Birthday Butterflies....

are flying by! I have been using a lot of butterflies lately, I know. But, it's Spring! :)

Did not really feel like it today though, a little rainy and cool and raw. But April Showers bring May Flowers right? I told my daughter, lets just think of this as a nice drink for the trees and plants. She agreed. But now they need a little sun! (me too)

About my card today:

So, I used my scallop border punch on the bottom of the blue card stock. Then I used purple polka dotted designer paper behind. I wanted to do some nice yellow butterflies and did a little purple for contrast. The butterflies are made with my SU embossing/die cutter. So cute and full of texture. I used my SU faux pearls to be the "bodies" of my butterflies and to accent my Birthday wishes sentiment.

Inside the card sentiment "there's something fabulous about your birthday (must be you)" sentiment is from SU, actually all supplies for this card are SU, except the one punch I used on the corner of my yellow paper, which is CM.

Inside the card, I mimicked the scallop and purple polka dot design from the front of the card and added a few butterfly accents as well.

Well, let's hope that tomorrow brings us some nice Spring sunshine!
Have a great day!

~Melanie :)

I uncovered my sewing machine!

But not to sew fabric, I have sewn on my first card!

It was fun! I made this cute card, which is perfect for a new baby or a girl's birthday. The image is a digi stamp from Pink Cat Studio. I colored with my new copic markers, I have been having fun with them as well, although I do realize that I need some more colors!

All of the paper for the card is from Stampin Up! And why pink, well, honestly....I still had pink thread in my sewing machine from the last time I used it (years ago!) so I figured, do something pink! I zig zag stitched on the outside and the inside of the card. I think this was fun and I think I will be doing it more soon....maybe in different colors if I get over my laziness and change the thread! LOL :)

Thanks for popping in today, now it is so nice outside - almost 70 degrees, that I need to get out there! Have a great day.

~Melanie

Doily Birthday

I love this card! I have been seeing cards with doily designs all over lately! So, I actually bought paper doilies at the grocery store and decided to make a card with it! I love it.

I love the colors pink and grey together, I found this designer paper from SU in my stash and thought that I would bring out a little of the yellow color as well.

The sentiment was stamped on white card stock and using multiple punches I created a background for the image. I used designer label punch, oval scallop and circle scallop punches all from SU. Then I used my big shot to cut out the grey leaves. It has all been accented with these cute faux pearls.

Inside the card I used my SU punch to create the bottom border and on top I used one of my CM corner punches to do the corners.

Wouldn't this be a great birthday card to receive?

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Melanie :)

Lowell General Hospital TeamWalk "Firework" (Katy Perry)

Everyone has to watch this video! This is my work, but I was off the day of the filming :(

The video was made to promote TeamWalk for Lowell General Cancer center. The money raised from teamwalk is used to help our patients who may need rides, tube feedings, etc.

Check it out!
:)

Thanks,
Melanie :)

Tea Party

Recently my daughter Allison turned 8! How can that be? I remember driving to the hospital for her to be born and now she is 8? Time flies.....Anyway....to celebrate her birthday she invited all the girls in her class over for a tea party. Above is the invitation we made for the party. We stamped the SU image and punched with the circle cutter, Allison colored the tea pots with SU markers. Then we matted it on Tempting Turquoise scallop circles. The ribbon I bought at Michaels craft store and we used the SU swiss dot embossing folder and my Big Shot to texture the white cardstock. Came out cute huh?

Above is the "Tea Table" I borrowed the table cloth and these adorable tea pots and cute little tea cups and saucers. We had all kinds of goodies including cucumber sandwiches, scallop shaped mini cheese sandwiches and those adorable strawberry sandwiches which were so easy and cute! I used vanilla wafers and whipped cream cheese spread then topped each with a half of a strawberry! Kind of like a mini cheesecake. The girls used tea cups and either had decaf tea or juice. So fancy.

Each girl came in her tea party dresses. We did manage to get one nice picture of them together, although Allison does have her eyes closed (second from left bottom).

Below is what we gave the girls for party favors. Mini composition notebooks, RSVP pens and bookmarks. I used pinks and greens, and the back does have some purple colored paper.

I had made similar goodie bag gifts for a friend of mine for her daughter's birthday party and loved the idea so I repeated. We wrapped them in cellophane bags with little princess crowns.

The after noon was a success, although the girls did get bored after a while and went outside to jump on the trampoline! So funny, the ground was littered with dress shoes and all the girls were bouncing on the trampoline in party dresses!

Well, Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

~melanie :)

Thinking Spring!

