July Birthday Cards.....two for one!

I have had these done for weeks but somehow the time just got away from me. Such is life these days in the crazy making lane - too much to do and not enough time to do it.  I know - I think everyone can relate to that as I am hearing it everywhere.  It seems like things usually slow down a little in the summer, but for whatever reason, that isn't happening this summer!  I have never been busier!

So....... when it came time to make birthday cards for two special friends who share a birthday, is it a big surprise to admit to being late in delivering the cards? (in fact they are still here - shameful ....)  I hope "it's the thought that counts" will still apply even if they are pathetically tardy.  Hoping I can rationalize by saying I just wanted to extend the birthday celebration! :)

So....... this is a super easy and versatile file from Birds Cards  The card with the celebrate trio is the original file.  Instead of putting the detail in the paper behind the "celebrate" I made the cut out fun with the Brushos mix of Turquoise and Lemon on watercolor paper. I really like those two colors together.  Then I took the cut out of one of them, created a shadow layer, and made the second card with a butterfly embellishment file. Both were relatively simple, fun, full of happy colors, and have a little bling to add some sparkle to the birthday theme!

Butterfly is from Mamaw's Legacy, embellished with black pearls

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Christmas Money Cards....

Tis the season to think of those who have made life a little easier the past year and deserve a thank you.  Every Christmas I try to do something special for those who are constants in my life and go above and beyond the tasks of their job  - the gardener, the UPS man and others.

This year I used the money card template from Mamaw's Legacy (it's a very simple cut file) and I embellished it with the snow angel flourish design from Totally Jamie.  This was a pretty intricate design and it cut out perfectly.  The flourish decoration is cut from Paper Temptress mica card stock.

I used my Brother labeler with the gold on silver TZ tape to add the individual names to the money cards.

The basic file cutout before folding

Snow angel flourish from Totally Jamie

Inside of the money card - text cut from Paper Temptress mica

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Birthday cards...... times four!

I am normally not one to make the same card more than once - but I had some really fun papers that I wnated to try and a birthday word file  that inspired me to cut the same design and see what I could do, Honestly, there is nothing very unique about any of these cards, but I had fun choosing the colors and just playing!

The iridescent and textured papers that make up the colors of the butterfly are origami papers, 

HSN carried them for a while, and I have seen them elsewhere, but have to remember where!  

I wasn't sure if these would cut well because of the embossing on some  the papers, 

but they cut perfectly each time with the Silver Bullet Professional Cutter.

The solid color card bases are from the Mica (Stardream)  line from Paper Temptress and the designs are also the Mica line - but text weight.   the white card base is the Luster line.  The butterfly flourish is an old file form Mamaw's Legacy (I wish she was still making files as they are terrific) - so glad I grabbed then when I could.  And the birthday words are from Miss Kate's Cuttables and they cut with ease.

I still have more August cards to make and September, so stay tuned for more!  Hope you enjoyed these... Pin It Now!

Time Crunch - Three Cards in One Day!

I think this is a record for me!!!  I am usually lucky if I can make one card in a day because of how long it takes me to come up with an idea!!  Sad I know.... but under pressure, apparently I really CAN accomplish more.

So here are three cards - all very different and relatively "simple" for me (!) - that I put together in one afternoon thanks to my wonderful Silver Bullet Professional cutter that repeatedly comes to my rescue!

First on the list,  and most pressing on my mind, was a sympathy card for a dear friend who recently lost her father.  I used a file I had used before so it was already adjusted in size (I tend to make larger cards - 5x7 or half fold size or a square card) .  My go to paper for most sympathy cards is the luster line from Paper Temptress - I love the elegance and sophistication of it. I used the Viva Decor Pearl Pen in silver to make the pearls in the varying sizes.

The cut files........

I think you can see the beauty of the Paper Temptress vintage luster paper in this pic - it is my favorite paper to use!  It is the card base.

