a little crafty help from my friends

This is a post for all of you scrapbookers and card makers. Maybe you can give me some tips!

I had never ventured into the world of card making until last year. It all began when I decided to make my own wedding invitations due to not finding what I was looking for at a reasonable price. After much trial and error, I finally settled on a simple design I liked. That initial project led to card making for everything else, and I haven't stopped since.

Photo by Hope Photography
 Wedding card made by Etsy seller

 

I left one card to the professionals -- turning to Etsy for help. I had an Etsy seller customize a handmade wedding card from me to Matt, based on my descriptions of what I had in mind. I loved the finished product and how she used a lot of straight lines for a more masculine look, combined with the elegant portions that would be considered much less masculine. I doubt I could have created this same format on my own.

The Cuttlebug machine is very user friendly and quickly
produces die cuts and embossed patterns.

 

The only problem with my card making hobby is that I look online and am inspired by such creative handmade cards, but I don't know how to mimic that creativity most of the time. I researched a little on embossing back while making wedding invitations and failed miserably in the attempt. I would still like to master embossing (the style where you use powder and heat) some day if any card makers have any good tips or know of a great tutorial.

Fortunately, I received the Cuttlebug machine last year for Christmas, and LOVE it! It has been great for dressing up my cards a little more. I love handmade cards with different textures and layers. It is definitely my favorite card making tool, and I highly recommend one if you don't already have it. Anyone have a Cricut cutting machine? Any opinions on those?

The internet is overflowing with site after site of scrapbook page designs and cards. It can be rather overwhelming, so if you have a favorite site, please recommend it to me! Here are a few creative cards I just found, and I included a link below each card to the original location for where I found each of them. Some of them have tutorials for how the card was made:

Friendship card

Season's Greetings card

Birthday card

Sending Love card

Special Friend card

Thank You card

And here is a link to a neat tutorial I found while looking for cards. I had never heard of using crayons for this before, so I thought I would share in case anyone else wants to check it out. I will definitely have to give it a try!

Click here to go to the mel stampz blog for a tutorial using the Cuttlebug and crayons

Here are some questions for you card makers:

• What is your most prized card making tool?
• What five items do you think are the most essential for making cards?
• What is the best method for attaching paper/embellishments? (I use glue dots -- is there something better?)
• Do you cut out, assemble, and arrange all of your items for each card before attaching anything?
• Do you have any tips or tricks to better card making?
• What card making site is your favorite for inspiration?

double dose of reality with double digits

So it begins.

Yesterday, we surpassed 100 days until Natalie time and are now 98 (or less!) days away. Hitting the double digit mark last year during all the busy planning for our wedding day is still fresh in my mind. I experienced a combination of emotions -- excitement that the big day was inching closer and a nice dose of freaking out at how little time we had left to plan. Once we made it to double digits, the wedding day arrived in what seemed like hours instead of days.

Those same emotions are coming back -- only this time, it involves a tiny human, completely and utterly dependent on me and her father for survival. Whoa.  One morning this week while still in bed, when it hit me that our days of just the two of us are numbered, I looked wide-eyed at Matt and said, "I don't know anything about babies!" He smiled back at me and nonchalantly said, "Welcome to motherhood."

And here we are, 98 days until Natalie is due to be here, and the clock is ticking. We are diligently working on her nursery and preparing as best as we can to be parents. And yet, I would assume like all mothers-to-be, I wonder how on earth I will manage to conquer this thing called motherhood that generation after generation before me made it through. As my belly grows, and I wonder whether that tiny thing doing construction inside of me really is a baby and not an alien, I still struggle to grasp reality. I will soon be a mother. I will boldly go where woman after woman has gone before. [Can you tell we have been watching Star Trek?] And though I will fail miserably here and there throughout this journey, I hope and pray that I can some day look back on the experience and realize I gave it my best for my sweet child.