Disney Pixar Blog Hop, Redux - June 21

Welcome to the
Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

If you love Disney Pixar and crafting, you've come to the right place!  We have an entire month of fun planned for you, with a new group of crafting bloggers every Saturday in June.

If you came here from Cathie's's blog, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon this Blog Hop, make sure to head over to Shawn's blog so that you see the full hop from the very beginning.  If you missed the first two weekends, you can still go back and see all of those projects too.  Just click HERE to see the projects from the first weekend, and click HERE to see the projects from the second weekend.

Here is my project for this weekend's hop: 

I created one of the very popular, current "box cards".  This gem folds flat for mailing, and opens up to show a Disney birthday party!

I used a 6" x 11.5" template to make the card base. The cute plaid paper was from a very large box of Disney stash papers I've accumulated over the years, as is the black matte paper with silver stars shown on the edge.  The characters shown (Minnie and Donald) along with the stars are chipboard elements I purchased at Michael's.  The "eat cake" element is from Jillibean Soup. And I cut the silver "Happy Birthday" using my Silhouette Cameo with a Silhouette file.

The very special elements I used here came from two of our sponsors: The Buckle Boutique and Rowlux Illusion film. From TBB, I used clear Dazzling Diamonds resin rhinestone cut in strips two rows high and adhered to the flip panels. I used the Illusion film (clear bubble) to cut the balloons and I colored them with Copic markers.  YES, coloring/tinting works great!!!

So now, let me move you back on through the fantastic Disney Hop.  But, before you go, make sure to sign up to win some AMAZING PRIZES from our sponsors!  Our sponsors for this hop include:

DCWV

The Buckle Boutique

Rowlux Illusion Film

Scrap n'Easel

Westcott

To play along and be eligible to win these prizes, go here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
(Winners must live in the Continental United States, due to shipping restrictions.)

Make sure to mark your calendar for MORE projects next Saturday!  You can join the Facebook Event page by clicking HERE.  This week, I am the last stop on this fantastic hop.

Be sure to come back to visit the Disney Pixar Blog Hop EVERY Saturday in June. Each day's starts with Shawn Mosch; she will post a list of each week's participants on each Saturday. 

Here is the full line up in case you get lost along the way:

Shawn

Kathy

Stephanie

Tami (Sorry Disney fans . . . post is not up . . . please skip for now)

Katherine

Cathie (Sorry Disney fans . . . post is not up . . . please skip for now)

Ellen

Have yourself a fantastimagical day!

DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Happy Birthday to Two Very Special Women!

Two of my dearest, and longest-term friends, celebrate birthdays within 10 days of each other. I made a 3-D Pop-up card (below) for each of them.  But first about them:

I first met Debbie as "Mrs. Donaldson," when she was to interview me for my second job after college, and the first in what would be the field of my choice: public relations in the health industry.

Debbie was the Program Coordinator for the Philadelphia Chapter of the March of Dimes, and I was applying to be its Communications Coordinator.  Debbie found herself located in Philadelphia when her husband, Tom, was stationed in the City for the Navy.  She hired me, and we had a wonderful time working together, and building a friendship as well.

Debbie, Tom and their beautiful family traveled the world with the Navy. They're now located back in Virginia, near their daughter Krista and her young family.  I hope we'll see the Donaldsons in 2014 on a visit, now that they're not too far away.

That's Mary Beth, second from left. She is hugged by Dani at left and her
son, AJ. Next to AJ is MB's daughter, Nicole. Out ice skating.

The other young'un is one of my most favorite women, my baby sister Mary Beth.  Mary B is the "new 50" this year -- you know, 50 is the new 30 -- because I swear MB looks more like a sister to her two beautiful daughters Danielle and Nicole than their mother.  Check this out:

She was always the most athletic of the sisters, for sure (check out this t-ball picture from a zillion years ago), but now, as climbs to the top of the halfway point to 100, she has taken on a new passion: running.  Can you believe this woman is now running half-marathons!!?  I admire her more than she can possibly know. While I spend marathon sessions on my butt making cards, she's out running hers off.  God bless!!!

... and happy birthday to you both!

I made these cards using Jillibean Soup's papers and embellishments from the Birthday Bisque line.  The template is my own, developed from the pattern provided free by http://extremecards.blogspot.com.  I love the celebration of a 3-d pop-up card, and am hooked on making them!  :)

 

My Blogaversary Approaches -- and some Introspection

Have you seen what I just noticed -- over there in the right hand column?  This picture:

That means in just 100 days, I will have been blogging for 4 years. Four years of bloggy goodness ...

So far that is:

654 posts (that's an average of more than 3 posts per week)

..with 306,203 page views to date (not including your view right now!) ... 6492 comments ... 1,363 followers from ten countries.

I'm thinking about what kind of celebration I should have to celebrate the actual Blogaversary -- definitely a giveaway because we all like presents! -- but what to do in the meantime? 

