Fun birthday cards...

I saw the idea for this card so long ago that I can't remember where it was. I think it was somewhere online, but it could have been in a store. I always look at the card section when I go to the drugstore.

I created the sentiments with my computer and found some free clipart for the images.

I thought the sentiment was pretty hilarious.  I sized it to fit a stitched rectangle die with rounded corners.

The chicken was fussy-cut and popped up on foam dots.

Just to keep it interesting, I made this one as a landscape, top-folding card.

I had to create the sentiment on the inside because the card I saw was blank on the inside. I think this sentiment works well for a birthday card, though.

I love to make cards that make people giggle. Do you have some favorite funny cards that you make? I know Riley and Co. has some really funny stamps. I don't have any of them, but I love their hilaraious creativity.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Easter die-cuts from a friend

 My friend, Donna (Design By Donna), kindly sent me three Easter die-cuts that included a line of cute bunnies in different positions with some embellishments like bows and carrots. Thank you so much, Donna!

I have made three Easter cards like this one:

I placed the line of bunnies behind a grassy plain. I added a little pink cardstock behind the cutout openings in the ears, a little pink chalk to their cheeks and a black dot for each eye. I also glued on the bows and carrots that Donna had included. She had cut everyuthing out of white cardstock, so it was easy-peasy to use a few alcohol markers to color them.

There are some small pieces of foam tape behind each bunny's head and ears to pop them up just a bit and add some dimension.

I cut a few clouds, inked their edges and glued them to my sky, except for the smallest one, which was popped up on foam tape.

The scripty sentiment was die-cut and adhered.

The sentiment on the inside was printed with my computer.

I die-cut two small Easter eggs for embellishments. I think some of my grandloves will enjoy receiving these.

I saw a card similar to this one on Pinterest. First, I covered the front of my A2 card with some blue DSP. Then I die-cut a branch, three eggs and three tiny bows, all from paper scraps. I also used a scalloped border die to cut the pretty edge on the card front.

After gluing down my branch, I used a white gel pen to draw three white lines to look like threads hanging from it. Then I glued on the eggs and bows.

This is what the card looks like on the inside when it is opened. Both sentiments were stamped.

It feels good to finally have a start on my Easter cards. I hope to make enough of them this week to send to family and friends. At the same time, I am making some to donate. In fact, yesterday I took eight Easter cards along with 8 all-occasion cards to the thrift store.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Thanks and Sending Hugs...

 

I bought this tree die not long ago, and this is the first time I've used it. It is just great for making quick cards, and I think it can be used for lots of different occasions. It would even make a cute anniversary card or Valentine.

After making my card base and adding the panel of patterned paper, I die-cut a scalloped rectagle out of white cardstock. Then, I centered the die on the white panel and ran it through my Big Shot. I centered this panel on the DSP and added a die-cut sentiment.

 

This card was made the same way as the first one. When I have some extra time, I may try the inlay method and cut all the little pieces from different color cardstock and then inlay them back into the die-cut. That will definitely take some extra time and patience, but I'm sure it would look really nice.

This is the sentiment inside the thank you card.

And this was the setniment I stamped inside the Sending Hugs card.

I am adding these cards to Darnell's (DJKardKreations) post about using dies per her IDEAS calendar. Check out her post for an explanation of what IDEAS is all about.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Two for St. Pat and a few chirpydoodles...

 

The bookbinder fold makes a quick and easy card for St. Patrick's Day. I decided to add some texture to my shamrocks this time and embossed each one with a different folder.. The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and popped up on a foam circle. A couple of gems and a baker's twine bow finished the front.

The inside had a stamped sentiment and a tiny die-cut shamrock.

I made a couple of these cards last year. They sell well at the thrift store because the sentiment, printed with my computer, is so much fun, so I decided to make some this year, too. 

The frog was die-cut, and I added some googly eyes to make this card even more fun. 

The little holographic shamrocks on either side of the last couple lines of the sentiment were stickers I had in my stash. They were the same size and shape as some in the DSP pattern.

I added a little of the DSP to the inside, along with a punched border and another little shamrock.

This sentiment was also printed with my computer.

I dug into my scraps to make a couple of chirpydoodle cards. The bodies were made with oval dies, the wings with heart dies and the tails and combs with a flower die. I inked around the edges of the wings and then popped them up with a foam square. I also put a little foam tape between the two halves of the folded oval to add a little dimenson.

