Celebration card for an Anniversary!

     Today's card is for my neighbor's anniversary. I had picked up Cricut's Wild Card cart from Menard's when they had them for $4 after a mail-in rebate. Great deal! On this cart they have a tri-fold card and envelope that was meant for New Year's Eve called Celebrate, but I thought it would make a great anniversary card. On the internet I found a few places where people had listed the largest sizes you could cut the envelopes on a 12x12 piece of paper and the corresponding size card to cut. You can find a list here at Obsessed With Scrapbooking. So for this card, I cut it at 5 1/2 inches from black Core'dinations cardstock. I cut the liner items with gold metallic cardstock and the icon (cork) from kraft cardstock and stamped it with Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain stamp then clear embossed it.  I attached the cork with pop dots. The pattern paper is Confetti from Paper Pizzaz. I found a label shape I liked on the Storybook cart (the Thank You image page) and cut it out in red and a slightly smaller  one from printer paper ( I used the Gypsy to get the sizes I wanted) that I had already printed their names on. The font I used is Tango. I attached this with pop dots. In order to keep the card from popping open, I made a band to slip over the card and attached the sentiment on it. I cut the sentiment from Lyrical Letters. Cutting it at this size makes it very delicate and prone to tearing, so it had to be pieced a bit and I used the LetraTac I had mentioned back on this post to attach it. You can find it online at Dick Blicks here. I get nothing for this, I just think it's cool.

     This card wasn't meant to be a gift card holder, but since I was going to cover the front and giving them a gift card, I decided to cut slits in it to hold the gift card. I cut a piece of the pattern paper to cover that at the bottom and used a piece of the same paper as a mat for the sentiment. I created the sentiment digitally and the font is SNF Infinity from Scrap N Fonts. Currently Scrap N Fonts is having a Dollar Sale. You can find their sale here.

     Since I added the band, the envelope won't close right, but I thought I'd show it here anyway.  Cool envelope, huh ; - )Sorry, I hadn't realized it was out of focus or I would have retaken the photo during the day >.<

     Well, thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me today. Please leave a comment, so that I know you were here. They always brighten my day ;- ) Have a wonder-filled week!

It's finally feeling like fall here, and Free PhotoShop Brush links

     It's finally feeling like fall and I can't wait for the next few days when it gets warmer again ;- ) It's suppose to return to the mid to upper 70's maybe even 80, so much nicer, then these lows in the 30's. The weather however, caused me to come up with today's card, which is a Thinking of You card. The papers are from Four Seasons Paper Value Pack by The Paper Studio. I came up with the idea for the card, while lying in bed early one morning. I didn't expect the image to be so big, but then I didn't have the stamps with me, ha ha. Since the image is so large, the card is 8 inches by 5 inches. I used a Hero Arts stamp for the tall pumpkin and a Stampabilities stamp for the rounder one. This is actually the first time that I masked while stamping and also the first time I colored an image by painting it with Distress Inks. The I went over some of the details with a colored pencil and some with a brown glitter gel pen from Sakura. I really liked how it turned out.  The sentiment is stamped with Clear Stamps Greetings and Mementos ink, adding a couple of Hero Arts gems. On the bottom panel, I added some popped up embellishments, that I had left over from when I use to do the Youth bulletin board and don't know whose they are.

     I've made this card for my aunt, whose eyesight has deteriorated due to diabetes, so the digital sentiment on the inside is quite large and I will include a personal letter as well. The font is Lobster Two Bold which was designed by Pablo Impallari and can be found at Font Squirrel for free here. The pumpkin graphic is actually a very cool PhotoShop brush called Fall Preview Sabordes. Which is a free preview that includes 5 brushes designed by Michael Murdock of Sabor Designs, that are actually sketches. You can find them at Brusheesy here. The full set (20 brushes) are available for $5. The leaves are also found at Brusheesy and include 50 brushes (leaves) from hawksmont and you can find them here (also free.) I had some other great finds, but didn't use them here ;- )

     So, it took a bit before I got this posted, because I was trying out some new things and checking out some videos. It's hard to balance actually creating with an end product in mind and creating with just experimenting and trying new techniques, but no actual output achieved, other than getting messy. Sometimes, I just like to get messy and learn something new, but it's not for show, oh, no! It's often for the circular file, ha ha, at least for now.
     Thanks for stopping by and checking out my newest card. Please leave a comment if you have time. Even if it's just to say Hi, I like to know you were here. It energizes me. Have a glorious weekend.

