Daughter's Birthday to Celebrate at "Home!"

My daughter, Michele, has returned to Washington now that her husband is retiring from the Coast Guard!  She has been "home" for three months and has been busy refinishing all the floors in her house and painting up a storm!  I was anxious to go over and see all the wonderful progress when I got home from my long trip to California.  And now, we are so excited to be able to look forward to celebrating her birthday with her for the first time in two years!

While on my semi-annual trip to California, I got busy and made Michele's birthday card.  I have seen so many wonderful card made using Stampin' Up's new Pansy punch and the Flower Shop stamps, and because Michele is quite the gardener, I wanted to see what I could come up with.  I also wanted to try the Crisp Cantaloupe In-Color, so I started with these ideas in mind.  

Of the six choices of flower designs available in the stamp set, I chose the most solid flower and stamped a staggered row toward the left side on my Very Vanilla cardstock.  I then stamped eight additional flowers to punch out for layering and popping.  After punching out four of the full flowers, I then used the Boho Blossom punch to punch out the centers of the other four stamped flowers.  I applied Dazzling Delights to the four full flowers and the four punched out flower centers.  When dry, I curled up the edges, layered two together, and adhered them, ending up with two layered sets.  I positioned these on my card front and popped them for dimension.  I curled the edges and glued the four flower centers to each blossom on the card front.  I was lucky to have some Studio 21 large pearls in the perfect color to use as the very center of each of my flowers.  I am very happy with the results, and I think Michele will like her birthday card.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up cardstocks:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe.  BoBunny paper: A Gift of Love/ Olivia.  SU stamps:  Flower Shop, Express Yourself (sentiment).  SU Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe.  SU punches: Pansy, Boho Blossoms.  SU Dazzling Details.  Studio 21: Peach Large Pearls.  (Size:  5-1/8" x 5-1/2")

A Sister-in-Law's June Birthday to Celebrate!

The Card Story:  It is one of my eight sister-in-law's birthday in late June, so I wanted to keep up my record of the past two years of getting a card made for each of my sister-in-law's birthdays each year.  But, of course, I also wanted her know she is a great gal to know and has a special place in my heart.  I wanted to make something summery and cheerful, and earlier this week while I was shopping at Costco, I saw their lovely Bing cherries and for some reason it reminded me of a patterned paper I had seen several years ago.  I was sure I had a piece and I figured I'd go home and pull it out and see what I could do with it.

Well, in muddling through my scrapbooking supplies, lo and behold, I found a box that contained several partially started but unfinished cards.  There was one with that very paper I remembered with the cherries.  Thinking back to several years ago when I started this card, I remembered it was one of a set of three or four from a card class held when my sister had her scrapbook store in Redding, California with Misty Bradley as the instructor.  I remember it being a very busy day...one of those where you are trying to fit in everything and just can't quite get it all done (probably from poor planning on my own part. . .LOL)!  I was late to class, didn't get all the instruction, and I didn't finish all of the cards in the set.  No worries, I figured I'd just take the pieces home to finish later.  

I pulled out the partially completed card and looked over the pieces in the baggie.  I trimmed some excess paper to save and use on the inside with the verse and decided to change the center popped piece.  I re-cut new pieces and place a birthday sentiment on it and added a popped flower with fussy-cut leaves and it was ready to go.  I wrote a little verse and prettied up the inside to coordinate with the front.  I'm hoping Thelma likes her cheerful and summery little card full of cherries! 

Recipe:  SU cardstock colors: Whisper White, Gumball Green, Melon Mambo (inside), Pool Party.  Pattern: MME: Fine & Dandy/ Tickled Pink "Cheery".  Spellbinders Big Scallop Rectangles LG/ SM.  Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edger.  EK punches:  Circles Large Edger, Scallop Photo Corners.  SU punch: Boho Blossoms (front flower).   Colorbox: Chestnut Roan ink (distressing).  Buttons: Dress It Up.  White embroidery floss.  Stash: Rhinestone. 

Celebrating Birthday #93 and Counting!

