Happy birthday 10-year-old...

 

When I am making kids' birthday cards to donate to the thrift store, I sometimes like to put ages on them. This doesn't seem to limit their saleability. Who knows, maybe it even enhances it!

I saw a similar card design on Pinterest, but gave it my own twist. I had these two pre-printed card bases in my stash (they've been there for years!) and it was time to use them up.

I used an old Cuttlebug embossimg folder for the pink circle. This particular embossing folder is one of the first ones I got when I started making all my own cards. When I put my circle into the folder, I made sure the embossed area would include a complete "happy birthday." That way it could also serve as a sentiment. I backed the pink circle with a larger, wonky-scalloped circle and adhered it to the card.

The "10" circle and the ice cream cone were die-cut and popped up. I also did a bit of inking on the ice cream and the cone.

I made this card exactly the same way, except the white circle was deckle-edged. I thought about making the ice cream chocolate instead of strawberry on this one, but decided against it. Most young kids I've known--both boys and girls--have preferred strawberry.

I added a stamped sentiment to the inside to finish the cards.

If you're in the U.S., I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday. Are you taking part in "Black Friday" shopping? I have gone out in years past a few times (I could count them on one hand), but it's not something I actually enjoy. I prefer to purchase Christmas gifts earlier in the year, if at all possible.

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

Cheryl

Pastel Christmas scene...

 

This card was made with a lovely AI Christmas scene that was offered for anyone's personal use on one of the AI Facebooks sites. I thought it was so pretty and would be perfect for a few Christmas cards.

I started with a light blue A2 card base, turning it 90 degrees to create a top-fold card. Then I cut an inch off the bottom front. "Merry Christmas" was die-cut from the inch piece that I cut off and adhered to the inside panel of the card.

All I did to embellish the scene was to add some glitter along the tops of the snowy hills. It adds a wonderful sparkle!

When the card is opened, you see the stamped sentiment on the inside. I used blue ink, as close to the color of the card base as I could get. 

There is still plenty of room to sign the card.

I made several of these cards, and I may even make a few more. I just love the softness of this scene.

I want to wish all of you that are celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to gather with loved ones and enjoy a special meal together. We will be at my daughter's house, along with my brother and possibly some of my daughter's family friends. We are definitely looking forward to it!

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

Cheryl

Jingle all the way...

 I have been busy making Christmas cards. I plan to be done making them for my own personal use before Decenber 1. I will continue making them to donate to the thrift store, but the pressure will be off.

I made these two cards using a couple of card bases I had made from some heavy, teal and white cardstock. 

Of the two cards, this one is my favorite. I die-cut some jingle bells from silver holographic cardstock. I put them on a silver cord and fixed each one in place on a die-cut panel with a dimensional.

After adding a bow and a popped up sentiment strip, I adhered the panel to the front of my card.

I love the way the holographic cardstock reflects the colors around it.

This card was made in exactly the same way, but with snowflakes.

This time I added some gems to the snowflake centers for a little sparkle.

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside of each card.

While teal is not the usual Christmas color. I really like how these turned out. I only wish I had more than a single sheet of the teal print!

Do you have a favorite non-traditional color for Christmas cards? I know I've seen some beautiful pastel ones.

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

Cheryl

Christmas cards in nontraditional colors...

 

I had some leftover copper metallic cardstock after finishing my Thanksgiving cards. It's such nice cardstock, so I decided to make some Christmas cards with it.

These are very simple cards that let the copper poinsettia be the star of the show. The leafy layers are attached with a brad in the center. Remember when we used to use brads all the time? I added a strip of the copper cardstock across the center to anchor the flower.

I have some copper embossing powder, so I used that to heat-emboss the sentiment on this card. 

The sentiment on the second card, pictured at left, was die-cut and inlayed into the label shape.

Both sentiments were popped up on foam tape.

I used some copper-colored metallic ink to stamp the sentiment on the inside.

This card started with some purple reindeer cardstock and a pre-cut card base from a partial kit that I had in my stash. I don't recall what this fold is called, but it requires lots of bits and pieces to finish it. (ETA: Crafty friend Lynette reminded me that this is called a "tri-shutter" fold. Thanks, Lynette!)

