Heather in Florida

I have a weakness in that all of my cards have to be different. I view it as a weakness because sometimes I just don't have that many (or any!) ideas or sometimes I'm under a time crunch. These two cards were the result of such a time crunch. I wanted to make cards for a couple of my online friends, but as I said before, February got totally crazy for me, so they both ended up being late. Gah! And when I sat down to do them, I had enough pieces/parts to make two, but as I said... all cards must be different!

Sooo, I have two very similar cards to show you. I just changed up the orientation and the flower layers. The first is for Denise C, the second Kim B... both from my Cricutlovers Yahoo group. And how bad am I... Denise's birthday is before mine and I got her card out after my birthday! February was a rough month for free time. :-(

Anyhoo... I hope the recipients liked them (I've heard from one already, and she did). And thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Paper Company green and pink cardstock; Stamper's Select white from Papertrey Ink; Striped, polka dot, and pink flowers DP from Making Memories; Papertrey Ink Around and About Sentiments; Papertrey Ink white ink; EK Success flower and corner rounder punches; Colorbok brads; Recollections pearls; Fiskars border punch; Martha Stewart butterflies punch

OK, so I'm not doing so well keeping this thing updated. :-) I am crafting... sometimes I take pictures... sometimes I'm late getting them done and it's all I can do to get them out the door on time! And then there's the whole "life" thing that gets in the way. Somehow, February turned into a very busy month for me, and it just seemed like I didn't have time for much. I have Papertrey stamps that I received several days ago that are still in the boxes! I normally have them out of the box, labels attached, and played with them by now -- usually the first night! I even got some stuff at Joann last weekend and it's still in the bag!! So really, I just haven't had much time for anything lately.

But I have been making more of an effort to at least get the picture before it leaves the house. So I'll be posting over the next week or two with stuff I've done over the past month. And hopefully by the time I'm catching up, I'll have more to show!

Today, I'm showing the card I made for my husband's birthday. It's mostly Papertrey. I think it's a nice, masculine card, and I think he liked it.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies (all PTI unless otherwise specified): Turning a New Leaf, Background Basics: Diamonds, and Through the Trees (sentiment) stamp sets; Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Vintage Cream cardstock; Dark Chocolate buttons; Vintage Cream and Enhanted Evening ink; Versamark; Filigree white embossing powder; Martha Stewart border punch; EK Success corner rounder; generic twine.

This card is for my brother-in-law's birthday. We both turn 40 this year. FORTY! How the heck did that happen? I probably should have made this card "special" for the 40th birthday, but I didn't. It's still special because I made it, right?

Anyhoo...I made use of a bunch of Papertrey products on this one. All but the beige ink on the medallion is Papertrey. LOVE me some Papertrey! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Rustic Cream, Vintage Cream, Kraft, and Enchanted Evening cardstock; Papertrey Ink Faux Ribbon and 2009 Autumn Tags stamp sets; Papertrey Ink Enchanted Evening, Ripe Avocado, and Vintage Cream ink; Versamark Chalk Wheat ink; Papertrey Ink Enchanted Evening button; Rustic Cream twine; Nestabilities circle and pinked circle dies; EK Success corner rounder

This is the birthday card for my grandmother. I had more fun with my Punch Bunch punches in creating the flower. I also received my very first ever Stampin Up! stamps this week. And punches. A girl on one of my Yahoo groups had a virtual party and I had a weak moment, lol. That, combined with the fact that they're selling clear-mount stamps now was a dangerous combination!

So, on this card, I used the Well Scripted set for the sentiment, the Scallop Trim border punch, and the Bird on a Branch punch for the leaves. But I'm most proud of the flower, which I made with the Large Dahlia Petals Punch Bunch punch from Core'dinations cardstock. I have the two flower art books, and I thought the Dahlia punch would be used to make a dahlia flower, but the instructions say something else. So this design is sort of made up based on the basic mechanics of making flowers with their punches.

I'm mailing it in a CD mailer so it doesn't get smooshed. Doing that also allowed me to make it square. I don't make square cards often because I'm usually already paying a bit more for postage due to the bulk/weight, but the CD mailer will cost more anyway. I hope she appreciates the card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Bazzill blue and Core'dinations orange cardstock; green from Stemma Citrus Bleu paper stack; unknown white/blue and orange DP; Well Scripted Stampin Up! stamp; Papertrey Ink Snow White pigment ink; A La Mode clear embossing powder; Large Dahlia Petals Punch Bunch punch; Scallop Trim Stampin Up! border punch; Bird on a Branch Stampin Up! punch;

I was very productive this weekend -- FINALLY. I had about five cards I needed to get done, and I got them all done! Yay me! :-) I'll reveal them over the next few days rather than all at once.

