Happy Birthday to my Granddaughter!
I haven't been keeping up with blogging and was quite shocked to see that I haven't posted since last July!  I have been making lots of cards and paper crafts, but just haven't taken the time to blog.  Shame on me!

I wanted to put something on the birthday gift for my sweet Granddaughter who turned 4 last week.  Since each year is so important to young ones, I started out wanting to put a very large number on her gift.  Then I wanted there to be words or something on the "4".  After searching and finding nothing, I decided to try my hand at doing my own.  I used MDS by Stampin' UP (sorry to say that are dumping this great program) and I made this:

I did the large "4" cut out in Silhouette Designer and layered a nice yellow under it.  Here was my final product:

I also made a card for her, but - of course - forgot to take a photo of it!

I want to next do paper for "3" and my other granddaughter will be turning 3 in November.  Even though I have lots of time to get it done, I probably need to do it sooner rather than later.  :)

Print and Cut Silhouette Challenge

Silhouette Challenges #15 "Print N Cut" Week 4

http://www.silhouettechallenges.com Linking to the HOST

I purchased this digital set this morning from Stampin Up's My Digital Studio.  I just love the colors!  I brought the .jpg files over into Silhouette Designer Edition and set up the cuts for the flower and for the tag.  I added the "Happy Birthday" to the tag in a color pick from the flower.  After printing the items, they went through the Silhouette and cut beautifully!  Even the narrow border was cut with a plain rectangle.

Box Cards!

These are all the rage now - and pretty simple to do.  I do them the quick and really easy way on my Silhouette Cameo.  Here are a variety of ones I've made recently.

Lori Whitlock via Silhouette Online Store.  Love this card for my friend's daughter!

For my Mother-In-Law's birthday coming up next month.  This is also from Lori Whitlock via the Silhouette Online Store.  This one is big!  It goes into an A7 envelope.

A friend of mine was married on July 5th and their colors were Red, White & Blue.  This pattern - at least the beginning of it is from SVGCuts.com and their Summer Box Card set.  The card was to have had a house and a tree.  I changed it to fit the occasion by adding the wedding cake and the "Mr & Mrs".

Going back to June, here is a Father's Day card from my favorite piano player.  This also came from SVGCuts.com Summer Box Card Set.  There had been flowers on the piano, but I removed them since it was for my hubby.  I added the "Happy" to the "Father's Day" that I stamped on the music stand.

These cards are so much fun to create and surprise my friends and family with.

Valentine Cards for my girls!

I did Pop-Up Valentines for my two sweet granddaughters.  The only difference is one has a monkey and the other an owl.  The With Love Pop-Up heart trees by Daniela Angelova are from Silhouette. http://www.silhouetteonlinestore.com/?page=view-shape&id=54218 and the Monkey and Owl are from Miss Kate's Cuttables.  http://www.misskatecuttables.com/

Both Cards have the Pop-Up bench and a red bird as well as the With Love.  The "grass" is a combination of Washi tape and YG03 Copic Marker.  The Sky is more Washi tape, BG02 and the cloud is a die cut.

The fronts of the cards were done with K & Co stickers.  (I was running out of time.)

The cards for my daughters and their hubbies are identical. 

 The heart paper is from the Stampin Up More Amore collection.  Mine is using the SU My Digital Studio and printing the paper myself.  (Love that option!)  The sentiment is a digital one with the oval cut around it on the Silhouette.  The Red Glitter oval is cut using a Spellbinder die. 

The inside is from Cricut CTMH Artiste cartridge with the white scallop from another (can't remember which one) Cricut cartridge.

This card is for my daughter's sweet Grandmom.  It was done on the Silhouette using Abstract Hearts also by Daniela Angelova.  

http://www.silhouetteonlinestore.com/?page=view-shape&id=55181

Birthday Party for Vada

My daughter Vanessa picked a camping theme for Vada's First Birthday and I wanted to help with the invitations and decorations.  The party was a big success and we all had a blast watching little Miss Vada eat her cake.  I did the invitation, but forgot to get a photo of it before I turned them all over to Vanessa.  I got her to send me a cell phone shot of it. (Sorry it is a bit out of focus)  The banner at the top is from Miss Kate's Cuttables http://www.misskatecuttables.com as is the blue chevron at the bottom.  The various fonts are ones we found on the internet.  The pink tent is also from Miss Kate's Cuttables that I cut on my Silhouette Cameo Machine and added a green island that is actually a cloud that came with my Silhouette software.

The food sings were done using kraft paper, Tim Holtz Wood grain Embossing folder, cream cardstock and Pinewood font that was downloaded from the internet.  Brown ink was used to distress the wood grain and edges of the signs.  The cupcake toppers were done using camping digitals from Miss Kate's Cuttables and embellishing them with glitter pens and hand embossing.  The banner on the cake was done with some artificial sticks that Vanessa picked up from the hobby store, pennant die cut, and alphabet stickers.

I made a card for Vada using my Cricut machine and Gypsy.  I used the Cricut Craft Room Basics for the 1 and the st and welded them into a card.  I cut a Happy and Birthday as well as a scolloped circle.  I could have done the work in the Cricut Craft Room program, but I can design with the Gypsy in a fraction of the time that it would take me in Craft Room.

And here is the star of the First Birthday!

She was just getting started with the photo above.  Below is later in the process!

There was a short time out in the party while little Miss had a bath!  While she got cleaned up, the rest of us enjoyed the party.

New Toy!!!!

A few weeks ago I was looking for another die cutting machine - one that would give me LOTS of freedom. After looking at videos and reading comments, I decided on the Silhouette Portrait.  Even though it is an 8x12 cutting surface (rather than the 12x12), I know it will do what I am looking to do.

This machine doesn't require cartridges and will the Studio Designer Edition, you can print(on your existing printer) and then cut the image on the Silhouette.  There is also the option to buy cut files from their website.

Last night I was looking at what was available and found a Birthday Cake Flip Card.  For just .99 it jumped into my "cart".  I played with it today and here is what I made:

 Now to try to make one that is suitable for a guy!  That is what I need to do, but this one doesn't look manly enough.  :)

Baby Boy Gift

A sweet friend of mine had her baby last week.  They decorated his room in a Western Theme and I started playing around with my Cricut.  I used "Old West" cartridge and this is what happened;

She and her hubby are both Texas A&M grads and "Howdy" has special meaning for Aggies.  All items in the frame are cut from "Old West" except the Texas shape ("50 States") and Nash ("Noah's ABC Animals").
The frame is from Hobby Lobby and was exactly what I had in mind.

I had made a baby card when I first heard that they were expecting a boy, but it wasn't in the Western theme, so I got to work doing another one.

The background is embossed using the Tim Holtz Woodgrain folder.  "Welcome Baby" is from a Cuttlebug Embossing Combo of the same name.  The cute little cowboy was from The Angel Company "Wild West" rubber stamp as was the "Cowboy Up" (from a different TAC set).  He is colored using Copic markers.

These will go in the mail tomorrow to Leander, Texas.