Another Milestone Birthday - For the Man!

My brother's birthday this year was a milestone - 40 years.  I immediately turned to my Avery Elle Balloons stamp to create this card.  I think it set the right tone for a man's birthday.  The ink is from Simon Says Stamp's Peace mini ink pad set.  This ink is definitely different in that the ink will darken in the seconds following application.  I also used my MISTI to stamp so that I could add more ink when the image wasn't quiet solid.  With this stamp set I find it most helpful as I often don't get the best first image.  


A few star stamps from the Avery Elle stamp set in the Smoke and Soft Navy inks work well with some sequins from the stash.

On the inside is a sentiment stamped in black Archival Ink using my Penny Black Sweet Wishes stamp.  A nice finish and a card to celebrate the day.

I've decided to link this card up with City Crafter's Challenge - Winter.  The colors of my card match the theme and my brother's birthday is in the winter.  I also think the little snowflake-ish additions look stylishly wintery.

I'm also joining Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge - Simon Says Let It Snow.  Come join the fun, one and all - it's winter.

I hope your day is well and that your Christmas plans are coming together.  Keep it up as there are only a few short weeks left.

Our Beautiful World - Decorations

Our Beautiful World has a word prompt this week which is Decorations.  This is so appropriate this time of year and I couldn't help but snap a few photos to share with you of our Christmas decorations around the house.  This first scene is in the nook in our front room.  My sister hand painted a ceramic Christmas tree many years ago and gave it to me as a gift.  It seems a perfect background for my tiny Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus.


Next comes the angel for on top of the tree.  She is a Lenox ornament I purchased as a college student when I worked for them.  She's porcelain and has such a wonderful pose and features.



















We literally tie her to the top of our 14 foot Christmas tree so she can't fall off.  You can see the piece of white curling ribbon that was used one year and hasn't ever left.  The tree is so far off the ground that no one has ever noticed she's tied in.  I often think that when all the toys come alive she's somewhat miffed at us because she can't get down, ha!

Lastly, there are enough decorations to fill this 14 foot tree.  All with special meaning or coming from friends and family.  Some of the glass bulbs are from the year I was born - handed down to me from my mother.  The red stocking was hand crocheted by my grandma decades ago.  It is wonderful time of waiting and anticipating the joy of Christmas morning while remembering the celebrations of Christmas past.

I hope your home is decorated with warmth and joy too.  Why not come on over to share pictures of your decorations at Our Beautiful World this week and join the fun?!

Circle Scribbles - Simple Celebration Card

I whipped this card up a few weeks ago for a challenge and then never took a photo.  So it has been sitting there, neglected and lonely.  I thought it turned out well so I wanted to share with you.  The background was made using my Brushos in red, orange and yellow.  I taped the card down to the work surface and spritzed the top with water to activate the Brushos.  The circle scribbles were cut with my Papertrey Ink dies.  A simple sentiment and this card waits for the right moment to give away - maybe with a congratulations inside for some achievement or maybe as a birthday celebration.  Who knows, but it is a good one to wait....

Handmade Baby Album

This is going to be a picture heavy post, but you will thank me for sharing Brandy's beautiful creation before you are done.  She's gone and outdid herself with this mini-album.  Handcrafted for a coworker who is becoming a first time grandma, this was a labor of love.  I can't possibly point out all the details, so I'll just try to hit the highlights.















The charms are adorable - they make the binding special.

Each page has multiple embelishments and places to journal and add photos.

So many tiny details that make this album so sweet.

Coordinating papers really make this book flow for a deliberate finish.

Tiny porcelain roses - so sweet.

The stork - embossed onto red cardstock I think.  Adorable is right!

A fair amount of bling in this book, but the banner has to be the star of the show, no?!

For a grand finale - the waterfall page, with a twill topped paperclip no less.  I simply love the whole thing and am grateful for the photos to share with you today.  I hope this finds you enjoying your December making gifts yourself.
















If this doesn't inspire some creativity, I'm not sure how to help.  I need someone to have a baby girl, I'm feeling inspired.  Anyone volunteering?!

A Milestone Birthday Card

One of my coworkers celebrated her milestone birthday a few weeks ago.  I whipped up this Gorjuss Girl for her celebration.  A few of the details:

• The young lady is Gorjuss Girl - Ladybird stamp.  Whe was colored with my Inktense pencils and fussy cut out.    This was back when I only owned 12 of these bad boys.  I'm telling you - they are worth it.  Especially now since I have 72 of them!
• The papers are leavings from a previous project using KaiserCraft's Miss Empire collection.  I felt sorry for cutting up most of what was left then I asked myself - why?!  It works wonderfully here.
• The flowers are all from the stash - more leavings from other projects.  The vellum flowers were colored with my Distress Markers on the backside and have prill centers.  The brown flower is a glassine paper flower.

• The twigs and brown cardstock leaves were all cut from the backside of one of the coordinating papers.  
• The inside was a simple sentiment I enhanced with a 40th die cut using some old Quickutz dies.  

I think my coworker enjoyed her celebration.  I know I am grateful for her and was happy to make something special to brighten her day.  I wish you some crafty goodness as these days of December start whizzing by.