Beer Bottle Birthday

Hello everyone!  Masculine cards are always a challenge for me. I have 3 men in my life for whom I make birthday cards. Coming up with 3 different ideas each year is not easy. I try to make them as personal as possible and sometimes it takes days to finally come up with a theme that I feel is the perfect one.  Here is a birthday card that I made for one of my nephews whose birthday fell in August.

I began by creating the beer crate. This was done by taking kraft card stock, scoring it in 1/2" intervals and then running a brown ink pad over it to create the effect of wood. Next, this panel of card stock was cut into 4 strips along the score lines.  A strip of card stock was adhered vertically at both the left and right ends of the crate in order that the slats could be attached with brads. This was put aside.

My next step was to create the beer bottles. These were die cut in brown card stock and then crystal lacquer was applied to give the appearance of glass. The bottle caps were die cut in a golden pearl card stock and adhered to the tops of the bottles. (I created labels for the beer bottles, using the name of the most popular beer in my nephew's city). The 6 beer bottles were then attached to the crate with dimensionals, offsetting the ones in the rear of the crate.  This was also put aside.

The beer glass was die cut in a golden pearl card stock. Since the beer glass had cut-outs in the front, I had to mat it with colored paper to give the appearance that it was filled with beer. And to make it look really REAL, foam was added to the of of the beer glass using a snow maker.

Finally, the base card was prepared in brown card stock, layered with kraft, followed by ivory and brown plaid digital paper. The beer crate and glass were then adhered to the card front. The sentiments were die cut in the golden pearl card stock and adhered as shown.

This completed my project.  It took a lot of work but I was very pleased with the way it turned out. 

Here is a list of the products used in this project:

Card stock:  PTI Dark Chocolate, GKD Kraft, GKD Ivory, Golden Pearl (unknown)

Dies:  Frantic Stamper Soda/Beer Bottle and Can die set, Trim Craft Food and Drink die set, Sue Wilson's A Little Birdie Told Me, Crafter's Companion Simple Sentiments

Other:  digital paper, brads, Marvy Snow Marker, 3D Crystal Lacquer, adhesive, dimensionals

Thanks for visiting my blog. Any comments would be very much appreciated. 

Until next time, make it  great day!

Coffee Cup Pop-Up Birthday

Hello fellow crafters!  My daughter, who just LOVES coffee, had a birthday this month. I decided to use coffee as my theme for the card I made for her.  When the card is opened flat, up pops up a coffee cup.

The products used in this project:

Card Stock:  GKD Pure Luxury White, Blue Denim
Stamps:  GKD Fabulous Frame Fillers
Dies:  Spellbinders Triple Floral, Elizabeth Crafts Cup Pop Stand, IO Coffee Set, Cottage Cutz Stitched Oval
Inks:  GKD Blue Denim
Other:  digital paper, adhesive, dimensionals, sentiment composed and computer generated, crown image computer generated.

I began by working on the pop up cup on the inside of the card. Here is a link to a video tutorial in lieu of providing directions.

After completing the inside, I worked on the front of the card. First, I die cut my frame and adhered it to the base card. Next I added a layer for the background using digital paper from my stash. The coffee pot and cup were die cut and then stamped with the floral image.  I added a strip of matching digital paper to the top and bottom of the coffee pot and a small piece of brown card stock was adhered behind the coffee cup to make it appear as if the cup was filled with coffee.  These were then popped on with dimensionals. My sentiment was printed on white card stock, computer generated and then die cut and adhered to the card.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope this post gave you inspiration to create.

 Until next time, have a creative day!