I was busy earlier this month making the keepsake shadow boxes my church gives to families who have their children dedicated.  I personalize each one, which takes some time, but it is totally worth it.

I took last names and the church name out to post them.

Each letter in the name is cut three times in white cardstock and glued together. Next, the patterned paper I chose is cut and glued to the now thick letter and popped up with foam tape.

The name and date tags are die cut on the girls' ones using Papertrey's Christmas Label die and on the boys' using Spellbinders Ribbon Labels.  At the bottom the white verse card is cut from Spellbinders Large Labels, the logo hand colored with a coordinating Copic, and the lamb is pieced together from Cricut's Create a Critter. Before piecing I run the white parts through a swirl embossing folder to get the texture.  After the lamb is complete, I use Glossy Accents on all exposed black parts for shine and dimension.

 This green and white ribbon is some May Arts ribbon I have been hoarding.  I finally used it here as I thought it went nicely with the paper on 'Claire.'  Use your nice stuff for the people you love--I have been living by this while making the shadow boxes and my cards lately and am liking the results.  I highly suggest it.

For the boys' shadow boxes this round, I used metal tape in copper to 'hang' the letters.  I just got it last month and am loving it! Such a cool, masculine textural element.

Yes, some of the dates are different.   Parents are asking for boxes for their children that were dedicated before we implemented these boxes.  I happily oblige.

Thanks for looking!

For my daughter's first birthday we went with a cupcake theme.  In the hospital for her birth, my husband nicknamed her CupKate and it stuck.

I began the idea of a cupcake invitation with these die cuts that I first stamped with the coordinating frame and then with the cupcake image.  Thinking ahead I stamped extras just incase some didn't turn out right.

I colored the cupcake wrapper with Copics and used hot pink slick puff paint for the frosting detail.  After the paint was thoroughly dry, I applied purple glitter glue for the sweet star. When they were ready, I realized I had forty-eight cupcakes that were usable--way more than I needed.

This is the invite.  The aqua is glitter cardstock and it is a pain to adhere things to, but I really the sparkle it adds.  I used a ridiculous amount of Scor-tape on these to get the ribbon and Mat Stack to stick.

The inside had the party info and a cute little coordinating cupcake which I embossed with aqua embossing powder.

I was pleased with how the icing turned out.  It had a great subtle bumpy texture as if it was hand frosted. :) It dried much quicker than I thought it would so that was a bonus too.

With the extra cupcakes, I whipped up these thank you cards.  I used letterpress paper so it took the embossing folder nicely.  

I still had extra ribbon so I made these drink labels for the party.

And yes, we served cupcakes. :)

Paper: PTI - Raspberry Fizz, Plum Pudding, Stamper's Select White; The Paper Studio - aqua glitter cardstock; Lifestyles - white letterpress paper
Stamps: PTI - Tremendous Treats: Birthday & Tiny Treats: Birthday
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, PTI - Raspberry Fizz
Dies: PTI -Mat Stack #5 & Modern Alphabet, Spellbinders - Labels 4
Embellishments: Tulip - pink Slick Puff Paint; Bo Bunny - striped ribbon; purple Stickles; Cuttlebug - thank you embossing folder; Fiskars - corner rounder

My friend likes owls and her daughter was having a birthday so logically I made an owl card to celebrate her special day.  It is super girlie and full of bright colors and different textures.  

I got the inspiration from a couple blogs I follow.  Since I needed a large owl for a card, but I do not own any Cricut cartridges that fit the bill with an owl I wanted to use, I made one out of shapes I pieced together.  I got the idea for the owl months ago from one of the craft blogs I follow--The Queen's Scene.  If you have never visited her blog I highly recommend it as she is exceedingly talented and her creations are top notch.  I also merged ideas from Kerry's Craft Blog with her use of owls with circles for the belly feathers.  Her blog is phenomenal as well and she can crank out some amazing paper crafts and gifts.

  

I made this owl out of circles, ovals, triangles, and hearts.  It is put together with Scor-Tape, which I kept the backing on the back to get the owl put together before adhering to the card base.  I used paisley and swiss dot embossing folders, textured paper, glitter paper, and a bright and colorful scolloped paper.  I primarily used my Cricut with the Basic Shapes cartridge but also used my Papertrey Ink 1 3/4" Limitless Layers dies.  See the "eye lashes"? Limitless layers to the rescue!

I kept the inside simple since the front is so busy.  The little bird is from Tiny Treats: Birthday, which I colored with my Copics.  

Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did. It was quite fun making. :)

Paper: Echo Park - Summer Days stack - scallops; Best Occasions - Textured Stack; Staples - white; The Paper Studio - black glitter paper; Papertrey Ink - Lemon Tart, Raspberry Fizz, Plum Pudding, Simply Chartreuse, and Aqua Mist

Stamps: PTI - Think Big Favorites #12, Tiny Treats: Birthday

Ink: PTI - Raspberry Fizz

Embellishments: PTI - Saddle Stitch ribbon - Raspberry Fizz, 

Other: Cuttlebug; Swiss Dot and Paisley Cuttlebug embossing folders; Cricut; George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge; PTI -1 3/4" Limitless Layers: Circles and Block Alphabet dies; Copics - V17, V15, BG11, BG49, BG72, colorless blender; standard office hole punch

For this 80th birthday card I put away my bright colors and focused on more subdued ones.  There is quite a bit of interest going on here with textures and detail and I didn't want take away from that.  The curved lines of the Labels Four die is elegant to me.  I layered two sizes of the die cut from beautiful premium linen textured paper.  I placed them on top of the floral emboss paper.  There is something about solid color embossed paper--it makes me happy.  The numbers were cut from metallic cardstock which has a nice sheen.  The delicate eyelet border and tiny rhinestone stars are sweet details that work nice here.  

I kept the inside sentiment simple for this joyous occasion.
Paper: DCWV - Latte Stack - floral print & green woodgrain - Metallic Stack - metallic lavender, Recollection - lavender & cream, Staples - white cardstock
Embellishments: Ribbon Boutique - silver grosgrain, The Paper Studio - rhinestone stars, Fiskars - eyelet punch
Other: Spellbinders - Labels Four, floral Cuttlebug embossing folder, Cuttlebug, Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge, Lyrical Letters Cricut Cartridge, Fiskars corner rounder

I have seen a lot of raised reversed cutout images lately in card magazines and in craft blogs.  Usually the cut out image is a butterfly or simple shape.  I tried a hummingbird for this get well card and it worked out well.  

The Spring Moss cardstock is raised above the turquoise fan patterned paper with dimensional adhesive.  The paper underneath the hummingbird I placed at an angle to mimic its feathers.  The flowers in the corners were stamped with watermark ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The "Happy Healing" sentiment is also embossed but with silver.

Every hummingbird needs a flower so I made this ribbon flower on a Scor-tape circle I cut from an adhesive sheet.  Much cheaper than a Gluber and just as easy.

The embossed flower on the white, much more subtle but just as pretty, finishes off the inside.  

Paper: Papertrey Ink - Spring Moss, October Afternoon - Fly a Kite stack - turquoise fan pattern, Staples - white cardstock
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Year of Flowers: Carnation and Healing Touch Sentiments
Ink: Versamark - watermark, Powder Puff Cahlking Inks - Green with Envy
Embellishments:A La Mode - clear embossing powder, Filagree - silver embossing powder, Ribbon Boutique - cream satin grosgrain, The Paper Studio - turquoise sparkle brad
Other: Cricut, Pagoda Cricut cartridge, Score-tape, dimensional adhesive

Felt icing?!  Love it!  The texture is so fun.

I pulled out my Papertrey Ink numbers impression plate for this card.  The letterpress style impression is a refreshing texture compared to my usual embossing.  You'll see the glitter sprinkled around the pink background and on the felt icing; I tapped some of the green glitter cardstock scraps over them and the subtle glitter here and there was left behind.  It also was here and there on me all day but it was worth it.
Paper: Papertrey Ink - Hibiscus Burst, Doodle Bug Designs - limeade sugar coated gitter paper, DCWV - Nana's Kids stack - stripes, DCWV - The Glitter Stack - orange
Embellishments: Papertrey Ink - Hibiscus Burst satin luxe ribbon, numbers impression plate, Joann - clothing grade white wool blend felt 
Other: Cuttlebug, Cricut, Doodlecharms Cricut cartridge

I pulled out my pearl embellishments and pearl paint medium to adorn this thirtieth wedding anniversary card.   I had to snap pictures quickly as I was waiting for better sunlight conditions but they were not to be had before I needed to give the card away.  Thirty years of marriage is something to really be proud of especially in this day in age.  I am so thankful for the couple for which I made this card. 

I layered six cuts of each number on top of each other to make them thicker than chipboard weight and then painted on a few coats of pearl medium.  It created a gorgeous pearl shimmer.  I stamped the flourishes in Versa Mark watermark and applied a clear embossing powder.  The result on the Aqua Mist cardstock is subtle.  The large pearls are brads and the small pearls I adhered with Glossy Accents. I carried the flourish and pearls onto the raised mat with the numbers by masking off the flourish at the bottom that I had already embossed and set then stamped and embossed it there.  

