A Masculine Birthday Card for Two Challenges

Hello!  I haven't had time in the last several weeks to participate over at The Paper Players Challenge but I was finally able to yesterday evening for a little while. This is for The Paper Players Challenge #306. Although it did take a little time to figure out my design, this is a card that is a super nice choice for any men in your life and came together very fast once I had my design figured out.  The challenge at The Paper Players this week is a Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. I chose the top row (Enamel Dots, CAS and Masculine) for my card. Masculine cards are always a bit of a struggle for me but I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

I also try to always participate in the challenges over at Simon's — The Monday Challenge and the Wednesday Challenge.  The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme this week is "Celebrate" which fits right in with this birthday card.

To start this card, I selected the papers I wanted to use - True Black, Spicy Yogurt, and Gold Metallic (I use Gold Metallic Poster Board from Hobby Lobby). Black and Gold is always a classic look as is a Clean & Simple (CAS) Card.  For the focal point, I wanted to use this Spellbinders Die called Ritz Decorative Accent.  It is such a bold piece so I switched back and forth between the colors of each piece for a more dramatic look. The die cuts three separate pieces so you can choose what you want each piece to be cut from. I cut the whole thing in Gold Metallic, then used a scrap of black for the center piece and then back to the small diamond piece in Gold Metallic from the original large diecut.  Easy Peasy! I made a vertical and horiontal mark in the center of my Spicy Yogurt Panel so that I could get the first piece of the die cut in the right spot and then the others came easily. I adhered them with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I stamped the sentiment from "Mums The Word" on True Black Cardstock from Papertrey Ink and heat set it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  then mounted that on a scrap of Metallic Gold.  I considered not mounting the sentiment, but by going ahead, it made it a much more cohesive look.  I die cut that panel using a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die in the largest size, taped down with a bit of washi tape so it would move around.  I needed to keep that panel lined up.  I wasn't planning to cut the panel down initially or I would have done it before I started adhering things. *Ü*  I also cut another stitched rectangle for the inside of the card since I ended up using a black card base.  I really like how tied together the entire card is from front to back.  It is perfectly Clean & Simple!

For my Enamel Dots, I used a fairly new product called Nuvo Crystal Drops in Black Gloss.  You totally freehand these dots (its a good idea to practice on a scrap first to get a feel for them) and then once you have them, tap or flick the card on the underside to help them spread out just a little bit. Don't do too much as they need just a tiny bit of dimension to them. Because you are putting them directly onto your card, they won't pop off.  It's like making your own custom enamel dots.  This is a great product!  I love the glossy ones (Black and White) better than the sparkly ones, especially for using on Masculine cards.

This was super fast and easy to put together and would be a great style to use for mass production since the only thing that is stamped is the greeting.  I love the bold graphics.

I very much appreciate you stopping at my blog to take a look and I hope you'll continue to come back and visit.  You can also like and follow Twinkling Paper Studio's Facebook Page.

It's Tulip Time!

Last month during the Anniversary Release week over at Papertrey Ink, I fell in love with the Tulip Time Stamp & Die Set and I knew I would order them as soon as I was able.  While I love the look of Layered Stamp Sets, I am not always very good at lining up the images.  That is still true, but when I do get them lined up, it is enchanting!

I think this is a technique that requires practice and I did get a lot of practice this weekend.  If you don't get good ink coverage on your stamp the first time, its virtually impossible to re-ink your stamp and get it lined back up in the identical place, even with photopolymer stamps.  Ninety nine times out of 100, it'll be a miss and into the trash can it goes. I do try to save them them but the odds definitely aren't in my favor.  I will say that I'm a lot better at stamping than I used to be. Practice does indeed make perfect or close to it.  Part of the beauty of stamping is that you can mix and match different sets to accomplish an infinite number of designs in your cards.

Betsy Veldman created the Tulip Time Set.  The leaves have two layers and the flowers have three layers.  It makes for some incredibly beautiful designs.  I finally broke down recently and got myself a MISTI.  MISTI is short for Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented.  This product was invented by a stamper, for stampers and was initially made at home.  This is such a phenomenal tool that they are now manufactured with laser etched doors and have a Patent Pending for the design.

Tulip Time Stamp Set

While this layering set did take some practice, it was by far the easiest time I've ever had doing it.  I actually only had one image that got messed up and I was able to tuck that flower behind the others so no one can see the boo-boo.  Since you can do as many as five tulips at a time, I also had time to play with several color combinations.

Tulip Time Die

I cut the Tulip Time Die from Stamper's Select #110 White Card Stock and then used the negative to line up my stamps and also as my placeholders for the die cuts. It was pretty easy and I could do several in one sitting.

I used all Papertrey Ink Perfect Match Dye Ink Cubes.  These cubes are a great value at $2.00 each and it allowed me to try several colors. I got 19 of them during the anniversary sale making them another 9% off.  I stuck with colors I normally use and didn't feel the need to get colors I don't use much since I am just trying them out. I think there are a lot of pluses to this smaller size like how much storage space they require.  Since I normally take ink pad to the stamp rather than stamp to the ink pad, I think I could potentially have all small ink pads.  Papertrey also has re-inkers available although I didn't order any at this time. I also already had a little Tim Holtz Container from several years ago that holds all 19 of them and has room for about 11 more. It's like a mini lunchbox with a window in it so I know what's inside.  I happen to have two such containers which is really handy since I'm planning to try a few more inks in this size.

For this card I used Sweet Blush, Lovely Lady and Scarlet Jewel Papertrey Inks. The sunshine came from the WPLUS9 Sunshine Layers Designer Die Set.  I cut it from a scrap of Canson XL Watercolor Card Stock and used a Mini Ink Blending Tool with Harvest Gold Ink to color it.  The greeting also came from the Tulip Time Stamp Set.  I stamped it with Versafine in Onyx Black and heat set it with Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.  I wanted the bold black against the pink oval but I really dislike the use of Black Embossing Powder because it gets everywhere.  This way is soooo much neater.  I die cut a slightly smaller oval from fun foam to put behind the pink oval and mounted that onto an Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White A2 Top Folding Card Base. For the tulips, I used a combination of Ranger Multi Medium Matte, Thin Foam Squares and Regular Foam Squares sometimes doubled in thickness.  I tied a bow with some off white ribbon and attached it to the flowers with a glue dot.  Since I had so many sets of tulips already stamped, this card came together super fast and easy.

I'm joining in over at The Paper Players Challenge #285 this week with the theme of "Rain or Shine".  It's really easy to pick "Shine" at this time of year.   Here's hoping you all have a Sunshine-y day!