Of 10 aunts and uncles from his father's side of the family and 11 from his mother's family, my husband's last surviving aunt is about to have her 93rd birthday!!!!  I, being from a small family, have always found the size of my husband's family mind-boggling!  Being the last of her generation in the family, I have been trying to be sure I make and send a birthday card to Aunt Joanie every year.  I even made two cards for her several years ago when the entire family "showered" her with cards for her 90th birthday. . .two because I made one for my husband's mother to send as well.  Aunt Joanie has an amazing sense of humor, and it is certainly easy to keep her in a special place in your heart.

I love tag card, so decided to borrow a card design made by my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner blog) several years ago that I have always admired, and I thank her for the idea.  My card uses the same color tones and some of the same papers, but is 5-1/2" square instead of an A2 size.  I have also added another background layer, sewing machine stitching, pearls, and changed the sentiment and placement.  I hope Aunt Joanie likes her card, which will travel from Washington to Kansas for her birthday.

Recipe:  Paper: Georgia Pacific White cs (base); Recollections-Dots, Stripes & Plaids; MME-Everyday Tango (blue-green dot);  MME Fine & Dandy-Tickled Pink Delicate/ Engaging/ Delighted.  Papertrey Ink stamps/die:  Delightful Dahlia.  Copic Markers.  SU punch: Word Window/ Scallop Edger.  Zutter Corner Rounder (pocket).  Martha Stewart punch: Lace Floral Edger (inside).  Computer-made sentiment/ Xiorama font.  Stash:  Button, Baker's Twine, Pearls, Crochet Lace.  Sewing machine zig-zag/ straight stitch.

Thinking of You & Thank You!

I just had a nice, long visit with my mother in California.  I went down to help her out because she was in a car accident at the end of March where a young woman ran a red light and hit Mom's car as Mom was making a left turn on her green arrow.  Her car was totaled in that it was a 2001 model, and therefore, the repairs exceeded its value in the eyes of the insurance, BUT in Mom's eyes her immaculate car, with only 42,000 miles, was no longer her's to drive.  The car had been garaged its entire "life" and was like brand new inside and out.  Though she personally received little physical damage visible to the casual observer, she was pretty badly bruised in the knees and chest, receiving bone bruising that took over eight weeks to finally subside to a bearable level of pain.  Mom has "coughing" asthma, and actually could NOT cough when her body said she needed to because the pain was so severe.  According to the doctor, it would take from two to three months for the pain to completely subside, and the only thing she could do was try to be as immobile as possible and give her body a chance to heal.  My visit extended a little over two weeks longer than I anticipated trying to help her out by taking over the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, and driving until she was able to do it for herself again, in addition trying to help her figure out some sort of transportation for her.

I wanted to make a little card to thank her for the visit and "putting up" with me for such a long period time, and also to let her know I am thinking about her and glad to hear she is almost back to normal.  It is difficult for people as they get older to relinquish their independence, even if only for a few weeks, and have someone around all the time when they are used to being alone and being self-sufficient.  This is my little card that I started to make at a card event hosted by one of my cardmaking mentors, Liz Thayer.  I did change it up just a little by adding a designer paper layer between the top layer and the cardbase.

Recipe:  SU cardstocks: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Old Olive.  Pattern:  Crate Paper: Paper Heart Collection.   Copic Markers.  SU products: Stamps/dies-Secret Garden; Stamps: Happy Days; Perfect Dots EF; Dazzling Details; 3/8" Coastal Cabana Ruffled ribbon; Delicate Details Lace Tape.  Recollections: pearls. EK Basketweave Corner punch

A Nursing Graduation with High Honors!

As many of you may have read, my youngest daughter complete her R.N. degree back in December, 2013 and passed her R.N. NCLEX licensing test in early February, 2014.  We are, as we should be, extremely proud of her.  She gave her all in the pursuit of this goal, working only part-time, and living at home again.  The results were graduation with high honors of a 4.0 GPA and a Presidential Medal Nominee.  As she says, I may never "walk" for a degree again with high honors and two gold cords, so she plans to do just that.  Her next goal is to complete her B.S.N. at the University of Washington, and I'll be greatly surprised if she isn't just as successful with that course of study.  But, as she says, "I'll be working full-time as an R.N. and going to school part-time, so I may not have as much time to focus just on school work."  She laughs and adds, "And besides, I'm not getting any younger!"

