More Pet Sympathy Cards (Sophia, Vinnie & Ben)

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Last year, I had several friends who lost their dogs.  I had not made a pet sympathy card in many years.  I really like the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge, so I used it to make variations of this card for them.

The verse on the front reads:

"They are your friend, your companion, your guardian.
They live for you, love you and will follow you anywhere."

This one was for Vinnie (my sister-in-law's dog), I added a charm (Epiphany Crafts) with a photo of Vinnie that didn't turn out too well because I glued it to the card.  The dampness of the glue discolored the photo.  Lesson learned.

For Sophia & Benjamin:

For Katchie...

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A couple of months ago, my neighbor had to put down the dog she's had for 17 years.  I only knew Katchie for a couple of years, but I can certainly relate to the heartache when you have to let them go.  This one is for Miss Katchie...

The dog was cut on my Cricut Explore & is from Nate's ABCs cartridge & the glitter paper heart was also cut on the Explore from Ashlyn's Alphabet cartridge.  The flourish is a Spellbinder's cut I had done a while back on some scrap paper, the butterfly was from the dollar store, added some baker's twine and topped off with a strip of washi tape.

The inside was digital paper I bought & downloaded from Laureling Studios via Etsy.  It's from the "Paw Prints Basic" collection here.  But I made it a bit lighter so the text would be more visible.  The glittery heart on the inside, top was the inside cut of the heart on the front, the verse on the top was from "The Invisible String" by Patrice Karst, but I incorrectly attributed it to Geoff Stevenson who was the illustrator.  (Sorry!)  The font is "A Year Without Rain".  

 

The verse on the top reads:

"Those who love each other are always connected by a very special string made of love.
Even though you can't see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and
know that you are always connected to the ones you love."

--- Patrice Karst
 

The verse on the bottom:

They will not go quietly, The dogs who've shared our lives.

In subtle ways they let us know Their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think We hear a barking at the door.
Or step back when we drop A tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place The food dish used to be.
And sometimes coming home at night, We miss them terribly.
Although time may bring new friends And a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts belongs to them…
…and always will.

And yes, Miss Katchie, you will always be in our hearts & we miss you.

Graduation card - Arizona State!

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A friend's son graduated from Arizona State this year.  Here's the card I made for him, using the ASU colors (go Sun Devils!)  This was the first time using the pen option on the Cricut Explore & I only used it for the "Nice Hat!" sentiment on the front.  And, I did this at the last minute, so didn't note all the finer details involved in making this card. 

The text is the Ashlyn's Alphabet cartridge.  The hat & tassel is from the Cricut Lite Recess cartridge.  The year is cut from some shiny, gold paper from an Anna Griffin kit I bought from HSN.  I forget what I used for the card base & layers.  Plus, I embossed the yellow layer but forget what folder was used.  (Sorry!)

For the liner, I used this digital paper, which has a faint, diagonal stripe to it.

The stamp is from the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy stamp set & I used CTMH Desert Sand ink.

The font for the inside verse is Airstream.

Belated Birthday card for my sister

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This card took two or three pages (I forget) of Close To My Heart Skylark paper.  It's not one of my favorites, but I had a few of them & since I thought my sister may like it, I didn't mind using the two (or three, I forget) sheets necessary to make this card.  I do think it turned out quite nice.

I also used two new tools for this card.  I've had both for a few months but had not taken the time to acquaint myself with them & use them.  They are Hot Off The Press "1000 Card Quotes" cd I got from Amazon as well as Serif CraftArtist 2 that I got from QVC.  I will review these items later.  But in a nutshell, I think the HOTP cd is ok but generally pretty lame.  Basically, it appears it's several PDFs that you print out & then cut the sentiments, verses & design elements & adhere them to your card.  OTOH, CraftArtist2 seems to be a "grown up" successor to the Hallmark and/or American Greetings CreateACard app that I've used for about 20 years to make my computer generated greeting cards.  But more on these later.

I cut one piece of Skylark paper to 8 1/2 x 11 inches & folded it over so the green/white side was out & left the chevron "selvage" & so that it was a horzontal/tent fold.  I layered a piece cut from another Skylark paper over that but with the chevron selvage showing (on the bottom layer/card base) as well as ~1/2 inch at the top of the green/white print.  This new layer had the bird side showing.  I stamped "Happy Birthday" with the CTMH Art Philosophy Celebration stamp set (D1497) & CTMH Lagoon ink.  Then I cut the partial tag out from a piece of Skylark paper, layered that on the front, stamped the "To:" (same CTMH stamp set & ink) & wrote "My Sister".  (Based upon my ikky handwriting, you can see why I prefer to use a computer or stamps rather than handwriting!).  I already had the birdcage that was cut from a Spring Fling paper pack from two years ago with Spellbinders Bird Sanctuary die.  Adhered it with pop dots & added a couple of CTMH gold, durable triangles, under the bird cage.