Of course, I had to add some googly eyes to these chirpydoodles, too. he he

The legs and feet were drawn in with a felt-tip pen.

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside.

I used the bookbinder fold for this card and added a couple of tiny butterflies.

For this chirpydoodle's feet, I used a small flowerstem die from a set that cuts a variety of flowers. I'm not sure if I like these feet or the drawn-in ones better.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside to finish the card.

These cards were so much fun to make. If you haven't tried your hand at chirpydoodles yet, you really should! They would be fun for kids to make, too.

I am happy to share that my grandson's swim team WON the State AA Championship! It was such an exciting meet.The top score waffled back and forth between Patrick's team and their chief rivals from one of the Minneapolis suburbs. They managed to take the lead for good in the last few events.

My grandson, Patrick, is in the back row on the far right with a big grin on his face.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Double pop-up card...

I'm always looking for pop-up cards to make. I think they offer a nice element of surprise to the recipient. I recently found one on Splitcoaststampers. You can find their video tutorial here.

I already had a red, polka-dotted card base, so I popped up a birthday sentiment on the front that had been die-cut and adhered to a white shadow. 

This was such a large sentiment, that I didn't think the card needed much more on the front. I have some fireworks stickers, so I cut one of those in half and added half to the top and the other half to the bottom of the sentiment. 

This is what the card looks like when it is opened. The two images pop out from underneath the sentiment panel. It actually can lay flat if it's opened all the way, so the giver can sign beneath the sentiment.

All of the images were stamped with Memento ink and colored with alcohol markers.

Well, Old Man Winter tried to stage a last hurrah. At least I hope it's his last. We got 9.5 inches of heavy, wet snow, along with winds up to 50mph this week. Luckily, Minneapolis is well-equipped to handle snowstorms like this, and the sanding trucks and plows were out all night long during the storm and all day the next day cleaning up the roads. We city dwellers are on the go again, and I spent yesterday volunteering at the thrift store.

Mickey doesn't complain about the snow at all. He LOVES it!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #217: Anything Goes or (Option) Purple & Green...

 

It's the first week in March and time for our next challenge at Let's Craft and Create. Even though "Anything Goes" is always a creative option, this month we're also challenging you to make something using the colors purple and green.

I decided to get a head start on my Mother's Day cards using the purple and green option.

After choosing the purple DSP, I added a lilac ribbon before adhering it to a green cardbase. 

I die-cut a leafy wreath in two different shades of green and layered them. I also cut some berry sprigs from purple glitter cardstock. I cut the sprigs apart into tiny twigs of berries and then glued them randomly to the wreath I know they're a little hard to see in the photo.

"Happy Mother's Day" was heat embossed with purple embossing powder onto lilac cardstock. I die-cut it and popped the circle up with foam dimensionals.

On the inside, I added a stamped sentiment and a narrow strip of the DSP, matted with the green cardstock.

I also added a couple of leaves and some of the berries for a little embellishment.

Everyone on the design team is looking forward to your entries, whether they fall under "Anything Goes" or "Purple & Green." And don't forget to check out this month's prize at Let's Craft and Create.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Happy retirement...

 In my quest to make a variety of cards to donate, I decided to make a couple of retirement cards.

I decided to make one of the cards decidedly feminine and the other one suitable for a male.

The scalloped, wavy strip across the center was made with a die that came with quite a few sentiment stamps curved to fit. After adding my two papers, I popped the strip up on foam tape and added it over the seam.

You can see that I inked the die-cut's scalloped edges with a bit of pink. The fussy-cut flower (from the DSP) and the gems were the only embellishments.

This card was made much the same way, except I cut the scallopes off the curvy strip and glued it directly onto the card front after adding my white, die-cut sprigs. Since this is a masculine card, I didn't add any other embellishments.

Just a simple, stamped sentiment on the inside finished each card.

Sometimes I go long stretches when I forget that I have sets like this die with its coordinating sentiments. It's a good thing I have to clean out my crafting space every once in a while, because then I come across them!

This past weekend, we went to my grandson's Section Championship Swim Meet. He swam in four events and came in first on every one of them (see those first-place medals hanging around his neck?). And he didn't just win them--he won them by a lot! We're so proud of him. 

His team ended up winning the championship with 690 points. The second-place team had 238 points. It was so much fun to watch them perform so spectacularly. I hope they are able to do just as well at the State Championship Meet, which will be their next big competition.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl