Happy Spring!

Ok so we are not quite there yet... but it's coming! With the sun breaking through our gray winter skys now and then we begin to look forward to Spring showing up.
Last Spring, one of my friend's Mom was visiting her, and knowing that she enjoyed crafting cards I suggested that she join myself and another friend to do a craft during her stay. Since she is more apt to do cards back home we decided to do a mini album for something different from her usual.

One day my friend and I planned out the design, then the next day we got together and all three of us worked on our own individual version of it. We each chose an element associated with Spring to use as our primary element in our mini... my friend picked birds, the Mom picked dragonflies, and I picked flowers. We each followed the basic design scketch with our differing elements and differing picks of colors, resulting in each one being quite unique.

I haven't put photos in mine yet; (there is a piece of blank cardstock in place of where each photo will be for now so I know what photo dimention I will need).
I wanted my mini to be bright and cheery, yet with a little softness. If you look close you'll see some basic principle scketch elements like: the background paper on each inner page goes...1/2 patterned top with 1/2 solid bottom, then opposite is full solid paper, next is full patterned paper, then opposite is 1/2 solid top with 1/2 patterned bottom and then it repeats. Also my 1/2 solid background piece was always alternating pink, then blue, then pink, etc. Along with using the flower element on every page in some way I also made sure that every page had some kind of sparkly aspect, from rhinestones to glitter. Some supplies and techeniqes used here are metal embelishments, glitter-stickers, (regular, foil, glitter & flock) rub-ons, punches, Glitter Ritz, brads, glitter-glue, stiching, stamping, heat-embossing, dry-embossing, paper edge distressing, different rhinestones, paper and fabric flowers.

Love is...

A couple who are sweet friends... always considerate of others, very warm and friendly to all, not to mention fun-loving... are having their 11th wedding anniversary. They invited me to go out of town with them for an event they wanted to share with me but I declined. this event would encompass the celebrating of their anniversary. Since I would miss it I decided to make a gift to send along for them to open on their special day. I made them a framed 8x10 digital photo collage. Of coarse I had to make them a personalized card too. So here they are...


The card is made using an Ivory colored cardstock for the base (supplier unknown), cut to a 5x7 size. I used Stampin' Up for the (Chocolate Chip) cardstock on the bottom, the (Sending Love) patterned paper on the top, (Rose Red) cardstock for one heart and the new Pinking Hearts Boarder Punch to make the detailed ivory cardstock strip in the center of the card. The ribbon is from Close To My Heart. I cut the hearts using the Cricut (George and Basic Shapes). The rose cardstock heart was also dry-embossed using a Fiskars embossing plate with the Big Shot Express. The verse was printed on the ivory cardstock heart using Word on my computer. Inside the card says "Happy Anniversary".

This is the digital layout that I put together on my computer using Photoshop Elements. I had found this photograph of the swans on the lake in an email someone sent me a while ago. I saved it in my photos but later noticed the resolution quality was not the best. So for this I used a special effect to make it look more like a colored pencil drawing, which made the photos pop a bit more than if the background had just been another photo. I loved the swans swimming towards each other amidst the beauty of color as my background.

Happy Valentine's Day Hubby!

This year my husband and I would be apart for Valentine's Day. I decided to make a card to send him, along with some other goodies. This is what I created...

I went with brown, light teal-blue and red for the colors. I achieved a masculine look by distressing the card with brown ink and by using this really cool red cardstock that looked and felt kind of like old leather for the big red heart on the front(Provo Craft - Texture Red Hot Pepper). I used Close To My Heart (Chocolate) Cardstock for the base of the card; K&Company patterned paper for the inside and one of the hearts; the distressed diamond pattern cardstock is from My Minds Eye; the Chipboard X and O are from Cosmo Cricket and the textured red cardstock to mat the inside hearts is BazzillBasics. I used Glitter Ritz to highlight the diamond paper heart and the smaller heart on the front under the XO. I used my Cricut to cut out the hearts with "George and Basic Shapes" cartridge and all the writing was done on my computer using Word.

I love how this card is a three way open... it reveals a little at a time, and then when fully opened it stands very nicely.

The heart inside has a quote on "Love" and the center of the card has a verse on "Marriage", quoted from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet"... some of my favorites, and that were a part of our wedding ceremony as well. They apply perfectly to our marriage, so they were perfect to use for this card.

Going Over-Seas... to buy or make?... that is the question!

I have way too many family and friends with birthdays in January! This year I planned to make my Dad a nice card. So I went to the local card shop to look at some there for ideas and inspiration. Well I found one that I liked the look of and had a sentiment that was perfect! So I decided to just buy it and send it rather than making one. After all my Dad lives in Portugal so I wanted to get it in the post sooner than later.

