A Doggone Good Birthday

Wow!  I can't believe my sweet baby girl is turning 8 today!  I've been working furiously on the cupcake toppers, treat bags, and table decorations for her pool party.  I'll share those with you after the party, but I do want to share the birthday card I made for her today.  Here it is:

Taylor is having a puppy party, so I chose this cute little puppy from my Birthday Bash Cricut Cartridge.  The card base came from Art Philosophy, and I punched the scalloped border on the patterned paper with my Stampin' Up Scalloped Border Punch.  The sentiment came from Pink By Design's Furry Friends Stamp Set.  

I also got the paw prints on the inside from that same stamp set.

Of course, I had to let her know who made it (like she needed the reminder).  The I woof you sentiment also came from the Furry Friends set. 

I hope you like my little card.  Taylor loved it, and that's all that matters! :)  Have a fabulous Friday, everyone! 



Smile, It's Your Birthday

Happy Monday!  Today is my day to post for the Pink By Design Design Team, and I have a sweet little card that I made for my sister-in-law to share with you today.  She just LOVES ladybugs! 

But...you know what?  She is a fan of my Facebook page (which is great and very supportive of her), and I can't let her see a pic of her card before she gets it.  So, here's a pic for her to see on Facebook.  :)

Okay, so now that her card has been kept a secret from her, I can show it to you.  Here it is:

I used Pink By Design's Damask Background Stamp for the pink background paper.  I love how it adds just the right amount of elegance to my card. The sentiment came from Pink By Design's Take the Cake Stamp Set.  I got the cute little Ladybug from the Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge, the circle came from the Birthday Bash Cricut Cartridge, and the flowers came from the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  Plus, I embossed the circle with my Candy Cane Stripe Cuttlebug Embossing Folder.

This was my first time using flowers like this on a project, so I want to show you how I made these flower cutouts into three-dimentional embellishments.  You'll see that I was learning as I went.  First, I cut all of the flowers in four different sizes: 1 extra large, 3 large, 2 medium, and 1 small, and I inked all of the pieces with my Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inks.  Then, I found something cylindrical to curl my petals around.  I used my i-Rock (don't worry, it's wasn't turned on) to curl the petals of the extra large flower.  You could use anything cylindrical you have on hand.

See, it makes the flat flower cutout stand out a bit more.

The i-Rock wouldn't work for the smaller flowers, though, because it was just too big around to put a nice curl in the petals.  So, I decided to use my Tweezer-Bees.  I just grasped the end of the petal in my tweezers and twirled it back, wrapping the petal around the tweezers.  It was a lot like I was using a curling iron to curl my hair.  :)

Next,  I punched a hole in the center of each of the flowers.  Here's where I learned a lesson...it would probably be best to punch the holes BEFORE I curled the petals (DUH!).  The punch flattened some of the petals out a little, and I had to recurl them.

Finally I put brads through the hole of each flower to join the layers together.  I adhered the flowers to my project using foam tape.


I hope you like my little card, and I REALLY hope my sister-in-law likes it.  Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you'll leave a comment for me...I SO love to read them.  Have a wonderful day!



Celebrate the Occasion Challenge #17: Father's Day

Guess what!?!?!?! It's Tuesday, so it's a great day for a challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  This week's theme is Father's Day.  Here's what I came up with:

So, I have to say that I'm not super crazy about this card.  It doesn't really go together, or something.  My idea behind this card is that it's for my husband...it represents a sort-of inside joke between him and our daughters.  The big gray elephant is supposed to be him, and the two smaller ones represent the girls.  The problem is that I made the little elephants in pastel colors, thinking it would be good since they are girls.  Well, then I couldn't really make the card very masculine since I had the pastels on there.  I told you I'm not great at making masculine cards!  Anyway, at least I think my hubby will get a chuckle out of this card.  The inside is going to say "Even when you're making elephant noises" which is my hubby's and daughter's code phrase for going #2.  Strange idea for a Father's Day card, maybe, but my girls think it's funny, and my hubby will, too, and that's all that matters. :o)

This is an A2 size card.  The elephants are from Birthday Bash, and the bows are from Once Upon a Princess.  The sentiment is from Pink By Design's Our Fathers stamp set.  I added a little ribbon (no bows this time), and my little card was all done.  I hope you like it!

