Happy Birthday to You!

So... no more rain... we didn't get that much after all... certainly not enough to melt all our snow.  But we did get ALOT of sunshine and awesome warm temperatures which took care of almost all the snow anyway... so we're all happy here!

I've got another birthday card to show you today!  I really love this one.  It's perfect for that man in your life!  Take a look!

I used Brushed Gold cardstock  and also used Gold EP.  And the other 'golden' idea I had was to colour some rhinestones with my gold Sharpie! Oh, I also used my colour spritzer tool with my gold Sharpie... it worked perfectly!

Here you can see a bit more of the detail.  I really have to do heat embossing more often, it can pack a real punch!  The part of the First Edition DSP I used was all about kangaroos... which is perfect, because my husbands family is from Australia!  I know my father-in-law will really like that!

On this last one I coloured pearls with my gold Sharpie... and I think I like it better than the rhinestones.

Here's one more card that I made... totally different, but using the same stamp set.

This one is really bright and fun in real life.  Well... hope you've enjoyed my cards today.  We'll see you tomorrow!

xo Anita

I'm Back!

Yes... after a few weeks hiatus... I am back!  It actually felt sort of nice to just focus on a few other things for awhile.  I was doing some crafting, but not a ton... mostly design team projects.  I do have a lot of cards to show ya'll... ones that I made during the Christmas break of all things!  And the last few days I've finally had some time to really get back into it again, so there are a few more recent ones.  I won't show them all in one post... my computer would probably crash!

Let's get started!

I STILL had some Sweet Pea Stitched Felt Accents from a couple years ago.  I decided to stop hoarding that now was as good a time as any to make some pretty cards and use up some retired cardstock at the same time!  They're pretty simple cards.  Some of them are personalized with a monogram for some of my nieces birthdays.  They all use pretty much the same colour combo and  I used a variety of current and retired supplies, which is pretty much the norm for me anyway!

Check them out!

This one I cased from somewhere, something... but seriously, I made this in the Christmas break, so I couldn't tell you anymore who or what!  To be honest I can't even remember what punch I used for those leaves!  (although it must have been the Build a Blossom punch!) 

This one was for my niece, Anna, who turned three a few weeks ago!  You might think this isn't a very fun card for a three year old... but she's a real little lady!

You can see I'm using up some of my Old Olive grosgrain ribbon too!  That stuff just seems to last forever!  I used my Cloudy Day EF on this one, and it was VERY cute when all was said and done!

 

Surprise!  (for me!)  This one was for my daughter Carlye who turned 9 in January, but I forgot I even had this till right now.  I totally gave her a way different birthday card!   And there are no other nieces whose names begin with "C".  Oh well, there's always next year!

And this last one was sent off to Katie, another niece, who celebrated a birthday at the beginning of January!

Don't you just love the way they all turned out?  I was pretty pleased with my morning's work!  Yes, these all took me just one morning to make!  That's what happens when you use the same group of supplies to make a lot of different cards... you get efficient!

OK, that's all for me for right now!  I'm going to try to get some more cards up here for you... because believe me... there are plenty!  Seeyou later!

xo Anita

Cutest Baby Ever! RS#95

Hi there!  I've got some adorable baby cards for you today using some Tea for Two DSP scraps, a fun sketch from RetroSketches and a few punches with stamps!  Check it out!

And here's my card!

A little closer view of the focal point!

Here's my 'boy' version!

Close up of the focal point on the boy version.

I made a baby girl version first... then loved it so much I changed up the card base colour from Pretty In Pink to Bashful Blue (both retired, I know!) to also make a baby boy version!  I am sending them out to a few friends who've had babies in the last little while!  I know the colours are retired, but I was using some Tea For Two scraps which is also retired, and these were the co-ordinating colours!  Because of that I decided to use up some of my old Bashful Blue and Pretty In Pink DSP to make matching envelopes!  A.dor.a.ble!  Just adorable!

Sorry for the picture quality... it has hardly gotten light here at all today.... VERY GLOOMY and DARK!

See you in a bit for another post with a Christmas card!  Yes, I know!

xo Anita

Cutest Baby Ever! PPA178

Oh boy... another post for today!  I was seriously on a roll this weekend with making cards!  So relaxing!  And that's good, because we have some serious yard work to do today!  So let's get right to it!

I am linking up with Pals Paper Arts for this one.

This is such an adorable colour combo and you could go in a few different directions with it... but I chose to go in the baby girl direction!  I really needed to make a few baby cards, mostly girl ones, so.... check it out!

Isn't it cute?  I did CASE the layout and idea from another demo, but with my own colours and stamps I made it mine!  That's what I love... there is just a wealth of great ideas out there from people who love to share!  Perfect!  I am definitely going to be re-creating this one in a boy colour combo as well.  I think it's so cute!  

Thanks for looking!  Have a great day!  

xo Anita

Thinking of You - HSSCC#170, SSSC195

Happy Friday to you all!  Another gorgeous day here... so I will be quick so I can get out there and do some much needed work!  

