Graduation Card with Flowers

Before making this Graduation Card with Flowers I did a quick image search to see other handmade graduation cards. I was surprised how few had flowers. The recipient is the daughter of one of my cousins, so I wanted the card to be youthful and pretty. Of course there had to be some element of graduation, so I used the cute graduation owl by Gerda Steiner Designs. The owl was colored with Copic markers, fussy cut and then adhered to the white stitched circle die cut. A little punched branch and stamped flower add some detail along with the congratulations die cut by Impression Obsession and three sequins for sparkle. The floral paper is retired by Stampin' Up! and the yellow is by Recollections. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Graduation Card with Flowers is entered into the following challenges:

• Alphabet Challenge: F for Feathered Friends
• Brown Sugar: Use Sequins
• Try it on Tuesday: Feathered Friends
• Crafting by Designs: Anything Goes

Anything Goes at Tuesday Throwdown

Happy Tuesday! It's time to start another new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week the theme is "Anything Goes." Our sponsor this week is STAMPlorations and they provided this lovely floral image called A Cup of Roses for the design team to create our inspiration. We would love for you to join us this week! Click here for all the challenge details. You have until mid-day on Monday, May 29th to link your creation.

Do you hunt through your patterned papers to find the perfect design? It can be time consuming but well worth it when you find just the right paper. The image is so pretty and I wanted a pretty floral paper for this card. I ended up using a piece from one of the first paper pads I ever purchased. It's by Crate Paper and it's called Random from Fall of 2011.  To pull in the eye a piece of black polka dot paper by Bo Bunny was added. The image was colored with Copic markers, die cut with a stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inkers and then matted to a slightly larger piece of Melon Mambo cardstock by Stampin' Up!. Three sequins add some sparkle and that's it. I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

This Floral Note Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: Floral Profusion
• Challenge Up Your Life: Blossoms
• My Creative Scoop: Anything Goes with Hand Colored Image

Kick Ass Birthday Card

My brother's birthday is this weekend, so I made him this Kick Ass Birthday Card. If you knew my brother you would understand it's also very appropriate. Hopefully he will see the humor! The stamp set is from Unity Stamp Company and it's called Jack {ass} and I used this weeks sketch at Mojo Monday for the layout. Finding the right papers with the right colors was the hardest part. I finally settled on papers from the Snippets collection by Studio Calico (2012). The image was colored with Copic markers using warm gray tones. Then I decided to add the party hat from a Newton's Nook stamp set. The final touch was the addition of four pastel glimmer dot stickers by Sticko and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

This Kick Ass Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch #497
• Seize the Birthday: Creatures or Animals
• Stampvie and More: Man or Boy
• Creative Moments: Anything Goes
• Watercooler Wednesday: Masculine Anything Goes
• Addicted to Stamps and More: Make Your Mark

Owl Thanks Card

Good day! I have a quick post to share this Owl Thanks Card I made for the current Inky Paws Challenge. It's a sketch challenge and the hours to play along are counting down. The stamp set used is called What a Hoot and it has coordinating dies which makes cutting the images super easy. This card was made for Wild Heart Ranch, a local animal rescue and rehabilitation group in Northeastern Oklahoma. They do an amazing job and right now they have a lot of baby owls in their care.

I wanted the card to have a natural look, so I dug through my paper scraps and found the perfect patterned papers. The owls were colored with Copic markers and then die cut with their coordinating dies. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm also entering it into the Wings Challenge at Cut It Up. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Burp Cloth Special

Hello crafty friends! If you are looking for a unique and fun baby gift, check out my Etsy shop! This month I'm offering a special on the purchase of 3 or more individual burp cloths. When you buy 3 burp cloths you save $1.50, enter code DEAL3 at checkout. If you purchase 6 you'll save $4.00, enter DEAL6. All burp cloths are handmade by me. They are made of 100% cotton featuring flannel on the front and terry cloth on the back. If you have specific colors or characters you want I'm happy to complete a custom order. Want a matching baby blanket? I can do that too.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Hot Dog Birthday Card

The month of May is busy with birthdays in my family. It all starts this weekend with my dad's birthday. I wanted his card to be different from previous years. So when I found this stamp set called Frank the Fun Dog by Unity Stamps I ordered it. This Hot Dog Birthday Card is what I made for my him. Copic markers were used to color the image and then it was fussy cut. Once I had the layout arranged and the hot dog placed, I decided he needed a party hat. Luckily, I found one in a stamp set from Newton's Nook that was the perfect size. Three sequins were the final touch and this card was done.

This Hot Dog Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• C.R.A.F.T.: Birthday and Blog Hop
• Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes/Optional Topping 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Pear Doodle Card

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day. It's time for the start of another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week the theme is Doodles. I thought this was a fun theme and one that I'm interested to see how you interpret. Our wonderful sponsor is CraftyGirl and I'm using her Pear Doodle digital stamp. For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click HERE. I hope you will play along!

My vision is not as good as it used to be, so I made this image larger than usual. Since the design is intricate I decided to open my art box from college and use my Prismacolor pencils (sadly they've had little use since college 20 years ago). Once all the pencils were sharpened I started coloring. The image was die cut with a cross stitched oval by My Favorite Things and then to give it a framed look it was matted to a brown scalloped oval cut from an Avery Elle die cut. All patterned paper is from my scrap pile, I'm determined to use it when I remember. The You're Amazing sentiment is from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set by Stampin' Up!. To accent the sentiment two punched banners were added along with two green sequins. The last detail was the addition of the bitty butterfly with pearls. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

This Pear Doodle Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: Add a Sentiment
• Simon Says Stamp: It's a Frame Up!
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

Handmade Baby Cards

Happy Saturday! The perfect way to finish a baby gift is with a Handmade Baby Card. Here is a couple I listed in my Etsy Shop. I love the retired sweet Giraffe Heart image by Bugaboo. The images were colored with Copic markers and then die cut with a stitched rectangle die. Patterned papers by Doodlebug Designs and The Paper Studio were used. The final touches were three punched banners, pastel glitter dots by Sticko and the retired Sweet Baby sentiment by Stampin' Up!. That's it!

Here is another photo of each card:

Blue Baby Card entered into the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Anything Goes
• Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything Goes

Owl Graduation Card

Hello! Today is the start of a new challenge at Simply Create Too and this month we want you to use a Digi Stamp. That's a pretty easy challenge, so I hope you will play along and link-up your new creation. Click HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration.

While deciding which digi stamp to use on my card I received a graduation announcement for one of my younger cousins. He is graduating high school, so I decided to use this Graduation Owl image by Gerda Steiner Designs. The image was colored with Copic markers and then fussy cut to allow his foot to sit on top of the punched branch. The Congratulations paper and diploma paper are by The Paper Studio. I added a strip of woodgrain paper by Stampin' Up! and then matted the patterned paper to a piece of brick red cardstock by Bazzill. Then the focal circle was adhered flat to the paper. I'll be mailing this card so I didn't want to add any lumps or bumps. That's it!

This Owl Graduation Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Little Red Wagon: Time to Celebrate!
• Shopping Our Stash: Back to Basics (fussy cut something)
• Unicorn Challenge: Special Occasions

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!