Celebrating my Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law just celebrated her birthday and I've been hanging onto this cute Mason jar die cut that I bought in the Silhouette store just waiting for an opportunity to use it. 

I remembered this cute Finally Friday card by L Craigie over at Two Peas in a bucket

and I used that as my inspiration.  The cute little brad/ribbon is from My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline collection.  I love all the decorative brads that are coming onto the market these days...so cute!

Happy birthday Mom!



Anniversary Wishes

A recent anniversary prompted this card...

I've been hanging on to that heart playing card die cut from Glitz Designs forever thinking I'd use it on a layout of my hubby and me but it never worked when I'd sit down to make a layout.  So...I grabbed it as my starting point for this anniversary card.  The clock face background is another "recycled" item from my supplies.  It was actually the chipboard background from some metal embellishments I bought years ago.  I trimmed it down, inked the edges and there it was...the perfect background for my card. 

It seems I'm trying to use up what I've got - that doesn't mean I'm not buying new stuff (believe me...all the new CHA releases have me wanting to shop till I drop) but alas, my scrapping budget doesn't allow for too much shopping and I'd rather spend it on the items from last CHA that are now on sale.  You know...more bang for my buck!  So, in the spirit of trying to stretch what I've got, I find myself reaching into my paper scrap files and scanning through my embellishments especially when I sit down to make cards.  It keeps me going and leaves more room for buying some of that cute new stuff!

A Bit of Card Recycling

My oldest niece recently celebrated her birthday. 

 I wanted her card to be full of life just like she is so I opted for a fun rainbow palette. I've seen Kristina Werner use this technique of adhering scraps of paper to a piece of printer paper and then cutting it out to give a really cool collage affect. That's what I did with all the strips of patterned paper to create the pretty diagonal base for my card. The circles are my bit of "recycling" as they were actually part of a Christmas card given to my oldest son this past year. I loved all the circles on the front of the card so rather than tossing it, I grabbed one of my circle punches and popped them off the card. The colors of the cute circles worked really well with my rainbow theme and added another layer to the card.

Including a Gift Card

My husband coached our youngest son's baseball team this year but due to our vacation, he had to miss a couple of practices and a game.  There were a couple of other dads that really stepped up to help him out and my husband wanted to let them know how much he appreciated that. 

Starbucks made it easy for him and for me.  Check out the cute thank you sentiment on this card...it's actually a Starbucks gift card tucked inside the square window of my card base.  Seriously...it doesn't get much easier than that!

A Bit of Cameo Fun...



We attended the birthday party of a friend's daughter recently.  She is one of the most adorable little girls I know and she is ALL into pirates right now.  Her gift from us was a pirate girl costume for her American Girl doll so I wanted to make sure the card stayed in that same theme.  I dug around in the Silhouette store and came up with this darling little pirate girl!  You can also make a pirate boy with the same file - just different hair (and probably not in pink).

It took me some time to piece her all together but it was worth it.  I think she turned out so cute!

Card Happy

This is going to be a very image heavy post today.  There have been so many reasons to make cards lately and I love that.  Although I'd love to have more time to put in a layout or two as well.  Oh well...it's summer vacation so why not enjoy it while I can.

Here goes....cards, cards and more cards!

A birthday card for my sister-in-law.

A birthday card for one of my nieces.

A couple thank you cards.

And a birthday card for one of my brothers.

I've been a busy little card maker but I love that my recipients thoroughly enjoy getting my handmade love in the mail!

One Down...One to Go

So one of the boys is done with his baseball season for the Summer.  I offered to make the thank you card as well as pick up the gift for his coach.  I sure am loving my Cameo (when I remember to use it).  I love how it created this perfect baseball with no problem at all!

My crafting has taken a bit of a back seat lately to this...

A trip to So. California to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary with all my siblings and their children.

and this...

Taking the family to Disneyland and California Adventure - so much fun!

and this...

Taking our two youngest boys to the beach - a first for our youngest and the first time that our middle boy will remember (he was just a baby the first go around).  They were in awe!

and this...

Sunset Cliffs and tide pool exploring!

It doesn't get much better than that...just wish our oldest didn't have to return home prior to our stay in San Diego.  We missed sharing the beach with him.  We're all home safe and sound now and wishing we were still on vacation.

Now...back to crafting!