Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Big Brothers Blue Birthday Cards

For my big brothers birthday I was commissioned to make him a couple cards.  With his favourite colour being blue I thought it only fitting that all 3 of his cards were done in blue.
The first card that is shown below is the card that my sister-in-law had ordered for my brother.  I stamped this really cute Penny Black image (Heaven Knows is the name of the stamp) and I stamped it in Momento Tuxedo Black Ink on 110 pound cardstock, and I used letraset promarkers to colour the image.  I used some Doodlebug Beetle Black Doodle Twine and wrapped it around the front of the card.  I then cut out the image and mounted it on blue paper, and used Spellbinders Nestabilities Lables 8 Die and mounted it using Mono Multi Glue   Once that was done I used wording from a couple different stamp sets  Amy R's It's Your Birthday Stamp Set and (which I will link to later when I have the set infront of me), and finished it off by using my clear wink of stella...(which I LOVE I must add)... to the heart that the bear in the image is holding, and to the flowers, and finished it off with a couple little blue gems, and rounded the top left and bottom right corners, and VOILA finished card...Sounds easy right?!. 
Here you can see the front of the card.


And the side view of the card

Upclose view of the image itself and my colouring


The second card I was asked to make for my brother from my sister.  When it comes to desiging cards for my sister, she loves to watch my creativity run wild and to see what I can just design.  She also knows that my brother likes blues, so she asked me to design in it, but the rest of it was left up to me.  I thought in designing this one that it would be kind of fun to play with peel offs as I havent played with them in a while.  I wont link to theses peel offs because they are now discontinued, so in order to not get your hopes up I won't be able to link.
I used 3 different sized and designed gifts, and placed them in a row along the bottom of the front of the card, with the largest one in the middle.  I then went to my letraset promarkers and coloured them in using alot of the different hues of blues that I have.  The card basically finised itself at that point.  I took a couple tag peel offs from the set and wrote my brothers name in them, and tied around a shimmery silver ribbon to tie in the outline of the peel offs, and then went crazy with my clear wink of stella and added tons of glitter.  I then finished up my card with wording from Amy R's It's Your Birthday Stamp Set...which I must confess is currently my favourite set for birthday wordings.
Front of the card


Side view of the card



And last but not least is the card that I made to give to my brother.  My brother for as long as I can remember has loved music.  He is an incredible guitar player and an amazing singer.  I wanted to bring his passion for music to his card.  Being from a fairly musical family I can honestly say I have quite a variety of musical type stamps.  I used a rubber stamp from Under Construction Stamps and stamped it twice to get the background of the card.  I then used a turquoise/aqua coloured ribbon around where the sheet music appears to stop.  I added in wording from Amy R's It's Your Birthday Stamp Set and cut out the wording "celebrate" using Spellbinders Nestabilities Scallop Circles Dies and used some matching scraps of turqoise/aqua coloured paper.  I used more wording from this stamp and stamped it at the top.  I added in some little dash lines to make it look like the wording was more tied into the card.  I like how simple it looks, but yet how classy it is.

Here you can see a side view of the card as there are minimal elements so you should be able to see everything from this view.  

He seemed really excited to get 3 original Amanda Fluri Designs! 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Happy Little Accident

I call this card a happy little accident, because thats exactly what it is.  I was asked to design a Bridal Shower card, and I began to create this card.  I used the colours that the customer had asked for and everything.  This card is a perfect example of a happy accident and a reminder that maybe I shouldn't start designing a card when I am tired.  

I am so happy with how this WEDDING card turned out, however I was wanting/ needing to design a Bridal Shower card for this customer.  I am glad though that not all is lost.

I used Stamping Bella's Uptown Couple, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite images for a wedding card for a couple.  I coloured the image using Letraset Promarkers and filled in the dress, flowers and hairpiece with diamond stickles.  I finished off the card with some silky silver ribbon, and a couple brads through paper flowers.  Tied it all together with the MR & MRS stamp from Stampin' Up!

Would love to know what you think of this happy little accident!

This is the front of the card...


Side view of the card...


Close up of the coloured image...


Honestly I am so happy with the way that it turned out and will continue to welcome happy accidents if they result in cards such as this one!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Little Boys Birthday

So very similarly to my my princess birthday post I don't/ haven't had the chance to make cards for many children for many different reasons. 
1. I never used to have stamps appropriate to complete a card.
2. Didnt have to many children in my life who would require a children's card
3.  It was just something that a customer hadn't ordered before.

So when a customer ordered both the princess card and this card, I was more than thrilled to challenge myself and see what I could come up with.  I had bought this Stamping Bella Mo Manning stamp of a little boy which I thought would be great to use for little boys birthdays, as well as a fathers day card.

I stumbled across these patterned papers which I had in my GIGANTiC collection of paper.  I am a little bit of a paper hoarder as I love all of the really cool designs, and the colours of so many of the pattern papers.  I must say I have been getting better about using the papers that I own instead of buying more.  Anyways....I coloured this image using Letraset Promarkers and paired the image with 3 different colours of blue buttons.  I also added a teal sheer ribbon to pull out a colour from the pattern paper that i used.  I used a couple birthday wordings, and added a tiny bit of glitter to the keys, and the car paint.