This card is for my nephew who turns ten this year. It's so hard for me to do masculine cards, especially for boys who aren't kids really anymore. :-) Can't make it too babyish, can't make it too serious, don't want it to be too dorky. I'm not sure why it matters...I'm pretty sure they don't appreciate a hand-made card, but I do it all the same. But I thought Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line would be manly enough but playful.

I also finally added a counter to my blog. I've only had my blog a year. It's about time, huh? Maybe in the future I can use it to do giveaways and such. Of course, I suppose that means I need to be more consistent with updating my blog so there are new things for people to see, right? And maybe letting people know it's updated? Perhaps? ;-) My template is growing old, too. I think I want a change, so you might notice things changing soon, hopefully for the better.

Anyhoo...thanks for taking a peek today.

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock and Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend DP; Cornish Heritage Farms sentiment from Mona Lisa Moments Birthday Centers; Colorbox Chalk orange and Papertrey Enchanted Evening inks; white Basic Basic ribbon colored with a Copic; EK Success border punch; EK Success corner rounder punch

It's almost happy new year for everyone! So long, 2009....hello 2010!

Today's card is for my mother-in-law's birthday, just after the first of the year. For Christmas, she gave me some of the punches I requested to make paper flowers. This is my first attempt with them. I thought it fitting that since she gave them to me, she should be the first recipient of something I made from them.

The first one was hard, but once I understood the mechanics, the second one was easier, and I'm proud of the result. Hopefully she'll appreciate this! :-) Now, to figure out how to get it to her without it getting destroyed in the mail.

Supplies: Vintage Cream and Kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink, Core'dinations cardstock for the flowers; Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes stamp; Cornish Heritage Farms Birthday Centers stamp; Adirondack Dye Ink in Lettuce; Martha Stewart border punch and butterfly punch; The Punch Bunch ovoid and sakura punches; Carl Craft sakura punch; Want2scrap.com pearls.

I don't know why, but I haven't been making cards for my close friends at work. I recently decided to start, and this is one of the first. I did a 40th birthday card for a friend earlier this year, but that was a special occasion. This is a non-milestone birthday. :-)

This friend at work likes birds and bird-watching, so I thought Papertrey Ink's Bird Watching set would be perfect. I colored the birdhouses with my Copic markers and then cut them out with my Nesties. I also got to use my brand-spanking new MS "around the page" border punch, but I didn't go around the page, lol. I'll try that at a later date, because I bought the corner one, too. Anyhoo...I hope she likes it. She's one of the ones who sees all of my cards at work before they're sent to the recipients, and she seems to enjoy them, so hopefully she'll enjoy one of her very own.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Kraft and Stamper's Select White cardstockfrom Papertrey ink; Pink textured paper from a Momenta Tranquil 5 x 7 cardstock pad; MS patterened paper; Bird Watching stamps from Papertrey Ink; MS border punch; Nestabilities: Circles, Labels 3, Ribbon Tag Trio; Copic markers; Offray and Basic/Basic ribbons; Memento black and Versamark inks; Kaisercraft rhinestones

A friend of mine is turning 40 in the next few weeks, so this card is for her. I can't believe all my friends/classmates are turning 40. How/when did that happen? I have until February, and it's not like 40 is bad, just weird. :-)

For this card, I got to use some new goodies, or at least new to me. A couple of weeks ago, I won some great blog candy from Ashley Cannon Newell. One of the things was a wavy paper crimper, which you'll see on the cardstock on top of the "ribbon". I also used a set of stamps from a new stamp company: Stamps of Life. The set is Back2Basics.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Rustic cream cardstock from Papertrey Ink and beige cardstock from Bazzill; Back2Basics stamps from Stamps of Life; Versamagic chalk ink and Versamark; A La Mode clear embossing powder; random flower from my stash, Papertrey Ink Enchanted Evening buttons; Papertrey Ink cream rustic twine; Martha Stewart butterfly punch; Clinique box (lol -- hey, it was shiny); Offray Verano Tan ribbon; Marvy Uchida wavy corrugator; Kaisercraft rhinestones

This one is for another nephew. Still feel for the same sister -- this nephew is EIGHTEEN! She's neck deep in college applications and planning at this point, lol. He's a talented performer, so I went with "rock star" on this one. This one was pretty quick, but hopefully still appreciated.

