The Happy Room

I had the pleasure of meeting Melissa Forsyth-Sampaga of The Rubber Cafe/Pugnacious Ruber Stamps recently at a stamp convention here in AZ. I found this fabulous "Thistle Flower" image among her line and couldn't wait to create some cards with it.

This is my first card using it (more to follow): the base of the card is basic white cardstock. The next layer is some pre-made cardstock with luscious gold swirls which I thought was perfect for this project. Melissa also had some wonderful new Cuttlebug embossing folders and coordinating dies there at the show, so the white panels are embossed with those (sorry, don't have the set name as it is out on loan right now). The scalloped edges is also a Cuttlebug die which was simply cut apart and "fit" around the layers.

The image was stamped with VersaMark onto basic white cardstock and embossed with Stampendous Pearl Gold embossing powder. That layer was cut with a Nestabilities die. Then lastly, I stamped the Thistle Flower image a second time and hand cut it and applied a little Paper Tole technique to give it dimension.

The gold filagree embellishment was a thrift store find, the oval brad in the center is from Wilton. I purchased it at Michael's. The small pearls are from my stash. The leaves are from the same Cuttlebug set!


I hope you've enjoyed the project and thanks for stopping by today!

~Kathie

Here is a little Happy Birthday card for my dear friend, Hetty Sanders in The Netherlands. I had so much fun making this card, because I thought about Hetty the whole time that I was making it and remembered our long time friendship.

The dragonfly image is from Michael Strong Stamps. It was stamped with VersaMark ink onto black cardstock and embossed with gold embossing powder. I hand cut the image and then stamped it a second time, cut it out and layered it on top of the first image. That allowed me to gently shape and curl the wings to give it a 3-D effect.

The top layer of the card is just basic white cardstock which was Cuttlebugged and layered onto more basic black. Here is where the fun begins on this card. The gold layer is obviously Cuttlebugged, but do you know what it really is??? It's foil from a coffee bag!! Now if you know my friend, Michael Strong, you will know that he is the "Original Recycler". I'm a short step behind him, because as one of my friends always says "Kathie was 'Green' before it was cool!" So how could I throw something away that was so recycle-worthy??? I'm happy with the results!

The inside of the card (white layer) was cut with the Stampin' Up! Top Note die. I added a little dragonfly image and utilized a fun little technique called "Pierced Patterns" learned over at the Technique Junkies group. It made a nice little flight trail to show you how happy this little dragonfly really is!

Best of all, my dragonfly flew out of Arizona last Monday and landed on a leaf in Hetty's yard today (Saturday). Just in time to deliver my Happy Birthday wishes to my dear friend. Love ya Hetty!!

Thanks for stopping by~

~Kathie