Next was a simple card for the granddaughters.  I had picked up a couple of really cute necklaces for them from Cookie Lee Jewelry that spelled out "DANCE" so wanted to get those off to them!  I decided just to wish them a happy summer!!  The file from Birds Cards was meant to be used with the cut out pieces, but I decided to use the negative image (as I have done many times) and create a card in their favorite colors.  One loves yellow and the other turquoise - so that is how this developed using the Pop Tones paper from Paper Temptress.

This is the part of the file that is meant to be used!  It will be featured in a card coming soon - no doubt!

But instead I used the "remains" (!) and cut another layer of yellow which I ran through an embossing folder to let the sunshine glow!!

The finished card with the little necklaces all wrapped up in "their" colors!

I had a stamp made years ago that goes on the back of the cards that I make for the grandkids! 

 It makes me smile every time  I use it!  

You can get a wide variety of personalized stamps from The Paper Angel.

And finally, I had a leftover negative image from the Rose birthday card that I posted a few days ago, so that was my inspiration for the last card.  I used the double sided adhesive from Tyler at All That Jazz Supplies to make a shadow layer and pull the pieces off the mat intact.  Then I took a slightly lighter Ritz glitter and covered the open areas.  Rather than pull the back layer of adhesive off, I left it on and just used pop dots to layer it on the card give it some dimension.

The negative rose image from the Rose card  (file by Dominic)

A closeup of this beautiful rose by Dominic

The rose on pop dots!!  Reaching new heights (that was bad!)

I printed the "Thinking of You" greeting on my laser printer and foiled it in black on my FoilMaster from That's Scrap Inc. It really isn't that obvious but there is a nice sheen to it when the light hits it!

You can really see the shimmer of the luster cardstock from Paper Temptress here.

I am going to try to work at not over obsessing over each card and each detail - it's a process!  No guarantees that I can do that, but I am going to try harder!!

All three cards went out in the mail the same day they were made  - yippee!  Success!!


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Going Away Card..

Sometimes cards are really hard to make because they are not about something happy or fun.. Such was the case with this card that I made. I will admit that I am in a "bit" of denial that a very dear friend of mine is moving away.  The good news is that she is not leaving the country or even going to the opposite side of the country.   The bad news is that she and her husband are moving and will be six hours away instead of five minutes.  I don't want to have to think about "goodbye".   So I made the card about friendship..... and life.  It made it a little easier and lighter on my heart.

I found this beautiful Irish blessing that inspired the rest of the card.  It was difficult to get a good picture of the foiling - I am still working on mastering that, but I used the FoilMaster from That's Scrap and foiled the text on marbled vellum in bronze foil on the inside greeting.  The outside of the card was also foiled in bronze

The card front is a file from Mamaw's Legacy. She is no longer creating files, but she made some beautiful ones a few years ago...

And I finally got the courage to try one of  the rose files from my dear friend, Penny of Penny Duncan Creations.  She always leaves me in awe with her creativity and vision.  I had tried one of her roses about a year ago and it was a dismal failure, but I was determined to try again.  Here are some of the cuts with my Silver Bullet Professional.

 And I did it!! It looks nothing like Penny's, not near as perfect or beautiful, but at least it resembles a flower and it was actually fun once I started to get the hang of it. It is clear that I have a lot of practice ahead of me to get a better grasp of this skill, but I am so glad I persevered. It was a lesson in what you really can do when you set your mind to something, and I was determined to make my own roses for this most special friend.

She is leaving in a week which makes me sad, but she and her husband are coming back to town in two months for a gala we are both working on so I am just focusing on when I will see her again. And there are already several of us talking about excursions to see them..... I think half of Oceanside is planning trips to visit them in their new home.

So I am going to focus on that butterfly and let the love in my heart fly freely with them and bring us all joy and gratitude for the time we had together and the adventures yet to come...

"Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life.  And everyone deserves a little sunshine."  ~Jeffrey Glassberg Pin It Now!