Happy Half Birthday!

Yes, in our family we celebrate a few half-birthdays...the ones that fall too close to Christmas. We feel that the kids get kind of robbed of their fun day when we simply celebrate their birthdays along with other holiday gatherings.

This card is for my granddaughter Lilly who was born on Christmas day! Her half-year birthday was June 25 but we are celebrating it this Saturday when we get together for our monthly Family Night.

Since Lilly is such an "outdoorsy" girl and loves bugs, frogs, flowers, etc. I thought she might enjoy this bright summery card.  The big blue flower is heat embossed. To make this card I used

Spellbinders die: "Make a Wish"

Poppystamps die: "Lyndon Butterfly"

Close to My Heart stamps: "Treasures"

Stampin' Up stamps: stem & leaf

Memento Ink: "Bamboo Leaves" & "New Sprout"

Stamp-N-Stuff embossing powder: "Vivid Blue"

Card stock, vellum, rhinestones and cord are from my stash

The tag sentiment was computer generated

Challenges being entered:

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - July Challenge AG

http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.ca - #166 Summer

http://mmmchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk - #49 Summer Brights

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com - #192 Tic Tac Toe (summer, stamp, embossing)

http://mustardseedfaithchallenges.blogspot.com - Choose Joy!

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #288-289 AG

Thanks for stopping by again! Happy 4th of July!! 

Summer Beauty

Today is the First of July...already! Summer is speeding along, as usual! I hope you are all enjoying summertime wherever you are...the warm, balmy evenings, the cool mornings with hundreds of happy chirping birds, and the sun-filled days ready for boating, swimming, gardening, camping...all those things we wait all winter for! 

Here is a card I made for my daughter, Chris, whose summer birthday is the end of July.

Ingredients List

Spellbinders dies: "Fleur de Lis Accents", "Elegant Ovals"

Twine: Karen Foster "Bone"

DP: The Paper Studio "Textured Damask"

Card stock: Georgia Pacific Basic, white

Ink: FSJ "Green Olive"

JustRite Stamps: "Birthday Sentiments" & circle border

Embellishments: Pizzazz Aplenty Flatback Pearls, white; seam binding from my stash; "Color Me flowers" from StampingScrapping, metal leaves...from a gaudy pair of earrings!  

Challenges

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #288-289 AG

http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.ca - #166 Summer

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - Linky Party #29

http://makingmemoriescrafting.blogspot.com - #6 AG "Bingo Board: die-cut, pearls, sentiment"

http://thecraftyaddicts.blogspot.com - #37 AG/"Summer colors"

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge - AG (June 28)

http://sweetsketchwednesday2.blogspot.com - Sketch

Thanks for stopping by today! I won't be back until after the 4th...off to celebrate the birthday of our nation with family and friends! Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!!

"Just for You"

Several weeks ago I tea-dyed some seam binding and have been waiting for just the right card to use it. So here it is!

I'm not sure what the problem is with my phone camera but it is not taking true-color photos right now. It is either the bright daylight or I accidentally changed some settings. The "pink" print background paper (DCWV "Nana's Nursery- Baby Girl") is actually more of a coral which goes better with the tea-dyed binding.

To make this card I used Spellbinders dies "Fleur de Lis Square", "Make a Wish" & "Luscious Labels One". The flowers are die-cut using Sizzix TH "Tattered Flower Garland" and shaped with my McGill tool set. For the sentiment I stamped with my FSJ "Coffee Bean" ink using JustRite "Birthday Sentiments" & "Decorative Border Variety Set". The seam binding, lace and pearls are all from my stash. To make the double bow I made two separate bows using my Craft-dee Bowz bow-maker and sort of stacked them together and added the flower and leaves last.

I plan to participate in the following challenges with this card-

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - June Challenge

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - #29 June Challenge

http://letscreatechallenges.blogspot.com - #126 "Girls, Girls, Girls"

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #288-289

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy crafting!

A Fishy Hello

Yes, there's something fishy going on here!

The inspiration photo at House of Cards makes me think of an underwater ocean scene, probably because of the lovely aqua color and the glass ball...tropical beaches, waves and fishes come to mind. Love it! Here is the photo:

And here is my card:

And here's my list of items I used to make this card-

Card stock: Bazzill (aqua), Paper Studio (white)

Stamps: PrariePeddlers "Angel Fish", Inkadinkadoo "Angel Fish", 

Stampin' Up "Hello"

Adhesive foam: Scrapbook Adhesives

Watercolor pencils: Crayola
Die: Spellbinders "Labels 3"

Punch: EK Success "1" Circle"

Sequins: FSJ "Blue Skies"

Glitter: Ranger Stickles "Star Dust"

Challenges I'm entering-

http://houseofcardschallenge.blogspot.com - Blog Hop

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - #29 June Challenge
http://mmmchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk - #48 At the Beach
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #286-287 AG

Hello Spring!

