Beautiful Garden Birthday

August and September were supposed to be my months to catch up and get ahead with my Stampin’ Up!® class ideas and projects. Alas, that hasn’t happened. (Honestly, I thought the use of the word alas would make you feel a little sympathy for me. Did it work?)

Less than a week after Amelia’s birthday was mine. I had lunch with my parents and Amelia, then a game night and dinner with all the kids (except Jon, but he stopped by that morning). Mike kept asking, “When can we go to dinner and celebrate your birthday?” The next night, Mike was a guest instructor for a class at the local community college, and the next…Well, it was almost a week later that we actually celebrated. It was lovely. But I’m exhausted from the celebrating. It’s a good exhausted, though!

Without any more excuses, I going to show you a few of my handmade birthday cards from friends. These will definitely give you some inspiration and get your creative juices flowing.

This is from my friend (and twin) from Hawaii, Joanne Do. I love this card so much. Joanne used the Falling Flowers set with the coordinating May Flowers Framelits for this card. Isn’t her coloring with the Stampin’ Blends beautiful? I love the colors she used, as well as the pops of shine in the flower centers. You probably can’t see it in the photo, but I’m thinking she used some of the fine-tip glue. It’s a nice shine, but not overwhelming. And how about that Garden Impressions Designer Series Paper (DSP)? That wasn’t one of my favorite designs, but I LOVE it for this card.

Here’s a little about Joanne. We’ve been cyber friends for years. Joanne and her husband have been married as long as Mike & I have been. They have two sons, and they’re the same ages as our boys. Joanne posted a picture of herself and her husband David, and she was wearing a dress very similar to one of mine. I kind of felt like I had a doppelganger. A much younger and cuter doppelganger, but a doppelganger all the same. (I think I just set the record for the most times the word doppelganger was used in a paragraph. Or even a blog.)

Joanne and I finally met at a Stampin’ Up!® convention several years ago, and she was just as wonderful in person as she was online. And she’ll be in Orlando in November! I can’t wait to see her again.

This is from my dear friend Jackie. Jackie is the “J” in the BS&J Stamp Off Challenges every other Friday. I can’t even remember how long Jackie and I have been friends, but it’s been almost as long as I’ve been a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator. Jackie has more years as a demo than I have, and you can tell by this gorgeous card. Look at the coloring on the Beautiful You image! I love her shading. I just wanted to go color something when I got this in the mail. And the balance between the DSP and the card base – with the tease of card base at the bottom – is so sweet. I always “line up” edges, but I LOVE the little strip at the bottom. The little slice of DSP on the sentiment banner and the black twine really tie everything together. Seriously, no pun intended there. (And oops – I’ve shown this card too much love. The twine was perfectly lined up with the DSP when I got it. But I’ve looked at it and touched it so much, the twine moved and I didn’t catch it before the photo.)

One day, I’m going to meet Jackie. She is so amazing, and has such an incredible life story. She is one of the strongest women I know.

This beauty is from Carol. Carol is one of my downline, and I’ve learned so much from her. When she does make & takes for our team meetings, she does such a lovely job. The projects are beautiful, but her teaching skills are spectacular. She makes it fun and easy. I love her style. I’ve never seen one of her cards that I didn’t like. They’re always fresh and fun. I’m so proud of her, although I can’t take any credit. She was already an amazing crafter when I found her.

Carol also used the Garden Impressions DSP, along with the Daisy Delight Stamp Set and Daisy Punch. I love, love, LOVE the multiple strands of twine, and I just noticed the leaves. I don’t know that I’ve ever used the leaf stamps in the Daisy Delight set. Carol stamped the leaves and cut them out with Paper Snips. Beautiful!

I hope I’m conveying the love I feel from these ladies. I’ll have more tomorrow (and maybe even more the next day…).

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!