"Wish Big" Birthday Ensemble

My baby sister just turned 21, and I'm so excited to show you the card and present I made for her.  I think this is my favorite card I've made to date!  I actually finished it a few weeks ago and I've just been enjoying looking at it on my shelf ever since...  I love the colors and the happy energy of it -- it totally matches my sister's personality.

 

I used kraft paper (surprise, surprise) as the base and embossed it with my Cuttlebug.  I cut a 4 1/2" wide scalloped circle and layered it with a plain circle and the "happy birthday" paper strip along the bottom.  The cake is made by cutting rectangles in various sizes with scallop borders cut to size (I set all that up in my Gypsy), then rounding the top corners and stacking, using foam adhesive to make it 3d.  I added a paper medallion -- don't you think the stripey paper makes it SO fun?!  The "wish BIG" stamp is from Stampin Up, and I added a touch of color with watercolor pencils.

For the banner at the top, I just used my hot glue gun to attach this mini-pompom trim.  I had a tiny strip of this yellow-with-black-dots paper leftover (it was the back side to one of the other papers), so I turned that into an extra layer for the banner just by snipping pieces off and then snipping tiny triangles out of each one.

I took an extra minute to add some of the same trim to the gift bag, plus I found a strip of a very similar paper (from a totally different paper line and manufacturer) in my scrap drawer, so I turned that into a little fringe.  So cute!

Materials: Patterned Paper -- Scribble Scrabble; Stamp -- Stampin' Up; Embossing -- Provo Craft Cuttlebug "Happy Birthday" folder; Die Cuts -- Cricut "George" (rectangles), "Plantin Schoolbook" (scalloped border on cake), and Mini-Monograms (scalloped circle, plain circle) cartridges.

Now on to the present. I saw a tutorial on how to make an infinity scarf out of an old t-shirt on our local lifestyle show Studio 5 and knew that was just Ange's style. It was very easy and quick to make. It actually took longer to make that flower clip than it did to make the scarf! I put the flower on a clip instead of sewing it on to make both pieces more versatile. It was also very inexpensive, since I just used t-shirts from my "I like these colors but not these shirts" stash. Isn't my sister gorgeous?!

Happy birthday, frister!

I love the smell of new goodies in the morning...

There is something so inspiring about having new crafting goodies! For my birthday this year I had a little Stampin Up shopping spree and got a TON of the cutest stuff -- yippee! I've been so inspired by having all this great new stuff, so here are a few of the projects I've been dying to show you. Thankfully, my mom found my camera tucked into the pocket of an apron in her pantry -- oops. As Sammy said upon hearing the news: "She gets the dollar!"



This first one was a Valentine's Day project. We went to a church dinner dance, and I was in charge of decorating one of the tables. I had these cool dishes from IKEA, and I thought these little boxes went so nicely with them. Thanks, Brooke, for showing us how to make these at the party! The boxes are SO easy to make -- if anyone is interested I can post a video tutorial. I used the Manhattan stamp set for the flowers, the Curly Label stamp and punch for the label, and cut the "love" with the Cricut Opposites Attract cartridge at 1". I also used CDS and the George cartridge to cut out these hearts from red vinyl to apply to the glasses.







This one is from the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch from two week's ago. The pp is from Sassafrass Lass, and I used my own design and cut file for the notebook journaling spot (which I'll be putting up in my etsy shop when I'm finished here). I used my new "Little Leaves" and "Buttons #5" dies for the branch and buttons. The dotted lines are a jumbo stampin' wheel, named (appropriately) Dotted Lines, and the sentiment is from the "Sweet Little Sentiments" set.




Here's last week's 2S4Y sketch, which I rotated 180 degrees. The pp and stamps are from the "It's a Loop Thing" Sale-a-bration set (one of the best things about my party was that I got one of every single thing in the Sale-a-bration catalog FREE!). Oh, the sentiment is also from "Sweet Little Sentiments" set. I pieced the cupcake by hand. For the top part I just cut a circle in half, then used the SU scallop edge punch on the straight edge. I ran the bottom part through my paper corrugater to give it that cupcake-like texture. I made the cherry using the heart stamp from the set, and added CTMH liquid glass for a little shine.



This last card uses the "Thoughts and Prayers" set, which I think is SO pretty, which I colored with the Stamp and Write markers. I couldn't decide which background to use, so I just did one of each. The first one is embossed with the Cuttlebug text folder, and the second I did a little versamark stamping with the same floral branch stamp. Just a simple card, but I thought it turned out pretty.

Phew! Now that I have my camera back, I should be able to post projects more regularly. I still have 6 new SU sets I haven't even opened, so stay tuned! TIA!

