I've lived in Baltimore about 16 years now, and I love its ever-mingling diversity. We live close to the historically working-class neighborhood of Hampden, which features a yearly Honfest, celebrating "Bawlmer Hons" and all things kitsch. As John Waters said, "Hampden is an uneasy mixture of redneck culture and hipster culture, which I love."
This card idea came to me in phases, but once I settled on a "Bawlmer Hon" theme, I knew I had to use this fabulous rubber stamp from Art Impressions. I adapted it a bit... the "feather boa" in this card is actually the top of her tutu in the original stamp. And Hons don't usually wear tiaras... although they would if they could! But her hair is a great beehive; To quote an official Hon (see video below), "The bigger the hair, the more we care!"
Pink Flamingos are a huge part of the Hon culture (hence the title of John Waters' movie), so I knew I had to add one. For the flamingo cut files, I used an image I found onlinefor the body, and created the wings in SCAL with a butterfly svg. The grass border is from a freebie set by SVG Cuts.
For the background, I used a white/brown sheet from Core'Dinations Whitewash Collection and embossed it with the brick-wall plate I made out of cardboard some time ago; I want to make another one with smaller bricks, I just need to rally the patience to glue a gazillion tiny pieces! I inked it with Terracotta and Brick inks (Memento).
The sentiment is set in Atlas (a font I've had for ages, but I can't find a link for), and digitally placed it in a frame by TLC Creations. I used spellbinders dies for the circle, scallop, and card base. The window die is
Memory Box's Small Madison Window with the partitions cut out (partly so
you can see the Hon, and partly because that's the style of window in
Hampden).
I had so much making my Vintage Peter Rabbit Box that I used some of the same elements to make this card:
The papers are Graphic 45, and the stamp is from the Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter Stamp Set by Crafter's Companion. The little carrot row is a Studio G clear stamp, and I colored everything in Copics (the background is texturized with Blender Solution).I edged the layers with Stickles, and added a bunch of microbeads for a little fun. The wood flower is from Prima, which I painted and decorated with yellow Liquid Pearls. The ribbon is May Arts, bought from CYDI.
I'm so tickled that my Cheery Chevrons card was chosen as "Cup of the Week" for The Play Date Cafe Challenge #169. Not only is it a huge honor, I won a $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp! I was able to grab a few items that have been on my wishlist, including the Shutter die for the Small Madison Window set from Poppy Stamps. I've used the Window die for my Peek-a-boo Valentine, but so this time I used the Flower Box & Shutter dies as well. The colors for this card are inspired by our house; even the border on the right reflects the wooden trim under the porch, and the green on the inside matches the paint for our dining room. We only have shutters on the front of the house, and don't have window boxes, but other than that this card really looks like, well, home!
The background is embossed with the Basketweave texture plate from Fiskars. I added some dimension with yellow ink. The yellow & manilla papers are by Recollections, the white cardstock is Hammermill, the inside green is from my stash, and the rest are from Core'Dinations. I did a little dry & ink distressing on some of the pieces. The wood house is from Prima and I inked it yellow. The little vase is from a Flower Soft set. The little ribbon leaves are from Mays Arts. I cut the tiny flowers with a Spellbinders die, and covered them with Flower Soft. The banner is a rubber stamp from Studio G that I colored with Copics, and I added some baker's twine. The sentiment is a Hero Arts rubber stamp that I bought at an Estate sale; seems appropriate! I stamped it in Red Brick distress ink (burgundy is the secondary accent color in our house). The white ribbons on the inside were inspired by the crown moulding.
As a crafter, there's no better feeling than having a friend ask you to make a card! My friend from college needs a card for his High School friend's eight-year-old daughter, so I pulled out some of my favorite stamps & papers and made this pop-up card:
And the inside:
The cupcake is slightly popped-out:
I was excited to have a chance to try this week's {PIN}spirational Challenge; see the purple cupcake inspiration photo below.
I got the "Cupcake Girl" clear stamp from my mom; she said it was designed by a local woman, but the company no longer exists and it doesn't say on the stamp pack. Too bad... it's too cute! I have a male version as well. The cupcake rubber stamp is from Stampendous. The cupcake ribbon on the inside is by The Paper Studio, and the patterned purple ribbons are from my stash; I stamped the sentiment onto the solid purple ribbon with black ink (Memento). The image & wrappers are stamped in the same black ink, but I heat-embossed the cupcake tops in Rubellite (PEARLustre/Stampendous). The little sentiments on the inside are from a Hampden Arts set, and were inked with Victorian Violet ink (Brilliance/Tsukineko) The polka-dot circle (cut with a Spellbinders die) and the paper for the cupcake wrapper are from the same 2-sided DP (Lily Bee Designs), and the butterfly paper on the inside is by Graphic 45. I inked the latter paper with Purple Hydrangea chalk ink (VersaMagic).The yellow backing paper is from my stash, and I embossed the polka dots with a Cuttlebug folder.The corners are decorated with my favorite punch (Marvy/Uchida).
Sorry the photos aren't great; I made this pretty quickly and popped it right in the mail!
I've wanted to make the Game Controller card from Bird's Cards since she posted it back in July, but I finally got around to it! I used the svg cut files, although I did enlarge the card portion.
I cut the controller & pieces on a shiny black Core'Dinations cardstock, and sanded it to give it some dimension. I cut the small buttons on white and colored them with Copics. The sentiment (Hero Arts, I think) was heat-embossed in metallic silver (ZING).
I generated the sentiment for the inside in Bubbledot ICG Coarse Positive, and added the border with a silver gel pen.
Although I made this card with the intention of giving it to a man, there's certainly no reason this couldn't be for a female gamer!
![cg says [something loudly]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FPmCZqXj2-YcQaqnchsA3zKcMX4MIsNrt-Q1wM9gJSyUJH_a6g_V1m_JKR0tKEOGU6F1AFBv8al43phB58tEMIPcT3G0wXzmJpswV9I5mFB7zOhpv8a8dpEAR6i9uS0mkOQKp_pC6PE/s1600/blogheader.gif)
Inspiration/Challenges:
