Last Birthday for March

Today is the last day of my birthday cards series.  I had hoped to post more, but we’ve had so many events in the works that I didn’t have as much time to work on them as I planned.  I did enjoy focusing on one theme for the whole month, though, so I think I’ll continue that for April to see how it goes. 

Don't forget that tomorrow, April 1, is the beginning of The Craft Squad blog hop.  Our theme for April is “Hoppity Hop Hop”, so you can be there will be some really cute Easter projects hop hop hopping your way!  I can’t wait to show you the projects I made.  I did not one, but three Easter cards, and they are just too cute for words!

After I made my three cards, I had some scraps left over, so I made two more cards, one of which I will share with you today as the last birthday card for March.

If I could remember where the paper came from, I would tell you, but to be honest, I think it was something that came in a multi-pack I picked up at some scrapbooking sale.  I just loved the color combo and had to have it.  The cardstock is Stampin’ Up Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Very Vanilla.  I also used the Stampin’ Up oval and scalloped oval punches and the Create a Cupcake stamp set.  The rest of the card was a series of Cricut cuts.  The filigree square was cut using the Cindy Loo cartridge and I backed it with a square of Very Vanilla cardstock.  I used Close to My Heart’s Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the rosettes.

I started with just the black rosette, and then decided that the black was too dark and ominous.  In retrospect, I probably should have used the Very Vanilla again, but I added the white and had them glued down before I realized that there was no other white on the card.  The other cards I did in this series (some of which you will see tomorrow) all had a mixture of both white and vanilla, so I’m okay with the white on this one, but I would do it differently if I had to do it over again.

That’s it for today.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for the blog hop!

News and Announcements

Today’s birthday card is one I made last summer while I was on my monochromatic kick.  I made a lot of monochromatic cards at the time, but I didn’t want to post too many of them at the same time, so I thought I’d save a few of them for later.  This is one. 

It’s been a while, but I believe the paper I used on this is Stampin’ Up’s Gumball Green, and I embossed it with their Lacy Brocade* folder.  The stamps used are also from Stampin’ Up from the Elementary Elegance* set -- a Sale-A-Bration item from a few years back.

Yesterday I promised some news about upcoming Crafty Neighbor events, and I’m very excited to announce that we have a date for our summer Scrapbook Garage Sale!  So mark your calendars now for Saturday, July 19 at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Joann Fogg Service Center, 6001 Summerside Drive, Dallas, Texas 75007.  The sale will run from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  Seller information is available on the Crafty Neighbor website.

Another big announcement I have for you is that we are currently planning a fall date for a second 2014 scrapbooking cruise!  The date we have chosen for the cruise is September 28, and we have narrowed down our options to 3 choices.  To help us decide which option to choose, we are asking interested persons to take our short survey to tell us what you think.  How short is it?  Just one (1) question!  If you think you might be interested in joining us on a fall cruise, we’d love to hear from you.  The survey is on our cruise page at Crafty Neighbor.com.

Don't forget that it's almost time for the monthly blog hop from The Craft Squad.  Come back to this blog on April 1st when participating blogs will treat you to the theme of "Hoppity Hop Hop"!  These and other Crafty Neighbor events can always be found on the Crafty Neighbor Calendar which you can access from our website.

That's it for now.  Enjoy!

*These sets have been discontinued.

Birthday Boys

Earlier this month I promised some birthday cards in honor of my two favorite guys who happen to have March birthdays.  Masculine birthday cards are always a challenge for me because I tend to like to use flowers and ribbon and bling on my cards.  It is especially challenging to come up with masculine cards for college-aged young men.  

Luckily for me, this year, my son had a milestone birthday, having turned 21!  And what do college boys do on their 21^st birthday, they go have a drink.  So to celebrate my son’s birthday, and also to remind him not to drink and drive, I made this fun little punch-art card commemorating his first official beer.  I personalized it by stamping the emblem of his alma mater on the mug.

Don’t worry, inside the card I reminded him not to drink and drive and not to ride with anyone who does.  It helps that he is my rule-follower kiddo, so once you tell him something like that, he’s pretty good about following through.

My other special guy, my husband Mark, also had a birthday this March, too. 

For his card, I used bits and pieces of supplies from several different sources.  The chevron strip, hot air balloon and small label came from Echo Park’s All About a Boy line.   I can’t remember what stamp set “Happy Birthday” came from, but the two thought balloons are from Stampin’ Up’s Just Sayin’ stamp set and matching framelits dies.  The background paper was a scrap I had left over from another project.  I thought it was from October Afternoon, but I can’t figure out which line, so maybe it came from somewhere else.

That’s it for today.  Come back tomorrow for some exciting news about upcoming Crafty Neighbor events and maybe another birthday card or two!