Boy Birthday Cards

It's birthday season around here.  My mom's group is comprised of mostly summer to fall 2013 babies.  That means that they are all turning 1!  Just this month and early next, we have four birthday parties to attend.  Parties mean presents and cards.  I've bought the presents, but I can't just buy the cards.  Nope, I need to make them!  Today, I'm highlighting two of the cards I made.  These two were for the two boys we know, but they would totally work for boys or girls.

Card #1

I decided to look through my SU PL Everyday Adventure card collection for inspiration.  I had seen a few greeting cards using the PL cards and I wanted to try it out.  I found this great "Best Day Ever" cut out card and layered it on top of a orange patterned card.  From there, I found cardstock to match the colors.  It was still a but plain, so I dug through my stash and found these great silver stars.  Placing those as a background really improves the card.  On the inside, I stamped a birthday cake and wrote a little inspiration.  In fact, all four of the cards have the birthday cake stamped inside in a coordinating ink color.

• Stamps: Birthday Cake (retired)
• Inks: Pumpkin Pie
• Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Pear Pizzaz, PL Everyday Adventure Card Collection
• Accessories: Random silver stars from the stash
• Tools:

Card #2

Another little boy card.  This one's recipient is having a lion themed party and loves to growl/roar at everyone.  I came across two great PL cards from the Animal theme pack and had to use them.  In their original form, the cards were too big and bulky.  I cut down the lion card and completely cut out the quote bubble from another card.  Much better.  I added the animal print alpha stickers as a makeshift background to complete the look.

• Stamps: Birthday Cake (retired)
• Inks: Pumpkin Pie
• Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie; Garden Green; PL Animals theme pack
• Accessories: Random alphabet stickers.
• Tools:

Project Life 2014 W23-24

Week 23 Family Album: Our first week with the twins here and we made sure to get out and about.  We did so much this week that I had to add another two page spread to fit it all in.  We went to the pool, parks, Great America, and SJ Museum of Art.  Even with four pages, I had to narrow down the pictures.

I chose to change it up and go with the WRMK Memo this week.  I am loving the orange and blue combos especially.  They are really great pops of color throughout the pages.

Supplies:

• WRMK Memo
• Random die cuts
• Basic Grey alphas

Week 24

Family Album: Another four page spread for the week.  This time I got away with using a smaller insert instead of another 12x12 page.  Loving the pictures from this week.  I let them mostly speak for themselves.

Supplies:

• Kraft

Project Life 2014 W21-22

Week 21

Family Album: This was a quiet one, except for our Friday excursion.  I dedicated the entire right hand side to our trip to the Oakland Zoo with friends L and L.  The left hand sides highlights some of our usual baby playdates throughout the week.  My favorite picture of the week is the one in the swing. That was Arthur's first time swinging and he loved it!

Again I primarily used SU's Everyday Adventure card set and accessory pack.  I added a few quote bubbles and tags to highlight some of the activities.  Other than the few additions, I kept most of the pictures unadorned.

Supplies:

• SU Everyday Adventure card pack
• SU Everyday Adventure accessory pack
• Studio Calico alphas

Week 22

Family Album: Last week before the twins arrive and we spent it lounging around the house.  I was sick and Arthur had fun becoming more and more mobile.  Note the picture of him standing at the bouncer.  Oh man, we are in trouble!

I switched up my card kits and used a bit of WRMK Memo.  I stuck to the greens and blues for a nice serene color palette.  I added a few stickers and tags here and there.  I don't usually leave things so plain, but I really enjoy the blue polka dot card.  I just added a few enamel dots and the one stamp in the corner.  I like how it's off center.

Supplies:

• WRMK Memo
• Michael's stamp
• Studio Calico enamel dots
• Heidi Swapp stickers
• Chic tags
• Flair from Take Ten Kit

Project Life 2014 W19-20

These two weeks were my challenge to use the new Stampin' Up Everyday Adventure Card Collection and Accessories.  I did cheat just a bit and included a few non-SU stamps.

