It's the Little Things (that the Silhouette makes so much quicker!)

Late yesterday evening, I was finishing up plans for my next writing class. My students will be reading sample essays and trying to evaluate them based on a Six-Traits approach to writing. They'll be working in groups, so I thought it would be fun if they had some judges' cards to hold up showing the score they decide is appropriate in each area for each essay. Sure, I could have used a sharpie and fired off some cards in moments, but I wanted something a little more fun. Sure, they could make cards themselves, but we don't have much time. I teach at a home school organization where we only have one hour together each week. Enter the Silhouette. With some neon index cards, a sheet of black cardstock, a glue stick, and about 15 minutes start to finish, I made these cute cards for my class to use next week. Plus, this gave me the perfect excuse for a few minutes of papercrafting therapy :)

What Do You Get the Man Who Has Everything?

Well, when that man is turning 91, memories are as good a gift as any. My husband's dad turns 91 tomorrow. He has been blessed with a long life and good health. Only in very recent years has he begun to slow down at all, and that is no doubt in part due to his meticulous care of his ailing wife and the tragic loss of a second daughter in February of this year. It's been a tough year, but he still grew tomatoes this summer.

During his long life, he has had many hobbies and interests. In his younger years, he loved to play guitar and sing with his brothers and sisters. Recently, our cousin posted a "throw back Thursday" picture on Facebook of his dad (Uncle Gilliam to us) and my father-in-law playing guitar together. Various family members pieced together that it must have been taken in the forties and told of how some of the siblings used to sing together in Atlanta on a radio program. With my father-in-law's birthday right around the corner, I did what any good papercrafter would do and stole the picture to frame for him.

I bought a frame with a mat and then cut an additional mat with my Silhouette. Before cutting, I printed the caption and then punched the little music notes right before putting it all into the frame. That's him on the right and his brother on the left. I'm happy to say he loved it!

After framing the picture, I was on a bit of a guitar roll and made this birthday card for him. I used my Silhouette on this one, too. I printed the guitar and had my Silhouette cut it out. I popped it up over my twine "guitar strings." I stamped the greeting using a stamp that belonged to that daughter he lost in February. She was my stamping buddy and the one who got me started in card making. I miss her so much, and using some of her things is very special to me. I thought it was especially fitting for this card.

We all celebrated together last Friday, but my daughter and I are hoping to see him for a few minutes tomorrow after school. We may pick up cupcakes!

Linked up at Silhouette School's Link It or Lump It Party.

Rescue Dogs are the Best!

two-color heat transfer vinyl project

 I have a friend who has been so kind to take my teenage daughter along each week this summer as she, her son, and some other friends went up to a local animal shelter to love on the animals. I wanted to show our appreciation for her with, what else, something special. She's a teacher and a volunteer who handles the adoption paperwork for the shelter when they bring dogs to our local PetSmart, so I thought a bookbag might be nice.

To personalize the bag, I turned to one of my favorite resources for learning the Silhouette, Silhouette School. Recently, Melissa posted an excellent tutorial on how to create a multi-layer design in heat transfer vinyl without the bulk of stacking the layers. While this technique probably wasn't necessary on this particular project, I couldn't wait to give it a try. My daughter is continually putting in t-shirt orders, and I know it's going to be fab for a t-shirt project.

I searched for a cute saying about rescue dogs and was thrilled to find inspiration in this cute pillow. A quick trace of a dog silhouette image and selecting fonts to fill a couple of text boxes in Silhouette Studio, and my design was done! I ironed the design layers onto a bag I purchased at Michael's, added her name to the back of the bag, and tucked in a gift card to PetSmart. Perfect!

I have to add that as a result of my daughter's volunteer work, we gained a new family member in June. Joining Mickey, our man dog, and our cat, Queen Mae, is a feisty little lady dog named Bella. She has snuggled her way right into our hearts and home like she's always been here, much in the same way Mickey did when we adopted him four years ago. If you are thinking of getting a dog, please consider adopting a shelter dog. Ours have added so much to our family!

