Lolliop Happy Birthday Card and How To Glue Small Pieces

This week for one of my Facebook groups I am posting  a birthday card it's a recreation from a card I did a few years ago. If you are a member of the group you know where to find the SVG file for download. 

Supplies Used:

Cricut Maker

Make the Cut (for designing)

Cricut Design Space (for cutting)

Cuttlebug 

Paper Studio Quatrefoil folder

Various Cardstock

Transparency Overlay Sheet

Nuvo Crystal Drops Sugared Almond

Stickles Starry Night

Stickles Diamond 

Glimmer Mist Pearl

Art Glitter Glue

Teflon Mat (read below for information)

Back in 2014 I posted a card from the Stampin Up Sweets for the Sweet stamp set and I really liked that card. Even though I still have the stamp set I wanted to recreate that card and cut it with the Cricut Maker so I could test how the Maker cuts Transparency Overlay sheets. It is something I never cut with the Explore machines. I was pleasantly surprised how well the transparency cut! 

The only issue with cutting this card was the mint paper and that was not the fault of the Cricut Maker but the cardstock. The cardstock fine sheen layer to it and it separated in a few places on the lettering when I was taking it off the mat but a dot of glue fixed any of those problems. The letters are a little less than a 1/16" thin and the Cricut Maker cut them beautifully!

Here is a close up of the lollipops and you can see the Cricut Maker cut those beautifully as well as the transparency overlay material that I used for the lollipop "packaging". The Art Glitter Glue is simply wonderful and I have started using it as my #1 go to glue. The big bottle is much cheaper in the long run and you can always pour some in a smaller bottle for easy handling. It doesn't seem to warp paper like many glues do and it doesn't leave a shiny film if you over glue. To glue the transparency on I added a small dot of glue on the lollipop stick right below the circle and then added a small dot at the top of the circle on a raised part of cardstock. On the pink candies I used Diamond Stickles on the swirl top layer and on the purple I used Starry Night Stickles on the pinwheel top layer. Oh I also added a couple of squirts of Glimmer Mist Pearl to the circle layer and the sentiment. I think the pearl is my favorite of all the Glimmer Mists and I tend to use it more than anything else, especially when shaping flowers. 

**TIP OF THE DAY - GLUING SMALL PIECES TUTORIAL**

Now let's talk about gluing small pieces! There are so many fantastic things I would like to do but then I think "UGH!! I don't want to get glue everywhere!" and I will avoid a project or cut but while I was making this card I tried something *okie wonders if she might have tried this years ago but then forgot about it* for the small cuts. Instead of turning the cut upside down and applying glue I put a little Art Glitter Glue on a teflon sheet and then used my Tweezerbee's to dip the piece into the glue and let me tell you...GAME CHANGER!! I didn't have to worry about excess glue all over my cut and wiping off glue after I put my cut down.

I searched Amazon and found a 5 pack of 16" x 24" Teflon Sheets for $9.99. If you pick these up in a craft store you can pay that much for just one sheet. These are also larger than the sheets they sell for "heat press teflon sheets" and work wonderfully for that purpose as well. I know because I actually have this same pack that I found at a bargain store. The piece I used for making this card was what was left over from cutting a sheet down to use with my heat press. I keep this little piece in a drawer so it is handy for me to pull out when I need a non stick surface.

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - It's Party Time

I think this one is definitely a birthday card!

Supplies Used: 

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 

Various Cardstock
Stampin Up Itty Bitty Punch Pack Flower
McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit
Fiskars Threading Water Punch

1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Nuvo Crystal Drops 

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 


This balloon was a pain to figure out. I wanted it pop dotted but the "string" was so thin I was afraid that it might tear during handling so I glued the majority of the "string" to the paper and then pop dotted just the balloon.

This was another card that I cut out the background and replaced it with something I liked more. It's amazing how you can make things look so different with Graphic 45 papers!