Thanks again for looking!

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White cardstock base and Star Prints stamp set; Colorbok Deluxe Textured Cardstock (aqua); Versafine black ink; Fiskars extra large star punch; unknown DP (pack from Target); Martha Stewart border punch; Versamark and A La Mode clear embossing powder (click the photo and you can hopefully see the stars in the background).

This card is for one of my nephews. He turns sixteen -- SIXTEEN! -- this year. :-) My poor sister, lol. Nothing super-special about this card, so thanks for looking!

Supplies: Kraft cardstock, white Rustic Twine, Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo (for distressed edges) and Scarlet Jewel buttons from Papertrey Ink; Inkadinkado Birthday Fun stamp; Versamark Chalk Ink; Martha Stewart border punch; EK Success corner rounder; My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 Enchanting "You and Me" So Cloase/Red Hot Paper.

Well, I can't believe my youngest turned five this past week. He's getting so big! And he had a great time at his party. I think he even appreciated this card, lol! He said, "Look at the puppy!" That's not much, but at least it got a comment, like many of the cards didn't! He, um, hasn't learned to at least pretend to look at the cards yet...just digs in for the presents, lol.

I got to use one of my new Cuttlebug folders from a set I bought from HSN. I also sort of airbrushed the color on the dog with my Copics and used a Spica pen to color the puppy's tag. The "Make a Wish" is a rub-on from Three Birds' Perfect in Platinum rub-on set that I got on clearance from HSN. The party hat is the other impulse buy from Michaels I mentioned in my last post. The "paper" across the bottom was actually from a sheet of KI Memories Sheer Delights that I got on clearance from Two Peas. (I luuuuuurv clearance!)

Supplies: Unknown dots dp, yellow and green The Paper Company cardstock, KI Memories Sheer Delights "Birthday", Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Cuttlebug (I think it's Harlequin?); Three Birds Perfect in Platinum rub-on; K&Company Layered Accents "Party Hats"; Sandylion puppy stamp from "Boy Clear Stamps" set; Colorbok orange brads; Memento ink; Copics and Copic Airbrush System; Martha Stewart zigzag rotary cutter.

This card is for my friend's daughter's birthday. I (impulse) bought a couple of things at Michaels, plus I got some "blingy" paper from HSN (Three Birds on clearance). I wanted to use the blingy paper and it just so happened to go with the Deja Views Clear Cut Shapes -- I mean PERFECTLY! And they both went well with my Raspberry Fizz cardstock and ribbon from Papertrey Ink. I thought it came out cute...I hope she liked it!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Raspberry Fizz cardstock and grosgrain ribbon from Papertrey Ink; "Be Happy" and butterfly from Deja Views Clear Cut Shapes "Garden" set; EK Success border punch; DP from Three Birds Bling Extreme kit; Kaiser rhinestones

A while back, a friend on one of my Yahoo groups surprised me with a birthday card. It was such a nice surprise, I decided to "steal" her idea and send cards to my "friends" when their birthdays came up. Hopefully she has received her card by now because I sent it ages ago! And hopefully she was surprised, too.

I used my Papertrey Ink Sign Language set for this one. I even used my Spica pen to add a little glittery flame. :-) It's an Ocean Tides card base with clear embossed Polka Dots dots. The DP is My Mind's Eye, Just Dreamy 2, Enchanting "You and Me" So Close/Red Hot Paper. I used Memento inks for this one (Black and Rhubarb Stalk), plus Papertrey's Chamomile cube. The ribbon is Stampin Up. Border punch by EK Success.

It's not often that I get to do little girl cards. I have two young boys, so we tend to go to boy birthday parties and HAVE boy birthday parties and such. Our new neighbors (received the bird box way back when) have a daughter who just turned six, so I got to make a girly, blingy card! Yay! ;-)

The cupcake is from The Paper Company's Cupcakes collection. First I stamped it in Memento black and colored with Copics (just a teensy bit shaded). Then I covered it with 3D Crystal Lacquer and dusted some glitter on top. Then I stamped the cupcake again in Versamark and heat embossed in silver. Once the lacquer was dry, I cut out the cupcake part as well as the solid silver hear from the silver version, and stacked it all together. Added a rhinestone and had a cute, girly cupcake! I also used my Copics to airbrush the Labels 4 diecut. You can barely see a bit of yellow and pink behind the cupcake and sentiment (from Hero Arts). Nana's Kids papers, a Papertrey card base, and American Crafts ribbon finished it off.

