Retro VW Bus Birthday Card

I made this birthday card for my elementary through high school bestie. We graduated in 1971, and still manage to stay and in touch and meet for a long chat-fest a couple of times a year. Boy, we have had some fun times over the years, and I just love her to bits.

The graphics images came from Creative Fabrica, and I altered them in Affinity Photo.  Used my Starcraft Solo to print-2-cut the images.

Happy #69 Patty!

Learning Affinity Photo, after 20 years of using Photoshop

 I've been using/learning Affinity Photo now for over a year. I previously used Photoshop for well over 20 years, but was using an extremely old version. I no longer am able to use it, and refuse to pay monthly when I'm not a professional. I'm a crafter, so mainly use it to prepare photos and graphics for personal use and cutting with an electronic cutting machine.

I recently decided to try a couple of new techniques. I was able to do this in my cutting machine software, but wanted the ability to use brushes and text w/ swashes (ligatures). So, I headed over to YouTube and watched a tutorial for the text/swashes. 

I had seen a card (on Pinterest?), and decided to recreate it.

The hearts were made from the heart tool in the program. I changed size and perspective, and added the little balloon ties on the bottom. I used a water color brush to color them in, and a splatter brush on the background.

The text tutorial used the font "Hello Honey", which you can find personal limited usage of on dafont.com. In order to utilize the swash you will type your wording (no capitols; it won't work on a capital letter). Select the first letter of the word, and while it is highlighted, go to the top and select fi (You can also find it under the Typography heading in the Character panel). It means standard ligature (don't ask, I'm not a linguist). Look under All Alternates and select the one that looks like a leading swash. It will attach to that first letter. Then select the last letter and do the same. It's pretty cool how it works. Depending upon what font you use, your choices may be different. Haven't figured out how to add more than one swash, however, But, that's for another day.

I copied one of the balloons for the inside sentiment.

For the balloon string I typed a letter and did the swash, then rasterized the type and erased the letter, duplicated it and put the two pieces together.

I know that's all a bit too much for lots of people to deal with, but I'm just sharing in case someone is interested in knowing the details. Ya think this was just whipped up, but these things take so much more time than any of us imagine.

Have a great day, all!

Happy Graphicing! (new word?)

 

50 Years of Wedded Bliss

My sister and brother in-law recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I made them this card. No pattern. Just added elements I thought they might like.

My Starcraft Solo cutting machine cut the small details of the doily with no issues at all. I used some preprinted canvas as the background and another smaller piece behind the top photo. All photos, the pink hearts and the photos were prepared first in Affinity photo, as was the little Happy Anniversary label. All were cut in the Solo using the print-2-cut technique. And, along the bottom of the card is some corrugated paper edged with lace.

The inside was also done with print-2-cut.

We celebrated with a family meal at the Brigantine Restaurant. It was a wonderful day.

Many, many more, Bob and Terry

Mario Brothers Birthday Card

This is a card I made for my grandson's 8th birthday. Like most kids his age, Mario Brothers is a big deal. The theme paper was purchased on Etsy.

This inside pop-up is a die set by Karen Burniston, called Photo Collage Pop-Up (1098). Also, I always give him alphabet cracker treats when he comes over, and write something different each week. So, I added a few photos of his treats on the background.

A little video to show the pop-up a bit better. So much color in this one that it's hard to see the dimension.

Mamma Mia! Here we go!