I used a stamp image on this card because I need to add something besides the main image and the little stamped images seem to work well for such purposes. I used my flower making tools to add dimension to the punched flowers and the fussy cut flowers. Of course I used the Nuvo Drops!

You can't see the Fiskars Threading Water punch border in this picture but I have to tell you a story about using punches while making these cards. So like I said at the beginning of the series, these were made after my hand surgery and each one took quite awhile due to how my hand was wrapped up and then the soreness I found it impossible to use some of the punches. I tried using my left hand to punch but it was still sore and my right hand was totally out of the question, so how did I do it? Well I put the punch on the floor and use my foot! YES...MY FOOT! Ya know the old saying...where there's a will there's a way!

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Let's Party

Are you guys tired of these cards yet? I hope not because there are still 3 more after this card! I kinda like the "Let's Party" on this card because it can be used for a variety of occasions such as birthday, anniversary, wedding or just if ya wanna give your friend a card and get drunk!

Supplies Used: 

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 

Various Cardstock
Spellbinders Iron Motif Die
Bazzill Swiss Dot Ribbon
Stampin Up 3 Flower Punch - retired

Stampin Up Photo Corner Punch -retired
Hotfix Rhinestones

Nuvo Jewel Drops 

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 

This card has a bit more going on than some of the cards. I added the photo corners because without them it looked a little too plain to me and after the plain baby card I wanted to do something a bit more decorative and now that I look at this I wonder if it might be a bit too busy. If it is then it's too bad because I'm sure not taking it apart!

There is a lot of decorative layering here. I used the Spellbinders die and then a circle and then one of the postage stamp images in the collection. Since the white die cut looked a little plain, and I can't leave well enough alone, I added some hotfix rhinestones...besides, who doesn't love bling?!

I had cut the die cuts a long time ago and had them in reserve for when I might want to use them and this series of cards seemed like a good time to use them. I think I need to do that with some of my other dies because it makes it nice to have something ready and not have to get out the Cuttlebug or Gemini.







I punched out the little flowers from the vellum type paper and then inked the petals a bit. The centers are Nuvo Jewel Drops, which are different than the Nuvo Crystal Drops. The jewel drops dry translucent while the crystal are opaque. I totally serious guys when I say you need to try these things! I wish I had all the colors in both the jewel and crystal but surprisingly I do not *okie thinks that might be a good Mother's Day gift for herself in a few months*.

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Very Happy Birthday

And today we have yet another birthday card! I used this image on the Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate Birthday Girl but I just loved her sweet face and wanted to use her again.

Supplies Used: 

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 

Various Cardstock 
Stampin Up Itty Bitty Punch Pack Flower

Bazzill Swiss Dot Ribbon

Nuvo Crystal Drops 

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 

Is anyone else a ribbon freak? I love ribbon and use it on almost all my cards and scrapbook pages *okie tries to remember the last time she did a scrapbook page* and the organza ribbon is always so nice! You can see how I added the banner over the image and I pop dotted it for dimension.

Once again I feel the inking really made the banner stand out and that is why I'm an obsessive inker!

The little flowers were punched out of a vellum like paper with the Stampin Up Itty Bitty Punch Pack Flower *okie so loves her punches but then again okie is rather attached to all her toys in her craftroom*. I used Buttermilk Nuvo Drops on the flower centers and then dropped Bubblegum and Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops randomly for added accent.

The butterfly was a fussy cut add on and I did pop dot the wings. Y'all know good and well I am all about dimension!

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Boy With Balloons

So this is a birthday card but not sure I would give it to a boy because of the colors. I guess some boys would like the colors but most I know would be wondering why I gave them a girly looking card. 

Supplies Used: 

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 

Various Cardstock  

Mini Brads
Stampin Up Marker - Chocolate Chip
Stampin Up Corner Punch
Glossy Accents

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 

To jazz the card up a bit I used Glossy Accents on the pink balloons but left the white plain and to be honest I was just too lazy to do the white and it actually seemed to work out better with giving the pink a little more dimension and make them stand out.

