Happy Birthday To My Brilliant Son

I've been creating a lot of custom cards the last few weeks as well as stocking our new shop with our ready made inventory and it has made life pretty busy!

I had the opportunity to create a birthday card for a fellow card maker's son. The request was for a birthday card, no direction, color scheme, idea... etc. And those are sometimes hard when you want to ensure the card is exactly what the "customer" wants.

I was drawn to this set of papers for a masculine birthday card. I figured the woodgrain paper would add enough visual texture so the card could remain fairly flat. A single silver brad is the only raised element on this card front. 

I don't know much about her son except: he likes football, he has 4 beautiful children and a lovely wife, and he is a Pastor. That is about all I know... well, he apparently has an amazing sense of humor... I give you the inside sentiment as proof~ ;)

I wanted to add some detail to the card front so I used some stitched edge dies and created all the panels with those. I figured, masculine but detailed... right? 

I would really love to know what you think of my card today. I love blog comments!

Cards like those seen in this blog can be viewed and purchased at my online store:

Click here for a direct link: DelaneyJaneCards

You can also copy and paste www.DelaneyJaneCards.etsy.com into your browser to get to the online store. We would love for you to stop by and check out some of our other amazing cards.

A Life Update... BODJ cards becomes DJC...

My husband and I have been working very hard to open up an Etsy shop to sell the beautiful handmade cards I create.

We've spent the better part of almost 3 weeks listing, packing, selling, shipping, creating, brainstorming and working really hard to do this in Delaney's honor.

I made some promises to her the day she died and this shop helps me keep them.

Today was a huge day for this little online shop, we decided on and created our logo. I'm so in love with it too. My husband was able to take what I could see in my head and make it even better. I am such a proud wife today and I wanted to brag about how amazing my husband is. He created this logo for me.

So, no card blog post today, but I'll be back to those really soon... I'm hoping for Wednesday or Friday at the latest.

If you follow me here, please stop over at my online shop, scroll, click, read, favorite listings and my shop if you could. I'm not asking you to purchase anything, no pressure, but it would help me tremendously if I had measurable traffic in my shop.

Another great way to help without purchasing is to search Greeting Cards in the Etsy search bar and scroll through until you find something from my shop and click on it. Leave it open for a minute or two before moving on to another shiny object and Etsy will see that my search terms are working properly for my items.


To get to DJC you can type in the address www.DelaneyJaneCards.etsy.com or you can click Here and I'll get you there without any typing.

Oh, and on a side note, we've decided to celebrate Christmas in July and have started to load the store with Christmas and Holiday themed greeting cards. If you use coupon code CHRISTMAS at checkout you will receive a 15% discount on purchases of $25.00 or more before shipping.

PMS Peggy Strikes Again!

 I've been wanting to get PMS Peggy out of her stamp sleeve for a few weeks now and today I used this awesome color challenge to do just that.

The Color Throwdown Challenge is a dark pink, light pink, white and green and this is what I came up with. Remember, neutrals are ok and I've added some tan, brown, grey and black. If you are interested in the Color Throwdown, click here: CTD451

I used this paper pad from American Crafts yet again. I'm digging these patterns and colors lately. Both pink patterns came from this pad.

I also made good use out of this set from Unity Stamp Company: PMS Peggy

I wanted to create a vintage feeling card because this stamp set screams 1950 to me. So I tried to give the feeling of vintage wallpaper to stand Peggy up against.

I used a Memory Box die to create the speech bubble and stamped the sentiment using Lawn Fawn Jet Black Ink.

I colored the image using Copic Markers. Including the dots on Peggy's shirt. Then I fussy cut her and edged the image with my Tombow dark grey marker. I added sparkle to her lips, heart on her belt and to the polka dots on her shirt using a Spectrum Noir Clear Glitter Brush Marker. Although it is difficult to see in the photos, it is visible in person.

I finished the inside with another fabulous PMS Peggy sentiment and a strip of patterned paper.

I'd love to know what you think of my card for today.

You can find this card and many others in my Etsy shop: DelaneyJaneCards
You can also find me on Facebook at: Because of Delaney Jane Cards

Clearly Besotted Tulips Wish Mom Happy Birthday

This soft card was created for a dear friend's mother. I was given free range to create a card as long as it wished her mother Happy Birthday and this is what I came up with.

