Birthday and Mother's Day Cards by Damian

This past week, we celebrated my husband's birthday and, of course, Mother's Day. It was an eventful week, well, as fun as it can get since we're still in lockdown. Special events call for special cards and there's nothing that makes me happier than when my son spends time in my craft room!

As most of you already know, we're big beaver fans and my husband has taken on the persona of a beaver, first in Minecraft and now just about everwhere. LOL My son is also obsessed with widgeons and you can read more on that story HERE. Of course, my son had to use Avery Elle's retired Wood You? stamp set and coordinating dies, with a widgeon from Technique Tuesday's Duck Swan Goose stamp set and a sentiment from Beau & Beatrice Beaver. Since Wood You? has been retired, I was so happy to see a brand new beaver set, Maple Syrup, in their latest release and you can find that in the supply links below.

My son clearly had a lot of fun making my Mother's Day card, using six stamp sets from Taylored Expressions and a slimline die from Catherine Pooler Designs. As always, when making a card for me, it should include a panda because that is my persona. LOL This particular panda is from Hot Flash Grumplings and has the most hilarious expression.

Damian had a little help ombre stamping On the Block - Mom with Earl Grey and Poppy Seed inks, followed by heat embossing with halo embossing powder to make it extra sparkly. I had already stamped and gold embossed the Mini Strips - You're the Best and stored them in my Simple Storage for Simple Strips and all Damian had to do was choose the ones he wanted to use.

Damian chose all of my favourite things, including chips, red wine (or maybe it's port wine), coffee and cake. Of course, he included a little widgeon on my card, too. Both of these cards are so cute and special! I hope you enjoyed Damian's creativity this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies for Hubby's Birthday Card:  

Supplies for Mother's Day Card: 

Minecraft Birthday Card by Damian

For the first time in a long time, my son voluntarily walked into my craft room and asked to make a card. It was for one of his best friends who also enjoys playing Minecraft. Damian knew exactly what he wanted to do and his exact words were, "You have a stencil that makes Minecraft blocks." LOL You can find another sample of mine using this Cube Builder Stencil [also available at SBC | SSS] in a previous post here. 

Damian used blender brushes with Ultramarine and Azurite inks on a silicone mat and full sheet of Neenah heavyweight cardstock so we could cut it down with the pattern centred.

Damian used the NameMC website to access images of the characters he and his friend use while playing Minecraft. He printed these images on Neenah heavyweight cardstock, then Damian used Prismacolor Pencils to add detail to the images before fussy cutting them.

We were trying to create a custom Minecraft sentiment and then I remembered the perfect sentiment from Studio Katia's Birthday Greetings that works really well for this Minecraft-themed card. I heat embossed the sentiment on vellum with WOW Black Twinkle embossing powder, then die cut it along with a Neenah heavyweight backer using A2 Circle STAX dies.

Damian assembled the card with large glue dots for a slight bit of dimension, then added Studio Katia Ripe Persimmon Pearls to symbolize birthday cake potion à la Minecraft.

I think Damian's friend will love his card. What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies: 

Christmas Cards from the boys

I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the New Year! I'm popping in to share the cards that Damian and Chris made for Christmas. I love that they're winter-themed and have something in common - a widgeon (small river duck). LOL I'm not sure if I ever mentioned the widgeon story here on the blog but during a game of Scrabble last year, I started by placing all seven tiles to spell the word widgeon for a bonus 50 points. Then a couple of months later, I came across the Squishmallow Avery, which apparently has a cult following, and purchased it on a whim. It's now my son's favourite stuffed animal.

Damian's card features the Duck Goose Swan and Hello Winter stamp sets from Technique Tuesday on Strathmore Toned Grey mixed media paper. He modified the widgeon to look like the Squishmallow Avery and used the MISTI stamping tool to stamp the other images around the widgeon. Then he coloured everything with Prismacolor pencils. I always love it when he uses coloured pencils and this card is definitely a labour of love!

Chris' card also features the widgeon from Duck Goose Swan but in a more comical way. Here, the widgeon is actually my son who has an addiction to lattes. Don't worry, they are always decaf lattes and he doesn't have them all the time. If we're out, he will get a treat from Starbucks or I will make them at home using David's Tea. Yum! 

