Happy Birthday

Here's a quick little card that is going into my birthday card stash.  Can't have too many of them, right?  It's a square card, so I will probably hand deliver it.  The colors are bright and cheerful, and the card is suitable for either a man or a woman.

I used my Cricut to cut out the birthday greeting ...I will definitely use this again and again!

I am entering this into Verve Stamp's December Diva Inspiration Challenge.


 I used the sketch on Viva La Verve Sketches' Holiday Break.

I've got to say that it's really really really difficult to line everything up ... notice how I cheated by lining up with the edges of background paper?

O, Holy night!

In the spirit of trying to put together a stash of Christmas cards for next year, here is another card that I made just today.  It's not like my usual cards in that it is a 5x7 instead of A2 size.  I wanted to have a good-sized picture on the front, and the smaller card wouldn't work.

I am entering this into the following challenge:

Freshly Made Sketches - sketch #268

Thanks

I am really trying to keep up with my cards.  This one is (obviously) intended to be sent to someone showing my appreciation.  I was fortunate to receive numerous Christmas gifts from students, and this will be going to one of them.  

I'm entering this into the Case This Sketch blog's Challenge #202.

JOY

 

So ... it's the day after Christmas, and I didn't send any cards this year.  I've lurked a lot at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown blog that has a Christmas card challenge for each week of the year.  If I can follow through with it, I will have 52 cards ready for sending next Christmas.  This entry is for the final challenge of 2016:  Pick a Previous 2016 Challenge. I picked the April 2016 Sketch Challenge for my entry.

In addition, I am entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog's Make It Sparkle. 

The semicircle on the side as well as the center circle are cut out of glitter paper, and I used some silver sequins to add to the bling factor.

December "Theme"

Wishing you and yours a very Merry and Blessed Christmas from our family.

Here are the options for this month’s theme (the bold one is my choice): First Day of Winter (December Solstice), Christmas, Traditions I chose Christmas as my theme tag.  I know, boring AND predictable! I went “shopping” in my stash and found the ornament that I had cut out in a previous year. I also used a piece from Craig’s mother’s jewelry as an embellishment on the bottom of the ornament. Last year, I purchased some Frosted Film on sale and never had a clue on what to do with it; I was so excited to see the possibilities with it and cut it out and adhered it to the upper right corner.

Journaling on the back:  This is the first tag I created for our monthly swap. I went searching (shopping J) in my stash and found the ornament that I cut last year. I also used the frosted film that has been in my cabinet many months now. I am proud to say that I didn’t need to buy anything!

December "Person"

Sister sent me three photos, and she was “sure” that I would use the one of the limo. Yes, I was definitely interested in it, but I saw a lot more design possibility in the one that I chose (the little girl). I saw the bubble wrap in the picture, and knew immediately that I would use Tim’s bubble wrap stamp.  Rather than trying to imitate the girl’s dress, I used Tim’s dress form and cut out a pink, white and black dress from one of the (numerous) paper pads that I purchased at convention. I had just purchased the Cricut Graphically Speaking cartridge, and the word “girl” was included in it.  I cut it out of plain cardstock, colored it with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and then added several layers of UTEE to give it a glossy shine. The dress form is mounted on an Action Wobble because I imagine that the little girl was all fidgety while shopping. Journaling on the back:  Sue thought I would use the picture of the limo. It did cross my mind, but I decided to use the girl instead. See the bubble wrap dots on the tag? They mimic the bubble wrap on the shelf. This was a fun one for sure!

Here is her original photo:

November "Theme"

The theme choices for the month of November were (my choice is in bold): 

Daylight Savings Time Ends / Election Day / Veterans’ Day / Thanksgiving / Black Friday / Cyber Monday

For this tag, I used some of the features of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2016 November edition, even though I am not going to enter it into the competition.  You see, all of these tags are a surprise.  (I'm writing the blog posts ahead of time.)

When I was going through my stash to find something to use for the flower centers, I came across the numbered brads.  The 12 and the 26 are symbolic because they are the days of our parents' deaths.  Of course, the lucky token is because sister and I were truly lucky to have wonderful parents who raised us in a loving atmosphere.  We might not have been financially rich, but we were definitely rich in our parent's love.  I used some copper alcohol ink to color the brads and token. 

The "We Give Thanks" banner was written and cut on my Cricut Explore.  Love that machine!

