Mickey Birthday wish.

     Still haven't finished all of those college cards, but I'm getting closer, ha ha (another one has gone out the door - see I'm getting there.) However, I do have a card for today and a finishing touch on another. I thought it might help for some inspiration on finishing the inside of cards, which can be a stumper at times ;- )

     First up is everyones favorite Mickey Mouse. This card is for my neighbor's grandson, who is turning 3. I used the Mickey image from the Mickey and Friends cartridge (the fourth key) and all it's layers at 3.5 inches. I set it all up on my Gypsy so I could position my pieces precisely, because my mat is currently only sticky in some spots >.< I need to clean and re-stick a few of them, since I do have more than 1 not-very-sticky mat. The Gypsy however lets me decide where I want each piece to cut and place a few of them in those exact spots. Very helpful. I also used the Gypsy to weld the letters for the sentiment from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge which does have a shadow font for it's main font (nice touch!) The blue card stock was embossed with Sizzix's Texture Plates #2 Square Dancers.

     On the inside I used Lettering Delight's font LD Walt. Using Print Shop, I set up the sentiment first in red and  then in black and laid one over the other to give it a shadow. The signature is in Helvetica, which I thought I'd changed to something else, but evidently not, ha ha on me.  You can find a link to Lettering Delight on my sidebar. I cut out the number 3 from Plantin Schoolbook with the basic font and the shadow at 2 inches and popped it up.

     Over the weekend, it was Parker's grandfather's birthday (he has his pilot's license.) Now I'd made his card back in Nov. for Crafter's Digital Art Center's Challenge at the time, but hadn't totally finished the inside. It is an easel card and here is the card and how it appeared then (this part still looks like this ;- ) You can find the details on this card here.

     Inside, I used LD Chaplin, LD Lively (for Good Times) and LD Wedding (for the signature) from Lettering Delights for the fonts. The plane graphic comes from the Print Shop software. The details for the rest is at the same link as the front, since that was all done in November.

     As always, thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you so much, so please leave a comment before you go ;- ) have a wonderful week!

Valentine for a Techie

     Well, I surface again <.< Today's card is a valentine for my son. The sentiment was cut from Cricut's Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art Cartridge. I learned it's best to size for your width with this cart, because otherwise it goes very wide thinking you're making a cake (I was using the Gypsy, so I could see the size ahead of time), but when you select the size to cut the shadow, be sure to select relative, but use the height number of your cut to get the shadow to match your tip cut. The software is use to expecting things sized to height, so that's the way it computes the relative size. The pattern paper is Paper Studio. I actually made a mistake her and the sentiment and it's shadow are suppose to be reversed. They are suppose to mimic the colors and style of my son's computer as you will see on the inside.

     The SVG on the inside is cut using Sure Cuts A Lot a a file from Designs On Cloud 9 called Tech Toys. The set also includes game controllers and an iPod. You can find the file here and check out some of there other cute files. They also have a free file each week!!! The papers are Bazzill from Archiver's. The sentiment on the computer screen is also welded and cut using Sure Cuts A Lot2 and the font  is Orbitron. If you'd like the cut file,  just let me know. The pattern paper is from Generation Tech by DCWV.

The matted sentiment on the bottom is printed digitally using the same font. I used stickles to re-create the look of his speakers and a white gel pen to  mark the keys on the keyboard that spell, Valentine. We'll see if he gets that code ;- )

     I also added a tab similar to a pop-up card, so that it allows the card to open and close properly and so that my son could set it on his desk in the open position and admire his computer look-alike, without the bottom of the computer flopping loose.

     Well, I also forgot to distress the white a bit, in my rush to get his package of goodies off to him at college. I think he'll like it though ;- ) Thanks for stopping by and giving me some of your precious time. Please, leave a comment before you go, I can use a boost. have a spectacular weekend!

