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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Birthday Card :)

Happy Tuesday, my talented friends! I hope everyone is having a beautiful week! :o) Thank you for the birthday wishes for my mom. She had a wonderful celebration yesterday, filled with lots of love and laughter. :o)

The celebrating continues today as we go out to use a gift card she received and I'll finally give her this card! Though the effort was valiant, I couldn't complete it on time. It's always fun getting goodies the day after, right? Hehe.

The creative process began with this precious Elisabeth Bell image, Apple Blossom, and a sketch challenge. I knew this stamp would be used because some of my happiest memories with my mom involve apple orchards/cider mills and being outdoors. Our favorite cider mill always opens on June 1st, so it's a summertime activity as well as autumn. I colored her in deep roses and light browns, with layers of Star Dust on her ruffles, hair ties, and the flowers and butterfly in the image. I used Broken China distress ink and a cloud template to create a sky backdrop. I cut her out with a Spellbinders Labels 4 die, using the out of the box technique that I saw on Bev Rochester's tutorial page. It's so easy that I was disheartened it never occurred to me! ;) Simply use scissors to cut along the part that will go beyond the die, then place that part over the die and run it through the die cutting machine like normal. I was ecstatic because I wanted a smaller rectangular background for her instead of the huge open space on one side due to her hair that is billowing in the wind. :o)

My sweet mom loves elegant patterns like those found on teacups, so I knew I wanted to use a collection of brown and pink papers from the First Edition Isabelle stack. The bottom layer looks like flowers and leaves caught up in a whimsical breeze, while the rest are coordinating patterns that are right up her alley. The diagonal layer is the reverse side of the pink, with the colors alternated. All layers have a deep chocolate brown mat.

The heart tucked in the corner is covered in rhinestones to deliver sparkling love on her special day. :o) The roses and lily are from Wild Orchid Crafts, with each one trimmed in Star Dust. The primary arrangement is nestled atop a double bow made with Snow White crinkle ribbon from My Craft Spot. The itty bitty bouquet on the opposite side has a delicate white butterfly frolicking among the blossoms, which is centered with a rhinestone.

The sentiment is from the Whimsical Designs~ Everyday Sentiments set, which is cut out with a smaller Labels 4 die and secured with a marble pink button and chocolate truffle trendy twine. All layers are inked with Walnut Stain. I hope she loves her birthday card. :o)

Challenges entered (the most ever for me.. I was just so excited to play along!):
 * Charisma Cardz~ Bling
 * Crafty Catz~ Buttons and Bows
 * Elphine House Australia~ Let's Get Sketchy
 * Papertake Weekly Challenge~ Anything Goes
 * Really Reasonable Ribbon~ Flowers and Ribbon
 * Simon Says Stamp~ Anything Goes
 * The Crafty Pad~ Ribbon
 * The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog~ Die Cuts and Punches
 * The Ribbon Girl~ Ribbon or Lace
 * The Shabby Tea Room: Sweet Summertime and photo inspiration

Thank you for fluttering on by! I wish you all a day of sparkling love and dancing sunbeams. :o)

Key Recipe Components:
 * Spellbinders Nestablities/Shapeabilities: Labels 4, Fanciful Holiday (heart)
 * Paper: Core'dinations, First Edition~ Isabelle
 * Rubber stamp: Elisabeth Bell~ Apple Blossom
 * Copics: E0000, E000, E00 (skin); E23, E25, E31, E50 (hair and basket); R81, R83, R85 (clothing and flowers); E40, E42, E43 (clothing and puppy); YG11,  YG17, YG25 (apples); YG17, YG23, G28 (grass)
 * Sentiment stamp: Whimsical Designs~ Everyday Sentiments
 * Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
 * Ribbon and Twine: My Craft Spot
 * Button: My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie
 * Miscellaneous: Fiskars butterly punch, iRock, Stickles

23 comments:

  1. Beautiful card!

    Thank you for joining us at Charisma this week xxx

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  2. Wow your card is so beautiful and such an adorable image:)x

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  3. So lovely. Great job with the card.

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  4. Karen, this is just beautiful!Love the layout & the flower arrangements! Thanks for playing at The Crafty Pad this week in our Ribbon Challenge!
    Good Luck
    Hugs
    Dawn xx

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  5. Just love everything about your card Karen !! The papers, lay out, flowers and the fab coloured image !! Thanks for joining us this week at The Crafty Pad !!

    hugs Diane xx

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  6. Karen this is gorgeous and elegant my friend.Love your colour palette.Hope you both have a fun day!
    Hugs
    Jayne x

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  7. Your card is adorable, what a cute stamp and I love how you've pieced the background! Thanks for joining us at TSTR!