The rest of this card features Speech Bubbles, Peek-a-Boo Pals and Cocoa Stand from Avery Elle, as well as a retired Safari Die for the snow by My Favorite Things. If you're looking for a similar landscape die, I recommend Slimline Stitched Hillside Borders by Lawn Fawn. All of these images were coloured with Copic markers.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies: 

Crafty Together | Valentine's Day cards from Chris and Damian

I always look forward to receiving handmade cards from my husband and son. It's so fun to see what they dream up and these Valentine's Day cards are no exception. In fact, I think they outdid themselves this year! My husband always worries that he won't be able to live up to his last card. 😆

Damian's card features Wood You? from Avery Elle. That adorable, derpy beaver will always have my heart and the stamps are dies are currently on sale so head over there now and grab them while you still can!

The cactus (see this post for backstory) and sentiment are from A Little Prickly - currently on sale - by Technique Tuesday. The images were stamped on smooth Bristol cardstock and coloured with Primacolor pencils.

Chris combined three Lawn Fawn sets, including Love Letters, Forest Feast and Cheery Christmas. He stamped his images with Memento inks and coloured them with Copic markers. He also used a piece of retired patterned paper from my stash but you can find something similar in the Sweet Stack paper pad from My Favorite Things.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

{Avery Elle} Twin Birthday Card by Damian

We got back from Portugal on Wednesday and Damian quickly made this card while recovering from jet-lag. His twin friends turned 12 on Friday and they're moving to Los Angeles in a week so we included virtual gift cards to their favourite stores once they get settled in their new home!

Damian used Prismacolor pencils to colour images from Avery Elle's Market Stand, Peek-a-Boo Pets, Peek-a-Boo Pals and a retired set called Hats Off.

Damian's linking up this card to Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Colouring Challenge. With end-of-year concerts and our vacation, we were just too busy to play along this time around but it's nice to be able to squeak one in. ☺️

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

{Sunny Studio Stamps} Home Run/Slam Dunk Birthday Card by Damian

My son made this card for his classmate who celebrated his birthday this past week. His friend plays in hockey and baseball leagues but is also a huge basketball fan. With the Toronto Raptors doing so well in their first ever NBA Final, who wouldn't be? ;)

Naturally, Damian reached for Sunny Studio Stamps' Team Player and stamped out the trophy, baseball, bat and basketball using the original MISTI stamping tool. Then he used his favourite colouring medium, Prismacolor Premier Pencils.

My favourite part of this card is the way Damian was able to transform the basketball into a Toronto Raptors ball using a Copic multi-liner and fine point Sharpie! My husband and I were so impressed and I know his friend will be, too!!

After the images were coloured and die cut, Damian arrange them in a cluster and picked a combination sentiment. It was a tough choice between "home run" and "slam dunk" since either phrase would've worked for these images. I stamped the sentiment myself since it involved multiple steps with masking.

Finally, the images were adhered to the panel with glue dots and foam tape. The only image Damian wanted popped up was the trophy but he specifically wanted the handle of the bat behind the basketball with the top end leaning against the trophy. The top of the bat is popped up and the bottom is flat on the panel. To finish, we embellished the card with three stars, die cut from silver screen cardstock.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

{Clearly Besotted} Beaver Appreciation Day

I bought Clearly Besotted's Build It Beavers when it was released and it immediately became a favourite in my house. My husband and son have used it a lot to make little notecards for each other. When my son started playing Minecraft three years ago, he assigned a beaver skin to my husband and that's how we came to love beavers, not to mention that they are an adorable Canadian icon. [📸: our Halloween costumes] Oh, and if you've never Googled "baby beavers", I highly suggest you do it!

When Beaver Appreciation Day rolled around, I decided I needed to (a) use my Prismacolor pencils and (b) blog a card using this adorable stamp set! Unfortunately, the original set is now retired but Clearly Besotted offers a mini set called Builder Beavers. If you need more beavers in your life, I've added a list of other much-loved stamp sets I own featuring beavers and you can find those below the supply list for this card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies for Beaver Appreciation Day:


Recommended Beaver Stamp and Die Sets:

We Bare Bears Thank You Card

My son made this card a while back but I hadn't posted it since it was still making its way to the recipient. I printed two Pan-Pans from the We Bare Bears and Damian coloured them with Prismacolor pencils, blending all the greys with a blending pencil. I love his highlights! I helped cut out the bears and set them aside. Next, Damian die cut a stitched scalloped mat with My Favorite Things' Blueprints 27. I used masking paper on three sides just inside the stitched detailing and blended a background with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint.

Damian placed the blended panel inside the MISTI stamping tool and stamped Thanks! from Altenew's Halftone Circles and Your Kindness Means So Much from Altenew's Build-A-Flower: Hibiscus. To finish, I die cut three red glitter hearts using a die from My Favorite Things' Blueprints 29 and adhered them and the bears to the panel using liquid glue.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies: