June Christmas cards...

I did have June's Christmas cards and tags finished by June 25, per my commitment to myself ... I just didn't get them posted. There were too many things happening last week.

Since my last day of work was Friday (and I work from home), I had to get my computer cleaned up and ready to send back to my employer. This took a while, since I am not one to delete emails and files as I go. I'm always afraid that as soon as I delete something, I'll need it! I also wanted to make sure that I did everything I could to make it as easy as possible to train the person who will take my place. I created documents explaining, step-by-step, some of the more complicated duties I had, and I also created folders of the letters and other documents I had written (there were thousands!) so that the next person can draw on these for ideas when they take over my writing duties. I hope these preparations are helpful and make the transition easier for my supervisor and for the people who depended on the work I did.

So, that brings me to today--my first "real" day of retirement. And where am I?  Sitting at my computer typing away. But this time, it's only for the fun of doing it...and it really feels good!

Here's my first Christmas card for June. I used the Winter Wonderland cartridge for this and the other ornaments I've used here.

The lacy edge on the red CS was a Marianne Creatables die that I like very much.










The ornaments on these cards are a little fussy to cut and put together, but I love their intricate designs.

I was a little disappointed with having heat-embossed the sentiment in gold. I wish now that I had used an off-white embossing powder, because it doesn't show up as nicely as I wish it did. Oh well. There's always a next time.

Here's the inside of this card. You can really see the detail in the border die on that center piece of CS.

The ornament on this card is one of my favorites in the Winter Wonderland cartridge.  It's really simple, but I love the greenery and berries at the top of it. As you can see, I used a little gold glitter CS for some extra sparkle.

The inside is very simple--just a gold-embossed sentiment in a pretty, swirly font.

This was the very first ornament I cut from the cartridge. I like the addition of the flat-backed pearls on this one. And once again, I used some gold glitter paper. I've now used up all my gold glitter paper. Darn! Guess I'll need to go shopping (he he).

This very simple card was actually my favorite. I love the snowflake-embossed background. The gentle color really lets the ornament take center stage. My one disappointment on this card was the way the Liquid Pearls flattened out. I should have used my Viva Decor pen. Those pens tend to make nicer, rounder pearls. I still like this card, though, and I even like the inside!

I embossed only the top of the sentiment panel and then heat-embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder.

I always make some holiday cards that say "Merry Christmas" and some that say "Happy Holidays" because we send them to our non-Christian friends, as well. I want them to know that we are thinking of them and wish them well, even if they celebrate different holidays or no holiday at all. And we often get holiday greetings in return from them, so it's a nice exchange. Do you send holiday cards to non-Christian friends, such as Jewish, Muslim or even Buddhist families? To families who practice no religion at all?

Finally, here's a picture of the tags I made this month. The little rectangles were all part of a page in one of my 6" X 6" paper packs. I just cut them out and added them to a die-cut tag, along with some twine or ribbon and wee bit of embellishment.

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

Happy 39th birthday shaker card...

My daughter turned 39 today! I can hardly believe that I have kids that age. She's a professor at a local university, but I still think of her as my "kid." For her birthday card, I decided to try my hand at a shaker card. This was a first for me, but I had a good time making it, so I'll definitely make more in the future.

These were the different pieces of the card before I had it all put together. The sequins are old, old, old. Most of them probably were my mother's and she passed away 22 years ago!

I created a thick frame to support the "39" panel and to make room for the sequins. I made this frame by cutting 8 frame layers out of white cardstock with my Cricut and the Elegant Edges cartridge. I then adhered them all together.

You can see in the photo that I inked the edges of the frame with a navy blue ProMarker to match the navy blue "39" panel.

Here you can see the thickness of the frame with the 8 layers of cardstock glued together.

I used a piece of clear packaging plastic directly behind the openings of the two numbers to create a little window to showcase the sequins. The sentiment was created on my computer. It took a while to cut out all the pieces for this card, but once that was done, it actually came together very quickly.

