Honorable Mention - PTI's February GSS!

Wow! I was honorably mentioned for a second time on Nichole Heady's blog. I couldn't be more honored! :)



Here's her blog.



Here's the specific blog entry.



Here's my sympathy card I created:

Hard to see, but I used acetate for the window (the window, by the way, was a bear to cut out with my Pazzles! :) )



Here's a titled card so you can see the acetate a bit better...

And a close-up of the window...yes, that's a toothpick! LOL!  :)

Wow... again, I'm on cloud 9 being mentioned as Honorable Mention! :)  I'm just so happy! :)



Thanks for looking and/or commenting! :)

Birthday card for G

Two co-workers at work have a daughter (whom I'll call "G"). Well, G is turning two tomorrow so I thought I'd try my hand at making a baby birthday card.  :)



As you'll soon see (when you look at the picture!) I don't make baby cards regularly. They're fun to do and with some practice I'll do better at them! ;)

It was my first card with A Little Argyle (from Papertrey Ink) and I can tell I'm going to come back to that stamp set time and time again! :) Love it!



Here's a close-up of the little muffin/cupcake... I used Copics to color it:

Thanks for looking and/or commenting! :)





Recipe:

Stamps: Baby Button Bits, A Little Argyle, Mega Mixed Messages (all Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery (both Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:  Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Coconut Dreams (Bazzill)

Other: Copics; ATG; Zots; Dimensionals; Rustic Twine, Raspberry Fizz,, Raspberry Fizz Twill (all Papertrey Ink)

Mother's Day card for Rob

I offered to make a mother's day card for my buddy, Rob.

And a close-up of the lacing...

Thanks for looking and/or commenting.  :)



Recipe:

Stamps: Delightful Dahlia, Butterfly Dreams, Background Basics: Tin Types (all Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Pale Plum and Rich Razzleberry (both Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Other: Sew Mini, Lace (from my stash); Zots; Top Note Die (Stampin' Up!); Sizzix; ATG, dimensionals

Happily Ever Challenged #5 - Winner Declared!

Hello all and happy Friday! What a long week this has been for me. :) In fact, so long that I almost forgot to pick a random number! Eep! Thankfully I looked through my browser tabs before I hit the sack and realized I need to take care of some business! :)



Well, I went to my trusty friend, http://www.random.org/ and had it draw a number from one to eight. :)



And the lucky winner is.... *drumroll*

Number two! (And the crowds go wild!!)  :)



Congratulations, Karen... on your adorable MOTHER HEN submission! :)



You're the GRAND PRIZE winner of a $10 Papertrey Ink gift certificate!! :)



Please contact me at happilyevercrafter at gmail dot com by Wednesday, April 28 at about 3:00 PM PST. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll choose another random number.



I want to thank everybody for participating! I truly appreciate the efforts you put into the HECs.  :)

A "Wicked" Thank You

My school office staff gave me a bag of oatmeal raisin cookies and a cute card for my birthday yesterday so I wanted to create a special thank you card for them.



One of them had recently seen the play "Wicked" so I figured I could customize this a bit. ;) One of the songs from "Wicked" is "Defying Gravity"... sung by the Wicked Witch (Elphaba) when she has had enough and wants to take off on her own... I tried to incorporate that (SOMEHOW) into a thank you!

The card is 5 x 5 square. I used my rik rak dies from Papertrey Ink for the first time! Love how they look. :) I just made two strips of black and layered them on the green square. Tried to make the rest "magicky" with the stars and the fancy scallop trim border (from Stampin' Up!).



Here's the inside of this black card:

Thanks for looking and/or commenting! :)



Recipe:

Stamps: Star Prints (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Gable Green (Stampin' Up!) and Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:  Gable Green and Basic Black (Stampin' Up!) and Geogia Pacific white cardstock (from Wal-Mart)

Other: Scallop Trim border (Stampin' Up!); Rik Rak die (Papertrey Ink); MS Word (Font: Bonnie); ATG, dimensionals

Wedding Card - Sophia

Hello all!



Well, if you've been following my blog, you'll know I had the DISTINCT honor of being invited to a former student's wedding. You can see what I made for her here. I finally got to making her wedding card and I'm pleased with how it turned out. :)

When I think wedding cards/invitations/etc, I think vellum. Not sure why. Something elegant and soft with vellum... it adds so much.



I started with a large base of PTI's Vintage Cream cardstock. I wanted to do larger than an A2 card because of this special day... so just folded an 8.5 x 11 in half. This cardstock is wonderfully thick so it makes a perfect card base.



