Mickey & Donald, bffs!

Recently, I was so honored to be asked to create some cards for a friend of mine who just became a Grandma for the first time! Her son had twin boys and she asked me if I would be so kind as to create their Christening cards. Ellie is a Disney fan (hence why we're friends of course) so she wanted them to have a Disney theme. I wanted to create two cards that while each had similar elements, were indeed very different from each other (just as I imagine, her twin grandsons will be!).

I turned to my Mickey and Friends cricut cartridge and started to work on baby Xavier and baby Adrian's card.

I wanted to stick to each character's distinct color palate, but keep the same spacing. For Donald, I chose blues and yellows. Adrian and Xavier were cut from the Cuttin' Up cartridge. I really like the cartoonish font you find on this cartridge! Red and yellow was used for Mickey and I used black ribbon as a divider on both cards.

Of course, I made these listening to Disney music so there were definitely moments of pause so I could successfully belt out a few notes ('Let it Go' from Frozen comes to mind here!).

When I'm 64!

This year, my Dad turned 64. Let's just take a moment to enjoy that great Beatles song that I've been humming for weeks now....

For his card, I wanted to use these super cute Penny Black critter stamps I got a few weeks ago. These hedgehogs are so adorable!

The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye and I wanted to stick to a masculine palate without using the same typical blue colors.

I used the following copics on the hedgehogs:

• Body: E31, E50, E25, RV10
• Hearts: YR04, YR21
• Shadow: BG10

I made the hearts orange instead of red so that they would match. I really like the way this came out copic wise. I'm trying to improve and thanks to youtube, I feel like I'm making progress. And most importantly, my Dad was happy with it!

My parents and I at a birthday brunch after taking my dad to church. Happy Birthday, Daddy-o!

Let the Fun Begin!

It's always sad when a coworker you love gets a better job and leaves. Great coworkers are SO rare, but thankfully I have been blessed with a few. (two of which are my closest friends!) When one of the ladies who worked for Human Resources told me she was leaving, I knew I wanted to make her a card. (after I begged her not to go, of course!) I wanted to keep it light and cheerful and since I have been obsessed with my Recollections Neapolitan Collections pack, I turned to the images to create a collage card.

I REALLY love these patterned images of lines and polka dots. These colors just scream SPRING to me, so I wanted to incorporate as much as I could. She ended up loving her card and even though I was sad to see her go, it's nice to see people you like moving on and up in their lives. =)

21st Birthday Blog Hop!

Welcome to Day 2 of Ashley's 21st Birthday Blog Hop!

We are so glad you could join us! If you've come from Ashley's blog, you're in the right place! If you have just come across the hop and would like to start at the beginning, please visit Ashley at Made Especially For You.

This weekend we are celebrating Ashley's 21st Birthday with some fun and creative, birthday/alcohol-themed projects! It's not 21 without a drink or two, right?!

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I was SO excited when Ashley asked me to be apart of this blog hop celebration. She was such huge a help with my million Copic questions that I knew I wanted to create a card that showcased what I've learned so far. I tried to incorporate both a birthday and alcoholic theme at first, but it just wasn't working with my stamps. I wanted to use some Penny Black Mimi stamps and she seemed a little too wholesome next to the Jack and Coke. haha I just stuck to Mimi and it will hopefully remind Ashley of a more innocent time of birthday cake and streamers.

The background paper is from The Recollections Neapolitan Collections pack. I am so LOVING this paper! It's so fun! I cut the scallop die from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge and stamped my Penny Black Mimi stamp on it. I used some distress ink on the flag and the scallop cut forThe sentiment is from a $1 stamp pile from Michael's and I added the flowers to top off the card. We have 21 fabulous sponsors providing 21 fabulous prizes for those who hop with us, and because there are so many of them, we have included all the prize information in the second stop of the lineup. To be eligible to win, you must... - Leave a comment on EVERY stop of BOTH days of the hop  Winners will be randomly chosen and announced on Friday March 14th at Made Especially For You. Your next stop is Angeline's blog. 
Here's the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way...
Day 2 Ashley Hop Prizes Michelle Angeline Pam Madge Stephanie Erica Georgiana Julie O.  Happy Hopping! :)  

Sunshine and Happiness

I had to create a thank-you card for someone and I wanted it to be extra special. I also wanted a reason to break out the Copics again. I recently bought these fun sunflower clear stamps and I wanted to try them out. I should have taken pictures of the many attempts. I first tried a pinkish/yellowish scheme, but my card was looking too much like Candyland! I decided perhaps natural colors would be best.

I used a Martha Stewart paper puncher to trim the white card stock and the orange background. I then decided to very lightly, sponge some antique photo distress ink on the edges. It's barely noticeable in the photo though. The sentiment was from a $1 pile I found at Michael's.

When I was stamping it, I got that Rod Stewart song, Forever Young in my head which I think is actually a cover of Bob Dylan. Go give it a listen. It'll make you smile.

A Valentine for my Valentine!

I try to make my boyfriend JP something special every year and this year was no exception. I found the cutest stamp from Joann's called Kissin' Kiddos and when it arrived, I started practicing! I should have taken a picture of all the attempts I made, trying to perfect the hair and clothing, but what matters is the end result.

You know, I don't say this very often, but I'm super super proud of this one.

I tried making the girl's skin color a little darker than the boy's since I'm Spanish (but seriously, with this winter weather, I'm as pale as he is these days!).

The background paper was from a Martha Stewart Valentine's Day pack I picked up from Michael's last year (always recycle your holiday paper!). I cut out the heart from the Sweethearts cricut cartridge and stamped the image on there. As for colors, I wanted to make this card very traditional so I stuck to the red/pink and blue/green palate.

JP really liked it so that made me even prouder of this card. I feel like I'm making progress on my copics too!

For Dad

For Valentine's Day, I always make my Dad's card first. Probably because he was always my first Valentine and you know what they say about Daddy's girls.

When I saw this Penny Black stamp,  I knew I had to have it. It took me many tries with my Copics to get it just right- especially the pants!

I wanted to keep the rest of the card as simple as possible since the coloring took me a few days to perfect. I still think her skirt is a little off, but hey- I'm a beginner. At any rate, my Daddy-o loved it. So that's all that matters.