Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tomorrow's my mom's birthday. She already celebrated last week in Las Vegas, but I wanted to create a special gift just for her. So, here's a tag book I made for her that includes pictures of my dog Cosmo and my sister's dog Bella. Most people love to get pictures of their grandkids, but my mom will have to settle for grand-dog pics instead . . .

I used the directions posted on Kristina's blog for this project. Using different pieces of paper from Stampin' Up!'s retired Loves Me paper pack made matching the colors and patterns really easy. Because of all of the fun patterns and colors in the papers, stamping wasn't really necessary here.

I added some embellishments to match the paper, including felt rick rack, brads, plastic flowers and photo corners, and some buttons. The plastic pieces and buttons attached easily with glue dots. The book ties closed with a piece of white taffeta ribbon that's threaded through SU!'s new jumbo eyelets.

I also needed a fun card to go along with the gift. I got a bunch of new Stamping Bella stamps earlier this week, so I knew I'd be using one of these fun images for my card. I ended up picking Billboardabella. I love the interchangeable sentiments that come with her for her "billboard." There's something for almost every occasion.

Usually, I color my Bella images with Prismacolor pencils or an aquapainter with reinkers or watercolor crayons. On this card, I used paper piecing for her clothing. I stamped the Bella on white cardstock, then stamped her again on several pieces of colored cardstock. I carefully cut around the clothes and glued them over the Bella image on the white cardstock. I used Glaze pens on the Bella's boots, shirt, and hair band to add shine and dimension. Fun!

I picked the image colors to go with the fun patterned paper on the card. The paper has flocked paisleys on it. I love the way it feels and it kinda goes with the retro-ish Bella images.

Materials Used:

Tag Book~~

From Stampin' Up!: Fundamental Phrases stamp set; Regal Rose and Taken with Teal cardstock; Loves Me designer paper; rose grosgrain (retired); white taffeta ribbon; jumbo eyelets; 1" circle punch; round tab punch; glue dots

Other: plastic flowers and photo corners (American Crafts); plastic flowers (Queen & Co.); buttons (Walmart); brads (Making Memories); teal rick rack (Walmart); staples; manila file folder

Bella Card~~

From Stampin' Up!: Soft Sky Classic ink; Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Close to Cocoa, and Pixie Pink cardstock; navy grosgrain; silver brads; slit punch; dimensionals

Other: Billboardabella stamp (Stamping Bella); small skinny oval stamp (Amuse Art Stamps); black, pink, and magenta Glaze pens (Sakura); Prismacolor pencils; Palette Noir Black ink (Stewart Superior)