I always have to make sure to set things aside when I use Glossy Accents or any other product that goes on wet because I am notorious about picking it back up and sticking my finger right in the wet stuff. Anytime I show my daughter something I have to make sure it's dry because she always, ALWAYS, wants to touch whatever is sticking up, even if I tell her DON'T TOUCH THAT PART! But she does anyway...good thing she had moved out before I did this card! *okie cracks up laughing*

One of my favorite little punches is the Stampin Up Ticket Punch which was retired a few years ago and I have seen some other punches that will do this effect but not at a very good price, at least not in my book. 

After I got the sentiment all done it seemed to need something else so I got out my hotfix rhinestones and added a few of those and that seemed to do the trick. My friend Carmen sometimes tells me that I don't know when to leave things alone *okie agrees she doesn't at times* but usually after I add just a little more she likes the project even better.

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Girl With Doll

Getting back to the Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate cards that I was posting...this one is definitely a birthday card!

Supplies Used: 

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 

Various Cardstock  

Organza Ribbon
Ribbon Buckle

Spellbinders Moroccan Accents

Nuvo Crystal Drops 

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 

I should have written details after I made the cards because now it is hard for me to remember for sure what all I used and did to make the cards but I'm trying my best to remember.

I cut the frame from one image and then added the girl from another, including the banner. I pop dotted the frame on another background. I had to cut a piece of edging to go on the right hand side of the frame so it would size right. That is one of the great things with Graphic 45 papers, you can always find something to make your ideas work and people will think you are a creative genius when the credit really goes to the paper designers for always making sure there are different images that can be cut out and used in other ways.

I double matted the frame on white and then pink paper because the base paper was busy and I didn't want main image to just wash into the background.

Inking always seems to make a world of difference to me. I always complain about doing it and I do try not to ink at times but with these type of cards it seems to really help the images stand out a little more. *okie raises her hand, stands up and says "Hi, I'm okieladybug and I'm an obsessive inker*.


I've had ribbon buckles for quite a few years and I always forget to use them and actually found them while digging through my embellishment drawer looking for something to use with this card. I have a hard time using them on cards because I always wonder if it's too thick to go through the regular mail but I'm trying to get over that issue. The ribbon is actually from one of those instant bow things and I cut it apart to use just as regular ribbon for cards. I think I got them for like a nickel a piece or some ridiculously low amount at the local bargain store. 

The white doily looking paper is cut from one of the Spellbinders Moroccan Accents die set and it just kinda gives the ribbon and buckle a nice little center.

Hope you guys aren't tired of seeing these because I have several more from this paper collection to post!

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Woman With Rose

I have a hard time coming up with what to title posts at times and "Woman With Rose" was the best I could come up with for this card.

Supplies Used:

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate

Various Cardstock

Bazzill Swiss Dot Ribbon
1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Stampin Up Eyelet Border Punch - retired

Nuvo Crystal Drops - Bubblegum Blush

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided
Westcott Titanium Non Stick Scissors 

The reason the Westcott Titanium Non-Stick Scissors are mentioned is because I use them to cut my mounting foam and Super Double Sided tape and let me tell ya folks...they are a game changer!! Neither of those products will stick to these scissors and if you cut a lot of that stuff you know how often you have to clean your scissors because they get gummed up! They have the OKIE 5 STAR APPROVAL for sure!

As most of you know I am totally addicted to inking and I wasn't going to ink with these cards but what I found was the images that I fussy cut seemed to stand out a little better when I did ink the edges so inking I did! The lady was cut from one image and then layered on a different image because and I did that with quite a few of the cards. I started to pop dot the lady but didn't want too much bulk...the envelope issues I have ya know, but I think she looks fine just glued on top of the paper.

I liked how this one just simply says "Time To Celebrate" as it can be used for birthday, congratulations or any celebration type occasion. It's always nice to have some multi-purpose cards in the old card stash box.

