Fall Foliage October Birthday

I needed a birthday card in a hurry yesterday...had to get it in the mail or else I would need to use a belated birthday sentiment, so I used one of Top Dog Dies recent release dies as the focal point of a very CAS card. 

Top Dog Dies Fall Foliage Die Set includes two leaves and a cute little acorn that have such beautifully embossed details to them...I am thinking these leaves could be used all year long.  I made my leaf a bright red to give it a nice contrast to the white card base.  Wouldn't this simple design make a quick and easy set of "All Occasion notecards"?  

Card Concept #6: Make a Birthday Card

Time for another Card Concept challenge...and this one is going to be something everyone will want to play along with...make a birthday card.  We all could use a few birthday cards to add to our stash...and we have a very pretty inspiration picture to give you a little head start on your birthday cards.

Isn't that a gorgeous cake?  It looks so pretty with the beautiful flowers as decorations and also is displayed on a beautiful white cake stand.  That cake and cake stand was my inspiration...and I created a fun little birthday card as seen through an open window.

Have you ever seen the cute cards made by Kitty Carracciolo of KittieKraft?  I am sure you have...I'm a big fan.  She must spend hours and hours creating realistic card scenes.  I remembered a card made by Kitty where she used strips of card stock to mimic siding on the outside of a house.  You can see Kitty's card here.   First I made my cake and then built my scene around it.  I even added a cute gray cat just like one of mine staring out the window.  All of the card ingredients are listed below...but I especially love that cake and cake stand from Memory Box.  

I'm sure that you will be needing a birthday card one day soon, here's a little more inspiration from the Design Team at Card Concept Challenge:
All you have to do is make a card using one of the six card styles listed above and link it to the Card Concept Challenge blog by Monday, March 31st.  I hope to see your card in our gallery very soon!

Clean & Simple

Tracey McNeely 

Deanna Dean

Clean & Graphic

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Geri Greening

Clean & Layering

Kay Miller

Kerin Sylvester

Shabby Chic

Narelle Farrugia 

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Freestyle Collage

Karen Davis 

Cindy Lovell 

Classy & Elegant

Lee Ann Barrett
Lesley Croghan, Guest Designer

I am also entering this card into the Anything Goes category over at the Seize the Birthday Challenge.  There's always a ton of birthday inspiration there...check it out here!

*Memory Box GRAND MADISON WINDOW POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 815	*Memory Box GRAND MADISON WINDOW SHUTTER POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 832	*Memory Box GRAND FLOWER BOX POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 821	*Memory Box SCALLOPED CAKE STAND Craft DIE 98541	*Memory Box PETITE CAKE Craft DIE 98547
*Memory Box BIRTHDAY CANDLES POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 909	*Memory Box WILDFLOWER PATCH POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 820	*My Favorite Things FRESH CUT GRASS Die-Namics MFT	*Memory Box LARGE SITTING CAT POPPY STAMPS Craft DIE 871	Heart 2 Heart #2
Heart 2 Heart #2 Die

InLinkz.com

Happy Birthday Jeanne!

Today we are getting together to wish our dear friend Jeanne Jachna of A Kept Life a very happy birthday.  Jeanne is truly one of the nicest people I know and not only makes beautiful cards, but is such a generous and supportive friend.  I can not count how many times my husband has gone out to get the mail and returned with a little package of goodies from Jeanne.  Ribbon, twine, patterned paper, stamps and fabulous cards, all sent for no other reason than she thought I would like them.  Best friend...ever!  A special thank you to Joyce Mehrberg of Cards by the Sea for once again organizing this little party.

First I will show you my card for Jeanne and then give a very brief explanation as to why I made this particular card for Jeanne.

See those cheery colors...I bet if you look back at Jeanne's blog you would find pink, orange, yellow and green over and over on her cards.  I know she also loves purple, but when I think of Jeanne...these are the colors I remember.  The leaves?  Not exactly Fall colors, but once again, there is a reason behind why I chose them.  I loaned Jeanne the Leaf Print stamps and dies from PTI and when I did, she warned me that she was very "tough" on dies.  I laughed that off and got the package in the mail to her.  A few weeks later Jeanne wrote me to say my stamps were on their way back to me, but the dies...didn't make it.  Apparently they were mangled and bent from Jeanne's less than gentle touch with her die cutting machine and replacement dies were being ordered.  We have laughed about that more than once lately, and I knew I had to use my newly replaced dies on Jeanne's card.  

The sentiment on my card is from Lil Inkers, Snarky Sentiments and is my very favorite from that set.  So true, don't you think?  

I am hoping Jeanne has a great birthday...I will be thinking of her today and so will a whole bunch of other blog friends.  Here is a link to the other people attending Jeanne's birthday party:

Joyce

Christina 

Darnell

Jill

Kara

Kim

Marybeth

Tracey

VickiePlease stop in and wish Jeanne a very happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Christina!

