A quick gift for a pre-teen girl...

My granddaughter turned 11 years old earlier this month. Eleven can be a hard age to buy for - too old for toys, but not yet into the whole makeup and clothes scene. My granddaughter has pierced ears and loves to make things, so I decided to put together a little earring-making kit for her.

I had a small, compartmentalized, clear plastic box that had actually contained some card-making supplies. I simply filled it with a few pretty beads, cute charms and earring findings, along with a set of small tools that fit into the center section of the box. You can just see their pink handles peeking out.

I adhered a large label shape that had been cut with a Lifestyle Crafts die onto the top of the box. I also added some fun puffy stickers that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

I found some simple instructions online and edited them to better fit the supplies in this little kit and printed them out. I made a little instruction booklet with my Zutter Bind-It-All (love that tool!) and decorated the front and back covers of the booklet using the same paper and stickers that I had used on the plastic box.

This was a fun gift to give, and I hope my granddaughter has lots of fun making earrings! Since I've made lots of earrings in my time, I'll be able to help her get started.

Working on this reminded me of when I got my ears pierced. It was back in 1968 and I was 18 years old. I was in my first year of college, living in a dorm. My friends decided it was high time I had pierced ears (and I agreed), so we turned to our friend Barb who was in her second year of a four-year nursing program. Barb was our medical expert. Ha! She probably hadn't had any more science classes at that point than I had. Anyway, surgeon Barb took charge and held some ice cubes against my ear lobes to numb them. Then she held a potato behind each ear and stuck a BIG safety pin straight through them! Once the holes were there, Sue (the Resident Assistant or RA in our dorm) loaned me a pair of her gold earrings to wear until my ears had healed. We had nothing on hand but good old rubbing alcohol to disinfect my ears. Believe me, it stung! It all went exceedingly well - no infection, healed nicely, still wearing pierced earrings to this day!

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

Christmas cards for the month of May...

Continuing with my quest to make four or five Christmas cards each month leading up to December, I have finally finished my little batch of cards for May. I've been trying to have them done by the 25th of each month, but, sadly, this month I am a few days late. Just too much going on, I guess. You know how life can get in the way sometimes!

Here are the cards for this month, using the image of a mistletoe spray from the Winter Wonderland cartridge. We often see mistletoe with white berries, so I did a little research online and found that it can also have red berries. I was happy to learn this, as I really wanted to use red berries on my cards.

I cut the mistletoe at 2.5" and inked the edges of the leaves. Instead of cutting little circles out of red cardstock for the berries, I used a Viva Decor pen to add the berries and also a little dimension to the card. The sentiment was stamped with red Stazon ink and cut out with a Lifestyle Crafts die. The bow has actually been sprayed with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Dazzling Diamonds, but it just wouldn't show up in any of these photos.

This is the same basic card, except that I cut the DSP into three panels for a little interest.

I used a kraft card base for this card and a Lifestyle Crafts ticket shape for the sentiment. I also added some enamel dots in the corner for a little added adornment.

This one seems a little plain to me. Any suggestions on how to spice it up a bit?

For this final card, I cut wider borders and rounded the two bottom corners. I also added some additional "berries" with my Viva Decor pen in each of those bottom corners.

Finally, here is a sample of the inside of the cards.

I was able to achieve the 1/16" borders on the inside and on most of the card fronts by using my Perfect Layers tools from Perfect Papercrafting. If I didn't have them, I think I would be tearing my hair out trying to get straight and even borders.  I also use the cutting mat by Perfect Papercrafting. It is the BEST cutting mat ever! I don't know why it makes such a huge difference but it does and I highly recommend it.

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

Floral birthday card...

I saw a pretty card on Pinterest and decided to try my own version of it.

Starting with a pale pink card base. I topped it with a piece of slightly smaller white cardstock that I had embossed with the Swiss Dots folder and punched on one end with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch. I also added two embossed lines (using my scoreboard) between the dots and the punched border.

I cut "Happy Birthday" using some Impression Obsession dies. The flowers were cut with Fancy Blossoms dies by Memory Box and the leaves were made with an EK Success punch.

The butterfly is a tiny little Fiskars punch, one that I use all the time.

The flowers were punched from some pale pink DSP (you can just barely see the design in the paper), and then I inked the edges of each petal before I assembled them.

I added a little pearl to the center of each flower, as well as to each butterfly.

Here's a close-up of the Happy Birthday sentiment. It looks really washed out in this photo - my lack of photography skills is to blame - but it still gives you a better view of the die-cuts.

Please excuse the bad photos - I took them at night in my dark basement, so they're definitely not the best!

The inside of the card is pretty plain. I think I may still add some stamped or punched butterflies to spice it up a bit.



