Seashell Friends Birthday

One of the card ministry volunteers is celebrating her 80th birthday. That calls for a celebration and a special card!

This one was inspired by Susan Wong over at the Crafty Carrot and Rachel Tessman with Stamp Your Art Out. The featured stamp set this month at the Crafty Carrot is Friends are Like Seashells. Yesterday Rachel participated in the Sand & Sea All Star Blog Hop. She posted a great video with instructions for recreating a simpler version of her million dollar card from Shelli and Sara using the Sand & Sea Suite. Susan’s live introduced a spinner card using the Layering Circles Dies in Misty Moonlight and Polished Pink from the same suite.

After watching two great videos I got started on this one last night and finished it this morning. There are so many great details that make this card an over the top WOW! The colors are compliments of Susan/Expressions in Ink DSP and the design/measurements are from Rachel/Shelli/Sara.

The Friends are Like Seashells stamp set and dies carried over to the new catalog but the Sand and Sea Designer Paper retires June 30 or until supplies are depleted. If it’s a favorite or on your wish list don’t wait, you might be disappointed.

The colors for the designer paper are Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Sahara Sand, Seaside Spray and So Saffron. The patterns are lovely and could be used year round and with a variety of other stamp sets.

I’ve been learning to use the Gilded Leafing and wanted to include it in the details of my special card. It was added to the shell on the cover, the edge of the medallion on the front denoting her milestone birthday, the card’s back edge and the starfish on the message panel. It’s so elegant and takes any ordinary card to the next level for sure! The card is wrapped in Fine Art Ribbon for a little more added sparkle and is retiring at the end of June. The “80” is from Memorable Moments, a Stampin’ Up set that retired several years ago. It’s a favorite for special occasions so I’ve kept it in my inventory.

I’ve added the Expressions in Ink Specialty Designer Paper to the Sand & Sea DSP. It was on my work surface and fit right in with the color combo and the gold leafing. It was the only sheet in the Impressions pack I hadn’t cut into.

All of the images and greetings are from the Friends are Like Seashells stamp set. I’ve also used the Seaside Seashells dies and the Seashells 3D Embossing Folder. When the Pearlescent Specialty Paper is used in place of Basic White it brings the shells to life. Doesn’t the embossed die cut image just pop on the Basic White background? For an added WOW I stamped the greetings and applied Clear Embossing Powder to each for an added sheen. This is really easy to achieve when stamping with the Stamparatus.

The adjacent panel to the message area was decorated with stamped embossed shells. Before stamping, I first die cut the image, and then stamped the shells in the corresponding areas. The stamps are photopolymer so lining up the images is easy peasy. Last step, run the die cut stamped image through the 3D embossing folder. I can’t get over how real they look, just breathtaking.

My embellishments throughout are the Gilded Gems. They were a perfect choice to complete the gold theme throughout the card.

I hope my special volunteer is as excited about the card as I’ve been creating it. Sometimes it’s hard to part with our over the top creations, but I’m sure this one will become one treasured card that will be enjoyed for years to come. I hope my share today inspires you to create an over the top card for a special someone in your life! We have the capacity to make a difference in the life of another, just get started, and you’d be surprised what you are capable of doing.