My 2nd Progressive Challenge Entry... bookmark.

     If you follow my blog, you may remember that I'm participating in a progressive challenge over at Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC). "How does the CDAC Progressive Challenges work? The CDAC Progressive Challenge is a proactive freebie challenge. What that means is as long as you are proactive by making and submitting cards to this challenge you will continue to get freebies offered in a large variety of styles. These images are created by the artists that have groups here on CDAC and by those that participate in the CDAC drawing Challenges. This is a fun way to get and use fabulous images that will be offered during these challenges." You can join in the middle or if you miss a time by paying $1 for the images at that point. Find all of the info here. All of the images for this round were kind of back-to-school related. I really didn't have a card to make using those type of images and they weren't really what I needed for my college students, so I decided to make a bookmark for my neighbor. She is a big Elvis fan and, it's hard to see but the small book says, Gigi, which is what her Grandchildren call her. I colored the image and added the titles in PhotoShop Elements. I used Core'dinatons, with a white core for the main piece and embossed it with Sizzix Texturz Starter Kit's plate called Dashes, because they kind of looked like books. I used a sandpaper block to bring out the embossing. I matted the image with a green pattern paper from my scraps, that I'd gotten at Hobby Lobby and some reddish scrap cardstock. I used the Martha Stewart circle cutter to cut out the image.

Click on image to make it larger.

     Now I'd thought I'd get more done today, because, well, it's only a bookmark, but when putting the blade in the circle cutter, it popped out of it's blade protector and slashed my finger, Yowie! As  you can see, I got no blood on the image, he he, but bleed I did. So, a bandaged fingertip, makes for awkward, crafting, including this typing BTW ;- ) So, hopefully with a smaller bandage, it's back to creating tomorrow. You should come and join us at CDAC, we'd love to have you.Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment, so that I know you were here. I'm sooo happy to hear from you. Have a wonderfully creative week.

The Big Three-0 and window box visitors.

     Well, as promised today's card is for my friend's son's thirtieth birthday, though I still don't see how that is possible, since we were babies 30 years ago. He must be adopted ;- ) Anyway, I embossed and sanded the Core'dinations cardstock using  the Cuttlebug embossing folder. I cut out the "30" from AC metallic cardstock, using the  Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cart and the Gypsy, so that I could size the width and height separately and popped it up on the card. The sentiment is from Clear Stamps and is embossed with sterling silver embossing powder. I really got creative to make the label. I used the gypsy to resize what was suppose to be the mat from the "Families are Forever" card on the Cricut Just Because Cards cart. It would be button 34, the one with the tree swing in the handbook. I turned off the keep proportions lock and changed the proportions to .6 inches wide by 2.5 inches long. I added a brad and popped it up. The edges are inked with Ranger Distress Fired Brick.

     On the inside, the sentiment is done digitally in Print Shop. The fonts are LD Thankful and LD Dabble both from Lettering Delights. They have great fonts and dingbats, as well as SVG's and graphics. If you sign-up for their e-mails, you get 9 fonts free. You can check them out here, through my affiliate link or by clicking the link in my sidebar. I then added stickers from American Traditional Designs Party Icons, that I get at Hobby Lobby. The Happy Birthday pattern paper is also from Hobby Lobby.

     I think the inside looks kind of like a celebration ;- ) 

The other day I shared some roses, so today I thought I'd share some visitors to my flowers with you.

 Notice the center of it's back. How feathery it is. Click on photo to enlarge.

 Look at that face \. ./

     Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment, so that I know that you were here ;- ) Have a blessed day!

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!

Tiny Dancer!

