Birthday Balloon Cards

Actopus to Zelephant themed cards

We've gotten about a foot of snow today and I've been busy playing in my craft room! I have had a set of papers called Actopus to Zelephant by K&Co that I've had for a couple years that were just too cute to cut up until today!

Cards and CREATE

I found this adorable decal at Joanns with 3-D shapes in each letter to fill in a little space beside my stamping cart. I bought it right after Christmas but it took me awhile to decide on where to put it.

 Here are a few cards I made using a new set of papers from American Crafts. I LOVE the paper! (Although I did add in some extras here and there from another set).

Birthday Cards

Magnolia Birthday Card

Here's another card I made today, this time using the magnolia blossom from JustRite Papercraft. It's quite lovely! I colored the flower with my copic markers, and added a sentiment inside the card from Our Daily Bread Designs. They're getting to be my two favorite places! The "Your special day" tiny tag is from Papertrey Ink. I have to add that I LOVE the svg cuts on my new Cricut Explore. They made the magnolia shadow a breeze! 

Hydrangea Birthday Card

Using my new Cricut Explore and the svg files from Just Rite Papercraft I made this card for my little sister's birthday earlier this week. I stamped it with my JustRite stamps I recently bought, and colored it with my copic markers. 

We also got a special treat (though schools weren't closed) on Thursday. The weathermen were forecasting "less than an inch, turning to rain by noon" but it turned out to be "more than 3" all freaking day long." :-) I thoroughly enjoyed it, but we didn't get much done in class. I had several little boys who kept their eyes peeked through the blinds more than they looked at their work!

View from our classroom windows:

Another Birthday Card

Here is another birthday card I made while playing around with my new Explore today. The downside is going to be that I click on images I want now without having to consider what cartridge it came from.. hmmm.... So here is a pretty flower and pretty floral background. :-) I used the birthday stamps from Papertrey Ink, and I have no idea where the cool ribbon came from. I've had it forever.

Birthday Card and a New Cricut!

My mom's best friend is having a birthday next week, and she's had a really rough last few years. I made this sweet card for her, even though she says that she's not celebrating anymore birthdays. She needs to know how much she's loved!

The inside:

And the back:

On another note, I bought a new Cricut Explore machine back on Launch Day in February (backordered so I didn't get it until the 11th!) It's SO awesome because now I can not only use cartridges, but I can cut svg files, jpg files, and ANY font that's on my computer. Oh my goodness I'm in Heaven! lol I've been SO happy we've had snow/ice days lately because there never seems to be enough time to craft.

Here is my name I cut with pink vinyl and added to personalize my new machine. I think it turned out super cute!

Cards and Another Tutu

Here is a set of 4 birthday cards I made randomly last night. Almost every day this week I've started to clean my craft room, then find something amazing and sit down to play with it- and never finish organizing. This is what I played with yesterday. 

I put them in clear envelopes and stamped "Happy Birthday" on them, then stored them in one of these clear boxes that are so neat from Papertrey Ink.

And here is another tutu I made this morning (last day of Christmas vacation, you've got to be kidding me if you think I'd wake before noon) afternoon that took about an hour. I love these things, and they turn out SO cute. Here is a little more detail in how they're made. 

Step 1. Put a stretchy headband around a chair

Step 2. Cut about 40 strips of tulle 6x24 (or longer) 

Step 3. Make a U shape with the tulle and pull the two open ends through the closed end around the headband to make temporary knots

 Step 4. Pull petals off of flower stem (I like hydrangeas) and hot glue a small pearl to each center

Step 5. If desired, glue petals on strips of 24 inch ribbon to add to tutu, otherwise, glue petals onto tutu. I did both, using about 30 flowers total

 Step 6. Make a hairbow using leftover petals

 Step 7. Admire your beautiful tutu. This one will be really cute with a black leotard. 

 Here is is all laid out. It will stretch to fit just about any size. Of course the smaller the waist, the fuller the skirt. The leotards I found were size 2-4, which will be perfect for most any girl in this age range.