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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Saying Happy Birthday!!

Hi everyone!!  Here's a quick post to celebrate my nephew's birthday and the fact that I actually finished this birthday card (yay me!!).   My nephew loves rodeo and cowboy boots, so I decided to go a "western" feel to his card.  The card is made out of a 12 x 12 Core'dinations card stock on which I used a wrinkled distress technique (yes ... I will actually iron a piece of cardstock and not my clothes).  Some red and white check printed paper and a piece of bandana print card stock were used to decorate both the outside and inside of the card.


 To go along with my western theme, I used Tim Holtz's stars and train track (to look like a fence on the bottom of the card) embossing folders to deboss the front of the card.  I swiped some black archival ink on the folders before I sent them through my Vagabond machine.  This gives the card the look like it has been "branded".  The debossed image didn't go all the way to the the center crease, so I used some tissue tape on the crease to cover the bare space.











I fussy cut Tim Holtz's jalopy truck (stamped in black archival ink on kraft paper) and used Crackle Accents on the windows and headlights.  A little Walnut Stain Distress Stain was used to highlight the crackles.  This was foam tape mounted to the front of the card.









I topped it off with a strip of denim material and a corrugated cardboard diecut that I treated with Antique Linen Distress Paint and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I began to wish my nephew a "happy" birthday with this  metal embellishment that I painted with Barn Door Distress Paint and some Ginger alcohol ink.  Love this grungy, cute piece on that bandana print!






As you can see in the pic below, I carried over the checked and bandana print paper to the interior of the card.


I used Tim Holtz's WISH die on the bandana print and backed it with more denim fabric.  I tied a cute cowboy ornament to the H and let him run along a strip of printed paper I added to the top and bottom of the interior of the card.  The kraft paper interior was kept to a very neutral palette with stamped sentiments in black and coffee archival ink.  I used a few TH stencils with Walnut Stain Distress Ink as well.


The star of the show is the denim pocket (real denim!!) that I found as a part of banner set at Michaels. Makes a great tag holder!!  I used Tim's stripes embossing folder on the bottom of the pocket and added a little Picket Fence Distress Stain/Paint mixture to the embossed stripes (to give them a faded look).  Some knotted rope, a TH stenciled coffee ring, and a metal "birthday" embellishment completes the look.  I hope you can see the Stampendous bandana print background stamp underneath the pocket -- such a great stamp!  You can see a little sheen on the paper here in the sun.  I used a layer of Matte Multimedium to seal the kraft paper interior.


Here are a couple of pics with the tag.  You might recognize the background from my Tim Holtz June Tag for 2015 post.  A piece of resist kraft paper (cut off of the cover of Tim's kraft resist Paperstash pad) was inked with Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and stamped with a TH sentiment (black archival ink and clear embossed).  It made the perfect holder for my nephew's gift card.  The tag is topped with a rope tag tie and a "play" ideology charm on a safety pin.


 

The back really shows off the the wrinkled distress technique.  It works so well on the Core'dinations card stock.


I'm really not very good at card making.  It has taken me a few weeks to finish this one.  I hope my nephew likes it.  Anyway, it contains a heart-full of love and best wishes.  Since it definitely says something ... I'm entering it in Frilly and Funkie's Something to Say Challenge.  And since it's Anything Goes over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, I'm going to enter it there as well.  

On a related note, I would love to give a warm hug to the DT over at Simon Says Stamp for spotlighting my Stars and Stripes burlap canvas.  I was floored!!  There were so many amazing summer projects.  I love that piece (it's hanging on my wall) but I really appreciate the fact that someone else liked it too.  Thanks again!!

Hope you all have had time to start (and finish) a project as well this week.  Looking forward to seeing and being inspired by your works of art.  -- Mary Elizabeth

11 comments:

Pamellia said...

Wow Mary Elizabeth, what an amazing project!! Love the look of your worn cover and the "branded" stars technique is awesome!! All the faux textiles are so wonderful, that denim looks so real! A lot of details here to admire. hugs :)

Valerie-Jael said...

Fantastic card, love all the wonderful details. So glad I have found somebody else who irons art but not clothes! Congrats on being spotlighted at Simons Monday Blog! Hugs, Valerie

Maura said...

Simon Says Stamp DT sends a hug back - how nice! Your burlap piece was wonderful!
Your card this week is wonderful - you definitely know how to create a fantastic card!! I love all of the elements you chose to put in it to make it special, and I personally love that you ironed your paper to create the awesome texture! We are alike in that, no clothes ironing! LOL! Thanks for joining us again this week for the Monday Challenge!

Jenny Marples said...

LOVE this Mary Elizabeth!!! So many clever techniques - no wonder it took a while to create - and such a great Western style look. Thank you for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x

Cec said...

Fabulous card for a guy. Love the bandana paper and the denim pocket. Your nephew will be thrilled. Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie.
Hugs!
Cec

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Cute cute cute!!! LOVE the country feel and that pocket inside is wonderful!!!

Andrea Ockey Parr said...

Holy cow! This is awesome! I was so intrigued with how you created that cool faux leather look. You have some serious skills with distressing, my friend! I also love the "Happy" sentiment and how the stars at the top of the card look like they were punched into the leather. My cute hubby works with the Scouts, but their real leather projects look pretty cheesy compared to this masterpiece (don't tell them I said that)! And it makes my heart happy to know that I'm not the only one who uses an iron for something other than its boring intended purpose. Great job on this and thanks for the inspiration. Clever photograph with the wooden background, too!

Candy C said...

Mary Elizabeth...you said you are not a card maker but you are wrong! This birthdsy card for your nephew is adorable. This definitely has such a great western feel to it! I love your "branded" stars using Tim's embossing folder. Very clever. The denim pocket with the gift card tucked inside us such a neat touch and a great way to secure a gift card and also be decorative. I also wanted to thank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving such a lovely heartfelt comment. ❤️

Words and Pictures said...

Just brilliant, Mary Elizabeth - there's such an aged weathered leathery look and feel to the whole thing - every detail is perfect. I love the denim jeans pocket to hold the gift tag, especially with the knotted twine - inspired! - and the bandana stamp is amazing. Altogether beautifully put together... I hope your nephew appreciated it fully!
Alison xx

Heather Jacob said...

absolutely glorious .... stunning piece of arty goodness xoxo

sarascloset said...

How adorable is this card for your nephew's birthday! I can certainly understand why this card took you 2 weeks to make...it has so many wonderful techniques and details! I love everything about it, but if I had to pick favorites, it would have to be that tag and that "grease stained" pocket! How cool for a kid! Hugs! PS you ARE good at making cards--don't sell yourself short! And huge congrats on winning SSS!!!! You deserve it!