I stamped one of my new stamp sets... Background Basics: Tin Type. Can I just say how EASY this was to do to make a lovely background? Honestly... it looks as if it's ONE HUGE stamp, but it's not... I lined them up so easily. Love the results. :)



I then used PTI's In Bloom set for the flowers on the vellum and let it dry a while. Then, just to be safe, I turned it over before attaching it to my card. I added some pink ribbon from my stash and some PTI cream buttons as adornments. I love how it almost looks like flowers growing on a trellis. (At least to my untrained eyes! LOL)



I then wasn't sure what I wanted to add as a focal... but then thought I could tie in what I did to her gift, by adding a blue butterfly (from CreatedbyU.com). I then added some tiny adhesive pearls from my stash.

Added a sentiment (from PTI's Mega Mixed Messages) done in SU's Pacific Point to try to match the butterfly and voila! I'm all done. :)

Oh... if you're wondering about the torn edge? It's because there was a blemish of ink when I stamped the Tin Type, so I improvised. I actually like how it turned out... kind of vintage itself! :)



I was thrilled when I remembered that our PALlenge at our group blog "Papertrey Pals"... involved making a project using flowers! You can find out more about the challenge here.



Thanks for looking and/or commenting!





Recipe:

Stamps: In Bloom, Background Basic: Tin Type, Mega Mixed Messages (all Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Regal Rose, Pacific Point (both Stampin' Up!)

Paper:  Vintage Cream, Vellum Cardstock (both Papertrey Ink); Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Other: Key Tag Punch, Corner Rounder punch, pink ribbon (from stash), Vintage cream buttons and rustic twine (both from Papertrey Ink), Butterfly die cuts (Created by U), small adhesive pearls (from stash), vellum tape, Zots, dimensionals

Happy Mother's Day

Okay, so I can't believe I'm actually getting a jump on this day! :)



I thought I'd take the opportunity to use Delightful Dahlia and try my hand at using Copics markers to color the image of the flower and leaves. I'm still learning, (as you can obviously see!) but I hope to get better with more practice. :)



For the background I tried my hand at PTI's Distressed Stripes to make a plaid. Again, still learning. :) It's fun learning this stuff, however.



Here's an angled shot of the card.

And a straight-on shot of the card:

And a close-up of the dahlia. I added some Martha Stewart Amethyst fine glitter, using my Zig pen to make glue dots... just not crazy about how this turned out... not sure how to best give the flower a "dew-kissed" appearance. Ah well. :)

I hope my mom likes it, nonetheless! :)



Thanks for looking and/or commenting!





Recipe:

Stamps:Delightful Dahlia, Mega Mixed Messages, Distressed Stripes (all Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green (all Stampin' Up!); Memento Tuxedo Black ink (for image of flower)

Paper:  Kraft, Gable Green, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Coconut Swirl (Bazzill)

Other: Key Tag Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Pazzles (to cut out images), Copics, Dimensionals, Martha Stewart Fine Amethyst Glitter

Becky's Compose a Card Challenge #

Well, I thought I'd give Becky's CaC another shot. :) I really like the inspiration (her beautiful daughters) so thought I'd give them honor by attempting a card. :) You can find more information here.



And here's my inspiration:

Is she not a doll? I hope her father has a shotgun and bullets and is ready because in a few years he'll need it for her admirers! ;)



Now, get this... this card is a completely INKLESS card! :) It was hard to not pull out the ink pads, and yet liberating as well. :) Clean-up = much easier! ;) I decided to NOT have a sentiment because every now and then I want an "anything" card...when I need to send a prayer or thoughts towards somebody... I am ready! :)



Here's what I came up with:

I promise the brown is a darker "chocolate" color. :)



Here's a close-up of the Swiss Dot embossing:

This was a fun challenge... because I'm so used to using ink...this was fun to just piece circles together. I'm happy with the overall outcome and hope I did Becky's daughter some justice.  :)



Thanks for looking and/or commenting!



Recipe:

Stamps: None (imagine!)

Ink: None of that either! *grin*

Paper:  Stampers Select White and Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink); Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)

Other: Hole punch (both 1" and 3/4"), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder, Ripe Avocado Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), ATG

Wedding gift for Sophia and David

I've had the honor of staying in touch with one of my fifth- and sixth-grade students (she went two years with me....and SURVIVED!) throughout the years. She's remained a beautiful, loving, intelligent young lady and just recently she's invited me to her wedding. Words can't expressed how honored and flattered I am!



So, I asked her for her groom-to-be and her favorite Biblical Scripture and thought I'd make the wedding gift. Below are the fruits of my labor.  :)

I used my Pazzles for her and David's name. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out (welding, shadow, outline, etc.)



The blue background paper is actually art paper from Michaels. I didn't have large enough SU paper! LOL! So I went with it. The cute butterfly is actually NOT felt (although it looks like it!) At a recent scrapbooking expo, my mom and I ran into these cute butterflies and flowers. They're made out of handmade paper, already die cut. I love to layer them and wish I had purchased more. I have yet to check out her website at www.createdbyu.com but I plan on it soon! :)



Here's a close-up of the butterfly:

And here's a close-up of the wording:

I hope she and David like it and actually hang it up in their first home. :)



Thanks for looking and/or commenting! :)