Happy Birthday to Harper

Haven't made a card in a while, so for my niece's birthday I decided it was time to get back into it.  Instead of a card, I made another frame.  This one isn't made from a canvas, it's just card stock, but it makes a sturdy enough, but light weight frame.  It's in blues and purples since those are her favorite colors.

Happy Birthday Bruce

Here's the card I made for my step-father-in-law, Jessica's Papa, Bruce.

I'm very bad at writing all the notes down for what I use, but if anything catches your eye, let me know and I can find out what it is.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

3 cards this week - whew!

The first was a great big thank you to my SIL who took care of our animals while we were away on vacation.  It was so nice not to have to worry about them being in a kennel (not to mention the added expense).

K&Company paper.  I forget who did the tags.  I've had them for so long that I lost the package they came in.  Stamp by Inkadinkadoo, Boxed Wishes.

The second card was another super huge thank you to my sister who let us stay at her Cape house for our vacation.

Decorative paper is K&Company.  The card stock is by Recollections.  And I used a shell that Jess had picked up on Forest Beach in Chatham.  Stamp is a collection of wood lower case letters.

The last card is for my Mom's birthday.  And I am always thankful that she's my Mom. (All together now... Awww.)  She also watched Jess for a few days this past week while day care is closed so I could go to work.  So thanks for that too!

K&Company paper.  Martha Stewart tags - originally white, but I stamped them w/ pink and apricot colors. 

Jessica's Daddy's Day card

Enjoy the card Jess made for Eric this year.  The inside says I LOVE YOU... just not all on the same line. :-)

With sympathies

Okay - I feel slightly weird about posting something I made as a sympathy card, but here it is.  Very simple, no words, and I had a bunch of tiny calla lilies which fit in perfectly.  Paper is K&Company, tag is Martha Stewart (Cherish), stamp is by Autumn Leaves a division of Creativity Inc. (Preppy Poppies) and I outlined the stamp with clear stickles.

Happy Mother's Day

Now that I've finally handed over all of the Mother's Day cards, I can post them!  (Didn't want to spoil it before I was able to give them to all the Moms in my life).  I love all these ladies very much and had fun making these cards for each of them.

All papers are K&Company as are the tags.

For my Mom:

For my Sister:

For my Mother-in-law:

This tag thing may be my new way of making cards.  I like it; it's easy, it looks good, and it's color coordinated with the other K&Company papers.

A Pair of Valentines

I made two cards for Valentines Day for my two loves.

This one for Eric, which I sat in a bowl of Mounds mini candy bars (his fave).

And this one for Jess, on top of her gift bag with lots of Valentine's goodies inside.

I used Stickles for the first time on this card. I very much like Stickles.

You name it

I've created a bunch of cards lately but have been lax in posting them all, so here goes.  Oh, and I realize the whole point behind the blog was to let everyone know what materials were used in case they wanted to use them too, but truly, it's enough of a job for me to make these cards, let alone sit down and think about everything I used on them.  SOOOO, if you do happen to care enough, if there's something you really like and want to know what it is, just ask.  I'm sure I can find it.

#1 of 4 - Happy Anniversary.  My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary earlier this month.  Congrats Mom & Pa!

# 2 of 4 - Happy Birthday.  My step-son, Matt, turned 21 on the 16th.  HB old man!

 

 

# 3 of 4 - Happy Baby.  My coworker, Jody, just had an 8lb+ baby girl!  Major congrats! 

 

# 4 of 4 - Happy Retirement.  My MIL is now a free woman!  Enjoy some relaxation time, Ann!

Frames for Christmas

Here are 2 of the 3 frames I made as Christmas gifts.  Like a dork I forgot to take a pic of the big one I made for my MIL.  Might have to sneak into her house to snap a pic of it. :) 

Unfortunately I didn't write everything down that it took to make these.  If there's anything in particular that you'd like to know what it is or where I got it (most likely from Michael's), just ask.

