Birthday Cards from Friends

  One of the special things that happens when you teach people how to make cards is you receive hand made cards on special occasions.  This card is from my sister Nan who is also a Stampin'Up! demonstrator.  I love the colors and the flower.

   Judy who never stamped a card before she started coming to classes send me this card.  I love the combination of black and yellow.

 Clara  got the polka dots so perfect with the ribbon, and papers the coordinated so well together.

   My sister Karen gets kits from SEI and I am pretty sure this might be one of those kits.  I love the use of the different strips of paper as background for the leaves.

   Elaine used Lovely as a Tree for her card.  I love how she colored the leaves to look like the fall trees did this year.  Elaine said when you make cards at my house you can't send one of those to you on your birthday, so she created her own design.  I think I might have to copy that on my own.

    Dawn's card looks great with just two colors.  Don't you just love how she cut the paper after stamping the flowers.
It was so much fun seeing the creations my stamping friends made for my birthday.



 

Balloon Bash-Finally Friday

     What a busy week!  I am glad it is Finally Friday.  I have had a lot of fun this week finding different ways to use this stamp Balloon Bash. For this card I was inspired by toocoolstamping.com who posted a card similar to this on Pinterest. You might wonder where I got the saying celebrate from.  Well, it is a part of one of the stamps.  I stamped just the center of the stamp and then cut out the banner with the words Celebrate.
     Some of the cards I have posted this week will be featured in my Birthday card Buffet class I will be holding on Monday, January 16th either at 12:30 or 6:30.  Come by and make enough cards to get you through the next few months.
RSVP on my email, sue.scheets@gmail.com, or my website www.sushi.stampinup.net. 




 

White Christmas-Surprise Saturday

  What is the surprise?  This set which was intended to be used as a Christmas set, can also be used for a male birthday card. 

Supplies used;
   White Christmas and A Fitting Occasion stamp sets
   Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock
   Memento Black ink pad
   Smoky Slate, Basic Grey, Chocolate Chip markers
   Moonlight designer paper stack
   Fancy Label and 1 inch punches
   Woodgrain embossing folder

  What other uses can you think of for the images in this week's stamp set White Christmas?

Fancy Folds Birthday card

     This looks like a really cute card to send someone on his or her birthday.  I have several grandkid birthdays coming and think this card will work for them. I learned how to make this card at the Spring Into Stamping event I went to recently. Does it look hard to make?  Maybe, but it is very easy.

1. Cut on piece of card stock in half making each half at the 5 1/2 inch mark. You will need one of these.

2. Cut another piece of card stock of the same color the long way at the 4 1/4 inch mark.  You will need one of these.

3. Score the first piece at 2 1/8 from each side

4. Score the second piece at 2 3/4 from each side.

5.  The pieces should fit on top of each other with piece number one on the bottom and piece number two on the top.  fold the pieces together like you would the top of a box.

     The inside can be decorated with a cute design that can be viewed when the card is opened up.  Who would you send this card to? What stamp set would you use for the message?

A Whale of a Good Birthday

     Would you love to get a handmade card from someone you care about?  I love making cards for family, stamping friends, and quilt guild members.  I am constantly trying to be a bit more organized about things. My plan for getting birthday cards ready ahead of time is really working.  At the end of each month I prepare the cards for two months ahead.  so, last week I got all my April cards ready to mail.  Instead of putting the stamp on ahead of time, I write the date I want to mail the card in that corner.  It really helps me keep up. I needed a special card for my brother-in-law Pat.  Recently he and my sister took a birding trip to California and Barb told me they had been on a whale watch.  So I decided this card would be perfect for Pat's birthday.

1. I used the whale from the set called Hello Sailor we received at the Manager's reception at the Leadership conference.

2. I wanted something that made me think of waves and the ocean so used two of the stamps from the set called Clockworks.  One of the stamps had swirls and birds flying in the air.

   I liked the end result and hope that Pat does too.

