Happy 2nd Birthday!

This card was inspired by another card magazine. I attempted to use some scrap paper from my nearly overflowing box of scrap paper.

One day either my desk will be clean enough to not have clutter in the background of my photos, or I'll go downstairs and use the portable photo studio that I bough Jon for Christmas the year before last. Anyway, here's the card.

This is the piece I struggled with the most. I definitely had to step outside of my perfectionist bubble here, and accept that this ribbon would never look as good as I wanted it to. The circle with the number 2 on it, is from Elle Studio's Day to Day Tidbits. 

I adhered a scrap piece of polka dot paper and wrapped twine around the card. Stamped happy birthday in the bottom corner (for some reason I gravitate towards the right side).

Here's the side view of the card. The circle of the ribbon was adhered with foam squares and the bottom half of it wasn't adhered at all. I didn't want them to be so one dimensional. I love that not adhering them would add some dimension to the card.

My goal this year is to push myself out of my comfort zone. Do you have any goals in regards to your crafting?

Have a great day!

-Alex

Orange You Glad It's Your Birthday?

I'm not one for being creative with post titles (as some of you may already know), but I tried anyway.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this card being monochromatic, but I'm pretty happy with it.

I wrapped orange and white twine around the sentiment, and adhered gems for a little sparkle.

I hate when ink smudges, but I can roll with it. It adds character...right?

Here's a side view. This little card is only 4" x 4". The perfect little size!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Alex

Washitape Wednesday

Hooray, another link up with Tiffany over at Crafting a Fairytale. This week, I made a card that was inspired by one I saw in the Paper Crafts: Card Creations - Volume 11.

I started off putting washitape onto squares of cardstock (I cut the silver strip off the bottom left one because it was too wide). I made a few different combinations to keep it interesting.

I adhered them to cards that open from the top and added black and white twine bows to each of them to look like presents.

I stamped the bottom right corner with black ink.

Now I have a set of four cards for any type of celebration! I'll be making more of these to eventually put into my etsy shop!

Have a wonderful Wednesday. Don't forget to submit your projects over at Crafting a Fairytale, or you can e-mail them to me creationsbycoal@gmail.com

-Alex

Celebrate

Since Jon's gone to BC with his dad for a fishing trip, I've had a lot of free time to work on cards. I also have a few extra days off this week since a coworker is back from holidays. This means I've made a lot of cards, which is wonderful because I was running low on a few things, and I'd like to open an Etsy shop soon to bring in some extra money when we move.

This card sat like this for a couple of days until I could figure out what to put on it to finish it. I knew it needed a sentiment, and I knew it needed to go across the top right, I just couldn't find the right stamp.

When I got home from work today, I went through my Stampin Up! stamps and found this one. Knowing it was perfect!

I inked the top and bottom edge with light pink ink, and trimmed the edges to look like tape. I adhered it to the card with foam squares and angled it slightly.

Here's a side view of my card. I love that it's bright and cheerful! So happy with how it turned out. All the colours were picked from the floral paper.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!

-Alex

Birthday Wishes

Good morning loves! Hope you're all feeling wonderful today! I'm sure everyone is excited for the weekend. I'm working again this weekend, but I'll try and come up with something other than cards and shopping trips to post next week! I have a few projects in mind, but they take longer than a couple of hours, and since I do most of my posts the night before, I don't have time to do a few things I'd like to.

Today, I tried something a little different. I never use border punches on the edge of a card, but today I wanted to hide the fact that the paper didn't quite reach the edge without cutting it smaller.

I love the different shades of green paired with the navy on this one! I just wish I'd had ribbon to match that could hide the seams.

Here's a side view of the card. The punch I used along the side is one of the new Stampin' Up! ones that I picked up last weekend.

I inked the edges of the birthday wishes, and used foam squares to adhere it to the card. I added gems to give the card a little something more.

Here's what it looks like closed. I only trimmed the front layer with the punch, and left the back layer the way it was. I love the business of the middle, and the simplicity of the top and bottom.

That's all for today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

With Jon being gone this weekend, I should have tons of time to get things done!

-Alex 

Chevron Birthday Card

I'll admit that I struggled with this. I spent my morning working on it, and finally came up with this. It's simple, and cute and I'm so happy with how it eventually turned out.

I added the swirls at the top to make it a little less boring and balance out the bottom.

You can't really tell, but I cut the black and white paper with decorative scissors.

I'm not perfect, the middle one smudged a bit, but I kind of like it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

I'll see you all tomorrow for Washitape Wednesday!

-Alex