Avery Elle's June AEI♥U Challenge Part No. 2

Happy Sunday!  As I am on a crafting/blogging roll, Thursday night I made a second attempt at the Avery Elle's June AEI♥U Challenge.   You can find my first attempt HERE. 

 

 

This time around I began with the adorable smaller tag from the Simply Tags: Everyday die designed by uber talented Nina Yang (yes she created the sketch above too).  I cut 4 tags out of the My Girl 6x6 paper pad by American Crafts...such a sweet collection with pretty summery colors.  I added some grey and white baker's twine to each tag.  Now this is when things got dicey.  I ended up playing around with these four tags a lot.  And I mean a lot.  Some cards come together quickly and easily and others just don't.  This one was hard fought.

Here's the great sketch by Nina Yang again:

I decided to emboss the white panel with a nifty honeycomb embossing folder which mimics the hexagons found on the multi-colored hexagon patterned paper.  I pulled out the yellow from the hexagon patterned paper and stamped the sentiment from Air Mail and then die cut it out. 

A little digression, if I may.  Mail and travel themes go for my jugular.  They slay me.  I can't resist them.  Seriously, can...not...resist.  So imagine how thrilled I was with Air Mail.  More thrilled than the camel on hump day.  Watch out as I have a We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board coming my way and I have not even scratched the surface on this baby!  End of my little digression.

After placing the tags on the panel I figured what it needed was a central image.  I went through chipboard, pages of stickers, cabochons and diecuts until I found a lovely diecut from the Amy Tangerine/American Crafts' Yes, Please collection Bits (die cut cardstock shapes).  It was adorable, but not the right colors and a tad big for what I needed.  Still it was a jumping off point.  (Note to self: next Avery Elle order add Petals and Stems).

Here's my inspiration by Amy Tangerine/American Crafts from the Yes, Please collection:

I got out a pencil and drew a rose and some leaves in a similar fashion, painted it in with watered down Distress Markers and to get the right tone distressed the flower with Distress Inks.  Now I was getting somewhere!

I adhered everything down onto the white panel.  Then I added some aqua blue sequins (needed some sequins!) and some stickles to the flower and leaves just for something extra.  Last I adhered the white panel to a yellow card base.

Voila!  The tale of a challenging card.  I hope you enjoy it and thank you for staying with me during my rambling.

Happy creating,
Shay.

Supplies:
Stamp: Air Mail, Avery Elle
Ink: harvest gold, Papertrey Ink; antique linen and scattered straw, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger
Cardstock: stampers select white, Papertrey Ink; yellow, stash
Patterned Paper: My Girl 6x6 paper pad, American Crafts
Die: Simply Tags: Everyday die, Avery Elle
Other: Cuttlebug, Provo Craft; Honeycomb embossing folders, Lifestyle Crafts; circle nestabilities dies, Spellbinders; baker's twine, Whisker Graphics; pencil; worn lipstick, spiced marmalade and barn door, Tim Holtz Distress Markers, by Ranger; paint brush; water; Inkssentials ink blending tool, Ranger; aqua sequins, Studio Calico; star dust stickles, Ranger;dimensional adhesive

Celebrate

Dear Reader,

I am bringing you yet another masculine birthday card.  I seem to have to make so many masculine cards that they no longer phase me (much).  This cousin of mine whose card I just made turns 14.

I chose to begin by picking out Heidi Swapp's No Limits 6x6 paper pad with its blues, oranges and very male friendly designs.

Next, I pulled out a new stamp set by Basic Grey/Hero Arts from the Clippings collection.  I think this line is also very gender neutral and ageless.  I stamped the tag (I really need the background of the matching design) on a piece of orange patterned paper in spice tin ink by Jenni Bowlin for Ranger.  I ended up cutting into two pieces to use as elements in different locations.

From here I pulled out State Fair die-cuts from Studio Calico.  When these first came out, I was so excited and recently my excitement has been reignited.  I really love how older collections can be used with newer products for endless uses and possibilities.  Also used was a little die cut from the Bits from the original Amy Tangerine collection (love these!).

I added the sentiment in yellow Thickers...they are getting a lot of use lately as they are a great size and color.

Lisa Truesdell turned me onto multiple stamping of a date (my cousin's birthday this year) which seems appropriate and adds an interesting element.  I am not sure why they are mostly concentrated above the Thickers....

Because I love the diamond pattern found on the little tag stamp from the Basic Grey/Hero Arts stamp, I stamped the tag out again and punched out stars from it.

The right hand corner of the card is rounded because I felt it would help the card look less angular.

A quick peak inside (leftovers add a little of the outside to the inside):

And one more look before it goes into the mail:

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

Shay.

Celebrate birthday card
Stamps: Guest Check from Clippings collection, Basic Grey/Hero Arts; date roller stamp; Dear Lizzy (Studio Calico exclusive from Story Hour kit, March 2012)
Ink: spice tin and fountain pen, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger
Cardstock: solar white, Neenah Papers
Patterned Paper: No Limits 6x6 paper pad, Heidi Swapp
Other: Eric foam Thickers, American Crafts; die-cuts from State Fair collection, Studio Calico; Bits from Amy Tangerine collection, Amy Tangerine; star punch, Stampin' Up!; Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, We R Memory Keepers

Get to the Point

Dear Reader,

I am on a roll...out of necessity (my driving force).  I had another card for a cousin to make.  Sadly, I forgot it was her 18th birthday or I would have included 18 in the card.

As for inspiration for this card: when she recently sent a thank you card it was simple, graphic and gender neutral, so I thought rather than going the frou frou/bohemian look I sometimes do for young women (why I do this I am not sure other than maybe I am still imprinted with a spread in Vogue when I was around 18 which was a gypsy/bohemian chic look) I would go with bold colors and graphics.

Again, I went to my stash of embellishments picking out some die-cut tags from a package by Studio Calico from their State Fair collection.  I recently had been playing with a piece of yellow chevron paper from the original Amy Tangerine collection I absolutely adore (I love the grey stripe on the back too) and thought the yellow would look great with the blue and red.  I added another piece of patterned paper from Studio Calico I had on hand.  The sentiment is courtesy of yellow Thickers and red Jillibean Soup letters.  The last touches were the yellow twine and a yellow arrow from Studio Calico to mimic the arrow on the red and blue tag and draw the eye to the sentiment.

I like to add a little decoration to the inside of the card that mimics the front and also uses up scraps or extras to minimize the mess on my table.

One more view before it is shipped out:

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

Shay.

Graphic Birthday Card
Patterned paper: Oh Happy Grey from Amy Tangerine collection, American Crafts; Telegraph (I think that is the name or Primrose) from Field Guide kit, Studio Calico 
Cardstock: solar white, Neenah Papers
Other: yellow foam Eric Thickers, American Crafts; Alphabeans in roma red, Jillibean Soup; (yellow arrow) Scrap Pads from Memoir collection, Studio Calico; Die-Cuts from State Fair Collection, Studio Calico; yellow twine