I had to glue the little circle onto the clear plastic in the center of the 9.  I used some glossy accents for this and it worked perfectly. To find the correct spot for this little circle, I simply set the 9 back in place, glued the circle down and then lifted the 9 back out again.

I used the same label shape for the inside sentiment and added some sequins for sparkle.

I'll use a white gel pen to sign the card on the navy blue patterned CS below the sentiment.















Here's one more look at the card with the sequins shaken inside the frame. The colors in these photos are a little strange--not true to life at all--but I'm hoping to learn more photography skills in the near future. Today is my last day of work (tomorrow I am joining the ranks of retirees), so I am planning to pursue some other fun things, like learning how to take better pictures.

I hope my daughter has an outstanding 39th birthday! I know I've had several of them, he he.

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

Washi tape/glitter tape thank you card...

Here is a quick card I made today that was so much fun and so quick and easy!

I started with a black card base. I rounded one corner and then cut a slightly smaller white mat, also rounding the top right hand corner.

I selected the Washi and glitter tapes that I wanted to use, and just started laying them onto the mat at an angle. Because the Washi tapes are so thin, I simply wrapped the ends around the edge of the mat. The glitter tape was quite a bit thicker, so I cut it off at the edge of the mat.

Once I had placed all my tapes, I found the stamp that I wanted and, using my Fiskars stamp press, I stamped "thanks" three times.

To make sure I got them placed fairly evenly across the card, I stamped the left "thanks," then the right one, and lastly I centered and stamped the middle one.

This card is actually much prettier IRL. I tried to capture the sparkle that the glitter tape adds in this photo. Still not sure it does justice to the card, though.

I will definitely be making more of these cards. I have quite a bit of Washi tape, thanks to one of my daughters, so this may be my go to thank you card for a while. I'd like to make a whole set of them in different colors to have on hand.

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

Happy Birthday, Slugger!

One of my handsome grandsons turned 9 on June 19. He's been playing baseball this summer (or maybe it's softball) and hitting live pitches for the first time. I thought it was a good time to capitalize on this new sport in his life, so here's the card I made for him:

I cut the bat and ball from "Best Images of 2008," the cloud from "Everyday Paper Dolls."  The sun was cut with a Spellbinders reverse scallop circle die and the grass was made with a Fiskars border punch.

The sentiment was printed with the help of my computer and then cut with a Lifestyle Crafts ticket die.

To dress up the inside just a wee bit, I doodled a border with a red gel pen.

This card was given to my grandson along with a Minnesota Twins baseball cap. The word on the street is that he really likes that hat! I hope I get to see him in it soon, and maybe even watch him play ball this summer.

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

Some days you're the dog...

Today is my BIL's birthday. He has had a dog for years, so I thought that a dog-themed card would be a good choice for him. I cut the fire hydrant from the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge and the dog from the Four-legged Friends cart. I used a Fiskars border punch for the grass, and the sentiment is computer generated.

The fire hydrant was only a one-layer image, but I cut three of them so I could adhere two together for stability and cut one apart to use for layers. I colored my layering pieces with some different shades of red Spectrum Noir markers before I adhered them. I think this really gave the hydrant a dimensional look. I added a little silver brad to the center circle before I adhered the whole thing to the card. Did you notice that I put the hydrant behind the grass and the dog on top of the grass?

The inside of the card is very simple. In retrospect, I feel like I should have at least put a grass border along the bottom. Oh well, next time, I guess.

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

"Down to the wire" Father's Day cards...

My sister and I both managed to leave our Father's Day cards for our husbands until nearly the last minute. Guess we're cut from the same cloth, so to speak.

It's pretty obvious to me that my sister works well under pressure! Here's her cute card:

 The "Happy Father's Day" oval was cut from the Father's Day cartridge and her fence was made with a Martha Stewart punch. That little golf bag is a button, believe it or not, and the golf balls are flat-backed pearls. The golf cart is a Jolee sticker and looks just like my sister and her husband's actual cart, I'm told.

I love the textured green cardstock she used for the grass. It looks almost real! And the cloud-patterned DSP for the sky was perfect. I need to get my hands on some of that!