November

There are two celebrations in the Parent family in November.  Thanksgiving, of course, and my MIL's birthday.  Here's the invitation and the birthday cards I made for each occasion.

Paper by K&Company, BW Madeline

Die-Cut by K&Company, BW Madeline tags

Flower stickers ("layered accents") by K&Company, Citronella Flora

Stamps by Stampendous, Everything Happy

 

Cardstock - sorry, seems I have misplaced the info on this, but it's pretty basic stuff.

Clear stamps by TPC Studio, Autumn Harvest

Border punch by Martha Stewart

Various Autumn ribbon bought at JoAnn's

Jessica Roses

I'm branching out! This time I'm not posting a card, but a frame. It's like a scrapbook page, but more. See, I'm not into the whole scrapbooking thing b/c it takes too much dedication. And I guess I'm not into documenting EVERYTHING I do on paper (blogging is different, of course). However, I did happen to see a page that a woman did as a memorial of her mother. It was amazing. It was a beautiful tribute. But I thought, what a shame to hide it away in a scrapbook only to be taken out and admired occasionally. Hence, my idea for creating a frame. Below you can see the frame w/o picture and then with. I did create it with the pic in mind, but it's got all the roses on it so should be good in the future to hold other pics of my Rosebud.

It's a first attempt, but I like it - let me know what you think.

 Here's all the stuff that went into making it:

 - 8x10 painter's canvas
 - Floral paper by K&Company, the "Madeline" and "Mira" collections
 - "Doily" border punch by Martha Stewart
 - Background paper by Me & My Big Ideas, the "Black & White Butterfly" collection
 - "Shimmer Flourish" chipboard pieces in brown by Making Memories
 - Stamps (clear) by Inkadinkadoo, "Dot Flourishes" and Inque Boutique, "Monarch"
 - I used the Martha Steward glue pad and the Essential Colors Glitter Set on the stamps
 - "Dot Sparklers" stickers in silver by Stampendous
 - "Real Flower Confetti" in Open Rose and Rosebud by Pressed Petals
 - Paper roses by Hirschberg Shutz & Co, Inc, the "Modern Romance" collection in Red/Rouge
 - Various ribbon I had on hand

For the men in the family

I apologize for the long period of silence on this blog... my creative juices weren't flowing very well and I didn't have anything new to post.  However, I'm back.  These 3 cards were all made for some of the men in my life, my Father, Bruce (step-FIL), and the Hubby.

Poor Pa... I tried to create a Father's Day card for him on the day he was showing up and I'm afraid the card is a poor performer by comparison.  But here it is anyway.  The "P"s are mostly transfers.  I love transfers.  Pretty images w/ no smudges and very little effort!

Today just happens to be my anniversary and Bruce's birthday.  Two cards for one day - phew!

I bought myself a new circle cutter (Martha Stewart), so I went a little circle happy with Bruce's birthday card.  Decorative paper by K&Company, the Madeline collection.

This is the anniversary card for Eric.  8 words for 8 years.  Again, went a little nuts with the circle cutter.  Decorative paper by K&Company, from the Mira Designer mat pad.  Words are transfers.  And the little hearts in the corners are acetate die cuts by K&Company (Michael's sells a lot of K&Company), the Wild Raspberry collection.

Love those Moms!

I thought I knew a thing or two of beauty:

I've known your love since I was hours old.

But now I bear myself the awesome duty

That love turns into joy, and joy to gold.

How precious to experience your pleasure!

To be on both sides of the deep-felt glance;

To know so well the moment's gift full measure;

To be both lead and partner in that dance.

No child can be but grateful for her children

When loved so well as to know well to love.

No mother can but hope her prudent passion

Will move a heart to move as her heart moved.

The love you felt for me I now can feel,

Which makes it not more lovely but more real.

