Happy St. Paddy's Day

I don't usually send out St. Patrick's cards but this year I decided to make one anyway since I just couldn't resist these cute digi-stamps from Digital Delights.  I cut an extra set of shamrocks and placed them on popdots to add extra dimension. I also added some gold stickles to the coins to make them shine and spread the wealth a little bit around the card :) The inside sentiment is computer generated.  For some reason I've collected a bunch of Irish Blessings through the years so I had no problem finding one.  I love Irish Blessings - they are always so meaningful and more often than not rhyme beautifully.  So before I end this post today I want to wish you love to share, health to spare and friends that care!  Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours!

Teen Boy Birthday Card

This was a card my mom asked me to make for my son's birthday - yup, that's the problem with family, hehehe, you end up making 2 or 3 cards for the same person per request from the other family members!

For me the only colour worthy of a sports car is red - but my mom wanted this kind of green because it kinda matches the colour of the car we bought for him which is "Tea Green".  I used this shinning green from my Cordinations stash. 

This car was cut using the Father's Day cricut cartridge. I used a little bit of metalic silver paper for the front and the wheels and also vellum for the windows.  All in all considering this order was placed the night before, it came out cute :-)

Birthday Card for 16 B'day

Here is the card I made for my son's 16th birthday.  I chose to make it to match the colour theme for his party and the invitations. He thougth it was cool so for me it was "mission accomplished"  :-)

16 th Birthday Banner

Hi my crafty friends. I've been MIA a little more than usual - sorry about that but I've been very busy making the invitations and birthday banner for my son's 16th birthday party.  As you know from my previous post, the colour theme is silver, navy blue and white.  I made this banner using the All Occasions Cake Art MS cricut cartridge.  For the banner dividers, I made a rosette in white. I love the way it looks on our rotunda ~ the sizing worked out perfectly. I cut two bannerets out of each 12" x 12" page by laying it out on my DS. If you don't have DS, you can still do this by cutting the one, then unload your mat, turn it 180 degrees and insert it back into your machine and press cut again.

Easter Card

I was inspired to make this card by Dawn.  I loved her thank you notes so I adopted her design to make this Easter card.  I like the way it came out - definately different from anything I made before. I coloured the little basket with pencils and used gamsol to blend and shade a little.

Cutie for Easter

This is a recessed oval card.  It was fun to do and gives the card a different dimension.  The stamps are from a little set I bought at HL.  I just think this little girl is too cute with her Easter basket.

A Dandy Birthday

I bought this Dandilions stamp a while back.  I find it so useful when you need to make a quick card, and who wouldn't want to have a "dandy" birthday anyway?  All the papers and carstock are from my scraps drawer.  I've really been digging into this drawer to make some cards - it was one of my New Year Resolutions - in fact, probably the only one I haven't blown yet :)  Unfortunately I don't even see a dent in the scraps stash!

More of the Bunny Family

Here is another card using the Cottontail and Flubbybottom Bunnies :) This sketch was inspired by Mojo Monday 230.  They have a square and a round card, and I really like the way this one came out, so I may try to do a round card too. This card is 5" x 5" and although everyone says that it incurs more postage, I have never had that problem. The papers are all from my scraps stash.  I made the little flowers and leaves using various punches.  This bunny stamp is from the Great Impressions company. I adhered the small pompoms with a glue dot and coloured in the little tulips and grass with my bic markers.

Peter Cottontail & Family :)

I went to my local scrapbook store on Saturday, found this stamp, fell in love with it ... and well, you've figured out the rest :) So here is my card featuring Peter Cottontail and his cousins Fred and Bob Fluffybottoms :) Aren't they just the cutest? I will definately be making other versions of Easter cards using this stamp!

