Happy Birthday, My Daughter!

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king,

 and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

His mother’s name was JERUSHA the daughter of Zadok.

II Kings 15 : 33  and  II Chronicles 27 : 1

Thirty-three years ago today, a telephone call answered the prayers of a lifetime and changed my life completely.  That phone call made me a Mother!  Two agonizing weeks later and after a cross-country flight, the tiniest baby girl I’d ever seen was placed in my arms and into my Heart.  We had long before decided to name her JERUSHA – and learned that it means, ‘to come and occupy in the place of others’ – which is quite apropos!  We currently live far apart, much to my dismay.  I made a gift and card to send to her this week and thought I’d share them with you, as I am quite excited about what I did for the card!

I’d made a Memo Pad cover a few weeks back and decided to make a different one for my Daughter at this time.

I recently heard of an unusual and Free (!!) Online site on which one can make a ‘subway-type’ picture – to one’s own specifications.  I tried out the procedure to make an emblem for the front of my Daughter’s card.  It was easy and fun to do – LOTS of options available – and I plan to do others in the near future.  I chose the Treble Clef shape, as she is extremely musically talented.  I chose the colors of Autumn, as it’s the time of year she was born and it coincided with the Memo Pad and Cover I chose to make.  I made a list of words that describe her.  Here is the finished card –

Closeup of Tagxedo element

 On the site (www.Tagxedo.com), you just follow step-by-step options to choose Shape, Color Scheme, Words of your choice (poems, verses, prose, lists, anything you want), Font and Orientation of the words, etc.  Things can be tweaked and changed as necessary.  The finished project can then be Saved – several size options – to your computer and then you can do as you wish with it.  Try it – You’ll like it!  ;-}  I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and see your projects, if you decide to try!

Black/White-Peridot-Book Pages Theme!

And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the flowers of the field grow. 

They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon

 in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Matthew 6 : 28, 29

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Peridot

Peridot is said to host magical powers and healing properties to protect against nightmares and to bring the wearer power, influence, and a wonderful year.  As peridot is a gemstone that forms deep inside the Earth and brought to the surface by volcanoes, in Hawaii, peridot symbolizes the tears of Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes.  Today, most of the peridot supply comes from Arizona; other sources are China, Myanmar, and Pakistan.  This gemstone comes in several color variations ranging from yellowish green to brown, but most consumers are attracted to the bright lime greens and olive greens.  Peridot, in smaller sizes, often is used in beaded necklaces and bracelets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge post in connection with www.CookingwithCricut.com  !  It was my turn to choose the Theme for this week’s Challenge.  I thought…  It’s August…  The birth gem for August is Peridot…  I love Black and White…  I love using Book Pages in creative ways…  Thus, the Theme for today’s Challenge is to use a combination of these three elements in some way in a Project!

Then I thought…  My Special Friend has a birthday this month!  So I designed this card with the giving of it to her as my inspiration –

Card Closed

Card Open

I began with an 8.5 x 11 piece of white cardstock and designed the finished card to fit into a 5.25 x 7.25” envelope.  (Recollections card sets)  I cut out portions of the 4 corners to make 2 large flaps (sides) and 2 smaller flaps (top and bottom to which I attached the ½ Doily and trims).  I used the PCW 14 Pt. Doilies .svg file, cutting 2 of them at 5.25” and then cutting each of them in half – one set for the front flaps and one set for the inside sentiments.  I cut semi-circles from a heart-shaped paper doily and adhered them to the flap doilies (they don’t show much…)  Next, I punched 2 pieces of black cardstock trim, one for each flap, for over the paper doily.    I used the ‘negative’ of those punched strips on the inside of those flaps.

Card Open and turned over

Front flap detail - outside

Front flap detail - inside

I cut flowers from book pages using the PCW 5 Pt Flower  .svg file.  I inked the edges and connected the petals with a black brad, attaching them to the front flaps.  (For this project, I actually scanned pages of verses from a book I didn’t want to ruin, then used PSE 10 to make the pages as white as I could, in keeping with the colors of today’s Challenge.  I usually use Old book pages which tend to be ‘yellowed’ and OK for some projects.)

I cut the Peridot and B/W patterned papers to fit on the front flaps and inside center panel.  I used a corner rounder on all pieces.

Center panel - inside

I printed the sentiments on a 3” circle shape in WORD, then cut it out, then cut it in half, one for each inside flap on the doily sections. 

Sentiment - Inside left panel

I used the PCW Dressform .svg file for the inside panel.  I made a skirt overlay from the netting that vegetables/fruits come in at the grocery store!  I have a stash of various colors –

Dressform - closeup

Flowers - closeup

I added ribbon and gems at the waist and a heart-shaped gem in the heart-shaped hole on the bodice.  I decorated the center panel with book-page flowers, tiny (Recollections) flowers and gems.  I adhered the heart, cut from the bodice, to the sentiment page.

When the card is closed, I put a ribbon through the loops of the 2 doilies and tied a bow.  I used an extra piece of the 14 pt. doily (one I’d initially cut in the designing process, but kept for other purposes) to ‘stamp’ the negative design on the envelope. I’m excited to send this card to My Friend soon!

Card Closed

Envelope

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
 

When I chose today’s Theme and began designing this card, I didn’t know that I’d be making a wedding shower gift and wedding gift for her son and new daughter-in-law in basically the same color-scheme!  (There is the additional color of Lavender...)   Here is the Shower gift card I enclosed with the gift -  

Their wedding invitation arrived and I began playing with ideas in my head…and I thought I’d share what I eventually came up with for them – A keepsake of their invitation. 

Wedding gift - Frame

Closeup - upper left

Closeup - lower right

Wedding Gift Card

Wedding Gift Card -closeup

The invitation was a card printed on both sides, so I made a copy of it.  I understood that the bride was to wear a gown of slightly off-white and the attendants would wear black gowns.  Lavender and moss green would be the flower and accent colors.  I put the copied invitation in a black frame and added the  PCW Flourished Corner Bracket on 2 corners, adorned with book-page flowers and tiny (Recollections) flowers and gems.  It was to be an outside wedding in AZ and the photos I’ve seen prove it to have been a Lovely occasion!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for popping in to this week’s CWC/PCW Challenge and then here to My blog!  Now – You make something with this week’s Theme and then link your project at CWC.  Happy crafting!  See you next week!  If you see anything on my blog that you have questions about – or anything that you’d like me to re-create for you, please feel free to contact me!  ;-}

Be on the Lookout for information regarding the 'Taste of Summer" Blog Hop on August 18 and 19!!

CD Case Birthday Card

A friend loveth at all times…

Proverbs 17:17a

I thought I’d share a Birthday ‘card’ that I recently made for a Very Special Friend for whom I wanted to make something unique.  I love to Re-purpose items and so I decided to make it using a CD case.  I included a number of Friendship Quotes inside, attached to an accordion-folded base so they pop up when the case is opened. 

Photos -

The paper is on the inside of the case - the flowers are glued on the front outside -

The view when it is opened - I wrote my note and signature on the bottom right section.

Another view from the top -

What other uses have you found for CD cases?  Actually just last week, I organized my stamps that go on clear mounts in empty clear CD cases.  It makes it easy to find them when I need them and conserves on space.