Today we are celebrating the birthday of one of the sweetest people I know...Christina MacLaren of SeaGlass Papercrafts.  I have come to know Christina through our 12 Kits of Christmas and then 12 Kits of Occasions group.  Christina is not only a fabulous card maker, but she always leaves the most heartfelt and sincere comments on my blog, the kind of comments that make you feel good all day!  Joyce of Cards by the Sea has once again organized a birthday blog hop for Christina and I am hoping she will enjoy all of the cards her friends have made for her today.

I have been wanting to make a card using my new Serendipity Owl die with a Fall birthday theme.  Christina's special day was all the incentive I needed.  Isn't that the most detailed owl die cut?  I perched him on the Impression Obsession Bare Branch with leaves cut from Fall patterned papers.  The sentiment is also from Serendipity (Everyday Words, large) and the background layer is a Spellbinder die.

Make sure to stop by Christina's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday...here's a link to all of other crafters who have made cards to wish Christina happiness on her special day.

Joyce

Darnell

Jeanne

Jill

Kara

Kim

Lynn

Marybeth

Renee

Sharron

Tracey 

Happy Birthday Tracey!

Happy Birthday Tracey!  Today is all about celebrating one of the sweetest people I know, Tracey McNeeley of In My Creative Opinion. You probably had an inkling that your friends were planning to celebrate your special day with lots and lots of Happy Birthday cards, but I am pretty sure you will be surprised by the "number" of people who wanted to participate.  So many that Joyce of Cards by the Sea, our official birthday blog hop planner had to install a linky tool on her blog as the list would be way to long for everyone to copy and paste.  Thank you Joyce for spreading the word and organizing the hop.

For your special day Tracey, I tried to channel you.  You are the expert in CAS cards and although I am sure this card is no where close to being as good as yours, here is my attempt at a true, CAS card...practically.  Only one tiny little layer and a little bit of glitter, but pretty close to CAS.  I used PTI Quilled Elegance stamp set and colored the images with copics.  To see all of Tracey's cards or to share a birthday card for Tracey yourself, just hop over to Joyce's blog and enjoy some birthday inspiration.

Here's hoping you have a fabulous birthday Tracey and enjoy your blog hop!

Lil' Skipper Birthday

My sweet nephew is turning 1 next weekend and I have made him a nautical themed birthday card.  He won't care, but his mom is pretty crafty and I think she will like it.  I used some of my new nautical stamps...and I have a bunch to choose from.  I used WPlus9 Dockside and Dockside Backgrounds this time.  There are lots of really cute images in these sets to choose from.

                                     
                                               My card is also based on Retro Sketches #78.

I stamped the rope pattern from Dockside backgrounds and filled in a few spots with the smallest anchor from Dockside.  The other images were stamped individually...love that Lil Skipper stamp.  I used Lil Inker Stitched Sentiment Flags and also a Stitched rectangle to frame the main panel.  The red and navy burlap is ribbon from Michaels.  Such a quick and easy card to put together...love when that happens!

Lil' Inker 3rd Birthday Celebration

Happy 3rd Birthday Lil' Inker!  It seems like I have been using your dies forever, it's hard to believe it's only been 3 years.  Lil' Inker is having a huge birthday celebration with lots of prizes up for grabs.  Ever since it was first announced that they would be having a big celebration about a week ago, I have been thinking and thinking about what I might like to make.  Obviously their challenge was going to be "birthday related" so I started thinking about everything I could make using Lil' Inker products that had to do with birthday.  I did google image searches of balloons, pinwheels, presents and kept coming back to the fabulous custom cake designs that people make to celebrate birthdays.  Yesterday the Lil' Inker challenge was posted and here is the challenge photo to base our project on:

Lil' Inker 3rd Birthday Challenge

What did I see that inspired me?  It would be a lot easier to say what "didn't" I see that inspired me. Front and center I saw that cute cake, the bright blue color, the big poofy bow, the patterns on the party hats and of course, those great balloons.  Now, what kind of cake do I want to make based on all this inspiration?  I remember I had seen a pinwheel cake somewhere so decided to make one myself using Lil' Inker dies.  Here is what I came up with:

I started with a stacking round box and lid cut file from the Silhouette online store.  I sized the boxes to be the exact size as two of the Lil' Inker's Stitched Mat Circles.  I wanted to add that extra nice stitching detail to all of the round portions of my box.  Here's a little closeup of that great stitching detail so well known to Lil' Inker fans.

