Why Thank You!

Writing thank you notes has become something of a lost art. We get gifts from friends and family and we always mean to tell them, "Thanks," but then life gets in the way and we forget. I always try to send thank you notes, whether it is to the children in my classroom for their homemade gifts or to my friends and family for all that they do for me. Here is a thank you note that I made for everyone who sent me goodies for my birthday. I started with a basic white 4 in. by 5.5 in. card that I covered with some pink paper. Then I used some black ink and this Kiki La Rue stamp called Cupcake Kiki. (I have been baking lots of cupcakes lately so I thought this would all go well together.) I colored her with some colored pencils and cut her out. Then I inked the edges with some pink ink and put some glitter on the cupcake. I attached her to the card. Then, since I made many of these, I printed out "Thank you!" on my computer with a fun font called "Oh Photoshoot." Then I attached the sentiment with some pop dots. The next time you get a gift, take the time to send a thank you. Your friends and family will feel like they got a gift too!

Summer?

Where did this summer go? I had such big plans to make so many projects and keep this blog busy. Now school has started again and my days are filled with 3rd graders. Not much time for scrapbooking! My goal this school year is to find more balance with work and play so here goes.

A good friend of the families' daughter is getting married soon and we were invited to her wedding shower. I went to Michael's and found this wooden frame that measures 12 by 12. First, I painted the edges green and then I used some embellished daisy paper by K & Company. The paper is an off white and the daisies are raised on it to give it some texture. I have had this paper forever so I was glad to finally use it. When I went to cut out the rectangle for the picture, I did not measure correctly. The glass does not come out of the frame so I had to measure and cut and estimate where it would fit. It did not turn out perfectly so I ended up painting green around the picture area and then glued the paper on. I like how it will frame their picture. Then I took some yellow chalk and highlighted the middle of each daisy. I had an extra sheet of this paper so I cut out some more daisies and used some pop dots to glue them to the corners. Finally, I found a quote about love that I printed and matted with some yellow cardstock. I hope the bride likes it and finds a perfect picture to put inside. Here is to taking the time to stop and smell the flowers! Have a great week!

My 100th Post!

It is hard to believe but this is my 100th post! I had no idea I had created so many things. Thanks to all of you who keep checking in and for posting those great comments.

Here are three cards I have made recently. The peace card is for a one year old's first birthday party. The theme was, "Peace, Love, and Brayden." I could not find a peace symbol on any cartridge, so I made this using George. I cut out a circle and several rectangles and pieced it all together. I covered it with blue seed beads using 3 in 1 glue, although tacky tape also works. The stamp is from Fiskars.

For Father's Day, I used Everyday Paper Dolls for this Top Chef. On the face, I used a stamp from Peachy Keen Stamps. The Top Chef is printed from my computer.

Finally, it was my little sister's birthday. She is very fashionable, so I used the new Summer in Paris cartridge to cut out this shoe. First, I cut out the solid shoe in blue then I cut out the fancy shoe in a shimmery paper from My Mind's Eye. The words at the bottom are also printed from my computer.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Happy 4th of July next weekend!

Autographs Anyone?

Happy Friday to all of you! My good buddies Kate and Drew are heading to Disneyworld next month. I know how kids love to get autographs from all of their favorite characters so I made each of them their own autograph books. First, I cut some chipboard 6 by 8 inches and covered each side with paper. For Kate, I chose pink to match the princess castle on the front. For Drew, I chose black and red to go with the Mickey and Minnie stickers I found. Then I cut out some beige cardstock that I put inside the book. I cut out 20 pages for each of them so they have plenty of room for autographs and can even add pictures to it later. To make the books, I used my Bind-It-All machine. On the back covers, I cut out a Mickey Mouse head with their initials using my Mickey Font cartridge. (This is how I personalized the covers too.) The final touch is a retractable Sharpie marker that I tied to the binding with rope. This way, they never have to search for markers and they will not lose the caps. Now they are ready! Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to all of those who protect us every day!

Summer Birthdays

Since school is out for summer (woo hoo!) I will not see some of my teacher friends for their birthdays. So they would not think I forgot about them, I gave them their cards last week before school was out.

Since Alicia has a puppy named Marlely who she loves so much, I made her this card using the Puppy Kiki stamp from Kiki La Rue. I found the stamp at Crop Girls. I used some brown ink and then colored it in using colored pencils. The saying at the bottom is from a Fiskars stamp set using Stampin' Up ink in Pink Passion.

For Adam, I cut out a cupcake using the Celebrations cartridge with my Cricut. To add texture, I glued on seed beads in a variety of colors. First, I added wet glue to the top of my cupcake in various places and then I sprinkled on the beads. The beads went everywhere so make sure to be careful when you do this.

Happy June Birthdays Alicia and Adam!

Happy Birthday Mom!

This post is a little bit late. Last weekend was my mom's birthday and Mother's Day. Here are the cards my sisters and I made for her for her birthday. (Sorry for the horrible pics, but I obviously was giggling or something because nothing is in focus.) I told my sisters I would post them. We always are in a competition about who makes the best cards. It is a friendly competition, of course. I will not tell you which one is mine but I think they are all cute and my mom loved them!

Happy Birthday Sonja!

My cousin Sonja turned 40 this week so her family is having a surprise party for her today. She is very young at heart so I made her a fun loving card. I decided to use the colors and inspiration from the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge. They give you a color palette and you use those to make a card. I cut out the flowers using Walk in My Garden with my Cricut. Then I used the Everyday Character Face stamps to give them each a smile. Sonja always makes me smile so these cute faces fit her perfectly.