Bless You -- Laura's Sketch #11

When I saw Laura's sketch this week, I knew just what I wanted to do with it. My hubby's mom and grandma made the most beautiful dress for Eliza's baby blessing, and I wanted to create a special thank you card that would pick up some of the beautiful details from the dress. I rotated the sketch 90 degrees for this card. The lace is from Fancy Pants, and I sewed it to the card with the same ribbon used on the dress. The stamped image is a Tilda from Magnolia, which I colored with Prismas and Gamsol, then raised up on pop dots. The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug. The sentiment was what killed me on this card -- I didn't want to cover up any of the lace, and there wasn't too much room that wasn't covered with embossing. I tried a couple different stamped sentiments and rub-ons on various colors of paper but couldn't find anything I liked. "Thanks" and even "Thank you" just didn't seem like enough for the hours of work they both put into the dress. So I hit upon "Bless You!" and wrote it in myself. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

And here is a picture of my little angel in the dress that inspired the card!

More fun with 2 Sketches 4 You

I just can't say enough about the beauty of a good sketch -- I think of it as the scaffolding on which I can create any kind of card. These sketches from 2 Sketches 4 You are the perfect example -- this first one is this week's sketch, created by Laura, and the next two are sketches provided for trying out for the design team (wish me luck!). I decided to create cards in three totally different styles with these sketches, and it was so much fun! I already had the "bones" of the design, so I was able to spend my time being creative with everything else instead of worrying so much about that. I love it!





This card is based on this week's sketch, and I love the bold, graphic style. The journaling card is special to me because I found it among my grandma's things after she passed away a few months ago. In her office supplies she had a whole bunch of fun things like this, and of course I couldn't let them just get thrown away! The pp is all from Scenic Route (the flowers are cut from the PP), and the scallop chain is done with the Fiskars Threading Water punch. The word NOTE is cut with the Cuttlebug Typewriter font.





This one is a brighter, more summery card, made just for my little sister who is away on a Church trip for the next three weeks. It's made using this sketch by Laura, and it's also my first design team entry. This cute little penguin chick is an Imaginisce stamp. The scallop circle was cut with Mini-Monograms at 3", and popsicle is from Doodlecharms, cut at 2 1/2". The green border is meant to be like a grass skirt, and the background is embossed with the Cuttlebug.





This one is based on Kazan's design team sketch, and I went for a softer look with this card. The paper is from Crate Paper, and the "Thinking of You" rub-on is from Pebbles, Inc. The swirl stamp is from Autumn Leaves -- I stamped the blue paper all in one piece, then cut it into three and added the punched flowers.

TFL!

My birdie obsession continues...

Okay, I think my love for little birdies may be going overboard! Just about every card I've made lately has some little birdie element. They're just so dad-gum cute, don't you think? So much fun!

This one used scraps from my "Lucky" layout from last week. This cute birdie is from the Cricut Joys of the Season cartridge -- it's a Christmas cartridge, but I think it's extremely versatile -- cut at 2". I used it for my Mother's Day cards, as well. The flourish the birdie is sitting on is also from JOTS, cut at 2" on shadow. "Thank You" is cut with Alphalicious, I think also at 2".



This simple card is a favorite layout of mine -- it comes together so quickly; it's great when you need to make a big batch of cards. The color scheme here was inspired by some lotion packaging I saw at Old Navy. I'm not sure how I feel about the black inking on the embossing, but I do love this little birdie embossing folder for the Cuttlebug. The stamp and scallop circle are from Stampin Up.



Here's another one with the same embossing folder, but the photo so does not do it justice because it really doesn't pick up the embossing on the white cardstock, but the card is so pretty and delicate. This one uses another stamp from the same SU set, and the scallop circle punch. I also used the Fiskars Threading Water Punch for the scallops on the bottom -- I love it!



I picked up this adorable Imaginisce penguin stamp for less than a dollar and decided he would be perfect for making some fun, fresh Father's Day cards for my grandpas this year. (I usually end up doing something "masculine" with lots of blues and browns, but my grandpas are all pretty fun guys and I think they'll enjoy this even more!) I used watercolor pencils for the green and orange, and blue craft glitter for the popsicle and swirls.



This one is for my aunt and cousin who are traveling to England even as I type. This little birdie is a Quickutz die that followed me home from the craft store on Friday. "bon voyage" is from the Cricut Beyond Birthdays cartridge, and the journaling block is something I designed myself and cut with SCAL. I love this shape, which is so popular right now, but I didn't have one on any of my cartridges and I couldn't find one as a dingbat. I LOVE that SCAL gives me the flexibility to do it myself! Recognize the paper? It's scraps from the penguin father's day cards! Just goes to show how versatile a couple of pieces of paper can be!