We're off the Hook

     Today's card is for my friend's, whose birthday card was posted the post before last, her middle daughter's birthday, who was 27 on Sunday. Due to the Veteran's Day holiday there was no mail and the card was going to be late, rats! I decided to go with the telephone card from the Cricut cartridge, Wild Card called Hello ' cuz phones just seemed appropriate (it's so hard for me to stop thinking of her girls as teens, Yikes! though I know they aren't any more.)   All of the cuts are from the the cartridge. except for the little piece that stops the dial, when you are dialing. I free hand cut that from a metallic scrap. The phone itself was cut twice (I used the gypsy so I could position the second image with the card part of the cut hanging off of the mat, so it would just cut the handset - you could have just placed you paper that way basically.) I popped up the handset of the second cut and also the dial. I used a clear glitter pen to write all of the numbers except for the 2 and 7 which I wrote in red glitter pen, since that is her age. There is a sentiment cut that says "Talk of the Town," so I adapted that by writing it in white gel pen on the handset. There is a hole in the center of the dial when it cuts, that goes through to the inside. I lined up my sentiment to have a stamped heart show through (lining this up  in the sentiment was the hardest part.) I used ribbon wrapped around a pencil and stiffened with Mod Podge for the telephone cord.

     The paper on the inside is fro Paper Studio. The shape of the sentiment had to accommodate the shape of the phone. The fonts are LD Typeset and LD Wedding from Lettering Delights. I have an affiliate link on the side bar of my blog that will take you to their site.

     For those of us who are older and curious, the phrase "off the hook" means fresh, new.  I like to be educational ;- ) I'm not sure how I knew that, but it's some of the trivia that fills up my limited brain capacity and keeps me from knowing important things, like what I did last week and important words that I need when I speak.

I also threw together (and that's pretty literally the truth) a few thank-you, for the people that covered for us, with the teens and brought meals, after my husband came home from the hospital. They're so not works of art, but I will show them because I think they will inspire your creativity, in that, you just need scraps and you can do "quickie" Thank-yous, though, you might want to make them a bit nicer than mine. They are about 3 by 3 1/2 or so, though it depended on the scraps I worked with.

This used a piece of punched border that mis-punched, but I kept and trimmed the good part.

This was for our friend first, Pastor second (it's a second career for him and our sons went to school together.) He covered the last hour of my teens (his twin girls are 2 of them) and of course visited at the hospital.

This was the inside. The stamps are from Clear Dollar stamps, Church Chatter.

Again, just simple with tone on tone background stamps, an accent stamp, sentiment and scraps.

Wonderful sentiments from Clear Dollar Stamps. They are having a sale (40% off until the 19th.) I get nothing for this ad ;- ) And why was I rushing so? because I had to get ready for my 11 hours of cookie baking at a friends. Whew! That's a lot of baking. Here's a few photos to make you hungry.

     Hope your week and your creativity is really off the hook ;- ) Thanks for coming by and please leave a comment. They really do make my day or night.

Birthday Wish for a Guy

     This is one of those cards, that looked better in my head, then it did when I was done >.< Probably, because in my head, I haven't chosen the papers, just the idea. Both the card base and the sentiment were cut from Cricut's Birthday Bash cartridge.  I embossed the background with Cuttlebug's Christmas Stars and used My Mind's Eye twine. I popped up the DP, which is from Paper Studio and popped up the sentiment on it. The DP is edged with a gold paint pen. This card is for my son's best friend in middle school, who is at a different college than my son. He has a great (though sometimes quirky) sense of humor and wouldn't be demanding of the looks of the card, fortunately ;- )

     No time for second guessing the front, so moving on.  The font in the multiple choice section and the Happy Birthday is Bevan (all can be found on the internet, try a google search), the one in the parenthesis is Beetle and the one in the salutation is Black Jack. The boxes and the check mark were made in Print Shop. Matt will enjoy the humor.

     I didn't get much done on the next card. First I found out I couldn't get it into the mail tomorrow anyway, because of Veterans' Day (there is no mail.) Then I needed to shop for baking ingredients, because a friend and I are doing MAJOR cookie baking all day Saturday for my Christmas Party and just for the holidays for her. It took longer than I would have thought, as DH and I stopped to eat and I looked for some wire for the next card too. Some of these cookies will probably even find there way into a shipment to the college students. So, I'll need to really move it on that next card and make up some of the doughs that need to chill overnight.