Mickey

Mae

Jenni and Bella at PetSmart

Bella

Recently on Silhouette School, Melissa, along with several other talented bloggers, has been hosting a linky party to showcase a wide variety of  projects. I've linked up to card challenges before, but here goes linking up a vinyl project to Link It or Lump It #49. So many awesome projects! Check it out and be inspired.

A New Start

Okay. So I've fired up my blog and I see that I haven't posted since October 15, 2012. What? Thankfully, it hasn't been that long since I've created something. It's just been that long since I shared it here. I've been thinking about this little blog lately and decided I'd like to start using it again. It's mainly a place for me to reflect on the what, why, and how of my creative interests. When I started the blog, it was all about card-making, so I named it "Good Paper." Since I got my Silhouette Portrait in early January, I've branched out a bit and have been making more gifts and a few home decor items. Thus, a new name for my blog—Make It Special. I've not yet arrived at being able to clearly define my creative style, but one common thread in pretty much anything I make is my desire to make it special. As I return to the routine of fall (school starts this week!), I plan to schedule time in my art room and share my projects here. Wish me luck!

I remember when he was the baby . . .

I just downloaded a few card pictures and decided to update the blog. The first picture is of a baby card I made a week or so ago to welcome the fourth child and only boy who was born to a family in our church.

Inside it reads, "You're a blessing/ Yes, you are!/ Welcome, Baby!" I used my new Michaels 6x6 paper pad and a pebbles felt star I picked up a Big Lots for $1/pack. I was pleased with the way it turned out. 

Just this weekend, I made a 13th birthday card for my nephew. How can that be? It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming him into our family. 

I found this cute, free printable subway art here and used my Fiskars shape-cutter to create this "13" frame to go over it. 

Again, with the stamped gift wrap . . .

Strong and handsome at thirteen (towering over his beautiful mom). Not a baby anymore!

And one more little project . . . not a card, but definitely good paper. I made a photo banner using pictures of Jenni in her Halloween costume through the years. I had the pics printed in black and white because we agreed they'd be spookier that way. The banner is the finishing touch to our Halloween mantle.

Thanks for stopping by!

p.s. The banner was inspired by the one Windy Robinson did for a PaperCrafts magazine blog hop in September. 

In September, mostly birthdays . . .

September has flown by. My mom and sister celebrated birthdays, so I've been making lots of birthday cards lately . . .

Used a cute Pebbles felt sticker (Big Lots--$1/pack) and my new favorite paper (Reflections 6x6 at Michaels--180 pages for $4)

Love this "keep calm" trend

For my mother's birthday

Almost entered this one in the Moxie Fab Minty Fresh challenge

Again, with the Big Lots' Pebbles felt and Michaels' 6x6 paper

A couple of those cards accompanied gifts, so I did a little gift wrap stamping and gift tag making . . . 

I've found I really like stamping plain kraft gift wrap. The US mail wrap at the Dollar Tree is surprisingly  sturdy.

Just a little shimmer of silver in the brown and pink paper inspired me to combine it with silver/gray paper and ribbon. It was very elegant in person. 

A couple of thank you cards and a note card . . . 

New gray paper from Big Lots, lovely pale yellow chiffon ribbon from the Dollar Tree, and patterned paper from the Michaels' 6x6 pad made it easy to decorate this pre-made notecard. 

I was going for a handkerchief look. I think I like it. 

Sadly, a sympathy card . . . 

For some reason, I love birds on sympathy cards. I really like the way these are soaring toward heaven. 

And last, but not least, a fall anniversary card that may morph into my thanksgiving cards . . . 

And here I was feeling like I haven't made any cards lately!

Our Favorite Greeter, Snoopy

It's hard for me to imagine why I stood for so long in the aisle at Hobby Lobby trying to decide if I'd use this stamp four dollars and sixty cents' worth. I most certainly have.

Snoopy is a welcome sight for so many occasions. Today, he stars in a birthday card for my father-in-law who will turn 89 tomorrow. Instead of his letter, he comes bearing a birthday cake.

My card is based on this fun sketch over at Mojo Monday this week:

Thanks for such a fun sketch, Julee. If you haven't tried Mojo Monday, hop on over there and give it a go. Great inspiration to be found!