What Is It They Say About Elephants and Their Memories?

Is it true or is it a myth that elephants have good memories? As in, they remember things. I'm not sure, but this elephant seems to have a good memory for remembering birthdays of his friends, and being ready and willing to par-tay!

This card for today's Stamp-A-Stack features a bunch of retired stuff. Retired stuff still works, y'all, so it's getting put to good use! The set is Wild About You, the DSP is Cutie Pie, and the card stock is Purely Pomegranate. I loved this color {sigh}. This is a pretty straightforward design, but the little details of the ear popped up on a Stampin' Dimensional and the layered party hat in coordinating colors (from the current set Party Hearty) make it more special than your average greeting card from the grocery.

This card was originally intended for our monthly card making night at the Ronald McDonald House. I have a second that I'll show at another time, closer to when we go. The census at the House is always changing, and this month's residents are mostly male and older teens. At the advice of a fellow volunteer who is at the house weekly, we're postponing until there's a group there that might enjoy crafting more than this demographic. You gotta know your audience, and the guys just don't have the love for crafting! So some of the supplies will be put to good use this weekend at my house instead.

Happy weekend to you! My folks arrive from IN for the week, so we'll be getting some good face time with them in the next 7 days. Someone in our house is having a birthday, so we'll be going out to dinner and having some chocolate cake! Be sure to remember those in your life with birthdays. It really does mean more than you think to get a card in the mail.

Party Hearty, Cutie Pie!

This card is one that was inspired by a card I saw in SCS as well. Nancy Riley is one of my favorite card artists on the web, and I loved what she did so I CASE'd it. I'm not sure how I feel about it, especially the ribbon. I didn't like how the patterned paper showed through the ribbon, so I lined that area of the card with a strip of Whisper White. What I didn't realize would happen is that it would show through when I tied the knot! Duh. So I tied a knot and stuck it on. Now I'm not sure if it works. Thoughts? This also started out to be a kid card, but the paper's not as whimsical as it needs to be, in my opinion. Should it stay or should it go?

P.S. Thanks so much for all your kind comments about the card I posted yesterday. I don't think I've received that many comments in quite some time, and it was nice to hear from all of you!

Productivity and Creativity=Progress

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, thinking about the cards I have to make by Monday. It's a bit disturbing to have your first thoughts be about a card layout. I decided, after laying there for 15 min., to go ahead and go with the creative flow and start tackling the 30 cards I need to produce by Monday.

I went after the baby cards first, since these were the ones I knew would challenge me the most. I'm just not in that stage of life, so I don't really have warm fuzzies that would help drive the creative juices. It did help to have the list of cards that Leah had said she liked. This reminded me of some cards I'd made that fall into this category that I had forgotten about. The first one was the Lauren Meader baby onesie card. A classic, if you ask me! And it never fails to turn out cute. If you look for "onesie card" on my sidebar, you'll find a tutorial link in that post. My favorite detail is the scalloped "collar", which is made by punching out half of a 1 3/8" circle on a piece of scrap paper, and then punching around it with the scalloped circle punch. Genius!

Next, I made a quilt card in neutral greens and yellows. Can I just tell you how many sleepers I had in these colors for Michael? We didn't go the route of finding out what sex he was until the obstetrician delivered him, so he wore his share of mint green and pale yellow! I love being able to put to use some retired designer paper. I think this is Polka Dots & Paisleys or something like that. I'm still struggling to find a white marker that is bold enough to simulate stitching. I threw away a gel roller ball pen that I wrestled with and couldn't get to write, and the marker I found at Michael's this afternoon just doesn't have enough "umph". If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be really grateful! BTW, this uses that cute baby stroller from Fun & Fast Notes.

After work, I pulled out some more retired DP and went with this brown and pink combination, since Leah indicated she likes it. This saying is ANCIENT SU!--but it's sweet. It may not have photographed well, but there are little pink footprints behind that saying. (Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.) A decent sized length of wide chocolate chip grosgrain was put to use making those little knots above and below the sentiment.

I had two of these little tri-fold cards unassembled and they are the perfect boy colors--Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery. The medallion is made by double punching the scalloped edge punch, and the sentiment "a little something for a little someone" is from a new hostess Level 1 set I earned. A nice addition to the stash, since it's all sentiments! I created the rounded flap by using my Coluzzle Circle cutting system. The DP is from Cutie Pie, one of my favorites from the last catalog.

I also finished a few blank inspirational cards, but I'm going to save those for tomorrow. I completed 8 cards tonight, so that has alleviated some of my nervousness about whether or not I could make the necessary number by Monday. I have to keep plugging away, though, so there'll be plenty of posts forthcoming! Thanks for the prayers, positive thoughts, and encouragement in this new venture.