     This card was made for the progressive challenge at Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC - find them here)  with the freebie image by WhoopsieDaisy Digital Stamps.  I colored the stamp using Photoshop Elements. I've never colored anything using Elements before and I like how she turned out. The scalloped mat is Core'dinations and the pattern paper is from Basic Grey's Wisteria Stack.  I colored the ribbon with a Copic because I didn't have any dark enough (the color matches better than it appears in the photo, sorry the camera I usually use is in Finland with my husband.) This was the first time I tried to make a pleated ribbon (another first, this is also my first challenge ;- ) All of the tutorials I've seen have you use a hot glue gun, but I decided to try it with Aileen's Tacky glue and it worked fine. The flower is from Creative Charms, just love them.  I stamped the sentiment with Dusty Concord from Ranger and a stamp from Clear Stamps.

     I haven't finished the inside like I usually do, because I'm not sure whom I'm giving this card to. I have a friend whose birthday is coming up, that this card would be great for (ok, now that's the 2nd time I dangled a preposition, it's beginning to annoy me), but I had a different card in mind for her, before I had to finish this image for the challenge. So, maybe I'll just finish this card up for her.

     What would I do differently? Well, I meant to corner round the card, but put the ribbon on the pattern paper, before I remembered and couldn't do it then. I think that would look nice with the ruffles and the flowers. I also thought this image might look nice on a round scalloped card.

     Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me. Please, leave a comment so that I know you were here. Take some time to be creative today! Have a wonder-filled day.

Quick note for a friend

     Well, my friends have been busy taking care of me. Two lunches out, in two days and a check up phone call from another. I almost didn't get this card done for one of them, who changed jobs, kind of, by switching as the librarian of an associated parochial school, since they closed her school this year (not the same one that I made the birthday card for). Now instead of a 5 min. commute, she has a 45 min. commute for the part-time job. So, this was a big decision and change for her (as well as the school being larger, so she has more classes). I wanted to send her a card of support. In between having lunch with her one day and lunch with a neighbor the next, I quickly put together, today's card.

I used my  Cricut Imagine and the Imagine More cart to print and cut all the images. The bird and it's wing are pop dotted. I used all of the layers on the front and added gel and glitter pens to the images to add some extra texture. I used my Fisker's cutter to trim the edge with the scallop decorative blade going back and forth to get a different edge. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and  is stamped in Chipped Sapphire by Ranger.

   The inside, is the first 2 layers from the same image as the front and I left it basically plain, to write my message. On the bottom, I stamped a bird from Hero Arts and a Bible verse from Clear Dollar Stamps, both in Chipped Sapphire.

     What could I have done differently? I should have made the notes on the front larger. I had meant to, but the first one started out small and tentative and then I was stuck >.< I wanted a bit more glitter and sparkle, but my gel pen colors matched better.  Maybe, some other glittery embellishment added on. On the inside, I thought about coloring the bird and I may still, when I write the note.

Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me. Please, say hi, so that I know you were here. Exercise your creative muscle today!

Back to the beach ;- )

     Sorry, I've been AWOL again. I've had some cluster headache issues and I have gotten my son back to college. I thought I had a great early start on today's card, when I started it last week.  Good thing, because I ended coming down to the wire. This card is for a good friend for whom I volunteered, when my son went to K- 8th grade. She was and is a Lutheran School librarian. I also volunteered for her predecessor, before I was pregnant. Ruth likes lighthouses, so I used the one from Cricut's Life's a Beach cartridge as my main image.  The white is Walmart cardstock and the blue is Core'dinations (like the texture.) The layers didn't cut as I would have expected and the white left spaces, so I re-cut the image a bit bigger and used those white cut outs popped up on the original frame. I used a gem for the light. The waves are a border feature cut of the wave image also from Life's a Beach. I used my Gypsy to set up the cut so that the white stripes would appear at the tops of the waves. The seagulls are the shifted cut from the lighthouse image. I edged them with a sharpie. The sentiment stamp is from the Scrappy Cat set  called Cardmaker's Dream. I hand wrote her name. I think the colors would also work well for a guy card with a less scripty (I know it's not really a word) font for the sentiment.

