Some crafty stuff

I managed to actually make some stuff! And I wanted to show you something I made a while back, plus two things out of my recent purchases that I can't wait to use. Ready? Here we go.

I will have to say that I am pretty happy with how these two cards came out. This first card is for a co-worker; his daughter turns one this month. I can't see making cards for a one-year-old; I feel that all of that stuff - parties, etc. - for a one-year-old is really for the parents, not so much the child. So, instead of a birthday card, I made a "Congratulations on surviving your first year as a parent" card.

Sorry about the picture quality! I'm still trying to find the best place to photograph my cards; so far it's the bathroom window! The baby image is cut from Graphic 45's Little Darlings Collection, Bundle of Joy; the card base and front panel is the cream card stock selection from Simon Says Stamp's May card kit; I used the Stitched Circle Stax dies from MFT; the ink is the Simon Says Stamp dye ink in Pale Blush Pink from the May card kit; the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set; and the gorgeous ribbon (this pictures definitely DOES NOT do it justice!) is from my stash, purchased a while back from a local craft store that is now kaput. I'm going to link this up to this week's Wednesday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp. I just now realize that I misinterpreted the theme - Let's Get Sentimental was referring to using a sentiment on the card, not feeling sentimental. Oh well.

This next card I made last night and I am really happy with it. It is a thank you card for the nurses that took care of Les this last stay in the hospital. He asked me to make one, and I hope they like it!

For this card, the card base is Domtar Cougar Opaque 100# white cover stock; the cream panel is the same card stock as the card above; the wood-look designer paper is also one of the selections in the SSS May card kit; the die is from Impression Obsession (used "inlay" style, and I pieced all those little hearts, etc. in like a jigsaw puzzle); and the little copper gem embellishments are from EKSuccess - Jolee's Boutique, All That Bling collection. I also used Wink of Stella in clear on all the full hearts; of course, you can't really see it in these pictures. You might get a hint if you enlarge the middle picture. Maybe. Les says he really likes it. Since the card is coming from a man, and not all of the nurses that cared for him were female, I tried to keep the foo-fooness to a minimum.

A few months ago, I tried my hand at making a mini-album. I love Ginger Ropp from My Sister's Scrapper. I subscribe to her YouTube channel, and I found the tutorial for this album there. I haven't really done much with it yet, but I want to put my favorite snaps of my family in it. Here is the front:

 The back:

 And inside:

If you want to know the specs on the papers used, etc., let me know and I'll try to dig it all up. My internet is being a jerk and it's taking me FOREVER to link up to stuff today.

Last of all, here are two of the newest items to my crafty collection. I received a $100 gift card from the engineers I support for Administrative Assistant's Day, and I have been buying bits and bobs from several different places. I saw this die somewhere and instantly fell in love with it, and my great-niece Hannah absolutely LOVES llamas; she's been having a rough time lately, so I bought this stamp to make her a card. It turned out to be a whole lot bigger than I expected, so the idea I had for it went right out the window and I'll have to come up with something else. But that's OK - I love the stamp!

Well, I gotta go get clothes out of the dryer so I can get on my way to Mom's. Les worked out in the garden for two and a half hours this morning and will probably sleep for a week solid now. I think it did him good to get out, but I'm terrified he's going to over do it. I hovered like crazy while he was out there and couldn't get anything done in the house!

TTFN!