds are dying back and almost ready to be tucked in for the winter.

The house was a little cool last night when we got home with our calves, so Dean built the first fire of the season in our woodstove as well.

Now it’s time to put on a pot of homemade soup and bake some cookies!

Oh how I love this time of year!  YAY FOR FALL!!!

I hope you’re enjoying the change of seasons as much as I am!

Again, thank you for stopping by and sharing a little part of your day with me today!

The products I used for my #SUOC260 (SUO Challenge) card are listed below.  Each picture is a clickable link to my online Stampin’ Up store.  If you have questions, need help placing an order, or just want to say hello, please feel free to comment below, or use the “Contact” tab at the top of this page.  (If you’re using a cell phone, click on “Main Menu” and a drop-down list will appear from which you can click on “Contact”).

Until next time, I hope you get INKY!

Janet

Product List

Painted Poppies Cling Stamp Set [151599] $23.00	Timeless Tulips Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [151534] $18.00	Regals 6″ X 6″ (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [153073] $11.50	Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [100730] $9.75	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $6.00
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin’ Pad [147105] $7.50	Pacific Point Classic Stampin’ Pad [147098] $7.50	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin’ Pad [147110] $7.50	Stamping Sponges [141337] $4.00	Stampin’ Spritzer [126185] $3.00
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill [103033] $3.75	Banner Triple Punch [138292] $23.00	3/16″ (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim [147808] $7.00	Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels [151193] $6.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $5.25
Stamparatus [146276] $49.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] $25.00	Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [154897] $9.00	Old Olive Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [154892] $9.00

 

 

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