My Birthday!!! was last week

Yes, I turned another year older last week....and I just have to share some of the fun, FUN, fun Birthday Wishes I received from my crafty friends.

Miss Cassandra, over at Creating Color with Cassandra, was really sneaky in getting my co-workers to do her dirty work....AND I JUST LOVED IT!!!  Cassandra told me she even waited till after 7am to post this on her blog, because she knows I'm an early morning blogger  LOL that just cracked me up.
I have to say, when I walked into my office and over to my desk....I just kept looking at the banner and thinking "I know that kind of crafting...." but it didn't click until my co-worker said it was dropped off for safe keeping until my birthday...then I screamed out (Yes, I screamed) "CASSANDRA"  lol

It's all on one long piece of ribbon and was stretched across perfectly above my desk.
See all the fun goodies she put on each tag.  It's AWESOME....I just stared and stared at it!  I left it hanging at the office for just a few more days, then I'll proudly hang it up in my craft room :-)

Can you see that little card hanging between the

Happy & Birthday...

Laaaaaa.....that's a Michael's gift card!!!   Whoo Hoo!

THANK YOU CASSANDRA YOU MADE MY BIRTHDAY EXTRA SPECIAL!!!

My other crafty friend, doesn't have a blog, but I think she reads mine...HI SUE!!!   Sue likes to quilt and do all things sewing.  Like many of us paper crafters, Sue likes to hoard supplies.  Don't ya, Sue?!  Well, she told me, she's been hoarding items for my birthday present since the New Year. Can you believe that!!! So when I got home from work, after starring at the wonderful birthday banner all day...I came home to more presents (and dinner, my hubby's a great cook) and a large box from Sue. 
Let me share what was in the box....

All this fun stuff.....

Tags, Jim Holtz pins, Jim Holtz tickets...can't wait to use those, I have an idea brewing....and the door knob looking thingie...I'll get back to that in a minute.

Ribbons....silk and paper edging ---the paper edging looks neat too - And a fun 'altered' inspirational craft book

Pop-dotted stickers.....
Now remember the door knob looking thingie....this is just the coolest!  I love all my little presents but this one is the BEST!

It's a rubber stamp with my C initial and then my name.....I LOVE THIS I can stamp it on the back of my cards or even on the back of the envelopes. --  I guess you could say "I've Been Branded"  Sue? Is that the effect you were looking for???   LOL  (inside joke everyone)
So check it out.....

THANK YOU SUE!!!  WHAT A GREAT WAY TO END MY WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!!!

Cake anyone?  The office thought I needed TWO Large Cupcakes for my birthday!!!

I'll forever remember this birthday with great friends!!!  Thank You!!!
--C

Until next summer.....

The Gang (or the Varmints, as my hubby calls the kids, LOL) are all here for their last project.   I only have one picture of our last crafting project because it was after 9pm and I was exhausted!!!  Of course, from looking at the picture below, they aren't tired at all...they could have kept going ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!!!   Just a quick explanation why this weekend is SO much fun (and important) to me.   My hubby and I chose not to have children, and every summer, for the last six years, I started having my niece and nephews, once potty trained, visit me for my KID FIX  :-) 

For our last project, they made pencil/pen holders from up-cycled cans.  The boys all wanted skull and cross bones -- from the Indie Art cartridge.  And Kamryn, used the Cuttle Bug and cut out roll flowers using MCT Rolled Flower Die.   She added about seven flowers and some silk leaves and a butterfly to her can.  I wish now, I would have taken more shots of her pencil holder, it was soooo cute!   The boys all added stardust stickles to the eyes and nose of their skulls. 

It was a fun FIVE days with them.....they're all home now, and I'm back to work today. 

Have a great week!  Chao for now!  --C

Jayden - Guest Crafter - 2nd Bday Card

Here is Jayden's second bday card he made for his step brother Dylan. 
The cuts are made from, let me hear you, yes, Create a Critter ...a very popular cartridge this weekend.  :-)

We stitched around the opening of the dog house, and added a Happy Birthday sentiment.  Then he wrote "Dylan!" in white jelly roll pen.

(sorry the picture is so blurry)

Then we stitched around the dark brown areas of the puppy.

Then we used the cuttlebug and did a swirl background.

This card turned out Sooo cute....I hadn't used this cut before so it was a really nice surprise to see how it turned out. 

I know his brother Dylan is going to love this card made just for him! 

Chao for now! --C

Guest Crafter - Andrew aka Drewski

Welcome to another post with one of my guest crafters, Andrew, 5, also known as Drewski.  I think he had the most fun making his card.

