Thank you in my favorite color...

I needed to add to my stash of thank you cards, so I pulled out some papers in my favorite color: purple!

Isn't that fancy thank you so pretty? It's an unbranded die set that also includes the little heart and leafy branch at the bottom. The heart has been popped up on foam tape. The lacy-edged circle is a Lifestyle Crafts die.

I've left the inside blank, as I do with 99% of my thank you cards.

Well, that's it for me--short and sweet! In my next post I'll tell you all about my train trip. I hope to share a few pictures with you, too.

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

A card for dad...

I've had these Cuttlebug alphabet tag dies for years and years. In fact, they were some of the first dies I ever bought. I got them on Craig's List shortly after I bought my Cuttlebug.

Isn't it fun to pull out old dies from time to time and use them again?

I backed my tags with some green CS that matches the green in my plaid cardstock. Then I tied a little green twine at the top of each and popped them up on foam tape. Easy peasy!

I had an issue on my inside panel when I printed it out with my computer--the sentiment was too far to the left! After thinking about it for a moment, I decided to just add a little bit of that plaid cardstock and a piece of twine to make the sentiment look more balanced. And truth be told, I actually liked the result.

When you read this post, we will be on the train on our way back to Minneapolis. We will first take the train from Vancouver, WA, to Seattle where we have a 5-hour layover. We actually planned it that way so that we could spend a couple hours with friends there. Then we'll board the train again for the 37-hour ride back to Minneapolis. We have reserved a "roomette" that has bunk beds, one of which turns into two chairs during the day. I'm actually looking forward to sleeping on the train, and I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

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

Father's Day is coming...

This was a quick and simple Father's Day card. The moustache is a sticker from a whole set of moustache stickers that my daughter gave me a couple of years ago. I'd only used one or two of them in all this time, so I decided it was time to use a couple more!

My sentiment was computer-generated.

My button was actually made with an Impression Obsession die. Doesn't it look real? I cut it out four times and glued them together in a stack to give it some strength and dimension.

The sentiment on the inside was stamped (I think with a Kaisercraft stamp). I added a strip of cardstock and a smaller button die-cut for a little embellishment.

Pretty simple card, I know, but it was fun to make. It will be donated to the thrift shop to sell there.

When you read this, we will be on our way to Portland, Oregon. I'm so excited to visit our kids out there. We don't get to see them nearly enough.

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

Twofer Challenge #5: Butterflies

This month, the challenge over at Twofer Card Challenge blog is butterflies. Well, I definitely had to join in as I have quite a few butterfly dies.

Here's what I came up with:

Since my stash of cards was getting low on both sympathy and thank you cards, I decided to make one of each.

I opted to make an all-white sympathy card. The background was dry-embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I cut a fancy label shape and a couple of butterflies (unbranded dies). The sentiment is from Technique Tuesday. I heat-embossed it with some silver embossing powder.

I used a Versamark marker to add some Versamark ink to the bodies of my butterflies. Then I covered the bodies with silver embossing powder and heat-embossed them.

The inside of my card is very simple (please excuse the bad photo). I heat embossed the stamped sentiment (also from Technique Tuesday) with some of the same silver embossing powder that I used on the front of the card. It's quite reflective, so I had a really hard time photographing it.

For my thank you card, I used some pretty DSP, which had some gold foil in the pattern. Can you see it in the first photo of both cards? I added some die-cut flowers (unbranded) and a scalloped oval (Lifestyle Crafts), to help showcase my butterfly. 

The "Thank You" sentiment was a freebie that came with a magazine. 

This time, for my butterflies body, I used some black Nuvo Crystal drops and drew on some antennae with a black fine-point pen.

I left the inside of this card blank so that a personal note could be written there.

I truly enjoy the Twofer challenges. They really spark my imagination, and I love trying to use the same dies or stamps in a couple of different ways.

My DH and I will be traveling most of next week, so I'm not sure how much posting I'll get done. I'll try to write and schedule a couple of posts to go live while we're gone, but I won't make any promises! 

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

Cheryl

Mother's Day has come and gone, but...

I still have cards to share that I made for that special day.

The two cards in today's post were commissioned by a friend for her daughter and daughter-in-law.

This card was made using a butterfly panel die (unbranded) and a computer-generated sentiment. I cut the butterfly panel out of turquoise cardstock, then cut it again out of shiny vellum. I "released" the butterflies from the vellum by carefully cutting them apart. Then I layered the vellum butterflies over the turquoise panel and added some flat-backed pearls from my stash.

Here you can see a little better how the vellum wings of each butterfly are bent slightly up. They were all adhered only under the body. Any apparent adhesive was covered by the pearls.

I searched the internet for ideas on what to say on the inside. I found a few ideas I liked and combined and changed them to suit my needs.

For this card, I once again used a couple of unbranded dies: poppies and bow. My dry-embossing was done with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

The bow on this card was cut out of the same shiny vellum that I used on the first card. It doesn't look so dark IRL.

I again looked for inspiration online for the sentiment inside this card. After combining ideas and making a few changes, I came up with this and printed it out with my computer.

I hope all who celebrated Mother's Day last Sunday enjoyed a very special day with loved ones. I had a wonderful day, with lunch at my daughter and son-in-law's home. I received flowers from my son and a gift certificate to a local plant store from another daughter. I also enjoyed phone calls with my children who live in other states.

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

Best fishes and an origami butterfly...

My son-in-law turns 40 this week and, because he is such a fun guy, I made him a fun card. I just love this card fold. It has become my "go to" fold when I want to make a 3D type card.

In this photo, you can see how I've suspended three fish on strips of acrylic. You can also see my pink "coral" a little better and the inside sentiment. The small blank panel on the bottom is where I wrote a short note and signed the card.