     Thanks for shooting by. Please leave a comment, because they keep me motivated and mean so much to me ;- ) Have a blessed weekend!

Birthday Fun

     Well, I promised I'd post the card today and I will, but first let me explain, ha, got your attention now don't I. Before using this caption, I did get my husbands permission, since it's for a friend of ours, whom he works with. Also, I did not invent this caption, it's on the Sweet Treats cart from Provo craft, I just removed the candle, but it is valid for this image as well. Now you are really interested, if you haven't peeked already ;- ) (My son thought it was objectionable though, again Provo Craft made it up, not me.)

     The image, called favor is from the Sweet Treats cart also and I made it into a shaped card (actually the blackout of the image)  in Design Studio, changing both the length and width. It will fit in a business size envelope. I layered it with the main image and embossed the horn part with Swiss Dots. I used AC Metallic Cardstock and K andCompany Confetti Designer Mat Stack for the layers. I cut the sentiment from some scrap cardstock then I doodled on it with gel pens and a sharpie and inked it with Distress Inks. I attached it with pop dots.

     The inside sentiment was done digitally and the fonts are LDJ Birthday Bash from Lettering Delights (find them on my side bar - great fonts, dings, SVG's, graphics and cut-outs) and NewWGL4Font. Now there are a number of fonts with this name and I'm not sure where I got mine, but if you go to dingbats.font-cat.com here, you can find a number of them including this one and get them free. I had to fussy cut the papers and I added some metallic confetti that I had from Stampendous Class a Peel "Grad you Did It" graduation stickers.

     Actually, John is a very good friend and the card is fine. Thanks for stopping by. Please, leave a comment. they really do mean so much. Have a weekend full of inspirational activities ;- )

Purple Wishes for a birthday

    Well, if it didn't happen again, sheeesh, but after the headache and the holiday, I now have a card to share. So, without any ado, here is a birthday card for a friend I've known since 2nd grade (I won't say how many years that is ;- ) She is also my son's Godmother. You might be able to guess, her favorite color is purple.  I loved the papers from Basic Grey's Wisteria stack for her from the minute I saw the stack and then I ran across some dimensional stickers from K & Company, that went well with some of the papers and also were purple and sparkly (Botanical.) So I took these and cut the sentiment from Cricut's Lyrical Letters cart to make the front.

     In order to attach the sentiment, I used a great product that I first learned about from Diane at Capadiadesigns who does a lot of wonderful creative cards. It's called LetraTac and it's sheets of adhesive dots. The dots are very small and I use them the same way Diane did here, by just putting the item I wish to glue on the sheet, burnishing it, then removing it from the sheet and attaching to the card. The item will pick up the very small dots of glue and the rest of the sheet will retain it's glue and can be used again. I got mine from Dick Blick's Art Supplies. I'm lucky and have one locally, but you can also get it online. I do have a Xyron, but find it works best on solid images. Here is a photo of the sheet showing how little I used for this card (I also used a bit to do the straps of the flip-flops, 5 posts ago.)

You can put the letters where you want to use the paper efficiently. The shiny white parts are the remaining glue dots that I can use next time. The "B" is right side up, the other pieces were done sideways. 

The smallest pack came with 10 sheets. It will last me forever, ha ha.

     The inside of the card was matted with Core'dinations and done digitally in PrintShop. The font used is Chaucer, which is a free font and the closest I could had to the style of the sentiment on the front. I added more of the K & Company embellishments and a strip of the wisteria paper.

     The next card will be for her son. Yikes, he's going to be 30! Can't be. We were babies 30 years ago. 

     Remember, if you haven't checked out http://cutterfreebies.creativebusyhands.com you should. She has freebies from around the web each week and there are some really cute SVG's there this week. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card. Please leave me a comment. They really mean so much to me - just knowing you were here : - >

Stop and smell the roses.