Birthday Card for Mom

Inspired by Kittie from Kittie Krafts and by the challenge that Enfys has at Going Buggy, called Lace and Butterflies, I made this card not only to enter it in the challenge but also for mom for her birthday. I love the way it came out - Spring is definately in the air :) or maybe it's just me wishful thinking?! The window is from the Christmas Noel cartridge. The butterflies and the flowers were all made using various punches. For the window box, I cut an extra piece of white cardstock and ran it thru the Cuttlebug using a woodgrain embossing folder from Paper Studio. For the centres of the flowers I used a little tiny drop from the Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White. I just didn't have tiny pearls in my stash and I think this worked just fine. I just saw that Mary from Cardz TV also has a wonderful challenge going called "Anything Goes". I think I'm going to enter this card in that challenge too :)

Boy 16th Birthday Invites

My son is going to be 16 next month, wow, 16! Where did the time go? That is the million dollar question isn't it? I have just found out how hard it is to set up a party for a 16 year old boy. I had absolutely no problems with a Sweet 16 for my daughter, but for a boy, there can definately be NOTHING "Sweet" about it :)

Since he has just gotten his very first car, I was thinking of car themed birthdays but all the ideas I was coming up with looked a little bit too child-like. From there, I went on to the idea of having invitations done to resemble a driving permit. But we have been to a few parties that had that and I wanted something a little different. Then the guy from the dealership called me about the car's plates being on order and the idea struck me. After looking at the plates on my car and speaking to my daughter who lives in California and looking at the plates there, this is what I came up with. You see in Texas, we don't have the little tags on the top, but these worked out perfectly to put the date of the birthday party. I think that I will make his cake to resemble a number plate too.

I may still tweak it a little. Originally I was going to use screw shaped brads but then I realized that I needed 160 of them and that would turn out quite pricey. So instead, I decided to use silver paper and score several lines on it. Then I took my small punch and punched out the circles being careful to keep the score line in the middle, and voila faux screws :) It also brings in the colour silver which I wanted because now his party will be dark blue, white and silver. I think it will turn out great for a 16 year old boy. What do you all think? Any suggestions or ideas?

Another Cake Taker

I enjoy making these - they always seem to come out so cute. Here is another order I got. I love this colour combination and I guess my customers do too :)

Speedy Recovery

A couple of posts ago, I posted a Good Luck card that I made for a friend, who lives in South Africa, and was undergoing surgery at the time. Well, she's had her surgery and from what her hubby told me, it all went well, so now I'm sending her this card to wish her a speedy recovery. This is the first time I think I ever made a 3-D flower card. I enjoyed making it although it is time consuming but it was very relaxing. The saddle is from Old West cartridge. The fence is made using a MS punch. I then made score lines to resemble the different wood slats. The clouds are cut using the Pooh & Friends cartridge. You can't see it very well unless you click on the pic to make it bigger, but the sentiment on the cloud says "Hope you're soon back in the saddle". She'll get a kick out of this since I now live in Texas.

Male Birthday Card

Here is a card I made for a friend with a little "western" flavour :). I used my trusty Old West cartridge which had been neglected for quite some time. The bandana and denim papers were from my stack of scraps that I'm slowly but surely using up.

I found this cowboy toast on a website called "Cowboy Poetry". Hehehe, I think he will get a kick out of this!

While shopping at a local scrapbook store, I came upon this stamp, and of course I had to use it ... after all, it's the truth :-) Wonder what Hallmark would have to say about it????

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentine :)

No crafting today, but definately some baking. I made these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. They were delicious! I made the hearts and the roses out of gumpaste. The hearts were cut with regular cookie cutters. The roses were made with a mold I bought in Holland while we were on holiday there almost two years ago. I also cut a tiny little bow and put it on each heart.

To add a little pizazz, I dusted over the heart and roses with pearl dust, and used the flower cupcake holders that I bought at Michaels.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you all a very happy and love-filled Valentine's Day!

Cake Taker

I hadn't done any of these since last summer, but I'm starting to get a few more orders in now. Here is the first one I made. Doesn't it look pretty? By using outdoor vinyl, you can still handwash them with soapy water and the vinyl won't peel off.