I did pop dot the rose bud but the stem is glued down. As you can see I added some random Nuvo Crystal Drops here and there. It always amazes me how such little things can add so much more to a project. I am willing to admit at this point I am addicted to the Nuvo Crystal Drops and you will likely see them on every card from this collection. I might need to start buying them by the quart *okie wonders if such thing is even possible*.

Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate - Birthday Girl

I did do a little crafting during the time of my hand surgeries and it was slow going and typing up posts for the projects were impossible at the time because I would have been beyond frustrated but now that I can type I thought I would start posting some of the things I have done.

I'll be posting a series of cards I did using Graphic 45 Time To Celebrate. I got a couple of these paper pads sometime back during one of my trips to Houston and just knew they would make easy cards. Easy is not a word I would use now since they required a fair amount of fussy cutting and I only made 2 of each card...yes TWO! My hands wouldn't let me do the labor required to make 6 of each.

Supplies Used:

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate

Various Cardstock

1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

EK Success Medallion Chain Punch

Nuvo Crystal Drops - Ivory SeaShell

Hotfix Rhinestones

Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan

Mounting Foam Squares

Thermoweb Super Tape Double Sided

Instead of the regular A2 size card I made this series bigger and opted for 5x7" since some of the images were too large for the 4.25x5.5" area of the A2 cards. This also gave me more room for layering some of the gorgeous paper. The border at the bottom of the card is actually cut in half from the Medallion Chain Punch. Since half of it was going to be mostly covered I didn't see the sense in wasting it *okie knows she is such a cheap azz sometimes*.

I believe the colors of ribbon are Moss and Deep Mauve, I'm too lazy to get up and check right now. Even though the pink looks too dark there is some darker pink on the plaid paper and I tried some lighter pink but it just looked a bit washed out. I had to stagger the length so the bows wouldn't over lap too much and cause the card not to fit in an envelope well.

I absolutely love some of the cards I see with all the embellishment but my practical mind won't let me partake in such things because I always think "well that won't fit in an envelope" and if I would allow my mind to think further I would realize that I rarely send out the cards I make and they sit in a box in my craftroom closet so embellishment probably wouldn't be a problem! Please tell me that other people have the same thought about embellishment and then not sending out cards. I do give a lot of my cards away for others to use so maybe I am justified after all.

If you look closely at the little flowers you can see the centers are done with the Nuvo Crystal Drops. People if you have not tried the Nuvo Crystal Drops then you are missing out! I have tried many different type products such as the Viva Decor and the Liquid Pearls but the Nuvo are the best I've ever worked with! The bottle squeezes nicely and instead of the pointy tops like I tend to get with the Liquid Pearls I get nice round tops.

 I think I still have 11 different cards from this paper that I will be posting so be sure to come back and see the rest of them!

Stampin Up Birthday Blooms Card

Another stamp set I ordered a few weeks ago was the Birthday Blooms out of the Occasions Catalog. I wanted to challenge myself with trying watercoloring a stamped image with my Stampin Up Inks and I thought this would be a good set to try the process. 

Don't forget I am having an online party and if you would like to make an order just go > HERE< to make your order and use Hostess Code  UBZCDCFA when you check out, you should see my name as the hostess once you enter the code. 

I wasn't sure how I liked this process when I started doing the watercoloring process and I wasn't sure how well my image was turning out and thought about trashing them. I did post it on Facebook and I got some good feedback so I decided to go ahead and finish the images and make some cards. 

I have to admit that I totally lifted the idea for the card from Stampin With Kristi although I had to change a few things since I didn't have the supplies she did. The image had to be "fussy cut" and I ended up cutting off some of the leaf bunches because I am lazy. 

Supplies used:

Stampin Up Birthday Blooms Stamp set

Stampin Up Inks

Watercolor Brush
Watercolor Paper

Stampin Up Label Collection Dies (retired)

Various Paper

Cuttlebug Distress Stripe embossing folder

Transparent paper

Linen Ribbon

Square Punch

Martha Stewart pearls

I tied the bow using the Double Bow method and the tutorial linked was the easiest and shortest I found. For the little banner I just used a square punch to make the end forked. 