(The largest box uses the largest stitched circle and the smaller box used the third largest circle)

Here's the finished birthday cake:

Embellishing the boxes was easy.  I used a variety of bold double-sided patterned papers (Simple Stories, Snap) and Lil' Inker Mini Pinwheel dies to cut 8 pinwheels and a My Favorite Things grass border in the same three shades of green as the cake photo.  The pinwheels are adhered to the top of the box making it easy to open for filling with some kind of birthday goody.  The small box has Lil' Inker Clouds (Rainbow & Cloud Dies) and also a couple of Lil' Inker Sun dies (large).  

I cut the #3 and added some punched polka dots to match the original photo and since balloons were the main image for their birthday celebration, I added a few Balloon Dies along with their Balloon String die too.

I had such a good time making this tiered cake and I don't know anyone other than Lil' Inker that is turning "3" anytime soon, so I doubt I will ever really use it, but it is actually quite sturdy.

Lil' Inker's birthday celebration challenge runs until August 25th...plenty of time to make something extra special to help them celebrate.  Here's a link to the challenge just in case you have missed it.  Happy Birthday Lil' Inker!

I also am going to enter this in the Seize the Birthday Anything Goes challenge.

CAS(e) this Sketch and Dynamic Duo Challenges

I just got back from an ATV ride with my husband...there is such beautiful scenery in Montana and it was such a beautiful day. I decided to make a card for this week's Dynamic Duo #64 challenge as the colors are two of my favorites, Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight (raspberry fizz and harvest gold). I love that combination together. I also used the CAS(e) this Sketch # 39 for my card design and for once, I totally stuck with CAS all the way.

I used Waltzingmouse Stamps Playful Pinwheels for my main image and sentiment. That stamp set is so good for paper piecing with patterned papers. So easy to cut out each section and pop them up with dimensionals. The banner is from Lil Inker (Stitched Sentiment Flag Die) and the texture on the white panel is an embossing folder from Darice.

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Three Challenges

Today I am playing along with three challenges.  I know! I almost never come up with a card that fits three at once.  First, my card is based on the CAS(e)this Sketch #37.  I love the hexagons on the inspiration sketch.

I chose my colors based on Dynamic Duo #62's Black tie (calypso coral and black) with their dessert option of using a butterfly theme and lastly, my sentiment is based on Moxie Fab World Birthday Card Challenge.

Whew!  That's a lot to say in my first paragraph.  No wonder I rarely do three in one challenge cards!  Here is my card:

I cut my hexagon border with PTI's Hexagon Cover Plate along with a bunch of Berry Sorbet patterned papers.  The Stitched Mat Rectangle and Happy Birthday sentiment are from Lil Inker (Sun Sentiments Stamp Set).  At the last minute I realized there was a "dessert" option on the Dynamic Duo challenge to add a butterfly and I found a tiny little one in PTI's Postmarks stamp set.  This card is already addressed and sitting out in my mailbox on its' way to my sister-in-law and should arrive right on her birthday.  Thanks for taking a look at my take on three different challenges.

Monday Mood Board #12

This is my first time playing along with the WPlus9 Monday Mood Board Challenge.  The inspiration photo is always so bright and cheerful with lots of different items for you to draw inspiration from.  Here is this week's picture.

May is a big birthday month in my family and I need several  birthday cards...in about an hour actually, so this challenge was a huge help to me.  I loved the primary colors, the chevrons, the candles and the overall happy vibe this board gave me.  

I just got this stamp set (A Pocketful, WPlus9) from my sweet friend Suzanne...it's one I have wanted for a long time.  I love the pocket and all of the cute elements you can add to it.  I decided my pocket would be full of birthday candles, all lit up ready to be blown out.  The candles are a die from Serendipity Stamps (Cupcake and Candle Die).  I cut the chevrons on my cameo and impressed the orange panel with the polka dot impression plate from PTI.  The top corner looked a little bare so I added the circle arrow, again cut on my cameo and the stamp is a very old stamp of mine, not even sure where I bought it.  

This was a fun challenge, one I am sure I will start to play along with more often.  You have two weeks now to make your Monday Mood Board card...lots of time to come up with something fabulous.

Happy Birthday Joyce Blog Hop

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend Joyce Mehrberg!  I know you aren't surprised.  You HAD to know that after all the blog hops you have organized that we would be doing one for you too and a great big thank you to Kim for arranging the details.  There was no shortage of willing participants for your blog either, just take a look at the link list at the bottom of my post.
I will keep this short, I am sure you will want to see what everyone has made for you!

Joyce loves ice cream and this one is a triple scoop using three types of PTI patterned paper pack designs.  I stitched around Tag Sale #3 with floss and stamped it with Fillable Frames #5 in three different colors.  I added some Lil Inker Balloons and a cute celebrate arrow I cut with my silhouette. The raspberry fizz layer is embossed with a Darice Chevron embossing folder.   I even tied a shiny bow!

Joyce, I hope you have a fabulous day on Cinco de Mayo and make sure to blow out the candles and make a great big wish for the coming year!

