Thank You, Dottie

Earlier this year, during the summer, I "met" someone on a card making Yahoo list. Turns out she only lives about 60 miles from me, so we decided to meet at a neutral spot (Mickey D's) near her home and introduce ourselves properly. Turns out that we "hit it off" right away. Not only did we have our enjoyment of cardmaking in common, but seveal other things, so we got together more times. I usually go up to Dottie's home because I don't mind driving, and due to medical issues, Dottie isn't comfortable driving. In return, Dottie provides lunch, and we spend several delightful hours visiting and crafting.

My birthday is tomorrow (17th September), so on my last visit, Dottie surprised me with a lovely Cherry-Lynn butterfly die. It is absolutely stunning. Being the proper "Southern lady" that I am, a gift meant a proper (mailed) thank you. So, I set out to make, not only a thank you card, but one using the lovely gifted die. The above card was the outcome.

I really like the die very much, but even more, I love having a "new" friend. Friendships are such blessings, and we all need them. I do feel very blessed to have met such a wonderful lady and friend in Dottie. She is lots of fun and a joy to be around. 

Simple Elegance

 Card by Annie at http://inknrubba.blogspot.com/2011/08/flash-back.html

My cased version of Annie's card

My girlfriend was surfing the web for card ideas and came across the lovely card made by Annie. Aga sent me the link, and I, too, thought the card was absolutely stunning. Knowing that I did not have the same dies and supplies that Annie had, I set out to see if I could create a similar look using the supplies that I did have access to. I was quite pleased with the results.

I used white card cut to a 5.5" square as the base for my card. Then I used Spellbinder and Cherry-Lynn dies in my Cuttlebug to start creating the layers. The butterflies I used have open cuts in the wings rather than embossed designs, so I simply reversed that look by rubbing the wings with a VersaMagic Pixie Dust chalk ink pad. I used Memento Gray Fog ink and Just Rite stamps for the sentiment in the middle. The gray fog was just the perfect color as it allowed the sentiment to be readable without making a glaring contrast such as black would have.Not having any Pergamano templates (and being too OCD to be comfortable with random pricks), I omitted that element from my card; however, I did add lots of pearls for the elegant touch. I used the same chalk ink around the sentiment circles and along the edges of the base card. The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Thank you Annie for sharing your lovely card, and thank you, Aga, for bringing it to my attention. 

We're Expecting

My husband's niece (his brother's middle daughter) is expecting her first baby. Courtney's due date is 11 September, but we all know that babies come when they get ready to come (my older daughter showed up at 1:30 on the exact date she was expected, but my younger daughter came a month early). Anyway,  I decided I better get prepared (grin). After searching through my digi stamps and then visiting all my "usual" stores, I decided on this oh so sweet Sugar Nellie image. It just reminds me so much of a new born, and those little hats that all babies are given in the delivery room (although, none of our babies ever got one quite as cute or nice as the one in the image).

I printed the image and colored it in with Copic markers. I used white card for the base card and pink card for the first layer (we do know that Courtney is going to have a little girl). I then embossed white card using my Cuttlebug and an embossing folder. Since my embossing folder isn't quite the size I needed, I ran the piece through twice. The pink satin ribbon is placed across where the two embossings met. The pink flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and I kept them to a minimum so that they didn't distract from the sweet baby image. The verse on the inside is copied from a card that I received when my first child (Paige) was born. I printed it off on vellum and attached it to pink card using tiny brads.

I'm all set -- just waiting now for the new Miss to make her appearance. We don't know what her name is going to be (Mommy and Daddy are keeping that a secret from everyone -- even the grandparents -- but I think that is kind of fun as it gives them something special to announce upon baby girl's arrival).