Birdhouse Birthday Card

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Birdhouse Birthday card front

The summer is my busiest time of year with birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and the occasional birth. My sister-in -law celebrated her 60th birthday last weekend so I created this card featuring my current fascination with birdhouses and my ever popular butterflies. I created the house file in a drawing progam and cut it with my KNK Zing Air electronic cutter. The grass border was a little piece left over from a previous project. The verse in the center of the birdhouse, a free cutting file I downloaded, appropriately enough, from birdscards.com, as well as the inside verse and image, were drawn with the Zing Air.


Drawn, you say? On a cutting machine? Yes! The Zing Air has an optional pen accessory tool that allows you to insert pens or slim markers in place of the cutting blade. This allows you to draw an image instead of cutting it. (
(I have also used a glue pen in the past and added glitter afterwards...great effect.) Because the Zing Air does not have a fill function, it only draws contours and lines, leaving the centers blank. With the verse on the front of the card, I had to manually fill in the letters with a fine tip marker. The inner verse was done using a hairline font, meaning that the contours of the font are very, very slim so the letters appear to be comprised of simple strokes. After trying out several different hairline fonts that I downloaded free from 1001Fonts.com, I chose the one  you see here. The image is one I composed using graphic files I have had on discs for years. I tweaked the elements a bit until I got something I liked and sent it to cut...err... I mean draw. I used a dark grey gel pen for drawing the poppy and hummingbird and a black one for the verse. I wanted a subtle difference between those two elements so they wouldn't visually compete with one another. My sister-in-law loved her card and showed it off to all her friends at her party.

I definitely see more birdhouses in my future.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Memories Are Made Of This.

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Every summer I vow to slow down and enjoy. Every summer I do anything but. This summer was no exception. I'll not bother to mention my gardening work. There's plenty of that in other posts. I'll just get to the rest of it.

I had heard that one of my cousins in Arizona had sustained a very bad leg break that would keep her in a cast for three to six months. I sent her this black and white get well card. Materials used were Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Circles and Standard Circles, Spellbinders Borderabilities A2 Curved Borders 1, Memory Box Vivienne (cutout) and Darla (solid) butterfly dies, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprigs (leaves) and Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Solid butterfly was cut from vellum and embossed. I punched tiny flowers, sponged the edges with a coordinating ink and embellished them with tiny self adhesive rhinestones. Stamped verse from Inkadinkado Round Frames set.

My parents share the same birthday. My father, who is a year older, turned 80 this year and we marked the occasion with a semi-surprise luncheon at my house. The birthday card I made for them also served as an invitation to dine at my home. I call it a semi-surprise because although they knew my sister's family and mine would be there, they were not aware of the other family members that had been invited. My father, in particular, was surprised at the attendance of his brother and nephews who live nearly three hours away and whom he doesn't get to see very often. Card materials feature a variety of die punch and electronic cut flowers and leaves, Spellbinders Floral Ovals and text from Cloud 9 Design's Simple Thoughts - Happy Birthday clear stamps.

In a large heart shaped basket I placed some paper, envelopes and pens along with this oversized tag (left)  featuring a photo of my folks taken during their youth. It was the same photo I used for their anniversary favors. The guests were encouraged to write a message to the birthday couple or to insert a card of their own into the basket. As decorations I created more oversized tags, this time featuring a photo of my handsome father taken at my parents' 60th anniversary celebration in April on one side and the event on the other. I hung these around my house and in the backyard, then distributed them to the guests as favors afterwards. The tags, the heart, the corner stars and the black text were cut using Craftwell's eCraft electronic cutter. I created the cutting files in Serif DrawPlus 6. The black text is self-stick vinyl.

Here is a picture of my father posing with his photo cake. Yes, people, he really does look like that. No Photoshop. No trick photography. My dad is a handsome man who looks much younger than his 80 years. Eat your hearts out, ladies.

This is a photo of some more handsome men, my son, Alex, holding my cousin's grandson, William, both of them wearing a good coating of cake frosting on their faces. The expressions on those faces are priceless. My nephew Michael in the background is also enjoying the moment. The fact that a sudden deluge washed out the backyard and we all had to run indoors didn't dampen the fun.

Family, food and good times. This is what memories are made of.


