13th Birthday Present

The girls' friend Emma recently turned 13 and had a huge sleepover at a rental cabin- complete with ping pong table, air hockey, and hot tub! I cannot believe that Ansley and all her friends are hitting the big THIRTEEN!

We decided to turn this 4"x6" glass frame into a cool gift for the birthday girl. I knew I wanted to use the runner (she is on the girls' cross country team) and the expression "Be yourself... everyone else is taken" (from the Be Yourself stamp set) to display in her room. (What an important message for thirteen-year-olds or girls of any age!)

We actually began by cutting the star background paper (from the You Rock paper pack) to size. We played around with different stamp sets for her name and settled on the Large Chocolate Alphabet. It was fun to put the clear stamps on the glass and see what it would look like. I had originally thought her name would go across the top, but my assistant and I both liked it better going down the side. I used black StazOn ink to stamp her name directly onto the glass. I then cut the Goldrush and Outdoor Denim paper (from the same paper pack) to fit as a stripe across at the bottom. The runner came next. Can you see the little sparkle I put in her hair? I think it looks like a barette or earring. (It is on the outside of the glass because it was too thick to put on the inside.) Finally, I stamped the expression in the same two colors as the paper onto a Dimensional Element bookplate, tied the Outdoor Denim twill around the bottom, and glued the DE to the ribbon and frame to secure in place. Two sparkles filled in the holes since the ribbon was too thick to thread through them. Instant personalized birthday present! (Sorry it's crooked here; that is my camera and lack of photog skills, NOT the frame. Just cock your head a little and play along... It was a lot harder than I expected to photograph glass. Ignore my reflection. Thanks!)

We got Emma several other things (a peace sign watch, a speech bubble chalkboard that just unrolls and sticks to her wall, and some cool knee-high socks), but her frame was what her mom really seemed to like the most. We hope Emma loves it too!

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Be Yourself and Large Chocolate Alphabet stamp sets; You Rock My Reflections Level 2 paper pack; Outdoor Denim and Goldrush inks; black StazOn ink; Dimensional Elements Bookplates; Outdoor Denim twill; blue sparkles

Other: glass 4"x6" frame (source unknown)

Techniques: stamping on glass