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!

This card was tricky to photograph.  The teal mat, clouds, and airplanes are mounted on a piece of clear acetate.  The orange mat is mounted underneath on the chevron paper but when it is closed they match up so the orange mat makes an outline shadow for the the teal mat.

It was made for a baby shower for a little boy.  I chose to forgo a sentiment and instead made the formation of planes.  The orange mat was just the right size for a handwritten note. 

I need to make more cards with this technique as it was fun to make and the outcome is fun as well.

Thanks for looking.
Paper: Pebbles - Happy Thoughts; Duralar - Acetate Alternative; PTI - Stamper's Select White, Harvest Gold, Aqua Mist
Stamps: PTI - Little Hot Rod
Ink: Memento - London Fog
Dies: Little Hot Rod, Cloud Dies, Mat Stack 4, Mat Stack 4 Layerz

This card for the contest features Heather Nichols' design from the printable.

I added some glossy accents to the aqua banner for dimension.

The party hat is a fun embellishment from Jolee's Stickers.

Fun little birthday card with a pom pom to boot.

Paper: Spring Rain, Limeade Ice, Staples - white

Embellishments: Jolee Stickers, orange pom pom, glossy accents, PTI printable

Today I have a juvenile boy birthday card to share.  

I believe this is the first time I have used my ticket border die.  For this card I tore the perforations to stack the tickets.  

For a little interest, I added embroidery floss to anchor them.  

Paper: Close to My Heart - star paper; PTI - Lemon Tart, Pure Poppy, and Blueberry Sky
Stamps: PTI - Just the Ticket
Ink: PTI - Simply Chartreuse and Orange Zest
Embellishments: blue floss, PTI - ticket die

Lately, I have been inspired by simplistic design.  I thought I'd give it a go with some modern looking stripes.  

*Tip* I learned that if you are going to emboss with multiple stripes with tight grooves like this, then it is best to do so before adhering the paper down or you get it in them. 

Rookie mistake. I learn something new everyday.  :)   

I liked this design so much I made a thank you card, too.  

As you see I had learned my lesson with the embossing powder and the grooves. :) White ink to the rescue!

Paper: PTI - Soft Stone, Simply Chartreuse, Enchanted Evening, and Kraft.
Stamps: PTI - Congrats All the Way, Think Big Favorites #16
Ink: Versamark - Watermark, PTI - Fresh Snow
Embellishments: Zing - white embossing powder, The Paper Studio - screw brads

Taking a small break from all the feminine cards with this masculine thank you card.  Simple but interesting with the chevron.  

The nice thing is it came together quite quickly as I already had the green chevron strips die cut.  

One day a few months ago, I felt like die cutting things so I cut several chevron strips from a rainbow of colors. I keep them in a little drawer and they have come in handy a few times now! 

I glued these green chevrons down with Zig Two-Way Glue Pen but I think next time I use some of these chevron strips I am going to run them through my Xyron sticker maker.  It will make this even easier. I might just do that today!

Thanks for taking a look. :)

All items are Papertrey Ink.
Paper: New Leaf & Enchanted Evening
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #4
Ink: Fresh Snow
Dies: Chevron Stripes

I joined the banner trend bandwagon with this card and I must say I like banners on cards.  

The banners were just a strip of a party confetti print paper that snipped into five pieces and cut the V shape into.  To thread my floss through, I pulled out my Big Bite to make small holes on the top.  I only attached it behind my cardstock base so you move the banners and it flaps around when you move it.  


I pulled my Spellbinders ovals out to stamp the sentiment on; they have proven to be a valuable investment in my paper crafting time and again!  


Paper: PTI - Blueberry Sky, Canyon Clay; The Paper Studio - Birthday Extravaganza stack - path confetti
Ink: PTI - Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Movers & Shakers
Embellishments: Lime green floss, Cuttlebug - circles embossing folder, Spellbinders - Ovals
Other: Cuttlebug, Crop-a-dile Big Bite

I just realized I hadn't posted a card for Father's Day (or Mother's Day but that is another post).  