I punched and die-cut the snowflakes. The snowman is an AI image that I printed out and then adhered to a lacy-edged circle die-cut. The sentiment was heat-embossed with silver EP, die-cut and popped up with a foam square.

This is what the card looks like when it is fully open. As you can see, I minimally embellished this card.  I thought the fancy fold was eye-catching enough without adding decoration to every surface.

The stamped sentiment leaves plenty of room for me to sign the card.

I had four of these card bases, so I made them all into Christmas cards. 

On Wednesday, my DH and I went to our usual outdoor Tai Chi class. It was SO cold! The wind was blowing like mad and the temperature was in the 20s. I'm not sure what the windchill was, but my fingers were numb by the time class was over, even though I was wearing fur-lined gloves. That class is not for sissies! We meet outdoors all winter long unless it's storming or the temps drop below 0. Next time I'll wear my heavy mittens.

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

Cheryl

A birthday card for my granddaughter...

 My granddaughter's 18th birthday is today, and this is the card I made for her.

It's a very simple, die-cut design on the front of this 4 1/2" X 6" card. I used my computer to print out the sentiment and popped it up on foam tape. The fun part is on the inside.

When you open the card, a mechanism swings two small, square panels out from behind the popped up oval. This sentiment was also printed with my computer.

This is what the card looks like on the inside when it is fully opened. I added a pocket on the left for a cash gift. 

I added a die-cut image on a small circle to each of the pop-out squares, keeping with the theme of "cool."

Isn't that a fun mechanism? I actually saw a video that used a die that cut and scored the mechanism. I saw how it was done, guessed at the measurements and created one for myself...and it worked perfectly! 

I love making interactive cards, and this is one I will make again...if I can find that little slip of paper where I wrote down the measurements I used. LOL

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

Cheryl

Some final Thanksgiving cards...

Last night, as I was planning this post, I was sitting in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace. The warmth of a fire always feels so cozy on a chilly Autumn night.

This will be my last post of Thanksgiving cards this year, even though there are several more that I have made. It seems I would have to post every day to share all the cards I make, and I'm not willing to do that right now.

This card was made with an intricate AI image of a maple leaf. I loved the colors in it and tried to use some gems to highlight them.

Here;s a closer look at this unique design. 

I added a computer-generated sentiment on the inside.

This card came together because I had the embossed panel and the pumpkins on my desk. I lightly sponged some gold metallic ink onto the embossed dots. The embossed panel was a little narrow, so I added a matte gold strip to each side. I also heat embossed the stamped sentiment.

The biggest pumpkin was glued directly to the embossed panel and the other one was popped up on dimensionals.

I cut a leafy vine from the matte gold paper to accent the pumpkins.

The sentiment on the inside was stamped with gold metallic ink.

The blue-gray DSP and the solid CS on each of these cards is a nontraditional color for Thanksgiving, but I liked the contrast with the copper-colored maple leaf, which was die-cut.

This is a top-folding card where the top is 1/2" shorter than the back. The sentiment was glued directly to the card front and three flat-backed, blue-gray pearls were added.

When you open the card, you still see the strip of CS at the bottom.

I've added a couple of punched leaves to accent the stamped sentiment.

This cardbase is the same as the previous card, except that it is side-folding. I popped the sentiment up on some thin foam strips. I didn't have any more pearls in a blue-gray color, so I used a couple of single hole punches to punch some little circles from the copper cardstock. After I glued them to my card front, I added some clear Nuvo Drops to give them dimension. They look just like enamel dots IRL.

On the inside, I added a stamped sentiment and a smaller die-cut leaf.

I am in the final stretch of getting Christmas cards made for my personal use, so I will have lots to show you in the coming weeks. I will continue making them to donate to the thrift store, but I will no longer feel pressured to get them done for myself! Yay!

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

Cheryl

Flowery cards for different occasions...

 

I decided to take a break from sharing Thanksgiving cards and show you three cards I made a couple of months ago.

I had some flowery cardstock with matching punch-outs. I don't remember where they came from, but were probably leftovers from a partially used card kit. When the thrift store gets partial kits donated, they ask me if I can use them because they're not really saleable.

For this card, I started with an aqua card base and added the floral panel on the front. While it's difficult to see in this photo, the same color of aqua was included in the flower pattern.