Paper: Papertrey Ink - Aqua Mist, Staples - white cardstock

Ink: Versa Mark - watermark

Stamps: Inkadoo - flourishes

Embellishments: Papertrey Ink - Aqua Mist luxe satin ribbon, The Paper Studio - pearl brads and pearls, A La Mode - clear embossing powder

Other: Americana - Pearlizing medium, Cricut, Classic Font Cricut cartridge, Glossy Accents

While talking with my best friend, she told me about a baby shower she was going to be hosting.  I offered to make her invitations and since she is my best friend I had to make the amazing.

I have been wanting to make invitations that pull out of a pocket for a couple years and decided this was my chance.  I learned quite a bit -- angels are not my friend while I am tired -- that will aid me in streamlining the process next time I make them.

I really like how the chalking around the edges looks like grass.  Can you tell I am enjoying using my KI Memories Classic Stack?  This zebra print paper has shown up in several of my recent designs.  The orange ribbon adds a nice detail and is also functional as a good way to pull the card out of the pocket.  

Of course the invites were cuter before I had to edit out information on them.  

Paper: Papertrey Ink - Dark Chocolate, New Leaf & Kraft, Staples - white cardstock, Doodlebug - juggle animals, Recollections - orange & light brown, The Paper Studio - medium orange & light pink, KI Memories - The Classics stack - blue zebra
Ink: Powder Puff Chalking Inks - Green with Envy
Embellishments: The Ribbon Boutique - orange grosgrain ribbon, googley eyes,
Other: Cricut, Create a Critter Cricut cartridge, Cuttlebug, The Paper Studio zebra embossing folder, Fiskars corner rounder, Crop-o-dile, Marvy Uchida paper cutter, brown ultra fine Sharpie, printer, Scor-tape

Hosting a baby shower for a lady that has a fun, vibrant style gave me a bit of creative lisence.  I went with a safari theme with some nontraditional, vibrant colors and a bit modern.  Usually people give the theme more subdued colors.  I also chose to use cheetah, zebra, and giraffe prints and splashes of color.

The embossed chartreuse cheetah texture with the textured gray of the elephant makes you want to run your fingers over them.  Papertrey Ink paper embosses beautifully.  Since I wanted to stay modern I found an elephant cut that did not require fussy layering or lots of intricate details.  I did scale down the onesie sleeves as I felt they were too long for the invite. 

Ripping the edges of the paper took quite a bit more time than cutting them quickly with a paper trimmer, but the overall affect is great.  I carefully ripped the paper (ha, yes, an oxymoron) to maximize the most exposure of frayed fibers.  The 'wanted poster' font fits with the jungle-ish feel.
Paper: Papertrey Ink - Blueberry Sky and Simply Chartreuse, The Paper Studio - textured gray, Georgia Pacific - white copy paper
Other: Cricut, New Arrival Cricut cartridge, Cuttlebug, Sizzix - cheetah embossing folder, printer

I made this banner for the safari theme baby shower I threw.  The location it was at had ceiling tiles which made hanging this a breeze as the tiles held the ribbon securely without adhesives or tacks.

I forgot to take a close up of it so I gathered the papers and ribbon I used (minus the brown satin grosgrain as I used it all) for you to see.  These colored zebra papers are a lot of fun and the orange paper with glittered animals was perfect for the letters.  The giraffe print ribbon was used as accents on some of the other decorations throughout the party so I tied it to the brown ribbon and used it to hang the banner.

Paper: KI Memries - The Classics Stack - blue, green & yellow zebra, DCWV - Animal Crackers stack - orange with glittered animal prints, Recollections - pale blue

Embellishments: The Ribbon Boutique - brown satin grosgrain & giraffe print satin grosgrain

Other: hole punch, Cricut, New Arrival Cricut cartridge

This was my first attempt at making a diaper cake.  The ones I have seen and received in the past for the most part had the diapers rolled up tight and secured with rubber bands or ribbon, but I did not take that approach. 


I fanned the diapers around in a circle like you would fan a deck of cards.  This swirling of the diapers looks interesting and pretty.  Next, I wrapped tissue paper around the sides for color and to get the look of fondant and then added the layered ribbon.  The giraffes were propped against the side as an afterthought when I had a couple left from decorating the room.  I like them.  I chose to leave the top unadorned and not to add animals or baby items all over it to go with the modern feel I was trying to achieve.
Paper: Papertrey Ink - Orange Zest, KI Memories - The Classics stack - yellow with white polka dots
Embellishments: The Ribbon Boutique - brown satin grosgrain and giraffe print satin grosgrain 
Other: green tissue paper, Wilton 12" scalloped cake round, Cricut, Create a Critter Cricut cartridge, diapers

My good friend was throwing a wedding shower for friends of ours and I volunteered to make the invites.    The theme was shabby chic and black, white, silver, and red.  I used a regular white cardstock to help the stamped flourish get an uneven, slightly distressed look.  The vellum overlay softened the overall look too.

