children’s birthday

Open Me Already!

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

These two guys do nothing but make me grin!  I haven’t used them together before, but here they are in all their glory.  Also, I changed up the big monster by turning his closed eyes into eyebrows and giving him some google eyes as well.  Thought that was cute.

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This kit was a birthday card and I think this one could work for that as well.  But any type of celebration could enjoy a project like this.  The hexagon dynamic texture embossing folder got to work in a different way.  I used the debossed side, the normal version has the hexagons raised up instead of recessed.  To bring in a little color I lightly sponged over the top of the embossed paper and look what happened!  What a great effect.  Also, I couldn’t wait to get my chicken stamps back out and use this background like it was chicken wire.  What a fun find.

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The confetti image from the balloon adventures stamp set really got some work.  It was used on the sentiment tag, the card front as well as the inside.  Pretty darn fun if you ask me.  I have another one of these kits left, I think I will get that put together pretty quick.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Sweet Happy Birthday

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This recycled kit was originally a valentines card with all kinds of little die cuts and stamping.  Real big difference and I am totally in love with it.  It is so sweet, and I came across a stamping technique that it going to be used again and again.  It isn’t new I am sure, but new to me, so it counts.

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I love this particular balloon stamp set.  The outline images and then the fill stamp to give it a little interest and fun.  My first thought for the card front involved several free floating balloons with hand drawn strings.  Those strings just didn’t do it for me, they were distracting from the pretty balloons.  So I tried again using the bouquet of strings for the balloons.  That worked much better for me.  I then adhered punched out balloons over the top of the stamping using a glue dot at the base of each balloon.  It was enough to hold it in place and I don’t even mind that you can see the adhesive, totally worth it.

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I had to add some on the inside as well.  Giving the interest I love without a lot of bulk. Don’t get me wrong, when it is time to pile it on I go for it, but sometimes it is nice to not worry about putting something through the mail.

The tag was fun to add.  The stitched framelits are adorable.  They give a lovely finished edge so easily.  I wanted to use the ribbon from the kit but I didn’t want to interrupt the lines of the balloons, so I kept the ribbon to the tag.  I thought that worked out nicely.

While I love the look of a clean and simple card, the tag had a burst of color and it left the balloons out of balance.  So I went back to the stamp set looking for some help. There are these two little dandelion flower guys that I thought could work.  I placed them on the same block and stamped them across the bottom of the card in a bit of an upward angle.  I thought it looked like the breeze was blowing them gently up into the air.  The tag looked a bit bleak, so I gave it the same treatment.  For me, the new technique was to carry the look of motion, or the flowers blowing, across the front of the tag.  So fun!

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Taking these old kits and putting them to work in a different way has been so much fun. Only two more days of sharing this little series, but I think it will change how I work. I always want to have kits on hand to play with.

Have a creative day!

Moana

You’re How Old?!

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This was an experiment all the way around.  The only thing I hadn’t used yet was the paper. The color burst powder is some crazy cool stuff, but new to me.  That was an adventure. Well, the brushing of color, adding and removing, stamping, spritzing and general mess making left me with this. I wasn’t quite happy with it, but let it be shared anyway. It is so silly after all.

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I began the adventure with some of the color powder on a pallet, added water and began to apply to the background area.  It was actually very dark purple to start with. The blue came second, and then both were lightened tremendously.  Then I tried tapping bits of powder here and there on the piece and spritzing with water.  A cool, and very different look happened then.  That is where it looks like sprinkles of color.

It ended up making my wording look very muddled and hard to read.  I had to outline the stamping with a pen and chose a brush tip just too wide.  That is why it looks so very wonky. Like I said, I stuck with it.  I painted the adorable little bird and was getting pleased again.  Then I went too far and applied wink of stella to that bird.  The gold wasn’t a problem, it was the white area.  It got onto the stamp lines and instead of stamping over again, because I would have had to use my stamp-a-majig, and I didn’t feel that adventurous.  My mistake, because my pen drawing over the goofed edges really didn’t do the stamp justice at all.  Like I said, mistakes were made, products were experimented with, and I still thought I wouldn’t get judged too much on the final product.

