It's been awhile since I have used this template…usually I think people put a tea bag or a chocolate candy in the little pocket.  But since I needed a quick birthday gift for a young teenage boy, I thought it would be fine to hold cash!  I thought of my Lots of Bots stamp set, a good one for boys, and stamped that image for the front.  After I had it all colored in and mounted on Brushed Silver card stock, I thought it needed a little more silver…..and since I am apparently into silver glitter these days, why not a little silver glitter, Chunky Essentials, for the robot!  I just applied a thin line of Tombow Multi Glue around the edge and sprinkled on the glitter.  I think it looks kind of jazzy now!  The Designer Paper I used is the retired Jersey Shore, a good set of colors for a boy.  You could also use any color of card stock and perhaps embellish it with some designer paper.  Lots of opportunity for creativity in this easy project!  Email me if you want more information or ideas!

I felt like I needed to get back to some simple, versatile stamping today and decided to pull out my Fun & Fast Notes stamp set.  This set covers about every occasion and is easy and fun to use.  Here is a birthday card I made, adding some brads on the side and a little Dazzling Diamonds on the cake (flames and middle layer of frosting!).  After that I decided to add a little something to the background so I used the Retro Remix wheel and Versamark ink.  I used our Stampin' Up! Watercolor Paper for the cake and colored in with In Color Markers and my Aquapainter.  If you don't own this set, you can go to my Online Store and order it!

Now that my son's birthday is over I will post the card I made for him.  Not that I really think he would be reading his mother's stamping blog, but it seemed better to wait!  When this stamp set first came out and Stampin' Up! demonstrators had a chance to preorder it at a discount, I was going to pass on it.  But then I remembered my son was going to be working on some robot project at college, so gee, it might come in handy!  I've seen lots of cute cards made with it so it is a great set to own!

Here is the card for his 21st birthday…..and he LIKED the card!  What more could a stamping mother want??!

I used the In Colors Crushed Curry and Soft Suede, plus some Basic Gray under the 021, only because I couldn't find my Brushed Silver at the moment.  That is one of the Sweet Treat Cups holding the screws, etc. from the Holiday Mini.….so the Sweet Treat Cups aren't just for candy!  The Sweet Treat Cup is actually mounted to the inside of the card so that the front opens and you can still see the robot in the cup.  You use the 1 3/4" Circle Punch to make the holes.  After I made the first one, I traced with a pencil where the next one would go so I would get the placement right with the punch and everything would line up.  The punches work best with one layer of card stock at a time.

Use some Mini Glue Dots to attach the front of the Treat Cup to the layer you see here, then when you attach the stamped robot layer you will peel away the adhesive strip on the actual Treat Cup to adhere that so it looks like the robot is inside the cup.

I left the right hand corner unstamped so we could sign the card there!  Be sure to stamp the images before adhering over the Treat Cup……otherwise it is difficult to stamp near the cup!  Duh!

And the finished card again………..

I hope these photos make the assembly process somewhat clear, but if not, email me with any questions!

PS:  Since I don't own any number stamps, I used My Digital Studio to print out the numbers I wanted and then adhered them to this card!

If you don't already own the stamp set "Lovely As a Tree" you should really add it to your collection right away! We all held our breath when Stampin' Up! retired stamp sets this last time because "Lovely As a Tree" has been around for awhile!  But it just is the most versatile, necessary stamp set to have on hand!  It is perfect for making cards for men, which is often a bit of challenge, but it can also be made into a beautiful Christmas card or a sympathy card or used on scrapbook pages and gifts.  Since my husband and I are planning a fall foliage trip to New England, it seemed perfect to make yet another "Lovely As a Tree" card for his birthday yesterday, this time with colored leaves and the new Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper in the catalog.