     The sentiment on the inside was done digitally and the font is Apple Casual. The elements were also cut from Life's a Beach. I edged the bottom layer of the pelican with a grey Copic marker to help him stand out where his head is above the blue. I also popped up his wing. The pier piling was inked with Ranger Tea Dye Ink. The bottom was sponged with Ranger Tumbled Glass and I used the negative of a scalloped oval cut I had to mask the top of the area, moving it around as I sponged, just to give a background for the images, mainly, because the pelican was white. I used a brown sharpie at the bottom of the images to ground them.

     All in all, I was very happy with the way this card turned out. What would I do differently? I might have popped up the seagulls. I debated a bit with myself about that one and then just glued them flat. I might have also given them eyes. I couldn't remember if you can see there eyes at that distance and didn't bother to go and look it up. I'm guessing you probably can. I should have used Swiss Dots on the brown bottom of the front. So, those are some things that could probably make the card better.

Thanks for dropping by and I'll try to be more consistent in my posting. Sept. is a busy card month, so I should have a lot to post. I have been practicing my doodling and drawing ( just cartoons ;- ) but that's creative growth for me, lol. Though these aren't things I would post. Please, leave me a comment, so that  I know that you were here. Have a week of fun and creativity!

A day at the beach!

     Today's card is for a friend's daughter, who went to school with my son from Kindergarten through 8th grade. She turned 19 on Friday and my son turned 20 on Saturday. Us moms have become great friends, we are very much alike, and they have also remained friends. I knew she had plans to go with friends to spend the weekend at the beach, so that was how I themed, my card. The weather forecast may have other plans however, so I began to hope my card wouldn't make her sad >.<

     I used Cricut's Life's a Beach cart and cut the card option for the lifeguard chair image.  Knowing I'd see, at least her parents for my son's birthday, I made a large card 7 x 11.75 (before folding). I then used the Gypsy to make a layer from the lifeguard chair image. The proportion weren't correct, so I used a separate layer and de-selected the keep proportions key. I then sized the height and width separately through trial and error until it matched up with the one from the card option (6.10 width and 6.5 height). I used Scattered Straw Distress Stickles to simulate sand and tried to make the lifeguard chair look a bit realistic, with some sand on it as well. I edged the brown part of the chair with copics.  I embossed the red layer of the umbrella with swiss dots and popped it up in the center, gluing down the sides and top edges. I added red and white twine from My Mind's Eye. The pattern background paper is Neptunes Wrath by Reminisce that I picked up at Archiver (it's 2-sided as you will see from the inside photo. ) The label was cut from Just Because Cards. It's the Shift key of the main key for the "Corny" card, believe it or not, but I liked the shape and thought it would make a good label. It's used as a vertical panel on the card, so I just turned it and cut it, at I believe, 2.5 inches. It's stamped with Clear Stamps in Mementos and I added two red brads.

     The sentiment on the inside was done digitally and the fonts are Beach and Handwriting- Dakota. I cut the beach ball and the sandals both from Life's a Beach. The red on the beach ball was embossed using Tim Holts's Fades Folder Regal Flourishes. The pattern paper was a scrap and I'm afraid I don't know what it is. I almost didn't have enough and was worried, because I loved it for the base of the sandals.

     I like how this card turned out. I'm not sure about the sand on the chair steps or not, but I didn't like the starkness of it either. I love the look of the pattern paper and the sandals. So, all in all I'm happy with it.

     I hope you got a chance to snap up some deals at Menards this weekend. I meant to post about them (with the rebate, which is a store credit, basically you could get Cricut mats and carts for under $5), but with my son's birthday, I'm sorry I just didn't get it posted ;- ( I did get 2 sets of mats and 3 carts though. I figured we would use the store checks to buy driveway and deck sealant. I thought the sale was only for 2 days, but the coupon says it was for a whole 3 days.

     Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to better better about posting info like the sale, when I know it. Please, leave a comment so that I know you stopped by. It really means a lot to know you were here. Have a creativity filled week.

