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

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?

Working with Swapped Stamp Images

Happy Wednesday, Blog Friends!

Social media such as blogging and Facebook allow us to make acquaintance -- and indeed, long distance friendships -- with crafters across the world. It's a pleasure getting to know these friends, and to share crafting techniques and a part of our lives.

One group in which I participate is on Facebook and is called "Karle's Passion."  (Hi, Karle, you little monkey!!)  Through this group, we swap cut/embellished items monthly, and also have started swapping stamped images. In fact, this month I am the host of the stamped images swap.

Today, I started coloring and creating cards using the stamped images I received last month.  A lovely woman named JoGenna Lynn sent along two images: one of a cross, and one of a Bible. Here is the card I created using one of these images:

The stamped images come on 4x4" cardstock stamped in black ink. I colored the cross using Copic markers (first), Prisma premier pencils with Gamsol, and then added Stickles. The lattice frame was cut with a die by Cheery Lynn Designs, and the embellishment for the tag is a Spellbinders die. The sentiment is an old wooden (unmarked) stamp in my stash, as is the ribbon.

Unfortunately, as I age, I can never have enough sympathy cards and they are the hardest to make, I think. This will go in my stash for an appropriate occasion.  Thank you, JoGenna, for the stamped image of the cross!



DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Thank you for brightening my day!

I owe a thank you to many fellow paper crafters, but today this shout out is going to JAMIE FITZGERALD, whose adorable blog is called "Glitter Stamps and Paper Oh My."  Click the name to be taken over for a visit.

When Jamie saw on Facebook that my precious granddaughter Charlotte loves all things "Streeeeeeeeet" (aka, Sesame Street), she generously offered to send me two bow holders that she had made for her daughter. Adrianna had outgrown the cute crafts -- Bert and Ernie on one, and Abby Cadaby on the other. 

They're adorable. I'd show you a picture, but Charlotte already has them before I was able to photograph.

So Jamie, this card is for you.

The recipe: I used a Lawn Fawn floral paper from a 6x6" stack ... I'm loving these smaller stacks for cardmaking!  I mounted the floral paper atop a warm purple Bazzill paper. Next, I computer-generated the sentiment, printed and rounded the corners, and inked the edges. It's popped for dimension. I added two butterflies cut with Cheery Lynn Designs dies; I inked and glimmer misted the butterflies too. A strip of knotted grosgrain ribbon, accented with a CardMonkey Embellie stick pin, and I'm done.

Thank you again, Jamie, for your thoughtfulness. I'm mailing this card to you (as soon as I find your address!!!). I hope my blog followers will hop over to see your pretty altered candle for Mother's Day, and comment, as I know you're feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. Know you're loved!!