All the dies used in making this card were unbranded and the sentiments were computer-generated.

My granddaughter turned 15 this week, as well. I find teenage girls a bit hard to buy gifts for. They have very specific ideas about what they like (and I'm usually clueless!). I gave her a couple of small items (earrings and a book), and I also gave her a little money.

Here's the money I gave her:

I made an origami butterfly with a couple of bills. It was quick and easy, and you can find a video tutorial here. Since any denomination of bills can be used for this, it works for any size gift!

Here's a close-up of my butterfly. I probably could have worked a little harder on those antennae, but I figured she'd take it apart right away, anyway. I was right!

Today was a chilly day, only reaching the low 50s. Mother's Day is supposed to be fabulous, though, and I'm looking forwarding to it. If you're celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday, I wish you lots of pampering and love from your family and friends.

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

Are you tired of my Mother's Day cards yet?

I hope not, because I've got a couple more for you today.

This card features more of those unbranded dies I keep talking about. The lacy panel is one of those, as are the flower stamps with matching dies.

I just stamped a whole bunch of the flowers and foliage, cut them out with the matching dies and used them on various cards.

The gems are from my stash.

The interior of this card is pretty plain with just a computer-generated sentiment.

More unbranded dies were used here for the white background panel, the wood crate (cut from wood-patterned cardstock) and the grass. The flowers were some that I've had in my stash for ages. I actually got them at an arts and crafts second hand store here in the metro area. They were very inexpensive--like 25 cents for a small bag stuffed with at least a hundred of them. Every once in a while I put some of them to good use.

This card has another plain interior with a computer-generated sentiment.

Well, I have managed to get most of my annuals planted for this year. I still need to get a couple more, plus a couple of perennials and get them in the ground. Hopefully, I can take care of that this coming weekend. It always feels so good to get my planting taken done.

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #137: Ribbons, lace, twine OR anything goes...

I am so thrilled that Mother Nature has allowed Spring to make an entrance. That's important news in my neck of the woods, since we had the snowiest April ever! The arrival of warm weather also means it's time for our May challenge at Let's Craft and Create. This time we're focusing on using ribbons, lace or twine on our projects. Of course, you can always choose the "anything goes" option, but don't you have a little ribbon, lace or twine in your stash that is begging to be used?

Here's the card I made using a scrap of leftover ribbon and a little twine:

I needed a baby card as my niece just gave birth to a beautiful little girl. I had this cute little giraffe die (unbranded), and I really wanted to make a pink giraffe. With a green bow. Fun, right? Its darker pink spots were inked up while it was still in the die.

I cut my scrap of ribbon into three equal pieces, looped the ends together and adhered them behind my circle for a nice little embellishment.

My sentiment, by My Craft Spot (Bundle of Joy stamp set), was heat embossed.

This inside verse is from the same Bundle of Joy stamp set. I actually tried to stamp it with pink ink first, but I think my cardstock doesn't have a hard enough finish on its surface, because it looked a little fuzzy after stamping. That's why I finally stamped it in black, which was a bit clearer.

Now it's your turn to dig out the lace, ribbon and/or twine and create something fun. First, though, check out all my team members' makes over at Let's Craft and Create for some fabulous inspiration . And to tempt you just a little bit more, there is always a crafty prize up for grabs.

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

Mother's Day is around the corner...

...which is why I'm still making Mother's Day cards.

Here are a couple more I'll share with you today.

This card looks so delicate and pretty IRL. The pink band and the butterfly (MS punch) are both vellum. I heat embossed the sentiment and added a pearl to my butterfly.

My flower is an unbranded die with a pearl cluster added to its center. I bought a slew of these pearl clusters at least three years ago, thinking I'd use them often. They're pretty, but they add a significant "bump" to my card which requires extra postage, so I don't use them as often as I thought I would!

On the inside of my card I printed a sentiment with my computer and added a couple of tiny butterflies (Fiskars punch). The two butterfly punches that I used on this card get LOTS of use.

Here's another card using bold-colored cardstock that has some gold foil polka dots as a background for its floral pattern. It really is pretty.

I used a Spellbinder's fancy oval die for my sentiment and added a flower sticker from my stash that matched some of the flowers on the cardstock.

The fancy corner die-cuts were made with a Cheery Lynn die. I haven't used my corner dies in a long time, so I thought it was time to put them back to work.

To dress up my computer-generated sentiment on the inside, I fussy-cut one of the flowers on the cardstock and adhered it to a corner.

Since today is my oldest sister's birthday, I want to say,

Happy Birthday, Pat!

You can see the card I made for her here.

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

Cheryl

Origami boxes...

If you've read any of my posts recently, you know I make cards for a local thrift store. The thrift store sells them to support its various programs that help low-income families in the area. Those services include a weekly food shelf and daily bread give-away.

I've started to also make small decorative boxes to sell (very cheaply!) in the jewelry department. When customers buy jewelry at the thrift shop, it most often does not include a box. If they want to give it as a gift, they definitely want a box or pretty container for it.

Here's an example of what I make:

These are simple origami boxes that I've added a bit of embellishment to. If you want to learn to fold an origami box, check out these instructions. They're super simple. I use two different size squares of designer paper (not cardstock!);, one of them is cut 3/8" smaller than the other. The smaller square makes the box, and the larger square makes the lid.

Here's another view that shows you the depth of the boxes. You can use a little double-sided tape during the final step of putting these boxes together, if you wish, just to hold them a bit more securely.

I add a little shredded paper inside each box as a filler.

These have been popular sale items at the thrift shop - especially with Mother's Day looming.

If you have designer paper that you think you'll never use on a card, you could use it to make a box. And there's no rule that says the box and lid have to be made from the same paper. You could mix and match or use plain for one and patterned for the other. I hope you'll give it a try.

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