Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

I’ve seen a number of cards based on this simple layout, but introduce a simple change of color and you have something entirely new:

Mixed Bunch and Elementary Elegance Stamp sets
Whisper White, Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride and Not Quite Navy Card stock
Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
Blushing Bride and Pear Pizazz Classic ink pads
Pear Pizazz, Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy Stampin’ Write markers
Big Shot
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Tasteful Trim XL Bigz die
Blossom punch
Blossom Builder Punch
Glue dots and Stampin’ Dimensionals
Simply Scored

Simple but cheerful! And who doesn’t need a birthday card from time to time?

The Mixed Bunch image is stamped on Whisper White and punched for the top layer, but the second layer is just punched from Blush Blossom – no one can see any stamping there anyway! I used my Simply Scored tool to put those lines on the leaves, but you could manage quite easily with a bone folder and a straight edge. I intentionally didn’t put a button in the middle of that flower, although it was begging for one, as I wanted to be able to mail this card without extra postage.

Now, a word about adhesives; don’t make it hard for yourself! Buy quality adhesives and have a couple of different things on hand, and you’ll find your card-making goes so much more smoothly. Glue dots are great for adhering layers like the two punched flowers, but they are indispensible for tucking those skinny little leaves UNDERNEATH the blossom. A Stampin’ Dimensional gives you – well – DIMENSION, and it also provides a little room to squeeze in those leaves.

Get the adhesive. Be kind to yourself. You deserve it.

There’s something romantic about a sailboat. Sailboats evoke feelings of freedom in me, and though I’m not a sailor I love watching them on the water.

Sail Away and Hope Happens stamp sets
Whisper White, Night of Navy and Baja Breeze cardstock
Random Designer Series Paper in Tangerine Tango and maybe So Saffron??
Night of Navy Classic ink pad
Night of Navy and Cajun Craze Stampin’ Write Markers
Aquapainter and Blender pen
Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

OK, first order of business is to make sure you know I am not sneaking in some other company’s sentiment stamp – that is a VERY carefully inked stamp from the Hope Happens set. The verse is “Do not put off until tomorrow what can be Enjoyed Today” and I used a marker to ink just the letters I wanted. I know, now you’re full of remorse for thinking I would have committed Rubbah-dultery, as Jan Tink calls it. If you want to make it up to me, you can come pick the orange cat hair out of my Stampin’ Scrub, because it’s full of the stuff and it’s a pain in the patootie! It makes funny lines on my stamps when I ink them up. That Darn Cat.

Anyway, I digress. We were talking about sailboats, no?

I don’t go out on the water a lot, because the truth is that if it’s not perfectly smooth I get queasy. I make an exception for whale season and trips to Lanai, and I take something to settle my stomach and pray for good weather. Heading out on a boat provides such a different perspective of our island, and as long as my stomach cooperates I can stay out for hours just watching. A sailboat has the added bonus of being quiet – just the sound of the waves and the wind in the sail – and it can be very meditative. If you’re lucky enough to have a whale surface nearby, you hear that big WHOOSH when it breathes (but don’t breath in, because whales have the fishiest halitosis EVAH). If you hit the jackpot and one breaches nearby, nothing compares with the sound of a school bus hitting the water.

I digress again. It’s not even whale season. Sigh.

This sailboat card is simple and flat by design. Lately I’ve been frustrated when I needed to send a card and couldn’t find one that would actually Fit In An Envelope. Can you imagine that? What a concept! I’m making an effort to create cards that can be put in an envelope and mailed, no fuss no muss, and this one qualifies. It takes a little discipline and I was sorely tempted by ribbons, buttons and brads but I held out for simple. We’ll see if I can do that again.