Tada! Better late than never, right? :) 


I grabbed this patterned paper at my local craft house because I knew it would be great for masculine cards.  For texture I ran brown card stock through my paper crimper.  I chose to put the Father's Day sentiment on a curvy die cut to echo the curves in the paper.  I sure wish dies for the On the Links set would come out...


Paper: Webster's Pages - Tennis Anyone?, The Paper Studio - brown, PTI - Vintage Cream and Enchanted Evening
Stamps: PTI - On the Links and Happy Day
Ink: PTI - Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, and Simply Chartreuse
Embellishments: PTI - Happy Day die, Marvy Uchida - paper crimper
Other: Cuttlebug, craft knife

I am really liking my On the Links golf themed stamps.  They lend themselves easily to masculine cards, but with color changes you can make a feminine one.  Glad I purchased this!  Now that I am getting older, I have many more friends taking up golf.  


The three lighter golf bags were stamped with watermark ink, which made that great green.  It needed some oomph so I stamped the golf balls on the edges.  Next, I ran it under the Canvas & Linen Impression Plate to give it texture.  After I stamped the navy golf bag, I cut it out quickly with a craft knife and adhered it with dimensional foam.  I feel like I achieved a bight and masculine card for this one, which totally reflects the recipient for whom I made it.


Paper: PTI - New Leaf, Staples - white, DCWV - The Guy Stack - green plaid
Ink: Versamark - watermark; PTI - Fresh Snow and Enchanted Evening
Stamps: PTI - On the Links
Other: PTI - Canvas & Linen Impression Plate, Cuttlebug, craft knife, dimensional foam

For this week's MIM challenge, I chose to do a masculine birthday card with Dot Spot.  I always forget about this set, but I like it a lot.  I used a good old Sharpie to make my border line.

Instead of stamping a dot in the center, I glued a silicon drop to them.  I picked these up last year at a tiny scrapbook shop.  They were sold in unmarked bag for dirt cheap and they take Copic marker beautifully.  They actually look like beads of water in person.

The inside I kept sentiment free so I could write a nice lengthy note.  :)


Thanks for stopping by!


Paper: PTI - Rustic White
Ink: PTI - Enchanted Evening, Simply Chartreuse, Orange Zest
Stamps: PTI - Dot Spot and Think Big Favorites #16
Embellishment: Sharpie - ultra fine navy, handmade silicon drops

For this card I stamped my images onto Spring Moss cardstock and colored with them Copics.  No fancy shading here since I wanted a simple look.  For the stars on the three animals on the bottom, I added sparkle with a clear Spica glitter pen.  The banner is hand cut since my Double-Ended Banner die was too narrow for this particular sentiment.  I was so excited when these images came out in this larger size (Tremendous Treats); it makes my Tiny Treats set even more versatile!
Paper: Papertrey Ink - Spring Moss, Spring Rain, Orange Zest
Ink: PTI - Soft Snow, Orange Zest; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Stamps: PTI - Tremendous Treats: Birthday, Script Sentiments, Happy Day
Other: PTI - Happy Day die; Copics - E55, R20, R22, C4, C1, C4, B21, Y 15, Y19; Spica Atyou - clear, Cuttlebug

Quatrefoil = love.  I have so many ideas for this cover plate floating around but most are feminine so I challenged myself and made this more masculine feeling one.  I added the cut out back to the design for more interest.  Kinda cute.

Paper: PTI - Pure Poppy and Ocean Tides; Staples - white cardstock
Stamps: Congrats All the Way
Ink: Versamark
Embellishments: PTI -Cover Plate: Quatrefoil
Other: Zing - white embossing powder; Cuttlebug

I was so inspired by Papertrey Ink's 5th anniversary designer's favorite color combos download that I came up with four pages worth of my own combinations after looking at some inspiring pictures.  This is one of them: Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Canyon Clay, Spring Rain, Simply Chartruse, and cream.  

Today's card I have used some homemade washi tape for an embellishment.  It is made from cream tissue paper and Scor-tape.  My husband thought it was cool that I used masking tape on a card. *sigh*  Next time I'll use another color besides cream.  The wood grain came out fantastic!  Look at those deep grooves--so much interest with texture.

