Thursday 29 September 2011

Happy 40th Birthday


Hello!

I have been thinking about my brother's birthday card for a few weeks. I have to send it to the UK, so I need to be a little organised. I would sort of like it to arrive in time for his birthday this year, since it is a big one... I am fairly certain that he never looks at my blog, so I should be okay sharing his card here well before the big day.

If he does pop in (by a miracle), Happy Birthday, dear brother!

I picked up a new-to-me, hand-me-down stamp set or two the other day (thank-you, Cassandra), and I've been itching to get into them. Added to those, I have a couple of borrowed stamp sets too. Oh, I am a lucky girl to have such good friends.

I found the Mojo Monday Sketch #208, on Monday, funnily enough, and I have been looking for a colour scheme ever since. The sketch is this one:
The square sketch really, really appeals to me. So neat and tidy, two squares and two rectangles inside a square. Mmm, nice!

Today the new Play Date Cafe Challenge #101 came out. The colour scheme is gorgeous, and perfect for a masculine card. It is also perfect for the ideas I had floating about in my head for this card. These are the colours:
On the subject of The Play Date Cafe, I'm very thrilled to let you know that the card I squeezed in at the last minute for Challenge #100 received an Honourable Mention. I'm the Cream in their Coffee! Am I feeling a little excited about this? You betcha! I find it so thrilling when a card I really like, is really liked by others. Thank-you, thank-you, PDCC Team.

So back onto the subject at hand...my card:
There is a tonne of shimmer mist on the cream panels, but I don't think you can see it much in any of my photos. The patterned paper is metallic, so the shimmer mist works well. I don't usually do this type of stamping - lots of different stamps layered on top of each other - but this is what has been sitting at the back of my mind for a week, so I did it. The card is supposed to be warm like a big hug, with uplifting messages (live, love, laugh, dream), along with the birthday wishes. I feel that I achieved what I was trying to do. I played around with all sorts of other embellishments, but I couldn't work them in. My CAS soul wouldn't let me frilly it up any further, LOL!
What I used:
Stamps: PTI Embellishments, Postmarks, Outlines Alphabet
Card: SU! Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Paper: SU! Mocha Morning (yummo! I just knew I NEEDED this paper)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Ruby Red
Shimmer Mist

So, what do you think?

Michelle
xxx

9 comments:

Vicki Fraser said...

Great colours, love the layers of stamps, looks wonderful :)

T said...

I love it!

Sian Ridley said...

What a beautiful card! I've been MIA for a while so I missed your cream in coffee award-I'm sorry! Congratulations though, that's an amazing achievement and very well deserved, I'm a big fan! :)

This card is wonderful-I saw it in the thumbnails and I was drawn to it immediately! I love your use of the colours and I'm always partial to a nice flourish :) I hope your brother likes it, I'm sure that he will :)

scare_easy said...

So beautiful!! Love the design of your card, and the gorgeous papers/colours. Really great! -Tara

Cassandra said...

Love this one Michelle. The colours and composition are perfect. I am sure your brother will love it.

Lisa Elton said...

Oh he's going to love this Michelle! What a wonderful card!!

Ruby said...

Such a lovely card, it almost tantalises you the way you look at the panels differently the more you look! I love all the layering. Thanks so much for playing along with us at The Play Date Cafe this week!

Jinny Newlin said...

Okay, crossing my fingers that the third time is a charm. Blogger is giving me fits.

LOVE all that scrumptious, random stamping and fabulous layering! Beautiful work, girl! Thanks so much for playing along with us this week at The Play Date Cafe!

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Editor said...

Great card, Michelle! I'm sure your brother will love it!