I love these Tulips from Clearly Besotted's stamp set Friends Forever and try to use them as often as possible because Clearly Besotted does flowers right. I stamped the image on Neenah Solar White 80# Cardstock and colored it with Copic Markers ( R12, R32, Y00, YG21, YG25 & YG17). Then I die cut it using the coordinating die.

While I had my die cutting machine out I also cut the main panel out of some MFT Watercolor Wash Brights 6x6 in the aqua shade with a Gina Marie wonky stitched rectangle die and the word Mom from a SSS die set from both black and Neenah White I colored to match with the R Copic Markers.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Let's Bokkeh stamp set onto black cardstock using Ranger's white embossing powder and trimmed it down to a thin strip.

The pieces went together really quickly once I had everything together. I layered the die cut rectangle onto black cardstock then onto white and then onto some SSS dark grey cardstock.

Then I placed the main image onto the left side of the main card panel and layered the black sentiment strip over it after trimming it and creating an angled banner end with scissors.

I layered the two die cut words, Mom using some Ranger Multi Medium Matte Adhesive and adhered it below the sentiment strip.

Three sequins from Lucy's cards finish the card front.

I finished the inside with a strip of the watercolor printed paper and a fun sentiment by Two Lips Stamp Company called Say Out Loud.

Please let me know what you think of today's card. I'd love to know.

You can visit my Etsy shop at: DelaneyJaneCards
My Facebook page at: Because of Delaney Jane Cards

You're in my Thoughts

I visited the color throwdown challenge blog and was immediately inspired to create this card.  The color combination was Dark Red, Golden Yellow, Blue and White. Other neutrals are allowed to help create a cohesive look. I have wanted to pair these two stamp sets since forever and figured today was as good of a day as any to create this.

 If you are looking for a good place to get inspiration, you can always check out the Color Throwdown Blog 

This week was color throwdown #450 and here is the inspiration piece

I stamped the seashell onto a piece of Bristol Smooth Cardstock in Intense Black ink and masked it using a piece of post-it tape. Then I stamped the large beach grass with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink using my MISTI. I stamped it several times to get a good impression and leaving my paper and stamp positioned in the MISTI I then used Versamark ink to stamp over top. Then I heat embossed the beach grass with clear embossing powder. This created a mask for my grass so I could put the background on the card front after and the ink would be resisted. 

I used another piece of post-it tape to mask off a beach and then blended with more distress inks. I used antique linen and gathered twigs to create the beach. I blended in the water with chipped sapphire and the sky was scattered straw and fossilized amber then fired brick and more chipped sapphire. 

Then I removed the masks revealing a nice clean line between the beach and the water and a pure white seashell. I added some texture and shading with my copic markers on the sand and under the seashell. I used my cool grey copic markers to add shading to the seashell and to the beach grass. I added a little of the brick red with a water brush to the seashell to add some color, and then I used a versafine pen to color over the spaces on the shell. Versamark is a clear sticky ink and many things stick to it. I used it for embossing my image, now I used it to add Perfect Pearls in the color perfect pearl to add that mother of pearl look to the shell. It is more visible in real life than in the photos. 

I used the versafine again when I heat embossed the sentiment on the sentiment banner. This card reads: You're in my thoughts. 

I matted the main image panel with a thin border of black and then with white and black again. I thought it made this card look like a piece of artwork. 

The inside is finished with a coordinating stamped image and a sentiment that reads: 

Seashells remind us that every passing life leaves something beautiful behind.

I'd love to know what you think of today's card.  Please leave me a comment below.

You can visit me on Facebook at Because of Delaney Jane Cards 

You can shop my Etsy shop at DelaneyJaneCards

With the Faith of a Child... and an announcement!

With the faith of a child my husband and I decided to bring Because of Delaney Jane Cards to the next step. While I wanted to write this blog post to highlight these three beautiful cards and their reason for being made, I wanted to share some personal information and announce something very special.

First, the cards...

