A Birthday Wish for an 8 Year Old!

Happy Monday! 

I'm feeling rejuvenated after a relaxing, somewhat productive weekend. It involved a little bit of grocery shopping, some baking, date night with the hubby (saw the most recent comedy called "The Other Woman" - hilarious), a walk at the dog park, a Sunday afternoon nap, and lots of papercrafting! 

Today we celebrate my niece's 8th birthday! Elena is a quiet, sweet little girl who has a beautiful smile and a tender heart. She is the oldest of 4 girls in her family and loves her sisters! 

At first it was a bit of a challenge coming up with a design for her birthday card. But, I thought, I can't go wrong with the owl builder punch! 

I love this colour combo and the patterns in the designer paper. To make it a little more interesting I added a wing to the owl (using half of a scallop circle punch) holding a balloon (created using 1" circle and the small heart in the owl builder punch). Rhinestones embellish the balloon, as well as the sentiment. 

Here's wishing Elena a fun birthday filled with laughter, love, birthday cake, and sunshine! 

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Short & Sweet (ret.)
Paper: Basic Gray, Smokey Slate, So Saffron, Whisper White, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Floral District DSP
Ink: Basic Gray
Tools: Owl Builder punch, Little Leaves sizzlits die, Scallop Circle punch, 1" Circle punch, Word Window punch, Circles nestabilities, Scallop Circles nestabilities

A Perfect Sketch and a Fabulous Colour Combo

The past few nights have been quite cold in PG, making it take a little longer to warm up during the day. It doesn't feel like Spring is on it's way... I guess, technically, the first day of Spring isn't until March 20th. But, now is the time of year I get cabin fever and really want the seasons to change. I look forward to the snow melting, flowers blooming, opening windows to let the smell of fresh spring air fill the apartment, warmer nights for going on walks... ahh I can't wait!

Today's card combines a perfect sketch challenge from Deconstructed Jen and a fantastic colour combo from Colour Q.

 

I just LOVE this colour combo. I think the colours coordinate so well together. And the sketch is a perfect example of a combination of clean and simple with layers. Here's what I came up with:

 

I love how clean and simple this card is. I added detail by using different patterned designer paper and embossed cardstock. I wanted to deviate away from creating another birthday card, so I chose a fun sentiment from the Stampin Up 'Word Play' stamp set. I simply stamped it in Cherry Cobbler ink, punched it out with the Extra Large Oval punch and sponged the edges. I added rhinestones to complete the card.

 

 



Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Word Play

Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, 2011-2013 In-Colour DSP, Regals DSP, Floral District DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Extra Large Oval punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories: Rhinestones (Michael's)

Freshly Made Sketches #75

Yesterday was PJ day for me :) Stayed in my PJ's till about 3:30PM, believe it or not! In all that time I did some laundry, house cleaning, skype calling, papercraft organizing and more trip planning. I pretty much completed our road trip itinerary. Still need to do some tweeking, but managed to include most of the top sites we want to see! A few things I'm super excited about -- swimming with dolphins, snorkeling at La Jolla Cove and sun bathing on the California beaches!

One of the highlights to my day was receiving an email from my hubby! He's safe and sound on the boat in QCI! It was so good to hear from him. I miss him so much!

Another highlight -- a fun skype call with my Mom and sister, Esther. Wish I could be there to hang out with them...

Today's card was based on the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week:

 

At first glance, I thought this was too clean and simple for my taste. But then I brainstormed what I could use for the big open space. I was inspired by Jennifer Brum's card and thought of the poppies paper from the Floral District collection. I added some pleated ribbon and the sentiment "happy mother's day" and this is how it turned out:

 



While Mother's Day is still a couple months away, I thought I'd get a good head start on some cards for my Etsy Shop. I added dimension to some of the flowers by punching out circles from the same paper and popping them up with dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Floral District DSP

Ink: Tangerine Tango

Tools: 1-3/8" Circle punch

Accessories: Pleated Lucky Limeade Ribbon

Birthday Wishes for a Special Mother-In-Law!

There have been so many birthdays lately! It seems like every week there is another birthday! I enjoy making cards/projects for each family member's birthday. If I can't be there to celebrate with them, I want to at least let them know I am thinking of them and put a smile on their face :)

Today we celebrate my mother-in-law on her 62nd birthday! She is a very special lady - such a sweet, caring and thoughtful person. She has a big heart! When I married my husband, Kevin, his mother welcomed me into the family like I was her daughter. She made me feel at home everytime we came to visit and still does! I appreciate everything she does for us, even from a distance.

I went to my crafting table and crafted up something nice for her birthday :) Here is the card I made for her:

I love the Blooming with Kindness stamp set. The flower is just so pretty! And the sentiments so elegant! I sometimes find it difficult to coordinate colours with Rich Razzleberry. This time I tried Sahara Sand and I think it's nice and soft against the rich purple. The scallop trim border and embossed background adds to the elegance of the card.

I also sent her a handmade perpetual birthday calendar that I made using Stampin Up cardstock and designer paper. I had it bound by Staples and put ribbon through the binding so that it can be tied at the top and hang from a nail on the wall. Here is a few sample pages from the calendar:

These type of calendars are so handy! We have one hanging in our bathroom. Weird spot for it, I know, but apparently it's a very Dutch thing to do! I grew up in a Dutch family and we always had a calendar like this one hanging in the bathroom. If you think about it, it's quite a handy spot to have it! Every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed, you will always see it :) It's a great reminder for all the many birthdays in our large, growing families. Not sure how else I would keep track!

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Blooming With Kindness
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Tools: Apothecary Accents Framelits, Scallop Trim Border punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder
Accessories: Pearl (Michael's)

Thanks for visiting!

Introducing Karly & Charissa's Random Recipe!

It's Friday! It's been a busy week of {early} "spring cleaning" at work -- lots of dust, boxes and old files. I must say it looks much cleaner now! However, I am ready for the weekend. Not quite motivated to do house-cleaning though... those Christmas decorations still need to come down. Wasn't that on my to-do list last weekend?

My coworker, Karly, and I do a lot of brainstorming and chatting about crafty projects, challenges, and inspiring ideas. There are SO many card challenges out there on the web (and I'm already addicted to participating in as many challenges as I have time for). We decided to come up with our own!

INTRODUCING...

 

We came up with a long list of stamp sets, embellishments, tools, and techniques and each week we will randomly choose two ingredients (using random.org). These two ingredients will make up part of the card/project recipe and can be used any which way you like.

--> This was inspired by "Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge". Check out their blogs: Deesigns by Nina Dee and Notes from Naki.

 

This week the two ingredients are:

 

Tiny Tag Punch

Square Lattice Embossing Folder

 

I just love the tiny tag - it is so cute! And the square lattice pattern is so versatile! Here's my take on our very first challenge:



KCRR #1

 

I used an older sketch from RetroSketches and kept it fairly simple. Usually I tie the tiny tags on bakers twine or linen thread, but this time I wanted to do something a bit different. The tiny tags are held together by a silver brad on a flower (from the Boho Blossoms punch). I embossed a strip of Rich Razzleberry cardstock with the Square Lattice folder and added stitched ribbon as a finishing touch.

 

To see Karly's take on this challenge, visit her blog: Karly's Creations.

 

Feel free to participate! I'd love to see your creations! (Just leave a link to your blog in the comment section below)

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamp Sets: Tiny Tags, Candy Conversations (ret.)

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron, Crumb Cake,  Whisper White, Floral District DSP

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Tools: 1-1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, Tiny Tag punch, Heart to Heart punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry stitched ribbon, silver brad, rhinestones

 

Thanks for looking!