Because the pattern was so strong, I covered it with a piece of vellum, holding it in place underneath the metallic gold banner. This nicely muted the pattern and let the focus be on the sentiment oval.

I popped up the scalloped oval after adding a little ink to the edges. Finally, I added a punch-out of the same flower that was in the background panel and three flat-backed gems.

This particular floral pattern really needed to be muted because the colors were so strong. I was happy with the way the vellum did its job.

Instead of blending a little ink around the edge of the oval, I used the ink pad to directly apply ink to the very edge. This makes the color a little more pronounced, but I like it.

This card was made using the same process as the first two. Once I had my steps determined, they all came together quickly.

Here's an example of what I did on the inside of each card. I adhered a pre-printed panel that was shaded with a light blue color and had some leafy sprigs at the bottom. I added a stamped sentiment on each one and three punched flowers.

As promised, here's a picture of my Thanksgiving cactus. The flowers are an unusual apricot color with hot pink stamens.

Did you know there are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cacti, depending on the shape of their leaves and when they bloom?

Here's a close-up of one of those blooms. I'm always amazed at the color contrast between the petals and the stamens.

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

Cheryl

Still more Thanksgiving cards...

 

I had purchased some arched rectangle dies recently and I wanted to use them on a couple of Thanksgiving cards. I thought they made a nice frame that could be popped up over one of those pretty treescape papers.

The banner at the top was stamped with Versamark and heat-embossed with gold EP, then cut out with the coordinating die.

I added a die-cut leafy sprig on each side of my frame to add some extra interest and dimension.

.I happened to have some little corner stickers in my Thanksgiving card supply box, so I used them on the inside of this card.  This was a larger card--4 1/2" X 6"--so I thought these stickerrs helped fill the inside and draw attention to the stamped sentiment.

I hadn't made this type of card in a very long time. When I've made them before, I have cut two panels from my main panel and then matted and stacked them, using dimensionals to raise each one. This time, I didn't want to detract too much from the pretty treescape, so I only cut one panel.

The sentiment and the mat for the smaller panel were cut from the same cardstock.

I glued the sentiment directly to the center panel where there was some nice contrast with the blue colors in the DSP.

I used a couple of leaf stickers to frame the stamped sentiment on the inside of this card.

This card was a new fun-fold for me. I don't recall its name, but it starts out as a modified Z-fold, where the right side of the fold on the front is narrower than the left portion.

The word "thankful" was die-cut from gold metallic CS and glued to the panel on the left.

When you open the card, this is what you see. I love that the entire scene is displayed.

The sentiment and a small leaf were stamped on the right panel.

This is a birds-eye view that shows you how the card was constructed. If you think you really want the directions for making this card, let me know and I will hunt them down for you.

My Thanksgiving cactus is now in full bloom. I hope to get a photo of it tomorrow, and if it's a decent one, I will share it in a future post.

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

Cheryl

More Thanksgiving cards...

 

These two cards were made from the same paper stack as the ones in my previous post. 

In fact, I used only one sheet of 6" X 6" paper and cut it in half and matted it before gluing each half to a card front. 

This is a top-folding card. I cut the top of the kraft card base 3/4" inch in on each side up to the fold at the top. Then, after attaching my tab on the left, I glued these sections down and added a 1/2" strip of the dark orange paper.

The tab is 1" wide and long enough to reach across the front of the card and tuck a small portion under the narrow left side.

I actually made it extra long and then cut it off and fish-tailed the end of it so that it came to the edge of my card front. Two die-cuts, one with a sentiment, were added to the center of the tab.

When the center portion of the card front is lifted up, this is what you see--a stamped sentiment and leaf.

I also cut a sheet of the DSP in half for these two cards. The A2 card base had an inch cut off the right had side of the front and a matted circle with a stamped sentiment was added.

I thought the treescape was a little plain, so I added a die-cut deer. I really liked how it looked on the card.

The dots at the top and bottom were made with Nuvo Drops.

The stamped sentiment was centered underneath the narrower card front, so it looks a little off-center when you open the card, but I think that's ok.

I still have a lot of Thanksgiving cards to share with you. I'm not sure I'll get them all posted, but I'll do my best.

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

Cheryl