Lift Me Up, Guys

It’s time for another Stamp Off Challenge! This time, it’s to make a project for the guys. It’s so easy to make cards for my female friends, because I love flowers and lace and frills. But guys are a little harder for me to create for.

I just happened to need a birthday card for one of my favorite guys – my older brother. His birthday was last month. Since he was going to be away for his birthday, I had planned to send his card before he left. But that didn’t happen. So – no problem. He wasn’t going to be home on his birthday, so would he really know if it was late unless he checked the postmark? All that week, I thought, “Oh, I need to send Mike’s card.” And all week, I didn’t. We had just gotten back from vacation, and then we were leaving for the Independence Day weekend, and then….things got out of hand.

Since I celebrate my September birthday from August through October, I figured he could celebrate his at least through July. Don’t you think that makes sense? And I only do this to be nice; this way, no one feels guilty because they’re late with birthday wishes. (I actually celebrate for about six months. It makes it easier for people.)

So here’s his birthday card.

I really enjoyed this challenge. I actually planned ahead for once, and placed the balloon and sentiment stamps and clouds from the Pattern Party Decorative Masks before I stamped or used Embossing Paste.

First, I added the clouds using Embossing Paste and the cloud design from the Pattern Party Decorative Masks. They looked a little flat, so I added a bit more paste “freehand” to each cloud and sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter over them. I knew it would take a while to dry, so I watched some Stampin’ Up! videos while I waited. (Note: The Embossing Paste dries really quickly, but this was extra thick, so it took a little longer.) 

Next, I stamped the larger balloon and the sentiment from the Lift Me Up Stamp Set in Versamark ink and embossed them with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder. There was room for two more smaller balloons, so I stamped them in VersaMark as well. Unfortunately, I grabbed a bottle of powder and sprinkled it on the balloons – but it was Dazzling Diamonds glitter, not embossing powder. I threw a bit of powder on top, but it still didn’t melt. So, while you can mix embossing powder and glitter, be sure the glitter isn’t on the bottom. It (and the embossing powder) will blow off the image.

Instead of starting over, I simply stamped and embossed the smaller balloons again on Night of Navy Cardstock, then embossed with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I die cut them with the Up & Away Thinlits dies and added them to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I really like that they add a little more dimension to the card.

I realized after I had my layout that it’s a very close CASE of one of Susan’s from last week. It must be stuck in my head! You can see it here.

The reason I used Night of Navy Cardstock and embossing powder with this card is because I wanted to use the Watercolor Pencils. They work really well on darker cardstock. The colors really stand out. I was super happy with how this card turned out – except the clouds were really, really white, and they distracted from the other elements. I used a little Smoky Slate ink on a Stampin’ Sponge to tone the clouds down a bit.

I had so much fun with this challenge! Now, check out what Susan and Jackie did. I know you’ll be “wowed” by their creations!

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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