Fifty Really Isn't OLD, Is It?

Two of my favorite customers are turning 50 in the next week, and these women really don't look like they're about to be a half-century old! Could that be because I'm only 7 years younger than they are, and I don't feel old at all? Nah...well, maybe.

Lisa comes in daily and gets a venti 7 pump nonfat 180 degree no water no foam chai (but she's not high maintenance!). I wanted her card to be whimsical, because I know she's kinda dreading this milestone. So, I chose some cute characters from Doodle Factory that I had in my stash as the starting point for her card.

I also wanted bright and cheery, so that she'd smile when she opened it. Bright colors just seem to promote happiness somehow. I chose Gable Green, Green Galore, and Glorious Green from the Bold Brights family and stamped each of the little characters I chose--they look kind of stunned or a bit freaked out, don't they?--in the same color as the card stock to create a sort of patterned paper look. This card is 5"x7", and the layers seemed a bit ungrounded without something going on behind them. I had some alphabet and number stamps from PTI sitting on my desk for another project, so I inked up the number 50 in black and created another background diagonally across the card.

The sentiment is custom created using My Digital Studio. I used the Gill Sans Extra Condensed font, and chose Glorious Green as my color. I printed it and the interior message off from my computer and incorporated the one on the front with a Basic Black mat. The googlie eyes were a last minute addition that really make the card silly. She'll chuckle at this, I'm sure.

Michelle also comes in every day and gets a triple grande nonfat 3 splenda awesome foam latte, teaches preschool, and loves ladybugs. She has a bracelet, earrings, a necklace, and a keychain fob decorated with these, so determining the design for her card was easy.

I went to splitcoaststampers.com, searched the galleries for ladybugs, and found exactly what I was looking for--the little bugs created using circle punches! Thanks to CarolAnn's Corner, I had the sizes I needed already spelled out for me. But I couldn't keep things simple, and had to try to make them bigger. I ended up using a 1.75" for the wings, a 1.25" for the body, a 1" for the head, and .25" for the spots. I layered them on Brocade Blue and mounted it all on a simple Whisper White base that's 4.25"x5.5".

I wanted to add another bug to the inside to go with the message, so I made one using CarolAnn's original design, but I went with 1/8" circles for the spots. I made little tiny balls of adhesive to stick them on, and I'm really pleased with the look. All the ladies are popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Flight of the Butterfly.

I have a few days to get my fellow partners to sign these, and on their special days we'll be sure to do something like put a BIG 5-0 on their cups or sing or something. Fifty certainly is something to be celebrated, and I'm happy to have the chance to honor these two special women who make my job fun each day.