100% Fantastic Card

At the CKC Scrapbook convention in October, I picked up the Prickly Pear Mini Butterflies die.  I've so enjoyed working with the die and stamp set.  This card was inspired by a Pinterest pin.  Not a direct take, but the Simon Says Stamp Tilted Banner die and stamp set played a huge part in making this card fantastic.  A few pearl accents and these fluttering little butterflies landed on a CAS card.  100% Fantastic!

Sending Best Wishes for a Happy Birthday

This card was lost amid a shuffle of Christmas projects.  The card turned out so lovely that I just had to share with you anyway.

The patterned papers all come from MME's Kaleidoscope paper pad.  The framed sentiment an image in the pad and stamped with a Heartfelt Creations sentiment in brown Archival ink.  The flower is a kraft glassine paper flower.   A pearl swirl and this card is simply gorgeous.

I had previously made this card set to have on hand as a gift.  They came in handy here as a small, but thoughtful birthday present.  I just had to add a flower on the tie around the card set.

Our Beautiful World - Dancing

One of our most fun traditions is when Dan's sister and her family join us on New Year's Eve for a celebration.  When Kirsty posted this week's Our Beautiful World word prompt- Dance - I immediately thought of this year's New Year celebration.  We had picked up some sparklers and then the night became cold and rainy.  The kids (who are now, from left to right, Michael 13, Susannah 15, Katie 16 and Tim 18) didn't want to let a good box of sparklers go unused and decided to huddle on the porch out back.  When they couldn't run around in the rain- they came up with the idea of creating 2-0-1-5 in the air with the sparklers- catch a picture mom!!!

The light danced,  but I didn't adjust my shutter speed fast enough to get it all in one picture.  I caught the dancing light in various poses short of anything that looked like a 2-0-1-5.  They giggled their way through the exercise finally deciding that the boys needed the easy jobs- the "0" and the "1".   Notice the oldest boy is now creating the "1".

I just couldn't adjust fast enough and never did get a shot close to the right image.  However, once the reassignment of duties occurred, us adults could stare into the dancing light and clearly see a 2-0-1-5.

You go girls!

Come join the fun and/or take a peek at pictures which more closely translate the word prompt over at Our Beautiful World.  I guarantee fun!

A Floral Wreath of Birthday Wishes

The fall is an amazing season of birthday celebrations in our family.  What is stunning is the amount of friends and family who enjoy the same birthday season!  What a perfect time to make a soft, pretty card for a gift.  This lovely went to a co-worker before Christmas and I'm just getting around to editing the photo and posting on theblog.  Here's the details:

• Those flowers are Heartfelt's Arianna Blooms.  Stamped with black Archival Ink and die cut with the zero edge die.  Such an innovation!  I'm loving this stamp and die set a bunch.  The flowers are cut from the Authentic Grace paper collection I bought earlier this year.  All papers are from the coordinating backsides of patterned papers.  The centers of the flowers are gems adhered with my iRock tool, taken out of the tool shed for the first time in a while.

• The greenery is cut from green cardstock from the stash using my go to Our Daily Bread Designs Fancy Foliage.  Still one of my best buys this year!
• The sentiment was stamped in brown Archival Ink with a wood stamp onto cream cardstock.  

Simple, but a very effective result.  I'll admit to a bit of inspiration using this image from Pinterest.  Not a direct take, but definitely inspired by.  

Bridal Shower Card

I was so busy making wedding favors, I didn't take a lot of time to figure out how to make a bridal shower card.  Mai had her bridal shower on the opposite side of town in the afternoon right before the wedding.  I was busy at work and couldn't make it, but sent this lovely with a small gift with her so she would know that I thought of her.  I used a premade set of flowers (gasp!) in almost the exact orientation as they were presented in the package (double gasp!), but I think it works here.  I die cut the white cardstock border and stamped the Congratulations using my Simon Says Stamp Friendship Messages stamp set.

On the inside I stamped another sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Favorite Flowers and ODBDElegant Ovals stamp and die cut with ODBDs Elegant Ovals die.

I think the card works and I was pleased with how it turned out.

Wedding Favors

One of my co-workers decided to put together her wedding with less than 4 months planning.  She just isn't the type to get too worked up about planning.  When the inevitable questions about plans came up, she owned not having figured out what specifically to do about her wedding favors.  She had purchased some heart shaped measuring spoons and wanted to decorate them, but didn't have an idea what to do.  Andie to the rescue!

Her favorite flower was the calla lily.  I just happened to have seen instructions for making paper calla lilies from grunge paper over at Ink Stains.   I used them in this project for a different co-worker several years ago.  Thus began the mass production.  I ended up cutting out over 120 of these flowers from grunge paper.  We painted and shaped them over the course of several lunch times- painting my desk in the process.  Easy enough to clean up with soap and water!  Here's the final result:

I ended up printing the sentiment out on the computer and cutting them with the Cricut using the centerpoint feature.  Layered onto blue hearts, I think the colors worked very well together, don't you?








The flower centers are cut using my Arianna Blooms die.  This little center is going to come in handy, I just know it!  In the end, the flowers were tucked inside the box with the measuring spoons.  Such an effective favor.  What a person owning a Scrapbox (and all the stuff inside it) can do on short notice for a coworker.





I'm praying the Mai and Chris enjoy a long and loving marriage.  I'm grateful to have been there at the start with a little "favored" push.  Congratulations to the bride and groom.