I hope you have lots of fun plans for this long weekend. We have lots of yard work to do, so I think that is what is going to keep us busy! I am anxious to get my flowers planted so that we have a bit of color around the exterior of our home.

Our grape vines are finally sprouting some green leaves. I'm looking forward to my little grape harvest. I always make some grape jelly for the coming winter. I used to do a lot of canning - 200 jars or more a year of varied fruits and vegetables. I canned my own spaghetti sauce, salsa, all sorts of pickles and relishes, tomatoes, etc. I also froze many bags of vegetables and fruits. Now that I live in the heart of an urban area, I don't have room for a garden, and the little space I do have is far too shaded to produce much. I don't know if I have the desire to do all that canning and freezing anymore, anyway. I still do a bit, and that's enough to satisfy any domestic whims that overtake me. Ha!

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

Star-struck graduation card...

I found inspiration for this card on Pinterest. It's a simple design, but I think I really like it. I used a Cuttlebug die for the larger stars and star frames and a Studio G punch for the smallest stars. The embossing folder that I used on the top section is the Darice Stripe Background 5" X 7" folder.

The stars were made from some glitter paper and the the ribbon across the center was some seam tape that I had in my stash that just happened to be the right color.

The sentiment is a digital one. Wish I could remember where I got it, but for some reason that piece of information has completely fled my brain. I probably have the info somewhere, and if I find it I will update this post.

The inside is simple with a computer generated sentiment. I used the same DSP for the mat as was used on the front of the card.

We had a beautiful day in Minnesota today. I am itching to get outside and do some yard work, but so far I've been delayed by other duties.  My husband and I are working hard on our RV--which we've named Gladys--getting her ready for our first camping trip. We bought Gladys from an elderly couple in Florida. We've had to do a thorough cleaning and a few repairs. Hopefully, we'll be done soon and she'll be road-ready! I can't wait.



In case you're wondering why we've named her Gladys - it stands for "glad us!" We're glad we finally have a little home on wheels that we can use to travel during our impending retirement. Gladys is a very tiny Class B Winnebago Rialta. You need to be happy living very simply in order to enjoy traveling in her.

Well, that's it for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Graduation cards...

My sister and I made similar graduation cards this year, so I thought I'd share them both with you.

Here's my sister's card:

I love all the detail she added: the embossed numbers, the mortar board and the "Congrats" banner tied around the zero. Such a nice touch!

My card is a lot plainer. I cut the numbers and their shadow from the George cartridge. Using the school colors of maroon and gold, I adhered them on a black mat for a bit of contrast. Since it was for a girl, I simply added a little bling.

Now when I look at it, it looks awfully plain! I guess I should have added some embossing, too!!

Here's an angle shot so you can see the bling a little better. I welded the gold shadow letters together using my Gypsy, but cut the maroon letters separately.

The inside seems a little too plain, too. Some embossing would have been nice here, as well. Guess I need to go visit my sister and take a few lessons on making cards!  When can I come, Michelle?


I have another graduation card to share with you, but will do that in another post.  Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Funny cat card...

Hope you enjoy today's funny cat card. I made two of these cards for my twin daughters' husbands, whose birthdays are only 8 days apart. I actually scanned a real check, then re-sized the image and printed it so that I could cut it out and adhere it to the card. You'll see in the photo that the check was completely filled out, but for posting here I have blurred some of the details to keep them private.

And here's the punch line...

Don't you love that cat image? I actually bought that stamp from my local craft store that offers donated and gently used items for sale. This stamp was one of those used items. 

I stamped it onto the front of the card, but then stamped it again on white card stock and colored it with my ProMarkers. I used one of my embossing tools to round out certain areas of the cat's body and then adhered it with some thick, double-sided adhesive that gives it dimension in certain areas. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Here's the second card - the same basic card. I just used a different card base.

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

Cheryl

Today is a special day...

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

I know that the biggest blessings in my life are the ones who call me mom. They have given me more happiness than I could ever give in return. I only hope the joy they know in their lives is even greater.

If you are a mother, grandmother, aunt, sister or special friend to a younger person, may you feel especially loved today.
Cheryl

First ever "card in a box"...

Today is my granddaughter's 11th birthday, and we'll be joining her for cake and gift-opening tonight. Grandchild birthday parties are always fun!

Here's the card I made for her:

I decided to try my first ever "card in a box," and I enjoyed putting this one together. The hardest part was deciding what the theme should be and then what elements I wanted to "pop" out of the box.

I had some fun cardstock with candy on it - jelly beans and lollipops - so decided to go with a "sweet" theme.

I hand cut the lollipops and added some cardstock sticks to them. I cut three ice cream cones from the Nifty Fifties cartridge and come cupcakes from Create a Critter 2.

The heart circle in the back is a Spellbinders die. I thought it made a very cute backdrop for all those sweet treats.

