Happy Easter, Happy Spring....

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter.  We did.  Our church sanctuary was decorated with flowers all around the altar making it a lovelier-than-normal place to worship. 

We always decorate a bare cross with flowers making something ugly into something beautiful.  After the service, we take it outside to the lawn where all passing by can see its beauty.  It was a very moving day for us!

Today I want to share two "men's" cards with you.  The first uses the herringbone technique (which I've shown you before). I used the Well Worn designer paper for this one.  My previous herringbone had a flower on it, but since this one was for a man, I decided to use the leaves from the Gently Falling set.  And it was a "thank you" card, so I used the sentiment from Day of Gratitude.  The strips for the herringbone are cut 3/8" wide. Believe me, this is a fun technique to make and you can use ANY colors for your card!

     I had a lot of strips of designer paper left over, so I made this small card for another male friend to whom I wanted to send get well wishes.  The card itself is made from Not Quite Navy (like the one above), with the front layered onto Cajun Craze.  I cut the card 5.5" x 6" and folded it to 5.5" x 3".  This is a great size and still fits into our #2 envelopes.  Rather than using a herringbone layout, I just layered strips of designer paper across the card, diagonally, alternating the four patterns.  I left the bottom the plain Soft Suede.  I stamped the sentiment from Sincere Salutations onto vanilla cardstock cut with the Wide Oval Punch.  I backed that with Cajun cut with the Decorative Label Punch and put Not Quite Navy punched with the Curvy Label punch behind that.  This is a quick card to make and yet it will please the man who receives it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  Have a wonderful week and come back soon.  Smiles, Laura

Happy Birthday wishes...

Today I'm sharing a card I made for my friend Joan.  Her birthday is tomorrow and she's leaving these cold mountains for a trip to the coast of SC.  They are cold there, too, but not like here.  Anyway, I wanted to get a card made and to her before she leave.  Here is her card:

I used the In Color Poppy Parade---my first time to use it and wow, I love it!!  Don't know why I've waited so long to use it before now.  I used DSP from the In Color Paper pack which is a Level 1 Hostess gift this year.  I punched the 1-3/4" circle from Basic Grey to put over the patterened piece and added a glimmer brad.

This sentiment (Birthday Wishes) is from Sincere Salutations that we've had for some time.  I punched it out with the Decorative Label punch and backed that with Basic Gray. The heart flowers are from the Valentine Definied set in the Occasions Mini.

I cut out the little butterfly using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and my Big Shot.

I hope Joan likes this card!  See you next time!  Smiles, Laura

Chickadee Birthday....

I've gone bird crazy, I think you'll agree.  My husband's birthday was the other day and I wanted to make him a birthday card with a winter Chickadee on it.  He really likes those little birds.  After I made the Cardinal for my November classes, I decided I had to try some other birds; hence the chickadee was born.

The card itself is Wild Wasabi green (I seem to be using the color alot lately!) with black and a designer paper over that. 

Here is a close-up for the bird.  I used the 1-3/8' circle punch from the retired Going Grey cardstock for  him and cut off a slash of it on one side.  I rounded the top a bit to give him a more "slick" head like a chickadee has.  The black and white on his head are cut from cardstock and just cut to fit.  His wing is from the Two-Step Bird punch in Basic Grey cardstock.  I just colored on some white and black lines with the markers and gel pen. And his beak is also grey.  The little nest of branches he is sitting on is cut from Certainly Celery and Wild Wasabi green punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

I used the Decorative Label punch from Wasabi and Celery greens for the backing behind the Birthday Wishes sentiment.  I thought a green brad for the "i's" dot would be a nice touch!

I'll have more of these 1-3/8" circle birds to share later---I've made 8 different birds in all.  I just need to get them on cards!  So keep stopping by and I'll post them as I have time!  Smiles, Laura

French Foliage.....

Here is another birthday card I made recently for my friend Sandy. She is another of the girls who celebrated her birthday this month.  I used Marina Mist and Crumb Cake for this card.  I stamped the oak leaf from the French Foliage stamp set (from the Holiday mini) in both Marina Mist and Crumb Cake and cut them out.  I embossed the Crumb Cake background using the Finial Press embossing folder.  I mounted the leaves onto a piece of vanilla cardstock backed with Marina Mist.  I stamped a few "splatters" on the vanilla, too, and stamped the sentiment from the Sincere Salutations.

                           

 Here is a close-up of the leaves.  I used  the 1-1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon in Marina Mist (see an earlier post about how much I LOVE this ribbon) at the base of the leaves.  I put one of the Glimmer Brads in the center of the ribbon.  I love that effect.

Of the birthday cards I've made this month, this is one of my very favorites!  Hope you like it, too!

Smiles, Laura