Happy Bird-Day

I love punny things, so I just felt the need to make a fun card with one of my favorite sets. Plus I had to use a really Spring-y palette... I'm so glad that winter is just about over! (Austin has relatively mild winters, I don't know how you folks with all that snow do it!) Anyways, I thought it came out kind of cute, so I thought I'd post it. I originally was going to enter it for a contest for Papercrafts magazine, although this one ended up not making it into the bag. I'm really proud of the other cards that my best friend and I made, so wish us luck! :)

For this card I used:
Stamps - Pun Fun (SU!), Occasional Quotes (SU!)
Card stock - Crumb Cake (Base), Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Whisper White
DSP - Delightful Dots (SU!) -- Retired from Sale-a-Bration 2009

Robot Birthday

I made this card for one of my co-workers... in January... of last year -- that's how behind I am! I think robot stuff is so fun, and I'm happy that stamp makers are picking up on this trend! I found a great pack of designer paper from Jo-Ann's called Generation Tech. It was a pack full of video game/technology themed papers. This binary code sheet seemed a perfect background for the card. Then I embossed the nuts and bolts on the side in silver.

For this card I used:
Card stock: Kraft (base), Generation Tech (DSP), Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss and Basic Gray.

Stamps: Lots of Bots (SU!)

Coworker Commissions

Last year one of my supervisors had requested some cards from me for his wife, for Valentine's and her birthday (there's only 5 days difference between the two). Well this year I was pre-emptive and brought some for him to choose from beforehand. He was very appreciative and this is what he chose:

For his wife's birthday:
I love, love, LOVE punny things, so I had to get this set. I'm also digging this new DSP called Razzleberry Lemonade -- the color combinations are so perfect. It's probably the fastest pack I've gone through... I'm about to have to order more!

For this card I used:
Card stock - Kraft (base), Melon Mambo, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and White
Stamps - Comfort Food (SU!)

And for Valentine's Day:
I learned a great watercolor technique from Kim at Stamp-a-rama during stamp club and that's how I made the rose. I had been on the fence about getting that stamp set but making this definitely convinced me to spring for it.

For this card I used:
Card stock - Kraft (base), Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and White (photopaper)
Stamps - Yummy (SU!) and Fifth Avenue Floral (SU!)

Graffiti Birthday Card

I tend to have lots of real cutesy stamps, but I wanted to make a card that had a bit of different feel, and I'm pretty happy with what I was able to do.

For this card I used:
Cardstock: Bermuda Bay (Base) and White
Stamps: Alphabet Soup (SU!) and Extreme Elements (SU!)

Card Catch-up!

Ok I've done a cruddy job of being up to date in the new year. I hardly remember November and December at all -- it's a big blur! It was super busy... it makes me think of the the John Lennon quote "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Regardless of how hectic it was, it has been an extremely happy time. (But I'm also glad for a little breather to pay attention to the blog.)

So today I'll spend some time catching up slowly until I get up to present day stuff. But first -- here's a look at some November birthday celebrations.

My older sister had a birthday (I'll refrain from posting her age, as a courtesy). I thought this Thoreau quote was perfect for her. She has lots of great ideas, so we bought her a book on entrepreneur/business type stuff. I think she'll do really well with whatever she chooses to pursue.

For this card I used:
Cardstock: Kraft (base), Chocolate Chip, Sweets Pack DSP and White
Stamps: Live Your Dreams (SU!)

This next card is for my younger niece's birthday. Her birthday was actually in September (on the same day as my brother's birthday), but I wasn't able to come out until November because of my work schedule. She likes sweets alot, so I thought this was a cute theme.

For this card I used:
Card stock - Kraft (base), Chocolate Chip, and Sweets Pack DSP and White
Stamps: Bitty Birthday (SU!)

This last one was for my older niece. She plays the viola so I chose a music background. It's neat seeing my nieces grow up and really become their own people.

For this card I used:
Card stock - Kraft (base), Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Sweets Pack DSP and White
Stamp: Animal Crackers (SU!)

Work Birthday

My co-worker Meredith turned 22 yesterday, so I made this card. Birthdays are fun at work, we always get cake. I can't help but think about that scene in Office Space where Melvin(?) doesn't get to have a piece.

I've totally gotten my money's worth out of the Animal Crackers set. Who could hate it -- it's cute animals and puns! I used a few of these stick on pearls which I think are adorable... to the point that I sometimes hoard it, but I have been getting better about using things up. As long as I take a picture, I think I can part with some of these things now. I hope kraft colored paper doesn't go out of style anytime soon, it's so great to use!

For this card I used:

Card stock - Kraft (base), So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Tea Time DSP and white

Stamp - Animal Crackers (SU!)

Crafty commissions

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my bosses needs a birthday card and Valentine's card for his wife, so here are a couple of little things I cooked up. I think they are cute, and hopefully they aren't too "simple". Although in some cases "simple" is a much better way to go, I still haven't determined when to say when - I imagine it will come to me as I make more cards and get better. It was fun making these cards, and I will probably make a few more to see if anyone else wants to get in the Valentine's spirit.

For this card I used:
Card Stock - Kraft, Candy Lane DSP, Red Riding Hood and White
Stamps - SU! Love You Much, SU! Short & Sweet

For this card I used:
Card Stock - Baja Breeze (base), Prints Pack DSP (retired, SU!), Indulgent DSP (retired, Sassafras) and White
Stamp - SU! For a Friend

Ranch-ish themed birthday cards

My friend Cody asked me to make birthday cards for his parents. This was fun, because it required me to find and use some stamps that I normally would not use. His dad likes outdoorsy things, but not camping or fishing which are the "manliest" stamps I own. Luckily, Kim from Stamp-a-rama was kind enough to let me use her stamp set to make this little number. I actually like how it turned out, and now that I have used the set, I certainly appreciate it more. The images I stamped in the background could work so nicely for so many things! The ribbon is from the latest Stampin' Up mini catalog, and coordinates very nicely with the new Riding Hood Red In Color paper.


I used:
Card stock - Riding Hood Red (base), Chocolate Chip and White
Stamps - SU! Wanted, SU! Bitty Birthday

For his mom's card, she likes chickens alot, which is one of the only barnyard animals I don't have stamps of. I did find this really cute one of a chicken and some sheep on ChristianBook.com. I colored in the image using Stampin' Pastels and blender pens, and mounted pieces on top of a paper I ran through the Cuttlebug.


I generally don't do anything for the inside of the card since I usually have a whole story to write, so it just gets in the way if I stamp anything on the inside. But this time I decided I would, and I found a great little add on. I found a booklet at Jo-Ann's Fabrics in the scrap book section and it had different little sentiments on vellum. I picked up ones for birthdays, thank you's and love/wedding. So I mounted that on a piece of DSP and attached it with silver brads.

I used:
Card stock - Opulent Orchid (base), Pixie Pink, So Saffron, Prints Pack DSP (retired) and White
Stamps - Sheep and Chicken (Christian Book)