To commemorate achieving this goal with such success, I wanted to make her a special card.  I made several "owl" graduation cards a few years ago and decided to use owls again for Jackie's card, but there would be two owls on her card, one with a cap and gown (and gold cords, of course), and one transforming into nurse scrubs.  I hope Jackie likes her little owl graduation card, as it was a lot of fun making it for her.

Recipe:  Papers: Recollections Navy cs (cardbase); SU Lucky Limeade; SU Soft Suede cs (tree/sponged); SU Always Artichoke (sponged); DCWV Collage Art Stack; MME Everyday Tango Collection; Recollections Essentials Distressed (blue inside); DCWV Shimmer Stack; October Afternoon: Cakewalk/ Hula Hoop (stripe); SU Red Glimmer paper.  SU stamps: A Dozen Thoughts.  SU Punches: Owl Builder, Itty Bitty Circle (cap)/ Flower (nurse cross) punches.  EK Punches: 3/4" Square (hat-cut to diamond), Fancy Photo Corners (inside). Dies:  Lifestyles-Eyelet Ovals; Nesting Ovals (modified smaller). Sizzix Sizizlit: Little Leaves.  SU Woograin EF.  Lion Gold Metallic fine yarn. May Arts: Hemp Twine.  Uni-ball Signo White Gel pen.   (Size: 6" square). 

Birthday for Cardmaking Mentor!

One of my favorite people is having a birthday this month in June.  I wanted to be sure to honor her on her birthday, plus thank her for all the wonderful cardmaking extravaganzas and events that she sponsors where we get to make wonderful cards and learn exciting cardmaking techniques.  She has been responsible for many a fun-filled day and evening that I have spent in the last two years!  

I had to give it a lot of thought because I wanted Liz's card to be as special as I think she is.  And, then a thought came to me.  I had shown Liz a card that I designed about nine months ago that she tried to talk me out of right then and there, because she like it so well.  At first, my thought was that I would send it to her in the mail as a surprise, but one thing led to another and I never got it sent.  So, I decided it would be perfect to make a card from its design that was especially made with just Liz in mind, and that is what I did.

Liz likes bling and glitter and girly stuff, so I decided to make her a pink card.  (I seem to be into pink when I think of a girly card!)  I do have to admit that I have never seen Liz wear pink, so maybe it was not a good choice, but I do hope so, as I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  I then went to work on a verse for the inside that I felt would be perfect for Liz as well.  I hope Liz likes her card, inside and out, because it was made especially with her in mind instead of the original which was just an "oh, let's try this idea card," that happened to turn out well.  And, here it is:

As it turned out, I was able to hand-deliver Liz's card with a little libations gift and take her to lunch with another cardmaking buddy.  We had a great time chatting it up and also enjoyed a little songfest with fabulous cheesecake for dessert.  What a way to celebrate!   Liz can have more birthday's any day!

Recipe:  Papers: Stampin' Up: Whisper White cs (card base); K&Co. Watercolor Bouquet Specialty Pad; Michaels' open stock (green circles), Recollections Essentials Distressed (pink-inside), SU Feeling Sentimental (retired) (penny-farthing bicycle). SU Ink: Chocolate Chip.  Punches: SU-Lace Ribbon punch (retired), SU-Modern Label; WRMK Corner Chopper-Deco; EK-Fancy Photo Corners (inside).  Prima: Pink Rosebuds.  Recollections:  Pink Flower/ Rhinestones.  Offray ribbons: Pink stitched, 3/8" Satin Loop.  SU Dazzling Details glitter adhesive.  Computer-made verse (Xiorama font). 

My Niece Has Her 7th Birthday!

I've decided to enter into a few challenges this week after making my little niece's birthday card:

Love to Create #118 - Happy Birthday
Crafting From the Heart #21 - Anything Goes
Cards Galore Encore - Digi or stamp
Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper June Challenge
Crafty Creations #264 - It's About "S" - Sweet Seven, Scallop Lace/ Borders
The Shabby Tearoom-Week-221 - Vintage Love

Visit their websites to see all their fabulous design team samples and other entries.

The Card Story:  My little niece is having her 7th birthday in mid-June!  She is a beautiful child with gorgeous eyes and hair and very much a girly girl.  I decided a very pink card would be  just right for her with a lovely lacy pink dress to grace its front. . .very girly girl!