I'm Back and ready for the New Year

     A new year, a new start!  I spent the month of December helping my oldest daughter who lives in Ohio get herself settled after dealing with some major changes she will be dealing with in 2014.  It felt good to be able to leave my home and help her with her 3 wonderful but active kids.
   How do I start out the new year?  I have an almost uncontrollable need to have everything in my house organized.  Drawers, shelves, cabinets, cupboards.  It is fun doing the organizing and even more fun having everything in order.
  
1. First I looked at my January and February perpetual calendar pages and made cards for each person on the list.

2. After choosing the card, I addressed each envelope and instead of putting a stamp on the envelope, I wrote the date that I need to mail the card.  This will then be covered up by the stamp.

3. I try to always work one month ahead, so at the end of January I will get the March cards ready to go. I love sending out homemade cards and do so for family, my quilt guild members and for all my customers and downline.

   I had a great time looking over the cards I had made this past year and choosing the ones I thought matched the person on the list.  I feel ready to start the new year now that this has been completed.

What do you do to get ready for the new year?

Thankful Thursday- Birthday cards

Dina, my Leadership friend sent me this card.  I love the sponged background colors.

     One of the great things about being a stamper and teaching stamping to others is the wonderful birthday cards you receive in the mail.  Yes, the 26th of November was my birthday . I celebrated with my daughter Jen and her family, but I was not home to receive any mail.  But when I arrived back at my house this is what I found.

Amanda sent me a card with a great use of Designer paper.

Nan's card is so sparkly.  I love the color combination and the shimmer paper.

Judy, a customer, who had never stamped before sent me a card using my favorite designer paper.

Cindy sent me one of her challenge cards from our Super Snails meeting.  Love the colors on the flowers.

 

   These cards are all the more special because I know how much went into the making of them.  Thanks every one for thinking of me.

Miscellaneous Monday-My Digital Studio birthday card

The first page of the card.  I thought the spatter made it look like fall.

    Who do you send cards to?  I send them to my customers, family members, and quilt guild members.  That is a lot of cards each month.  I have a perpetual calendar that I refer to that helps me make sure I get cards out on time.  Some of the cards I send out I make in My Digital Studio.  They are quick, fun and I still have a chance to be creative. This is the card I am sending out this month.  Here is why I like to use MDS

1. I make the 1st and 3rd page of the card the same, likewise the 2nd and 4th page.

This is the second page and has a place where I can write a message.

2. I have SU print off the cards, saves me ink and especially now when there is a sale on printing services.

3. I cut the cards in half when I get the cards back from the printing service, and then have double cards for the original price.

  There are all kinds of tutorials at  www.mydigitalstudio.com that help you figure out what to do with some of the tools.  And MDS is only $19.95 instead of the $79.95 it was when I purchased it.  You can even try it out one month for free.  Can't get a better offer than that.

Birthday cards for 2 special little girls

     Two little girls I know are having birthdays in the near future.  Since most of my cards are for women and not quite ones I would want to send to a 5 year old and a 3 year old, I got out my creative juices and made them these cards.  The basic idea came from a card I found on Pinterest.  Don't you just love Pinterest?  I think they will love the cards don't you?

Best of Birthdays card sample

     Wouldn't you love to get a card like this for your birthday? I know I would. I made this card using one of the stamps from the Best of Birthdays stamp set. Check out the link for another card made using this same stamp set.
     I send out a lot of birthday cards each month, but since I am a great procrastinator I often am a little late in getting the cards into the mail. So, this year I have a new schedule for myself. At the end of December I wrote out envelopes and selected cards for all the birthdays in January and February.  In place of a stamp I put the date I need to send the card in the top right hand corner.  I try to check the stack of cards each day and send them out on time.  So far so good.  Do you want to know my plan and how it seems to be working out  so well?

1. Now at the end of each month I get the cards ready for two months ahead.  Example:  Since I had all the February cards ready, at the end of January I addressed and selected all the March cards.

2. I noticed I did not have very many cards appropriate for little girls and needed two of them for March.

3. I now have time to make several little girl cards and not be scrambling around at the last minute.

4. At the end of February I plan to get the April cards ready to go.

How long do you think I can keep this up?

Supplies needed

Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla card stock

Best of Birthdays stamp set

Scallop circle punches 

Stampin write markers

Tea for Two designer paper