     The card I have for today, was made for a dear friend's daughter. I prepare you, for when you read the sentiment on the inside ;- ) I'm sure I will be getting a call from her mother, who was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. The image is a Hero Arts stamp and I painted it with water colors. I added and embellishment from Creative Charms. The pattern paper is from Paper Studio, as is the paper strip I used for the sentiment. I used a glitter pen over the blue Happy Birthday words and it darkened the whole look of the sentiment a bit too much, so I added the white dashes with a white Signo Gel pen to the top and bottom of the sentiment.

     I did struggle with what to write on the inside. It is the hardest part of making cards for me. Everything always seems so trite. Maria still has one of the first digital cards I ever made, going back to the Mac II with the first version of Print Shop, on a very dottie, dot matrix printer (maybe 26 years.) She also is the first recipient, of the first cut and pieced card I ever made, which was for her wedding shower (2 1/2 years ago). That's a lot of written sentiments. This sentiment was done digitally with a combination of Print Shop, using LD Penelope from Lettering Delights for the font and Photoshop Elements, using Inobscuro roses brushes to make the rose background. I "stamped" the rose, used the find edges filter with a darker color and then dragged it into Print Shop. I think it gave a very nice and artistic effect. I went over the rose outlines with a clear glitter pen. You can see the glitter better in the second photo of the inside, which has the colors wrong because of the setting sun, but does show the effect of the glitter. Just noticed, while looking at the photo, the font used for "Maria" is Black Rose. It's a free font that you can get from any number of free sites. I also went over the "29" with a gel pen.

 Click to make larger

Click to make larger - then you can see the glitter better, so I don't sound crazy ;- )

     As long as I'm talking about roses, Here are a few photos I took yesterday, of the roses from my new bush that we planted this year. OK, in the vase there is a ringer as well ;- ) I love the ruffled petals on this yellow rose.

     Thanks for coming by and spending some time here today. Please leave a comment. They really mean a lot to me. Have a blessed day!

It's a heat wave.

     Sorry, I should have had this posted on Monday, but it's been way too hot to touch a computer. I called friends, watered flowers and  read a book instead ;- ) I finally relented, late last night and put the air conditioning on, so we could sleep. The poor puppy was very thankful, being a Norwegian Elkhound and all.

     Todays card is for a little boy who is turning 2. I used the Imagine and Nursery Tails to make this one. I used the image from Nursery Tales in layers, changing the first layer from pink print to green print, since it was for a boy and popped up the layers. I added gel pen details and Diamond Glaze to add more interest. I also added a mat layer, using the rectangles (8 1/2:11 ratio) from the images resident on the machine and filled it with a pattern from the Nursery Tales cart. Sentiment is from Hero Arts.

  Click to enlarge

     The inside sentiment was created digitally using Print Shop. The font is SNF Jester Play from Scrap n Fonts. You can find them here if you are interested. The number 2 was cut 2x at 2 inches from the Birthday Bash cart. One time I filled it with yellow on the Imagine and one time with the pattern I used on the background mat. I stacked and popped them, inking the edges to cover the white.  I added the birds I had left from the front (I had cut and 2 sets of birds and clouds).

     What would I have done differently? I might have worked more on details on the front, but again it was  (and is) HOT and I was afraid I wouldn't do a very neat job. I felt that the image looked a bit flat, that's why I added the gel pen details, that I did and might have added more. I also needed it to dry, so that I could mail it the next morning. If it were for a girl, I definitely would have added more glittery bling ;- )

     Well, I hope if you are in this heat too, that you are enjoying refreshing drinks and staying cool. I plan on enjoying the air conditioning at the CHA SuperShow later in the week, since this heat wave is expected to last past the weekend. I know it won' be the same as in the past, but I hope to have some fun anyway. Maybe the movie theater too. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment, it will make me feel cooler ;- )

I'm finally back!

     Well, after getting some party clean-up done I ... have created ... a ... card ... (and there is a sigh of relief).  Toady's card is an anniversary card for a woman who was my high school English teacher, way back in the day. So, I made a card with kind of a  retro 60's feel, to fit her day, not mine (well I was close) ;- ) I used Core'dinations Black Magic with a light pink core, but the pink is hard to see in the photo.  The embellishments are from me & my Big ideas, Ellen Krans edition of Soft Spoken. I used gel pen to color in the "O".

