Birthday Party - #3

Happy third birthday to our granddaughter.  It was so much fun celebrating with her recently.  I used a lot of my cardmaking tools and supplies for some non-card projects. 

PJ Masks birthday banner.  I had never heard of them before we started planning the party - but I know them all now!  Bright primary colors are always a hit.

The annual chalkboard.  She has grown and developed so much over the last year.  And she is now a BIG SISTER!

Cupcakes made by the paternal grandma topped with decorations made by the maternal grandma (me).  We are so blessed to both be able to have such a big part in this sweet girl's life.

Thanks Grandma and Poppa! I love my present - clothes!  and a toy....

she had to take a break from opening presents to play 'fetch' with Daddy. 

Our annual photo - some day I won't be able to hold her on my hip for the birthday photo :-)

Photo booth props - although we never really did the photo booth.  She has been having fun playing with the masks since her party.

And we even had enough extra decorations to change the wreath from the snowflakes to a PJ Masks theme.

And here are some closeups - Gecko (green mask), Owlette (red mask) and Catboy (blue mask). I had a little help from Pinterest (printable PJ Masks circles) and my sister (starburst die-cuts since I do not have those).

Another perk of having all the card-making supplies - a ribbon to match any paper :-)

And here is another non-card project I completed lately.  A crib mobile for the new grandson.  I purchased the hardware on Amazon - however due to the design of his crib, the mobile had to be attached fairly low on the crib.  This may have to be moved to hang from the ceiling like his sissy's was.

I used an anchor punch, a sailboat stamp and a sailboat die to make a variety of designs in Night of Navy.  Whisper White and Marina Mist circles were used as bases - and a few of the white starbursts my sister provided for the birthday party decorations were used here also.

Introduced my granddaughter to stamping recently and bought her a set of Minion stamps made by Crayola.  The ink is clear but shows up as a dark blue on the 'magic paper'.  She was playing with these on her own, and realized she could put her finger on the ink pad and then press it on the paper.  She definitely has that creative gene!

Birthday Cards

Finally had some time to play in the craft room a couple days this week.  Sure felt good.

A cute idea.  Today I showed it to my almost 3 year-old granddaughter and she really loved it. 

 I love the balloon punches!  The sizes all work well together to give some depth to the card.  

And who wouldn't love a 4 scoop ice cream cone! Looks yummy!

Last but not least, a masculine card.  The beautiful DSP makes this a quick card.  I hate to put too much on the front because it covers up the beautiful pattern. 

Here is my little helper today.  When sorting through some scraps looking for a piece of card stock that would work for our project she found a long strip of Real Red.  She told me "I need to just hold this one".  Yep - she's got the crafting gene.

Balloons, Balloons, and Balloons

I got several new balloon stamp sets and punches from the Occassions catalog.  Here are some of the cards I have made with all those balloons. 

I have some strips of this DSP left from our family shoebox party in October and it has been sitting on my craft table since then - so rather than put it away I just used it for some cards.

The sentiment and balloon strings are from the Party Wishes stamp set.  I used the new Balloon Bouquet punch.  It has 2 sizes of balloons.  Whipped up several cards in no time.

Colors are Bermuda Bay, Tangelo Twist and Crushed Curry. 

Negative punch on the strip with the DSP behind and then I used the balloons on the card as well.  This balloon punch is from the Party Punch pack.   It also has a cupcake and a candle. Colors are Tempting Turquoise, Tangelo Twist and Crushed Curry. The sentiment is from the stamp set, Party with Cake.

Same DSP - and used both the balloon punches to look like the balloons were floating off into the distance.   Colors are Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Tangelo Twist and Pool Party.

Everything wasn't balloons though.  I bought the Tree Builder punch some time ago but haven't used it so thought  I should at least make sure it works.  The bird, tree and clouds are all pieces from the punch.  The colors are Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Tangelo Twist and Whisper White.  The sentiment is from the Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set. 

And here is one that has been laying in my stash for a while.  I made it to use up some of the retired DSP months ago but just didn't know what I wanted to add to it.  I needed a card to send to a friend so grabbed the retired Haute Couture stamp set.  I added a bit of white gel pen to the images to give them a little depth.  I really like how it turned out!

Easter Weekend

Well, it's been a while since I have posted.   Busy just enjoying life :-) 

Still loving the Jamberry wraps.  Here is my Easter jamicure...

 This was a design that was only available in the Stylebox.  It is a matte finish and has a subtle chevron pattern in the background with beautiful flowers.  I thought it looked very 'springy'.

 We celebrated Easter on Saturday evening since my DH and SIL both had to work on Easter morning.  Our granddaughter did much better with the egg hunt this year.  She was cautious at first but by the end she was getting excited with each egg she found.

After a nice supper of pasta with ham and mushrooms, broccoli, cherry salad and bread we enjoyed DQ blizzards in honor of my dad's (Grandpa Pete) birthday.  He passed away 10 years ago on the eve of his 92nd birthday. He loved ice cream and especially DQ trips with friends from church - so every year our family celebrates his life with some ice cream.  His favorite was a vanilla shake.

Since DD #2 and I were by ourselves on Sunday morning, I suggested we go to IHOP after church.  She offered to pay :-)
Then home, and I got busy working on things for someone's Second Birthday this week.  Granddaughter will be 2 on Wednesday but the party is on Saturday.  The theme is Clifford the Big Red Dog.  She loves that show!
Her momma wanted to make a dress like one she saw on Etsy, but is just learning to sew and is not enjoying it much so Grandma took over.

