Taking a break from the "cute"

Mike had to attend a funeral today so I put together a nice sympathy card for him. It might not be super-fancy and loaded with 'bling' but I think it turned out well. The warm colours make it look kind of soothing, I think. And it actually looks a lot warmer in person than it does in my pics - I took these shots at 6 this morning, which is not the ideal time to get great colour.

Anyway, here's the inside. I LOVE this sympathy stamp - it's quite large and makes a nice substantial impression.

I added my own handwritten note with our own condolences for the widow...

and then Mike forgot the card at home. Booo.

Okay. Back to cute stuff!

Love Shelley

As promised... Happy Bird-Day!

I made a batch of these cards for a swap I'm involved in, so I had to follow certain rules:

1) everything on the card has to be currently available Stampin' Up! product
2) the card has to have at least two layers and one embellishment
3) the theme was "show off the new stuff!"

The new catalog was recently released, and although I don't have much, I'm sure happy with the stuff I did buy!

This card has a couple of the new In Colors, uh, colors; (that sounds so repetitive - sorry!) and some of the new Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper. It's... GORGEOUS. The colours are rich and delicious, as you can see here:



That little birdy is from the Pun Fun stamp set, which isn't a new release but I still love him anyway. I coloured him up using ink straight out of the lids of my SU ink pads.

And voila! Here's the inside:




Whoops! I was going to put the "happy bird-day" sentiment on the inside... but I forgot. Too late now, I've already licked all the envelopes closed. Luckily for me you can't get kicked out for sending an un-sentimented card.

Yep, I just made up another word. I have to keep up with my sister, you see. She was ahead by one, using "rye-arrhea" this weekend to describe her hangover. Aren't you glad you read this far????

Have a great day!

Love Shelley!

Happy birthday, Wyatt...

You little monster!

HAHA! Just kidding. Wyatt is my youngest nephew and he just turned two years old. He's not a monster at all - he's actually a total sweetheart. But then again, so are these three characters:



I know I should have put ribbon into the little slots on the happy birthday tag, but none of the ribbons I had looked right. So I just stapled that sucker right on there. Wyatt does not have discriminating taste, luckily for me! (Just another reason why I love him so very much.)

Just enough fancy on the inside for it not to be boring!

Tune in tomorrow for another "bird-day" card. I hope that doesn't ruin the surprise...

Have a great evening!

Love Shelley

One! One wedding card!

Okay, actually I made two of these but one's already bought and paid for, so technically I've only added one more card to my stash.

This circle stamp is from Stamping Bella, and I just love it! So elegant. The background paper has a pearly shine to it, which I think shows up in the picture; but I also put shimmery white over the dress, and I don't think that shows up too well here. Oh well. You'll just have to take my word for it that it looks better in person!

I left the inside fairly plain. I figured that a wedding card is where people are likely to write the most, so I left lots of room for good wishes to be added.



Okay, can't talk - gotta go make something else! I'm on a roll...

Love Shelley!

I am very irresponsible.

I have a bunch (a BUNCH) of card orders to fulfill, and yet I couldn't resist starting a new art journal page last night.

Then I was having so much fun, that I carried on this morning and finished up about 20 minutes ago. Yep, I've blown over half a day on this little project, but you know what? I sure had fun with it.

Oh right. WEDDING CARDS. I'm on it.

Back soon,

Love Shelley!

I should seriously be forging expensive paintings

Because look how good I am at copying stuff!!

Yep, I found this card on Paula's amazing blog and I really don't think it needed anything else - it was absolutely perfect. So once I got my act together (yes, that is the part that takes the longest around here) I finally finished a batch of these little babies.



What do you think of that new Basic Grey Lemonade paper? I KNOW!! I can barely keep myself from licking it. Uh, but if you were thinking of buying a card from me, don't worry - I was able to contain myself.

I even did a simple bit of decorating inside. No sentiment, because really? Little Henry (yeah, that's his name!) could be celebrating anything, right? It's up to you to write whatever you want inside.



That's all for today - I have to go shoo the kids outside to bring the slop pails to the pigs next door. YEP - in addition to actually finishing a card, I also cleaned out my fridge. I KNOW! Sometimes I even amaze myself.

Next up: a wedding card. Stay tuned...

Love Shelley!

Aaaaaand, back to cards.

My sister Kristy came over last night to watch the finale of Canada's Next Top Model. After our mutual horrification at the "blonds" she-man designer in the tight pink dress, a commercial came on and she asked me what was new. So I told her that I made a card, and since we were already all jacked up about the guy and how he was standing with his legs firmly crossed to keep his "tuck" intact, she immediately started to make fun of me for only making ONE card yesterday. "Ohhh, you're right, you should start slow," she said, nodding exaggeratedly at me with wide eyes like I just got off the short bus and also might be a tiny bit scaring her.

You should know that Kristy is not into cards. Or crafts. Or, you know, being polite. So I flared my nostrils at her, growled and maybe also smacked her once in the side of the head. Anyway, after we wiped the tears of sisterly laughter from our eyes, I showed her the card.



AH! Suddenly she's a little more respectful! I smacked her again anyway.

Just kidding! I should have, though, that would have been funny. So I also tried to get a clear picture of the inside but that IS a lot to ask. Here's a fuzzy version.




Since it turned out so amazing, (if I do say so myself,) I made a second one before I forgot how I did it. So yeah, TWO cards in one day.

Suck it, Kristy.

Love Shelley!

Guess what I made?

Yep! Another guest book. All of the other ones I've made (3 now!) are spoken for. This one, on the other hand... is up for grabs!

The cover is cream and black, with black fabric for the spine, and white ribbon for the binding. The inside covers are covered with coordinating cream-patterned paper (not shown.)



This one has 40 leaves of paper, and on the right side of each is a vellum pocket to put the signed cards in. They're 3x4, and the book comes with 120 of them. The vellum is slightly transparent, allowing you to see the cards in the pockets.



The left side of each spread has four black photo corners sized to perfectly fit a 4x6" photo; so the album holds not only the personal greetings of your guests, but 39 photos as well. The back of the last page is blank.



The front of the first page is currently blank so that personalization can be added. A special photo, or names and dates in calligraphy - whatever you choose to add.

All the pages are deckle-edged, just like the other ones. I like the way it looks, and I'm not bored of doing it yet!

And of course, thanks to blogger, one random picture will now appear sideways for your entertainment. Feel free to squint if you have trouble making it out!



And that's all for now! But don't worry - I'll be back before you know it.

Love Shelley!