I guess I’m subconsciously stuck on the idea of butterflies on birthday cards right now.  I didn’t think about it until I started writing this post, but today’s card is the second birthday card featuring butterflies I’ve sent out in the last two weeks. 

I’ve had the Sizzix/Stampin’ Up Beautiful Wings die for a while now, but hadn’t used it yet, and when I spotted it on my desk early last week it started seeming like it was calling out to me… “use me… soon… please!”  LOL  So I finally put it to use for this card.  The layout is Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #126.  I slightly folded the largest butterfly and glued just the body of it down to the card, so there’s a bit of a 3-D effect going on there.  There isn’t much stamping here – only the sentiment – but I’m pleased with the final result.

Supplies:
Stamps: Card Quotations (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (Stampin’ Up)
Other: Beautiful Wings die (Stampin’ Up)

If you are familiar with Stampin’ Up, by now you’ve probably heard that at the end of June 2010, the company is planning to retire many of its current colors of cardstock and ink.  I’ll admit I was pretty stunned at first by the announcement.  I’ll miss some of the colors that are leaving, but I’m also looking forward to seeing the new items.

Remember a few weeks ago I shared the card I made for our elementary school’s retiring music teacher?  Today’s card is the one I made for the PTA Executive Board to give to another retiring teacher, who is a Title 1 reading specialist.  Once again, I used the school’s colors of blue and white, and added some black and red accents.  Stampin’ Up’s Brilliant Blue color is a perfect match to the school’s colors, and it’s one of the retiring colors, so that kind of ties in subtlely to the retiring theme.  For the layout, I used Lizzie Anne Designs Weekly Sketch #124. 

Feel welcome to let me know what you think of it.  🙂

Supplies:
Stamps: School Days (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Watercolor pencils, blender pens, red grosgrain ribbon (Stampin’ Up)

I’ve mentioned in the past that I make and send cards to the faculty and staff of our elementary school, on behalf of the PTA Executive Board.  This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  Besides showing the teachers some extra TLC and thanks, it’s also the time that we recognize those who are retiring for all their hard work and dedication over the years. 

This year, our music teacher is retiring.  I wanted to incorporate the school’s colors, bright blue and white, into the card for him.  I also wanted to do something with a musical theme.  So I chose two of my musical stamps.  That was easy.  The stamps lended themselves nicely to Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch #122. The blue and white seemed a little stark just by themselves, so I thought black might make those two colors kind of “pop”.  It helped, but it didn’t quite do the trick.  So I decided to try using my Fiskars border punch that reminds me of a fermata (the symbol over the note shown here).  That helped too, but the card still seemed to be lacking something.

And then for some odd reason, my son’s marching band uniform came to mind.

Since our elementary school feeds into our high school, the school colors are similar.  The difference is that the high school also includes black as one of their colors.  So the marching band uniforms are blue, white and black…

with just a tiny touch of red.

TA-DA!  I added a little bit of red matting to the card.  And finally the card satisfied me. 

Here’s the card for you to see:

Supplies:
Stamps: It’s Good to be Queen (Lizzie Anne Designs); Picture This (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Threading Water border punch (Fiskars)

My son probably won’t like this if he sees it, but I can’t resist also including the inspiration:

This is the time of year where a lot of people I know have birthdays.  So be prepared to see a lot of birthday cards here in the next month or so!

Today’s card is the one my family will give my niece.  She’s turning 21 this year, so I definitely didn’t want to do anything little girly.  I used Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge 121 for the layout and some retired SU cardstock, ribbon and designer paper.  The half pearls for the flower centers were a last minute thought but I’m glad I went with them rather than the crystals I had originally planned to use.  (It might be hard to tell, but yes, there’s a tiny half pearl in the center of the flower on the present.)

Supplies:
Stamps: Banner Birthday (LAD)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Whisper White, Fall Flowers designer paper (SU)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Soft Sky ribbon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons (SU); flower (Prima); half pearls (Kaiser Scrapbook)

Today I’m sharing the birthday card my husband and I gave our 14-year-old son.  Our son takes after his dad and loves doing all things computer.  (OK, so he takes after his computer-addicted mom a bit too.)  I felt these images from Lizzie Anne Designs were particularly fitting for him.  Once again, I used the LAD weekly sketch #113.

Supplies:
Stamps: All Guy (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: River Rock, Blue Bayou, Whisper White, Wanted designer series paper (SU)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Blue Bayou ribbon (SU)

I didn’t want to make a red and pink valentine for my husband – that’s just not his thing. I just received an order from Lizzie Anne Designs Friday and wanted to use some of my new things. I totally adore this tree image, and thought this designer paper would go well with it.

It wasn’t until after I’d finished the card and came online that I realized I’d used colors for last week’s SCS color challenge. Even though I’d peeked at the color challenge earlier in the week, I didn’t make this card with those colors specifically in mind.  The layout is Lizzie Anne Designs sketch challenge #113.

Supplies:
Stamps: Singing in the Rain, So Much Love (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Autumn Vine designer paper (SU)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: Watercolor Crayons, blender pens, Chocolate Chip twill ribbon (SU); heart die (Sizzix); embroidery floss (DMC); chipboard; teeny button received as a RAK years ago

Hello!  It’s snowing here today, so I hope that will give me a chance to get some more cards made to share with y’all soon.

Today’s card was sent to a friend who gave birth to a little girl in December.  I used Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #109 for the layout.  My friend’s baby has a lot of hair, so I was tempted to add some to the stamped image, but I was afraid I’d mess it up if I tried that.  LOL

Congratulations and all the best to my friend and her family!

Supplies:
Stamps: Petite Phrases (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Tart designer paper (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers, buttons (Stampin’ Up!); embroidery floss (DMC); ribbon (Michael’s)