Crazy Birds for a Birthday

Loving these Crazy Birds from Tim Holtz!  They are so cute and fun to work with, making cards and other projects.  My brother-in-law's birthday is next week and was happy to have another birthday to make a card with these birds.  Can't wait to use them again!  Everyone this year just may get  a birthday card with these stamps!!  The card style is an easel swing card.  Here is a tutorial on how to make this cool card.  Just click here.  The papers used are graphic 45 and Authenique.

I put the sentiment on the bottom of the card since it was a little long and wouldn't fit anywhere else. The sentiment made me laugh and does hold some truth to it.  Happy Birthday Cary!!
                                     "Getting older is like being on a roller-coaster.
                                       There are highs, lows, laughter and tears and
                                       sometimes... you just pee your pants a little!"

First Anniversary!

Where has the time gone??  It is already my youngest sister's First Wedding Anniversary!  This is not a typical Anniversary card but I just got these Crazy Bird Stamps and Dies from Tim Holtz and they are so funny.  I had to make them into a card for Adrianne and Lenny!  Card in the box is always a fun type of card to make and has plenty of room for these birds.  They are pretty big too!  The sentiment on the front says "Happy 1st Anniversary to 2 crazy love birds"!

Here is a closer look at these fun birds.  Just added some hearts which actually gives these birds some stability.  They are colored with copic markers and added some googly eyes!  Love the googly eyes, always make the project fun, fun, fun!!

Back of the card

Lenny & Adrianne

Happy First Anniversary to two amazing people!  It won't be long before we will be celebrating 10 years the way time flies!  All the best!  Love you!

Butterflies are the Theme!

Love these card in the box cards and this one is a birthday card for my friend, Sandra.  She loves flowers and I actually have helped her with her perennial garden.  Graphic 45 Botanical Paper Collection is perfect for her.  Flowers are from Die-namics and the butterflies are from Martha Stewart punch. The butterflies have tiny pearls for their heads.  The leaves are Sizzix and Die-namics which I use a lot.

Closer look

For the side flaps, I did fussy cut some roses from the Graphic 45 paper collection with butterflies.  On the bottom of the Box, I used the Fence Border Punch from Martha Stewart.  This card just makes me smile.  Happy Birthday, Sandra!  Enjoy your special day!

Back of the card

National Park Trip

Last week, my husband and I got back from a fantastic trip with friends visiting Zion National Park, Grand Canyon North Rim and Bryce Canyon National Parks.  It was amazing!!  We started out in Las Vegas and took a bus tour with Road Scholar and headed to Zion National Park first.  I sprained my ankle about 2 weeks before we left so I had to be careful with the hikes  but I really didn't miss out on much, just some early morning hikes that my husband did so I saw his beautiful sunrise pictures of each of the parks.  Pictures below are from the first hike we did, hiking up to Emerald Pools.

Headed up to Emerald Pool

Emerald Pools

Petersens & Elas

Sunrise on Zion mesa!

Checkerboard Mesa in background

After leaving Zion National Park and having a wonderful time, we arrived in the North Rim of Grand Canyon.  Again another amazing National Park.  We stayed in cabins which so cool, no TV but not needed as Road Scholar kept us busy with hikes and nature walks.  Both Mark and I were taking pictures like crazy.  The Grand Canyon Lodge, where we ate, was right on the side of the Grand Canyon. Views at dinnertime were exquisite!

Grand Canyon Lodge

 The Grand Canyon Lodge is 8100 feet in altitude which sometimes you had to watch your exercise such as hiking and when you were at this level.  The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is less popular than the South Rim.  The North Rim is 1000 feet higher than the South Rim.  The South Rim has more visitors and has become much more touristy.  Check out the cabins that we stayed in the picture below.  The cabins reminded me of Lincoln Log Cabins, very cute!

The morning, we left for Bryce National Park we walked out to Angel Point for sunrise pictures of the Grand Canyon. Below are some awesome pictures. These were such gorgeous and unbelievable pictures of the Canyon.  I think between my husband me, we took about 500 pictures. We headed back to the bus for a bus ride to our last National Park at Bryce.  I will have to add pictures of Bryce National Park because I think this blog post is getting a little long.  There are just so many pictures to share.  Check back later for more pictures.

Early morning Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Way to Go Emma!

Graduation time and this card is for my niece, Emma. She is graduating from High School in a couple of weeks and she is the last of the grandchildren for my parents.  I saw this type of card on pinterest and had a fun time making it.  These cards are called building block cards and it was perfect to put the year on it.  I had some stickers from Michael's that I used for the inside of the card.  There was a lot of measuring for the left side of the inside of the card but I thought it came out pretty good since I didn't have any instructions for it.  Check out the pictures below and Congratulations Emma!  Way to Go!!  Love you!

Closer look at the sentiment

Emma, 2016

Golfing in Retirement!

Tulips in Bloom

Spring has arrived in Maine!  My daffodils bloomed last month and were coated in snow and I am happy to show this picture of Tulips with no snow!!   Spring is also a great time to retire.  This is a quick post to show the retirement card for my brother-in-law who retired a couple of weeks ago.  He is an avid golfer and what a better way to show that we know what he is going to be doing.

These shadow cards are so darn cute and easy to make.  Sometimes they are called diorama cards. Creating a hole-in-one, what golfer doesn't wish for that!!  Congratulations Tom!  Enjoy!

The sentiment on the back

View from the top

Drapery Cards

Love this fold!

These curtain cards are all over pinterest and because it is such a versatile style, I have made a few. They can be a Birthday, Thinking of you, or Anniversary cards, pretty much an All-Occasion card.  They make such a pretty card especially with design series or double sided paper.  I have left one empty with a sentiment so that I can use it for whatever comes up.  Embellishments that I have used sizzix, Die-namic, Spellbinders and Memory box dies with MS butterfly punch and pretty flowers from Michael's $1 bin.  The paper is from Stampin up. Lastly, some lace and pearls added  to the cards.

When making the curtain part of the card, it is all about the scoring. Fun to do, give it a try!  Below is the link to directions for the scoring.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2392606030727695/