“Birthdays are good for you…

…Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest!”  I ran across this quote as I was researching some birthday card ideas, and it definitely made me laugh.  I started as a pure scrapbooker… but branched into making cards as another creative outlet and logical step when I already owned all the materials needed.  I tend to look through card magazines first and through my fave online scrapbook/card making FREE magazine…  http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/

After getting some inspiration I either go off on my own to create or sometimes I will follow a pattern or idea pretty closely, just using my own color scheme.  For the two birthday cards I made recently I followed a pattern pretty closely.  I honestly couldn’t tell you what magazine they came out of because I saw them at work in the break room and the cover was ripped off.   

The first card I made was for my sister-in-law’s birthday.  I loved this card idea because there was opportunity for lots and colors and patterns and yet they all tied together somehow. 

I used these really awesome handmade papers for the strips across the middle that came in a big pack from Michael’s for 10bucks.  The bottom strip I folded so that it looked like a ruffle and added some dimension.  The yellow paper was heavily textured and shiny so it looks great in the light.  And you can never go wrong with a flower and a button for the center!  J

The card base was black cardstock, and I really like how it offsets the bright spring colors.  I used white embroidery floss to hand stitch around some of the edges to frame it even more.  Some tool shout-outs for this card:

LOVE my corner punch/embosser.  It has four different designs that both punch and emboss the corners, I used it here around the Happy Birthday label.

LOVE my Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  Once I figured out how to use it well, it has been an invaluable tool for card and envelope making! (Pictured underneath the card)

My Sister-in-Law, Stephanie just moved to Hawaii where there are no big name craft stores.  Being that she is a fellow crafter, my present to her is a “Crafting Care Package” with some essentials and fun stuff once she gets settled into a house over there.  I just made a little tag to put on the inside of the card to tell her that.

The other card I made recently was for my Mother-in-Law.  Last minute she (and my father-in-law) ended up coming to help with some house projects the day before and on her birthday and I was totally un prepared for her birthday while she was here.  I did however make some amazing homemade biscuits and gravy for breakfast that morning!  J  I made her card later that week and gave it to her the other day.  I thought it was a cute little play on abbreviating Happy Birthday, and I added in the ‘late’ part since I was late in making her a card and she knew it.

These flag ideas have been pretty popular lately, and I think they turned out pretty cute.  I cut quite a few triangles before I found the dimensions I wanted for this card.  For the big lettering I used a stencil and my Le Pen felt tip pens.  Once the flags were on the card it didn’t look quite finished enough, so I added some very light white dots on the blue and chalk-inked the edges of the card.  It added just enough dimension and brought your eye toward those flags!

The inside wasn’t that exciting which is why it isn’t pictured, but overall I think these birthday cards turned out pretty cute!  J

Now, off to use my creative eye to finish editing 4^th of July pictures!

Sam