Today I'm showing one of the 3 cards we made for my card-making class last week...a "special-fold" card. This one is a Center Step Card. I like to decorate both small side pieces as well as the main center panel. I did part of the prep work for the ladies in my class or this one would have taken far too long! I do want them to have fun and not get discouraged even when making fairly complicated cards. 

And, yes, Spring is here in full force! My early flowers are blooming, the Orioles are back and I have seen several beautiful butterflies already!

Center-Step Card...

...folds flat for mailing.

To make this card I used the following-

Inks: Studio G aqua & dark turquoise, Memento Tuxedo Black & London Fog, FSJ Pineapple Smoothie

Card stock: "Floral Dreams" by Fabscraps
Stamps: FSJ Enjoy the Journey, Hero Arts Saying Hello, Inkadinkadoo Sketchy Flourishes, and some mystery flower stamps*

Dies: FSJ Journey Circles & Butterflies, Spellbinders Circles

Punch: Martha Stewart Scallops w/Dots

Embellishments: FSJ Sequins- Blue Skies, Stickles Star Dust, ribbon bow made with my Craft-deebowz bow maker!

*I got a small set of blue rubber stamps (flowers and leaves) with gray cling foam from a friend but have no idea what brand they are. If you recognize them please let me know! Thanks!

Challenges:

http://houseofcardschallenge.blogspot.com - May: Sequins and/or colors
(I used sequins & only the aqua)

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - May, AG w/handmade bow
http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com - #189 Floral Profusion
http://www.cropstop.com/blog - #28 AG
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #282-283 AG

Once again, thanks so much for visiting my blog!
Hope you come back again soon!

Happy Mother's Day, My Daughters!

I have 4 daughters and one daughter-in-law...and all of them are mommies! So they all received Mother's Day cards from me. I had recently gotten a new set of stamps I HAD to try out, so I did! And here is what I came up with:

The sentiment is a freebie font that I found online called "Sophia" by Mats-Peter Forss. The stamp set is from Simon Says Stamp and I just love it! I printed the sentiment first, then stamped all 5 cards using Versa Fina black ink, and finally colored them all with watercolor pencils, water-washed each color, added Stickles and then sequins. Oh, yes...and a sheer lavender bow!

I wrote a personal note to each daughter and I think they really liked them. Hope so!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/2017/05/may-challenge.html - May Challenge

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com - #188 Add a Sentiment

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - May Challenge #28

http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.ca - #163 Mother's Day

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - AG #282-283

Life is Wonderful

Talking with my good friend, Sherry, today I was reminded that we are both celebrating our 40th anniversaries this year. We were talking about special trips we'd like to take and bemoaning the extra medical expenses we've both had recently. But trip or no trip we have a lot to celebrate: 40 wonderful years of God's blessings!

For this little card I used TH Distrss Ink "Vintage Photo", Sweet Impressions stamp "Classic Couple", generic stamps: wonderful, etc., Spellbinders die "Fleur de Lis Square", FSJ natural twine, and "Chocolate" flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty.

I'd like to enter this one in the following challenges:

http://stampinroyalty.blogspot.com - SR#368 Sketch

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com - #188 Add a Sentiment

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - April Challenge #27

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #280-281 AG

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

This card is for my 91 year old mother. I sure had fun making another "girly" card with lots of flowers, sparkle and ribbon! I hope she likes it!

To create this one I only used one stamp: "Happy Mother's Day" from SweetStamps.

But I used several different dies:

From Spellbinders- Majestic Oval, Foliage, Rose Creations,  & Golden Corbels;

from SweetStamps- Elegant Leaves; from Cheery Lynn- Olive Branches; from Sizzix- Tattered Flower Garland.

The floral cardstock is from K&Co called "Merryweather" Die-Cut Mat Pad, and the rest is from my shamefully large stash.

The glitter sticker dots are from EK Success; the handmade bow is a lovely sheer thin ribbon I picked up at a garage sale! And, as always...plenty of Stickles!

I'm entering this card in a few challenges:

http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com - Sketch #401

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com - #280-281 AG

http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com - #163 Mother's Day

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com - May Challenge, AG w/handmade bow

http://www.cropstop.com/blog - April Challenge, AG

http://www.scrapyland-blog.com - #65 AG

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Please leave a comment so I can go check out YOUR blog!