​This card was super fun to make. I had the idea for a while and knew exactly who I was going to make it for. A dear friend celebrated her birthday on Sunday and now that she has received it, I can share it here!
The stamps and dies are from MFT Stamps and I love them. The sentiments are GREAT. I wasn't sure if I'd like the just using dies for the pint glasses versus stamping and die cutting like on these cocktail cards. I like it ok. I still prefer stamping the image and coloring it and die cutting that, I think.
Anyway, how fun is "Happy Beerthday!" HAHAHAHA and on the inside I stamped the "it's your birthday, day drink if you want to".  Whether you are a drinker or not, it's the vibe that comes with these sentiments. It's one of being free to just do what you want when you want it.  I'm actually not a beer drinker and had to seek advice on the coloring to make sure I was close enough. I think it came out awesome. And glossy accents on top to make the glass be glass! 

Supplies:
MFT Raise A Glass
​MFT Barware Basics
Waffle Flower Brick Wall Stencil

​A dear friend and I have started getting together every couple of weeks to make a few cards. We each come up with 2 or 3 cards and then we make each others design. It's been so much fun and we both walk away with a stash of cards to have on hand. But of course, the best part of it is the fellowship and artistic outlet. 
So, last week when we met, I was blown away with one of my friend's designs. It was created with alcohol inks... something I had never tried before. She has 3 colors: yellow, turquoisey-blue and a purple. OH MY GOODNESS! We made backgrounds with the ink on acetate and wow, is it gorgeous.
I came home with so many backgrounds (I was so enamored with the whole thing that I couldn't even put sentiments on there until yesterday).  And of course, I had to run out and get alcohol inks of my own! I'm still learning about how it all works. I bought some of the Yupo paper designed for alcohol inks and right now I can say I don't like it very much compared to the acetate. The acetate is so much easier and more forgiving and the inks move around easier. I'm also trying to figure out which colors to use and how they work together. It's pretty easy to make brown! 
I can't wait to make more!
Below are all the cards I've made so far - some using my friend's 3 colors on acetate and a couple using the inks I newly acquired on Yupo white paper. Can you tell which is which?

Simon Hurley's new line of solar pastes (somewhat different than his lunar pastes, which I used here, here and here) are creamy and full of subtle shimmer. These came out in mid June and when I saw him demo them using this exact stencil (for the background), I had to get it and try it myself.  The turquoise card has the beluga solar paste (blue shimmer) and the purple card uses the royal flush solar paste (purple shimmer).  So fun and different than the lunar pastes!

These were fun to make! Another two-fer, too. 
I know I've shared a few cards with the "use up your glitter" technique that Jennifer McGuire shared a while back. I was on the hunt for a fun cover plate die that I could do that technique with. And I found this one: SSS Fab Floral Plate and it's coordinating SSS Fab Floral Dies. But as soon as I got it, I forgot about the glitter technique and just went for the standard blending background. I then die cut the blended background and kept the cut-out flowers for the 2nd card.
After I made these cards, I was searching for something on Jennifer's blog and found a post of hers from last July, where she used these same dies! And of course, as always, I learned something from her video about these and quickly came back and applied that to my card (the one on the left - I applied a finished border around the cutout).
I love how these are bright and cheery and I really do like these dies. I'm not really a fan of flower cards but this fits the modern, fun, doodle-y vibe I like so they are keepers!
Next time, I'll have to actually try them with the glitter technique. HA!

For the obvious reason, sympathy cards are hard to make. No one ever wants to just sit down and make these. One of my son's former teachers lost her husband recently and I made this card for her. While I didn't know him well, he was always present and willing to help at all the elementary school events. He had such a positive attitude about everything and he always said the funniest things to keep us all laughing. He was so loved and I know he is missed by so many.
For a while now, I've been searching for the combo of glimmer hot foil plate, matching stencil and matching die. I finally found one with this Waffle Flower Sketched Iris Set. It isn't sold as a set but does have mix and match parts (glimmer hot foil plate, stencil, die, and stamps).  I also bought the Waffle Flower With Sympathy Hot Foil Plates for the sentiment.

I recently acquired this spellbinder's stained glass window die because I wanted to try the glitter technique on it. 
Card 1: Well, I messed up on the first go at it. I ink blended a background and immediately cut it out with the die BUT it was supposed to be the background of the die, not the die frame itself. Oops. That's card one... inked frame and white background.
Card 2: Card 2 was my 2nd attempt at it. Ink blend another background. Cut a grey frame with the die.  Ok, I'm getting the hang of this! 
​Card 3: Ready to try the glitter window technique! It's so sparkly! If you remember, I did that technique on a previous card, here. 
Card 4: On this one, I used Ranger's Distress Oxide Mica Sprays to create a background. Once that dried, I cut the stained glass out of white and layered the whole thing on top of the background.  On this card, the outside of the arch isn't cut out, just the inside of the window is. This card shimmers because of the mica sprays but it's not glittery like the previous one.

Four cards, four different looks, four techniques too.

​Which is your favorite?

Today is my oldest brother's birthday. This is the card I made for him. Glossy accents for the win to make the balloons shiny. Lots of cutting out and piecing together but it was worth it. Also the sentiment is embossed and popped up. Fun, right?
Happy birthday, brother!

These are actually mini slimline cards.  Their size is 3 1/2″ x 6. That's just a fun size!

I used the Gina K Designs SWIRL FLOWER MINI SLIMLINE COVER PLATE Die on white cardstock and then after the fact realized that I could have had a two-fer again. So, then I ink blended a background with purple, teal and green. Then I die cut that piece and got enough for two cards... frame on one and the inside pieces on the other. Zero waste! Well, except for the first card. LOL.

On card 1, I used the "use up that glitter" technique from Jennifer McGuire. 

Which brings me to this...
"You and 9 friends are crafting. One person uses glitter. How many projects now have glitter on them?"