Happy Birthday Matthew!

My "nephew's" birthday is coming up

and since it's pretty safe to assume
that a 20-something year old Marine

isn't going to be perusing his "Aunt's" papercrafting blog,

I wanted to get it posted before I post it---
translate: put in tomorrow's mail!

 

I've spent a lot of time on Pinterest

and I cased this idea from Michelle's blog


Isn't it just ADORABLE?!!!!

I love it!

 

Typical of me, I wanted it bigger---

and found I had some real challenges in making it so-

but this is what I came up with---after 5 HOURS....!

 

 

 

Ok---so every things that could go wrong did--in the first two!

I took a break and came back to it.

 

First I made my base to fit the larger size enve

I had to piece the pieces together at the top.

I simply measured and took out a chunk in the center

 to make the legs.

By making it bigger,

I soon discovered that not only could I not emboss it

but the cardstock I was using was too lightweight

and it just tore it up (yes, just by embossing-go figure.)

So---

I had to cut extra paper down, fold it,

and then emboss TWO LAYERS

at once.

I then cut this down into strips

and pieced it over the ``chalkboard`` after color dusting it.

I won`t even go into how many flubs I had

 trying to stamp the chalkboards!

Tons.

I added the brads and the other embellishments

and realized I needed to cover up the brad ends

and realized it needed reinforcing to stand up!

(Again with that cheap  cardstock that tore

 just being embossed!)

I cut another set of papers just like I did the original base

and layered it inside.

Only then did I discover

it was still flopping open and wouldn`t stand.

Breathing.

I carefully peeled away the sides and legs,

hot glued popsickle sticks at the legs

and added ribbon to the sides

and then taped the inside layer back down.

After I had attached the balloons (with hot glue)

I realized I wanted them on the side opposite the banner.

Too late, too bad.  He`ll never know!

And today I tried to fit it in my envelope.

Of course...the balloons stick up and it won`t.

How did I do my balloons you might wonder.

They are an old Close to My Heart set

with a matching Cricut cut.

I did two of each color, put a pop dot in the center

and one end of the string before attaching the other.

I wrapped twine around the base of the balloon

and dabbed a bit of

hot glue on it and then attached them to the sign board.

 

5 hours, one card.

Whew.

Is he worth it---no question!

If you saw on the news or read about it on the internet

he was one of the Marines credited with saving another Marine`s life

when he had been bitten by a snake.

They carried him 2 and a half hours out

until help could get to them.

Yep.

I am proud of that young man!

Our birthdays are only a few days apart, too!

 

Well, now I have to make a couple of cards

for people I do not know at all.

Is that hard for you to do...
I am really struggling with it--and not sure why...

Until next time,

Happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,

When Life Hands You Lemons....Hide in the Craft Room and Make...

whatever your heart desires!

 

Our "local" (1 hr. away!) Hobby Lobby

has a number of signs

saying when life hands you lemons

make lemonade---

and one of these days I am going to pick (pun intended!)

one to bring home!

Lol!

 

Life's been crazy (understatement!)

so last week I hid out and made St. Patrick's Day cards and they were a real hit...

 

and when I got done with those...

I used that same Lawn Fawn stamp set and started making

lightening bugs...lots and lots of lightening bugs...

 

I love love love them!

I hand-stamped, hand-colored and yes,

one by one, lined up the die and hand-cranked the Big Shot

to cut them out.

Then I used MS glow in the dark glitter

and glittered every single little butt!

More to cut-but saving that for another day!

 

Oh--do go Lawn Fawns video on how to make a mason jar shaker card

Do not waste your time and pop dots or foam tape trying to make a leak-proof shaker card.

Just die cut a piece (or two) of fun foam and use that instead (details in the video)!

The die cut right through the fun foam (one layer at a time) just like a hot knife through butter.

I used fun foam glue to hold my two layers together and it worked perfectly!

NO LEAKS! And I even added micro beads to my card!

 

Moving on.

Easter is right around the corner so it's time for some Pre-school treats.

I chose to do sour cream container carrots-with a cute little tag tied on with some hemp cord.

The "carrot" is simply 4"x6" paper-and I used double stick tape-gun tape

(no staples for litttle fingers!)

The "greens" I just cut a 3"x3" piece of bazzil paper,

ran it through the crimper, cut it with my brand new Martha Stewart scissors

that literally shredded the paper instead of nice clean cuts

(they are going back...)

and then put tape on the bottom edge and smooshed it together

until it formed a kind of triangle at the bottom

and stuck it in the top of the carrot.

I used the Crop-a-dile to punch two holes in the top

(um, fyi-if you are holding it up close to see where you are punching

be sure to keep and protruding body parts out of the way

when you punch-the handles can hurt you, too!

