Happy 71st Birthday!
Elizabeth Cooper
A good friend asked me to create a card for his mother's 71st birthday. I was thrilled to be asked, and had a blast creating this card.


I didn't want the focus to be on her age, which is why the number is more or less tucked under the flower. But let's start at the beginning, shall we? Once again, nearly everything I used came from Jillibeansoup's September 2011 Card Kitchen kit.

I started with 4 strips of pattern paper: Navy Beans, Green Stock, Black Eyed Peas, and Brown Pea Pod. After I adhered those onto the card, I added a strip of blue ribbon (it also came with September's kit). Then I rounded the corners of the card, and added faux stitching with a white gel pen.

The flower is made out of vintage papers that -- you guessed it -- also came with my kit. I crumpled the paper and layered it all together, then I added a button from my stash and secured it with a piece of Sew Easy Glitter Tertiary Floss in bright blue.



I stamped the sentiment using a stamp from Fiskars' Birthday Party stamp set using Colorbox black ink. And finally, I took two numbers from the chipboard sticker set that came with my kit, and used Distress Ink in Walnut Stain to fade some of the bright yellow color. I tucked those under the flower so they'd be out of the way, but still a nice surprise.



I hope she likes it as much as I loved making it. :) 

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You Are Such a Good Friend
Elizabeth Cooper
In a few days, I'll be leaving to visit a friend I haven't seen in about 8 months. I'm planning on bringing her a hostess gift, along with this cute little card:


I wanted something girly and pretty, with a personal touch (hence the handwriting, such as it is). Everything I used on this card is from Jillybeansoup's September 2011 Card Kitchen kit. I love, love, LOVE her kits!

I started with a piece of Navy Beans paper, which I cut into two pieces. The first piece I adhered with the flower side up at the top of the card, using foam adhesives. The second piece I turned over so the green stripes showed. I added a piece of green ribbon, which I tied into a bow, and adhered it to the card front using foam adhesives.

Then I took a die-cut shape that came with my card kit and spelled out the word "friend" using letter stickers. I used my own handwriting to finish the sentiment.



Finally, I added faux stitching in black gel pen to the sides of the card.



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Christmas Greetings
Elizabeth Cooper
Since I didn't have time to follow along with the Holiday Card Boot Camp, I'm trying to catch up now. This card was based on a tutorial from Day 3, in which Jennifer McGuire created a pretty window card. I didn't have the same supplies she used, but I substituted a few things and I'm quite pleased with the result.


I started with a piece of pattern paper from the Basic Grey Nordic Holiday 6x6 paper pad. I love all the wonderful words, as well as the colors. Lovely! Once I adhered it to the card, I cut out a window using my 1 inch EK Success punch.

I stamped the gift from Fiskars What a Hoot stamp set, and colored it using Martha Stewart glitter markers. Then I cut it out and adhered it behind a strip of pattern paper (also from Nordic Holiday), on which I'd stamped a sentiment (again from What a Hoot) and embossed it using silver powder.



I secured the sentiment strip onto the card using two brads from the Recollections Brads: Pastel Medium Squares collection. Lastly, I wrapped some silver ribbon around the bottom of the card for the finishing touch.

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The Kid In Us All
Elizabeth Cooper
I wanted to do something for this week's extended CAS-ual Fridays challenge. The sketch is simple and lovely, and I really wanted to work with it. Here's what I came up with:


I started with a lovely metallic green cardstock from Recollections. Then I cut out a piece of pattern paper from an ATD Christmas Specialty collection pack. I just loved the cute glitter on the toes and at the top of each sock. I adhered the paper to the card front, and moved on to the stamping.

For the snowflakes, I used Frost White Colorbox ink and stamped directly onto the cardstock. At the end, I added some tiny beads of Liquid Pearl in Silver Pearl.


I punched out a circle out of white cardstock using my 1 inch EK punch, stamped the sentiment, and then went over the letters with a green glitter gel pen. Both the snowflake and the sentiment stamp sets are from Inkadinkado's Christmas Characters stamp set. I inked the edges using Distress Ink in Evergreen Bough, and attached the sentiment circle to the card using a brad from Recollections: Pastel Medium Squares.