So, now it's time for you to head on over to Celebrate the Occasion to see what the other Design Team members created.  Then, you can join in on the fun, yourself.  I can't wait to see what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by today!



More Over the Hill Items

Hi, everyone!  I just thought I'd post some projects I worked on recently for a client.  She liked my Over the Hill stuff, but wanted a cake topper instead of cupcake toppers and a banner.  Eeek!  I'd never made a banner before, but I had been dying to give it a try.  So, here are the goods:

  Here's the cake topper.  All of these cuts came from Life's a Party.  I added some circles behind "The Big 4-0" so it would show up better.

I can't remember where I got these cuts...the scalloped and rounded squares are from Gypsy Wanderings, maybe?  I think the letters are from Birthday Bash.  I think my little banner turned out cute...and it was a lot of fun to make! :o)  I can't wait to make another one!

I hope you'll stop by again this weekend.  Celebrate the Occasion is hosting a Pool Party Blog Hop.  I hope you'll stop by to see what all of the talented Design Team members have to show you.

Thanks for stopping by today!



My Daughter's Birthday

Whew!  This has been a REALLY busy last couple of weeks.  My husband left for his deployment today, so we've all been busy preparing for that.  The great thing about this deployment is that he's only 2.5 hours away...so we'll get to visit every few weeks.  Plus, we're in the same time zone, so we should be able to talk on the phone regularly.  The bad thing is that, like always, we'll miss having him around for all of the day-to-day stuff.  Needless to say, it was just a big tear-fest when he left this afternoon.  At least we can now start counting down to when we'll see him again...hopefully sometime in late June.

Well, since my hubby had to leave today, he'll be missing my daughter's 10th birthday, which is on Wednesday.  So, she's had 2 early parties...one with her friends and one at home with us.  Of course, since I wanted to make all the stuff for her party, the last two weeks have been even more stressful.  Hey, at least I had fun making all the stuff.  :o)

Madi wanted to have a Rock n Roll themed party, so I made her some cupcake toppers and wrappers that I already had listed in my Etsy store.  Then, I made some invitations and treat bags to match the theme.  Here's all of her goodies:

The guitar on these invitations is from Rock Princess, and I believe the stars are from Toy Story (I think). 

I used a Photoshop Elements Brush to create the star shapes on the picture and then created the inside of the invitation in Microsoft Word.  I made up an extra one with fake info so I could show you here and then list it on Etsy. :o)

The black background piece is embossed with the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder, and the large star is embossed with Candycane Stripes.  The sentiment on the front is from Pink By Design's Rock On Stamp Set.  I added another stamp to the envelopes.

 Here are the cupcake toppers (also from Rock Princess) and the cupcake wrappers (from Life's a Party) I made.

 Here's my goofy girl with her cupcake..all in GREEN, of course! (Her favorite color.)

Okay, I had to get a smiley one, too!

And...here are the treat bags I put together for her guests.

The guitars were the little pieces left over from the cupcake wrappers (I couldn't let those cute little guys go to waste, you know!).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Oh, and before I forget...here is the card I made for my little rocker chick:

 If it looks familiar, it's because I made a similar one a few months ago.  Madison loved it so much that I decided to make one for her.  I just changed out the Rock Princess girl on the front.  I also added a sentiment from the Taylored Expressions You're My Hero Stamp Set.  The card base is from Birthday Bash.

Whew!  I hope you like all of this birthday stuff...I had a lot of fun making it!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a great week, and Happy Memorial Day!



