Birthdays Times Four And An Anniversary

This post is full of birthday day cards for my niece and her family plus an anniversary card for my niece and her husband.  I missed getting cards off for my grandniece Katie's 5th birthday in February and her daddy's birthday in March.  In just a few days it will be my niece's birthday, her anniversary and next month is her oldest daughter's 8th birthday. So I decided to make cards for all of them and send them in one package along with two bags of papercrafting supplies for my little grandnieces. First card here is for Katie:

I just had to color this darling Happy Mimosa image by Bildmalarna with my Copic markers making her hair red  in honor of my cute little redheaded grandniece Katie.  Also had to use lots of pink and purple on this card 'cause those are favorites of Katie's  I used embossing folders for added interest on both the pink layer (Stampin' Up folder)  and the lavender layer (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder) plus a die cut with a coordinating designer paper.  Hope she enjoys her very late birthday card.

My niece's husband love old trains so this was the theme for his birthday card here:

My niece will be celebrating her birthday in a few days.  I created a  Swing (Flip Flop) Card here:

 Here's another view:

 And with the reverse sid of the flip flop:

The day after her birthday is my niece and her husband's anniversary.  Here's their card:

And last but certainly not least is Marie's birthday card.  She'll  be turning 8 in June:

This darling image is Ella by Claudia & Company

The designer paper is from DCWV All Occasion Glitter Stack

I added some glitter white paper embossed wtih a Cuttlebug folder

The flowers are by Recollections at Michael's.

A little stickles on Ella's necklace for a little added glamour.

For the layout for this card I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

Thanks for stopping by! 

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

It's the 15th of May and that means it's time for another Duel with the Dueling Darlings who consist of two teams, the Dazzlers and the Divas, who create a card or crafty project from a kit supplied by the hostesses for that month.  This month my friend Paola, a Dazzler, and me, a Diva, are hosting the Duel.  This is a representation of what the teams received in their kits:

"SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

It’s May, that month when the earth bursts forth with new growth, new flowers, and new bird song. Other’s have described this time better than we have. Here’s some favorite poems/quotes that reflect this theme:

"The air is like a butterfly

With frail blue wings.

The happy earth looks at the sky

And sings."

Joyce Kilmer, Spring

"Sweet May hath come to love us,

Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;

And through the blue heavens above us

The very clouds move on."

Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs

"When April steps aside for May,

Like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten;

Fresh violets open every day:

To some new bird each hour we listen."

Lucy Larcom"

Here is my card:

We chose this image (and some sentiments) from the Stampin’ Up stamp set, "Serene Spring", because we felt it represented so perfectly the very essence of the month of May and the beauty of those poems! Along with this image the team received pretty papers and embellishments to reflect the and they are listed spring theme listed here:

Stamps: "Serene Spring", Stampin’ Up, Stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa

Designer Papers: s.e.i Field Notes collection (4 sheets),Recollections Teal Butterflies (1 sheet)

Ribbon: Turquoise daisy, Butterfly print, Aqua satin (Michaels) Green rhinestone, Disney Tinker Bell by Wm. Wright Co.

Accessories: orange twine, Lime Twist by My Mind’s Eye; Bug and Flower metal stickers, Making Memories; rhinestone flourishes, Recollections; Butterfly "Wings of Fire" Acrylic Gems, Studio 18; Wheelbarrow with flowers metal charm, Impress store;Flowers, Recollections Floral Embellishments;Watercolor Brite Flower brads, Making Memories; buttons

We also gave the team the following challenge:

"When you upload and post your May Dueling Darling creation on May 15th we would also like you to tell us what you love about May. It could be your favorite activity, a special event or a favorite flower that you associate with May. We look forward to seeing your offerings!

HAPPY SPRING!

Judy and Paola"

When I think of May I always think of the poem "April showers bring May flowers".  Now I have a lot of favorite flowers many of which do not bloom in the month of May. So because I'm now living in the AZ desert I'll say a new favorite flower is the Saguara Cactus Blossom seen here:

May is when we get to see these beautiful blossoms!

Check out the rest of the Divas' cards here:
Kelly: http://sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/
Carol: http://lostinmycraftroom.blogspot.com/
Barb: http://inkingintoretirement.blogspot.com/
Jamie: http://butterflystamper71.blogspot.com/
LJ: http://buckygirl.blogspot.com/
Tami: http://blueinksdesign.blogspot.com/

And also visit the Dazzlers starting with their leader Jeanette here: http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com

S.O.T.C. May Swap Card

I belong to a Splitcoaststamper group of women who call ourselves Sisterhood of The Traveling Cards.  Each month one of the "sistahs" plays host and selects the theme and requirements for the swap cards.  This month my Sistah April made this request: "This month's theme is Monochromatic May! Your card can be for any occasion, but it should be all one color family! I tend to have a problem making cards like this, so I would love some inspiration from my Sistahs!" I chose to use a warm red with a hint of orange in variety of tones as shown in my card below and I'm hoping the white is okay with the monochromatic theme:

I chose to create a shaped card using my largest scalloped circle Nestabilities die for the base out of Stampin' Up Ruby Red cardstock.  A plain circle of white cardstock was the next layer followed by another scalloped circle of retired designer paper by American Crafts called "backyard peep".  The narrow panel crossing the center of the card is a retired designer paper from Crate Paper's Lillian Collection called "Enchanted" and was layered over white cardstock.  I wrapped this panel with two different ribbons in this warm red.  The top panel had the bottom edge of both the s.e.i. Chocolat collection "framboise" d.p. and white cardstock trimmed using Nestabilities Label 4 die.

The lacy ribbon trim is from Jolee's boutique and the butterflies were made from the Ruby Red cardstock punched with two Martha Stewart butterfly punches and accented with warm red rhinestones and attached with dimensionals.  I used the Mojo Monday sketch MOJO239 shwn here for my layout:

I'm hoping my hostess April gets some inspiration from this card.  And I'm feeling pretty good about getting this done before the deadline of May 31st! 

Twisted Tuesday Challenge

I finally took some time to create a card for the Twisted Tuesday Challenge and used this unigue sketch to make a card for my grand-niece's birthday that is next week.  Here's my card:

Sydney loves this color combination of black, white and red.  I felt I hit the jackpot when I found the great black and white d.p. with the words "Live, Laugh, Love" printed in various types all over it.  It's perfect for her.  The base of the card is Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler. The other cardstocks are in white and black.  The stamped the top panel with sentiments from a variety of stamp sets from Stampin' Up and The Greeting Farm.  I used a strip of sheer red to criss cross the card beneath the sentiment layer and created the two largest flowers from the Cherry Cobbler cardstock with several punches and added a pearl. (Pearls were the twist to the Twisted Tuesday challenge this week.)  The smaller flowers I can't even remember where I got them and seems like I've had them forever!

Here's the sketch from the Twisted Tuesday challenge:

Check out the the awesome creations for the Twisted Tuesday Challenge here:

http://twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.com/

Hope you're having a fantastic day!  I'm trying to upload more of my recent creations and would love to have you visit my blog again soon.  Thanks for stopping by! Sending you Hugs and Kisses!