Ballo ergo sum

- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Need a quickie card? RTU's to the rescue

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Okay, so my son tells me he is attending a two year old's birthday party but he didn't have time to buy a card or a gift. The two year old's father is a friend of his and was really pushing for a gift of some sort (just a little presumptuous on his part but I digress). I, who have absolutely NOTHING to do, decided I would make a quickie card. What? Me? A quickie card? Not a chance. I'm the one who spends fifteen minutes deliberating the placement of a decorative paper fastener. There was no way I was going to design a quickie card from scratch so I did the only thing I could do under the circumstances...I went straight to my RTU stash.

RTU stands for Ready To Use. It is my self-defined repository of all those odds and ends left over from other projects I had worked on, creative experiments I had tinkered with...just about anything that I couldn't bear to part with because I thought it would come in handy for a card someday. Sure enough, when I scrounged around in the depths of my creative detritus I found plenty of stuff with which to make a card sure to tickle any two year old girl's heart. In my card drawer I found the dark pink base card  with the pretty punched edge. My paper stash yielded the embossed Happy Birthday layer in pink and orange. The rosette was literally sitting on my table top for weeks, the remains of my first attempts at making rosettes. Fortunately it, too, had a punched edge. The large butterfly and the fern leaf were all leftovers from experimenting with my eCraft electronic cutter. The smaller butterflies had been punched out of scrap paper last year and had been fluttering around in my drawer ever since just waiting for me to notice them. Absolutely everything you see in the photo was ready and waiting for me to bring them all together. The inside of the card, which I neglected to photograph, had the sentiment "Make a Wish" stamped on a tag that also came from my RTU stash. This card only took me about half an hour and most of that time was spent in pulling together all the various pieces of this artistic puzzle and adding a little bling on the large butterfly. (Those rhinestones are applied by hand one by one.)

So I have learned that a severe shortage of time and limited supplies with which to work can spark the most creative ideas. I guess I'll have to dive into my craft drawers more often. Who knows what I might come up with?

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents

Tea Time Birthday Card

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My husband made an unusual request of me last week. He asked me to create a birthday card for his employer. This first-of-its-kind request on his part took me off guard and presented me with a challenge. I now had to create a card that was suitable for a business relationship but personal enough to avoid appearing obligatory.

The birthday girl's favorite color is red (mine, too!) and she loves tea. I came up with this simple easel card layout featuring a stamp from About Art Accents Plate 244B - Tea Pot and Covered Tea Cup on a Tray. The bold red color accents the patterned washi paper. Gold edging gilds all curved edges and the intricate floral design on the teapot and cup are embossed with holographic embossing powder for a little extra bling. The kanji symbol in the lower right corner is the Chinese symbol for tea. The unique fold of this card allows it to stand like a painting on an easel so the recipient can display and view it.

My husband told me his boss loved the card and had made some noises about contracting me to create some cards or invitations for her. Who knows? Maybe I've got another client in the making.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents

Crafting with Seniors

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Today I conducted my first crafting class with the members of the Dorchester Senior Center where I saw some familiar faces from last week and met a few new ones. By way of introducing myself to them, I brought along some samples of my previous work so everyone could acquaint themselves with what I do and to show them the variety of possibilities inherent in card making. Because Friday afternoon is somewhat slow at the center, only a few members stayed around for the class. This actually turned out to be a good thing. It allowed me to give everyone individualized attention but, more importantly, it allowed me to observe and slowly maneuver through their physical limitations. This information will help me put together projects that suits their abilities and gives them a sense of accomplishment.

I had pre-cut most of the pieces at home and organized everything into individual kits that I distributed to everyone along with a set of instructions and a photo of the completed project. However I deliberately left some things undone so I could see how they carried out the necessary tasks. Right away I discovered that a most of them can't see well enough or do not have the dexterity to cut anything out with a scissors. Also they tend to move more slowly than I anticipated. This is good information for me to have for future crafting sessions. Now I know where I have to make some modifications to allow everyone full access to my projects.

This was a new learning experience for me that I found very satisfying. The seniors came away with a pretty little card and I came away with a whole new perspective. To see the card they created this week, check out the blog post just before this one.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Gettin' Buggy Wit' It

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My grandson is turning 11 years old this month. This handsome young man has a fascination with all things ladybug so of course his card had to sport his favorite insect.

