Baby Boy

Hello on Thursday evening ... I just got home from a very enjoyable evening listening to a large group of high schoolers playing fiddles at our Summer Concert Series at the Amphitheater - it was so nice to spend a few hours outside in this beautiful weather.

Tonight I am sharing a card I made for my beautician who had a baby boy recently - I will see her tomorrow for the first time since and wanted to take her a cute card .... so I came up with this one.  It uses several retired products - but the cardstock is current SU - Bashful Blue and Whisper White.  The paper is called Splash and retired back in 2006 ... remember, I am NOT a hoarder, just a saver ... the onesie stamp is from a 2004 stamp set (A Little Love).  Sometimes the oldies are just the right stuff to use, but I am really loving so many of the new products in the new 2011-2012 Idea Book/Catalog!!  And now, we are getting a hint from people at the Stampin' Up! Convention of some awesome new things .... can we all say WOW!

Anyway, hope you like this simple little card - I think I may make a few more in blue and pink .. and yellow and green ... to have on hand.

So for tonight, sleep tight and I will try to post again tomorrow.

God Bless, Shirley

Masculine Challenge cards

Over at our VC Rocks group, we had another challenge (every week!!), and this week we were to make a masculine card, like a man would make for a man.  I told Larry what I was going to do and he decided he should have a say in the stamps and colors ... he has always liked an older SU set called Artifacts and we chose Soft Suede as the base so we started there.  This is the card we made ..... the supplies we used are the same as for the next card.

When I started to upload the pix to the group, I read all the details ... to punch it up a bit, we could make a fancy fold card, so after Larry went to bed, I made this one. 

When I started to upload the pix to the group, I read all the details ... to punch it up a bit, we could make a fancy fold card, so after Larry went to bed, I made this one.   Here are some other pix of this card with the directions ... 

First, I cut the Soft Suede c/s:  the base is 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" - score at 5 1/4:"; the inside folded part is 8 1/2" x 3 1/4" and scored at 4 1/4".  I layered the inside part on black c/s cut 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" and I added a piece of Crumb Cake c/s 4"x3" for the writing.  the other side of this flap (the top part of the smaller part (huh???) I layered Baja Breeze cut 4"x3 1/8", and top layer is Very Vanilla stamped with Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Basic Black images from the Artifacts stamp set, then sponged Soft Suede all over to make it 'dirtier', per the man in charge.  The top flap of the larger piece is layered with Baja Breeze and some DSP I had that kinda goes with these colors - not exactly, but looks good.  

So there is my Fancy Fold Masculine Card along with the regular folded Masculine Card for this Challenge ... hope you like them both.  

Hugs and God Bless, Shirley

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Monday Morning Moanings .... or not

Well, it IS Monday morning, here in Michigan anyway.  I said on Saturday that I will have another post on Monday, so here it is.

We had a great weekend - Saturday was my hubby's birthday so we went out to breakfast, met friends there ... went out to lunch with other friends, and out to supper with family.  Didn't eat as much as we talked, thank goodness!  Sunday was church then potluck picnic!  Always, always fun and loaded with yummy food.  Got home from that and needed a nap, or at least a rest-time.   And now another week begins, filled with appointments, fun times, a little work around the house and who knows what else.

Since we had ABC (Anything But a Card) as our VC Blog Hop theme over the weekend, I have a couple other ideas to share, so here is today's ....

 
I just love, love, love to alter tins (like from Altoids, but you can buy them to alter) ... the options available are as big as your imagination - you should see what kids come up with!  Here are just a few I have made that I found sitting on my shelf.  I made a new one for a swap but it has not been delivered yet so I will wait on it until everyone has seen their box of ideas - Gifts for a Dollar was that theme.  These tins are yet another super way to use up bits of designer paper and odds and ends of embellishments .... 'cause, anything goes with these!!!

Here are two up-close so you can see some details. No big deal, really, but I know it's hard to see in the other pix.  Depending on the tin, I sometimes add grosgrain ribbon around the outside edge on the lid - it's just the right size width!! - but depending on the color of the tin, you may want to love it as it is. 

The fun part after altering the outside is deciding what to do with the inside - some I have added mini-office supplies (stapler and extra staples, scissors, binder clips, pen, pencil, tape dispenser, paper clips ... all small sizes of course.)  Some I cut pieces to fit inside and hooked them together using ribbons or twill tape, brads, etc. and use them as scrapbooks or to hold kind and gentle thoughts to help you get thru the day.  And of course, the ever popular Gift Cards just fit inside!!  Some I leave empty so the recipient can add what they want - little kids love them for "stuff" - funny thing, I used to ask everyone for empty boxes but I could not speak very well yet, so always said 'hempty' boxes ... my family still teases me about that!  Come to think of it, I still love boxes of all sorts - and my stamp room and the rest of the house look like it too. 

Oh yeah, I don't know if I have mentioned it before (or if you even believe it), but I am not a hoarder, just a pack rat with loads of items just waiting to be used and altered and such.   

Hope you enjoy this idea - try it and I really would love to see what you come up with.  Like I said, I will have a post later with my swap samples and then all the samples I receive - I did two sets, so should have 10 additional "Gifts for a Dollar" to show you!

Have a great day and may God Bless You and Yours!  Hugs, Shirley