Week 19

This week was dominated with pics from our first trip to Deer Hollow Farm.  I got some pictures of the animals, but most importantly a few pics of Arthur enjoying the trip.  My favorite is the picture of him sitting on the sheepskin rug.  So cute! I especially love that his hat was askew; just feels right.

I added some stickers, washi tape, and wood veneers to coordinate with the SU cards.  I'm loving the bright colors and geometric patterns.

Week 20

This week included a few pics from Arthur's 7 month photo shoot.  I had to include the one where he's laying across the chair.  Too cute!  I added some stickers and stamps to a few of the photographs, but kept it mostly simple like usual.

Supplies:

• SU's Everyday Adventure Card Collection
• SU's Everyday Adventure Accessory Pack
• Heidi Swapp Stamp Set
• Stamp Set from May's Take Ten Kit

May PL Swaps

I joined a Project Life Swap group on Facebook a few months back and have really been inspired.  Basically every month, the admins post swap themes (8-10 usually).  You sign up for how ever many you want and commit to making usually 10 cards making the theme.  Before the due date, you send your cards to the swap host.  She collect everyone's cards, sorts them, and sends you back a packet of card. This month, I joined four swaps:

Yellow -- I used SU's Hip Notes and Petal Parade stamp sets and the Bitty Butterfly punch.  The base cardstock and yellow patterned paper were from my scraps pile.  Very simple card, but lovely.

PL Card Revamp -- The goal was to take existing PL cards and revamp them with embellishments, stamps, paper, etc.  I chose some random 4x6 cards (mostly from Studio Calico kits) and the Vintage Collection Paper stack and started layered.  I also added some pink chevron washi tape and stamps from SU's new PL collection.

Children's Book -- I joined the children's book swap because I immediately thought of my favorite children's book: Alice in Wonderland.  I took a simple quote on a black background and layered some paper that reminds me of Wonderland.  I used American Craft's Galaxy Marker in medium, DCWV's Bewitched paper stack, and SU's Pocketful of Posies DSP (retired).

Butterflies and Ribbons -- For this swap, I challenged myself to use all non-SU stamps, accessories, and papers.  I'm use really trying to use as much non-SU stuff as I can to make room for my growing SU side business.  I took a sentiment stamp from a forgotten set (with peacocks) and combined it with some punched out butterflies and ribbon tassels.  I was going for a fluttering look and they do flutter if you wave the paper around a bit.  I also tried to use paper scraps for the butterflies (a few are slightly different papers because I ran out) and leftover ribbon.  And it change it up a bit, I made five purple and five red cards, just for the variety.  I like how these came out: clean but with a bit of flair.

Project Life 2014 W17-18

Week 17

A simple week of documenting Arthur's new found mobility.  I have a ton of pictures of him crawling everywhere, especially where he shouldn't (i.e. hallway).

I pulled out my partial Kiwi kit and fell in love with the bright colors.  I decided to pick a few colors to focus on instead of a mish-mash of cards.  I ended up pulling black, pink, and blue cards.  I added a few journal tags to fill some of the pictures.  I also added a random button flair that has been hanging out in the bottom of my PL box.  In the end, I felt that the week card was too plain.  Thankfully I had some silver glitter tape and a cute sentiment stamp.  Lastly, I added the "Currently" card as an afterthought.  I have a few of her cards and a "currently" stamp to make my own.  Figured I should start using them sometimes.

Supplies:

• PL Kiwi
• Chic Tags Speech Bubbles
• Heidi Swapp stams
• "Currently" Card from rukristin Papercrafts
• Michael's stamp
• Glitter Tape (Target One Spot)

Week 18

I ended up having too many pictures to fill a regular spread.  Try as I might, I couldn't par it down to a regular spread.  So, I added two separate inserts (design G and H) to highlight two big events of the week: Arthur's photo shoot and Lynn's Sprinkle.

