Ninth Birthday Cards for the Triplets

Last Sunday, our triplet nephews celebrated their ninth birthdays.  Each year, I try to make cards with something a little different that might possibly get their attention before they open their presents.

While I was doing the summer shop hop to stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts I found these action wobbles.  These have been quite popular for a while but I never got around to ordering any online and hadn't seen them in the stores before.  They are made with two sticky discs with a plastic spring between the discs.  I decided to give them a try for the birthday cards.

 

Robert and Max are playing football this year - we got to see the second half of their game before the party.  I decided to put a football on the front of their cards.

Julian has been playing hockey and his team got all the way to the championships last year.  An ice skate was the right thing to wobble on the front of his card.

I found both the football and the ice skate on the Sports Mania cartridge.  The skate is on page 41 and the football on page 60.

I cut three layers for the football - shadow, blackout and base layer.  There is a separate layer to make the center of the football a different color but I didn't want to use it.

The cardstock I had on hand in the best color for the football was a white core by DCWV.  The cut edges always show a bit of the white with white core cardstock so they look better if you ink them.

Inking hides the white edges and also gives some dimension to the cut.  I used vintage Photo Distress ink.

I glued the top layer to the white blackout layer and then ran the footballs through the Cuttlebug using the mesh folder.  I thought the texture would add more interest.  Then I adhered the footballs to the black shadow layer.

I cut the same three layers for the hockey skate - and completely forgot to cut the layer for the blade!  It looked OK but I think some shiny silver on the blade would have been better.  That's what happens when you are doing three things at once!

The Action Wobbles come clearly marked with a top and a bottom.  I peeled the protective backing off the top side - you can get a good look at the spring here.

Then I flipped it over to adhere to the back of the football or skate.

Once it is stuck to the item you want to wobble, you just peel off the second protective layer and place the element on your card.

I used the Cuttlebug Number Collage folder to emboss a piece of red cardstock for the front of each card.  The numbers worked out to have a "9" placed very conveniently at the top right corner.  I tried dabbing the 9 with some white paint but I made a mess (too messy to even show you!).  Plan B - and actually a better idea - was to add Stickles directly to the "9".  The Stickles are much easier to control and glitter makes anything seem special.

The card is very simple - I wanted the wobbling action to be the main attraction.

Yes - it definitely would look better with a silver blade.  Maybe I should cut one and sneak it on to the card next time we visit!

I used a dark blue cardstock for the base so I needed a liner for the inside sentiment.

The star border seemed festive and fit in with the sports theme for "all stars" but I have a little secret...

The punch I used is actually from the American Girls craft line by EK Success (I don't know if this would be popular with the boys!).

Here is the inside of the card.  I cut the white cardstock at 5 1/2 x 4 inches and punched the borders.  The sentiment is from the Close To My Heart "Casual Expressions" set which coordinates with an oval cut on the Artiste cartridge.  I didn't want to add any more layers so I simply stamped it on the white cardstock.

The wobbles really give a lot of motion.  If there had been more time, I would have done a little video to show you how much they move.  I think the boys liked the action but it was getting late by the time they opened their cards and presents.

They each had their own cake - this year they were all ice cream cakes.  Delicious - luckily there were lots of family members on hand to share the cakes before they melted!

Today is the first day of school in our town.  I'll be heading to the bus stop for the traditional elementary school send off, "Breakfast at the Bus."  The weather looks like it might be rainy - keep your fingers crossed that the parents can get some nice photos!

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