How To Make "Your Inner Cat" Card

Card Inspiration: Do you know someone who has an Inner Cat yearning to break free?  Well, this is the perfect card for that special person! Try enclosing a gift card with it, and you have a unique gift for a birthday, congratulations, or thinking of you card!  Use a standard A2 envelope, or make your own envelope.

Instructions:
This card depends upon two key elements, very clever stamps from Catslife Press, and beautiful, detailed papers from Graphic 45.

1. Create a standard 4 1/4" x " 5 1/2" side-fold card from Bazill cardstock.
2. Mount a 4" x 5 1/4" light blue paper block to card front. I used Steampunk Debutante, Ephemera Extraordinaire.
3. Cut 2 identical 3 11/16" x 5 7/8" blocks of floral paper. Try Steampunk Debutante Fantasy Floral.  I used the left hand corner of the page-you pick whatever appeals to you! Set them aside, while you prepare the rest of your card.
4. Stamp Catslife Press Catslife Definition stamp inside your card. Try American Crafts Inks.
5. Stamp Catslife Press Cat With Crown, on a scrap of ivory cardstock. Trim down.
6. Use American Crafts Glitter Gel Pens, and bits and pieces from your craft table to decorate kitty.
7. Mount Cat With Crown to a scrap of corrugated kraft paper.
8. Free hand cut a banner from ivory cardstock. Mount your title "Inner Cat" with Glitz Design Brown Block Teeny Alpha Stickers.
9. Fold and layer May Arts Pleated Satin Teal Ribbon (secure the folds with glue dots) to your liking. Tack folds by hand stitching. You can allow the stitching to show, for extra interest. Mount the title banner on the ribbon.  Adhere the ribbon to the bottom of one of the floral blocks.  Mount floral block on card front.
10. Fancy cut flowers from the 2nd floral block, and place on top of identical flowers of first block. Decide where you want the cat image to be, before you adhere anything.
11. Situate and mount Cat With Crown .

12. Adhere your fancy cuts flowers with pop dots, so that the cat image is peeking from behind themhttp://scrapbookingstory.com/catslife-press.html.

Inner Cat

Cover

Inside

The supplies I used:

• Catslife Press Stamps
• Graphic 45 Papers
• Bazzill Cardstock
• May Arts Ribbon
• Glitz Girl Alphas
• American Crafts Inks and Glitter Pen
• Stampendous Glitter Stickers

 

Inspiration: 
Princess, Cat Extraordinaire!

May Flowers

Spring in Maine is lovely. We have beautiful, long, snowy winters, and after five months of wool sweaters and chunky snow boots, a person starts to get antsy -- Spring Fever hits! The moment that we have a day somewhere above 40' out comes the gardening gear. Juan and I take a walk around our little house, and check out the damage. We make a mental list of what we need to pick up at our local gardening shop, and plan our attack. Weeds will need to be pulled. Fresh mulch goes down. We patch any breaks in the fences, and tidy the stone borders. The brick path is neatened, and we will probably have to paint the porch. Salt and wet snow takes its toll. Flower boxes are hauled out of the garage, and every year, for Mother's Day, Juan plants pretty annuals. It's a routine that I look forward to, despite the back ache. There is something therapeutic about it.

Then come the flowers.  First the Grape Hyancinths, followed by Lily of the Valley, Lilacs, and Forget-Me-Nots. The Bluebells, Ferns, Oriental Poppy, Yarrow, Day Lily, Lupine, Irises, Hostas, Ajuga, Lungwort, Lavendar, Salvia, and Columbine will follow shortly. By summer, we will have Honeysuckle, Bittersweet, Foxglove, Sedum, Roses, Easter Lily, Phlox, Hydrangea, Peonie, Lamb's Ear, Echinacea, Dianthus, Clemantis, Snow On The Mountain, Meadowsweet... well our little garden will bloom.  Every year is a surprise.  Some years we have a riot of color, and other years we mourn the flowers that didn't make it, for some reason. We do the same things every year, but sometimes, flowers just don't show up at their appointed times. Last year, the Hollyhocks disappeared. Gone. We will see what this year brings. You can just never tell with flowers.

I suppose, I could make the connections for you between flower beds and life, but no need. Anyone who has lived through a few winters, knows that Spring, when it comes, and it will come, is a time for hard work, getting things back on track for growth, celebrating the return of familiar beauty, looking for unexpected, new surprises, and letting go of what did not survive Winter's storms. It's a familiar routine. Bring on the flowers!   

March Madness Marriage

It's my anniversary today.  I have now been married to Juan longer than I was alive before we met.  I have pretty much forgotten having a different last name.  I am still the same me of always, but I am not like I was before at all, at the same time.  It's amazing how that can happen, isn't it?  It's not that being married is always easy, everyone knows that.  But, yet... it is really kind of strangely simple.  You start living as a family with someone, and before you know it, you have turned into a family.  I find that almost miraculous.  I know that I probably drive Juan crazy, and not in a good way ; ) and honestly, he is the best man around, but if ONLY he would -- well that's not going to happen, LOL!  It is what it is.  Marriage is a kind of madness.  You commit to someone (that you don't REALLY know yet), when you are way too young to know what in the world you are doing.  You make promises that you can hardly begin to know how hard they will be to keep, and you just decide, " I pick you to trust.  I pick you to be permanently loyal to.  I pick you to love through thick and thin (literally).  I pick you to make a life with.  I pick you to throw in my lot with."  It is madness.  The most amazing kind of madness.  Happy Anniversary, Juan.

To-Do Lists, Projects, and Goals! Oh, MY!

Things are coming along slow but sure with my new online paper crafting store.  I can't believe how much I need to learn!  I'm still getting a handle on (in no particular order) how to balance two jobs, Facebook, Web Site, Blogs and Etsy projects, family, pets, our garden, the endless work of our version of restoring our old house, organizing my craft room/studio, charities I care about so much, learning how to cook, a secret project that I have been trying to complete for a year (YES! A year), being a friend, living creatively, and my absolutely top of the list goal: to fulfill the promise I have made to myself -- to follow in my friend's good example, and be what she called "God's hand extended"--no matter how scary it gets.  I can tell you now, that it is challenging, but that is the stuff our life stories are built of, isn't it?  So, here we go!

Christmas! Quick and Easy Card Idea!

I love this time of year! Generosity, joy, and creativity fill the air! It is a perfect time to acknowledge the people in our lives, and to brighten someone’s day in a tangible, truly meaningful way. Outside, all is cold, crisp and clean, perfect weather for staying inside, with lots of hot chocolate, and creating one-of-a-kind projects for those we love. If only we had more time! Tip: Try using fabulous chipboard elements, adorable cardstock stickers, or ready to go tags (the ones above are from Elle's studio, and completely charming), for your handmade cards and gifts. It is simple, quick, and acid-free. Best of all, after the holidays, pop your unique cards or tags right into a scrapbook as a unique embellishment or title. Check out this card idea! I used Echo Park stickers and a great Daisy Bucket die-cut card to make a faster than fast card. And… as a little Christmas gift for you, receive a free, blank die-cut card (I’ll pick the color) with each purchase from www.scrapbookingstory.com, while supplies last! No minimum purchase required!  Still looking for a gift?  Basic Grey has this wonderful 2011 Calendar kit.  Everything you need to make a  personalized calendar is provided, andn at the end of the year, take it apart for a year in review 8x8 scrapbook. What a great gift idea, for that crafty, or wish-I was-crafty person! Merry Christmas! Peace, and Good Will to all people!

And, So It Starts

This is my first blog post. I'm still finding my way around here, so please hang-in there with me while I get my bearings.