It's hard to see but I did add a few little flowers with one of the stamps in the set and I guess I should have used a darker color since they are hard to see but it was too late after I got them stamped. 

This set came from the Occasions Catalog and you can order from the link at the beginning of this post and don't forget if you order $50 of product you get a free item from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.

If you are not familiar with Stampin Up Sale-A-Bration here is the information how it works...

For Every $50.00 you spend you get a FREE exclusive Sale-A-Bration item! These free items are selected from the exclusive Sale-A-Bration catalog.

• Choose ONE free Sale-A-Bration item when you spend $50 (before ship/tax)
• Choose TWO free Sale-A-Bration items when you spend $100 (before ship/tax)
• Choose THREE free Sale-A-Bration items when you spend $150 (AND qualify for the usual hostess rewards of $25)
• Once your order reaches $250 (before ship/tax)  you get a BONUS $25.00 in hostess rewards
• There is No Limit to the number of  Sale-A-Bration Rewards you can earn.

Stampin Up Big Day Tag Card

I decided to get another card done with this stamp set since I had stamped off quite a few images. I had a bit of hard time trying to decide what to do and the card ended up pretty simple but the tag is definitely the focus.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up Products -

  Big Day stamp set

  Scallop Tag Topper Punch 

  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie inks

  Old Olive cardstock

Basic Grey Cupcake pattern paper

Memento Ink

Paper Studio brads

1" square punch

Bakers twine

Stardust Pen

Mounting Foam

The Stampin Up tag topper punches make it super fast to make tags. The width is limited to 2" wide but the length can be anything you want. I'm not sure how long the tags are since I just cut them to fit the stamped image.

The image was stamped on white cardstock and I inked around the edges with the Pumpkin Pie ink. After coloring the "birthday" I went over it with a Stardust pen to give it just a bit of glimmer. 

I stamped the "celebrate" on old olive cardstock, fussy cut it and then used mounting foam to make it more dimensional. The "cake" was stamped on a piece of the Basic Grey Cupcake paper, trimmed down and a 1" square punch was used for the ends to make a banner. 

Stampin Up Big Day Birthday Card

I'm gonna be honest and say I wasn't sure about this stamp set when I ordered it but I am always looking for new birthday stamps and now that I have used it I have to say I am lovin the Big Day stamp set! I'm glad I got it when I did since it is no longer available. It was one of the items from Sale-A-Bration catalog back in the spring.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up - Big Day stamp set (retired), Oval and 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punches

ProMarkers - Crimson, Marsh Green, Moss, Coral, Amethyst, Apricot,  Blue Pearl, Caramel, Cocoa, Blender Pen

Memento Black Ink 

1/4" Grosgrain ribbon

Paper Studio brads

Karen Foster Happy Birthday

Various cardstock

I didn't take a picture of the inside but the sentiment says "and perhaps a little ice cream!" The stamps actually have a lot of versatility to them and I have some images to make another set of 6 cards. When I was stamping the images I texted BFF Carmen and asked if she wanted me to stamp some off for her and of course she said yes.

I used my ProMarkers to do the coloring on the images and I do find that Memento Ink seems to work best. I have tried Stazon in the past and it seems to smear while Memento stays nice and crisp. I used the blender pen to take away some of the color for a highlighted look on the banner, letters and the cake image. 

I guess I'll take a break from making cards for a bit after I use up the other images I have stamped since I have to work on some giftbags for my stepgrandaughter's softball team. I'm still not sure what I am going to do to decorate them but I guess it better be good!

Stampin Up Amazing Birthday Card

I know I make more birthday cards than any other type of card and I think it is because as a general rule people send more birthday cards than any other card. Like I said a few posts ago, my card stash is running low and I am working to restock. Another reason I need to restock is because BFF Carmen is coming to visit soon and I will have to trade cards for the awesome Graphic 45 paper she sent me recently. She will never take money, even if I beg, instead she always wants to be paid in cards or other creations. 