Just sayin'...! OWWWWW! Only me....!)

Here's the finished crop of carrots-

filled with a fun-size bag of M&M's

(kinda have to fold it over scrunch it in but it does fit-

and when doing 25+ more---I need to use supplies conservatively!)

I could have used the solid orange for the carrots-but I really really liked

the polka dot ones instead!

 

I had intended to use this for the tag--just the bunny part

backed by dp--but I had printed off the others and decided they were cuter for

preschoolers although I am sure the pom-pom tail would have been a hit...

Oh well-I have lots of other ideas for this stamp!

It was brand new-and I am not a neat stamper...

my friend Theresa would will be appalled! Lol.  Oh welll...

 

 Got some other Easter stamps from years gone by

that haven't even seen ink...yet.

Stamping helped save my sanity on more than one occasion

so I am trying diligently to get more time doing just that

along with other things I do to keep life in balance!

 

Speaking of balance...

I was quietly stamping and coloring in the magic kingdom yesterday

and the "littles" were in there....

Sir Stirling (right) was climbing on the shelves above my worktable

when all of a sudden the sky started falling-

baskets and all their contents-along with Sir Stirling-

were suddenly falling fast and furious towards the floor.

Luckily thankfully he landed on his feet but not without some wicked twists in mid-air

while he tried to right himself.

He was a little subdued but less than 10 minutes later was chasing his brother

through the house so I didn't think an emergency vet visit was in order!

 

Our Poppa Cat however is having a rough go of things.

 

Somehow he broke his pelvis.

He's been on a lot of pain meds along with meds for other issues.

He isn't too interested in eating right now

and we've noticed he's limping more on the injured leg/side.

He's also been extremely vocal at times the past two days.

The vet said he has awful arthritis in his hips.

I think we need to bump his appointment up to this week rather than next.

He's not a happy camper at the vet so I am not looking forward to them

having to do more x-rays and lab work.

I offered to sign a stack of sedation forms to have on hand

and just fill in the blank for the date. Lol.

They are an AWESOME group as you've heard me say many times.

 

Well, time for more coffee,

some pain meds for me and my arm

and back to some more creative stuff.

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o' the evenin' to ye, lads and, more likely, lassies!

Oh, and any rogue leprechauns that may be lingering about!

 

At least I seem to be getting some posts done for holidays at least

if no other time!

 

I wanted to send some St. Patrick's Day cards to a few friends

I do not have the first bit of Irish in me (English and German)

but

I married an Irishman

who called me his little red-headed leprechaun
(yes, I can  be a little mischievous at times!)

 

Anyway---here's what I came up with:

The mason jar stamp and die are from Lawn Fawn.

The friend stamp is from Stampin` Up.

I just happened to have the small shamrock punch in my stash-

so each one of those are hand-punched, color dusted and the centers

colored with a white colored pencil.

Then I just applied a little pressure to the center

while they were on my mouse pad

to give it a little dimension.

I made 6 of these cards...oh!

And the trick to make the shaker part easy-peasy...

I cut a piece of foam--yes, craft foam--fun foam--

whatever you call it--

just slightly smaller than the yellow designer paper--

and then I die cut the mason jar out.

I used two layers of foam and glued them together

with fun foam glue.

Worked like a charm!

The acetate is glued to the back of the dp--then the fun foam layers

and then the card background piece that was cut the same size

as the front dp piece.

Hope that makes sense!

If not, go to the Lawn Fawn website and watch the video on how to make

a shaker card-that is where I got this idea  to start with!

You can see a tiny glimpse of the micro beads

that I added for some gold---just at the bottom right corner.

The layering and the glue worked great-no leaks like I`ve often had

trying to do this with foam tape!

For the inside of the card

I used a retired Close To My Heart stamp set...

(since my computer was in the shop for repairs...)

and a tiny Studio G shamrock

The envelopes were of course covered with some shamrocks as well.

 



Our Poppa Cat wasn`t so lucky-

we learned about a month ago that, somehow,

he managed to to break his pelvis!

That and he has severe arthritis in his hips.

Oh, and before he came to live with us

(he was a feral who came in one day and wouldn`t leave...!)

he had been shot twice and the pellets are still in him.

Did I mention he`s also diabetic and starting with early kidney issues..

So momma has had her nurses   ``vet tech`` cap on again (yet, still!)

We`ve been doing lots of meds along with a week of 3x a day cold laser

therapy treatments at home.

He`s improving.

 

So when I`ve not been doing cat care,

or working,

or trying to keep up with the rest of life-

I`ve squeaked in a little --and I do mean little!--craft time.

Hope to change that-soon!

 

Until next time,

May the luck o` the Irish be with ye!

Happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,