Karate Birthday

Next Tuesday is Drew's 5th birthday! Hard to believe my little buddy is turning 5. Where does the time go? (I find myself asking that a lot lately!)

He just started karate a few weeks ago so I wanted to make him a karate card. I turned to my trusty sidekick, the Cricut, yet I could not find a karate guy anywhere! What to do? Not sure if this looks just right, but I used the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge and found a robe and belt that kind of looked karate to me. I added some black pants too. Drew told me his teacher makes him yell, "Yes Sir" so Drew's little guy is yelling, "Yes Drew." Inside I wrote, "It is your birthday!" Happy Birthday Drew!

A Bouquet of Valentines

Last year, I made the students in my class ladybug Valentines. They were super cute but took forever. I wanted to find something a little more simple. (And something the kids would love too!) Thank goodness for Skip To My Lou. This site is amazing! They have so many different ideas for every holiday and event you can think of. Here is where I found these Lily Valentines. I printed them out on red cardstock. Then I cut them out and cut a hole in the middle and stuck a Tootsie Roll pop through the hole. The final touch was to print out matching leaves on green cardstock. I wrote the student's name on the front and my name on the back. I attached the leaves around the stick using double sided tape. Now my bouquet is done and it is off to finish the rest of my Valentine's Day cards.

Football and Card Making

I LOVE football! I am not sure what I love more, paper crafting or football but they are a close tie. I have spent the last several weekends watching my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, fight for a spot in the Super Bowl. I can hardly believe it! So, I combined the Packers' colors with a cute card for a Saturday Sketch. I used a sketch to create this card.

First, I created a basic 5 1/2" by 5 1/2" card out of yellow cardstock. Then I cut a smaller 5" square out of the green colored cardstock. To add some details, I drew black stitching along the edges. I then put several strips of white and green papers that I inked with green in the middle of the card. The middle square is the same yellow as the base and is 4". I then tied some green yarn around the middle. I love this yarn because it reminds me of grass. Football Ian is colored with green and gold! I made the goal post embellishment out of cardstock and ribbon. To celebrate the great football weekend, I stamped, "Party Time" in the corner.

See - you can combine football and card making! Have a great week!

Mystery Monday

I seem to be making a lot of cards lately and I don't like to waste all of that extra paper so I decided to make another card using the Rusty Pickle paper I used for my last card. Just changed it up a bit!

This is a challenge for Club Anya, a part of The Greeting Farm. I used their Flutter Anya stamp again and used the patterned paper as the background with a solid pink center. Then I cut up a strip of the heart patterned paper to make a border at the bottom. To tie the border together, I tied a black string with a bow. Then I wanted to use some pink ribbon I had so I glued it to a chipboard heart and cut off the extra. I layered all of the hearts together and added the cute saying next to Anya. She looks like she might just flutter off of the page. Have a great weekend and Go Pack Go!

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Happy Saturday everyone! I am trying to keep up with my goal to post something every week but this may be cutting it close. For some inspiration, I found a site called Tuesday Morning Sketches. Here is my card for their sketch of the week. I used some Rusty Pickle paper and some pink and black cardstock. Then I used my favorite Flutter Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm that I first colored with pink and then colored over with red to match the papers better. I inked all of the papers with charcoal and used a quote from TPC Studio that says, "All things grow with love." To finish, I added some heart and circle brads. Now I have one Valentine done. Enjoy your weekend!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I am so glad it is a new year - ready for a fresh start. I don't like making resolutions, probably because I end up breaking them the first week. Instead, I am going to try some goals. Not sure how they are that different, but maybe it will help. My goal for this blog is to create something new every week, whether it be a card, a layout, or a gift. I think I can do that! So here goes!

Kate is turning 7 years old in a few weeks! (I keep telling her she cannot be older than 4, but she does not believe me.) Instead of a card, I made her a brown bag book. I took three lunch sacks that I folded together and binded on the side. Then I printed out pictures and sentences about Kate. I thought about 7 things that I love about her. These included, "You are brave enough to try new things," and "You love music." I did not add a lot of embellishments because I wanted the pictures to be the main focus. Fun and easy to make. Hope she loves it too!

This goal thing is starting out just fine!