Using up Scraps Birthday Card

Like a lot of you, I have a drawer full of designer paper scraps. Some of them are a little more "designer" than others lol, but in the end they are all part of my patterned paper scraps, which I have been trying to use up. It was with this in mind that I made this card. Started with the green, purple and white paper and built the card around it. I used pencils and gamsol to colour the flower and then Spellbinders to cut the pretty frame around it. I pop-dotted it {is that even a verb :-)} to give it some dimension. The Happy Birthday ribbon tag is also from Spellbinders. I bought the inside sentiment stamp a while back and have been waiting to use it, now was the perfect opportunity.

Good Luck Card

You may remember from previous posts that I have a very dear friend that was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. After her first mastectomy and rounds of chemo she has beat it and is now a survivor!!! However, she is still facing her second mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. I made this card to send to her to wish her luck with the upcoming surgery and to let her know that she is in my thoughts and prayers. I cut the horse shoe from the Toy Story cartridge and the 4-leaf clover using Designer's Calendar cartridge. The cardstock, designer paper, ribbon and gems are from my stash. I added the little gems because, let's face it, the card needed a little bling ~ the gems are actually hot pink just like the mat cardstock but they came out looking more like rubies in pic.

Another Congrats Card

Hi everyone, this is the congrats card I made for Tanya when she won the blog candy from Rosie's Birthday bloghop. It is rather simple, but bright and happy :) I hope she liked it.

Love You This Big!

Those of you that know me or have followed my blog for a while know that I'm very traditional and after being on a red, black and white valentine card spree, I decided to make one that is totally out of character for me because of the colours. My colours for Valentine are definately red, pink, black and white with a little silver to add pizzaz, but this card has none of those colours! I think it came out pretty cute though and I'm going to enter it in the Paper Playtime challenge. I think it matches the sentiment beautifully. What do you all think?

Congrats Card on an Awesome Performance!

We had an awesome Saturday. My son had his sole & ensemble contest. He made a "1" on both his sole and his awesome ensemble. They played a jazzy version of "When the Saints go Marching In" and it totally wowed the judge! Afterwards they went to play at Dunn Bros in Friendswood and the crowd totally loved them. We took him out to dinner to celebrate his success and I made him this card. It had been a while since I last used my Quarter Note cartridge, but it sure came in handy yesterday. As you can see it's a very simple card, but honestly I just didn't have the time to make it more elaborate and I kinda like the way it came out.

Altered Journal

I bought this journal and matching pen at M's for my daughter. Although it was pretty on its own, I thought that it needed a little extra something, so i decided to personalise it. The mat was made using the Elegant Edges cartridge. I then used her initial in bling, of course, and a few roses. The little paper roses are from my stash. They were actually a very pale baby pink, so I took my bic marker and coloured the edges of the petals to make them look like the ones that were printed on the side. I'm glad I found the bling "S" in the light green colour. Not only does it match the journal perfectly, but it's also the colour of her birth stone which is the peridot.

Last Valentine Card for 2012

Well, I guess I'm all done with red, black and white valentine cards, for this year anyway. I made the final card that I'm going to need for Valentine 2012. It is being sent to Portugal, so I thought this was very appropriate and I'm happy with the way it came out. The heart on the front of the card is from George. The hearts on the inside of the card and the mailbox are all from Doodlecharms. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Hearts Blocks to emboss the white mat on the front of the card.

And the Winner is ... TANYA!!!

Congratulations, Tanya!!!

You are my blog's winner for Rosie's 45th Birthday Blog Hop!

I have sent you an email with the details.

Thank you everyone for participating in this celebration of Rosie's Birthday. I hope you all had fun blog-hopping with us!

