Bright Spring Birthday Card

I made today's card over a year ago, but never got around to posting it.  My friend Kristin asked me to make a card that her and her husband could give to a family member for their birthday.  I had settled on the stamps and colours I was going to use, but wasn't sure about the layout of the card.  I played around with a few different options as seen below:

In the end, I settled on the following layout:

I love the bright colours, and how the butterflies seem to just flutter off of the card.  The result: a pretty, bright, cheerful birthday card.

World Card Making Day 2013

Saturday, October 5th, 2013 was World Card Making Day.  Since it has been approximately 6 months since I last made cards, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to break out my supplies and get crafty!  :)  I figured it would be a good way to ease myself into making all of my Christmas cards this year. 

I think I did pretty good for myself.  I made a total of 8 cards at the end of the day.  Different variations on the three designs below:

Card #1: Boy birthday card

I've been wanting to create a card on which I could use some colourful Star Wars stickers (purchased at the dollar store).  I've also been itching to try out the 'chalkboard' technique... two birds, one stone.

Card #2: Scripted birthday card

I made the purple background for this card a few months ago, playing around one day stamping with water.  I've been holding on to it, and decided to use it to make a simple birthday card for my niece.

Card #3: Hoo-hoo-hooray! for birthday(s)

Wanted to create a simple, fun, cheerful card for another niece's birthday.  These owls are the cutest, and the colours are so bright and vibrant.  The googly eyes add a touch of whimsy to complete the card. 

That's all for now.  :)

A Few Days Late

I'm a few days late, but I did manage to create a card for the February HCCC Challenge.

It has been few months since I last made some cards.  Just wasn't really feeling any inspiration.  So, what better way to get back into the swing of things than to issue a challenge.  Full of good intentions, I issued a challenge for February over on the HCCC blog... and February just flew by!  No card-making time at all. 

All hope was not lost though.  I had a free day with no plans, so I pulled out all of my card-making supplies and set to work.  I was a day late, but I did finally make a card for the challenge.  And boy was it a doozy!  That colour combo was a hard one to pull together, but I think I managed to come up with a card creation that did the colour combo justice.  Take a look:

See you later!  :)

Bits & Pieces

I thought I would share a couple of cards with you today that I made a while ago but haven't gotten around to posting yet.

 

This first card was 'just for fun'.  I got an awesome Hero Arts International Skyline stamp for my birthday last year and couldn't wait to break it in.  I tried to keep the card simple.  I heat embossed the image in black on some white cs that I had inked up in a variety of coordinating ink colours.  Here's a look at the end result:

 

The next card I want to share with you today was for a co-worker's birthday.  She is looking forward to retirement and can't wait to get settled in at her cottage.  Keeping with the cottage/beach theme, and inspired by this card, I pulled out some patterned paper and set to work.  I did finish off the card with some black stickers in the bottom right-hand corner indicating the recipient's age, but that was after I snapped this pic.  Here's a look at the almost-finished card:



See you later!  :)

Many Thanks

I was asked to make some thank-you cards for both a wedding and a bridal shower.  Knowing that I would have to make a LOT of cards, I wanted to keep the designs as simple as possible.

The wedding thank-you cards were designed to mimic the elements found on the wedding invitations (cherry blossoms, vertical lines, pink/grey).  Here's a look at the finished product:

The bride-to-be requested that the thank-you cards for her shower be black and white.  There were no other stipulations, so I came up with 4 different cards with simple designs and let her pick her favourites.  Here's a look at 4 different cards that I created:

Card A

Card B

Card C

Card D

The bride-to-be chose cards B, C and D.  I think my favourite was card D.  I liked the black/white combo (it looks very classy) but I was really tempted to add a spot of colour on the cards.  The little twinkle of a purple rhinestone or a touch of red stickles.

Showers Galore!

It all started with some thank-you cards.

My Sister-in-law asked me to make her some thank-you cards for baby gifts that she had received.  They were postcard style, very simple and cheery.  (Unfortunately I do not have a picture of these cards to share with you.)

I had just finished all of the cards, and they were sitting on my coffee table ready to give to my SIL the next day when I had a couple of friends over to watch a movie that evening.  One friend was so impressed with the cards that she asked if I had any tea themed stamps.  I said yes, and the next thing I knew I had agreed to make some bridal shower invites for her future SIL's bridal shower.  The only stipulations: they had to be pink and tea themed.  Here's a look at the finished product:

The little pink hearts on the tea bag are coloured in with some pink stickles, and the sentiment is embossed in white.  I made a litte pocket on the card so that the family could slip a tea bag inside each before they mailed them out to all the invitees.

The cards were a hit! My friend liked the damask patterned paper so much that she asked me to make some little gift boxes for the shower that were covered in the same patterned paper (sorry again, I don't have a pic of the boxes, but they were A-MAZ-ING!  Inspired by this Martha Stewart design - only pink/white and with a scalloped edge around the top of the box).