I am thinking spring! Are you? It certainly doesn't feel like it though. The weather woman says the typical high for this time of year in Massachusetts is 50 degrees. We have been lucky to hit 4o lately! I am happy that the sun was shining bright today though...I am ready for the sunshine and all finished with the snow for this year....let's hope Mother Nature agrees with me. This card below reminds me of spring...

I really wanted to do something with craft color. So I cut this circle image and paper pierced around the edge. I used this pale green card stock for the base and stamped my "all my thanks to you" image in basic brown ink and punched out using the tag punch. I used this craft designer paper for the background. I also loved this daisy ribbon. So when I saw this adorable flower pot button that I adhered with a glue dot. Then for my own daisy, I used a yellow button and a smaller brown button in the center. I thought it came out very cute! I felt it tied the whole card together.

Well, we are going to start week 2 of spring soon, so lets hope for some of that spring like warmth!

Have a great weekend! :) Enjoy your family, friends and life!

~melanie

Rub ons!

Today I just wanted to share with you a couple of cards that I did not even use stamps on, but rub-ons! Stampin' Up! has these really cute coordinated rub on sheets in different colors and designs.

First I used this cute little owl image rubbed onto So Saffon card stock and then trimmed with scissors. I used Sahara Sand printed designer paper bordered in Tempting Turquoise and mounted on a base of So Saffron. I rubbed on the hello sentiment and the leaves/tree like images. Finally a knot of tempting turquoise gross grain ribbon. Super Fun.

Next, I used a base of Old Olive Cardstock and rubbed on the funky flower image. I knotted a Real Red designer button knotted with a piece of twine mounted on the flower with mini glue dots. Then I did stamp! The Birthday wishes sentiment is stamped in chocolate chip ink. Finally I rounded the corners at the bottem of this card.

Both of these cards were made using the Play Date rub-ons set. I love it, it is very cute and funky!

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

~Melanie :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have you ever seen a leprechon? Well my daughter Lily is hoping to catch one!
This is the trap that she and my husband made for her to bring to school. Isn't it so fun?

She painted the shoebox and my husband cut the hole for the little bowl. Then Lily used my big shot to die cut leaves that we taped inside the cup to look like a tree.

There is a string colored brown coming down the tree for the Leprechon to climb. ...and when he does....boom....the cup falls on top of him and traps him! Why would he want to climb the tree? for gold coins of course! Bill had the idea to put one in the tree for him and Lily had the idea to put a trail to "lure him in"! I love this!

Thanks for stopping by today! Don't drink too much green beer (it's only Thursday! LOL)

~Melanie :)

Birthday Bits!

I have been making a lot of birthday cards lately. I realize that is the kind of card that is probably sent or given the most. We all look forward to getting birthday cards don't we?I had a lot of fun making this card. I used lots of layers on the front. Many shapes of punches to layer under my sentiment. I think this card is my favorite. I have been seeing a lot of cards lately with text backgrounds so this is my first time using this paper. I love it. And the butterfly with the pearl body is so whimsy. Below is a glimpse of the inside of the card. Many times I leave the inside of the card blank for personalization, but for birthday cards, I do like to decorate inside as well as out.

Another one of my new favorite cards is below. I love the pretty flowers. I stamped them in yellow but used 2 different yellows to add dimension. Again I worked with layers for the sentiment. I am loving layers.

Inside the card is stamped the same image just a lighter version. I stamped off the stamp first and then stamped it inside. Make a wish... is the perfect birthday sentiment. Funny, these flowers also remind me of dandelions and when they are all white and puffy you can make a wish and blow off all the seeds!

Both of these cards are available for purchase in my oniline etsy store. I am really trying to amp up my mini business. I appreciate everyone who has had me make cards or gifts for them! I am available to do custom cards as well, so if there is a certain card you are looking for but don't see, drop me a note!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work today. I hope you enjoyed!

Have a great day!

~ Melanie :)

Sew Cute!

I love these new SU! Sets. They are called Sew Suite and Pattern Pieces (available in the mini catalog through April 30th)

I had to have them and I am so glad I got them! Fun to work with. I used to sew a lot too, so I think that pulled me in. I accessorised the set with the paper and buttons from the sale-a-bration catalog - free with a $50 purchase. Pretty cool huh?
The dress forms are so cute, and so in right now. I punched them 3 times and then I punched a 3rd time on the back of the paper I wanted to use and cut it out and paper pieced on top of the middle form.

I had a lot of fun making these and a lot of other cards lately.

If you like these and want to see others and purchase, check out my Etsy store link to the right of my blog. I plan to update my store with lots of new merchandise this weekend. How fun is it to receive a card in the mail, for a birthday or just to say hello? And how special for that card to be handmade? Says I love you or I'm thinking of you! Prices are comparable to store bought cards, but so much more special!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend! :)

~Melanie