Four Step Card for Mom!

   I've been working on a birthday card for my mom. Her birthday is coming up and we are all getting together to celebrate her day. I started by playing with some of the "goodies" I got recently at the Manchester Creative Keepsakes Convention in N.H.
   I was anxious to try out the new Spellbinders Labels die. I don't know what number it is, though. I used dimensionals to lift them a little. Pearls were added to give it a regal touch. I also, tried out Spellbinder's poinsettia nesting die cuts. I love them... They looks great as a regular flower. ( I bought the stamp that makes them looks like a poinsettia.) A mini punch from McGill that looks like a "splat" helped to make the center more interesting. I used Tim Holt's Worn Lipstick distress ink to give the edges of the flower more depth. Dimensionals were used here to again lift the layers.

Gotta love that flower.. My first one!!!

Inside the "four-step" card.

   I made my leaves because "Hello", I didn't have a large enough leaf punch. I will be rectifying that soon.. Anyway, I punched out an oval and used my ragged scissors to make the leaves more lifelike. The edges were distressed with peeled paint ink from Tim Holtz.
   The inside of the card is a "four-step " card. I had seen my sister's three-step card on her blog and absolutely loved it.. She has great directions for hers at Calla Lily Studio Blog. Be sure to check hers out.
   Well, I wanted to try out this fold,but didn't want my card to look exactly like hers, so I began to browse through some blogs. I found this "four-step card" on Smiles, Laura's blog. She has great directions with a visual to go along with it. You can find her directions here: Smiles, Laura .  Her directions give you a card that is 4x5 inch card. I wanted mine to be a little bit bigger, so I kinda added a cover to the front and back to enlarge it. I had to be creative in doing this and was a little worried it might not look right, but I think it looks great. It even give the steps a back when you look at it from the side. Not bad...
   The inside of this card took a little time to embellish. The flowers are from that poinsettia die cut. I just used two of them instead of the whole set. The fern leaf is a punch from McGill. The stem of the large flower is a die cut from Sizzix. I used mini peg stamps for the flowers and mini leaves around the Hero stamp that says "Mother". These stamps can be found at Outlines Rubber Stamp Company  . I bought the oval stamp that the word "Mother" is on at JoAnn's fabric store in their dollar bin. Gems adorn the top and bottom. The butterflies are from Martha Stewart's punches collection.

Happy Birthday, MOM

   The poem I found online, but it says so much that is true for us.
   I have already made another flower to use on another birthday card. They are fun and easy to make. I am also playing with an Outline's stamp where you add gems all over it.. It's really quite the bling...
   Hope Mom enjoys this card. I had wicked fun making it..

Manchester Creative Keepsakes Convention 2011

   FABULOUS! That is the word I would use to describe this year's convention. I was overwhelmed by all the vendors and ideas that I saw in Manchester, New Hampshire yesterday. We all had great fun just ooing and awing at the exhibits and demonstrations we saw there. I had never seen Nestie Bling before. These are gems or pearls arranged to fit your Spellbinder's die cuts. The examples were breathtaking. I bought some of those. Also, at the JustRite Stamp exhibit, they had major bling... They take gems or pearls and add them to stamped designs to make jewelry or to embellish a card or scrapbook page. Just lovely.

How much did I spend?

I am not telling....

My favorite places were at Heartfelt Creations where they had stamps that fit Spellbinder dies. Their examples were breathtakingly beautiful, am I using enough adjectives?
   I also, liked the PKGlltz exhibit. There they used acetate to add glitter to and preprinted acetate to add to your designer paper for a lovely effect. Here is their website, if you want to browse a bit. PKGlitz The Outlines Rubber Stamp exhibit was another favorite. Their cards were amazing, too. I plan on shopping at their site for stamps and bling. Check out their website at www.outlinesrubberstamp.comOutlines Rubber Stamp Company 

Whoopee! The Girls Stamp

The Girls!

   One of my favorite items I purchased was the front and back side of "The Girls" stamp set. Had to have those two stamps to make a card or maybe to scrapbook a page of the day. "The Girls" are my sisters. Rochelle, Chris, and our friend, Kathy. Cute, huh?
Click on the slideshow pics to see a larger slideshow with captions. Enjoy...our day in pics.