Bernie's Birthday Month!

Today, I'll continue to celebrate the birthday of one of my very best friends, Bernie. Bernie's birthday was earlier this month, so he's already gotten this card ... and it will be no stranger to my favorite blog follower, Star (Bernie's wife). Hi, Star!

To create this card, I used an image from a DVD from Dover Publications, dropped into the Sure Cuts A Lot program for use on the Cricut. By replacing the Cricut's cutting blade with a gel pen from Cri-Kit, "I" drew -- actually, the machine drew -- the image of the bird onto card stock. I hand-colored the bird using Prisma pencils and Gamsol to blend. To create the welded sentiment, I used Sure Cuts A Lot to lay out and merge letters together.

It's hard to believe September is more than half over, and soon the days will be getting cool and crisp. Enjoy this beautiful day. Dance!

Mom, Part II

On this last day of June, let me show you the Mother's Day card I made for the Greatest Mother in the World.

The card shown at right here featured an intricate floral design cut with my Cricut Expressions on tan stock, using a Dover Publications .svg file that I converted to a cut file on Sure Cuts A Lot.

I repeated my cut using dark green cardstock, and cut a white paper backing to layer underneath the tan paper. I put the tan paper over the white, marking with a pencil the center point for each flower. Then, using the gamosol technique with colored pencils, I smudged a complimenting color pattern of peach, tan and pink for the flower petals onto the white layer. When that was dry, I glued the tan onto the white backing, then pulled the leafy layer from the green and inserted it into the tan cut, gluing down the dark green leaves.

Next, I used the gadribbles -- the green paper that had been cut for the leaves -- and trimmed it to mat the white layer. I glued the whole picture onto a 5x7" card onto which I printed my sentiment crafted especially for Mom.

Have a flower-filled, sunny day, blessed by love, grace and patience.

Puppy Love

Friends know that two white furballs occupy a large part of my heart. They're my Bichon Frise puppies, Sadie and Morgan. OK, I admit that I'm one of those late-in-life dog owners who overindulge our pups, treating them more like children than animals.

Recently, Sadie and Morgan stayed overnight at The Furry Godmother's bed-and-biscuit, so my hubby (a.k.a. "Mr. Smiley") and could visit my parents in Florida. Daughter Emily puppy-sat for the majority of the long weekend (Thanks, BabE!), so their stay with Marie and Jim and pups was brief.

Getting to know the Furry Godmother (Marie Ford) in all her sweetness was a wonderful experience. She is warm and inviting, and she knew how to spoil -- that is, I mean, "well love" -- the small dogs who she cares for in her home. I told Marie about my paper crafting, and Marie shared the info that in her previous life, before going to the dogs (!!), she worked for a paper manufacturing company and (!!!!) had a boxful of paper and paper samples I could have (!!!!!!!).

I was so happy, I almost lifted my leg to pee on her trees!!! (LOL) What a wonderful gift ... glossies, envelopes, linens, oodles and oodles, a virtual motherlode, oooh-la-la.

Marie also shared a picture of Havanese puppy that she had fallen in love with, a puppy born to the same pup-parents as one of her little charges. It wouldn't take much to convince Marie's husband Jim to add to their canine brood! So I made the card (above) to welcome Annie to the household.

I also made this card (at right) to thank Marie for the extraordinary care she took of Sadie and Morgan, and also to thank her for the fabulousness of the paper collection. I used one of the papers for the fairy godmother's dress and hat, here; I cut the both the godmother and dog from a Silhouette clip art/CD Rom from Dover Publishing, using Sure Cuts A Lot software to convert the .svg file to cut using my Cricut.

Yes, I'm in puppy love -- with the cards I can now create with up-to-date technology and good ol' fashioned creativity. I'm also in love with my "beasts," Sadie and Morgan, pictured here (and yes, they got married two years ago, in a Muttrimony Ceremony). Oh, and I love Mr. Smiley, too -- pictured here (below, right) when we were in Florida in early June.