Spring Birthday Surprise!

On a recent shopping trip to Michael's, I found these wonderful bifold cards at a great price.  My creative wheels started turning.  I have a friend with a birthday this week, so I decided to craft her a wonderful Spring- themed card.  The adhesive borders as well as all of the die-cut embellishments are from DCWV.  I used a pink flower head from a floral stem I recently found at a local dollar store.  I attached it with a tiny, pink brad from Colorbok and dabbed it with just a little crystal Stickles.  I cut small slits in each side of the card to attach the bright pink ribbon.  I adhered the ribbon to the inside of the card using Glue Dots.

When you open the card, you see a sweet, pink butterfly, which was cut using my Give A Hoot Cricut cartridge.  The butterfly and shadow were each cut at 2 1/2 inches.  I accented the butterfly's wings with the crystal Stickles.  I used a simple "Happy Birthday" stamp as my greeting for this card.  I hope this dear friend likes her card and has a wonderful birthday.

Graduation Card Using the Cricut Wild Card Cartridge

Okay...I have to admit I was a little intimidated when I first got the Cricut Wild Card cartridge. Pulling out the  overlay and flipping through the book, I thought "Oh my!!".  After having a chance to try some of the cards, I must say: "I'm in love"!! The cartridge has so many possibilities and can transform cards into papercraft masterpieces!  Okay enough about the cartridge, I have an upcoming graduation in May and thought this rainy March day would provide a good opportunity for some card making.  I used the Wild Card cartridge graduation cap card.  I cut the card and shadow at 7 inches. I cut the numbers out of white cardstock at 2 inches.  I used black cardstock for the cap and maroon cardstock for the shadow, as my graduate's school colors are maroon and white.  I used maroon and white embroidery floss for the tassel and a small piece of gold ribbon from Martha Stewart to hold it all together.  I then inserted a tiny, yellow star brad from Colorbok into the center of the cap.   I cut the "For the Graduate" phrase from the Wild Card cartridge, at 7 inches, using white cardstock.  I then used crystal Stickles to make the letters and numbers a little glitzy.  The inside of the card includes a "Congrats" message cut at 7 inches using a phrase from another card on the Wild Card cartridge.  Now on to make an envelope.....they are just as beautiful and creative as the cards.....have I mentioned I like this cartridge?!?!!  Have a great week......I've got one more until Spring Break! Yippee!                    Patty :)

Gardening Time!!

I love to work in my garden just about as much as I love to work in my craft room!  The warm weather the last few days has found me playing in the dirt.  Just this afternoon, my garden was plowed by my wonderful father-in-law and I was able to plant some seeds.  I started with just a few lettuce, radish, and carrot seeds but ended up planting two rows of onions and a row of red potatoes!  I also sprinkled a few beans in the dirt.....I know its a little early so I didn't want to put out too many beans (still a danger of frost until late April)!! Anyway, back to my most recent card.  I incorporated my love of gardening into this birthday card and hopefully the recipient will find great enjoyment from it!  I used a precut, cream-colored card and cut a piece of brilliant blue scrapbook paper to fit the front.  I then used my recently purchase Serenade and Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut cartridges to cut the flower pot and overlay(3 inches) and the leaves(2 inches).  The overlay for the flower pot is made from paper from the DCWV Flower Shower Spring Stack.  This pad has 180 sheets of the most bright and cheery 12X12 scrapbook paper.  I used some jute twine to create my ribbon and bow. I used Glue Dots to adhere my flower pot to the card, but was careful not to glue the top of the pot.  This allowed me to insert my seed packet so that the recipient would have no trouble removing it. The seed packet fits just snugly enough that it won't fall out.  I found the diecut stamp in my Martha Stewart School Days Multimedia pad.  I used a single-hole punch and adhered it to the jute.  The tiny glitzy butterfly is one of those little objects that I had "saved for later" and I thought it looked very nice for this card.  The inside of the card includes a nice little stamped message.  The stamp was found in one of those wonderful dollar bins at Michael's.  Hope this card puts in you in the mood for some gardening......Have a great week!  Patty

Happy Mother's Day

I just love the DCWV Four Seasons Stack.  I found this wonderful, glitzy pansy themed cardstock and thought it would be perfect for a Mother's Day card.  I used adhesive to apply the cardstock to a precut cream colored card.  I then added some gold ribbon from Martha Stewart.  I also thought this would be a perfect opportunity to incorporate another handmade paper flower to a card.  I used the purple paper from the DCWV Specialty Paper Stack.  The flower cuts came from the Cricut Mother's Day cartridge and were cut at 2 1/2 inches.  I used a small tidbit of ribbon for the center of the flower. If you're interested in creating your own paper flowers check out my February blog for a link to a very helpful YouTube video.  I then used the Mother's Day Cricut cartridge to cut the word "Mom" and its shadow.  Both were cut at 1 1/2 inches.  I finished up this beautiful flower by cutting some butterfly embellishments with my Martha Stewart punch and adhering them with some Glue Dots.  I think this card turned out pretty enough to frame!! I think mom will be proud.    Have a great week!             Patty

Who Loves Chocolate???

