Partridge in a Pear Tree

Good morning, Papercrafters!

I hope you had a good weekend, pursuing those things that make you happy.

For me, I spent a part of Saturday visiting the gift shop where I will be selling my cards and personalized invitations, favors and embroidered goods. The shop, in Hatboro PA, is open 7 days a week. More details to follow!

During most of the week, the shopkeeper and her staff will sell my things with 100% of the income coming to me. On Saturdays throughout the holiday season, I'll be on site, helping out at the store and demonstrating papercrafting. I have opportunities for crop nights on site, doing make-n-takes, and arranging other sorts of special events. Of course, special events that attract buyers to the shop benefits the shopowner too!

OK, back to today's featured card. This simple but elegant card was cut using the Cricut Cake Basics cartridge for the gold border, and the Cricut Winter Frolic cartridge for the Partridge in a Pear Tree.

To accent the partridge, I fussy-cut a piece of gold rib knit (as in a sweater) in the same size as the bird. I also cut a complementing wing from the same fabric. I used Stickles for the delicate feather coming from the bird's head, and a little dab on the tail feathers for highlight. The inside sentiment was printed on the card (prior to decorating) in brown ink.

Have you tried any mixed-media cards, like this one?

Custom-made card for Sora

Hello, friends!

Here is a card that I made this weekend. It is a non-traditional "Welcome Baby" card, for a friend at work named Cindy.

Cindy's son and daughter-in-law recently added to their family, with the birth of their daughter, Sora. Cindy's daughter-in-law hails from Japan, and so the name "Sora" means "clear blue sky" in her native language.

Cindy asked me to make a commemorative card for her that would be suitable for her to pass along to her son and daughter-in-law. The only parameters were that the background should be blue, representing the baby's name. I'd already mentally kicked around a few ideas before she asked, and the notion of cherry blossoms or dogwoods came to mind, with a bird in flight, "soaring." I contemplated a stork but thought that was too traditional; I decided to use a little more imagination with the ruffled feathers.

All of the components, except for the twine running through the flowers and the yellow "Flower Soft" in the center of the flowers, are made from paper. Did you know the Flower Soft is made of ground up PVC piping that's been dyed? Interesting stuff!

The only part of this card that was cut using my Cricut is the green frame around the card; for that, I used Cake Basics. The flower petals and leaves were punched. The bird and baby were fussy-cut. The onesie that the baby is wearing is Cuttlebugged using the Swiss Dot pattern. I used a 3/4" round punch for the baby's face and then hand-drew the features on the baby. The pink Japanese text says "Sora".

This is one of those cards that I hope gets framed and kept for a long while. It did take a few hours to make -- it was a labor of love. Welcome baby Sora!

Boo-Ville's Stickers for Halloween Card

Here is a revisit to an old post, just because I really like this card and Halloween's coming this weekend ...

Ahhhhh, Autumn. A beautiful season! Waning days of summer that keep the air warm, mixed with wind that blows the migrating geese from pond to pond.

Here is a first stab at a Halloween seasonal. I used the "slider card" template from Let's Party Hearty, and decorated it with boo-tiful papers and stickers from MLYB - My Little Yellow Bicycle's "Boo-Ville" collection.

I cut the witch on the broom and the moon behind her, as well as the bat, from files found in the User Gallery of "Make The Cut". The bat was supposed to be positioned flat on the paper, but I felt he looked more sinister with his wings scored and folded to look like he was in flight. I inadvertently cut the bat from a midnight-blue/black two-sided paper and then realized I liked the shimmery midnight-blue side best. Sometimes, mistakes are just meant to be!

When you slide the card open, the moon with the witch rises to expose the super "Specialty Embellishment" also from MLYB. It is a packet that says "Top Ten Favorite Things of Halloween" and contains 10 slips of paper on which the sender or recipient would write those favorite things.

The tab on the slider (a pull-up) is a fabric ghost, also part of the MLYB Boo-ville collection. I think it looks intricate and complicated, but it really didn't take all that much time to make.

I hope you're having a boo-tiful season too.

A Cupcake Kind of Day

Hello friends!

I hope you are having a cupcake kind of day!

Here is a clever card crafted by DD Emily. It takes a cupcake shape with a center point weld to make the card. The icing for the cupcake was embossed with the Cuttlebug and sprinkled with fine color paper dots punched and sprinkled. Inside, the Happy Birthday message is hand-highlighted with a white accent pen, and faux stitched in red around the outline.

If you're having cupcakes today and will share, make mine chocolate please!

Simple is sometimes best

So simple. Is it too plain? Here is a sweet notecard I made. The red square (gift) was cut from a paint chip card that I pop-dotted for extra dimension. A sweet gingham ribbon tops the box. Inside, the message says simply, in sans-serif (plain) font, "happy holidays".

I imagine you could do much the same thing using other colors and appropriate ribbons ... a festive ribbon in multicolors atop a yellow box might be suitable for a birthday card, for instance.

Well, it was quick to do! It took longer to post this note about it than to make it, for sure!

Can you find the error?

Here's a sweet notecard that can be used for all purposes.

I Cuttlebugged the top half (the lime green part) using the Swiss Dot folder. Then, after covering the bottom half with a complementing flower paper, I trimmed it up with a pretty grosgrain and stitched ribbon and side bow. The delicate butterfly serves as the perfect accent.

So now that I've let you oooh-and-ahhh, I'll point out the obvious mistake I made with this card. Well, it wasn't obvious until the Junior CardMonkey Emily pointed it out to me ....

The bottom half of the paper does not feature flowers on their stems with leaves, as I thought. Turn it upside down. They're supposed to be cherries, dangling from their stems. Well, duhhhhh.

Tell the truth. Did you notice?

Best Wishes, Chris and Caitlin!

We interrupt these regularly scheduled card postings for one made to celebrate a very special occasion!

Last evening, my friend and work colleague, Chris, popped the romantic question to his girlfriend, Caitlin: "Will you marry me?"

And to no surprise, she said yes!

Caitlin, welcome to the "family" where sense of humor will suit you well. We tease Chris a lot, but he truly is a nice guy -- despite what you may have heard us tell you. LOL. And besides, he brought a 1-carat stunner to the question, so how could a girl refuse, right?

A wedding is planned for May 2012.

In the meantime, I made this card for Chris and Caitlin. There are so many different things I wish I made now, but my time was limited in the Craft Loft tonight. Phillies were on -- do or die -- so let's say I was a bit distracted. I love Stickling butterflies, but I was definitely in an odd color mood tonight -- heading into autumn and thinking "masculine". Do guys really get engagement cards?! Well, anyway, Chris -- and Caitlin -- congrats and happy wedding planning! If I can do anything to help, remember I am just a Stickle bottle away.