Creating the Mystical Unicorn

     Today's card is for a little girl who is turning 5. Her favorite animal is the unicorn, so I decided to make it a shaped card. I used the unicorn from the  Cricut Paper Dolls Dress-Up cart. It's from the page with the pixi, I believe it's the 13th image. You're saying pixi? I know that's what I said, but I was just glad to have a unicorn. (I, too, thought it would be with the princess.) I used my Gypsy to make it a shaped card welding two unicorns (one flipped) with a small rectangle from Accent Essentials. I used pearlized cardstock  from Crafter's Companion, for the base because they have a nice sturdy cardstock (love this stuff) and I thought the pearlized finish made a nice card. I cut another unicorn  from white cardstock (hiding the eye cut - because I was going to use the gem, and some other cuts - I would have the Cricut draw) and before removing the mat (using the Gypsy) selected return to program, selected the parts I wanted drawn, replaced the blade with the Cri-Kits gel pen and selected cut again and added the lines to the unicorn. I re-cut part of the unicorn again using scrap paper with black Core'dinations where the hooves would be cut and stopped it after it cut the hooves. I was going to do the same for the horn with glitter cardstock, but decided to embossed it instead with an embossing pen and Kaleidoscope embossing powder. The mane and tail were embellished with Sparkly Fluff. I added a gem for the eye and the flower is from Creative Charms. The font is from the Storybook cart and welded on the Gypsy.

 Click photo for close-up, to see details

     I used Martha Stewart's circle cutter, to cut the circle, at 1 1/2 inches and embossed it with Divine Swirls.  I then inked it with Studio G chalk ink. The 5 was cut from the Storybook cart and they were popped up. The sentiment was made digitally and the fonts are Happy Birthday in Storybook and LD Farfetched for the rest, which is available from Lettering Delights (see the link on my sidebar - they also have graphics,  and SVG's .)  The hearts are Rain Dots from Cloud9 Design which is a Fiskers brand. and were a bit too peachy, so I colored them a bit with my Copics. The sentiment and it's mat were cut with nestibilities. This was popped up also, but not as high as the circle with the 5.

Click for a closer look.

     What would I do differently? I thought about putting a gold ribbon around the neck of the unicorn. I looked up photos and none of the unicorns had anything around their necks, except some had flowers. I guess you can't rope a unicorn ;- ) While doing this, (and I had suspected and was checking this also, but had already done the hooves) I noticed that none of the unicorns had black hooves (ok 1 or 2 may had), but white or pink ones. At this point, my son said to me, "Mom, unicorns aren't real. You can make them look any way you want!" These are the type of perfectionist details I'm suppose to be recovering from ;-) 

Later, when I was done I thought a dusting of Perfect Pearls over the body might have been a nice touch too. So these are some ideas for another time. I do think she will really like her card.

     Thanks for stopping by. Hope some of you are getting some cooler weather. We finally are. Who would have thought mid-80's would have been cooler ;- ) The front going through took my migraines with it, so good riddance. Please leave a comment. It just takes a moment and I really appreciate knowing you are out there. Have a wonder-filled weekend.

Last Day to Save.

     Oh I forgot to mention. Today is the last day to buy the clearance items at Lettering Delights. Just click the link on my right side bar to go there. The clearance items are only 5o cents. So take a look if your in the market for fonts, digital paper or graphics. These will be gone for good though. They also have some good bundle deals!

Two quick cards

     Well, I was down to the wire on two cards. It was a busy week and then I hadn't been feeling well, causing me not to get these two cards done earlier. So, here I was needing to get them done, before the mail carrier got here. Fortunately, I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I had picked up some note cards from Studio g in the Dollar Bin at Michaels', that had pre-cut windows. I'd also had on hand an assortment of embellishments that I've picked up over time, when there have been sales at Michaels' and JoAnn's. These are from JoAnn's Craft Essential 's line.  The front is embossed with Divine Swirls. The stamp, showing through the window of the anniversary card, is from Stampabilities. It was stamped with Big and Bossy and embossed with gold metallic embossing powder. Hint: Use a dryer sheet to wipe the area where you are going to emboss before you stamp to reduce the amount of powder that clings to unwanted areas. I wish I would remember this the ahead of time, every time ;- ) I colored it with both yellow gel and yellow glitter pens to make a champaign look and went over the glasses with Diamond Glaze.  Used my heat tool to speed drying.

