A birthday card for Joan

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Globug

Hey, Sister…age gets better with wine!

Joan is a lovely and elegant lady who is turning 70 this month. She loves white wine and pearls. In fact, Joan wears pearls with everything!

Then, there’s Peggy, Joan’s sister. Peggy simply adores Joan and wanted to give her a personalized birthday card that would reflect Joan’s love of white wine and pearls. And that, is where I came in.

I’ve made several cards for Peggy and yet, I’m always pleased and surprised when she asks me to make another one for someone in her wonderful family. So, without further ado, let me tell you about Joan’s 70th birthday card.

First off, I spent hours online hunting for a digital image of a woman with a wine glass in her hand, as Peggy had asked for. Believe it or not, I could not find one, anywhere. Finally, I found this cutie, a freebie–unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found it. I hate when that happens! Next, I found a wine glass which, through the magic of CorelDraw, is now in the lady’s hand.

I named the wine Joan’s Cellar and added Chablis and 1943 (Joan’s date of birth); at the bottom of the label I wrote Product of France.

Joan, Peggy told me, loves the colour cream and wears it often. So, I dressed her cream and, to add a tiny touch of sparkle to it, I gave it a coat of clear sparkle nail polish–one of my trade secrets revealed! Of course, she’s wearing pearls and, just for fun, a few shiny bangles which I created with Perfect Pearls. Her wine glass has a realistic look, thanks to Glossy Accents. (By the way, I coloured the lady with my Copic markers and cut her out by hand…that was a challenge!!)

Peggy found a really cute nightie for Joan that has, “Hey, Sister…age gets better with wine!” written on it. She suggested that I use the same sentiment on the card. Great idea!!! I added, “And you’re aged to perfection!” I think it all worked out quite well. It’s cute and whimsical! As always, I finished all four sides of my cards, so the front, middle and back are all pretty!

I’ve got a few more orders to work on this week, so come on back soon to see what’s happening here, at Globug Ideas! I hope I’ve inspired you, even just a bit. 🙂

Happy 40th Birthday, Kelly!

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Globug

Damn! I look GOOD for 40!

My wonderful neighbour asked me to make a card for her daughter, Kelly, who turned 40, today. She told me that Kelly was a teacher and very active in sports. I played around with sports themes and teacher themes, but just couldn’t pin it down. And then it occurred to me that any forty-year-old who can work all day (with a whole room full of kids, no less), look after her own children at night, cook, clean, shop and still find the time and energy to play a number of sports…well, she must be in good shape!! This is my “easel card” creation for Kelly…I hope she liked it!!

I used Mo Manning’s Little Smooch because she just makes me smile. I coloured her with my Prismacolor pencils and I really like the way shading and highlights turned out (I usually use my Copic Markers). I cut her the old-fashioned way–out by hand, because I was too lazy to run her through my Silhouette Cameo. She’s popped up with pop dots on an oval background that I cut out on my Cuttlebug using my Sizzix oval die set. Her glittery earrings were created with sparkle glue. I used a matching pearl to create her over-sized pendant necklace.

I created the Happy Birthday background with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I think it added interest and depth without taking away from Little Smooch. I also antiqued the edges of the oval using a lime green ink pad.

…and another shot of the easel card…

The next photo shows the inside message. . .

And, here’s a photo showing the card opened up all the way. I like to finish the inside and back of my cards so they look just as pretty as the front (well, almost as pretty). There’s lots of room to write personal messages on the empty panels (yep, right over the flowers).

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…and, finally, here is the back…

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More cards to come!!!

Mother’s Day Card for a special mom

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Globug

Just thought I would show you the card I made for my mom for Mother’s Day. She’s not as old as this vintage card suggests, but I knew she would love this turn-of-the-century lady as much as I do. I had fun with this card…a little decoupage, some sparkle and, as always, I finished the inside of the card to look as pretty as the front. This beautiful paper, by the way, is Graphic 45’s Ladies’ Diary. And now, I will leave you to the photos. . .

Birthday card for my son, Neil

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Globug

Neil is 41…holy cow, that makes me almost… 50!

This is my son, Neil. He is every mother’s dream! He is a wonderful son, who calls me several times a week just to chat. We have long and fascinating conversations about everything under the sun, from philosophy to quantum physics to dog-training and everything in between.

He is a great husband to Jenn and a fantastic dad to Ashleigh.

In the cold weather, he wears long underwear, an extra sweater, a warm hat, scarf, gloves and boots (he did that even as a kid and, more surprisingly, as a teenager!).

He does all the cooking at his house; bakes and decorates cakes; knows everything about cars and astronomy. He loves nature and will pull over to the side of the road to admire a particularly beautiful tree.

He once called me on my birthday to wish me a happy day and said he would be over as soon as he had finished servicing the brakes on his car and had showered. The next thing I knew, he was at my front door, all clean and shiny, holding a family-sized Aero Bar with a lighted candle in it. (The party and cake came on the weekend). Now, isn’t that just the sweetest thing, ever?

To top it off, he loves children, elderly folks and animals. He always holds the door for people (of every age), looks them in the eye and gives them a big smile.

He plays the guitar and is such a comedian that he can keep us in stitches for hours.

He’s a guys’ guy and a renaissance man, all rolled into one.

And last, but not least, he gives the best hugs–when Neil hugs me, I know I’ve been hugged! Happy Birthday, my wonderful son!

Here is the card I made him. I should have photographed it on a dark background, rather than on a white envelope…but, you get the idea.

To embellish the inside, I repeated the white stitching that I did on the front. What would I do without my gel pen! I also used my white gel pen to write my personal birthday message to Neil on inside of the card (but I kept that part between me and Neil). The pocked on this style of card can also be used to hold a gift card-holder. Sweet idea! You can view more of my hand-crafted cards and other projects on Pinterest.

Envelope Mini-album

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Globug

Oh, My Goodness, Ashleigh’s Eighteen!

My granddaughter, Ashleigh, celebrated her 18th birthday last week. I wanted to give her something special to mark the occasion, so I made this envelope mini-album, filled with photos and special messages from me (Grammie) to her.

To see my video, which shows each and every page and tag, please visit my YouTube channel, Globug2005. Following below, are some photos with brief descriptions.

I hope this mini-album inspires you to create one for someone you love. Sometimes it’s hard to get started, but once you do, I promise you will enjoy every minute you spend creating your special gift.

Just as a note, all of the flowers were created with my Silhouette Cameo. I coloured them by rubbing ink pads right over them (I also coloured my thumb in a variety of pastel shades 🙂 On a few of the leaves, I used my Cuttlebug to add texture and then ran the ink pad over the surface to add colour.

PHOTOS:

Here is the cover. All of the paper embellishments on the cover were made on my Silhouette Cameo–doilies, roses, branches and vines. I also created her name with the Cameo. I added some matching ribbon for an even more feminine look.

Here is a close-up showing some of the Silhouette Cameo die-cuts and roses. I added a pearl in the centre of each one and a pretty butterfly from my stash.

The photos below show the inside cover and page one, which opens up to reveal two secret pages. The ribbon, which serves as a handle to pull open the page, is attached to a pink tag that fits into the pocket. The tag is a little money holder.

Ashleigh at her Army Cadet end-of-year ceremonies. That’s me with Ashleigh. I was a very proud Grammie!