For the inside, since I like to trim the "liner" to be a bit shorter than the card base on all sides.  But since I used left the chevron selvage on the outside of the card, I cut the chevron selvage from another piece of Skylark paper & used it to cover the selvage on the inside of the card base.

For the liner, I used this digital paper, which exactly matched the blue in the Skylark paper:

I found this sentiment from HOTP CD & made it my own in CraftArtist2.  The fonts I used:

• Salsa Mangos BTN Lt
• Marlin Thin
• Tw Cen MT Condensed
• Tropicali Script BTN Bamboo

The top inside is an Anna Griffin die cut from the green/white side of a piece of Skylark paper.

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Heavenly Mother's Day 2014

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Some of us have mothers who have passed on & Mother's Day can be a sad day.  However, we can hopefully put a smile on someone else's day by "adopting" them. After my aunt passed away several years ago, my cousin sent a Mother's Day card to my mother every year.  After my mother passed away two years ago, I have carried on the tradition by sending a Mother's day card to my mother's friend of over 30 years, Kay.  My mother & Kay took several cruises together, played bridge together for many years & Kay visited my mother often, when she was in the hospital.  Kay never had children, so it seemed natural for me to "adopt" her for Mother's Day.

For this years card, I used the CTMH Skylark paper, teal shimmer trim & Lagoon ink. Other items used:

• butterfly on the front - Martha Stewart
• Gold embellishment - Embossmints foil stickers (from HSN)
• light blue dragonfly paper (old paper pack) die cut with...
• Anna Griffin die cut
• inside - CTMH teal shimmer tape (LOVE this stuff!)
• inside - label from Skylark paper was embossed with an embossing folder from The Paper Studio then...
• ...distressed on the edges with Zutter Distrezz-It-All then...
• ...inked on the edges with CTMH Lagoon ink pad

The verse on the inside reads:

Many people will walk in and out of your life. 

But only true friends will leave footprints on your heart.

--- Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy Mother's Day to my & my mother's friend!

 

 

Additionally, I often make single page cards to hang on the flowers at the cemetery.  This one didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but it will do.  I used my Cricut Explore to make the label, printed out a photo of my mother & me, laminated them, then added a butterfly embellishment from a pack I got at the dollar store.  For some reason, the heat lamination didn't seal all the edges.  So I wrapped some washi tape over the edges.

So for those of you who will be with your mothers on Sunday, have a wonderful Mother's Day!.

Halloween cards 2013

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I made two of these.  One for one of my sisters & one for my sister-in-law.

The "outer" paper is from Spooksville by The Paper Studio.

The "inner" paper is digital - from Harvest Moon Halloween Mega Kit (Jessica Sprague).  But I "lightened" it by only printing it at 38%.  The bat on the inside is also from the Harvest Moon Halloween kit.  

The font is Dracula.

The ghost on the front is from Cricut's A Frightful Affair cartridge.  I cut it from white cardstock, sprayed it with Perfect Pearls & then drew in the eyes & mouth.  Spraying with Perfect Pearls caused the ghost to curl a bit, so  I took advantage of this & applied it with pop dots.  This not only gave dimension from the pop dots, but the curled ghost looked pretty neat, too!  Finished off with some washi tape & a small bow. 

 

A few cards

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Since I'm so behind on posting, I'm combining a few in this post.

First up is a birthday card for my niece.  I wanted something bright & cheerful.  Although cutting text for quarterfold cards (since they are so small) is usually a fruitless endeavor IMO, this phrase came out quite nice. The card paper is from DCWV (Diecuts With A View) Pockets Full of Posies pack.  The neon green is a leftover scrap.  The flower was cut with the Tim Holtz Sizzix die, Tattered Florals with an orange brad for the center.  The butterfly was a print & cut from Samantha Walker. 

This note card utilizes digital paper from Lettering Delights Muted Designs Paper Pack with another PNC butterfly from Samantha Walker.

A thank you card using digital papers (cherries & polka dots) & alphabet from Lettering Delights Bowl Full of Cherries.  The bottom of the front was cut with decorative edge scissors & then the pink striped strip that is exposed was a paper scrap.  The front was also embossed with Juli's Garden (Cuttlebug).