Again, I relied on Kiwi to fill my spots.  Each page highlights one color from the Kiwi kit.  I chose yellow/orange for the first page to pull out the oranges and the sunlight from the pictures.  The last page has a lone pink card, but it pulls nicely from the red check blanket.  The photo shoot insert is all blue.  The green of the sprinkle insert highlights the green grass from the park.  As for embellishments, I added some alphas, stamps, and journaling tags, but left most of the photographs alone.  My favorite part of this week's spread is my little "addition" to the picture on the second page, top right.  See it?  I can't believe I got the placement just right.  And it's the right size.  Love it!

Supplies:

• PL Kiwi
• Colorbok alphas
• Chic Tags Journaling Tags
• Recolletctions stamps

Project Life 2014 W15-16

Week 15 This week was huge!  We flew back from Indiana and had our mom's group's Easter social.  We had so many great pictures that I had to include an insert page (design H).

In terms of my design, I went simple yet colorful.  I pulled out a ton of spring themed cards from the Seasons Mini Kit to accent our colorful pictures.  I grabbed the kit on clearance thinking I would like a few cards.  I found that I love the entire kit.  A great investment. The embellishments stayed on the cards.  I didn't want to alter the pictures.  My favorite added feature is the plane and heart stamp on the first page.  I've used that stamp at least 5 times already and love love love it!  Overall, this spread is a great example of my style: clean and simple.

Supplies:

• PL Seasons Mini Kit
• PL Days of the Week stickers
• SU Travel Themed Stamp Set (retired)
• Stickabilitiies alphas
• Recollections stamp set
• My Mind's Eye die cuts
• Michael's camera stamp
• WRMK Dreamy Kit

Week 16

Week 16 is all about Arthur turning 6 months old and fun Easter pics.  We didn't do much, but I still managed to get some pics from our week.

I went with a yellow, blue, and gray color scheme for the week.  Seafoam was the first kit I purchased and yet it gets pushed to the side in favor of others.  I need to remind myself to use it more often.  I do like the simple geometric card design.  I accented the pictures with a few stickers.  Another clean and simple layout.

Supplies:

• PL Seafoam Kit
• PL Days of the Week Stickers
• Studio Calico Alphas
• Basic Grey Enamel dots
• Heidi Swapp stickers
• PL Baby Neutral Kit
• Recollections I Love You stickers

New Discoveries #1: Take Ten Kits

A new weekly feature on The Craft Sea. I would love to share my new crafting discoveries with you.  These may be specific products, websites, techniques, or general crafting ideas. Today on New Discoveries, I would love to highlight a relatively new monthly project life style subscription kit. Colie Kumar from Card Stock Option has created a great, cheap ($10!) monthly kit.  I signed up for the first kit in March, but I was regulated to the wait list.  Thankfully, I made it onto the actual list for April and now for May.  So far, I've received two kits and I am in love with them.  They are fun, coordinated, and actually useful.  The kits are designed, but they haven't moved in to the super-trendy category like Studio Calico's kits (have not been a fan lately, and super expensive in comparison).  The quality of the products is great.  The cards are one-sided, but of great cardstock weight.  I love the option of rounding the corners yourself or leaving them squared.  I prefer rounded corners, but I know many don't.  Overall, this is a great little addition to my crafting stash.

April's Kit:

• Stamp set -- Three border stamps.  Colie offered an add-on stamp that featured words that fit into the border stamps.  I didn't buy it, but it was pretty cute.
• Silver thickers -- Always love some alphabet stickers
• Embellishments -- Chipboard geo tags, one piece of button flair, two manilla tags, sample of washi tape.  She offered more matching washi tape as an add-on.
• 11 3 x 4 Cards
• 3 4 x 6 Cards

May's Kit:

• Stamp Set -- Cute little clouds, rain, etc.  I really enjoy this stamp set and can't wait to use it.
• Green alphas -- Always a welcome addition
• Embellishments -- Clouds and sun wood veneers, button flair, enamel dots (always use these!), and transparent leaves.
• 11 3 x 4 cards (embossed!)
• 3 4 x 6 cards

High points:

• $10 monthly cost plus shipping: Colie keeps shipping around $2-3 per month.  So your total cost can be as low as $12.
• Add-ons are offered: If you want to buy some great coordinating products, she offers some great add-ons. The best thing about the add-ons is that you should be able to actual get them if you log onto the Facebook page the first day of the month.  I haven't bought anything, but I have been very tempted...
• Opt out option: If you aren't a huge fan of the kit, you can opt-out for the month with no penalty.  All you have to do is cancel the invoice.  You still keep your place on the list for the next month.

