Birthday Bonanza stamp-a-stack tonight

I have my monthly stamp-a-stack class tonight and we are focusing on birthday cards... I saw a posting by my friend Dawn Olchefske and she called her class a birthday bonanza and I loved the name and borrowed it from her... hope she doesn't mind!!

My stampers will be making 4 each of the following cards for a total of 16. I have been cutting all day to have everything ready for the 128 cards they'll be making tonight... they should be set with birthday cards for a while! I like to keep my stamp-a-stack cards fairly simple and not too bulky so they are easily mailed without having to pay extra postage.

Here is the first card - it is a cute card that you could give to a child. I CASE'd the idea from my fellow "Sister" Karla Anders - she made a similar card a few months ago for one of our Fabulous Fridays but used texture and her Big Shot... I decided to go with a background stamp instead - Woodgrain. The cute little owl peeking out from the tree is from my favorite Fox & Friends stamp set and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from Well-Scripted - both are sets found in the Occasions mini catalog right now. The colors on this card are close to cocoa, old olive, very vanilla, more mustard and chocolate chip.

This second card is one that would be great for those special women in your life. I love this gorgeous butterfly from Simple Friendship - this is a stamp set that we were given at Founder's Circle back in 2008 and I still love it! The colors used are kraft, bordering blue and pretty in pink. The small strip of pretty in pink satin ribbon lends this card a richness without adding bulk.

This card is great for the men in your life - horses are pretty masculine, aren't they? I pulled out my naturals ivory which I haven't used in a while and stamped on it with soft suede for the horse image. I don't know what this technique is called, but you start on one side of your cardstock and re-stamp across your panel without reinking... this gives the feeling of movement on your card and I really like it. The mat on this card is kraft and I stamped the paisley image with sahara sand and sponged the outer edges with soft suede to distress it. The pop of color comes from night of navy and the Happy Birthday sentiment is a simple one from A Little Birthday Cheer.