  
     The inside sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo.

     The birthday card follows the same formula, only the stamps are from Hero Arts, made for Archiver. I embossed it with Swiss Dots.  Hint: I had to run it through twice and doing this would cause a section of the dots to de-boss, so I lined it up, to be the area where I would put my sentiment/embellishment. Always plan ahead - an interesting concept for me ;- ) OK, it was a happy accident the first time, but my pickiness, made me do this one a second time and I did it intentionally that time, so there!

It's really more red and maroon than pink.

     For quickie cards, I think they turned out pretty good. Kind of like the less expensive line of cards, but still with that homemade touch. We all have those times when we are out of time. The anniversary couple's daughter has a birthday this week and I need to make a unicorn card for her. So, they will get the full custom treatment then ;- ) As it turned out, it was good they were fast. I didn't just have to beat the mail carrier, but get to the post office before it closed, because I was out of stamps and traffic was horrendous because of a parade. Some days nothing is easy ;- )

     Thanks for stopping by, during your busy summer (if your north of the equator, like me.) Please leave a comment because the fuel me. Have a Blessed Sunday!

Site to check out.

     I don't have a card for today, but I ran across a site that searches for freebies and links you to the designer's blog. There are some very nice sites and creative people to be found from this site. The link is http://cutterFreebies.creativebusyhands.com/ So check it out and if you find some freebies you like be sure to give the person you got them from some love in the comments. It is so wonderful, that these generous people share their creative mojo freely with us. Have a wonderful rest of the week.

An Adventure Birthday Card

     Today's card is for a friend's husband. Don't I ever get to make cards for women? He bought kayaks this summer, so I thought I'd use that as a focal point for his card. I went through the Life's a Beach cart and found a photo card with waves on it (page 45). I decided to use the Gypsy to weld a sun, from the page before, to the upper left corner of the frame and give it more of a scenic look. I then cut it out on my Expression. The sun was 2 inches, so I also cut out a 2 inch sun in yellow from Core'dinations paper and enhanced it with yellow gel pen (the circle outline) and Copic markers (the nose and lips) and added it with pop dots. I added small black pearls for eyes. I backed the frame with a lighter blue paper to make a sky. I edged the waves with Puffy Appliqué Markers that puff up when you heat them. The heat and humidity made them a bit runny, but they still worked ok. I attached the kayak, which was from Jolee. The sentiment is from Hero Arts' Big Hugs and was stamped with Tsukineko Rocket Red Gold.

  Click to enlarge to see details.

     I cut the inside papers with a wavy blade, on my paper cutter and the sentiment was made digitally in Print Shop. The fonts are Aloe,  Carlisle and LDJ Jilligraphy ( the first two are free fonts and the last is from Lettering Delights - see link in my side bar.) The lifejacket came on the sticker sheet with the kayak and the balloon is from Jolee's All That Bling, available at my Walmart.

     What would I do differently? Well, the light blue background could be embossed, maybe with divine swirls? I'd have to try it, to see if I'd like it or not. Fairly simple, but I think it's a nice card all of the same. A friend of mine wondered, if guys really appreciated a hand-made card and all of the time that goes in to it. I think it might depend on the guy. Some, I'd put a lot more work into it, and they would.  I don't think he'd appreciate the time it would take me to do a lot of hand coloring though. 

This card came together pretty easily. I learned that if you have some tearing, while you are cutting with your Cricut, it might not be your blade. It might be time for a new mat. The places where my mat was less sticky, was where the waves were tearing, everything else cut fine. Using a new mat, caused it to cut perfectly, all with the same settings. 

     Thanks for coming by. Please leave me a few words in the comments, so that I know you were here and that I'm not writing to myself ;- ) Have a super week.