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

Mmm...texture.  It's my favorite!  This card has some fun textures with the embossed vine background, pleated ribbon, embossed edge on the Spellbinder mat, pointed petals on the flower, and smooth button.  

It is hard to see in the picture but the flower has text stamped on it.

This medium pink, aqua, orange, and cream color combination is pretty cheerful. 

How do you mail cards with thick layers like this one?  The orange mat is raised with dimensional foam and so is the flower that also has a thick button.  I'm thinking in a bubble envelope.  How would you send a thick card?

Thanks for looking!

Paper: PTI - Berry Sorbet & Aqua Mist, Close to My Heart - orange polkadot
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #3
Ink: PTI - Berry Sorbet & Smokey Shadow
Embellishments: cream seam binding, PTI button - Aqua Mist, PTI - beautiful blooms II #1, Spellbinders - labels 4, Cuttlebug - vine embossing folder
Other: Cuttlebug

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

A few months ago I came across this great video tutorial on Youtube on how to use the Rose Creations dies by Spellbinders to make fabulous paper roses.  Not only does the lady who made video go step by step, but the results were easy (but a bit time consuming) to recreate.  My husband insisted that I take pictures to show the process as he too was amazed.  The video shows this all in much greater detail.  I highly recommend watching it as I am sure there are gaps in my explanation and at least for me seeing it being done really helps.

First, I cut two flowers from four different sizes from PTI Raspberry Fizz cardstock--this cardstock takes this technique beautifully.  Quickly dab the edges of the petals with ink.  The lady from the video suggests Versamark watermark which works well.  Next, using a bone folder, you curl each side of the pedals creating a V except for your two smallest pieces.

The smallest pieces you 'cup.'  She uses a nifty ball bearing tool but I don't have one so I used one of my Cricut tools that has a rounded metal back and pressed it in a circular motion quite hard on top of a piece of fun foam.  My cupped flowers are not as tight as hers but they worked.

Glue what ever you wish in the center of one of the smallest flowers and when dry, glue a small part of the edge of a petal to the one next to it all the way around the flower.  I found that Zip Dry glue works really well for this.  It gets rubbery and elastic when dry (and dries fast) and you can position the petals pretty realistically wit the give. 

Next, glue each of the same sized petals together.  Be sure to stagger the petals for a realistic look.  These are the largest flowers glued together here, which will be the base.

The next size set of flowers get glued together and then glued to the base.

By the time you go to glue the third set of flowers, you'll need to position them into the petal crowded area.  I found that holding them down by pinching the top to the base with my thumb and index finger helped while they dried.

Glue the cupped flowers in the middle.  You may need to fuss with the petals a bit to get the look you want.

That is it. A little work and you can create these pretty paper roses.

I just realized I hadn't posted a card for Mother's Day (and Father's Day). 

How could I not post this beauty?! Well, if you must know, I usually give the cards away before I take pictures of them for my blog. That was the case here.

I am in love with paper roses.  I made this one with some Spellbinders dies (tutorial to come). In person they look they are made out of ceramic.  I mounted it on a Spellbinders oval and then colored the edge with my BG11 Copic marker.

The lace is a stamp, which I used on the front and the inside.  There is a strip of satin ribbon at the top and two tiny pearls on either side of the filagree oval frame, but their height goes unnoticed because of the massive flower on the front--they just add a little pretty shimmer to pull the inside together.  I had to edit out my writing--my mom was nice enough to give it back for me to photograph.  She knows my house turns into a twilight zone for other people's things--they take for-e-ver to get back to people once they have entered. 

I had to make a box to put this card in as the rose rises almost an inch off the paper.  To go with the rose theme, I stamped roses in Autumn Rose and then scored the cardstock to make a box.  

You don't expect to get a card when you open a box.  :)


Paper: PTI - Autumn Rose, Aqua Mist, and Sweet Blush; unknown - cream; Staples - white 
Stamps: Kaiser Craft - lace, PTI - Pretty Peonies and Year of Flowers Collection
Ink: Versamark - watermark, PTI - Aqua Mist, Autumn Rose
Embellishments: The Paper Studio - pearls, PTI - Aqua Mist Satin ribbon, Spellbinders - Ovals and Rose Creations, Filagree - gold embossing powder, Cuttlebug - floral embossing folder
Other: foam dimensional adhesive, Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart Crafts- Scoreboard

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 not used my Spellbinders dies in a while so I pulled them out to use on this card.  I was very pleased that these Papertrey Ink stamps fit so perfectly within the second largest oval.  After I stamped them in Dark Chocolate ink I used clear embossing powder on top.  To fill the empty space at the top of the oval I pulled out my box of rhinestones and liked how the medium blue popped on the orange best. 

The slight overlap of the grosgrain ribbon over the card edges works nicely on this card.  One thing I have realized lately is I have a thing for polka dots.  Multicolored polka dots have to be my favorite, but all polka dots make me happy. :)
Paper: My Mind's Eye - Twinkle Twinkle Little Boy - multicolored polka dots and orange dots, Papertrey Ink - Dark Chocolate
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Congrats All the Way set
Ink: Papertrey Ink - Dark Chocolate
Embellishments: A La Mode - clear embossing powder, Kaiser craft - aqua rhinestones, Ribbon Boutique - brown grosgrain, Spellbinders - ovals
Other: cuttlebug

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

I needed several thank you cards for the people who brought us food after the birth of our last baby. We had food coming every other day for four weeks between my church and family. Needless to say it was a lot of thank you cards. 

I wanted them to be special so when I spied the Papertrey Ink Fruit Fusion: Grapes with coordinating die I snagged it. I figured the grapes being food was more than appropriate for my thank you cards for the food made for us.

I die cut the grapes, stamped them, then applied glossy accents to the individual grapes for a neat detail. I traced the embossed edge of this Labels Four die with a Copic to make it stand out more as well. My new favorite way to attach ribbon is with Zip Dry. You have to be fast but it sure doesn't take much to make a strong hold!

Paper: PTI Plum Pudding and Stampers' Select White, Staples white cardstock

Stamps: PTI Fruit Fusion: Grapes

Ink: PTI Plum Pudding and New Leaf

Embellishments: Glossy Accents

Other: Spellbinders Labels Four, Cuttlebug embossing folder - vines, green satin ribbon from Michael's, Copic marker C1