~copyright by Nicholas Gordon

Purple & Yellow card - pastel card stock by Halcraft; decorative papers from Bitty Scrap Pads from Provo Craft & Novelty, Inc.; Mom transfer letters from Making Memories, "Heidi small black"; ribbon from Michaels; flower stamp by Stampendous, "Everything Happy"; edger punch by EK Success Ltd., "Scallop Diamond."

Pink & Multi card - pastel card stock by Halcraft; origami decorative paper from Aitoh Co., Ltd, "Chiyogami" print; reversable ribbon by Morex; M transfer by Martha Stewart, "ORNATA"; flower stickers by EK Success Ltd., "Vellum Neon Flowers"; border punch by Martha Stewart, "Daisy Scallop"

Happy Birthday G!

One of my very good friends, Gretchen (or G! to a few of us), had a birthday this past week. I didn't have a lot of time, but wanted to make something for her, so I whipped up this flat panel card.

My favorite part is the daisy border punch by Martha Stewart. I only got it on Saturday and have already used it on two cards. The ribbon is also from Martha Stewart.

Happy Birthday Steph!

Matt's girlfriend Steph turned 20 this week. A definite milestone. She's a little into the Goth thing so I tried to make a card accordingly. She opened it and said "Oh, I love this card" so I guess I got it right! :)


Details:
Specialty cardstock by me & my BIG ideas, the Madeline collection. www.meandmybigideas.com
Butterfly die-cut by K&G Company, the wild raspberry collection. www.kandcompany.com
happy birthday stamp by Stampendous, the Everything Happy collection. www.stampendous.com
Decorative stamp by Autumn Leaves, the Pretty Poppies collection. http://www.creativityinc.com/autumnleaves
Letter stamps are a set of 30 small wood alphabet stamps by studio g.

Thanks Auntie Gale

Jessica's daycare provider gave her a nice present of hair accessories for Easter. Seemed like a perfect reason to make a card.

Designer paper is from the Madeline paper pad by K&Company, http://www.kandcompany.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=6347. Thank You transfer by Martha Stewart.

Happy Birthday Hap

My niece Harper is turning 10 this month. I was shocked enough when Jessica turned 3 in February, but 10?? Wow. So here's the card I made for her birthday. She's totally into shopping so I made a card slot on the inside where I'll put her gift card.

In the spirit of copying, I'll give you the details of the card. Specialty cardstock by 'me & my BIG ideas' http://www.meandmybigideas.com/cms/ and stamp from the Everything Happy set by Stampendous, Inc. http://www.stampendous.com/

English Garden & Daisies in Burgandy

Seeing as how I'm making cards with no particular purpose, I figured I should give them names. At least until I have an actual event to make a card for, anyway. Anyone want to take bets on how long I keep that up??

I was able to create two while the little one took her nap this afternoon. I'm gonna have to type fast b/c she'll be up any second.

The first I'll call Daisies in Burgandy. I think it could use something in the upper left corner, maybe a white transfer or stamp or something like that. But on the other hand, maybe less is more.

The second I'm calling English Garden b/c the colors are all similar and the patterns are all flowers, but they don't match. Exactly like many of the rooms decorated in English hotels, B&Bs and living rooms... but those didn't sound like good names for a card, so English Garden it is.

And yes, I did cut out another butterfly by hand. I'm not sure what's wrong with me.

A new experience

Since those of you likely to visit this blog are only those who have visited my other blog (http://www.esjparent.blogspot.com/), you know that I have just started down the card making path courtesy of Jen M & Mom (and I can't forget the Valentines Day card Anne made for me a few years ago - that was a cool one).

Anyhoo, I found myself in Michael's over the weekend and ended up spending 45 minutes (& $75) in two, maybe three ailes. And I didn't even buy any of the stamping stuff for cards, just paper, die-cuts, ribbon and some stickers. Here are the 3 cards I've made since my big purchase.

I think I've got a decent handle on decorating the fronts of cards, but I'll need some inspiration - and a few suggestions - for the insides.

So with money spent, time invested, and a blog to update, I think this is officially my new hobby.