No sooner had the invites been sent out in the mail when my friend got a call from her Aunt... and I found myself making shower invites for her cousin's upcoming bridal shower. 

Here's a look at the shower invite which was inspired by the Mojo Monday 233 sketch challenge:

In addition to the invites, her Aunt also asked me to make favour boxes for the shower.  We settled on the 2-5-7-10 box as found on the Splitcoaststampers website.  This time I did manage to get a pic of the final product before I shipped them off:

I hand-stamped the pattern on the white card stock for all of the boxes... that was fun.  :)  Instead of using the ribbon to close the box, I glued velcro under the top flap so that the favour boxes could be easily opened & closed.  Also, you can't really see it but there are lots of pretty sparkles on the butterfly. 

These invites and boxes were also a hit, which lead to even more wedding creations.... but I will save those for a future post. 

Thanks for stopping by!  :)



It's About time

I've been making cards over the past few months, but have been falling seriously behind in posting them, so in the first of many new posts here's a look at a baby shower invite that I made for my cousin Lindsay's first-born:

The shower was in July, but it was winter-themed 'cause that is Lindsay's favourite season (and mine too).  I love the white/silver/blue ice-y colour scheme.  Thanks for visiting.  :)

More baby cards (and stuff)

My last post (almost 2 months ago, do you believe it?  Where does the time go?) showcased the baby shower invites that I made for my newest nephew.

Continuing on that theme, I thought I would share the rest of the cards that I made for him.


This is the baby card I made for my bro and sis-in-law to congratulate them on their little bundle of joy.  I was inspired by this card.  My nephew was named for Dutch soccer player Arjen Robben, so I wanted the card to incorporate soccer and oranje in some way:

For the shower, I was down to the wire creating a card to go with the gift I was bringing, so I just went with an old standby... the cute baby onesie card.  I think my SIL liked this card better than the one above:

And, I would be remiss if I did not share the awesome punch I made for the shower.  I can't take credit for this idea - I saw a picture on Pinterest which lead me to this blog, and thought it would be perfect for the shower.  Here's a look at my 'duckies in the bathtub' punch:

Thanks for reading!

Shower Time!

Last weekend we had a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law.  They welcomed their first child (a boy) back in February.  It was great to get together with the whole family and celebrate his birth.

It was my pleasure to make the invites for the shower.  I wanted the invites to be special and was inspired by this card.  Here's a look at the finished product:

Love the colour combo - how the yellow pops on the blue.  It was fun putting these invites together, but I will think twice before I have to punch that many round corners.... :P

Tulips & Monsters

Just popping in quickly to share two cards that I made last month for a couple of birthdays.

The first is a birthday card I made for a friend.  I was inspired by this colour combination, and managed to come up with a simple, tulip-y card.  I stamped the background myself, and added some sparkles and rhinestones for a touch of elegance.

The second card was for my nephew.  I was inspired by this card.  I paper-pieced the monster together from green and blue cardstock, and added a couple of google-y eyes.  I drew a border around the white cardstock with a green marker, added some bling-y rhinestones in the corners, and voila!  A monster-ific card for a little boy.

Thanks for checking in :)

Baby Card for Nephew

My brother welcomed a new little bundle of joy to his family in January.

In order to celebrate the arrival of my newest nephew, I knew I had to make a great baby card.

Not knowing where to start, I began to look for inspiration online, and stumbled upon this layout on the Mojo Monday blog.

With the layout in mind, I set to work, and ended up creating this awesome baby card:

I got to ink up some stamps that I hadn't used before, and I got to use the awesome "Well Worn" patterned paper that I had purchased from Stampin' UP!  I love the end result. 

Looking back at the card now, if there was one thing I could change, I think that I would do some stitching around the edge of the patterned paper.  But other than that, I am extremely happy with the finished product.

Christmas 2011

Here's a quick look at the cards I made for Christmas 2011: 

I wasn't feeling too crafty prior to Christmas, so I only ended up making 8 cards (4 of each design).  I believe both cards were cased from the Holiday issue of Paper Crafts magazine.

Thanks for checking in!

Late November Challenge

This post is late.

November's challenge over at the HCCC was to use a stamp that I've never used before.  This worked out perfectly for me - I had a stamp set that I was itching to use, and the perfect excuse to use it - my nephew's birthday.

I picked up some great monster stamps at Michael's on sale one day and I thought that they would be great to make some birthday cards for my nephews.  Picked up some google-y eyes at the Dollar store and I was all set.  Here's a look at the finished product:

I love everything about this card - the colour combo, patterned paper, layering the stamped sentiment over the stars, the embossed strip of blue cardstock that I wiped my white ink pad over to add definition.  And last but not least the google-y eye.  It all works.