 
     The inside sentiment was done digitally, with Print Shop using Harrington font. I embossed a stamp from Inkadinadoo's spring mini assortment with clear embossing powder. The hearts and "Love Birds" are part of the same embellishments as on the front.

     What would I do differently? I would space the heart didn't have to go over my name ;- ) I might change up the inside embellishments to vary the card. On the front, I might raise the the whole line of embellishments and stamp a sentiment underneath. I also might use a darker red core of Black Magic.

     Our party went well and the weather was wonderful. Not too hot, a bit overcast (which is good, since we don't have much shade in our yard) and no rain. We had about 45 people or so. My DH forgot to snap any photos, probably too busy playing volleyball, esp. since my DS had been talking volleyball smack the day before and there were reputations on the line ;- ), so here are a couple of photos of the food from last year (basically the same, only the table clothes have been changed.

     Makes you hungry, doesn't it? You didn't even see the desserts. If your ever in the area at the end of June, you should stop by and join us. You'd be very welcome.

     Our new puppy did wonderfully, though he was exhausted before it was half over. He now has a name. It's Shadow. Though I still fell he needs a middle name and that one isn't clear yet. The other day, he was Shadow the Pirate because he he said "Arrrgggh" to me. So we made it, "Talk like a pirate day," here. Here is a recent picture of Shadow.

     He will get his first days of having a neighbor let him out, this week because, we have Vacation Bible School at our Church and that will put him in his crate for longer than 3 hours. It's good for him to get a trial at this, while he's little though.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a note if you have time. Your comments me a lot to me. Have a wonderful week!

Guy cards can by fun.

     Today's card is for a guy who is 24 and we've known him since he was born.  He is someone who has kept that kid sense of fun. He loves working with kids at his Church. When we use to hike together, he use to always point out all the different types of mushrooms. His mom always said, that would be all the wildlife we would see, hiking with her 3 rambunctious boys ;- ) Pretty much was, except the time we found a rattlesnake. So for his card, I used the mushroom from Smily Cards, that was offered free from Provo Craft to Gypsy owners, and turned it into a shaped card. This was only the second time I've made my own shaped card and the first time with the Gypsy. Despite a few problems, figuring out what is what, with the layering, since Smily Cards doesn't have a handbook, I muddled through. So here it is.

     Pretty cute mushroom. On the inside, I used Print Shop to do the sentiment digitally and it's ability to shape the font block, first in a half circle and then in a square. I designed a smaller mushroom, on the Gypsy, figured out for sure where it would cut and put my printed paper there on the mat. The fonts I used were LD Jumpy from Lettering Delights (you can click on the link on the right bar of my blog, last week for their sale) and Casque Open Face Wacky (which is a free font available at a number of places, I don't remember where I got it though, just google font + it's name).

     I'm not usually it to puns, but it seemed to fit. What would I do differently. Well, some things were stretching for me, some were fixing mistakes. Not going to tell you which ;- ) For a guy, I think it works. How about you? Thanks for stopping by. Have a Blessed and relaxing Easter. Hope you are spending with your family. Please, leave me a comment. they are very much appreciated and I love hearing from you. Hugs, Debbie!

Card for a friend.

     Today's card is for a friend who had foot surgery. Her son and mine became best friends in middle school and she was one of my son's teachers (part of the parochial school experience.) Her son is one of the college students to whom I send cards. This stamp set is part of the Honey POP sets that you can use the honey comb tissue paper with, though I didn't use the tissue paper cut-out here, because I was going to include a longer message and didn't want a pop-up. The images and the sentiment are all from the Carrot Bunny HoneyPOP Clear Set and you can find them on line at InkyAntics.com  The paper is Summer Song by My Mind's Eye. I really like how this turned out. I would think it was someone else's card, except the ribbon is crocked ;- ) When the Amish make a quilt, they always have a mistake in it, because they believe only God is perfect. I think this is a great way to create ;- ),  esp. since I'm a recovering perfectionist. It's a much less stressful way to live.

     The inside message was created digitally using Print Shop and 2 fonts from Lettering Delights called LD Soccer Mom and LD Wedding.