Finally, I created a border for the patterned paper using Stickles in Mystic green, and added three pearls under the sentiment using more Liquid Pearls in Silver Pearl.
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Cheers!
Elizabeth Cooper
My best friend's sister just passed the Bar Exam, and I wanted to send her a pretty card to acknowledge her accomplishment. I wanted a fun, feminine feel to the card, and this is what I came up with:


I started with the pattern paper. The vanilla strip and mat are from the DCWV Old World Stack, while the others are from the Reflections: Graceful paper pack. After cutting all the papers to the appropriate size and adhering them to the card front, I moved on to the main images.

I must admit, I stamped and re-stamped these a few times until I was happy with the color and the stamp choices, but in the end, I'm quite pleased with the overall effect. I used two stamps from Fiskars' Girls Night Out stamp set. I stamped them using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock, and colored in the images using watercolor markers and a blender pen. 


Then I inked the edges of the image panel using Distress Ink in Festive Berries, and I adhered it to the card using foam adhesive. I also added some rhinestones from the Fine and Dandy Blue Blue Bling pack by My Mind's Eye. Lastly, I covered the martini glass in Glossy Accents for that "glass" look, and stuck a bow on top.


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Why I Love Pinterest
Elizabeth Cooper
I'm relatively new to Pinterest, having only created my account a few weeks ago. Already, it's become one of my favorite daily digital stops. Pinterest is a "virtual pinboard", a way for people to share photos of all the wonderful things they find on the web. And then, in true social media style, everyone else gets to see and enjoy those things, too.

After spending some time (all right, a LOT of time) on Pinterest, I realized my love for the site comes down to these 5 reasons:

A card I pinned on my inspiration board

1. Inspiration. I don't know about you, but I'm always on the lookout for things that inspire me. Maybe not consciously, but if I see something that catches my eye, I'll immediately start thinking about ways I can use it. Can I make a card using the color combination in a piece of fabric? Can I create wall art from an old magazine? Can I decorate a cupcake using the general shape of a scrapbook felt flower? On Pinterest, I can find more ideas than I know what to do with!

Another card from my inspiration board

2. New pretties, all the time. Every morning when I log in to Pinterest, I'm amazed by the wonderful things that are showing up in my feed. It's a little bit like reading the newspaper to learn what's new, except instead of being bombarded by bad news, I have beautiful things to look at and absorb. I can't think of a better way to start my day.

A vintage French label necklace that shows my style

3. Learning about myself. I've never really given much thought to my style. I know what appeals to me, but that's about it. Ever since I've started browsing Pinterest, I've started making sense of the styles that call to me. For example, I didn't realize I like vintage and "shabby chic" motifs and much as I do. And I wouldn't have thought I liked grunge designs, but I really do! Armed with this knowledge, I can use those styles in my own designs and push my creativity more than I would otherwise.

A Christmas card tree project

4. New project ideas. When I started out as a paper crafter, making a card seemed difficult. Now I'm contemplating branching out into other crafts. So when I see something I'd like to do, but don't think I have the skill to pull it off yet, I'll pin up the project idea on Pinterest. I'd love to go back next week, next month, or even next year, and try my hand at some of those more complex projects to see how far I've come.

Cheesecake-stuffed strawberries

5. Collecting recipes. I've tried many different ways of organizing recipes I've found online... from bookmarking them to importing them into software specifically created for that purpose, nothing's really worked for me. But Pinterest allows me to pin up the recipes that interest me, and then shows them to me using mouth-watering images. They say you eat with your eyes first, so what could be better than seeing a bunch of incredible looking food when looking for something to make for dinner tonight?

These are just a few of the reasons I find Pinterest a wonderful website, and wholeheartedly recommend it. I'd love to hear from you... Do you have an account? Do you love it as much as I do?
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For You - Ribbon Notecards
Elizabeth Cooper
For this project, I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. Originally I'd envisioned just a simple stamped image, but, well, I couldn't resist adding a button, some twine, and a bit of ribbon just to brighten things up a little.


Each of the notecards is going to a different person, but the sentiment inside is the same for all of them. So I thought having the notecards be part of a set, yet using different colors for the embellishments, would work well. if I'd had more time I would have colored the stamped image, but I like the way it looks like this, too.


The stamps are from the Fiskars Terrific Tags stamp set. I used Colorbox black ink, and some random buttons and ribbons from my stash. The twine is from Jillibean Soup.



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