Friday the 13th Blog Hop: Flaunt it Fridays

CHECK OUT MY 500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY HERE

Hey, everyone!  After a long day of Blogger being down, welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the Friday the 13th Blog Hop.  If you're coming here from Deborah at Bug Juiced, you're in the right place!  If you're just stumbling upon my blog and would like to play along, vistit Flaunt it Fridays.

For our first project, we were supposed to use the Friday the 13th cut from page 54 of the Happy Hauntings cart.  Here's what I came up with:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I hope you think this is as funny as I do...it just makes me giggle every time I see it.  I can't take credit for the sentiment, though.  I saw a similar sentiment on an e-card, and knew I had to use it...I just tweaked it a bit for my purposes.  This card measures 5.75" square.  I got the Friday the 13th phrase from Happy Hauntings...duh ;o) and the other letters on the front came from Alphalicious.  The cake and monkey came from Birthday Bash.  

I cut the machete and hockey mask out with scissors and hole punches...I even looked up Jason's mask on the Internet to make sure I got it just right. Then, I added lots of ink, some ribbon, and some brads, and my fun Friday the 13th birthday card was all done. I hope you like it!

For our second project, we were able to use any cut from Happy Hauntings, so I decided to make some cute favor boxes to go along with some Over the Hill cupcake toppers I have in my Etsy shop.  Here it is:

The box, tombstone, and RIP all came from Happy Hauntings.  The box is pretty small...you can tell from the m&ms in the photo, but I cut it as large as I could and still fit it on a 12" x 12" piece of paper. The tombstone originally had a raven on it, but I trimmed it off so I could add this little vulture from Life's a Party.  Here's the cupcake topping set that matches:

Well, I hope you liked my projects!  I hope you'll hop along to see what all of the other talented crafters came up with.  Then, you can link up your own project at Flaunt It Fridays.

Oh, but before I forget....how about some BLOG CANDY??? One lucky follower will win this fun set of Martha Stewart Embellishments:

Here's what you need to do for a chance to win this candy:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower. Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win! But, if you want an extra chance, here's what you can do:

2. For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

That's it! :o) Please...only US mailing addresses. I'll leave this giveaway open all week, and then I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, May 20.

Oh, and don't forget to CHECK OUT MY 500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

Your next stop is Mel at Scrappy Mel.

1. Flaunt It Friday's www.flauntitfridays.blogspot.com

2. Sandra www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com
3. Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com/
4. Lisa P. http://www.crop-and-create.blogspot.com/
5. Corri http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com/
6. Monica http://simplycricutting.blogspot.com/
7. Celeste http://ccscards.blogspot.com/
8. Carley http://www.the-real-icarley.blogspot.com/
9. Laurel http://www.blog.littlepeaceofmyheart.com/
10. Deborah www.bugjuiced.blogspot.com
11. Lisa N. http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/  THAT'S ME
12. Mel http://scrappymel.blogspot.com/ NEXT STOP
13. Yolonda http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/
14. Jess http://myscrapdiary-jess.blogspot.com/
15. Brynn http://flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Friday the 13th!!!

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #59: Teacher Feature

CHECK OUT MY 500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had an awesome weekend...a fun National Scrapbooking Day and a fabulous Mother's Day! I know mine was WONDERFUL!  Anyway...it's another Challenge Me Monday over at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.  The challenge this week is to create a project for a special teacher with the color red on it.  I made a couple of different cards...one for each of my daughters' teachers.  Here they are:

The base for this card came from Wild Card, the seal came from Birthday Bash, and the apple is from Create a Critter.  I embossed the base with the Polka Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I used the center of the star frame on the front as an area for writing on the inside of the card.  The sentiment is from Pink By Design's Our Teachers stamp set.  I added some brads and some ribbon, and my first card was all done! :o)

The apple for this card came from Doodlecharms, the Ruler is from a Cuttlebug folder...the Measure by Measure border folder. This sentment also came from the Our Teachers stamp set.  I added some silver star brads...they remind me of the foil stars teachers put on papers.  I think it turned out cute.  I liked these cards so much, I made a second set to put in my Etsy Shop. :o)

Well, I hope you like my cards!  Now it's time to head on over to FCCB to see what the rest of the Design Team members created and to enter the challenge yourself.  I can't wait to see what you create! :o)



28 Candles Blog Hop

Hey, you guys!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far!  Welcome to the 28 Candles Blog Hop!  If you came from Sonia at Scraps 4 Fun, then you're in the right place.  If you just stumbled upon this post and would like to start from the beginning, visit Kimi & Pamela at Lovebug Creations.