My husband needed a sympathy card at work large enough for about 30 guys to sign, so today's card is a 5 x 7 card.  It is also a hybrid card.  I started in MDS with a sentiment from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp brush set in Basic Black printed out on Naturals White CS.  I also have a stamp brush on the inside of the card.  I wish I could tell you which verse it was, but my hubby took the card to work already so I can't tell you for sure... but it's from the same stamp set.  I COULD open up MDS and see what it was again.... but I don't feel like it right now!  Just trust me!

Anyway, here's the card.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

You can see that I used the Inspired by Nature stamp set.  Love that set!  I 'stamped off' first in Garden green for the grass stamp, and stamped it a few times to make more grass.  I coloured the flower stamp in Garden Green and Tangerine Tango markers, 'huffed' on it to make it 'come back to life', and then stamped it on top of the grass.  I matted my focal panel with some more Garden Green and Elegant Eggplant to go along with the colour challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I was also using the sketch from the Sweet Sunday sketch challenge, so I placed a small scallop circle and button on the front of my card, just underneath the sentiment as well.  It really balanced it all out!

 

Oh, and because my card was not a regular A4 card size, I needed to make my own envelope... which looked very nice when I was done.... but I don't have the envelope punch board... YET!  I know now, I definitely need it!  I wish I had taken a picture with the envelope, but didn't.  It looked just that much more special with a matching envelope of Garden Green.  It's on my list of 'things to get'!

OK, that's it!  Have a fabulous weekend!  Perhaps I'll be back before Monday... hopefully!

xo Anita

Joy Fold Card-Birthday Wishes

Good morning!  Happy Thursday!  Today I've got a bright, happy colourful birthday card for you.  I love this one.  Not only is it eye catching because of the cheerful colour combo, but it's not your regular "scored in the middle" kind of card.  This is the joy fold.  Click here for a straight forward tutorial on how to achieve this look!  This card is still the regular A4 card size, so still fits in a regular envelope and is totally mailable.  Make one yourself!

Now, this is one of the cards that I found in my folder, not yet posted, so many of these items are also retired, or are Sale-a-bration items.  I cannot remember what the name of the DSP is, the stamped and punched owl inside of the card is also reitred, and the sentiment on the front is from sale-a-bration a few years ago.

The only supplies not retired are the owl, scallop circle and label punches, but use your imagination with DSP and stamp choices, and you could easily make this card yours.  it's so fun!

Come back later today for another card I made using this same little owl.  Isn't he adorable?

Masculine-Lovely As A Tree

Happy Wednesday!  Hope your week is going great!  We're halfway to the weekend!  Yay!

Today's card is pretty much the same as this one here.  I just changed the colours and stamps, nixed the sentiment, and WAH-LA.... a different card, but without all the figuring out of a layout, and all that jazz.  I often do this if I'm in a crunch to get a card quickly.  Oh, I know there are 10 minute cards out there, but it would take me 20 minutes to find them!  This way, I just check my own archives, find one that I can quickly recreate... and then.... DONE!

I love the colour combo on this card.  It's a very masculine looking card as well, which is great, because I never seem to have enough of those!  If I create just for fun, I usually make something pretty, or girly, or do some digi scrapping.  

Thanks for looking!  Hope the rest of your week is just fabulous!

xo Anita

Supplies:

Paper:  Old Olive CS, Whisper White CS,  Early Espresso CS, Daffodil Delight DSP, Early Espresso DSP

Ink:  Early Espresso

Stamps:  Lovely As A Tree

Accessories:  Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon, Brights Buttons, Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Sponges (Yellow Baker's Twine-contraband!)

Birthday Cupcake!

Here's another post for Tuesday... what can I say?  I am feeling generous!

I CASEd this card from someone but honestly cannot remember who.  If you recognize it, please give me a shout so I can give credit where credit is due.  This is a pretty self explanatory card.  The most difficult part was getting the flag banner centered!

Supplies:

Paper:  Pool Party CS, Whisper White CS, Soft Suede CS, Calypso Coral CS, Pool Party DSP

Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, Calypso Coral

Stamps:  Create A Cupcake

Tools:  Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch, Circle Punch

Thanks for looking!

xo Anita

With Sympathy

Happy Friday!  Woohoo! (only 2 more weeks till the kids go back to school!)  Except that means I go back too, and it actually gets alot noisier since I'm the one driving the bus!  Joke's on me!

Anyway, today is our 11th wedding anniversary.  Most people try to go out with just the two of them on these sorts of special occasions, but... we are not most people I guess!  We are going out with my husbands WHOLE family!  Fun, right?  Just happened to work out (or not!) that way, but it's all good!  The more the merrier!

Let's check out the card I have for you today.

WARNING:  When I made this card I had no appropriate sentiments from SU! that would fit on this piece of Whisper White, so I went right ahead and used some contraband.  Forgive me!  My bad!

Now that we've gotten past that, take a closer look at my card and leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

Have a great weekend!  xo Anita

Welcome, Little One

Love this little card I have for you today!  It's another baby card, and I actually made this one a long time ago.  There's a little contraband on this one... my ribbon and brads are non SU!  