I hope that the little boy getting this card will love it...I think it turned out really good!

Front of the card

Side View of the card.  This allows you to see the different textures and dimensions that are on this card.  



What do you think?

Thanksgiving!

First of all here in Canada this weekend was thanksgiving.  I hope that all of you spent time with family and friends and reflected on the many things that you have to be greatful for.  I am reminded again and again how special my fans, and those who support Amanda Fluri Designs are!
I just wanted to take time to let you all know that I am truly thankful for you!

With that...this card was made for my boyfriends parents.  

I used my new Hero Arts leaf cling stamps and used Distress Inks to stamp them in.  I used a kraft paper base for the card, and pair it up with some lined paper which use fall colours.  I finished it off with a kraft boarder which I inked up green, and used the words "Thank You".  I finished it off by using my stardust pen and adding some glitter to the vanes of the leaves, and the outside of the boarder. This is very different from what I am used to as I tend to lean towards designing using some really vibrant colours...change is good, it was a nice challenge and fun!

Front view

Side View



Love this stamp set, and wish I had gotten it sooner, because I would have loved to have played with it more!  I have some other card ideas in mind using these stamps, so you may see a couple more cards with the stamps on them, just depends if time allows.
Again THANKS SO MUCH for all of your support!

Princess Birthday

So the most common card that I make is birthday cards, as many of you do as well I'm sure.  While I generally am creating cards for my friends or family members, I am rarely creating cards for kids birthdays.  However...knowing that I will in the future be making children's cards, I purchased a CC Designs Princesses stamp set and this was my first time using 1 of the 4 princesses.  I believe the princesses are based off of the 4 Disney Princesses.  The stamps are so cute, and I cannot wait to play with the other 3 princesses, but here's a card with one of them.

The princesses name is Williamina.  She reminds me of Cinderella even though I didnt colour her to look like Cinderella.  The customer who ordered this card asked for me to do the princess and card in pinks and purples, and for the princess to have blonde hair and blue eyes just like her little niece.  
I am so happy about how this card turned out!

I used my promarkers to colour her, and used Diamond Stickles to glimmer up her dress and crown.  I used Spellbinders dies to cute a couple mats, and pink lemonade bakers twine.  I finished it off with "Happy Birthday" wording and 3 daisies which have glitter along the edges and the inside of the flower.  

Front view


Side View
Hopefully this gives you an idea of the different layers and levels of mounting thats on this card.


Here is also a picture of the image, and the colouring and shading that I did with my Promarkers.  Hope you are inspired.  


She is so stinken cute!  
Would love to know your thoughts!



Sunday, October 6, 2013

Feminine Birthday

This card was designed based off of one of my earlier designs.  I was asked to make it very much the same as the original, however change the occasion to birthday and white heat emboss all parts of it.  The theme for the card was for a very special birthday, and the colour scheme was requested to be all purples.  So I used those things, and designed this card around it.  

I heat embossed the flowers, and the wording, and tied it all together with a really sheer shimmer white and silver ribbon and brought it together with 3 white (pearl type) gems.

The picture of the front of the card is perfectly representative of the actual colours of the card, while the 2nd photo of the side view had more of a redish tone to it.



Spider Man

Hey Everyone.  Thanks for your support as well as your patience as I get more familiar with this blogging and posting pictures of my designs on here.  I would love feedback from you if you feel so inclined.  It is always great to see what people are looking to see, or if someone needs inspiration on something I would love to be able to help out with that too.

I am working on figuring out how to link to all of the supplies I use in each of my designs so that if you like a certain stamp or patterned paper used you are able to easier access it.  As I get more comfortable I may do some videos of my creation of cards, and I might walk you through the steps, but that is very much down the line for now as editing takes more time that right now I just dont seem to have.

Without further delay I will tell you about a couple Spiderman Cards that I have made recently.  My sister had asked for a spiderman themed card for a birthday for a guy that she knows.  Initially when I was planning out this card I thought it would be cool to use spiderman colours (reds, blues, blacks) and design a card around it.  Then when I bought an embossing folder for my cuttle bug and it was a spiderweb I thought that it would also be cool to use on the card.  With Halloween just around the corner I have a die cut that cuts 4 different spiders, and I thought hey they will be great to use on the card as well.  Then when I was at Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago I found black and white bakers twine, and spiderman embellishments and the cards basically made themselves.  

I have 2 cards that I have created so far, however have 3 more spiderman embellishments that I will eventually use for cards as well...

Card 1 - front


Side View of Card 1



Front of Card 2


Side view of Card 2




Which card do you like better Card 1 or Card 2 and why?

Musical Birthday

Here's another card that I put together last week for my sister-in-law.  I will give you some background as to where this card came from!  When my sister-in-law and I discussed a card for her father she had mentioned that he loves music and that he is in a singing group.  

