Jessica and our friend Melynie (with help from a few others) gave me the most delightful pink cupcake baby shower before I left Seattle. So many cute friends came to wish us well, and everything from the food to the decorations to the favors were blissfully perfect.

It's a good thing I got that pink shower in, because we found out last week that we're having ANOTHER BOY! So between the two birdies, we will have six boys. Don't worry, I have nieces, so the girlie crafts will keep coming. ;)

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to sit down and write thank you gifts to all the wonderful ladies who came to my shower, and of course I can't buy thank-you cards (that goes against my very identity), so I sat down last night to make up a bunch of quick *but cute* handmade cards. Out of one sheet of paper. Well, pretty much. Here's how it went.

I started with a pack of plain white cards and envelopes from Hobby Lobby (that cuts out a ton of time cutting and scoring all my card stock). I ran it through my Sizzix with the Small Dots embossing plate from Stampin' Up, just to give it a little texture (I am not capable of 100% simple, people). See those cute little raised dots?

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We're tickled to have Bethany from Ribbon, Glitter and Glue sharing some darling cards today! Bethany is uber talented and has to-die-for style sense. She currently designs for Citrus Tree Studio, Paper Issues, and Hip 2b Square Scrapbooking. I love that she uses a good mix of the latest papercrafting products and older stuff from her stash. I'm pretty much enamored with everything she creates. I know you'll be inspired by the designs she's sharing here, so read on to find out how you can link up your Bethany-inspired card and enter to win all five of hers!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Little Birdie Secrets, happy birthday to you! I'm delighted for the chance to help my friends at Little Birdie Secrets celebrate three years of crafty goodness!

Today I'm here to share some birthday cards that I created using Pink Paislee's Soiree Dimensional Stickers. The Soiree collection is one of my favorite releases from Winter CHA! It is bright, cheery and has just the right amount of sparkle! It didn't take much more than some scraps of paper, a bit of ribbon, tulle and crepe paper, a few vintage buttons and some mist to make up these fun & festive birthday cards. I do hope you're inspired!

xoBethany
(Other products used: Basic Grey, Crate Paper, October Afternoon)

Ready to run out and get your hands on some Pink Paislee Soiree? Me too. If you were inspired by one (or all) of Bethany's cards, link up a photo of the card you made and you'll be entered to win this stack of cards! We'll pick our winner on July 31, so be sure to link up before then. We can't wait to see what you create!

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I wanted to post this before Mother's Day because it would make a great gift for mom, but it's a great thing to make for yourself if you love to make cards. I love sitting down and making a bunch of cards at once to have on hand, and this is the perfect way to store them. Then the next time I am in a card making mood, I can see what occasions I'm getting low on. Some friends and I had a girls' night and made these together--it was super fun. Next get together we'll have to make some cards to put in them!




Oh how I am going to miss you girls!

I made these tabs with my Silhouette machine, just because it was quick and easy to cut them out. But you could make this with pre-cut tabbed dividers, or cut them by hand. I used a photo storage box that I found at Michael's and measured the inside to see what size I needed to make my cards. I wanted to make sure they were tall enough for the tabs to stick out above the cards as well. (Oh, and these would make great recipe card dividers, too!)

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Recently we sponsored a giveaway for one of our awesome sponsors, Buttons and Badges. I couldn't enter, so I went right over to their Etsy shop and ordered those adorable monster buttons. I love them! I had them do half in flat back and half as pins so I could give the pins to my boys for little prizes (they love them, too). This week my 5-year-old went to a birthday party and I was so happy I had some of these cuties to throw together the quickest birthday card ever!


I simply cut a square piece of patterned card stock and punched a 1.25" circle just off-center. Then I added pop dots (dimensional adhesive dots) to the back to give it some depth. Next I pinned the the monster pin to the card just inside the circle and added a little piece of ribbon with staples underneath it. Voila. Now it's a card and a little prize! I would've added a little happy birthday stamp, but I was seriously running out the door. I did write, "Hope you have a monstrously fun birthday!" inside. Close enough.


Jessica and I are planning some more fun card-related posts and link-ups in the near future, and I'm also working on a tutorial for this pretty card organizer, so card makers, stay tuned!

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Spring has sprung! My daffodils have popped up, I wake up to birds chirping outside my window, and everything is coming alive. It inspired me to dust off my card-making supplies!

Using my Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, I made this card.

I just had to use my Perfect Polka Dot Impressions folder. I love it so much! It adds a wonderful, overall texture to the card. In the middle on the patterned paper, I used the Top Note Stampin' Up! Bigz Die. And the bird flair button? Love. I have quite the obsession with flair buttons. So adorable.

The only thing I am missing is a sentiment of some sort in the bottom right hand corner. That's where I need your help. What occasion do you think this card should be for? Happy Spring, Thank You, Easter, Friendship, Baby? I'd love to hear what you would use it for.

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We're working on some great tutorials and recipes for the holidays, which means my Christmas cards will probably get pushed to the wayside again this year. I LOVE making my own Christmas cards, but last year I cut down my list from about 60 to 10. Enter the pre-printed Christmas card. I normally wouldn't let someone else make my cards, but they had so many great designs! I love that Cardstore.com let me sample their services so I can still keep in touch with family and friends without pulling several all-nighters this year. And I am so excited about the way they turned out!