The Amazing Birthday stamp set was another one I ordered in the spring and my groups used over the summer when making birthday cards.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up

  Amazing Birthday Stamp Set

  Everyday Enchantment paper

  Soft Suede cardstock

  Soft Suede, Cameo Coral Ink

  Lucky Limeade, Coastal Cabana Ink

  Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral Ribbon

  7/8" Scallop Circle Punch

3/4" Circle Punch

Button Hole Punch

Paper Studio brads

Mounting Foam

I actually found the idea for this card in a Google search and really fell in love with it. I did have to stamp off the "TODAY" and "AMAZING" and cut them out by hand but it was worth the time and effort, and then used mounting foam to layer them on top of the original stamped image. I used a button hole punch to thread the ribbon through and tie off. The little "IT'S FOR YOU" was stamped and then punched out with the 3/4" circle punch and then I layered it on a 7/8" scallop circle I punched out. 

I left the inside of the card blank because I am thinking the card can be used for a variety of occasions even though birthday is what I had in mind when I made it. 

Stampin Up Celebrate Today Birthday Card

I ordered this stamp set back in the spring because I wanted to use it for when my groups at McCalls would make birthday cards and I haven't used it for myself until now and I know I'm going to use it again because there are a lot of different things you can do with the stamps and  matching framelits.

Supplies Used:

Stampin Up products -

  Celebrate Today stamp set

  Balloon Framelits

  Itty Bitty Banner stamps(retired)

  Bitty Banners Framelits

  Baked Brown Sugar Ink

  Cherry Cobbler Ink 

  Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

Scenic Route - Sonoma paper

Paper Studio - Cloud Paper

Mounting Foam

The Celebrate Today stamp set has a couple of balloon stamps you can use but for this card I just used the framelits and cut out patterned paper for the balloons but I did use a stamp from the set for the basket. I did have to fussy cut the basket but it was worth it to get the great effect on the card. The sentiment that says "Happy Day" is from the Itty Bitty Banner stamp set that is now retired. The banner is from the Bitty Banner framelit set.

The bottom two balloons are attached directly to the card mat and the top balloon was pop dotted. I crinkled the banners a little so they would look more like they were waving in the wind.  I do wish I would have cut out more of the banners to add to the balloons but maybe next time because I'm not getting the back out of my box to redo them now.

Birthday Banner - My Friend Nancy

So yesterday I posted the masculine banner and today I'm posting a more feminine birthday banner, the one I made for my friend Nancy. We had a get together for her birthday at a mutual friends house, who makes like the worlds best fajita's by the way, and I made a banner with her favorite colors of maroon and teal. Well I added a little silver and cream to the mix as well.

First off let me say it is very difficult to get good pictures of a banner because it is so dang long, so please bear with me having the banner in 3 pictures. 

The flags of the banner are cut out of heavy cardstock and the letters are done in vinyl. I also cut some flourish designs to add on the flags that the flowers are on. I had some sheer ribbon that I used for the bows at the ends of the banner. 

I pulled out some of my precious Petaloo flowers to add for decoration and while I hate using those flowers I figured Nancy was worth the sacrifice.  Big brads were used on a few of the flowers and then brads with crystal centers were used for the others.   

I didn't laminate Nancy's banner because I wanted to sew it together with ribbon and wasn't sure how my Janome Sew Mini would do with sewing through the lamination. Not long after it was hung up I was wishing I had laminated it because the air was very humid and the paper started curling. I might try a small piece of paper laminated through the sewing machine just to see if it will work so I will know for future references and if it does then there will likely be no end to my creating banners that can be stored and reused! 

Birthday Banner - For a Guy

While I haven't been posting in the last few months that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting....okay I've been crafting very, very, very little *okie hangs head in shame* but on a positive note my stamps are all organized! So what do y'all think of my stamp set up now?

Oh yes this post is about a birthday banner for a man *okie is quite amazed at how fast squirrels tend to distract her*! I've made two in the last month or so and while they were both banners they were quite different.