My card base was made with pacific point card stock and layered with basic black. Nothing was layered up, just adhered heavily with fast fuse to keep that paper under control. It really got a proper working over. I do want to try again though.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Fiesta Like There’s No Manana

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t made a card and bag set for a while, but today called for it.  A special birthday for a special someone.  When a birthday isn’t looked forward to what do you do?  Find an adorable llama stamp set and put it to work.  Mission accomplished.

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This bag was made in a particular size for a special gift.  It only needed one piece of cardstock, but I fiddled with the measurements until it was just the right size.  There are two bars of home made soap inside and they fit perfectly.  It also had to be made from card stock instead of designer series paper, which might have been a bit more festive, but I needed it to be stronger for the weight of the soap.

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I mixed my coloring a bit here to put color to the llama image. He was stamped on the heavy weight whisper white card stock so I could have a smooth stamp and water color a bit too.  The stamping was done in black stazon, accented in emerald envy with the rope and blanket.  I colored some with the water color pencils and brushed the color around.

Where did that little hat come from?  I dug into the No Bones About It set, the ones with the dinosaurs and so funny sentiments, and there it was.  The perfect size for the perfect llama. And now he is ready to party, as much as a llama can.  How adorable, right?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

It’s Your Birthday!

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Shaker cards are so much fun, and they really are quite trendy in card making.  I finally broke down and had my card ladies make one for one of our workshop projects this last weekend.  They did great!

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Of course it helps when you have a great stamp set to work with.  This set has a few fun combinations that fit perfectly with this style.  Cutting out the window was made super easy with the layering squares framelits.  I don’t mind fussy cutting things out, but I would rather not.  It also kept the edges nice an clean.  Now we have a card that is neutral enough for anyone, yet fun for most ages.  Great project!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Oh Happy Day

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

There is a certain someone getting close to having a baby girl and this just about sums it up. It is truly a happy day and I can’t wait.  And with the heat we have been having I am sure she is more than excited.

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The very fun and exciting playful palette designer series paper stack almost overwhelmed me. The colors and patterns are so busy, almost too busy for me.  I started out with the most subtle one in the stack.  I can’t imagine some of these patterns in a 12 x 12, good thing this is contained to a 6 x 6 stack.  There will be a lot of fun card and gift bag sets I think. Smaller than my regular by far, which makes it much more manageable.

I punched several balloons from plain card stock, but wanted a different look too.  With my aqua painter I covered a section of water color paper with wide light swipes of coordinating ink.  I did sponge all of them as well. The stamp set, Thoughtful Banners, has tons of sayings that fit inside the banner stamp.  There is a coordinating punch for the banners, so that makes me very happy.  I did my stamping, but trimmed it right to the stamp so I could punch another one from card stock and have a tiny border all the way around.

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The solid bakers twine really makes me happy.  I had longer strings attached to each balloon and trimmed them after they were squished into place with glue dots.  With the extra hanging off the card I tied one simple knot and used it as the embellishment for the gift card sized gift bag.  I do hate wasting product.  It turned out great!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Happiest of Birthdays!

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

Birthday cards for children are so fun to make.  I guess you wouldn’t have to put an age limit on these though, my oldest daughter would think they are just right.  Either way, these two bright and cheery cards will bring smiles to some darling little girls.

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I used to make two cards at a time to show them differently, but I kind of got away from that.  I have had a request for some birthday cards and though it would serve well to make more than one.  I certainly had fun though.  I used a new stamp set and a couple of older ones that hadn’t come off the shelf for a while.

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I was struggling a bit with the birthday block letters for a while until I decided to sponge the edges.  Sometimes the oldest techniques are the best.  I also did a bit of stamping off to get the different tones.  All of the shades were done from one ink pad.  The lighter rectangles were stamped off twice and the darker were stamped off once.  The letters were done full strength.  I do like these letters for sure.