The inside of her card is really cute, too, with a golf ball button - I don't know where she finds these cute buttons! - and a couple of die cuts to frame her sentiment.

Both she and her husband love to golf, so this is perfect for him.





My father's day card is much simpler, and decidedly mushier. I figure that's okay, though. I'm kind of a "mushy" person. He he

The gold-colored mat was embossed, but I'm not sure about the brand of the folder - it could very well be a Darice folder. I have quite a few of those. I cut the sentiment (and its mat) with a Spellbinder's die. "World" is printed from my computer using Word Art in MS Word. It's difficult to see in the photo, but the letters actually have a gradient color shading to them, going from top to bottom. I inked around the sentiment die cut and banner with some yellow ink and popped the banner up on some foam tape.

For the inside verse, I found a long poem by Helen Steiner Rice. I excerpted a couple of verses and changed them a bit to better fit what I wanted to say. My husband is such a kind and gentle man, and I wanted to express that in this card.














I also used this card design to make a birthday card for my brother-in-law.  The front of his card looks the same, but the inside, of course is quite different.

On his card, I added a strip of my envelope-punch-board-rickrack.

I'm not sure what we'll be doing on Father's Day, but I guess I'd better start thinking about some special dishes to prepare and maybe an activity or two (a fun bike ride?) to mark the day. I certainly hope the weather improves. Today, it is raining and blowing like mad. You'd think we lived in hurricane country, when in fact, we're in the middle of Minnesota! A while ago I heard a distant "crash" and wondered if a tree had been torn out of the ground by the extreme gusts of wind. There are certainly plenty of smaller branches strewn around by the storm!

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are. Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Lovely butterfly "hello" card...

I made this card for a friend who is also a member of our in-law family in Germany. She and I help each other buy dies that are more readily available (and less expensive) in our respective countries. She helped me purchase this beautiful butterfly die from Marianne Creatables. Now I know that these dies are available here in the U.S., but this one (along with a few others) happened to be less expensive in Europe where they are made. I'm so glad she helped me get it, because I really like it!

Don't you love the detail of this die? It cuts beautifully and comes out of the die quite easily.

The white doily  was cut with a Lifestyle Crafts die, and then I embossed it with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

The "hello" on the front of the card is an old Cuttlebug die - one of the first I ever owned, but I still use it quite a bit. I love the cursive look of this one.

On the inside of the card, I added a narrow scalloped strip of the DSP edged with a piece of the brown cardstock. Then I added a much smaller butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch.

I liked how this card turned out, and I think I'll be making more of these. I may leave the sentiment off until I know how I'll use them.

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

Father's Day cards for my uncles...

My own father passed away in 2000, so now I like to send Father's Day cards to my two remaining uncles. I remember them when they were just young men. I thought they were the handsomest, most dashing guys on earth!

Here's the card I made for them this year:

I found this trophy on the All Sports cartridge. It actually has the silhouette of a baseball player that is supposed to go with it, but I simply left that out and added some sparkly letter stickers to spell out "All-Star Uncle," instead.

I used a Lifestyle Crafts die to cut out a few small stars to add because it just looked so plain and unremarkable without them.

The decorative strip on the inside was punched with a Martha Stewart punch called "Double Link Trim."  I thought it nicely mirrored the pattern of the DSP on the front of the card.

I hope my uncles enjoy these cards and know how much they are loved.

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

Masculine birthday card...or maybe a Father's Day card?

I've been too busy lately to do much card making, but I'd like to share a card my sister made. I don't know if she used this as a masculine card, but I think it would make a great one.

I believe she use the Spellbinders typewriter die for the image and added the little piece of paper with the stamped "birthday wishes" sentiment.

Don't you think this would be a great for a Father's Day card , too? The sentiment could be computer generated and made to look like it was the beginning of a story.  For instance, it could say, "Once upon a time there was a wonderful dad..." On the inside of the card it could say, "You're the hero in the story of my life. Happy Father's Day!"

I love the little brass brads she used for accents and the black rickrack against the newspaper patterned paper. It all just fits together so nicely. Great work, Michelle!

Well, that's it for me today. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

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