Hugs,

~ Lena ~

Rosie's Birthday BlogHop

Hi everyone, just a small reminder that you have till midnight, Sunday, January 29, to hop along with us and leave a comment. I will announce the winner for the candy on my blog on Monday. You will find the post for the blog hop here :-) Also, if you subscribe to my blog by email, remember that you will have to click on the blog heading/post title in order to go to the actual post to leave a comment. Do not hit "reply" to your email because it will go to a "Non-reply blogger" address and I have no way of seeing your comment. Enjoy your weekend!

Rosie's 45th Birthday Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to Rosie's 45th Birthday Bloghop. I'm so excited to be participating in this hop - it's my very first! I hope that you enjoy it and find lots of inspiration along the way.

Here is the card I made for Rosie for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Rosie, may you have many more filled with joy, love and good health!

Here is a pic of the inside of my card. I always try to carry the theme onto the inside of the card so it adds a nice finish to it, but I always keep it simple.

What would a bloghop be without blog candy? Gasp, I have no idea! So before you hop onto the next blog, be sure to leave a comment on this post in order to be entered into the draw for this blog candy. I would love it if you became a follower of my blog, but it isn't necessary to be entered in the draw. I thought that with the Valentine holiday just around the corner, this would be useful to finish off your Valentine projects. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you, if you're the winner. Good luck, everyone. Thank you for joining us today in helping Rosie celebrate her birthday. In case you get lost along the way, here is the line up of this awesome hop.

1. Rosie
2. Kari
3. Zeni
4. Trell
5. Rosa
6. Lena - You are here
7. Gloria

Rosie's Birthday BlogHop

Hi everyone, just a note to let you know that on Friday, 27 January, we will be celebrating Rosie's birthday with a fun blog hop. So don't forget to check in and join the fun.

I'm on a Roll :-)

Yup, I sure am - another red, black and white valentine card. This one is going to my mom. I think it turned out cute - I also got to play with my pearl pen for the inside flowers. Hadn't used it in a very long time.

Another Red, Black & White V-card

Well, I guess Enfys from Going Buggy has set me off on a new trend, and I'm loving these red, black and white valentine cards. I had the darnest time photographing the front of the card because I printed Riley, the raccoon, on photo paper so the colours would be more vibrant. Riley is a digistamp from Degital Delights. I think that this card will go to my son ... a 15 year old boy ... hmmm ... what do you all think? Well, I think he'd better like it since his mommy made it for him :-) :-) :-)

Red, White and Black Valentine Card

If I don't come up with something that I like more, then this will be the Valentine card for my hubby. It's not quite what I had in mind, but I think it turned out okay. I started this card with the ribbon - I just loved the ribbon and built the card from there :-) The kiss is from Tie the Knot and the mat is from Elegant Edges and is popped up with pop-up foam squares. The little hearts at the bottom were done using a Martha Stewart punch. I'm really enjoying using the foam squares as they squish flat and pop up again when released. This is great for cards being mailed - prevents a lot of damaged cards because of raised layers. Since this card meets all the requirements for the challenge that Enfys has going on her blog this month, I'm going to join the fun and enter her challenge.

1st Valentine Card

I remember that when I was growing up, Valentine cards were just for those "in love" ... whether it was your boyfriend or hubby. I remember the excitement of receiving those special cards from that someone special ... and the ones signed "secret admirer" were so much fun! The search for that secret person and then the cherry on the top was realising that it was indeed from the one whose attention you had been hoping to catch during the last couple of weeks! :-) Anyway, as the years went by, Valentine cards became a way to show love to all the loved ones in your life, be it your other half, your kids, siblings, parents, etc. Since my SIL was visiting us from Holland, I decided to give her her card and little gift early - this way she got to take it with her when she left us today to go back home. This is the card I came up with and I think it turned kinda cute. The inside is stamped with the Valentine day message and also with a few little hearts. The frame and tag were cut using Spellbinders dies while the strawberry was cut at 2" using the Hello Kitty cartridge.