Sports Theme Birthday Card

Yea!!  It's Friday and the start of spring break here.  No major plans for us ~ a couple of college visits this week as we try to narrow down the decision, and my daughter still has her activities to keep her (and us) busy.  I know I promised some more scrapbook layouts today, but it's a special day!

Today is my nephew Jack's birthday.  Happy birthday!!  We wish we were closer to celebrate with you, but we'll see you soon.  Jack, like many 11-year old boys, loves to play sports.  That love of sports was the inspiration for his birthday card.

This card is 4-1/4"x5-1/2".  I used the Gypsy when creating this card.  It really helped me visualize what sizes I needed to make the bat and balls. 

The supplies I used for this card were:

• Paper from my scrap stash
• Tombow adhesive
• Xyron Creative Station
• Cricut Expression
• Sports Mania Cricut cartridge
• Designer's Calendar Cricut cartridge
• Gypsy
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• Dutch Blue Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• ColorBox French Blue Chalk Ink
• 3x3 My Acrylix Block from Close to my Heart
• Stamps from the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection from Close to my Heart
• Say It In Style My Acrylix stamp set from Close to my Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hopefully you are looking forward to a weekend full of crafting.  See you soon a new project.

Finally....The Explosion Box

Sorry for the delay in getting the directions and photos posted for this project.  I worked on the explosion box right up until I had to get ready to leave for the bridal shower, so I had to wait to take photos until after I had already given it to the bride-to-be.  The last few days I have been under the weather and just haven't been able to get myself around to posting.

The paper for each page of the box is boysenberry cardstock from ANW Crestwood that I picked up from open stock at Jo-Ann's.  The lid is made from DCWV metallic silver cardstock.  The lavender paper is Soft Tints Lavender Swirls by Paper Pizazz/Hot Off the Press.  The 'y' is cut using the Mini Monograms cricut cartridge.  The flowers and brads are from the Earth's Palette Creative Pack by Hot Off the Press.  The "bling" around the lid are light purple adhesive gemstones by The Paper Studio.  The stickers used throughout the box are from two sets - Silver Wedding by JoAnn Craft Essentials and Wedding B&W Silver Foil from The Paper Studio.  The rings are cut on the silver cardstock using the Designer's Calendar cricut cartridge.

This is the inside of the lid.  The inside paper is BW Swirls by Colorbok.

Here is the first layer.  The middle is the silver cardstock run through the cuttlebug using the D'vine Swirl embossing folder.  The patterned paper is Purple Happiness by Paper Pizazz/Hot Off the Press.

Here is the second layer.  It is cut from silver glitter cardstock from The Glitter Cardstock Stack by DCWV.  Finally, below, is the last layer.  It is Dotted Stripes by Paper Pizazz/Hot Off the Press.  The flower cutout is from the Stretch Your Imagination cricut cartridge.  The "love" is cut from the Beyond Birthdays cricut cartridge.

Thanks for reading through this long post.  I hope you're just a bit inspired by my creation.  The bride-to-be loved it, and everyone at the party wanted to look through it.  I think it was a hit!

Yet Another Valentine

Okay, after having no mojo, I've now gotten into a "card kick" and have been crankin' out the cards.  I have another Valentine that I actually made two identical cards - one for my parents and the other for my in-laws.  One lives in Ohio, the other Alabama, so I don't feel too bad about giving them the same card.  I really liked the colors and thought it turned out very pretty.

The card itself is a 5x6" card cut from cardstock from The Sorbet Stack by DCWV.  The heart on the front is cut on the Cricut at 4" using the Hannah Montana Cartridge  The paper that the heart and sentiment is cut from is The Basics Paper Pack from The Paper Studio.  The heart is "blinged up" using eucalyptus stickles by Ranger.  Finally, the ribbon is something from my stash that I found on clearance at one of the local craft stores; it is from a ribbon color wheel by Offray.

On the inside of the card, I used some leftover paper that was inked around the edges.  The sentiment is cut with the Designer's Calendar cartridge using the fit to length feature at 4".  The happy is stamped using ocean ink from Close To My Heart and a stamp from Close To My Heart's Say It In Style set.  Finally, a few highlights with the same stickles on the front and voila!

Hope you enjoy!  I only have a few more Valentine's I need to make, so check back in the next few days to see what I've been up to. 

Another Valentine

I'm snowed in here.  The kids have been out of school for two days; I've been home from work.  Unfortunately, I haven't had much crafting mojo.  I did finally sit down today and get this Valentine done for my grandparents.  They used to raise sheep years ago, so I've been thinking for days about how to incorporate a sheep into their card.

The card is a 5x7" card.  I covered it in a green gingham from a paper stack called The Basics from The Paper Studio and inked the edges black.  The heart and inside sentiment also come from the same paper stack.  The other paper is all from scraps I had sitting around.

• The heart is cut on the Cricut using Designer's Calendar at 2".  It is accented using magenta stickles by Ranger.
• The sheep is cut in white (used markers prior to cutting to make the features easier to see) and again in black using the shadow feature at 4".  The sheep came from Animal Kingdom.  Once cut, I put white flocking on the sheep's body and top of the head.  I colored the black sheep accents with watercolor pencils and then used liquid glass from Close To My Heart.  A CTMH consultant once told me that there was enough "liquid" in liquid glass to make watercolor pencils look "watercolor-y".
• The fence is cut on the Cricut as well using the My World cartridge.  It was cut using the fit to length feature at 5".  I then cut the layer at 4-1/4" using the real dial size.  I inked the edges of the layers with black before gluing them on.  I used a  black pen to draw along the edges of the fence to give them a little more definition.
• The fence is attached with foam tape to "make it pop".  I ended up cutting off the bottom portion of the fence to make it shorter, because it covered up too much of the sheep.

For the inside, I cut a 4" square from the green gingham paper and inked the edges.  I cut "Valentine's Day" using Designer's Calendar using the fit to length feature at 4-1/2".  The happy stamp is from the Close To My Heart stamp set Say It In Style.  The accents are dots of magenta stickles.


I am very pleased with this card.  I normally have "blank" insides, so was pleased with how well the "outside" came in. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out what I've been up to!