Bring on the candles

Posted on March 29, 2014 by mauistamper

My son turned 20 earlier this month. His birthday coincided with the start of a fabulous spring break trip sponsored by the university, so he has only seen his card recently. I’m pretty sure he’s not a regular reader, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise in the rare event he checked in.

I got a little carried away…yes, there are 20 candles.

I hope you like my candle flames! They’re cut from the end of the stem from the Bird Builder punch. The candles themselves were hand-cut and are primarily Soho Subway DSP with a little Early Espresso and Island Indigo thrown in for contrast.

The cakes are floating on sheets of Window Strips. They’re hand cut, too. This was for my son, after all!

I made little packages and put them on the side of the card with dimensionals. Honestly, I go through a LOT of dimensionals. I quit worrying about it a long time ago – about the time I figured out they cost just over a penny apiece. Seriously.

The other side has balloons:

The “strings” are held in place with Glue Dots. If you decide to make one of these cards (and I hope you do) trust me in this, you need Glue Dots. Just open up a fresh box and knock yourself out. I use a pokey doodle to pull them off the roll, but a bamboo bbq skewer works really well too.

Since my handsome son is away at school, I had to mail this card, and it required a custom envelope. I used to dread making custom envelopes, but not any more. The Envelope Punch Board is my BFF.

I didn’t use any bulky embellishments (such as buttons) so I just needed a little extra postage for the weight of all the extra card stock. I made the envelope on the roomy side since the card is thicker than usual.

Stamps: Make a Cake, You’re My Hero, Perfect Pennants
Color Palette: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Oval Framelits, Window Sheets, Bird Builder, Small Oval, Corner Rounder, and 1/2 inch circle punches, Early Espresso 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon, Island Indigo Bakers Twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Make {another} Cake

Posted on June 20, 2012 by mauistamper

This set has so much potential, as does the fabulous Comfort Cafe Designer Series paper:

Make a Cake and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Summer Starfruit and Midnight Muse card stock
Comfort Cafe Designer Series paper
Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pads)
Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse Stampin’ Write markers
Raspberry Ripple 3/8 inch Stitched Satin Ribbon
Big Shot and Bitty Banners Framelits
Stamp-a-ma-jig
Jewels Rhinestones
Stampin’ Dimensionals

The first card I made with this set felt too busy – a victim of the philosophy “More is More” but not in a good way. I wanted to keep a similar feeling but streamline it a bit.

The first step was to choose the Designer Series paper, and I like the balanced feeling this paper gives. Once I had it in place the rest of the card came together pretty easily. My Stamp-a-ma-jig came in handy; despite the clear stamps, the lines on these stamps really need to be in the EXACT right spot for the best look, and the SAMJ was just the thing. It’s an indispensable tool for me.

Those Bitty Banners Framelits are fast becoming indispensable as well – perfect flags and banners every time! Not that everything always has to be perfect, but when it turns out that way it’s pretty sweet. Speaking of sweet, it’s mango season right now and we have an abundance of sweet, juicy, fragrant mangoes in our house. There’s nothing in the world like fresh fruit, ripened to perfection on the tree. I have orange hands and fingernails from peeling and slicing, but I don’t mind when the reward is fresh mango.

I’m in love!!

Posted on June 8, 2012 by mauistamper

And OH MY GOODNESS!! You are going to be in love too! Just wait until you get your hands on our new Stampin’ Up! Firm Foam Ink pads!!!

Make a Cake and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
Patio Party Designer Series Paper
Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse,Primrose Petals and Baja Breeze card stock
Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Primrose Petals FIRM FOAM INK PADS!!
1 inch square, Blossom, 3/4 inch circle and Bitty circle punches
Bitty Buttons
White Bakers Twine
Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

I am waiting for the rest of the colors – I only have the In Color 2012-2014 ink pads in Firm Foam but as soon as I used them I knew I had to have the rest! I am stalking my own front lanai because they should be here any day now!!!

{OK. Breathe. It’s going to be just fine. Breathe.}

In other news, if you choose to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator in June (for only $99 I must add) you’ll receive the Make a Cake stamp set, Patio Party Designer Series paper and Patio Party My Digital Studio Suite as a free gift! It’s a pretty sweet deal – check it out. Details at My Online Store – you can sign up in minutes and have your goodies on your doorstep in days. YES – you too can be a front-lanai-stalker!

For the record, I am also very much in love with my wonderful husband, Mr. Maui Stamper. In fact, the Firm Foam Ink Pads, as Fabulous as they are, do not hold a candle to Mr. Maui Stamper. Just sayin’.