This hop is in honor of Kimi's 28th birthday, so we're all creating something birthday related.  A friend of mine recently wanted passport invites for her daughter's upcoming birthday, so I decided to make an example for her to show her what I could do.  She's really into Safari animals and animal prints, so here's what I came up with:

To make these, I first dug out my passport to use as a guide.  I designed a layout for the outside of the passport on my computer and printed it out on craft cardstock.  Then, I embossed it with my Mesh Cuttlebug embossing folder so it would look more like leather.  I knew my friend likes animal prints, so I added a strip to the front.  Then, I cut some African animals for her...the zebra and giraffe are from Create a Critter, the lion is from Life's a Party, and the elephant is from Birthday Bash. 

 Here's a close up of the embossing...I ran the embossed card back through my Cuttlebug with the flat part of the folder on top of it to flatten it out a bit.  I also rounded the corners since the corners of passports are rounded.

Then, I designed the inside of the invitation to look like the inside of a passport.  I found some passport stamps online, and viola'!  A cute little passport invitation!

Then, I decided to create some cupcake toppers and wrappers to show my friend and also list in my Etsy shop.  The wrappers are from the Life's a Party cartridge and are embossed to match the passport invitations.

Well, I hope you like my little projects!  I'm really excited about how they turned out! 

Now, I think it's time for a little BLOG HOP CANDY!!! 

For this hop, I'm giving away this great kit that you can use to make an album in a box.  It includes all sorts of pre-cut papers, acetate sheets, rub-ons, and so much more!  There's just so much you could do with this...even if you're not into making an album.

If you'd like the chance to win these goodies, here's what you need to do:

1.  Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower.    Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win!  But, if you want extra chances, here's what you can do:

2.  For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3.  For another extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment with a link back to the post.  Also, don't forget your e-mail address.

That's it! :o)  Please...only US mailing addresses.  I'll randomly choose a winner after the hop is over, on Tuesday, April 19. 

Now to keep on hoppin'!  You're next stop is Jenny at Jenny K., Scrappin Addict.  Here's the lineup, just in case you get lost along the way:

Kimi & Pamela - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

Missy - http://happystampindesigns.blogspot.com/

Tanya- http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/

Michelle - http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com/

Laura - http://lifeasanarmywife-lauradietsch.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://www.pinkcricut.com/

Candace - http://papercraftsbycandace.blogspot.com/

Sarah W - http://creatingmyfavoritememories.blogspot.com/

Kim - http://rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/

Liz- http://www.mywhichcraft.blogspot.com/

Zeni - http://www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com/

Erin - http://spantastikreations.blogspot.com/

Anne - http://anniebeescraftroom.blogspot.com/

Gaby - http://www.gabycreates.com/

Karen - http://osebastian.blogspot.com/

Paula - http://www.owlbescrappin.com/

Martha - http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

Dianne - http://diannesscrappycreations.blogspot.com/

Kimmarie - http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/

Victoria - http://victoriascraftyideas.blogspot.com/

Sonia - www.scraps4fun.com

Lisa - http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/ **THAT'S ME!**

Jennifer - http://kozfam5.blogspot.com/ **NEXT STOP**

Nicole - http://creationsbymommy.com/

Amy - http://amydesigns.blogspot.com/

Stacey - http://creatingacraftylife.blogspot.com/

Becky - http://beckscricards.blogspot.com/

Alina - http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com/

Haidee - http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope to see you back real soon!  Happy hoppin', and have a wonderful weekend!