Today I want to share the one I made for my friend Eric. A few of us who hang out at happy hour *okie suddenly realizes she probably needs to post about that as well and thinks  there is a lot she hasn't shared and wonders how long it will take to catch everyone up with the going on's in okie's life* decided to surprise our friend Eric for his birthday and my task was to make a banner and a cake. 

I used 8.5 x 11 kraft carstock for the base of the banner and was able to fit two flags per sheet. I wondered what I wanted to use for the lettering since I really didn't want to waste paper on something that might be thrown away and I came up with using vinyl and in colors I have quite a bit of. This also made it easier for me to laminate the flags since I wanted to try out the laminator a friend sent me.

Since happy hour consists of $1 beers I thought it was appropriate to use beer mug images on the banner. Here you can see the images a little better. It was easy to layer the mug images and the letters. 

You can also see where I laminated the pieces which I am glad I did since Eric said he was going to keep the banner and hang it in his man cave. I trimmed around the pieces with my guillotine cutter so that went pretty fast. 

When I was in 8th grade my mom sent me to cake decorating classes at the local Junior college and I completed all the courses they had available and I then earned extra money decorating cakes and since I lived in a rural area I had a pretty steady income of extra money for a 13 year old. My Aunt Betty and her family moved to Oklahoma when I was 15 and she too could decorate cakes and she taught me how to make a bikini cake using heart shaped pans and baking some batter in mugs that have a fairly round bottom. 

For Eric I decided a bikini cake was the way to go! I was a bit disappointed in it because it should have been smoother but I have concluded that my little Hamilton Beach hand mixer is no match for making decent decorator buttercream icing. While I was not pleased with the results I will say the cake was a bit hit anyway! 

So now y'all can see that I'm a jack of all trades, or is that a jackess? Not to be confused with a jackass of course!

Stampin Up Classic Cars

I bought the retired Classic Cars stamp set from the lady who runs stamp club and I decided I should use it for one of the cards my groups were doing because we hadn't done anything particular masculine and I thought it was time they had at least one card in their stash that was masculine.

I did have the sentiment for the front and the car stamped already since it had to be in a particular area. If we are stamping a sentiment on the inside the group gets to stamp their own. Everyone of the group members loved this card. There are several that are car lovers and 3 of the members said they are going to keep the card for themselves and asked if that was okay. I told them "it is your creation and you get to to do what you want with it".

Oh I guess I should mention they loved the inside sentiment I had printed up which read "you're not old, you're just a classic". Now most folks don't give this particular population much credit but I will tell ya that everyone of them got the joke in the sentiment and loved it. One lady in particular said "I'm 54 now so that is what I am, I'm just a classic, not old" and the whole group laughed, including myself!

As much work as it is for me to get the card kits ready for the groups it is always worth it in the end because they love knowing they created something. I did tell them that I thought we might make some "thinking of you" or "get well" cards at the end of July and of course they are all for that! *okie sighs deeply* Now I will be bound as if it was law to do this in July because they will not let me forget that I said we "might" and how much they want to do them. Guess I better keep my guillotine cutter sharpened because I will be getting another 48 card kits ready!

Stampin Up Happiest Birthday Wishes

This is the second week of my group therapy groups making birthday cards. They made this one on Monday and another one yesterday, which I will post tomorrow.

Now let me tell you that how I have something envisioned is not always how they envision something. I had thought the sentiment should go on the right hand side and the circles go along the orange and black polka dot strip, as you see that is now how this particular person though it should be. A few did do the card how I had envisioned but I wanted to show one that was done with how they thought it should be decorated.

When we were making the card I did tell them "you can put the circles anywhere you think they look good". No matter where each client decided to put their circles or sentiment they all were thrilled with the end results of the card they made and in the end that is what matters the most.

Chicken Challenge Card - MTC and SVG Files Available

I decided that Carmen and I should do a challenge card so I designed one in Make The Cut. I then thought I would post it for the members of the Old Cricut Community Facebook group to see if anyone wanted to participate and there were a few who did.