It turned out so adorable didn't it?  The colour combo could be for a baby boy or girl, but if you wanted to go really girly girl, it would be so easy to substitute pink colours for the blue and yellow!

Thanks for looking!  Seeyou tomorrow!

Celebrate The Little One!

Good morning!  I have another baby card for you today!  This one uses a variety of different stamp sets and has alot of little details.  Sponging, paper piercing and distressed edges all combined with the colour combo to create a sweet card to welcome a new baby!  I stamped the greeting  and punched it out with my oval punch and layered it on a stamp from a totally un-baby related stamp set!  Cool, huh?

My colours for this card are Sahara Sand, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and So Saffron.  I love them together, although the Blue and Celery are now retired!

Stop by tomorrow for another card!

Animal Stories

Hello!  I'm back with some cards that I made some time ago, but I've not posted these yet.  You'll notice some retired SU! supplies on many of my cards.  I keep all the sets I buy... and continue using them as I am a 'discount' demo and don't do a lot of business!  So if you like seeing cards with some ideas for your retired sets, this is the place to come and look!

You can see another card I made like this one over here using a different stamp set and colour combo, but based on the same layout!  Handy, huh?

 

I am not sure what the lighter purple is anymore... it's been retired for a while now... I think maybe Lovely Lilac or Orchid Opulence.  It was the one that coordinated with the Cottage Wall DSP way back when.  

I am going to try to prepost a bunch of cards for the next couple weeks, so check back in for more!  Have a good weekend!

Way To Go!!! CCMC258, FabFri21

I found a little time here and there over the last couple days to make another card.  I wanted to make a card for one of my dearest cousins.  Shellie just graduated from a Registered Nurse program, and I had seen a little owl dressed as a nurse on Pinterest, so this was my chance to make it!  She turned out so cute... I made another one for a get well card. (I don't have any more cousins becoming nurses right now... that I know of anyway!)  But I'll show you the one I made for Shellie.

I used the colour combo from this week's challenge at Create with Connie and Mary and I also played along with the FabFriday sketch challenge.  This one was a first time for me, and of course I loved it!  Playing along with challenges can really get your creative juices flowing!

Here's the card I came up with using the colour combo and sketch, and my little owl nurse as inspiration!  What a cutie, huh?

Please excuse the picture quality.  I just took this picture at 10:45 pm, so there's not exactly an abundance of natural light around here right now...  but you get the idea!  

I used an old stamp set that I've had hanging around, called Starring You.  I think I got it the year that SU! included stamp sets from the main catalogue in Sal-A-Bration.  This is probably the first time I ever used it.  I use plenty of retired things in my craft room, since I am a "hobby" demo, or to be blunt... a 'discount' demo!

Thanks for looking!  Be sure to click the links to the challenge sites and check out what the DT's and everyone else is linking up!  Let me know what you think of my 'nurse-y owl'!  Have a great day!

Happy New Baby

I created this card for SarahLynn's birth announcements.  Yes, I made over 90 of these.... why do you ask?  They were actually not a lot of work.  I did everything in batches... and for two weeks the kitchen island had all the supplies on it while I worked in snippets here and there.  A pile of ribbon cut a 6", a pile of the top note dies, a pile of punched circles, etc... interesting... it certainly was fun!  Needless to say, we did not have a Christmas card sent out that year!

(I think the ribbon might be contraband!)

For You

Hi Mom!  Another gorgeous card for today!

3 Card Set

These have got to be the cutest little cards in the West.  The finished size is... I cannot remember!  Maybe 3x4 or so?  Making a little set of cards like this is a great way to use up little pieces and strips of leftover paper.

For the first one I used the Cheep Talk stamp set and my SAMJ to get the perfect placement of flowers on those branches.

This one below uses the Bugs and Kisses stamp set.  Used the SAMJ on this one too.

And for the third one I used the Cheep Talk set again.  And the SAMJ!

For all three cards I used a base of Bermuda Bay which was one of the In Colours then, and is now back in the SU! Brights collection!  Love it!

One Sheet Mini Book

Today I have a little mini book I've made.  The finished size is a little bigger than 3x3.  The directions to make this can be found on Dawn Griffith's blog here.  She has a short video explaining how it's done.  It's pretty easy.... and so pretty!

I changed up the colours and a few other little details.  This is mostly SU! product, but the ribbon is non-SU! and the punch is from EK Success, a 3" scallop circle punch.

It's such a neat little book for just about anything and now that I am seeing it again I think I will make a few more!

Basket of Flowers

I CASEd this card from Stampin! Connection.  I don't remember from who it is.  It was from my early SU! days when I still used contraband on my cards!  I'm too SU! stuck-up for that now.  Hey, I love the quality and the way it all co-ordinates... what can I say... besides my two oldest lovelies love to play and "scrapbook" with all that stuff now!  I'm sharing!

Look Who's Turning Two!

This card is such a cute one.  It uses a fabulous colour combo of Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo.  Great card for a little kids birthday or by changing the colour combo and sentiment it would be a fantastic baby card.  Love those little animals!