It was difficult to pick a design (there are so many great ones), but I loved how the red gingham looked with the pretty turquoise backdrop in our picture. I also loved the look and feel of the cards. I was expectinga glossy photo paper, but they were printed on a gorgeous, thick, matte card stock (100% recycled material). I was so impressed. The other thing I loved was the address pre-printed on the envelope. If you want you can upload your addresses and they'll send them out for you FOR FREE! I wasn't quite that together, but I love that my envelopes are all ready to go.


Of course I can't send them out without giving them a little touch of handmade goodness. I added a pretty red bow out of my favorite seam binding ribbon. I couldn't help myself.


Because I had such a fabulous experience with Cardstore.com, Little Birdie Secrets and Cardstore want to offer our readers a 20% discount off your first Cardstore.com purchase now through December 31st. Just use code CSHOLIDAY20. Do it, and you'll have more time to make some of the fun Christmas crafts we have coming your way soon!

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One of my dear friends recently had a birthday so I whipped up a special card for her. If you know me, you know I am a sucker for the black and hot pink color combo. Remember THIS purse that Mandy made me a couple years ago? It's still one of my favorites!



So using the fabulous Melon Mambo Stampin' Up! Color, I created this black and pink card. I am all about simplicity with my cards and you can tell this card is just that. A piece of Melon Mambo card stock, a piece of black circle patterned paper I got in a stack at JoAnn's., and then some polka dot Melon Mambo ribbon, the birthday bliss stamp from Stampin' Up! and some black buttons to round it out. Voila! A cute card that made my friend very happy on her special day.

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Here at Little Birdie Secrets we love to make cards! Mandy and I have had several card-making nights in the past few years and although we always chat way more than craft, it is always fun to share ideas and make cards to keep on hand for friends and family. Today is World Card Making Day, so to celebrate we thought we would post some card ideas to inspire you!

The first card Mandy made from the sketch uses One Fall Day from Bella Blvd. This paper already had strips built in, so the work was already done for her!


You saw a sneak peek of this one yesterday. The Japanese masking tape was layered over the strips of paper to create more strips. Don't you love the button? It was made by our friend London at Such Sweet Tierney. It was the color inspiration for this card.


The first card Jessica made using the Earth Love mini deck from Cosmo Cricket. I chose a paper, that had several strips layered on one patterned sheet.


Jessica's next card uses all Stampin Up! supplies. Mandy and I both used the the Mojo Monday 156 layout as our inspiration. That's why they all feature a similar pattern!


The next two cards come from our friend, Kayleen. Remember her site Berry Stampin'? Check it our for these cards and many more!


The last two cards come from our friend, Anne Beale. She is one talented lady and you can see more of her creations at her Mukibug blog.


Happy World Card Making Day! Go create something!

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Not long ago, some good family friends moved into our neck of the woods from Utah. We knew they'd had a long drive, and since my husband and I were both working, we weren't able to help them unpack when they first arrived. So instead I put together a little moving-in kit to welcome them and do what I could to make their unpacking experience a little sweeter.


Moving-In Kit:
*Moving box
*Ribbon (it's gotta be cute, right?)
*Favorite drinks (don't forget the kiddos!)
*Favorite treats and snacks
*Advil
*Box cutter
Etc.


Moving-Out Kit
*All of the items from above plus:
*Tape gun
*Newspaper for packing fragile items
*Mix CD or favorite play list and iTunes card

I also included a welcome card with our phone numbers, e-mail, and address, so I they could get in touch when they needed help finding the closest Target, mall, cupcake joint, etc. {you know, the really important things. . .}.

This card used very minimal amounts of paper--scraps, really. I cut the word "home" with my Slice machine, and the flower was made using my crocheted flower tutorial, and just stapled on a tiny scrap of ribbon.

While I was at it, I used more of those scraps to make a couple more cards. They all use an old line from Making Memories (I doubt you can find it anywhere anymore, but I wanted to use up my scraps--they're still cute!). I also used rub-ons from Stampin' Up!, Thickers by American Crafts, and the Hodgepodge Hardware set from Stampin' Up!.


I love using "HB" for happy birthday. It saves so many letters (and lots of room)!


Even if you can't get the same supplies I used on these cards, it always helps me to have a template or design to work from. Jessica and have been talking about starting a regular card template series to give you basic ideas to use as a springboard--anyone interested? Any card makers out there?

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We're trying to enjoy our last week of summer and what happens? It's 65 degrees and pouring rain! Boooo! Perfect weather for indoor crafting, though. Like maybe cards? My stash is getting seriously low. Here's a new card blog called Berry Stampin' that I subscribe to. She posts a new card every single day (sometimes two a day!) using Stampin' Up! products. If you like what she shows, you can order the supplies through her (she lists them below each card), or you can scraplift her style using your own supplies. I just loving having good ideas to copy. Here are a few of my faves:




Check out these almost identical cards that she did in two different color combos--one for baby girl and one for baby boy! Brilliant! I love making cards--it's a project I can finish. Counting down the days until school starts so I can build up my stash again. . .

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Recently, my mom, sister and sister-in-laws visited me for a girls weekend in Seattle. All I have to say is...F-U-N! We ate way too much, laughed way too much, and shopped way too much. After they all went home, I missed them and felt the need to send a little card their way to thank them for the great time we had. Since the memories were made in Seattle, I just had to pull out my little space needle stamp that I NEEDED for myself after Stacy featured it here.


Hopefully the gals enjoyed this little tribute and I hope you can use it as inspiration for a card of your own. Stay tuned for more about the girls trip. We made adorable necklaces that I will be sharing with you sometime next week!

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