Birthday card inspired by Christina Griffiths!!!

If y'all have not visited Christina's YouTube channel, you need too, so here is a link!!!  Trust me, you will learn so much by watching her videos!  I had come across one of her cards while surfing on Pinterest (which I do way more than I should) where she cut her Spellbinders ovals in half for her card design and I had just recently bought a new set of Spellbinders Ovals, so I decided to have a go at it as a design for a birthday card for a really dear friend that I have made online.  I have to tell you, by the time I found out her birthday was on the 26th of January, I knew there was no way that I could design and create a card for her in time..............so I told her she "would be celebrating her birthday late this year"!!!  At any rate, here is the card that I made for her (I mailed it last week and she should be receiving it today).

I designed the "Birthday Wishes" using the "Corinthia" font and cut it using my new "Pazzles Inspiration Vue".  I want to point out that for the sentiment, I used Recollections 110 lb. cardstock and my "Vue" cut it like it was butter!  I also designed the lattice frame by first cutting the "stitched" rectangle die by My Favorite Things .  I designed the lattice mat to be the same size as my die and when I cut it using my Cameo, I only cut the outer edge to start with.  Then I removed the rectangle from my cutting mat while it was still in my machine and replaced it with my die cut and made sure that it was securely adhered to my mat and then I cut the lattice part....I love that look!  There are four layers of the ovals from my die set, Spellbinders "Elegant Ovals" (S4-425) and I cut all of them in half and then layered them.  I used my Martha Stewart "Hydrangea" punch for the tiny flowers, colored the center of them with my Copic "Blush" (R20) marker and added a tiny pearl.  I also used two tiny pink pearls to dot my "i's" on the "Birthday Wishes" and of course, I just had to use some "Clear" Wink of Stella on my sentment.  Here is a close-up!

For the inside of the card, I was going to place a "corner" in each of the top corners using one of Bird's "Doily Corners" (you can find the free cut files here at Bird's site) that has a lattice in it to match the theme on my card front, but got to thinking how cool it would be to just cut directly to that panel and use the same "stitched" die rectangle.  So I removed the outer frame as well as the first very tiny lattice row from Bird's design and I guess you could say that I "inlaid" the corners!  I also used some of my microfine glitter on the top corners of the pink layer beneath the cream layer so that the corners would be glittery and would match the "glittered" border that I used at the bottom.  Gosh, I hope I am making sense...LOL!!!  The text is computer generated using the "Corinthia" font, which is becoming one of my favorites!  I made my "enamel" dots for each corner using the same pink cardstock.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the inside of the card.

For my "signature" label on the back, I used another Spellbinders die.

I cut my envelope using a Lori Whitlock cutting file...you can find it here and it includes a "liner", which I think makes the envelope look so elegant!!!

Once again, thank y'all so much for visiting my blog and please don't forget to leave your comments below....I SO enjoy reading them!!!  Hurry back!

Finished Card Size:  A2 (4.25"x5.5")

Supplies List

Papers:  Recollections 110 lb. Ivory (card base), Recollections 65 lb. cardstock. Recollections "Garden Florals" Paper Pad (envelope flap)

Ink:  Ink:  Tsukineko "VersaMarkWatermark"

Tools:  Pazzles "Inspiration Vue", Silhouette "Cameo", "Milwaukee" Heat Gun
Accessories:   "Clear" Wink of Stella Brush Tip Marker, Suze Weinberg "Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel", Recollections "Pearls", Martha Stewart "Hydrangea" Punch, My Favorite Things "Blueprints 13 Stitched Rectangle: die, Spellbinders "Elegant Ovals" (S4-425) & "Fancy Tags One" (S4-236), Copic Marker

Let's talk about the "old" JustRite Stamps and the MISTI!!!

Hello everyone!!!  This past weekend I came across my "old" JustRite stamps...you know the ones that you had to buy the special wood blocks for!!!  I had never been able to get a good stamped image with those suckers and it was like a light bulb went off in my head.....I'll bet I can find a way to use them with my MISTI and I did!  I feel pretty sure that I could have used some of my EZ Mount on them, but that stuff is pretty expensive so I got to thinking that maybe I could just use some Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" to make them cling to my MISTI and it worked and the images stamped pretty good without transferring any ink from the stamp to my paper as you can see in the photo here.  That worked on these two, but later I was stamping them to make a cover on my Avery Elle pockets that I store my stamps in and some of them transferred ink to my stamped image unfortunately!

Someone at Splitcoast said that happens because the rubber is not etched deep enough and so then I had to come up with a solution to that problem and the thing I thought of was a mask that would cover the rubber around the etching.  I scanned the stamps to make cutting files for them and tried them using some contact paper.....that cut really great but was way to flimsy.  The problem is that you almost always have to stamp the images at least two times to get a good clear image...so now I decided to try some Dritz "Clear Template Plastic" that I had purchased from Joann's for making stencils and it worked, but I think it may be just a tad too thick.  I cut mine using my "Pazzles Inspiration Vue" and it did a great job!!!  A long time ago I had purchased some quilting plastic from Hobby Lobby and I think it might be just a little thinner, so the next time I cut them I will use that.   Here is a photo of the plastics....the on the bottom is the "quilters plastic" that I think may be a tad thinner.

They say "a picture is worth a thousand words" so here are some photos. 

This shows the stamp attached to the lid of my MISTI using the Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" with my "mask" placed on top of the stamp.  You also have to use some Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" on the back side of the "mask".  The good thing about the plastic material is that you can clean the ink off of it using a paper towel and some alcohol.

Here is a close-up shot.

I numbered my stamps and also used a Sharpie to put the number on the back right side of each stamp  as you can see in this photo.  I placed that number on each stamp in the same place so that when I position my stamp on the cardstock in my MISTI the stamp will be "right side up" and not upside down.

For storing the masks, I cut the bottom and right side off of one of my Staples "Clear 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 sheet protectors" so that it opens like a book and when opened I placed all of my masks for the stamps (which would actually be the negative cut out) on the right side and the protector and then I took the cut outs (which is the positive) and numbered them, put some repositional tape on the back of them and placed them on the left side.  I can use then to mask the stamped images...no sense in wasting them.  On the front I stamped all of the stamps, in order, on a piece of copy paper and taped it to the front of my protector.  Whew....I sure hope I am making sense.  Here are some photos.

I also want to mention that when I purchased those JustRite stamps, I also purchased a couple of the Monogram Kits which I never ever used.  I have two different sets one is the "Times New Roman" and the other is the "Special Ocassions", so I decided to try them with the Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" and my MISTI and I'm loving them!!!  Here are some photos.

I hope this helps those of you that would like to use those old "unused" stamps now that you have a MISTI!!!