For some reason it took me all day to get 6 of these done and I have no idea why since it wasn't a difficult card to do. I think I am getting distracted by my marathon watching of the HBO series Six Feet Under. I never watched it before and now I am hooked and haven't watched anything else since I started the series. That HBOgo is as addictive as Netflix I tell ya! Ummm, this was about a card though wasn't it!

I used a small black hot fix gem for the eye of the chicken. On the wing I did use a small piece of mounting foam to pop dot it off the body. I decided not to use a shadow layer on the chicken which is a little odd for me since I tend to shadow everything.

I used Hallmark Card Studio to do the inside sentiment and used the same font as I used on the front of the card. That is another thing I love about MTC...font matching!

This is the first time I've had a file available for download in quite some time and I think it is because I have been doing more stamping than cutting lately.

Download Files Here:

Stampin Up Happy Hello Card Kit - Flowers

The second card my groups are doing was also done with the Stampin Up Happy Hello Simply Sent card kit. They absolutely loved the shape of the card and the fancy envelopes. In order for them to keep the cards together I collect them after each session and then after our last session of making cards they get to take them all at once. I put them in plastic baggies with their names on it so the cards don't get lost or messed up in case they drop them. Last year this came in handy since one of them had set their baggy down and forgot about it. Luckily one of the Job Coaches saw it and knew whose it was so it got promptly returned to the rightful owner.

This is a card one of my clients put together. Again some of them chose to go vertical and others went horizontal. They did stamp something on the inside and they are getting rather good at making a nice clean crisp image with the stamps.

Some of the cards in the card kit had "HELLO" printed on them and in order to use the card I cut some strips of paper to put over that area and the group was then able to go ahead and use the card for a birthday card.

The flowers are done with the Stampin UP Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamps and punches. I dotted the centers of the yellow flowers with a red marker. The rhinestones on the red flowers were included in the kit. The sentiment is punched with the Stampin Up Word Window and Modern Label punch. Those two punches should be included in every card makers craft supply!

We will be doing two more cards next week and I had to make sure at least one included the Cuttlebug because they all LOVE LOVE LOVE using the Cuttlebug.

Stampin Up Happy Hello Card Kit - Candles

Some of you know this story and others do not so once again I will tell how I got started doing cards  at the ICF/MR facility where I do individual and group counseling. A few years ago during  a group counseling session we were discussing depression and how to avoid falling into a depressive state and being the curious kitties that my clients are asked me what I did, which is quite the fair question since I am always asking them questions, and I told them I crafted and mostly papercrafted. They were rather intrigued by the whole idea and that is when I got the idea of having them make cards. At this time my groups do two cards at Christmas, two cards at Valentines and then in June they get to make 4 birthday cards so they can have cards on hand as they need them.

In order to get the cards done within an hour, there are 6 clients in each group, I make card kits. Some of my clients suffer some physical ailments along with their developmental delay so it helps if some of the small pieces are already together. When I saw the Happy Hello Simply Sent Card Kit on the Stampin Up clearance I just knew it would be great for the cards with the groups and the clearance price would help keep my costs down as well. The kit was $11.95 at regular price but has been marked down to $2.39 in the clearance. There are 8 cards, envelopes and a number of elements in each kit.

Now I am going to be honest and say I had to look up images so I could get some ideas for birthday cards and thankfully I did find a few.  This is a card that one of my clients put together. I had the elements ready and they got to decorate the card how they wanted. Some of them had the cards going vertical while others chose to go horizontal. They really enjoyed being able to choose and getting to put the elements where they wanted.

For the elements I cut some small strips of paper to and glued them across the grey stripe stickers to make them look more like candles. For the flame I layered two different sizes of the 4 point flower and then added Stickles and cut them away from the centers. The sentiment on the tag is from Stampin Up Whimsical Words and the tag is done with the Stampin Up Tag punches. The baker's twine that the bow is made from is in the kit.