If you want your own Take Ten Kit, sign up here.

Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 13 and 14

Originally published on April 12th, 2014Week 13

Family Album: Weeks 13 and 14 were all about documenting our trip back to Indiana.  I loved adding the little embellishment tags and sparkly stars here and there throughout the spread.  I didn't want to clutter the photos too much, but felt they needed a little something.

As to the pictures themselves, I love adding in more pictures of Arthur with other people.  I got some great shots of him with my sister, father, mom, grandpa, and grandma.  So cute!

Supplies:

• SU Sent with Love DSP and embellishments
• Studio Calico alphabet stickers
• Random travel themed stamps

Week 14

Family Album: The second week of our trip back to Indiana.  This time I used some of my new Heidi Swapp stamps ("hello" and "together") and some great alphabets to label some pictures.  I also caught some great pictures of Arthur with his Grandma and Papa, Uncle, brothers, and new baby friends.

Supplies:

• WRMK Albums Made Easy Dreamy cards
• Enamel dots
• Heidi Swapp stamps
• Studio Calico alphabets
• Heidi Swapp stickers

Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 11 and 12

Originally published on March 29th, 2014

Week 11

Family Album: This week I chose to go back to using one of my "older" kits -- WRMK Tangerine.  My idea is to rotate my various kits to get a different color/design scheme each week.  I like the little pops of design with the Tangerine kit.  I added some cute labeling tags to help highlight a few of the pictures.

As to the pictures and events, this week is very Arthur heavy.  Oh wait... It's always Arthur heavy.  Anyway, I chose to include some adorable candid shots and eating shots.  I love the face he makes while eating.  It always looks like he hates it, but he eats everything.  The right hand page has a few random shots and his 5 month pictures.  I always have to include the stats insert.  My favorite shot of the week is the one where he's crawling towards me (left side, bottom left picture).

Supplies:

• WRMK Tangerine
• Labels from Studio Calico kit
• Random stamps
• PL Neutral Baby (monthly stat insert)

Arthur's Album:  This week I added in some of the new cards from the Baby for Him kit.  I love the cool blues and greens of this spread. The left side is a wrap-up of our week.  The right side is all about his 5 month pictures and milestones.

Supplies:

• PL Neutral Baby Kit
• PL Baby Boy Kit
• Random stamps
• Labels from Studio Calico Kit
• Recollections stickers

Week 12

Family Album: I changed up my kits yet again and went with some of the random cards from my Studio Calico kits (Sept. and Oct. 2013).  I kept the cards a cool blue and gray with pops of pink.  I especially love my pink enamel dots and my new camera stamp (thank you Michael's $2 bin).

The pictures from this week came from two big events.  The left side highlights our morning at Washington Park.  Arthur had a great time crawling around.  And I had a great time taking some pics and reading in the sunshine.  The right side highlights Arthur's first official playdate.  I grabbed a few cute pics and stole a few from the other moms.  My favorite is the pic of Arthur and his friend Luke and their dueling grump faces (right side, top left).

Supplies:

• Studio Calico Kits -- Sept and Oct 2013
• Michael's stamps
• Basic Grey enamel dots
• Random stamps and alphabet stickers

Arthur's Album: Arthur's spread focused on lots of pictures.  I decided to use the back side of the inserts from the previous week.  Those were reddish so I picked two more reddish inserts for the right side.  I've realized that most of Arthur's spreads are light on embellishments and heavy on pictures.  And I'm okay with that!

Supplies:

• PL Baby Boy Kit
• Random stamps