I knew exactly the perfect stamps to use on this card.  The main image I had just purchased the week prior at Hobby Lobby in the US and was already anxious to use it.  The sheet music which I ended up using for the background was a gift a couple Christmas' ago.  Also the die cut is a spellbinder label cutter and I hadn't used it yet, so this was the perfect opportunity.  I added little gems to the base of the notes, and added some stardust gel pen to the stems of the notes, and tied it all together with some bakers twine.  

How did I do?

Front of the card


Side view of the card



She said that her father loved the card because it expressed his interests, and knowing that it was handmade made was icing on the cake. 

Monkey's Birthday

I know its been a while since I've posted, but things have been busy.  I have been designing like crazy and hope to get things posted over the next day or so.  I have been working with a couple family members who wanted to order some cards, so I designed cards around their must haves (colour schemes, occasion/themes, and sometimes even image choices).  

For this card...I designed it for my sister who wanted something fun for her fiance.  When my sister-in-law saw this card she fell in love with it... she wanted some slight changes made to the card so that she could give it to her 2 year old nephew.

Heres the original card


And the side view of the card which will show the different levels/layers


The card for my sister-in-laws nephew.  Notice the slight differences between the 2 cards.


Side View of the same card.



This card turned out exactly as I had hoped.  I coloured the little monkey with my promarkers, then i used some scrap papers that I had laying around, and tried to incorporate all of the bright and fun colours into the card.  Birthday cards are supposed to be bright and cheerful arent they?!


Sunday, September 22, 2013

Happy 33rd Anniversary

I wanted to create something special for my parents 33rd wedding anniversary.  My parents are people who aren't to serious and love the fun things in life.  Mom runs a daycare and loves to be around little children, and dad loves spiders and his Harley....how do I combine all that?  In trying to figure out what  I would do for them as a card, I chose to use a stamp that is playful but yet still "love" related.

The image itself lent very well to a colour pallet combination that I had been given on my facebook discussion that someone would like to see me try.  I picked the pattern/coloured paper to fit the colour scheme and then coloured the image to match.  I selected a ribbon that was not so heavy but rather on the light side, and die cut some hearts and the main shape of the image and its mat.  To finish it up I added some glitter to it as I do most of my cards.  I  LOVE GLITTER!

Here is the card that my parents received for their anniversary with their gift inside.
Hope you LOVE it because they certainly did.


Here is a side view of the card.  It allows you to see the different levels in layering the paper as well as the glitter.



Teal, Grey and Yellow!

Last week in trying to challenge myself I posted on my facebook asking for my fans help.  I know that there are websites out there that will give you 3, 4, 5, etc colour swatches at random.  I asked my fans what colours they would like to see me make cards using that I don't commonly or have never used.  I got a few suggestions, however would love it if you would take a moment to pose a couple suggestions for a 3 colour pallet in the comments below on this post.  

One of the requests was to see a card done in teal, grey and yellow.  Below you will see the card that I posted in these colours.  Similar to what I had said in the previous post about trying to challenge myself.  I went and picked the papers first and then coloured the image with promarkers after the papers had been selected.

I would love to know what you think of my cards, and what you would like to see from me in the future.  Thanks for your patience as I get used to the posting process, and what "blogging" is like.  

Enjoy this card!


This is a side shot!  Hopefully it allows you to see the different layers, heights of layers, embellishments and even the glitter thats added.  



Happy Stamping and Cardmaking and hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Friday, September 20, 2013

First Official Card Post!

So this is my first official post.  I am excited to share with you all my cards, and hope that I can inspire you.  When thinking about my first official card post I wondered where I should start...which card is worthy of starting it all?  However to start anything you just need to start somewhere, so here it goes.

When creating cards I struggle to get out of my comfort zone, and have been working hard at thinking outside the box.  Usually I have certain layouts I like and certain colours and materials I work with, however it is time to expand my horizons, and this blog is one of the ways that I plan to do this.  Usually I pick paper to match my image.  I also have a tendency to use plain paper, and avoid pattern paper at all cost, however I have so much pattern paper I want to begin using I am reversing things.  I am selecting images and colouring them to match the paper instead.  

For this card I worked with greens, teals, and blues which generally I dont pair together, and I rarely use blue on my cards.  I worked with incorporating a couple of different patterns to add some interest.  I also used a circle die to cut out the image in order to mimic the circle shape in the pattern paper, and avoid all straight edged cuts.  I used my Promarkers to colour the Penny Black image, and added some ribbon and gems to soften the design.  To finish it all off I added diamond stickles to the insides of the flowers to tie in the glitter from the background paper.


Without further delay here is the card!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

And the blogging begins!

Hey Everyone!!

I am brand new to blogging.  I have been doing what I would consider "blogging" through my facebook business page and the posts and such on there.  I have attached a link for that below.  I would love if you could go there and like my page.  I have a lot of recent designs there as well as some teasers as to what is to come!  I appreciate your patience as I learn how to use this blog and appreciate your support.  Feel free to provide me feedback as well as any suggestions/wants in regards to cards.