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Have a creative day!

It’s Your Birthday

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Do you broadcast your birthday or not?  Well, I think birthdays should always be celebrated, even if you like it small, celebrate.  This is the kind of card that can certainly draw attention and that is totally what I had in mind.

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The stamp set has the marquee image by itself and has different sentiments you can put inside the middle as well as the bottom arrow box.  It doesn’t have to be about a birthday, but that is how I chose to use it for the first time.  I kind of muddled through this project since I only knew I wanted to use embossing powder and a black card base.  Leaves a lot of steps to be followed, even if a bit off.

Most if the projects I have seen with this particular stamp set include stamping the image on different colored card stock papers, cutting the different parts out and then layering them to give a little diversity.  I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I went with my trusty water coloring.  I am not used to coloring around an image so specifically, but it all worked out pretty good in the end.

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Touches of wink of stella helped make it the rest of the way, even though it is hard to see in the photo here.  Projects always look better in real life rather than photos, but what else can you do, right?

Have a creative day!

Moana

Fiesta Like There’s No Manana

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Here is one of the projects I made with my club ladies last Saturday.  Such a fun and interesting birthday card.  Plenty of color and who doesn’t just love an adorable llama?  Finally though, a project where I love the brightness of cucumber crush.  It is just one gregarious green there.

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Framelit cutting made pretty darn quick work of the elements for this project.  A little stamping before and after doing the cutting.  The llama was really fun, but I felt he was a little on the whimsy side to worry about painting and making him look too real.  Besides, his teeth really aren’t accurate, they come from the bottom not the top like a bunny.  Still totally adorable though.  The banners were stamped afterwards though.  Since you can see through the photopolymer stamps there is not a worry to be found.  Fun and easy to do.

Everything was put on tipped one way or the other to add to the silly look.  Nothing about this card says slow down, just have a bunch of fun!  And my club ladies sure did.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Sea Street Pop-Up Party

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

A super happy birthday would be coming your way with this adorable gift set.  I suppose it might be more inclined towards a child, but I have a great appreciation for cuteness, and this is definitely cute.

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I started out with the idea of this octopus holding eight balloons.  I suppose I should have used the bitty balloon punch, but I stayed with it.  Perhaps I will make it again to see how it would look.  I thought the small balloons would get lost in the fun background paper.

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The inside framelit action really makes a statement.  Even though it is in the middle, there is still plenty of room to write a personal message.  I do love the motion of the popup.  I had a large piece of paper left from the card background and went with a matching gift bag. If you are giving a birthday card, odds are you are giving a gift too.  Making a set is always my favorite thing.  It also helps me be brave and use up my designer series paper.  You can’t hang onto that too long you know.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Sandlot Inspired Card

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

What sandlot do you think I am referring to?  Well, the awesome kids movie about baseball and friendship of course.  This movie was just watched in the P.E. classes at the school I work at and I thought of a card to go with it.  New for me, a movie inspired card.  It was sure a lot of fun to create.

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The card base and the fence is made from soft suede.  I stamped the hardwood image in early espresso and sponged the planks as well.  I also punched out a knot in the wood with the 1/4″ hand held punch to make a spot for a peephole.  So cute!  The grass is from a strip of garden green, snipped with the fringe scissors and sponged with early espresso as well.

The light paper is water color as well as the tiny little baseball in the grass.  It was a bit tricky to get the fence in the right place to let the boys peek over, but I did okay.  The interesting part was stamping an image to let a boy peek through the hold in the fence.  I think it would have been easier to just draw with a pen instead of trying to adjust my stamp, but I ended up having to do both anyway.