Inside I used the simple "and many more" sentiment to stay simple and clean.  (I was feeling a bit stamp happy so I really had to restrain myself.)  The edges of the Spring Rain cardstock were inked with Enchanted Evening.  I love the richness of this ink pad.

The back is fun as I continued the tape down the back instead of cutting it or folding it under the paper on the front.  My blog stamp and a "homemade for you stamp" finishes it off. 
Paper: PTI - Kraft, Enchanted Evening, Canyon Clay, Spring Rain; Staples white
Stamps: PTI - Happy Day and Homemade Hodgepodge; Technique Tuesday - Cake & Candles; Justrite - Brayton font
Ink: PTI - Enchanted Evening and Orange Zest
Embellishments: PTI - Simply Chartreuse vintage button; cream tissue paper
Other: PTI - Happy Day die; The Paper Studio - wood grain embossing folder; Cuttlebug

Monochromatic color schemes can be so classy looking.  As some of you may have figured out by reading this blog, PTI's Enchanted Evening is one of my absolute favorite colors and used with Blueberry Sky it is my kind of happy.  When I received this limited edition stamp set I thought it would pair nicely with my new swirly embossing folder.  This is the result.

I enjoy the different textures here and found myself feeling this card quite a bit.  Quite pretty indeed...I mean quite masculine indeed. *insert manly grunt here*
Paper: PTI - Enchanted Evening & Blueberry Sky
Stamps: PTI - A Big Thank You (limited edition)
Ink: PTI - Enchanted Evening
Embellishments: PTI - saddle stitch ribbon - Enchanted Evening; The Paper Studio - swirls embossing folder
Other: dimensional foam adhesive and Cuttlebug

I had a little boy's 2nd birthday card to make and thought a shaker card would be fun.  

After some thought, I purposely put a lot of these red beads inside the pocket so it had to be shook to read 'happy' and 'birthday.'  I have literally had these beads since 2001.  I haven't a clue why I purchased them as I haven't used beads in my other crafty endeavors but they work great here.

The Papertrey Ink Make It Monday #50 last week was on how to make a shaker card.  Since I wanted to use this cute paper, I opted not to use a die to cut the pocket area in the paper and fun foam layers but instead used a craft knife.  The city blocks are so well defined I thought it lent itself to have one cut out for the shaker pocket.

I kept the inside of the card simple as well--two strips of paper and a sentiment.  Easy peasy.  Now I just need to get more beads in my stash to make more shaker cards.  I like beads in the shaker instead of confetti, little paper cutouts, glitter, etc. because of the movement, sound, and texture.  
Paper: Echo Park - Little Boy stack - Road Map; Papertrey Ink - Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy, Staples - white cardstock; acetate
Stamps: PTI - Birthday Basics
Ink: PTI - Pure Poppy and Orange Zest
Embellishments: red beads (unknown)
Other: fun foam and craft knife

When I began organizing my stamp collection (blog post all in itself), I found I really did not have anything for preteen and teen boys.  I knew right away this set could be quite useful for me.  


Yes, I am on a torn paper kick.  You'll see it here and there in my upcoming posts.  I ruin a lot of paper to get the right torn look sometimes, but it is worth it to me.

I heat embossed the skateboards with black and aqua embossing powders.  The aqua powder I grabbed on clearance last week!  It is my first colored embossing powder and I must say I really like it.   The glossiness is a nice contrast against the matte papers. 

I kept the inside pretty simple with the torn paper detail and the framed sentiment.  I really like how the orange ink pops here. 

This little stamp is on the back of the card and is one of my new stamps from Homemade Hodgepodge.  Cute, cute.  I usually stamp my blog address on the back of my cards, but I left the stamp at home while I was at the craft retreat.  I'm hoping these stamps will quell some of the questions of "Did you make this?"  Why, yes, I did and you would be surprised at how long it took me to make it since I am normally a slow crafter.  Just don't throw it away in front of me, okay?  :o)
Paper: Authentique - Freebird stack - polka dots and distressed orange; PTI - Simply Chartreuse; Staples - white cardstock
Stamps: PTI - Boy Basics: Skater Dude, Fillable Frames #4, Homemade Hodgepodge
Ink: Versamark; PTI - Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest
Other: PTI - Boy Basics: Skater Dude die; Fiskars - corner rounder; Zing - black & aqua embossing powders; dimensional foam adhesive, cuttlebug

Screws on a card!!  How fun is this?!  My husband graciously let me raid his tool box and I found these screws and nylon twine.  FUN.

