Cupcake Birthday Cards

Some of my friends are participating in a challenge on SCS called 100 Cards in 100 Days.  The objective is to make the 100 cards from your stash, purchasing nothing new for them unless you run out of adhesive.

Hmmmm.  I doubt that I can make a card every single day for 100 days.  But I am going to participate as often as I can.  I made 6 birthday cards to use for the Birthday Random Act of Kindness committee on Split Coast, of which I am a member.  (we send birthday cards to the lovely people who perform RAK's on Split Coast)  And all of the 6 birthday cards were made from things in my treasure trove:

The cupcake is two stamps: frosting & cupcake with liner.  I fussy cut the liner in textured paper from a DCWV stack and embossed it with sparkly EP.  Then the cupcake was stamped again  onto dark brown Mulberry paper (remember back when tearing Mulberry paper and having the soft, feathery edges was the style? Well, I have loads of Mulberry paper in my stash, LOL)

Anyway, it did give the desired affect: brown texture like a chocolate cupcake.  However, it was  covered up by the frosting!  Ha ha, I didn't see that coming.

The shiny pink (gasp again!) DP is from scraps, the "Hey cupcake" is a hand cut banner.  The inside of the card is finished with another panel of the blue paper.

What I like about this card is that it is FLAT!  Well, there's just the smallest bit of dimension behind the cupcake to allow for the baker's twine.  But it should mail easily.

Today is the 3rd of January, and I have made 9 cards so far from my stash.  These 6 birthday cards and 3 cards for friends (the ones posted here on January 1st).

I still have a lot of stamps and paper out from making Christmas cards, maybe I'll get a jump on making those!  Thanks for stopping by and best wishes for a great day.

The Blessings of Friends

Happy first day of the New Year!

It seems that recently there has been an abundance of sad news, nationally and in the personal lives of those we know and love.  A couple of days ago I prescribed ink and paper therapy for me (with music of course!) to regroup and center myself.  What better way than to make some cards for some special friends to let them know how important their friendship is to me!  Here is the result of my time:

There are soft shades of pale pink (gasp!) and Old Olive CS, ivory satin ribbon and pastel green pearls.  All stamps are from SU, although I do not know the name of the sets.  Years ago I did not realize that the stamp sets had names with the stickers for the wood mounts, so they are all long gone.  :(

A Fiskars border punch was used on the lower edge.  Here is a photo with the edges temporarily held down with a post-it tab:

And here is a picture of the inside:

The inside panel is finished with a very pale pink CS from a treasured pack of coordinated colors made by Making Memories.  It really is a wonderful collection of colors, all matching and a few years ago they stopped making it, hence my treasuring and hoarding of it, LOL.
I have no idea why the picture has a green tint around the sentiment, some sort of defective photography on my part!  I made 3 of these and they will be sent out tomorrow to 3 very special friends.  Each is a blessing in my life!

Thank you for stopping by and thank you also for your kind comments here!  May you also count many friends amongst your blessings this year!

Oh, Bijou sends his best as he argues with me for control of the keyboard!

Crafters of Faith December Challenge!

There is a wonderful group of card makers on Split Coast Stampers called Crafters of Faith and I am fortunate to belong to this group.  Each month one of us hosts a challenge and we post our creations on the last day of the month.

Our challenge this month was to create a winter themed card, featuring snow, snowflakes, shimmer and shine.  We were also free to "bling in the New Year"!

Well, in my little corner of the world, we received fresh, powdery snow last night, then today the skies cleared and we had brilliant sunlight!  Surely a reminder of God's power and love for this world.  Of course I knew immediately that this would be my card:

This is a simple card, no layers, using only two stamps and some softly sparkling ribbon.  The main image is from an Impression Obsession's "Cover-a-Card" series, entitled "Birch Trees".  Of course you recognize the distinctive sentiment from 2004 Stampin Up.

It's inked onto plain white card stock with "Ocean" by A-Muse Studios.  I wanted to create the blowing snowdrifts outside my window, and the Cover-a-Card stamp is very large: 5.75 inches.  So, on a whim, I took a damp rag and swiped the ink off of the bottom portion of the stamp, thinking that I would use another piece of paper to create the snowdrifts.  Well, imagine my surprise when I looked at the end result!

The whole card front was sprayed with Stardust Finishing Spray by A-Muse Studios.  It creates a soft shimmery affect that I love.

I did like it just the way it was, but we were challenged to use some glitter or bling so I added small drops of Diamond Stickles.  This picture shows it somewhat, although it is hard to capture it in a photograph.

Give yourself a New Year's wintery treat and hop on over to the blogs of the other members (links are right there in my sidebar).  You won't be sorry, there's sure to be some glittery goodness to behold!

Dueling Darlings December Duel!

Yes, it's the 15th and time for another duel.  Michelle spoiled us Dazzlers with the greatest kit!  It featured "Snow is Overrated" by Whippersnappers as the image and some really wonderful papers and glittery ribbon and snowflake embellishments.

Here is what I came up with:

Isn't he just the cutest little guy? I just love how he seems to be smiling despite his little spill on skis.    He's colored with Spectrum Noir markers and a wee bit of sparkle was added to the snow and the bell on his hat.
This view shows more of his sparkle:

Michelle, you were so generous with this kit, how could anyone NOT create a wonderful card?!  Thank you!

Now, all of you reading this - get on over to the blogs of the other Divas & Dazzlers and admire their creations!  It will put you in the Christmas spirit for sure!

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your comments.  