The number kept steadily growing so there ended up being three different versions of this invite sent out.  This was the simplest one to mass produce.  The others were this design with red satin ribbon either fed through holes I punched and tied in a bow or a strip of the red satin ribbon only at the top.

Paper: The Paper Studio - clear vellum and textured gray, Staples - white cardstock
Stamps: Basic Grey - Adornment stamp set
Ink: Memento - London Fog
Other: Cricut, The the Knot Cricut cartridge, Fiskars corner rounder, printer

Fun and crazy birthday card for a little four year old.  Check!  I know, I know, lots of polka dots and zebra together on one card.  It adds that craziness that sweet kids putting together a card might do. Busy?  Yes, but it's fun.  Four year olds don't care.  ;o)  The ribbon the monkey is hanging from needed something on the ends to finish it.  I made these small ribbon roses with some Scor-tape.  They come together quickly.  I like how the bow on the monkey matches the roses.  The monkey was only attached at the tail to the ribbon so it was able to swing freely when moved. 

Paper: KI Memries - The Classics Stack - pink zebra, DCWV - Animal Crackers stack - animal print polka dots, Best Occasions - Textured Cardstock - brown, Recollections - tan

Embellishments: googley eyes, Sharpie - ultra fine pink, Copic - C1, Papertrey Ink - Hibiscus Burst stain luxe ribbon, Michael's - green grosgrain

Other: Scor-tape, Cricut New Arrival cartridge

Recently, I needed a special card for a special friend's baby shower. I went through my patterned papers to find just the right paper to make a [fairly] believable onesie. 

I wanted to make the onesie really girlie so I pulled out two colors of tissue paper and pleated them to make ruffles.  The flower at the top is tissue paper too to pull it all together.

I had heard there would be butterflies in the decor at the baby shower.  I knew I wanted to in cooperate them into her card.  The print on the onesie has a few but I chose to decorate the inside with them as well.  The yellow and white pocket on the left side is a gift card holder.  The pink satin ribbon wasn't exactly what I wanted so I flipped it over and used the textured underside on the lip of the holder.  
Paper: DCWV - The Lemon Flower Stack - white and yellow grid, Recollections - dark and light pink, Staples - white cardstock, DCWV - The Stack 6 - summer time print, light and dark pink tissue paper
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Congrats All the Way set
Ink: Stampabilities - white pigment
Embellishments: Hero Arts - green flower gem, Papertrey Ink - luxe satin ribbon - Hibiscus Burst

A colorful birthday card for a sweet one year old.  Her momma really likes kitties so I thought a little kitten on her card would be appreciated.  

I pulled out my bling to embellish the kitten.  Everyone who likes cats needs one with a rhinestone collar, hair bow, and eyes, right?  The white fur is actually white flocking so it was furry.

On the inside I used this cute little sentiment to tie it together.

Papers: The Paper Studio - Birthday Extraveganza stack - pink swirls and multicolor scallops, KI Memories - pink polkadots, DCWV - The Glitter Stack - aqua and dark pink, Staples - white cardstock, The Paper Company - blue and pink cardstock, Recollections - black cardstock

Embellishments: Kaiser Craft - aqua and pink rhinestones, Hero Arts - clear flower rhinestone, Hampton Art - Sprinkle Glitter Flocking in white

Other: Cricut, Create a Critter and Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridges

Challenge: To make Cinderella inspired wedding shower invites that used the wedding colors, were elegant, inexpensive, beautiful, and easy to assemble as there were around 100 to send out.  

*a lot of info has been removed from this invite so I could post it*

My friend and I came up with this.  We felt it incorporated all the criteria.  It was a blessing to have help making, assembling, and addressing so many invitations.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the process and the assembly.  There were stacks of the different papers and ribbons as well as partially and fully assembled invites all over my craft room.  

The shoe was cut from the same brown shimmer paper as the back matting but the vellum overlay muted it so you could still read the places they were registered easily.  It can be found on the Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge.

Paper: The Paper Studio - brown and teal shimmer and vellum.

Embellishments: brown satin ribbon, The Paper Studio - brown grommets (on the holes the ribbon goes through)

Other: Cricut, Tie the Knot Cricut cartridge