Neutral Wonder

I managed to whip up 10 Christmas Cards this weekend(!), and I will be posting them soon.  Before I do though, I wanted to share with you a card that I made for my Sister-in-Law's birthday this summer.

It was meant to be quick and simple, but ended up taking me 2 nights to complete.  I think the effort was worth it in the end:

It is a one-layer stamped card.  You can't really see it, but each of the flowers have sparkles in their centres that shimmer in the sunlight.

Quicky Card

I recently had to make a card for my niece's birthday.  The big day was quickly approaching and I needed to get her card in the mail, asap.

Unsure of what I was going to do, I pulled out a piece of my favourite patterned paper and went from there.  Here's a look at the finished product:

I especially love how the flower with the rhinestone centre pops:

It was so quick and easy to make (and turned out so well) that I made two - now I have another one on hand the next time I need a birthday card. :)

Autumn in the Air

This month's HCCC was to create a gate-fold card inspired by the Autumn season. 

I was stumped by this challenge at first, and didn't know how to start.  I began looking through my collection of stamps and patterned paper, and eventually came up with this little creation:

The background paper is 'Ominous' from the Haunted Halloween collection by Cosmo Cricket.  The pumpkins are paper-pieced using 'Bonfire' patterned paper by Pink Paislee, and 'Jaw Breakers' paper from the Sugar Rush collection by Basic Grey.  The stems are cut out of kraft cardstock.  The 'thankful' sentiment and pumpkin stamps are from the September 2010 KOM from Unity Stamp Co. - When I am With You.

To finish off the card, I placed four green buttons, tied with some linen thread, randomly around the lower left corner of the central panel. 

Here's a look at what the card looks like when it opens up:

Thanks for stopping by!

Asian Influence

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out.  It is a birthday card that I made for my Sister-In-Law's birthday.  

I purchased the "Asian by Design" stamp set by Inkadinkado several months ago but hadn't had an opportunity to use it.  I wasn't sure how to get started on the card, so I started looking for inspiration online and found this card.  I really liked the colour combo, so I set to work.  Here's the finished product:

The red branches in the background and the happy birthday sentiment are both heat embossed and really 'pop' on the card stock.  The rhinestones added the perfect finishing touch.

I added a few little extra touches to the inside of the card as well:

Thanks for stopping by :)

Having Fun with Punches

The past few weeks I've been having fun making cards.  I'm a bit behind in sending birthday cards to some of my family, so I needed to remedy that.

I was in a bit of an inspirational slump, and started playing around with some scraps.

Here's a look at the end result:

I had a lot of fun punching circles out of my scrap card stock.  Something I'll have to keep in mind the next time I need to get rid of some scraps.

Comfy Chair

A few months ago, both my brother and some friends moved into new homes. I wanted to send them each a card to welcome them into their new homes, and set to work.

I started browsing through my stamps and spotted the awesome chair stamp that I received in the September 2010 Unity KOM "When I Am With You". I had never used the stamp (and I don't know why, 'cause it is awesome) and thought this was the perfect opportunity.

I was inspired by this card and set to work.  I stamped the chairs on some blue card stock to create some patterned paper that I used as the base of my creation. On top of this I layered some grey card stock which I had run through my Cuttlebug with a Tim Holtz checkerboard embossing folder. I lightly rubbed a blue ink pad over top to add some definition to the checkerboard pattern. After this I stamped a couch stamp from the November 2010 Unity KOM "Picture Perfect" (which fit in perfectly with the theme of the cards) on some Stampin UP! DSP . I layered this couch on top of some Basic Grey paper, and popped it up on the base of the card with some dimensionals.


Getting this far in the creation of my cards was fairly quick and easy. All of the elements kinda fell into place. But I wasn't quite sure how to finish the card.... I thought it would be fun to use my new silver Smooch Spritz spray from Stampin' UP!. However, never having used this spray before, I discovered it takes a bit of finesse. Not quite the effect that I was looking for, but not completely horrible either.

And finally, I needed a sentiment. I thought it would be cute to put the old saying "Home, Sweet Home" on the cards, but I don't own a stamp with this sentiment. So I turned to my computer, downloaded a cute embroidery font, and printed off the sentiment in two different layouts. I wasn't sure which sentiment layout I preferred so I decided to use each one on a card - thereby adding a unique element to each of the cards. A couple of well-placed buttons and I was done.

Its amazing what a difference a sentiment and a couple of buttons can make, eh? Who knew?

I think I prefer the 2nd card, but I don't hate the 1st one either. They both have elements that I appreciate. Which card do you prefer?

It took me a few months to actually get both of these cards in the mail. But I'm glad that I procrastinated 'cause over on the HCCC blog, August's challenge is to use the chair stamp from Unity's Sept. 2010 KOM! Perfect :) Procrastination does pay off! These cards fit the challenge perfectly.

Oh My Word...

You totally have to check out this give-away. It is amazing (and you still have time to enter!).