I added some sweet little buttons to the cupcakes to tie in the button DSP that I used to decorate the flaps.

I decorated each of the side flaps with one of the sweet treats, which I popped up on foam tape on top of a glittery scalloped circle.

I added a couple of the lollipops to the back of the box, along with the sentiment, and I left some room to sign our names.

The little row of jelly beans at the bottom was cut from patterned cardstock. I also fussy-cut a few of the jelly beans and adhered them to the sides of the box just above the pale pink ribbon. You can see them just peeking out in the first picture and in the photo below.




Here's how the card folds up. One of the lollipops is peeking out the left side, but it still all fit in a regular envelope that I had on hand.







This card was a bit time-consuming, but a lot of fun. I think I'll be able to pull one together a little more quickly next time around. I've already got some ideas in my head.

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

Mother's Day cards...

Edited to add:  this card made the Top 3 on this post at My Craft Spot!

I have two wonderful aunts that I like to remember on Mother's Day with some handmade cards. Here is the card I made to send to each of them:

Now I know that Mother's Day cards are usually spring flowers, and these chrysanthemums are definitely not associated with this time of year. I had this pretty paper, however, and I really wanted to use it. The striped piece on the left is one side of the paper, while the tiny print on a gold background is the other side. The rich colors just said "mums" to me, so I went with this pretty Flourishes stamp.

I colored the image up with my ProMarkers, using at least two colors for each flower and three different greens for the leaves. This was so easy to color up, and even my DH was impressed with how it turned out. He said, "Did you use those special markers to color this? Wow!"

I used one of my button dies to make a little red scalloped button to put on the end of my sentiment banner.  I used a piece of crochet thread to tie a tiny bow. I have a hard time leaving buttons naked on my cards.

I inked around the banner and the circle die-cut (flowers) with some Mustard Seed Distress Ink.

Here's a peek at the inside of the card. I repeated the circle die-cut on the black doily (Lifestyle Crafts die). I also used another piece of that pretty printed paper on a black mat.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
My Craft Spot - #136 Mother's Day or Spring
Craftin Desert Divas - Mother's Day
Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog - Ribbon, Lace and Twine, Oh My!
Art Impressions - #135 Cute as a Button

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

Happy birthday to my older (and much wiser) sister...

I made this card for my sister whose birthday is today.

  Happy Birthday, Pat! 

The image is by Inky Antics and is from the Worldly Women #1 set. I have paper pieced her dress, shoes and purse, and I flocked her boa with some black flocking mixed with black glitter. If you look closely, you may just barely see some of the sparkles in the flocking.

I think this image is fabulous. She actually reminds me of my paternal grandmother, who was a great lady. Every day, my grandmother put on her matching costume jewelry (always earrings and necklace, sometimes brooches, bracelets or other pieces, too) and dressed as though she had places to go and people to see, even if she didn't.

When my Grandpa Isaac was still alive, they loved to go to Las Vegas every year. I don't know if she actually gambled, but I think she loved the bright lights and "glamour" of the place.

My sister doesn't wear flashy jewelry, but she has her own sparkle, and I thought she'd get a kick out of this image.

I changed the sentiment that came with the stamp to say "We've entered...," rather than "I've entered..." I didn't want this card to be about me, but I thought it was okay to include myself as a participant in the "snapdragon part of life." I used my computer to print it and then cut it out with a Lifestyle Crafts die.

Here's the inside sentiment with the "punch line." You can see that I've chalked the scalloped oval just a bit, which mirrors the oval on the front of the card. I like the addition of this bit of pale pink, and I think it sets the sentiment off nicely.

Well, I hope my sister has a really great day and an even better year. I also hope this card makes her smile.

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

A tailored thank you and some big news...

This thank you card started with a pre-made card blank. I added a coordinating striped mat and then dug out one of my oldest dies -- the Cuttlebug "With Gratitude" die. I used it to cut out the "thanks" and then used some Lifestyle Crafts nesting dies (frame #8) to cut the stacked labels.

This Cuttlebug die is a really old one--it was actually one of the first dies I ever owned--but I still like it. I haven't used it in a long time, so it was fun to dig it out again.

While the ribbon and the biggest square die-cut look black in these photos, they are actually a very dark green. They match a dark green stripe (which also looks black) in the patterned cardstock. Sure wish I could get truer colors when I take photos!






And now for my big news: I turned in my notice yesterday that I will be retiring at the end of June. My DH and I plan to use the next few years to travel and see some more of this great big country of ours. Of course, we may also take a few trips to other countries, but we will focus a good deal of our time visiting all those places in the U.S. that are currently on our bucket lists. I plan to continue blogging as best I can. I know many people take their computers and blog from the road. We'll see how that works for me.

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