Our church will be "graduating" three young people this Sunday from the Children's Church and into the general congregation. One of the teachers asked me to create three cards, one for each of the graduates. I wanted to create similar but different cards because they are similar but different in their personalities and their walk with God.

So, I created two boy versions and one girl version.

The papers are from a BO Bunny  6 x 6 paper pad and the stamp sets are Unity Stamp Co. Each image is Copic colored and then layered into different designs.

My husband took some great photos to show the layers in these cards. They aren't cheap or flimsy, they are quality cards with multiple layers and details.

I finished the inside of the cards as I almost always do with a piece of coordinating paper, leaving a place for a message.


These cards are incredibly important to myself, my husband and mark a huge milestone in the life of BODJ cards. They represent the last and final cards created before we make one HUGE CHANGE.

I've made cards for over a decade. My style and skill level has changed and I've gotten better with my craft, as you'd expect from a decade of practice. I've participated in craft shows, hosted a Facebook page and sent cards to hundreds of people including anonymous cards to many cancer patients.

I currently have a studio where I create beautiful cards, take photos, post them to this blog or to my Facebook page and then I place them in a card rack and hope someone either decides from a post they like it or I bring them to a local craft fair to hopefully sell them. THIS IS ABOUT TO CHANGE!

Over the last week or so my husband and I have been working very hard at something incredible. He has taken over 500 photos, much like the ones above and I've sat at my computer for countless hours in hopes that my hobby can become more than just a hobby.

So with the faith of a child, bright eyed and hopeful, we have decided to open an ETSY shop.

We've named it DelaneyJaneCards and have loaded the store with tons of goodies.

We've also decided to have a GRAND OPENING, this weekend!!!

While we are both nervous about jumping into an actual business we are really excited to see what we can do together, for our family.

We want to open with a huge bang and are offering a coupon code to our friends, family and followers. Coupon code GRANDOPENING will get you 10% off orders of $10.00 or more when you use it at checkout.

Please checkout my Etsy shop by clicking here ---> DelaneyJaneCards  or by typing or copy paste www.etsy.com/shop/DelaneyJaneCards into your browser

Remember, the coupon code is good all weekend. Share with your friends and family. Additional coupon codes will be available in the future.

Thank you and we really hope this is the best next step for these cards and our family.

-Renee'

Fill in the Blank Birthday

This set by Catherine Pooler Designs is simply AMAZING! It allows me to personalize a card for basically anyone. With words like Teacher, friend, Sister, Aunt, Husband, Best, Step, In-law etc... I can create a card for basically anyone I come into contact with.

And this paper pad by American Crafts seems to be one of my more favorite paper pads recently. I like the worn texture in the prints and the color scheme is really calming. I ordered it from Simon Says Stamp a while back and as of writing this blog, it is available so here is a link: SSS AC Shimelle
(no, this isn't an affiliate link just a link to the product)

Ok, so back to the card making. I did a little stamp surgery on this fill in the blanks set and cut off the bottom flourish. The stamp would not fit inside my die cut square with it on there and if I want to use it the way the stamp was intended in the future, it is as easy as lining it back up on my stamping block or in my MISTI.

I stamped the sentiment panel using Versafine Onyx Black Ink onto Primitive White Cardstock from MFT after I die cut it with the largest of the MFT cross stitched squares, then I embossed the sentiment with clear embossing powder from Ranger.

I cut some SSS dark grey cardstock into squares just 1/8" larger than the square die. I probably could have used black but I felt the dark grey fit better with the worn look of the colors in this paper pad.

Then I die cut the main card front panel using the large stitched rectangle from SSS stitched shapes bundle dies and the black and white striped paper with the MFT Blueprints 1 Die-namics stitched border strip die.  And finally a little banner with the SSS stitched shapes from the same dark grey I used to layer the main panel on.

Three silver brads from Recollections finished the card front off before I adhered it to a top folding Primitive White Cardstock Card Base.

The inside of the card is finished with a strip of the same black and white striped paper.

I created a second card while I had the products out.

I'm pretty sure I love the graphic look and the simple design these cards have.  I plan to create several more using this set and layout for an upcoming event.

Stay tuned for a huge announcement regarding Because of Delaney Jane Cards.