Good Morning Fellow Stampers !
How is everyone ? We're 3 days from Christmas and we're in a flurry here at DDS Studios; definitely humming along!! The Christmas letter and cards as well as all packages are officially in the mail (except for a straggler or 2); packages have been wrapped (with a few more to be worked on); and yesterday afternoon my Mother came over to help me wrangle the rows together on the quilt top for my brother! Eeeeeek! Hard to believe that actually came together yesterday. This is a simple denim tie quilt. So we'll see if it gets completed by Christmas Day or not. I at least feel at this point that it's well on the road and that helps a whole bunch. But today I'm taking some "time off" as my honey and I want to just slip away and have a Christmas lunch and some time together for our own private Christmas before the rush of family in the coming days. So I'm really looking forward to those few hours alone with him.
A few short weeks ago I shared with you my Shaker Card Class Tutorial using the Shake & Celebrate bundle; and I promised you we would be revisiting this set and using it again as I prepared for a Christmas birthday in this house! That time has come, and as promised, I am revealing to you today a very special birthday card for the very special man in my life. His birthday actually falls on Christmas Eve; which is difficult enough in itself. This year has special challenges as this year is a very special milestone birthday; and I really wanted to set it apart and make it special!
My color choices for today's design meet several requirements I had in my mind: 1) make this a special milestone card; and 2) keep it somewhat masculine. The Gold and Black with the white neutral are classy and definitely step this design up a few notches. The color combination says "this is special; take note!" Certainly 60 is a big deal and worth celebrating I think! :-)
I chose several styles of paper to create the effect I was seeking for this design ~ Gold Foil, Gold Glimmer paper, and the Gold stripe pattern from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack. The muted shade in the stripe helps soften the strong shine of the foil and glimmer paper. The black gives a nice background tone and pulls everything together.
This is a shaker card. I used the fancier cutout from the Shaker Shape Framelits, on the Gold Foil, and then embossed the foil with the Sparkle TIEF. The gold Mica Flakes fill this card and are fabulous against the black background behind the cake cute out. I cut the cake stand from Basic Black cardstock and attached it right to the front of the foil, and used the Duet Banner Punch to pop the sentiment at the bottom. But it really is the "60" cut using the Large Number Framelits that I think is the focal point of this card design. You should see this card in person -- it is so fun!!!
Here is a little bit different angle that shows the different layers nicely!
The inside of this card is as special as the outside. I used the It's a Celebration stamp set for some "fireworks" stamped in retired Encore Metallic Gold ink; and I used the bold sentiment from the Friendly Wishes stamp set with the "Happy Birthday" straight from the Shake & Celebrate set, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, to create a very special card for my special man. What do you think? Will he like it? The bold sentiment felt more masculine to me, and comes straight to the point in its messaging :-) LOL Men, you know! Don't beat around the bush!
This is one of those card designs that kind of just fell together for me. Sometimes it just feels meant to be. So I'm thrilled and excited to give Mike his very special card. I hope you all have enjoyed today's share; and that if you're celebrating a Christmas birthday in the house, you'll feel inspired. The next birthday we'll visit is a New Year's birthday, believe it or not!! So stay tuned for that one ;-) We'll have some fun next week!
Hope everyone is well, and getting it all done before the big day! As always, if you have questions about any of my designs, need help with an order, or anything Stampin' Up!, don't hesitate to email me!
Until Next Time . . .