 Drew knew EXACTLY what he wanted on his bday card he's making for his mom's bday (my sister)
He made sure there was a pond for the alligator.    Both cuts are from the Create a Critter cartridge.

He used blue stickles to accent the pond and some google eyes on the alligator.  For the background paper he saw the colorful dots and decided this would be a good match for his alligator.

He stamped happy birthday in Aqua Blue.  It matched perfectly. 

Drewski did a fantastic job on his card for his mom!    That's it for now.  Chao! --C

Guest Crafter - Jayden

My third Guest Crafter for the weekend is, Jayden, 8.   He has two step brothers he wanted to make cards for their bdays next week.  Here is the first of  two cards. 

Jayden used the Monkey from the Create a Critter cartridge and the swinging vines. 

 He used Green Stickles on the vines for a little sparkle.   The background paper is a dark blue.

For the sentiment, he chose, "best wishes on your special day"   -- we first tried to stamp it in white, but it wasn't bright enough.  So I decided to use embossing powder.  Jayden used the heating tool and created this wonderful raised sentiment on his brothers card.

His card turned out great and his step brother is going to love it.     Stay tuned, for my youngest guest designer, he's only FIVE and you'll want to see what he created.  

Chao for now!  --C

Guest Crafter - Anthony

My next guest Craft for the weekend, is Anthony, 11.  If you recall, I recently made him a birthday card a few posts ago.  He had a chance to create a birthday card for his mom too (my sister and he's Kamryn's brother)

He chose the dragon from the Create a Critter cartridge.  He used some paper for his dragon to make him look like he has scales.  He used red stickles for the back scales.  He wanted flames to come out of his mouth, so we broke out the scissors and made some mouth watering flames.

He chose Happy Birthday back ground paper. He didn't want to stamp Happy Birthday, he wanted it to say Hi Mom.   I used the gypsy to link up some letters for his sentiment.

He used a wriggle eye to top off the card.

There you have it.  Anthony did a great job choosing the paper and sentiments for his mom's birthday card. 

Stay tuned, two more cards coming your way.

Chao for now! --C

Guest Crafter - Kamryn

Happy Friday the 13th....although this is considered a day of misfortune for some, it's a very fortunate day for me.   I have the best niece and nephews who have come to visit me for the weekend.   Along with swimming in the pool, it's also a major craft weekend. 

Let me start by introducing Kamryn, 12, who has made a birthday card for her mom (my sister).

She used the seashell accessory from the Create a Critter cartridge.  Then she used some Stardust Stickles for the upper white shadow.  And also used the Circles embossing folder on the square.

For the sentiment she used Momento Rich Cocoa and used Emma's MCT Happy Birthday sentiment.  Then she used some loose alphabets and added Mommy.  She liked the cuttlebug so much, she also used the dots for the main back ground.  

She added some shear ribbon along the base, and tied a brown stain ribbon on the bottom.

This card turned out great and her mommy is gonna love it!!!  

Stay tuned for more....you'll want to see how creative the boys are.

Carri over at A Busy Bee told us about an Any Thing Goes Challenge over at Docerela Creations.  So we've added Kamryn's card to the challenge...WISH KAMRYN LUCK!!!!

Chao for now!  --C

Happy Birthday

It's been quite busy at work the past few weeks...making my time go by so quickly.  Today I have a birthday card for one of my husbands friends (and mine too) who he has known since early school days.  My hubby asked I make him a birthday card for his BIG....well, we won't say how old he is...Verlyn, if you're reading this blog...HAPPY, HAPPY, BIRTHDAY!  :-)

All the card stock is from a 6x6 paper pad from This & That "Charming"
The little money is cut from the Creative Critter cartridge at 2"
I used MCT Stitched Oval die and Happy Birthday sentiment, stamped in Memento 'Rich Cocoa'
The monkey's cute wink is from Peachy Keen's Everyday Character Faces.  Using white & black jelly roll pens to color in his eye
The edges were blended with Memento 'Rich Cocoa' to give the newspaper and old ruffed up look and I used my finger nail to [scratch] the edges so they were ruffed up as well

I'm entering this card into the Just Us Girls #144 - Sketch Challenge

  

I did my very best not to make this card frilly for a guy....but I couldn't stand to not put some glitter on the card....so I added a little Stardust Stickles to the green dots on the card. 

That's it for today....hope everyone is having a great weekend!!!!  Chao for now! --C