Happy Birthday To Me!

Here are some beautiful cards my wonderful stampin' friends made and gave me for my birthday last month....yes, I'm a little slow to post! I have more to post, but I still need to photograph them, so I'll post more soon. This first card is from Agnes.

From Laura

From Sonia

From Lisa

From MaryAnn

From Dana

Operation Write Home

Some of my stampin' friends and I are participating in a project called "Operation Write Home." We make handmade greeting cards which are sent to our troops overseas. They use these cards to send to their loved ones back home. There are no Hallmark stores in Afghanistan, so there is a real need for this! We have a blast designing our cards and getting together to make these as a group for such a good cause. Here are the cards we made this month.

MaryAnn's Cards

These two cards were made by my stampin' friend and fellow demonstrator, MaryAnn Sansonetti. Aren't these cute!? Thanks MaryAnn!

Not my favorite stamp set, but the card didn't turn out too bad. I used markers to color him on watercolor paper.

Western Flair

"Manchester" is the featured designer paper on this card. The muted colors of Kraft, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze and Always Artichoke, and the plaid designs, give it a more masculine feel than a lot of other SU papers. I inked the edges of everything with Creamy Caramel. The circles are stamped with stamps from "Wanted," "Priceless," and "Be Happy" is from the "Darling Dots" hostess set. I used a Vintage Brad and a silver brad from the Hodgepodge Hardware set. I used lots of circle punches and this card was a lot of fun to make!

Hey There!

Aren't these colors striking together - Real Red cardstock and So Saffron designer paper from the Sale-A-Bration Delicate Dots collection. The giraffe and bird are from "Wild About You." "Hey There" is from "Really Retro" and stamped on the tab using the Round Tab Punch. It's attached with a red button and thread. The Flower Ribbon Slide on the Real Red Ribbon is a piece included in the Hodgepodge Hardware set.

Funky Flowers

The black flowers were made using a SU Sizzlits Die called Flower Blossom. (The Sizzlits single dies are only $4.95!) The flowers are attached to Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion and Green Galore dots punched from the 1 1/4" circle punch, with coordinating Bold Brights Brads. I embossed the Whisper White background with a Cuttlebug folder and added a strip of Basic Gray Designer Paper from the current Hostess Pack. I love all the dots!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This cute little guy made the rounds last year - I cased him from someone but I have no idea who. He's made completely from Stampin' Up! punches - Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" circle, 3/4" circle, Word Window, and Large Tag. The brim of his hat is made by punching two ovals side-by-side about 1/4" apart. Using the oval punch, punch out the part in between the two ovals. The cardstock colors are Garden Green, Summer Sun, Black, Confetti White, Really Rust and Blush Blossom. A Blush Blossom Marker was used to highlight around the face and nose, and to make rosy cheeks. I used SU black gingham ribbon, and the google eyes and shamrock are from Michael's. He was so fun to make!