Well my Mom and her hubby live in Australia and his birthday is in January too. So I went looking for an appropriate card to buy and send... again wanting to mail it as early as possible so it would arrive on time. Well I could not find anything suitable that I was happy with... so I decided to make him one!

Funny how things work out.

I spent forever working to make this just right, (even though it may look simple). I used my Cricut (Everyday Paper Dolls) to cut the tree, the landscape and the kangaroo. I used my Big Shot Express with a Cuttlebug folder (Swiss Dots) to dry-emboss the tree top. The balloon and party hat I made by hand. The fuzzy on the hat is a tip of Chenille that I cut and shaped. I used a clear epoxy sticker to accent the balloon and real string too. The "Happy Birthday" was computer created and then gone over with (Stickles) glitter-glue to make it pop better. The tree and the bottom edge of the card were embellished using "Flower Soft". I used (Tattered Angels) Glimmer Mist and (Tsukineko) Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution to distress the landscape. Stampin' Up cardstock was used, along with their chalks (to give the kangaroo some dimension), and their markers (to accent the kangaroo and the tree trunk). Oh, and the edge of the landscape layers were distressed using the (Close To My Heart) distressing tool.

I know, I know... could I used any other products, tools and techniques? The variety is what makes this simple looking project take time to create. Well we crafters see all these cool supplies and all the newest tools come out on the market, we buy them, collect every kind of everything that's out there... at least now I am beginning to use my stash!!

Anne, who I used to refer to as "my Friend's Mom", is really my friend. I miss her being around since she moved to Nova Scotia not too long ago... it seems like forever ago, and yet as though it was only yesterday that she left. She is a fellow paper-crafter and she is also a florist. It was her birthday this January so I made this card to mail away to her.

I used Stampin' Up (Elegant Eggplant) cardstock as the base, and their (Brushed Gold) cardstock for the spine of the card as well as the mat in the center on the inside. I cut up and used an old greeting card, that I got in the mail ages ago from some charitable organization, to do my card front and the inside.

You'll notice a flower boarder and a pot of flowers that I embellished using "Flower Soft". This was interesting to learn to use... I liked the effect I had when I only used a small amount to just highlight the flower boarder on the front. Once I filled it out further I wished I hadn't added so much... but it was still nice.

I used a pale lavender Mulberry paper as a mat on the front of the card and tore out the window to let the inside design of the card show. Over all I liked the elegant and soft look of this card.

One of my closest friends, and fellow paper-crafter, was having a birthday this January. Naturally I felt making a card was a requirement... although we have both slipped into the ease of just picking one up at the local dollar store, or where ever, some years... I know... shocking to think we would.

Well this year I felt her birthday was a perfect opportunity to make a card trying various tools and techniques that I have access to, but may not have played with yet, or not for some time anyway. It took me a while to put this together with so much variety of fun to be had... so I told her she better keep it till she dies!... which I hope is far into old, old, old age. Boy, she'll have quite a stack of cards from me by then if this trend keeps up.

So I used Stampin' Up (Tempting Turquoise) cardstock for my card base and a mat on the front, along with their (Lavender Lace) cardstock for my center background (which was dry-embossed using the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl Embossing Folder with my Big Shot Express), and also for the embellishment that was made using a (Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page) shell design boarder punch. The Flower Stamp is also from SU.

I used a Patterned paper from K&Company for the bigger background and for the cake which was cut out using the Cricut (Everyday Paper Dolls - LOVE this one!). I used Versamark Dazzles and clear embossing powder to make the cake's icing look yummy! The Big paper flower is from BBP and the smaller green one is Imaginisce. The other two flowers are punched or cut. "Happy Birthday" is computer generated, while I hand cut the candles and accented with SU marker. The jeweled candle flames and jeweled flowers are (Forever in Time) from Michael's Craft Store. The mini lavender fabric flowers on the cake are cut from of "ribbon" of these that I picked up years ago, somewhere, on my many travels.

Good thing I only used these few varied techniques and tools or I'd still be writing out my descriptive info... lol.

So Happy Together

My Step-daughter is building her own little family now. She has the sweetest baby boy and has recently found a wonderful guy to help raise my darling step-grand baby. They are so happy together, when I saw this photo I just had to do something special with it. So for Christmas I made up this layout and gave it as a gift to her new fella, welcoming him to the clan, and letting him know that he is in a place of love... on many levels. Being this was a gift to a guy, again I went for that rough, masculine style that comes so beautifully from a little distressing and the right color combinations. (Sorry the photo of this layout is a little out of focus). The verse is an original of my own reflections that reads:
Love is the Truth of who we really are.

Yet we must choose to express this Truth.

When we choose to spend time with
others living as love each moment becomes a great gift.

Moments become memories through which we feel togetherness.

Together we become FAMILY.

Family love is a great gift that anyone can choose to share with another... but most of all it is the greatest gift we give to ourselves.