More cards for cakes!

My sister who made the gorgeous cake last week has decided to make a side business of it, and things are already going like gang-busters! We loved the cake/card connection so much that we've decided to team up, and I'll be offering coordinating paper crafts to her cake clients -- invitations, cards, party decor, favors, all that sort of good stuff. I decided to make a few projects to go along with some of her other cakes, just so she'd have some examples to show prospective clients.

Here is another totally gorgeous cake she made:


And I made this invite and gift bag to go along with it:


I used my Cricut and Plantin Schoolbook to create the gift bag, George for the shapes and letters, and Celebrations for the party hats.


Amy also made this completely lovely cake after being inspired by this mini-album I made last year:

So I made this cute card/favor combo to go with it:


These use the same Crate Paper combo as I used for the journal. I used my Cricut and the New Arrival cartridge for the "sweet pea" word and image, Mini-Monos for the scalloped circle, and TBBM for the little favor box. I also used a Martha Stewart hydrangea punch for the flowers on the box, and the Stampin Up scallop punch for the brown border on the card.

I'm so proud of my sister for finding something she has a gift for and just going for it -- she's a great example to me of being willing to take risks and try new things.

Completely amazing!

My amazing, creative sisters Amy and Ange had a surprise for me at family dinner this evening -- they'd been experimenting with decorating cakes, and used a couple of my favorite cards as their inspiration. I was so touched that they did that, and the cakes are abso-freaking-lutely amazing. These pictures hardly do them justice, but I knew I had to post them for all to see!

This is the first one, created by my baby sister Ange:





It's based on this card, which I originally made for my dad to give my Mom for Valentine's Day.



This completely amazing piece of culinary art was created by my sister Amy.




It was based on this card, which I made for my sister Emily's birthday last year. I am SO in love with all the details she captured -- I felt like crying when we cut it up and ate it!



Here's me with my amazing sisters! Thanks, ladies -- I don't think you even know how much it means to me!

Up, up, and away!

Lately I have been so drawn to images of things that fly, so it's little wonder that they're showing up in my cards! I created this first card for this week's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. I really love this sketch; my wheels started turning immediately with different ideas for how to use it. I just loved the image of this whimsical birdie bringing a bunch of balloons. The fun, vibrant paper is from We R Memory Keepers. The birdie and label shape are cut with the Cricut Home Decor cartridge at 2" and 1 1/2" respectively, and the balloons were cut with the George cartridge at 1" and 1 1/4". The scallop edge was done with the Fiskars Threading Water punch. The stamp is from Imaginisce, and the balloon string waxy flax.



This second card showcases the first in a series of vintage hot air balloons I'm designing to cut with Sure Cuts a Lot. I saw some vintage hot air balloon stamps used on someone's blog and they totally inspired me, so I spent some time searching google images looking at all the fun vintage hot air balloon shapes. So keep an eye out, because I'll have the collection listed in my Etsy shop within the next week or so. Inside the card it says "I really needed the lift!" I like this particular card because it's fun and totally appropriate for a man or woman (can never have too many of them, am I right?).

A pretty little birthday card

I've had these supplies sitting patiently in my stash since February, just waiting for me to have a brainwave about how to use them. I know all you paper-crafters have supplies like that hanging around! But when I was looking for some pretty, ladylike, happy supplies to create a birthday card for my Grandma (who answers that description herself), I knew these were just the ticket. Everything here is from Stampin' Up. Thanks for looking!

An explosion of color!

I decided to try my hand at the Mojo Monday contest this week, and wow, using this paper collection really created an explosion of color and pattern. So fun! I was also thinking about the current contest over at the fabulous Bitten By The Bug blog and decided to give it a go, so I chose a summery theme and created my sun with yellow buttons. The pp is from SEI, and the little buttons for the sun are mounted on a clear acrylic circle. I cut the tag and the S with my cricut (TBBM and MM cartridges, respectively). I cut the little gift bag with TBBM (love the bigger size with my new Expression!). I think this little set will be perfect for my cute little cousin turning 12!

Here's a close-up of that cute sun:


TFL!

For the Birthday Queen!

My fabulous sister Amy's birthday was this week, and this card is for her! I had a lot of fun playing with trim from the clearance rack at Walmart, glitter, and my new Home Decor cartridge for my Cricut (for the crown). I loved the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You this week. It's the last week of the card showdown and you have got to check out the finalists' cards -- totally amazing and inspiring!

The pp is from Kaiser Scrapbook, and I cut the big A with SCAL, using Fontleroy Brown. TFL!

Cardmaking on the go...

Greetings from beautiful western Washington! I'm here with my kiddos visiting my husband's family for the entire month of June, which means two things: #1 - I actually have a little more time to scrap than usual, because I don't have my usual never-ending list of household chores and once the kids go to bed I have actual free time, and #2 - I'm limited to the supplies I could cram into my rolling and shoulder totes. When I was packing my supplies I really only picked supplies for the layouts I had planned and didn't think too much about cards, but I've had several dfferent card needs come up unexpectedly. Definitely a challenge, but I've been having fun seeing what I could do with the supplies I had on hand.



I was glad to find a stamped Tilda stashed in my tote from my last crop for this card, and I borrowed my MIL's colored pencils to do the coloring. The paper is from a Crate Paper baby collection, the label shape I cut with my Cricut and my new Home Accents cartridge (I think I used that one for just about all these cards). The rub-on and the ribbon are from Stampin Up.




Once I got here I realized I had completely forgotten to do Father's Day cards for my hubby's dad and grandpas and my own grandpa, but I didn't have a lot of paper that was really masculine. I used scraps from this cute American Crafts line on kraft paper, and a stamp and curly label punch from Stampin Up. "Dad" and "Grandpa" were cut with the George cartridge.



For this card I used this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I have to admit this was a tough one for me, but I was really pleased with how it came out. There's that label shape from Home Accents again, plus the flourish photo corner behind it. The paper is from Crate Paper, and I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser to rough up the edges of the rectangles. That is definitely my favorite cheap tool!



Last week while we were here we were so sad to learn that my husband's grandma has breast cancer. We headed over to her house a day or two later for some quality time, and I wanted to take a quick card to let her know we care. She's such a bright, strong person I wanted to make a card that would reflect that. This paper again is from Crate Paper (same as the first card) and the butterfly is from Home Accents. I used my SU scallop border punch and rub-on.



This one is for my sister, who unexpectedly had to get her gallbladder out soon after I got here. I was so bummed I couldn't be there to help out, but I definitely wanted to send her all my love and moral support. I love this Crate Paper -- I couldn't resist buying it when I saw how well it matched this cool dandelion shape from the Home Accents cartridge. The oval frame was cut with George. The stamp, label punch, border punch, and ribbon were all from SU.



This last one was for a wedding of some close friends of my in-laws. Not the colors I would usually use, but these were their wedding colors and it really seemed to fit the bride and groom's personalities. Inside it says "You make a great pair!" My mother-in-law laughed when she saw it -- turns out the bride's email address starts with greenpear. I must have cardmaking ESP!

Whew! I feel very productive -- maybe less really is more! I've also finished a couple of layouts, but I haven't been able to get a good picture so you'll just have to stay tuned... :)