Holiday Gift Part I

Horizontally folded cards with coordinating paper stacks and matching brads for Lia:

And another set for Amanda:

A birthday set I made for my mother-in-law to give to her sister with matching stamped stationary:

These are holiday cards I bought discounted at Michael's and embellished a bit with personal text, ribbon and punches:

Another embellished set with my new favorite "tuxedo" bow:

More paper punching, stamping, personalization, and glitter in this set:

Simple, holiday cuteness--yes?

And a close-up shot of the "texture" in this card that is featured below.

I do love coordinating envelopes!

Amazing Giveaway

There is this crazy-crafty cool Momma who makes amazing clothes for little girls... here's another amazing thing: she then gives them away! Check out the link below for the latest:

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Variations

(above)

The last bits of a favorite spool of ribbon become a colorful variation on my revised monogram design.

Below is the card you've recently seen (chocolate font with chocolate polka-dotted organza ribbon). Above is the same design done in black with a black and white gingham check ribbon.

Stamps, Watercolors, Glitter, and Ribbon

Here's another catch-up post... and another soon to follow.

Below is a card I recently made for my friend Amy's birthday. I've made this card in the past and I really like it so much. I'm sorry it doesn't represent well here...

The close-up is a little better in illustrating how pretty the stamp is. These cards can be tricky... and not all of them turn "perfect" because each one is hand stamped after the text printing is done on the computer and the card has been cut and folded (in other words, if the stamp doesn't come out perfectly--I don't remake the entire card).

Here you can see how I've used the watercolor paints to enhance each large blossom and the tiny dot of silvery-pink glitter that graces the smaller blooms.

Below is another sample from a set I made for Amy. I saw this ribbon in a discount bin and thought it was so striking. Unfortunately, it was the only spool they had and the spool contained only one yard of ribbon... so once it's gone (soon) it's GONE.

I didn't want to do too much to distract from the ribbon. I used my large square punch on some heavy black textured cardstock, printed Amy's monogram in a font I liked, and then punched those out with a simple round punch (to compliment the circles in the ribbon pattern). I printed her full name in the same font on the card face at the bottom edge.

While I love to make cards as gifts and for barter, I rarely take the time to make cards for me. I was needed to send a few things off this week and realized that I should represent my work in the cards I used for this purpose!

Below is a simple design I've used before with monograms. It really represents well in different colors with complimenting ribbon bows or knots. This time, I tried it with one of my favorite basic fonts and all lowercase-condensed printing. It came out so well, I made a small set like this for Amy too!

Can you believe the holidays are literally around the corner?

I better get started on my gifts!

Catch Up

Here are a few designs I've been gifting lately.

I made a set of these for a 5th birthday (thank you cards):

Here is a "welcome new baby" set I made for Baby Breslin. 

I love this western print.

Some holiday-themed cards...

I really wanted to use the organza ribbons and foiled paper I recently purchased.

Here is a similar set in a different color pallet:

Happy Halloween

I got a new stamp... and a new printer! My new printer also copies and scans. Because of this fabulous new tool, I was able to scan my new stamp and make it the size I found ideal for putting together this Halloween card:

The stamp is a tiny bird in a cage (so sweet). I was able to shrink it down to fit my medium sized round punch. I backed each birdcage punch with a square in orange and a black scalloped square. 

I wrapped the cards with some striped ribbon I found at Michael's in the dollar bins and affixed the punched embellishment to the top.

The printing was done with Microsoft Word and I added the small jack-o-lantern from the clip art collection...(I thought the card needed an extra little pop of color at the bottom).

I think it's the right mix of spooky and fun!

Birthday Gift

Our favorite babysitter turned 13 last month. I made these cards for her. White silk flower over the following stack of punches: small pink circle, chocolate flower, medium white circle. These are held in place with a tiny pink brad. 

The polka-dotted boarder and her name are printed in chocolate ink. I glued a pink scalloped square in the upper left corner. Around this card, I wrapped coordinating ribbon (another favorite) and affixed it to the back, then attached this to the actual card. The flower set was glued in place as the last step.

I finished by stamping the envelope closures with her initials in chocolate brown beside a small pink flower.

Fall is here!

I couldn't resist the dollar bins at Target this week. I found a tiny roll of assorted "fall" ribbon for $1. None of the ribbon choices were very long so I made an assorted collection of fall cards. There are four cards in a set. The tiny spool made 16 cards (with two additional ribbons I did not use).

Stamped berry twig in cranberry ink on white cardstock with "texture" stamp in mustard over the top, laid over a chocolate punched cardstock square to coordinate with the cranberry circle ribbon.

Stamped leaf in evergreen ink over a small chocolate punch, larger green square punch, and a mustard square with embellished corners (corner punch - lace). This mustard/green ribbon says, "Family."

Pumpkin stamp in orange ink over a burnt orange circle, atop a chocolate square with "laced" corners. Brown ribbon reads, "Friends" with tiny pumpkins between.

Small acorn stamp in chocolate ink over a small green circle punch, atop a burnt orange square with "laced" corners. Ribbon is white with two thin green lines and orange in the middle.

"Happy Fall!"

I've been so neglectful!

I have been making cards lately... I just haven't posted any in awhile. Here are some that were made for a friend expecting a new baby girl (name undetermined). The bird stamp is a favorite and is painted with water color pencils to match the ribbon.

In this next photo. The same stamp is used for some flat cards I made to accompany a gift for another friend expecting a baby (sex unknown--yea!). The top of the flat cards say "Baby Morse" (my friend's last name). 

The painted bird is more vibrant in color that the muted tones of the appliqued onesie (that I made to match my favorite stamp) and the burp clothes... but I think it's a cute "set" despite this.

Cute as a Button

A simple flat card to attach to a baby gift, accented in purple hues.

Here's a closer look at the embellishment:

The font I chose is "childish." I bought a stem of these purple and white daisy silk flowers then decapitated them (!). The "button" in the center is a brad from a set I found at Target. Very simple; I like it quite a lot.

Thank You Note

I made a set of 8 of these cards to accompany a gift for a little girl back in June (before I started this blog). I was able to photograph one for you today because I came across the one she sent back to me in a stack of paperwork while I was organizing my desk.

The canvas is heavy white cardstock; the sentiment is printed in a bright pink "curvey" font to coordinate with the other design pieces (the inside is blank). I used one-inch squares cut from a bright pink sheet of paper that was accented with silver swirls (not visible in this picture). I punched holes around each square and used a silver pen to create "stitches" around each one. To finish the card, I added a pink and lime green transparent ribbon, tied in the front.

New Baby (gift)

This is a sample from the set I made for our neighbor down the street who just welcomed a baby girl. These are flat cards; useful for a quick note or a simple thank you. New babies receive many gifts, these are nice to have on hand for anyone, I think.

The cardstock is a heavy white linen finish. The font is whimsical and sweet for a little girl. The carriage image is simple and has a soft pink sweep of color through the center.

T0 add a bit of a "punch," I paired these flat cards with a coordinating pink envelope. The result is very simple and sweet.

Third Birthday Thank You's

I made these cards to use for my daughter's thank you's. I started with a heaving in a linen finish. Her name is printed in a chocolate brown. I added the aqua cardstock from some sheets I had on hand and separated the space with a satin ribbon that has chocolate, gold, white, and aqua stripes. The flower was made from staking two different flower-punched pieces of heavy gold paper in a foil finish. It is attached with a brushed gold brad.

To add a bit more whimsy, I hand stamped aqua swirls in the lower portion of the card face. This card is a vertical fold.