Birth Flowers

I've always known about birthstones and that July's is a ruby.  But birth flowers?  That was something I had to Google and found out that my birth flower is the larkspur.  The challenge on Sentimental Sunday was to include your birth flower on a card.  Since Birthday Sundaes always has a birthday card, I decided to combine the two.

This cut from Cindy Lou was the closest thing I could find to a larkspur.  It is periwinkle in color and grows on a stem.  I used the same periwinkle for the background. The oval cut was in my reject drawer so I'm not sure what cartridge it was from but I thought the flower looked perfect on it.  I did give the flower a little spray of pearl Glimmer Mist and then added the PTI  birthday stamp in Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  Let's see - who else has a July birthday that I can send this to?.

Folded Card with Band

Remember the beginning of the book that Snoopy was always trying to write?  I started out "It was a dark and stormy night."  Well, it really is a dark and stormy night here.  It's the perfect time for snuggling up with a good book and I have one I want to finish.  But then I have a TV show I want to watch, and a prayer shawl to finish.  I have a feeling I'll knit and watch TV for a while and then read just before heading to bed.  In the meantime, I have to show you my card for today. 

This one is for the challenge at The Friday Mashup!  They wanted a card with a belly band, with or without twine.  Mine is without since my limited supply didn't have any that looked good with my paper.  I wanted to use this big bold print (actually "use it up" is a better statement) so I cut it to fit my folded card, and then added the coordinating piece for the band.  The flourish is cut from Cindy Lou and then I added some pearls.  Here is what it looks like open.

I cut a piece of cardstock 5 1/2 by 12 and then scored it at 4", and 8".  Then I turned it over and scored at 2" and 10" and folded it in so it fits an A2 envelope.  It was easy to do and a great way to use a large print.

Using Printed Paper

I'm wishing everyone a great Labor Day weekend.  I'm heading off to the lake with my husband, parents and sister.  My son and his family will join us on Saturday as will my youngest son, both coming from different directions and meeting in the middle, so to speak.  They'll be there to help take the dock in and celebrate the end of summer :( with a big potluck.  Fortunately I've made a few cards ahead so I can keep posting.

Paper packs come 12 x 12 and I do my scrapbooking 8 1/2 x 11.  That means there are a number of pages that won't work for scrapbooking and I needed a way to use them up.  My solution?  Cut a portion of the page and use it as the design on your card.

I don't remember where I got this paper stack.  It was on sale at an online store.  I hadn't heard of the company and learned my lesson.  You get what you pay for.  The paper is very thin and doesn't cut well on the Cricut.  But it does make good backgrounds.  This card is 5 x 7 and I cut the bird with yellow scrollwork from the corner of the paper.  I added yellow as the first layer and then cut the frame from Cindy Lou in white with a matching yellow flourish.  The sentiment was printed on my computer in blue and cut to fit behind the frame.   This is such an easy way to make a card and use up those printed papers.

Get Well

Today's card is another one I did some time ago.  I think today's and yesterday's cards are trials from new carts I bought at or near the same time.  At least I remember where this one came from.  Cindy Lou. 

This card is 5 x 7.  The background paper was something I had, probably from JoAnn's since that's the only place somewhat near where I can get paper.  The navy and purple just seemed to blend well with it.  The ovals are cut with my only set of Nestabilities.  I mainly wanted them so I could center a computer printed sentiment on them.  They looked a little unfinished so I added the strips of matching paper and then the bling of navy pearls.  Since there are few layers, it was a quick and easy card, simple yet elegant.  Love that kind!

The cat's meow

I usually use my DS to cut all my carts so I'm not sure of the size but the cat was cut from Cindy Loo as was the scalloped oval.  The bottom layer was cut in brown for the facial features and feet.  The next layer was cut from a cream, and the main layer from DCWV stack called textures and finishes.  I thought it looked like fur.  I substituted a bow where the flower was on the head and used dimensionals to raise it up both the pink oval and the cat.  Inside it says "Have a purr-fect birthday!"