Wishing each of you a blessed holiday season!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Dusting off my neglected blog right now...It's been sitting idle for a while now.  Thought that I would share what I've been up to the last several weeks:

These are 5 gift boxes made from glittery DP and decorated with glitter brads and cord ribbon for the closures.
They open up and have two sleeves inside for notecards or loose stationary, etc.

The idea is most definitely not mine!  (being slightly challenged in the fold it and build it department, LOL)  I searched and tried several tutorials from others more talented than I, eventually finding a gem of a tutorial from a blog by Tresa Black: Fabulously Artsy.  Check it out, because it's great!  Thank you to Tresa.

Her tutorial is for smaller boxes, sized for 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards.  Scroll down on her page to view the comments if you (like me) typically make the larger sized cards.  There are instructions for re-sizing it for 5X7 sized cards.






Here is a picture of the inside.  This DP was not double sided and not quite as heavy as I would have liked, so lining the inside with heavy cardstock helped IMHO.

These boxes fit exactly into a CD mailing box that you can buy at the Post Office!  They fit as though the box was made for them.  I put each one into a large zip lock baggie, folded the extra baggie around the box and slipped it inside the CD mailing box.  Such a perfect fit that I warned the recipients to cut open the mailing box carefully so that the contents would not get damaged.
























We filled them with an assortment of Christmas cards, sympathy, get well, thinking of you and birthday cards.  Depending on the thickness of your cards and envelopes, they will hold 8-12 cards & envies.

We sent these as gifts to family members and hope that they like them!  (My Mom has already called me and was really tickled with it, so that's nice).

I'll be back later to post some of the Christmas cards from this year's production.
Wishing all of you a wonderful day and a joyous holiday season with your family and friends.  Thank you for stopping by.

Mystery Image Swap Revealed!

We have a fun group on Split Coast that run a Mystery Image Swap.  Every other month the hostess (we take turns hosting) sends us images and we make 4 cards, send them to the hostess and receive back 3 creations from others.  It's loads of fun to see how differently we all create with the same starting point.

I am two days late in posting this (April, I hope that my tardiness makes you feel better! LOL)  On the 18th we were supposed to post our creations, however, my Dad's 81st Birthday was the 17th and my previous post was his card.  I wanted to give Mom & Dad a chance to see the post easily without having to search for it.  Anyway, enough of that.  On to this card.

A close up to show the pretty
embossed snowflakes.

It's navy card stock on a white base, the corners trimmed with deckle scissors.  The circle of snowflakes is a unique eBay find from many years ago.  It's embossed with a snowflake, glitter EP that is also a find from a stamp show many years back.  The circle is hand cut with an Exacto knife, so, it's less than perfect, ha ha.

Here is a close up of the inside panel with the adorable image chosen by our Hostess, Terry.  Isn't he darling?  He is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and accented with Snow flocking by Recollections.  His eyes and buttons are these tiny gems from Can You Digi It.  They are so small that they can be a challenge to work with but they also have Embellie Gellie to pick them up with and place them on your work.  A big help!

Below is a photo of everything used to make this card, including a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig since the circle on the rubber stamp is not mounted straight on the wood block.  Using this is the only way to get it lined up correctly.

Lesson learned: next time I'll add the snow flocking first and then glue on the gems.  I had a hard time keeping the glue off of the gems.

Thanks for stoping by and for any comments you may care to leave!  Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

Supplies used for this card.

Dueling Darlings: Planes, Trains & Automobiles!

Remember that movie?  The antics as two men struggle to get home in time for their holiday with their families.  This month our hostesses, Carol and Debbie selected this for our theme.  The Dazzler's hostess, Debbie, was very generous, and sent us two kits!! How great is that?!

Well, another post will show off a card from the other kit, but for the duel this month, when I saw the 57 Chevy image...it was all over.  No way could I not pick this kit for the duel.
Here's the card:

I know, I know, the coloring may not be technically accurate, but here's what I was going for:
In the very early '60's my Dad and Uncle taught my Grandmother (my Dad's Mom) to drive.  Ugh.  I remember everyone being about as happy during this process as we were when he taught my own Mom to drive! (My Mom eventually just went to a driving school).  Ha ha!
Anyway, eventually Grandma passed and got her driver's license.  My Dad and uncles bought her a black Chevy or Ford with HUGE PINK FINS!  It was the most amazing car I had ever seen.  Here's the kicker:  she NEVER drove it.  In fact, I don't think she ever drove once she had her license!

The wheels and headlights are perked up with some Crystal Effects, and "Are we there yet?" is cut out of the adorable DP that Debbie sent, mounted on a little Balsa wood oval that was colored with my markers.  Then it was also glazed with Crystal Effects and popped up with dimensional dots. (Creating the big shadow on my image in this picture)
My father's 81st birthday is this week so this card along with another card is on it's way to him on the West Coast.

As part of this challenge we were asked to share any memory of traveling during the holidays.  Well, one year in particular stands out.  My family lives in western Washington state, and I went to college on the eastern part of the state, near Idaho.  If you aren't familiar with the area, the Cascade Mountain range, and Mt. Rainier are right between the two regions.

One year in the mid-70's all the college kids got stuck on the mountain pass due to avalanche control.  Hundreds of kids set off to return to school after the holiday, expecting a 5-7 hour commute, depending on the weather and pass conditions.  What we got was a 24 hr or more commute!  It was a mess.  Cold, hungry, people running out of gas, etc.  But you know college kids - everything is an adventure and suddenly all of these complete strangers are all best friends.

Well, I've occupied enough of your time!  Get on over to all of the other Divas & Dazzlers blogs and see what they have made for this duel.  Links are on my side bar and thanks for stopping by!