     What would I do differently? I guess I could have rounded all 4 corners, but I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by and sharing you thoughts and time with me. Please leave a comment if you have a moment, I'd love to know you were here. Have a blessed weekend!

Little girl card with Imagine

     Well, here is the card I promised. Finally, I get to do a card for a girl, with pink and everything ;- ) I decided to go with Nursery Tales. It came with my Imagine and has very cute images. I don't have a lot of use for them because, I don't make many cards for little ones, so I wanted to take advantage of this chance. (Wow, that was a long sentence.) I realize with some creativity, I can come up with things for others from this cartridge, but sometimes, it's just nice to get to use things without too much switching around.

     The font is from Storybook and uses the pattern from the Nursery Tales Imagine cart. The Imagine did a nice job cutting such a thin font. The number 4 is from Birthday Bash, because I wanted a boxier font there. I split the Imagine image into layers and popped things up and added  glitter gel pen to add sparkle. The scalloped circle shape is one of the pre-loaded shapes that comes on the Imagine. I used Judi-kins Diamond Glaze on the mushroom caps, unfortunately one cracked :- (

Click on photos to see them larger.

     I tried something new on the inside. I did the message digitally using Imprint MT Shadow. To get it to print on the mat that the Imagine printed, I printed it first on regular printer paper and had the Imagine just cut the mat without printing to make sure the printing would fit. Then, I used a repositionable tape runner to attach the Imagine printed and cut piece to a piece of printer paper in the place where it printed the sentiment the last time. Knowing which way to put the paper in your printer is essential. Put the paper in the printer and print it again and it should print on the card stock. I made some extra layers from the image I used on the front to embellish the inside and sparkled them as well.

     What would I do differently? Well, I had meant to round the corners, but forgot until after I had put the layers on the front. I think that would be a much nicer look. I should have placed the word turning straight >.<  I was thinking that a rosette might look nice under the 4, but then I really would have had to get the word turning straight >.<  Good things 4 y.o. aren't that critical. What do you think?

     Thanks for stopping by today. Please leave a comment if you have time. It's wonderful knowing you were here. Have a blessed rest of the week and may your days be inspired!

     

21st birthday for a guy.

     I know it's been guy, guy, guy. Doesn't it seem to go in streaks like that!? Well as you can see from the title, this one is a special birthday, a 21st! I used SCAL for this one. Unfortunately I had had the drive on that computer die not long ago and I hadn't reloaded my fonts. Well, I didn't feel like it yesterday, so I just made due with a font that comes standard on an IBM. This is radical for me, because I love fonts and IBM really doesn't have many (I'm a MAC person.) I used Trebuchet MS in bold, italic as the font to cut out the 21. I also duplicated it and set the style to pointy shadow, a very handy feature of SCAL. The paper for the main image is AC metallic (love this card stock : multi-cut it though.) The embossing is Cuttlebug's Christmas Stars.

     The inside, as usual was done digitally, and here I got to use more interesting fonts. The font is LD Dabble, from Lettering Delight (remember Dollar Days ;- ) for the main font  and NewWGL4font, for the word birthday. Now that is what the font called itself, but when I went to look it up on the internet, I kept finding a totally different font, so beats me where it came from. I believe I got it from Urban fonts, which has many great free fonts, so if you're in a browsing mood you might check them out. The embellishments are JoAnne's brand.

  
     I tried to show the glitter on the background paper, the metal embellishments and the effect of the clear gel pen that I added to the confetti on the word birthday. I thought of coloring it, but decided I liked the monochrome look better.

     What would I do differently. I don't think I'd do anything differently. I really like this card. It's pretty easy peasy. I have made one similar to it before, but lost the file in the hard drive problem. I did use a different font for the 21 and I probably would change that, to a font that had a bit more tip or kerning to it, to give more movement to the front. The embossing is new and I like how that worked on this card. The inside fonts are also new and I'm liking them as well. What's your take on this card? Thanks for coming by and sharing some of your precious time here. Please leave a comment so that I know you stopped by, they keep me inspired! Have a blessed and inspirational day.