Quick birthday card post

Teacher Institute days start tomorrow and I've still lots more to do in my classrooms (I've got 3!) before greeting students on Monday. So this post is super short.

Here's the cover photo and inside completion photo for a birthday card made last week for an aunt:

Some of the supplies/vendors include:
1. Studio G= beige embossed card; hummingbird stamp, wish stamp; 2 patterned papers; brad
2. Martha Stewart Crafts= congratulations ribbon
3. EK Success= pastel glitter dots
4. Tsukineko Inc= Enchanted Evening Encore! Metallic Ink pad

Surprise: another New Year bell card style

2012-2013 winter holiday cards

Sneak peek at inspirations for trying another bell-theme card:

Tiny Crafts' has a glitter foam sheets with adhesive backing that I discovered out shopping yesterday. They have a pastel color combo set and a bold color combo available. The bold blue glitter foam sheets were used as the theme and color inspiration for this other bell style holiday card.

To get inspiration for the layouts I merged 2 ideas from a purchased book on different techniques to use for card-making (see photos).

Here's the series of photos:

layout inspiration for bell shape opening

layout inspiration for crazy quilt effect

book cover photo: both layout pages are from this book

bell shape traced and cut out for each card's front and slightly enlarging bell shape so that the glittered foam ones on inside will not fall inside the opening when the cards are closed

views of insides completed

close-ups of inside (left) and bottom front cover (right)

completed cards!!

Edit update for sneak peek New Year cards

2012-2013 Season Greetings

Update on the bell-joy New Year theme cards:

See some added embellishments and how I completed the inside views for the "joy" cards.

cards' photo posted about 2 days ago

additions include: border stamping, gems, felt florette gems, and a text block for the inside

Some of the supplies and/or vendors include:
a. felt florette gems - purchased at Hobby Lobby
b. Encore Ultimate Metallic's Enchanted Evening ink pad - Tsukineko, Inc.
c. icy snowflake metallic/vellum stickers- EK Success
d. text block font "bradley hand ITC" in 16 point

Christmas 2012/Happy New Year 2013 Sneak Peek

Happy New Year cards

Just getting started!

With teaching and church activities always being hectic just before Christmas, what has happened in the past few years is I don't get most of my cards out until between Christmas and New Year's. Sadly for us, both my husband and I have had close relatives that have been severely ill and/or died at this time of year for quite a few years recently. Doesn't matter if I use boxed cards or create my own I'm always getting some mailed after Christmas.

In the past 3-4 years that I have been intent on creating cards, I have never started this early making holiday cards, so this is creatively exciting for me to have gotten started in the past 2-3 days. I'm hoping to keep up the mojo for another week or so until teaching starts!

Here's the first style I've attempted:

icy snowflake vellum/metallic stickers= EK Success
"Joy" stamp and flower/snowflake stamp= Studio G
Enchanted Evening Ultimate Metallic Encore ink pad= Tsukineko, Inc.
blue gray cardstock= Colorbok