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  8. I bet your mom absolutely loved this card, Karen! It is beautiful! I love how you created the sky background! The little girl and her puppy are adorable! You added so many wonderful details too (the button and twine, the rhinestone heart, and the flowers)! Perfect! :)

    Karen
    craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com

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  9. Gorgeous, beautiful card Karen, love the colours and the image.

    Thanks for joining us at Simon Says Stamps Challenge.

    luv

    Debby

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  10. Wow! What an awesome card. I love the image and coloring and the embellishments are perfect!

    Thanks for entering at the Crafty Pad.

    Hugs
    Joanie

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  11. What an incredible card, Karen!! Your colouring is amazing and I love the way the hair extends out of the frame. How wonderfully creative! I zoomed in to see the little butterfly! It's your fabulous little touches that really take your creations to the top. I'm sure your mother was thrilled with this!! Happy belated birthday to her!

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  12. This card Karen is awesome! I love the image, the colour combo, the layout and the flowers ... totally gorgeous! Great tip about the hair too, thanks.
    Thanks for linking up at The Crafty Pad for our "Ribbon" challenge this week.
    Helen x (DT)

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  13. This is really pretty. Thanks for joining us at the Ribbon Girl Card Challenge for June, Andrea x

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  14. Oh my sweet, sweet friend, this is absolutely GORGEOUS!! WOW!! I have to keep scrolling up to look at it...it is stunning, Karen!! You colored the image so beautifully and perfectly, she just pops right off the paper!! FABULOUS!! And how creative to used the colors of the image as the focal point against the neutral background!! The flowers are so pretty!! You are so amazingly talented!! I just love every single thing about this!! And I'm sure your sweet Mom did, too :) I'm so glad she had a wonderful birthday!! And I hope you are having a great week my dear friend!! HUGS!!

    Lisa :)
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  15. Beautiful card Karen!! This is so, so fabulous with all the fun flowers and inking that your did. The image is so stinken cute and your coloring..well, WOW!! So amazing and beautiful!! Another awesome creation my friend!

    Sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

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  16. Karen my sweet talented friend! Another perfect card. You are just so gifted, every thing you touch becomes more lovely. This is a beautiful card for your Mom. You two enjoy your time together. Thank you for blessing us with your creations.

    Hugs, Pam
    http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com/

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  17. Thank you so much for joining us at Crafty Catz this week with absolutely gorgeous creation,

    I do hope that you will try to join us again next week,
    Good Luck with the challenge
    Have a lovely day,
    Hugs Bridget :0)

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  18. *twirls you in super happy apply spins* WHEEEEEE!!!

    It's my Sunshine's mommy's birthday week!!! YAYYYYY!!! *gives you both a super sparklie squishering*

    OMJ!!! I sooooooooooooo adore this card, sis!!! It is just 100 percent pure happiness. I can't stop gushing about the layering in this one! GASP! Do you know how stunning that is?! And could the gorgeous sparkling heart get anymore beautiful?! I LOVE sweet little Apple Blossom SO much, Sunshine! You coloured her SO flawlessly and her sweet little friends too! *huggles them forever* Gosh sis...this is the most precious gift your sweetest mommy could ever hope for. May God bless her and you this week and always with endless sparklie blessings and love. Your love for each other is something extraordinary and God wants you to know just how proud He is of you for being the most extra special daughter in the universe. You make everyday a sparkling birthday for your mommy, sis. She loves you beyond love and sooooooo much more too!!!

    And I sooooooooo love you tooooooo!!! *hugglers your gorgeous cardness non-stop and begs to come with you and your mommy on your next apple orchard adventure* SQUEEE! I wanna come too! Wait for meeeeeee!

    *forever apply birthday squishies*
    ~~~Christina :)

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  19. Well first of all i can't believe i missed this card.. and i would have been so sad to have missed this beautiful card.. AND i agree it's always fun getting goodies the day after, well it's fun to get goodies anytime. :-) i am so glad your mom had a wonderful birthday. AND i am sure this gorgeous card brought a smile to her face. i have learned so much just popping over and seeing your amazing creations.. and i always love to read how you describe them. You are blessed with so many talents.. and such a blessing to so many.
    i hope you have a wonderful week end my friend.
    hugs from ukiah

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  20. Dear me! This is just so pretty! Love the image and you coloring and the background and I love the browns you combined in the card! Just wow, so nice and so pretty! Thank you for playing with us this week at The Crafty Pad :)

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  22. Your card is amazing! Thanks for joining us at Really Reasonable Ribbon!

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  23. What a amazing card, thank you for joining us at Elphine House Australia ;o)

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Thank you for leaving some love! Have a beautifully blessed day. :o)

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