It did turn out cute, but reminded me of all the things about sewing clothes that I dislike - zippers and gathering. Hope no one looks too closely at the stitching :-) 

 And Momma also found a birthday banner she liked on Pinterest that I used as a guide when making this one.  I used primary colors with black and white accents.   The paper is Stampin Up - Pacific Point, Real Red and Daffodil Delight.   I used some of the Brights DSP stack.  It went quickly with the Big Shot circle framelits and Alphabet die.

 I found the ribbon at Michael's and it was perfect.  My daughter had also bought some to tie around dog bowls for serving the snacks.  Now I just have to work on the chalkboard scrapbook page listing likes,dislikes and growth markers like height, weight and number of teeth. Looking forward to trying some of Stampin Up's chalk ink pads.

And here is Shadow. He is growing and getting more and more daring.  He jumps up on my desk when I am working and tries to hide behind my laptop.

Playing with scraps

I spent some time in the craft room yesterday and took out my bag of scraps - odds and ends - of the Brights card stock.  I cut a variety of stars and circles using the framelits and my Big Shot.  What a fun and simple what to make cards.

 I really like the off centered circle cut in the larger circles.  I glued some of the circles flat on the card front and some were added using dimensionals.  I scattered a few rhinestones and done!

 Here is one group of stars.  I got the idea from a card I saw on Pinterest that was similar to the star card on the right in this picture.

And more stars.  In no time at all I had 7 birthday cards completed.  I am always needing cards for kids (all ages) and men as I run out of them often.
What other shapes do you think would make cute cards?

Birthdays and anniversarys

I use more cards for birthdays and anniversaries than any other so I am always running low on these and looking for new ideas.  Recently I saw an easy but interesting card on Pinterest and CASEd it.   Here is my copy -

Isn't that a fun card.   I made several like that using the same strips of paper and just alternating the width of the strips and the color ink spritzed on the top.  I also made some with rounded edges on the strips.  So much fun to make!

And while I was playing I grabbed out some valentine's DSP with Love written all over it in various fonts and sizes.  I paired Pretty in Pink with Early Espresso and make several Happy Anniversary cards like this one.  Love the interlocking hearts -

so much so that I am also using them on another project.  Here is a sneak preview but can't show it yet :-)

Happy Birthday Bekah

My younger daughter, Bekah, turned 21 this week.   I promised her an angel food cake - her favorite! Finally got it baked today.

I did plan ahead and purchased a mix from the Co-Op - very reasonable and it baked up beautifully.  I always think of my mom when I bake an angel food cake.  She would invert hers to cool on a funnel -mainly because the metal 'legs' were broken off her pan.

The cake baked up nice and high.  The best way to cut a slice is to use a serrated knife.  The sawing action will not tear up the cake like a regular knife.

And here it is all dressed up with some fresh strawberries and whipped topping.  A great summer dessert.  Happy Birthday Bekah!

New recipe and new card

First the recipe - Shepherd's Pie
I prepared the meat and potatoes yesterday so only had to assemble and bake after church today. So easy!


It was warm and yummy - and very little mess in the kitchen. This one is a keeper.

Now the card -


A friend saw a card similar to this on Pinterest and wanted to know if I could make one. She wanted to give it to a friend on her 80th birthday and use $10, $20 and $50 bills for the candles. I think it is a great idea.
The card is Sahara Sand with some Paisley Petals designer series paper. The candle flames are from So Saffron card stock punched with the Bird Punch then sponged with Tangerine Tango and Peach Parfait. The candle wicks are the white baker's twine.
I cut a few dimensionals in half and placed them in a line where the candles will be added. That way the bills can be adhered easily but can also be removed without tearing the card or the money.
Isn't this a cute idea? You could use it for almost any birthday - if you can't come up with a combination of bills to equal the recipient's age, just put on whatever amount you want to give them (three 10s, 5s, 20s, or any combination). I'm sure the person receiving it will love it!

Oh, Mica Flakes!

So, not knowing that the mica flakes from SU come in such a large quantity (about a cup of them in the container) I bought 2 of them so I would have plenty for some shaker cards for my SU clubs. What to do with all those mica flakes??? I have seen some cards using the dyed mica flakes and decided to give that a try.

You need just the mica flakes and some ink refills. I tried Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue and Peach Parfait.


I put some flakes in a plastic bag (about a tablespoon) and added 3 or 4 drops of ink. Then I shook, squeezed, anything to spread the color to the flakes.


I made some birthday cards using them. I don't have the large cupcake die so I had to make up my own. I used the Elegant Lines embossing folder on a piece of card stock and then punched out one-half of a 2 3/8 inch scallop circle. I spread some Tombow glue on the scallop and dropped some of the dyed mica flakes on that. The base of the cupcake is Crumb Cake card stock which I ran through the crimper.

This cupcake has a band of Chocolate Chip scallop dotted ribbon around the middle. I also played with my new tag punch and Tiny Tags. The Happy Birthday is from the Bring on the Cake stamp set.

I paired up the Rich Razzleberry taffeta ribbon with the Peach Parfait. Don't these look almost good enough to eat?

Here are all my cupcakes together. I think I will make a few more since I have plenty of the dyed mica flakes left. What ideas do you have for the mica flakes?

Card Cube - The One That Put Them Over the Edge

This is the card that put some of the club members over the edge :-) It was harder to teach them than I thought it would be :-)

Card Stock and Ink colors - Not Quite Navy, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White (paper only)
Ribbon - Peach Parfait
Stamp Set - Look Who's Turning, Bring on the Cake


Here is the card opened. It forms a cube - or really half of a cube. If you would like to try this for yourself, I have a tutorial at http://marystutorials.blogspot.com/


How did they get through it - lots of CHOCOLATE! But they saved the It's A Wrap papers so I could use them again :-) We had a good time!