This lucky ladybug sits upon the large leaf of a sunflower hand-drawn with Prismacolor Premier coloring pencils. The cloudy blue sky was achieved by chalking around the edges of a cloud-shaped paper template cut out with a scissors. The spots on the wings are created with silver mini brads. The body and wings are cut with a Nestabilities oval die. Two red ovalsare split down the middle lengthwise for the wings and trimmed slightly at the top to allow for the head and eyes. All brads with the exception of those closest to the head are inserted through the top wings only and the "legs" spread open. The bottom wings are glued beneath the top wings, covering these "legs" and preventing them from catching on the bug's body. The topmost set of brads are inserted through both layers of the wings as well as the body. These act as pivots allowing the wings to turn out. The legs come from a gift set of chocolates that were wrapped in foil to resemble LoveBugs and had the legs stuck to the bottom of the foil. I not only enjoyed the chocolate immensely, I immediately saw the crafting possibilities in those buggy legs. They were a perfect addition to my ladybug.

The wings swing out to reveal a golden Happy Birthday sticker inside. The inside of the card (not shown) has a trail of ladybugs all around the perimeter. It's just the right touch to frame the happy sentiments my family and I have written to him for his special day.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

On a Roll

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Okay, so perhaps I'm not being very imaginative but I've done it again. I used the format of another layout challenge to create a card that I need for the immediate future. This time the challenge in question is the weekly layout challenge run by the Oriental Stamp Art Yahoo group that I belong to. I found this layout quite a challenge and didn't know where to go with it, but once I started I couldn't stop. I used lots of gold outline stickers, something I still have to get accustomed to. These stickers are very delicate and I'm always afraid I'm going to break one. I managed not to break any stickers this time around. Let's hope I'm as lucky next time.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Birthday Swan

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I have a number of birthdays coming up in the next couple of months that I will be making cards for. One of those is that of my parents who happen to share the same birthday. I find it difficult to create a card that would be suitable for both of them since they have different preferences as to colors and motifs. What is suitable for one may not be to the others liking.

Paper Craft Planet, one of the papercrafting sites I belong to, offers a weekly sketch challenge for its members to participate in. Although I haven't taken part in one of PCP's challenges for a while, I decided to create a birthday card using the sketch that was featured. I chose bold colors, something that would appeal to my father, and a beautiful swan image that is sure to please my mother.

Although I'm not featuring this card in a tutorial, here are some of the details of its creation. The layout is simple enough to figure out on your own.

Material Details:
- Patterned cardstock: DCWV Taj Mahal Mat Stack
- Embossing pattern: Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder
- Swan image: Stamp Zia
- Gold corner and sentiment stickers: Jeje Produkts, Netherlands

Coloring Details:
- The shimmery swan was painted with US ArtQuest Stargazers Watercolor Palette in Nova White.
- The balance of the image was colored with Prismacolor Premier Coloring Pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits (OMS) and a blending stump. Colors used were:
*Violet Blue (top peak and bottom wave)
*True Blue and Light Cerulean Blue (water)
*Orange (beak)
*Goldenrod and Canary Yellow (sky)

A few notes:
- The swan appears to be surrounded by a golden yellow mat. In fact the image was embossed with black embossing powder onto a golden mustard colored cardstock (CS) which was trimmed about 1/4" from the image, giving the appearance of a separate mat. The Prismacolor pencils were laid down and blended on this mustard paper. In spite of the colored background, the Prismacolors laid down true, even color (an advantage to using quality products).
- The mat layer behind the swan is navy blue CS oversprayed with Krylon Webbing Spray in Gold. The next mat layer is gold paper with a satin sheen.
- The blue panel with the raised embossed dots is edged with a gold paint marker.
- This was created as a card front that was subsequently adhered to a base card cut from Astrobrights Gold CS (not visible in photo).