I glued the grass in place with tombo and placed the baseball in the grass with half a dimensional.  I did water color the ball a bit and sponge it too.  I had to hold it with tweezers during the sponging, such a small piece.  I totally had to fussy cut that one out. The 1/2″ circle punch was just too big, bummer.  I did some water coloring with soft sky on the background, pink pirouette on their faces and used markers to color in the rest.  It was a bit of work, but it turned out great.  I think it would be a great card to give along with the movie, don’t you think?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

They Say It’s Your Birthday

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

How about a simple birthday card!  I think this one could be for just about anyone, don’t you? Keeping projects simple allows for a lot of options, more than you would think.  And how awesome is this balloon bouquet punch?  I am absolutely in love with it.  I hope it carries over.  I am keeping it no matter what.

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I had to hold myself back to not put strings and all kinds of fun stuff here.  But, that would defeat the purpose of of a clean and simple cards after all.  This way I think it would even work for a masculine card.  Gotta love those!

I punched two large and three small balloons.  The large ones were attached flat to the paper and the smaller ones were raised up on dimensionals.  Of course everything is sponged.  The balloons were sponged in hello honey to coordinate as well as the tag.  I thought the color was too strong on the tag, so I sponged with silver encore ink as well to soften it.  It turned out great.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

 

Balloon Bouquet Celebration

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I finally got my back ordered balloon bouquet punch and I am totally celebrating!  This punch is just the coolest thing and totally worth the wait.  This will be getting tons of use, just tons.

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I may have gone a bit overboard with the balloons, and the cording, but I love how pretty it is.  One special person will get this card, and I think I know who it is.  Not everyone appreciates how much time can go into a hand made card, but those that do deserve every one they get.

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I used a leftover kit from Saturday’s workshop to make this project.  I stamped several balloons on the background paper.  To get the tone I wanted I stamped off once before I applied it to the card.  Then on my other paper, that I would be punching, I stamped off twice.  Both sets of balloons were also stamped with the dotted accents in mint macaron and gold encore ink.  I added gold to everything and sponged away.  Too cute!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Dear Heart, Sweet Boy

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This project was all about giving myself a challenge.  I grabbed a piece of dsp, decided on three colors, picked a stamp set I hadn’t used a long time and went for it.  This was definitely not my usual style, but it felt good.

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The card itself wasn’t too complicated, just one layer for the background.  I stamped my little boys on water color paper with black stazon and opened the ink pads.  Their faces were done with a very diluted wash of pink pirouette with the hair in tip top taupe.  I wanted them to look like the same boy just doing different things.

Each boy face was accented with one color only.  For the darker areas I kept the ink fairly strong.  When I accented I diluted it a bit more and even more for the outlined areas in the background.  I left it simple because I wasn’t really going for perfection, just soft coloring. I punched their faces out with the 1 3/4″ circle punch and a background of black with the 2″ circle punch.  They were arranged on the front and layered with a bit of dimensionals.

The banner was stamped from the same set and a light wash of each color was put on its own section.  Then each end was punched with the bitty banner punch.  I also put that up on dimensionals.  I repeated the pattern of paper inside with more dsp and a smaller piece of very vanilla to write my message on.  Such a sweet card, for a very sweet boy indeed.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Balloon Celebration

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Experimenting with water coloring has become one of my new favorite things to do.  I am so young in this medium that it is a constant adventure.  I do try not to do it all of the time, but it might just be my favorite.  Hard to put that off.

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I did stamp off the balloons twice before they got to the card front.  I wanted dark color, but still opaque.  It worked nicely.  The second layer stamping was done only stamped off once to make sure it was seen well.  Also a good fit.  I did go over the balloons again with the aqua painter to smooth things out.  A bit of dabbing with a paper towel helped to create better highlight spots.  Fun and fun. I am still waiting for the back-ordered balloon punch, so I had to layer the balloons with just ink.  That is why I had them opaque.  To allow the layering to show the balloons behind, just like it would with a real bouquet of balloons.  I do think this card is good for just about anyone’s birthday, masculine too.  A really great project that was satisfying on so many levels.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Celebrate Today

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

My computer went on a two day holiday, without permission I might add.  This little treasure has been waiting for you to see for three days now.  Oh well, here it is.