I've been looking for this Stampendous stamp for the longest and finally found it in stock this weekend at Michael's.  My friends and family know my love for chocolate, or for that matter anything sweet, so I wanted to incorporate that love into a card.  I created this birthday card using some precut window cards that I also found at Michael's.  What a steal...eight cards and envelopes for a dollar!! I just love a great craft buy.  Anyway, I cut the wonderful chocolate cake using my "Just Because" Cards Cricut Cartridge.  The cake is cut at 4 1/2 inches.  I decorated my cake with some "chocolate" glitter glue from Studio G.  I added a cherry on top using some red Stickles.  I added two chocolate brads from Creative Imaginations and embellished the card with some ribbon from the Ribbon Boutique.  The background cardstock is from a scrap that I had leftover from my DCWV The Homemade Christmas Stack.  I hate to let anything go to waste!! The inside of the card reveals the remaining message from the stamp and is embellished with some birthday stickers from Karen Foster.  I used both chocolate and cream colored cardstock for the background.   I think this card looks yummy enough to eat :) !!     Have a wonderful day!                Patty

A Special Thank You

A lady I work with deserves this extra special thank you.  She goes above and beyond to help, even in very short notice.  She is such an asset to my workplace and I decided she needed a special thank you card.  Again, I am working with the black and white theme.  I used a precut white card with a piece of black cardstock as an overlay.  I then used the same effect when creating the tag.  I embellished the tag with my Fiskars border punch and a fancy black and white brad.  I found this wonderful "thank you" rubber stamp in the dollar bin at Michaels.  I added the metal embellishments with a couple of adhesive glue dots and then added a nice ribbon border.  The embellishments came from that wonderful scrapbook kit I received as a Christmas gift.  The ribbon is from the Ribbon Boutique.  I created another white on black tag for the inside of the card and added my special thank you message.  I think it turned into a very nice way to say "thank you".   Have a wonderful weekend!!   Patty

Howdy Pardner!!!

This rainy weekend has allowed me extra time to work on some March birthday cards.  This past summer my husband, mom, and I went on a cross-country camping trip, exploring the American West.  I created this birthday card with the Old West in mind.   We visited Bodie, California.....a real-life, preserved ghost town!! If you are a western buff, check this place out....fascinating!! I used my Cricut Old West and Animal Kingdom cartridges to create the embellishments for this card.  I found the bandana-print paper at Hobby Lobby.  The paper is from The Paper Studio.  The metal brads turned into cute little nails for my posts and "Howdy".  The brads are Spare Parts, also from The Paper Studio.  I used my Zig calligraphy pen to add the creative features to the little piggy and the rope.  I embossed the white cardstock with my Texture Boutique and Cuttlebug folder.  The inside of the card features the same theme as the outside.  I cut the sign from the Old West cartridge and the cow's head from Animal Kingdom.  The font for the inside and the outside of the card are from the Old West cartridge.  It's chow-time so adios!!             Patty

Get Well Wishes and Birthday Celebrations!!

                                                            

I've got a sick neighbor so I've worked this weekend on a "Get Well Soon" card.  I thought it turned out pretty well, so I decided to post it.  I think the theme and colors should cheer the sick.  I used paper from the DCWV Flower Shower Spring Stack.  I used my Give a Hoot and Garden of Words Cricut cartridges to cut the embellishments.  The flower pot was cut at 5 inches and the bunny rabbit and shadow at 1 3/4 inches. I used crystal Stickles to highlight the bunny and his pom pom tail.  The floral and butterfly embellishments are from DCWV.

Click on Images for a Larger View

For the birthday card, I've been longing to do something in basic black and white.  I used a white pre-cut card and added a strip of black cardstock.  I then used an adhesive border from Colorbok.  I layered smaller pieces of black and white cardstock under my "celebrate" chipboard tag.  I placed a couple of black and silver brads for added effect. I then added a black ribbon bow and my metal embellisments.  I recieved these metal embellishments in a huge, filled, scrapbook caddy.  I've been trying to figure out the best place to use them and I think they made a nice addition to this card.  I topped them with a little, pale-green, crystal stud.  The inside of the card has a stamped "Happy Birthday" message incorporating the theme from the card front.  

I hope you like both cards.  I've been blogging for about a month now and really enjoy it!  Watch my blog soon for some "Welcome to My Blog" blog candy.   I'm gathering up a nice bundle that you will really enjoy!!   Thanks for visiting!!                            Patty