It's my understanding from her mom that she really liked this card and she wants to scrapbook it. :-) Her mom is allergic to cats (I have four), so I'll be bringing my goodies next door sometime soon to help them with their scrapbook. I don't scrapbook, but there's no reason my schtuff can't be used for someone else's scrapbook, right?

Thanks for looking!

Do you ever rearrange stuff in your craft area and discover lost/forgotten treasures? That's the motivation for this card. I had a birthday card to do and I was looking through a rarely-touched plastic bin and came across some tags I had completely forgotten about. I have so many Prima flowers that rarely get used (don't know why) so I resolved to find some that would coordinate with the tag.

I also just got my first Core'dinations cardstock. Joann was having a buy 2 get 3 free sale and I figured, why not? Of course, I'm a horrible friend and while I get the card made a week in advance, I don't mail it till the day before her birthday. Doh! Hope she liked it all the same.

Supplies: Generic kraft card blank, Core'dinations (sorry, don't know which color), generic tag, Prima flowers,Stampin Up cordoroy button, Papertrey twine, Around the Block Paper Treats brads (flower centers), Happy Birthday Cuttlebug embossing folder, Background Basics Retro from Papertrey, (background stamp) and Versamark, EK Success corner rounder.

This card is for my daddy's birthday. Yes, I'm almost 40 years old and I call my dad Daddy. :-) He'll always be my daddy!

I haven't been around much lately, have I? I have been been doing crafty stuff, I just haven't been posting much lately. At least I have taken pictures of the cards before they leave my hands! :-)

My Father-in-Law's birthday is coming up very soon. I'm pretty sure he doesn't follow my blog, so I'm pretty safe in posting this early. :-)

I used Papertrey Ripe Avocado for the card base and rounded the corners with my EK Success corner punches. I used my brand new EK Success Upper Crest border punch for the Ripe Avocado strip on the right. I also used my Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug folder to emboss the white strip. The patterned paper is from a K & Co Scrap Pad to Go. I stamped the Just Rite border in Dark Chocolate on white cardstock and used my circle Nesties to cut it out. I stamped the Just Rite sentiment with Versmark and used Stampendous Detail White embossing powder to heat emboss it. I used my circle punches (Fiskars and EK Success) to cut out the Ripe Avocado and Dark Chocolate layers of the sentiment. The ribbon is from American Crafts Brown Classics collection. The buttons are from Basic Grey, and the twine tied through the buttons is from Papertrey.

I hope he likes it. He's one of those rare people who actually saves my cards, which makes me feel pretty good. :-) Now....to pick a present, lol!

Here's a birthday card I made for a friend in one of the Yahoo groups of which I am a member.

As is usual lately, there's a lot of Papertrey. :-) I used Papertrey Kraft cardstock for the base, and Summer Sunrise and Vintage Cream for the circles. I got to use my new Labels 3 Nesties for the bottom layer of the focal point, using Nana's Kids polka-dotted cardstock. I stamped one bird from the Bird Watching set in Summer Sunrise ink from Papertrey, and the other is Ripe Avocado from Papertrey. The sentiment is in Dark Chocolate from Papertrey. I used Versamark with one of the stamp set elements to make a pattern for the background. The ribbon is from COD Wholesale, and the rhinestones are Recollections from Michaels.

I'm glad that my friend enjoyed receiving the card. :-)

I'm a little late posting this, but I finished it up last minute and didn't get a picture of it until just a few days ago. :-) This is the card I made my son for his seventh birthday. He actually asked me to make his card this year. Isn't that sweet? He's a boy, and I really didn't think he cared, but he asked me to, so of course I'm going to!

So...the little robot guy is from a Sandylion Boys acrylic stamp set. Actually all of the picture stamps are. I colored in the little guy with Copics. The "happy birthday" sentiment is from Hot off the Press Expressions. The sentiment inside was made (I should have taken more time!) with my Just Rite rectangular stamper and my Brayton font.

I used Inkscape to create the planet terrain, including the craters. I actually cut that separately with my Cricut and SCAL and used it as a mask to ink onto the planet. I poked holes around the edge and used my white gel pen to simulate stitching. The white stamps on the front are embossed with clear. And the borders inside are both from EK Success.

I think he really liked that I took the time to make it for him!