Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #23 - Blue and White

Celebrate the Occasion begins another great challenge today, and I'm eager for you to play along -- especially since it's my first week on the design team!  Challenge #23 is to make a project for any occasion -- just as long as you use only blue and white.

In case you haven't noticed, I don't use a lot of blue in my projects.  It's not that I don't like blue -- I just like warm colors like pink and orange and red more.  So I went out of my comfort zone for this card:

Card Details:

• Card Base - DCWV Brights (A2)
• Papers - patterned and distressed papers by My Mind's Eye: Bohemia; cardstock from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - flower from Florals Embellished, page 23; tag is <dream> from Playtime
• Other - blue satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby, sentiment stamp by The Paper Studio; edges inked with sky blue Le Plume II marker

My parents celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary on Sunday, so I mailed this card to them last week.  Nine more years until I get to plan a huge celebration for them!

Now it's your turn.  Visit Celebrate the Occasion and share your blue and white creations!  The challenge runs through Sunday, July 31.

Pink Butterfly Birthday Card

I hope all the special guys in your life had a great Fathers Day yesterday.  The day was super special because it was also my mom's birthday!

Even though she lives seven hours away, we have a close relationship and talk on the phone most everyday -- sometimes multiple times.  Since we both got our Expressions in March, many of our conversations are now about Cricut and papercrafting.  But my mom is talented many, many areas -- cross-stitch, home decor, flower arranging, crochet, and anything that requires creativity and precision.  (You see, when my mom needs to center something, she whips out the measuring tape; I just eye-ball it.  She's that exact and takes pride in everything she does.)  She's also a loving grandmother to my son and the best cook I know; there's nothing like Mama's cooking.

She and my dad are actually coming for a visit and will arrive this evening -- I'm so excited!

So without further ado, here's the card I made for my mom:

Card Details:

• Card Base - Easel Card (5x5")
• Papers - patterned papers from My Mind's Eye: Simply Delightful; solid cardstock by The Paper Studio
• Cricut Cuts - butterflies from Florals Embellished, page 64; scalloped background and border from Elegant Edges, page 56
• Cuttlebug Embossing - Kassie's Brocade on pink background
• Other - pink ribbon from stash; gems from Michaels dollar bin; doodling with white Gelly Roll pen; sentiment printed from my computer

Flying Bird Birthday Card

I played with my newest cartridge today -- Florals Embellished.  Hubby gave me this cartridge last weekend as an end-of-school-year reward.  I can't imagine any better reward than Cricut goodies, can you?

And he had great timing, too -- BBTB2 is featuring one of the Florals Embellished birds for its challenge this week.  So, here's my resulting card:

I made the sentiment "Happy Birthday" since June is a big month for birthdays in our family.  My mom, dad, and hubby have birthdays.  But who's the recipient?  They'll just have to wait and see...

Card Details:

• Card Base - Studio G (5"x5")
• Papers - Simply Delightful: My Mind's Eye for all blue patterns; plain white cardstock and textured navy cardstock from scraps
• Cricut Cuts - bird from Florals Embellished, page 61, all six layers; clouds are the "joy" background from Playtime; "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from Birthday Bash, page 44 (card/tag)
• Cuttlebug Embossing - Kassie's Brocade for top layer of bird's body; D'vine Swirls for clouds
• Other - inking on top layers of bird with white gel pen and Le Plume II sky blue marker; pop-dots elevate bird above clouds

I'm entering this project into the following challenges:

BBTB2:  Challenge - Florals Embellished Flying Bird
Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge #61 - Blue Skies