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This pop-up framelit is just the best.  I do love the balloons, but opening and closing this card is just too fun.  Nothing says happy like a traditional birthday card.  You can actually see a bit of the shimmer cardstock below, it really is so sparkly.

Since I have had some computer frustration lately, I am really not in the mood to sit here and explain all of the details in this particular project.  Sorry, but there you go.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Hip Hip Hooray for Today!

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

What kind of fun events do you get excited for?  There are so many special days to celebrate it is hard to choose just one.  For me?  Well, today is all about celebrating the special meeting of my future daughter-in-law.  I have to admit, there is a bit of nervous energy going on there, more than I am aware of I am sure.  But still, what a wonderful day to celebrate.

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I am in love with this tiny little balloon punch.  It has two friends, a tiny cupcake and a tiny candle, but I can’t get past the balloon.  I have a thing with tiny things and this fits the bill perfectly.  They are just big enough to fit a dimensional behind so they get to look like they really are floating.  And if you use your bone folder across the linen thread it will curl just a bit.  It makes me smile.

The framelit is from a set two piece set that makes pop up card centers.  I trimmed the sides to give me this huge tag.  It was very difficult to throw out the inside cut pieces.  They were perfect!  I played with them, told myself to throw them in the bin, I did, then I got them back out, played again and tossed them again.  Seriously, get a grip.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

 

Party Wishes

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

How about a second workshop to fit into one host party!  Sounds like a great plan to me. Not everyone can make it to one date, so why not have to events and wrap it into one big workshop order.  That is one large bundle of host benefits, let me tell you.

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This card was kind of custom designed with a twist.  It was with the elements included which came together as its own kind of challenge.  The request was seeing embossing folder work, fun ways to use the chevron punch, paper piecing and birthdays.  I think this one is a win!

The chevron punch really makes this one special.  The initial punching was done twice on a strip of heavy weight card stock to create the spaces.  Secondary punching was done in different colors to create the insert pieces.  Two of each color and what a neat design element, right?  I do love a good challenge and the great feeling when your vision turns into the creation, the way you hoped it would.

How about these tiny balloons inside?  Yes, I could just die of cuteness.  I stamped the string, stamped tone on tone for the balloons and then punched them out.  I stuck them down with a touch of tombo and joy was achieved.  I would love to get this card for my birthday, wouldn’t you?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Hello Little Sunshine

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

It is so wonderful to have stamp sets that speak to you.  I literally would say this phrase over and over to my children when they were little.  Now that they are much older, it still manages to sneak in for a tender moment or two.

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When I started making the background for the card by just stamping off as I went along, I knew I needed to make a coordinating gift bag.  That little sunshine stamp is so adorable.  I could see myself sneaking it in lots of places.  And to top it off, the Hello stamp set is a free one during Sale-a-bration!  Free is nice, but free and adorable is not a common thing.

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A tall slender gift bag was in order today.  I was feeling like a different gift option, but of course I could totally see a big yummy candy bar going inside.  How about a fat quarter of fabric instead?  Yes, my quilting friends would totally agree with that one.  Maybe I could find some sunshine paper too?  Or stamp some to match?  A project and a gift, sounds great!

Hello Little Sunshine

Have a creative day!

Moana

Workshop Wonders

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

What do you get when you bring together some creative friends?  A really unique workshop that was more fun than work that is for sure.  Just look at these adorable projects they created!

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We really did have a wonderful time sharing ideas, laughing, exchanging gifts and enjoying a lovely luncheon.  I think they impressed themselves more than each other.  And I loved crafting with them.

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I already blogged mine on Saturday, but wanted to just show theirs.  Two of our group couldn’t attend this one and they sure missed out.  Next time I am sure they will share something wonderful.  The ladies liked the activity so much that we decided to do it twice a year, once in December and once in the summer.  I do love these gals!

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Have a creative day!

Moana