Gorgeous Grunge Washi Tape Birthday Card

I made this card as a birthday card, but it kind of makes me think of New Year's Eve with the "confetti" background and the party hat.  Although there are never celebrations of that level at my house on New Year's Eve.  We have a long-standing tradition (this will be 19 years!) of getting together with college friends and just hanging out together.  I'm usually fighting sleep from about 10:00 on and have all I can do to stay awake to watch the ball drop.  I'm pretty pathetic. 

Tips & Tricks

• Washi Tape is an easy way to add a fun element to a card.  Simply tear off a piece and stick it to your card front.  I let it run off one edge here, and just folded it around to the back.  You could always trim the excess, but in my opinion, that's just an extra step that's not necessary.

• Since there are some see-through parts on the designs of the Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape, I suggest adhering the tape, masking it off, and then stamping.  Otherwise, you'll see your background through the tape.  I've use lighter colors here, so that step wouldn't be necessary, however, darker colors would really show through the tape.

Supplies

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Pennant Parade, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink:  Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Island Indigo, Whisper White, and Melon Mambo card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Pennant Builder Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Paper Piercing Tool and Mat

So how about you?  What New Year's Eve traditions do you have?  Do you prefer big parties, or mellow get-togethers?

{Retiring} Circle Circus

Ah, Circle Circus.  I'm sad to see this go.  I remember when it first came out...it actually made it's first appearance in the Australia/New Zealand catalog, and I remember being so excited to spot a new set in another country's catalog.  I had to wait a while to know if it would be in our catalog, and was thrilled when I found out it would!

I will confess that this is not a new card...I made it a loooong time ago.  It was the year that Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, and Rich Razzleberry were the In Colors.  Up until that point, I had never purchased an entire set of In Colors...just two individual colors.  That's it.  Ever.  So I was excited to play with all these new colors, which is how this card came about.  Circle Circus may have been new that year as well.  I do seem to have a lot of Circle Circus cards in my stash that feature these colors. 

I love that the largest circle can be layered by stamping multiple times and using different punches.  And I'm sad that this set is retiring...it's one of those sets that is not event-specific, so it can be used for any kind of card.  The scalloped edge on that big circle gives this one a feminine touch, but take that away, and this card becomes more masculine.  Such a great set!  You still have time to get it...just let me know by June 3.

An Apple for the Teacher

I FINALLY have a new card to share!  Better late than never, right?  Today is the first day of school for a lot of people, including us.  So in honor of the first day, I thought an apple card would be appropriate.

Not surprisingly, I used the Woodgrain embossing folder on this...I can't get enough of this folder, especially now that I have some of the Core'dinations card stock in Early Espresso.  I LOVE how this looks after lightly sanding the top layer.  In addition to the rest of my new staples, Orchard Harvest DSP and the Perfectly Preserved stamp set, I got out the Two Tags Die for my Big Shot.  The longer tag pairs so nicely with the scallop circle punch.

Our first day went reasonably well.  I love homeschooling my kids, but there are days when the drama is just. too. much.  We had a bit of that, but I've been preparing my 5th grader that this was a big year for her, and yes, the work would be harder.  I think that helped.  Hopefully it just gets better from here!

Stamps:  Perfectly Preserved

Ink:  Raspberry Ripple, More Mustard, Early Espresso, and Lucky Limeade markers

Paper:  More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, and Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock, Orchard Harvest DSP

Accessories:  Two Tags Bigz Die, Big Shot, Scallop Circle punch, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Bitty Banners Framelits, Woodgrain embossing folder