November "Place"

 

Sister found and photographed this place during one of her retreat trips (I think).  My name is Dodie, which isn't exactly a very common name.  It's one of those names from when I was a kid and always was disappointed because I couldn't find a mug or a cute necklace or one of those bicycle license plates with my name on it.  Lo and behold, though, there it was on the sign of a restaurant in the Dallas area!  I guess good things really do come to those who wait!

 

The "2" bingo piece signifies the two of us.  Now that our parents are no longer living, it's just her and me to represent our family.  The fibers for the tag holder have been living in my stash for at least four years.  I knew I was saving it for something special!

 

Isn't the alcohol ink paper gorgeous?  I love creating with it, especially since it is virtually impossible to make a duplicate!  What fun!

 

Throughout this project, it's been great to go "shopping" in my stash of handmade flowers.  These two flowers are no exception.  The larger one is made of crinoline, a technique I learned from Tammy Tutterow.  The smaller one is a cut from the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge. 

 

I added one of Tim Holtz's word charms ... the "found" is perfect because of how she found the restaurant!

 

I made a bow out of some lace in my stash and used more of the fibers to tie it.

 

And, finally, I added some of Tim's Chit Chat stickers with the sentiment that i love my sister. 

October "Theme"

 

These are the options for the theme for this month (my choice is in bold): 

 Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Halloween

 

I used Tim Holtz's October 2016 tag of the month for my inspiration on how to create this tag.  It's hard to see it, but there is some glittery fabric covering the entire tag.  I did some wonky stitching with black thread around the perimeter.  The tie is seam binding that I stamped with alternating spiders and spider webs then colored with Distress Inks.

 

 

October "Place"

 

This tag was a real stretch.  You can see the logo for Merrill Lynch on the corner of the building.  As much as I love blue, the photo was almost totally blue.  Sister sure made it tough to make this tag!

 

Aren't the blue and green sparkly fibers adorable?  Sister gifted them to me during my trip to Texas in 2015.  They have been resting in my drawer, waiting for the perfect place to use them.  This was the perfect place!

 

I added quite a bit of stamping to the background, a background courtesy of Creative Chemistry 103.  I also added stamping to the photograph to give it some more interest.

 

I thought that the keyhole was a perfect addition to the picture.  (Shh ... I added it because the stamping didn't go all the way to the end of the picture.)  The flower was in my flower stash as was the blue fabric flower.  I'm really enamored with adding cheesecloth to the back of the photos.

Here's one last view of the bottom of the tag.  As difficult as it was to come up with an idea, it all gelled in the end.

 

September "Theme"

Here are the options for this month's theme (the bold one is my choice):  Labor Day, National Grandparents’ Day, Dodie’s Birthday, First Day of Autumn (September Equinox)

 

 

I was stumped with this month's theme choices.  Then I saw someone's blog who used a stamp on paper which she then cut out with a die.  Aha!  I don't have any stamps related to Autumn, but I could print on paper.  So that's what I did.  I went to my good friend, Google, to search for Autumn sayings.  I just typed a bunch of them, printed the page and then cut out leaves with my Cricut.  I then colored them with puddles of Distress Ink and crumpled them to dry so that they would look like crisp fallen leaves.

 

 

 

I didn't do too much else with the tag except for cutting the word fall from grunge paper and adding a piece of autumnal paper to a Fragment (after writing the word Sept. on the paper).

 

Some Distress Stickles really put this tag over the top.

September "Person"

 

Sister sent this photo of a little girl with ribbon tied around her foot.  Was it in place of a shoe?  I don't know.  There's a honeycomb decoration on the furniture behind the foot, and I knew that Tim's honeycomb on the edge die was a perfect match.  I cut it out of grey cardstock and added several layers of clear embossing powder to give it a shiny look, similar to the real thing.

 

I actually had to make a trip to Joann's to get the ribbon.  From the picture, it appears that it is a close, if not perfect, match.  The little girl's foot was so fancy-schmansy that I knew that a diamond flourish was a perfect addition!

 

See how the ribbon is criss-crossed on her foot?  I mimicked that on the card.  Cool beans!

 

 

My bow-tying skills leave something to be desired, so I went shopping in my stash for something inspired by the poufy bow on her foot.  The black organza flower that I made about two years ago was perfect!  And I had already embossed it with some really cool embossing powder ... the same stuff I used on the reinforcer on the top of the tag.  What a coincidence, huh?