Darnell

Jeanne

Joyce (Leave Joyce a little birthday hello)

Kara

Kim

Marybeth

Renee 

Tracey

Sharron

Yee-Haw, It's Your Day Case Study DT Challenge

*This is my second post today, for the Serendipity Stamps Summer Release post, please scroll down*

It's good to try new things...right?  Today I have a card to share that I made for the Case Study Design Team Challenge.  Week after week the Case Study Design Team draw inspiration from a guest "Muse", letting their imaginations run wild and always creating something fabulous for those of us who enjoy playing along.  Who wouldn't want to be a part of that team?  I know I would and my card today is my "audition".

For this challenge we were to choose a personal Muse, anyone from the crafting world whose work we admire.  For me, I admire far more crafters than I can name so I flipped through my Pinterest gallery and came upon a card that has always been one of my favorites.  Here it is:

Card by Stephanie Wincott

This beauty was created by a super talented designer, Stephanie Wincott of Clearly Besotted.  I loved those beautiful pleats and decided that the pleats would be the inspiration for my own card.  I wanted to  use pleats in a different way than I have ever done before and I also knew I wanted to use my favorite stamp set of all time...Waltzingmouse Back in the Saddle.  I love making western themed cards with this set.  Enough talk, here's my card:

I made a pleated belly band for a gate fold card.  Before I give you the details of my card, here's a closeup of those pleats.

I stamped a subway style pattern using at least 7 different stamps from Back in the Saddle for my background and made a simple belly band from kraft card stock and stamped the tiny star image along the top.  I folded some patterned paper pleats and used scor tape to add them to the belly band.  Some denim ribbon was wrapped around it to hide the gathers and I tied not only a denim bow, but a jute twine bow embellished with My Favorite Things Country Charms to dangle from it.  I embossed the galloping horse rider in navy and added it for a little more interest.

The inside of my card is stamped with the beautiful Woodgrain background from Waltzingmouse Woodgrain.  Wow, is that a huge stamp!  Sentiments from Back in the Saddle are framed within a new image from Waltzingmouse My Kind of Guy.  I had to add those cute cowboy boots for no other reason than I love them!  A few denim stars finish off my card.

I would like to thank Stephanie for the original inspiration...I have cased more than a few of her cards in the past.  I would also like to thank the creative Case Study Challenge team for considering me for their Design Team.  Yee Haw!

Case Study #137 - Wonderful Birthday

Technically, my son's wedding is today as it's 1 a.m. and I am wide awake, unable to sleep.  Too many thoughts and memories running through my head, most of them remembering the little boy who wouldn't leave my side for the first few years of his life.  It is hard to imagine that he is getting married today...a grown man who now will have a family of his own.  Rather than tossing and turning, I decided to get up and try to make a card for a challenge that I have really been enjoying, CASE Study.  Each week you have an inspiration photo by a talented designer "Muse" and you can make any kind of card you want depending upon how you are inspired.  Lots of fun, lots of ways to interpret each sketch.  This week's sketch (#137)  is again by JJ Bolton.  I have really enjoyed her CAS style and use of great techniques with die cuts.

Here is this week's inspiration photo:

I was inspired by JJ's use of white cardbase, color, and her stamping through a die cut.  It is hard to see in my little picture, but if you check out JJ's original post of this card, there is a little clear tab next to the word "you" that you pull and the globe fills in with colorful beads.  The colors are so pretty, so Spring-like, I decided to color up a really pretty label stamped though a Spellbinder Labels #25 die.  Waltzingmouse Stamps Folk Art Labels #25 is such a pretty stamp set, requires little shading (my kind of coloring) and also has some places to put a little bling.

                 Here is my card:

The patterned papers are by Crate Paper (Little Bo Peep) collection and I cut the edges of the green pattern with pinking shears.  I added lots of little rhinestones to the label and used some Gina K 110 lb white paper for the card base.  Copic markers do not bleed though that paper so you don't have to worry about it coming through onto the other side of the card.  The little blue tab is my take on the clear plastic tab JJ used on her card.  It is now 2:15 a.m., my post is written and I think I might just be able to fall asleep.  I am looking forward to sharing some photos of my sons wedding with you as soon as I get the chance to go through them.  Wish me luck!

CASology Week 40 - Word

I made a quick card today for CASology #40 with this week's cue card being "word".  I am hoping my card is considered CAS, even though it has a lot of stamping on it.

A lot of birthday words but only one stamp.  Impression Obsession's Cover a Card Birthday Words stamp is so easy to line up and makes it every easy to say Happy Birthday in a whole bunch of different ways.  I also used Heart 2 Heart #4 from Papertrey Ink on this one, love that cute little phone.  I have a little bit of impressing and jute ribbon on this one too.  I guess I didn't read the cue card right, when I made this I thought it was "words", so guess I better pay closer attention next week!