Out came the Stampin' Up Dress Up Framelits for the dress form, but I decided to use the Spellbinders' Decorative Dress Forms dies for the little puffy sleeve dress, using only the bodice and cupcake liners for its skirt.  Note: I did have to trim the dress a bit from under the arms and down to the waist to make it fit perfectly.  To do this, after cutting the puffy sleeve dress with the die, I cut off the skirt about 1/2" below the waist (as it is shorter waisted than the Framelit dress form), I traced the dress form outline onto my cut bodice and cut along the traced lines, and I trimmed out the curve of the bodice neckline just a bit to add paper doily lace to its new lower scoop, as well as to the bottom of the puff sleeves.  The shoulders of the two dress dies match perfectly.  I sponged the bodice top with the Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink (retired) ink pad to blend with the skirt color a bit better.  I gathered one organza rosette cut from ribbon trim, making it into a little flower bud and sponging it with the same ink to add to the dress waist.  I was pleased with my little pink dress for Audrey's birthday card.  I hope she enjoys her card as much as I enjoyed  making it.

Following is a picture of the card and the little verse I made to go inside.  Again, I apologize for the blurriness.  As before, the equipment available to me while traveling is not what I use to when at home.  I do hope you can enjoy the card and can visualize it as if it were shown to perfection.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up papers: Wild Wasabi cs (card base), Crumb Cake cs.  Recollections/ Essentials Distressed.  Tapestry/ Geo Breeze.  K&Co./ Watercolor Bouquet Specialty Pad.  Stampin' Up: Dress Up Framelits (dress form); Eyelet Border punch (retired); Ink: Pretty in Pink; Pearls.  Spellbinder dies: Decorative Dress Forms (puff-sleeve dress)/ Labels 4.  Zutter Corner rounder.  Wilton: 4" White Doilies; Baking Cups.  Michaels: Celebrate It-Luxe: White Rosette ribbon.  Stash ribbon: Pink satin; lace.  Colorbox Cat Eye: Chestnut Roan (distressing).  EK punch: Fancy Photo Corners (inside).

Father's Day Is Soon Here!

Over the years, my husband has built many things involving trees with or for our four children as they grew up.  One of their favorites was the zip line attached across 100 feet of the side yard from maple tree to maple tree (seconded only by the tree house, of course).  They had to climb up on a ladder to catch hold of the handle bars and then jump off.  Away they would sail to the huge maple at the end of the backyard, with the trick being to be sure you got yourself turned around so your feet would stop your speeding travels before you hit the tree, and remember that a trip to the hospital would otherwise be inevitable.  Mom tried not to think of the consequences of a mishap and remember that our children were very agile and Dad was at the end to try and be sure a crash didn't happen!

With the above adventures and Father's Day is just around the corner, and I decided that this year I would do a "tree" card for my husband for Father's Day.  I've been wanting to use my Lovely As a Tree stamp set by Stampin' Up for a very long time, and thought it would be a great card for John for his special day.  I also had to make a few of my own papers for this card as well: a sponged and distressed En francaise background, a Metalllic gold stamped Hardwood background, and a Copic-colored tree.  I think I was in the layering mood as you will see by my finished card below.  I hope you enjoy my card as much as I think my husband will.

Recipe:  Papers: Stampin' Up cs: Old Olive (base), Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Whisper white; DCWV Glitzy Glitter Stack (gold); Basic Grey: Origin/Hot Stone.  Stampin' Up stamps: Lovely As a Tree; En Francaise; Hardwood.  Stampin' Up Inks:  Early Espresso; River Rock, Burnt Brown Sugar, Cajun Craze, Garden Green (sponged En Francaise); River Rock, Summer Starfruit, Crushed Curry (sponged tree/ sentiment backgrounds); Encore Gold Metallic (Hardwood stamp on E. Espresso cs).  Colorbox Chestnut Roan distressing.  Dies:  Stampin' Up Starburst; Spellbinders Petite Scallop Circles LG/SM.  Punches:  Stampin' Up 2-1//2" Circle; Martha Stewart Corner Rounder.  Tree colored with Copics/ Stampin' Up Irridescent Dazzling Details added.  Stash: Burlap mottled ribbon; Copper brads; Gold metal leaf.  EK punch: Medium Scallop corners (inside).