If you have any questions about this card, feel free to contact me at gypsiwoman55@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear from you. I'd also be pleased if you would leave a comment below. Thanks for stopping by.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Full Circle: Lovely as a Tree

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The card featured here was the prototype for a birthday card for my daughter's friend, someone whom she describes as a "tree lover" so she wanted the focal image of the card to be that of a tree. She had seen and liked several tree sketches I had done with oil pastels on the paper I use to protect my worktable. I had been testing several different packs of pastels to determine their viability so I just used the paper that was in front of me. They were only "throw-away" sketches to me (see below) but she liked them enough to "commission" me to draw a tree for her friend's card.

I created the tree on white vellum using Prismacolor fine line markers for the trunk and branches and Sakura Cray-Pas for the leaves, blending the leaf colors with a small wad of paper toweling barely dampened with mineral spirits. I was going to leave it at that but the tree seemed to beg for more surroundings. I started by simply filling in the foreground with regular Prismacolor markers to create the grass, adding details with the fine point markers. Before I knew it, I had created this entire country scene complete with barbed wire fencing and tiny little wildflowers. I added background details with colored pencils and used oil pastels on the back side of the vellum to create a soft sky and clouds. Drawing on the back side softens the effect of the color and also prevents smearing of or blending with the leaves of the tree. (Click on the pictures to see a larger image.)

When I was done I realized that I had combined many of the traditional materials and techniques I had been taught as an art student years ago with the materials and techniques I have recently learned as a papercrafter. It was a very gratifying experience and I was quite pleased with the outcome. Not so, apparently, for my daughter. She loved the scene but said it was not what she wanted for her friend. She wanted the rough draft tree she had seen on my workshop table. So be it. I recreated the rough tree on another card. She put the finishing touches on it and gave it to her friend at school. She reported that he loved his tree card. Although I was initially disappointed that my scene was not to my daughter's liking, it actually turned out to be to my advantage. Now I get to keep the card that was so gratifying to make and draw further inspiration from it.

My present avocation is bringing me right back around to my past training. This grounds me, makes me feel more secure. Life, when it works, truly is a circle.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

It's been a while...

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You wouldn't know it from the inactivity on this blog but I've been busy...very busy, both artistically and otherwise, which is why I haven't been able to catch up until now. In my last post I was creating invitations for my daughter's Sweet Sixteen birthday party which took place at the end of November. Well, no sooner was that party over than the holidays were upon us and I began a frenzy of creating Christmas cards. Of course ONE Christmas card wasn't enough. Oooh nooo! I had to make several different cards. Here are some of the cards I created this year.



As if cards didn't keep me busy enough, I decided to create some ornaments as well. Many years ago I started a tradition of creating ornaments as gifts. My sister liked them so much told me that the only gift she wanted from me every Christmas was an ornament. This year I decided to create some out of paper, something I had not done before. I was very satisfied with the results, as was my sister. See for yourself. I was so taken with one of the designs I created using Cuttlebug die cuts that I began to write a tutorial for publishing on this blog. As soon as I complete it, I will post it here.



I'm in the midst of pre-spring cleaning frenzy so my crafting is going to take a slight hiatus while I rid myself of a lot of garbage. As soon as I get out from underneath the rubble, I'll be back. See you soon.

Ballo ergo sum,
Always and all ways,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

An Aquatic Theme

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I have been busy creating invitations for my daughter's upcoming Sweet Sixteen birthday. My young miss has an interest in all things aquatic and decided upon mermaids as the theme for her party with a color palette reminiscent of the Caribbean Sea in blues, greens, turquoise and purple. I think I have purchased every mermaid rubber stamps ever created in an effort to craft 35 different cards. Some of them are pictured here. You can see these and others in my Photobucket album. Just follow the link at the top of the left hand column.

Next up: Party favors. The mind reels...

Ballo ergo sum,
Always and all ways,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

On the mend and back in the workshop

My health issues seem to have receded so it is time for me to begin creating again. Although it will be a while before I return to crafting at full speed, I have managed to squeeze in a couple of birthday card projects in the past few weeks. One was a card for my sister who loves Asian motifs, so I stamped and embossed an elaborate Chinese dragon for her. The other was an upbeat card for my daughter's friend who turned sweet sixteen. I made that card high contrast and very contemporary, something a teenager would like. Take a look at the column on the left for pictures. You can also go to my photobucket to see these and other cards I have created in the past year. The link is at the top of the left-hand column.

Ballo ergo sum,
Always and all ways,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva