HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEBBIE....

My last post was showing you the card I made for my hubby's birthday. His birthday is in September. That shows how far behind I am in posting. Today I have the birthday card I did for my friend and upline, Debbie Naylor. Guess when her birthday was. Go ahead, guess.... Give up? It was yesterday. That's right --- I am actually posting the day after the event. The only thing better would have been posting yesterday on her birthday like her sister and my Simply Paper Design team cohort Cindy did. Oh, well, on to the card......

I was clicking through my Favorites list for the web one day and I saw a cool card that Dawn Griffith did with folds and Framelits for the Big Shot. I loved the look of it and Dawn even had a video that shows how to do it here. Good thing, too, because I would never have figured it out on my own. Here is how it turned out..........

Partially opened:

Fully opened:

Isn't it the most awesomest? Of course, it was not as easy for me to handle the Big Shotting as Dawn makes it look in her video, but I finally managed it. The flowers are from Field Flowers and are stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Rich Razzleberry cardstock. The DSP is the new Floral District, coming out in the new catalog tomorrow. The front sentiment is from Pursuit of Happiness and the "Happy Birthday" on the inside is from Bring on the Cake.

I hope Debbie enjoyed her day yesterday and was properly spoiled!!!

Happy Birthday, Debbie!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!! Have a great day!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMMY........

I never make cards for my husband. Not sure why. I guess he just never really seems impressed with my projects, or he is there when I can work on it, or I just can't come up with what I want to say to him for the inside sentiment, or I just don't know why. However, for his birthday last year (September --- sad to take so long to post the card, I know), I actually made him one. I was inspired by this Simply Paper Design challenge. When it comes to "manly" cards, I think harware --- brads, eyelets, anything metal --- and the hemp twine (in place of ribbon). So this is what I came up with for him. It uses the long ago retired Wildlife Reserve stamp set and the very soon to be retired Well Worn DSP. It is all layered on a Crumb Cake base.

Thanks for visiting!!!! Have a great day!!!!

MAY SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

Another month, another challenge.......
For May, the team decided to give a fond farewell to the retiring In-Colors - Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush. Teamed with one of Cindy's awesome sketches --- well, you just can't go wrong. Here is the challenge and Cindy's card can be seen here. Also, check out what Regina came up with here.

For my card, I started with the Just Add Cake DSP. The patterns I chose used the Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait. For a color to compliment those, I used the Pear Pizzazz. The stamp set used is the soon to be retired Not So Seriously. The gift bag was stamped with black StazOn and colored with my Stampin' markers. The sentiment was stamped with the Poppy Parade. I then punched it out with the small tag punch and layered it with peach parfait cardstock punched with the large tag punch. To add a little bling, I attached a piece of white ribbon with a rhinestone brad.

The inside of the card:

I love that sentiment. Luckily, my niece (who was the lucky one to receive this card) has a great sense of humor......

However, this was not my first try on this challenge. I made this card first (sorry for the blurry photo):

It uses the cake from the Voila stamp set, the sentiment from the Whimsical Words stamp set and the center label is from Punch Bunch, all retired. Same DSP and colors used as the other one. I punched the flowers with the Boho Blossoms and added rhinestones in the centers. I really liked this card, but the idea for the other one got into my head (mostly using the tag punch in the center) and I just had to try it, too. So, how about a 2 for 1 deal???

Thanks for checking in..........

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.............

To all of you mom's out there ---- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! I hope you are all being pampered and showered with love today.
I have the cards that I made for my mom and mom-in-law to show you today. They were both CASEd and not much was changed from the originals. This first one is for my Mom-in-law and was on an email where Jill Hilliard was offering classes. I do not have a link to the card, but you can find Jill's blog here. Using the summer smooches DSP (love, love love it!!!) and Bright Blossoms stamp set, it was all layered on a whisper white base. I used a strip of crushed curry ribbon (retired) and accented the flowers with some rhinestones. The sentiment is from the Curvy Verses stamp set.

The inside, using the retired Something to Celebrate stamp set for the sentiment:

The one for my mom was CASEd from a Stampin' Addicts post by Deb Currier that was sent to my group from my upline, Debbie (her blog is here). You can find the orginal post on Deb's blog here. It is so simple, yet packs quite a punch. It, too, was layered on a whisper white base. The first layer is the white ran through the Big Shot with the Stripes embossing folder. Then, I just cut a circle of white and covered the bottom half with a piece of DSP from the Cheerful Treat pack (retiring this month). The sentiment is from Well Scripted (retired) and the butterfly was made with the Beautiful Wings embosslit die.

The inside of it, using the same sentiment as above:

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!!!!

APRIL SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE......

I must say, I was very excited about this month's challenge --- a quilt card. See the challenge info here. You see, I used to sew and I love quilts. I have only made two very simple ones for my kids, but I love checking out the different patterns every now and then. So, in my very simple mind, this was right up my alley. Right? Oh, so not right. Let me just say this --- fabric is much more forgiving than paper (even on the super small scale that I was working with). So after two very sad tries of one pattern, I looked again for an easier block to use and finally came up with this card.

It uses the new Summer Smooches DSP. I absolutely love the bright colors and cute little patterns with this paper. It will be available in the new catalog coming out on June 1st. In the center is a bow tacked down by a Summer Smooches fabric brad, which was only available for a limited time and is now retired. I made this with my sister-in-law's birthday in mind. I also needed something small to place her gift in and, as luck would have it, the new Petite Purse Big Shot Die (also coming out in the new catalog) just fit the bill.

Isn't that purse the cutest little thing? And so, so easy, even I can make one..... What is a birthday without a little cake? So, inside looks like this:

As it would turn out, Cindy said that she also had a hard time with this challenge. But I guess it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy, huh? Even so, I think we both are very happy to have this one done and over with. Kathy also joined in the challenge again this month. Check out both of their cards here. I love how Cindy stitched her ribbon on the top and bottom of her block. Notice how she and I pretty much used the same block design. Kathy and I used the same DSP, but she used a different block design. Man, I cannot believe the amount of piecing she did on this. Regina also joined in on the fun and went above and beyond by making 2 cards here. Aren't they gorgeous??!!!?? Thanks to Kathy and Regina for taking on this challenge with us.

Now onto May..... Keep an eye out on Cindy's blog here for details and play along......