A Man's Birthday Card

Sometimes it is the simplest of designs that are the most effective.  I had to whip up a birthday card for a gentleman I work with.  As gentlemen are, he didn't mention it was his birthday until the night before.  I am so grateful for the kindness of those that I work with that I just wanted to give him a small birthday wish.  Hence this card...  Cardstock scraps combined with a Stampin' Up Apothecary Art sentiment make this card snap. It was a great man card look and my co-worker was pleased to have been thought of.

A Set of Thank You cards

I needed some thank you cards for my daughter and my birthday gifts before Christmas.  I went to my trusty Simon Says Stamp Favorite Flowers stamp set.  This stamp set coupled with Distress Inks are simply lovely.  The colors used include Worn Lipstick, Shabby Shutters, Shaded Lilac and   Forest Moss.

This stamp set coupled with Distress Inks are simply lovely.  The colors used include Worn Lipstick, Shabby Shutters, Shaded Lilac and   Forest Moss.

Each sentiment was stamped with black Archival Ink.  Such a quick and easy way to put together cards that I've no excuse not to send a thank you card for any occasion.

Poppin' In for a Birthday Wish

Brandy sent me a photo of a Card in a Box card that she made for her cousin.  I am unsure which tutorial she followed, but this one is similar.  Such a cute creation, don't you think?

Christmas Birthday Card

Stopping by to share a quick card I threw together for my husband's father.  His birthday is the 26th of December.  In the rush before Christmas, I put together this card so that we could deliver his birthday gift at a lunch that day.  I can barely believe it was three weeks ago- what??  I used a scrap of patterned paper to coordinate with some kraft paper.  The leaves are made using my Heartfelt
Creations Classic Leaf stamps.  A simple man card that works.  I've now spent two years creating cards rather than buying them.  If you knew how many supplies I have, you'd know it is a crime for me to buy a store bought card.  Not because there is anything wrong with them, but because I've too many supplies!

I'm hoping your 2015 craftiness is alive and kicking.  I've got a few projects in mind...

One Last Christmas Card

I had need of a few more Christmas cards at the last minute. I fashioned a few cards like this one from some scraps that were hanging around.  You'll recognize the music patterned paper from my regular set of cards.  The card design left quite a few pieces that I could use.  I paired the patterned paper with an embossed piece of black cardstock. This made a nice contrast to the lacey border die cut and the red poinsettia.

I really like how this card came together. The design was simple and the construction was quick.  As I look forward to this coming year, I find myself anticipating my next Christmas card.  Funny- I just finished these cards and now eagerly await the season again. Lots will happen this year- my son graduates from high school in May, will go to college in the fall, etc.     Here's hoping the year meets the promise and hope we anticipate in the year!

Wrapping Up the 12 Days of Christmas

I thought I would share my Cricut cuts and stamping done for packaging the 12 Days of Christmas gifts.  Each bag was stamped using a retired Heartfelt Creations stamp in cranberry Close to My Heart stamp ink.  I colored the leaves with a Close to My Heart ink pen and created the centers with my Viva Decor red pearl pen.  The die cuts were mostly cut at 4 1/2 inches in layers using the Joys of the Season cart.

On the first day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

 That darn Partridge thought you might enjoy this funny Christmas story!

They each received a copy of The Best Christmas Pagent Ever!

On the second day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

 Rather that two turtle doves we thought you might enjoy making something instead!


They each received the ingredients for making turtle brownies.

On the third day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

 Those French hens are happy homemakers!  They thought you might enjoy making this potpourri.


They each received the potpourri ingredients shown in my previous post.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

The calling birds thought you might like these note cards to send out your gratitude.


This gift was the thank you cards shown in my previous post.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

 Something to light up the night.  Not quite as good as glinting gold, but hopefully fun nonetheless!



I stamped napkins and colored with ink and used a heat gun to melt wax paper around votive candles.  I failed to get a photo of the candles, but trust me they were cute.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

We considered a new car, but decided on something you could really use!  We hope you like your new washer and dryer!


This gift was a new washcloth and towel.  Funny, yes?  

On the seventh day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

Swans, a time honored symbol of love.  Instead of those noisy birds, we thought you might enjoy kiss filled trees instead.

This gift was the Christmas trees from my previous post.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

The milk provided by those maids was likely to be curdled by now.  We thought you might enjoy this to toast the New Year!


This gift was the reindeer sparkling cider from my previous post.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

 The ladies thought you might enjoy some pretty color for your tippy toes.


A small pink nailpolish- so cute.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

Those lords something about tired feet!  Here’s a little gift to sooth them after a long day’s work.


This was the sugar scrub from my previous post.  The Lord is wearing a gold crown triple embossed with gold embossing powder.  Fun!

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

Piping hot goodness to warm your January days.



This bag was filled with hot cocoa and hot apple cider mixes.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my good friends gave to me….

A game to play for the entire family.  Don’t eat Pete (it’s no way to start the new year)!


A bag of M & Ms and a Don't Eat Pete board.  Hopefully the kids enjoyed playing this game...

I typically wrap a cardboard box to carry the gifts in.  Here's the final version.  And one more under our ginormous Christmas tree:

Three sets to fill the space under the Christmas tree.  These beauties were completed about 3 pm on Christmas eve.  Nothing like waiting until the last minutes....