Critters for the Birthday Boys

Stamps: Stampendous ' I Dream of Cake', Riveting. Cardstock: Real Red, Black, Papertrey white, Basic Grey 'Cupcake'. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: Rectangle and circle Nestabilities, circl punch, Bazzill ribbon.

Birthday critters for the young and the young at heart! The Gruffies card is for my step-dad who reminds everyone of a 'big ol' bear'. It was inspired by Sketch and Stash #21 (my neglected item is this Gruffies stamp bought two years ago, but yet to be used) and the Caardvark's challenge to use ribbon in an unusual way. This double layer bow wasn't exactly intentional, but it turned out that way when I couldn't get it to lie straight!

The second card features my all-time favorite image for those first birthdays. The sketch inspiration for this card is Sweet Sunday's sketch #39:


Stamps: Stampendous 'Make a Wish 02'. Cardstock: Soft Suede, Papertrey white, Etcetera 'Party'. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: SU 'Chit Chat' rub on sentiment, offray satin ribbon, Nestabilites ovals, SU scallop border punch.

That's not all the October birthdays -- I still have my husband's, too! Looks like my personal challenge for October is masculine cards!

DRS Designs Teams Up With Caardvarks!

Stamps by DRS Designs: Friends Like Chocolate F715, Chocolate Chip Background H361. Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: Rectangle Nestabilities, SU border scallop punch, pink satin ribbon.

DRS Designs is sponsoring this week of Caardvarks, who offered three different sketches to inspire us. All were great layouts, so I ended up creating cards based on all 3! Two are featured here; the third was the inspiration for a whole batch of patriotic-themed Christmas cards. I'll post that one on Monday which is the official kick-off for the DRS sponsored Cards For Heroes Drive.

Here's a Christmas card created for that drive. I'm not sure why both my chocolate and navy cardstock photographed black; is it a cranky digital camera or overworked computer??

Stamps by DRS Designs: Snowflake Background H187, Gazing Out the Window K194. Cardstock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy. Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy. Accesories: Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, rectangle Nestabilities.

Be sure to stop by the Caardvarks' blog to view all three sketches and other stamper's creations based on them. Link your card for a chance to win DRS goodies!

SheetLoads Teams Up with Caardvarks!

Stamps: Digital celebration stamp by Squigglefly, sentiment by Papertrey (Birthday Basics). Cardstock: Stampin Up (Riding Hood Red), Basic Grey (Cupcake), Georgia Pacific (white 110). Ink: Copics, Stampin Up (Bayou Blue). Accessories: Sakura (Stardust glitter pen), Offray (yellow grosgrain ribbon), Spellbinders (Nestabilities squares and rectangles), Stampin Up (scallop border punch

This week SheetLoads joins Caardvarks for an intersite challenge featuring the July SheetLoads' sketch. You can download the free e-zine featuring this versatile sketch, all the cutting instructions, and Design Team projects featuring this month's sponsor, Squigglefly, HERE. The Caardvarks team will be using products like the amazing vellum and acetate card bases from ShortCuts, SheetLoads' sister site.

Birthday cards are always in short supply in my stash, so I decided to use this sketch to increase my 'last-minute' supply. It comes directly from the sketch, with no added layers or embellishments! Thanks to the fun Basic Grey DP with included die cuts and SheetLoads' complete instructions, it was a quick and easy project.

Be sure to stop by the SheetLoad blog to see the other Design Team creations for this fun challenge!