Well, I think I am going to look at why I blog, what posts have had the most impact, and perhaps evaluate what I should do in the future to improve the blog.

Do you have any ideas for me?  I'd love to hear your comments!

In the meantime, here's the first installment of why I craft -- and blog about it. 

#1 -- I craft to make others feel appreciated in receiving something special/handmade:



What do you do to share your talents in an altruistic way?

Our local hospitals (and senior centers, hospice facilities, nursing homes, etc.) offer volunteer opportunities for "off-site crafters."

Most of these crafters make knitted goods for babies, pillowcases for cancer patients, etc.

I've called and made myself available to make cards for those (adults and children) who are in the hospital for a long time, and perhaps have few visitors.

I'm also making (free or as a fundraiser for the auxiliary) note card sets for the hospital gift carts so those who are hospitalized can keep in touch with friends "on the outside."

This 3-D pop-up box card I have made celebrates the volunteers at our local hospitals. I am sending mine to the office Directors at the three hospitals most local to me, as well as to the senior center, as a thank you during NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK (April 6-13, 2014).

I developed the logo (butterfly tree in the back) and the theme as well.  

FYI, I used CTMH Lollydoodle bulk paper (pink side) for the interior of the box; the rest was from stash. I cut the box card using a template I found on http://extremecards.blogspot.com.  I developed the logo using an image from http://clickartonline.com that I purchased. 

St. Patrick's Day greetings to you and yours!

Supplies:

Cutting template by Extreme Cards (http://extremecards.blogspot.com)
Paper: Pear (green) and Daisy White by Close To My Heart; Shamrocks by Best Creation; gold metallic by Bazzill
Rhinestone resin sheet by The Buckle Boutique
Leprechaun cut using "Everyday Paper Dolls" by Cricut/ProvoCraft
Vines cut using a Cheery Lynn Design die and Big Shot
Glue: Liquid Paper by Close To My Heart
Tape Adhesive by Scor-Pal
Electronic Cutting machine: Silhouette Cameo

Welcome Baby - and a cute Get Inky! Giraffe

Can you stand another pop-up card?  Well, I'm going to have to ask you to bear with me, as so many of those who purchase my cards just love them. Here's another.  This one I made to welcome a new baby.

To make this card, I used the template I posted last week, from Extreme Cards. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut it and the baby pennant, as well as the sentiment, "Little One."  The adorable giraffe is a new stamp from "Get Inky Stamps" by Blue Moon Creations.  I colored it with Copic markers, and fussy cut it to mount on the card. The featured papers are called "Babycakes" by Close To My Heart.

One of the reasons that I like making these pop-up cards is that they deliver a "wow!" factor, and also retail for more than a standard fold card. Yes, they take a little longer and a little more paper to make, but the higher retail price (typically around $10) is something to consider as a cardmaker. 

Here is the front of the card, when folded flat (well, almost flat, for the picture)...

Show me your box cards! :)




DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Box of Flowers Card -- what a breath of springtime!

Shhhh, it's soon to be a BIG-0 birthday for one of my friends and papercrafting students, Susan. She is unabashedly turning 70 at the beginning of March.  

Given that she sees me as her crafting inspiration, I needed to go "all out" on a birthday card for this special woman. I never tried a box card before, and this would be my opportunity.

First the pictures of the finished project:

This is the card, folded flat, measuring 6"h x 5.5"w

This is the card with its flaps opened and pushed out to a "box".

Now, there are many tutorials on how to make this card (just do as I do, Google it, and/or search on YouTube).  The best tutorial I found was on a blog by a woman named Cathy at http://extremecards.blogspot.com.  This is her cutting file:

Here is a link to the blog post where Cathy describes how to assemble the box: 
http://extremecards.blogspot.com/search/label/boxes

Then the fun of decorating your box begins!  I used Close To My Heart's new line of Ariana papers and Complements to decorate the base and to make the flowers. The colors in this line of paper are some of Susan's favorites, so I think she'll really like the card.

I cut the words "Happy Birthday" from Bazzill metallic paper that I bought from Scrapbook.com, using the multi-cut feature on my Silhouette Cameo and one of the great files by Rivka Wilkins for the Silhouette Online Store.   The glittered letter stickers in Susan's name and 7-0 are retired Pixie glitter letters, from Close To My Heart. The butterfly die and the leaves on vine die are both from Cheery Lynn Designs. The ribbon is "Olive You" Rumple Ribbon by Lovebug Creations. 

To allow the flowers to have some movement when the card is closed, I mounted each on a green florist wire by taping it to the back of the flower, and covering the tape over with a circle of floral paper. The numbers 7-0 are on thin silver wire, to match, instead. All of the wires are glued or taped onto the center fold tab (see template, above) which rests in the inside of the box. Oh, and I used my favorite corner rounder (by CTMH, of course) on the flap edges to complete the look. 

Why not bring a little spring into your household by making one of these pretty pots of flowers for your desk?