Our dear friend is quite the handy man.  He constructs all kinds of things for our church.  When I came across this paper a few months back I knew I would use it for his birthday card.   The nylon twine was silky like a horse's mane.  It was hard to work with not only because of the silkiness but because the braid unraveled as soon as it was cut.  I fixed this by rubbing some Glossy Accents on the ends.  It coincidentally matched the cream paper.  Worked out in my favor.

The thin cream paper I used tears so well and leaves a nice raw, rough edge with various thicknesses of fibers.  I really like the contrast of it to the straight lines of the other papers.

Paper: DCWV - The Guy Stack - blue tools and green plaid, Papertrey Ink - Enchanted Evening, The Paper Company - cream, Staples - white cardstock

Ink: Papertrey Ink - Enchanted Evening

Stamps: Justrite - Brayton Font

Embellishments:  The Paper Studio - screw brads, screws, nylon twine

I have gotten quite a bit of use out of this Papertrey Ink Rock On stamp set and coordinating die.  Here I used black, clear, and silver embossing powders to give it a raised and dappled look.  

I was very hurried when I put this card together.  Embossing all the guitars while holding them with tweezers so I didn't burn myself with the heat tool took the bulk of my time I had allotted.  I really like how they turned out so it was worth it.

Every time I pull out this stamp set I do something different with the staff and music notes.  It's a fun set.

Paper: The Paper Studio - red, Staples - white cardstock, My Mind's Eye - Stella and Rose chevron on the back of Hazel fancy doily paper

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Boys Basics: Rock On!

Ink: Momento - Tuxedo Black, Colorbox - Cranberry, Essential Glue Pad

Embellishments: Filagree - silver embossing powder, Zing! - black embossing powder, a la Mode - clear embossing powder

Other: PTI - guitar die, Cuttlebug - diamond plate embossing folder

My son requested a Pixar Cars themed birthday.  To set the mood I made invitations with the Cars theme as well.  The diamond cut pattern embossing folder was perfect for this project.  There has to be Lightning McQueen's lightning bolt incorporated somewhere and what better place than the front?  I literally bought the Cars Cricut cartridge just for this lightning bolt which I manipulated in Design Studio to fatten up.  (I really need time to play with that cartridge.)  Thank goodness for Ebay and the great prices on cartridges there.  I was excited to find the Cars font as it really put the finishing touch on the invites.

I edited out some information on the invite but you get the gist.  The logo and Lightning McQueen are one large clip art for invites I found online and then added the Cars font.  You can see the reflection/shadow of Lightning on the bottom.  The inside of this trifold card was black so the invite really popped on it. I enjoyed making these special invites for my sweet son who carried one around with him for weeks.  I think he approved.
Paper: The Paper Studio - all paper except white, Kodak - glossy photo paper
Other: Cuttlebug diamond cut embossing folder, printer, Cricut, Disney/Pixar Cars Cricut cartridge, Cars font, Cars clip art

This is the thank you card I sent out for my eldest son's birthday.  I stayed with the Pixar Cars theme and used the scraps left from making the invitations.  The diamond cut embossed pattern on the red cardstock I'm still oohing over.  I enjoy texture on cards a lot.  I printed out a few sheets of these the Cars logos then cut them out using my Cricut.  I had used them as the seal on the birthday invitation envelopes and had several leftover.  I mounted them on a Spellbinder's scollop, attached red grosgrain, and volia!  It's a ribbon or as my son calls it "a Cars badge."  The inside had a simple stamped sentiment of "thank you very much" at the top so I had plenty of room to write in it.
Paper: The Paper Studio - red, black, and turquoise cardstock, Kodak - glossy photo paper, Staples -white cardstock
Embellishments: red grosgrain ribbon from Hobby Lobby
Other: Cricut, George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge, printer, dimensional foam adhesive