Papercrafting: More Cards For Box Of Balloons !

 

I wrote in May about an organization called Box Of Balloons that works to ensure that children get to be celebrated on their birthdays. They were then partnering with several of my local Starbucks locations to collect cards, wrapping, decorations etc. and as a Cardmaker and a Mom, it was right up my alley. I did it for the sheer joy of combining those two loves and because I want every child to know the feeling of being special on their birthday. 

I was honored and humbled to receive the following email from the local chapter President, Amy:

"I'm so impressed with your handmade cards and gift tags and wanted to say THANK YOU so much for your wonderful donation.

I've been putting a card and gift tag in each birthday box I've been creating and it adds such a personal touch to each box. Thank you so much for donating these as I'm sure they took a lot of time and energy to create. They're so beautiful and made so well and I'm just blown away and grateful :) "

I was thrilled they were happy and would be put to use and immediately planned on making more! As I've written about (probably ad nauseum!) June was a bust for creating between prepping for a planned move and spending an unplanned week in the hospital. So once things had settled ( somewhat...life is life!) in July, I wanted to get back to it and on Saturday dropped another three dozen cards in the mail! 

Supplies:

• Birthday Themed Papers (American Crafts, The Color of Memories Collection from JoAnn and Happy Cake Day stack by Recollections from Michaels)
• Cardstock
• Birthday Themed Washi Tape ( Park Lane, JoAnn) 
• Glitter Papers ( Recollections, Michaels) 

 This time around I used some American Crafts birthday themed papers I found at JoAnn along with some Park Lane birthday themed washi tape I scooped up on sale there. 

Like some of the sheets from the Recollections "Cake Day" stack, this sheet had panels I cut up to use as the focal for the cards, matting each with coordinating glitter papers. The washi tape coordinated perfectly with the colors (and it didn't hurt that it was an additional 50% off clearance). 

The Balloon background paper is from the same American Crafts collection. I kept things simple, matting the image on glitter paper, then another coordinating paper ( great way to use scraps) and attaching to the card with foam squares. 

Since I still had plenty of papers from the "Happy Cake Day" stack I previously used (and may or may not have bought another stack when Michaels had another buy one get two free Hot Buy sale which is my kryptonite) I made some more using those. 

Unintentionally, I usually make my cards in a portrait vs landscape orientation...no reason...just do...but since these panels didn't lend themselves to that, made some that way too. 

It's very fulfilling to feel like doing something you absolutely love can make a difference. Especially now. Especially in a child's life! 

Papercrafting: Layered "Moonogram"

 

I mentioned that I'm going to be a "Fairy Grandmother" since my bestie's daughter is having a baby. The nursery is coming together with a very cool ombre wall done by one of our other friends and has Moon elements. I made this layered "Moonogram" to complement that theme. 

Supplies: 

• Black Cardstock
• Lavender Glitter Cardstock
• Coordinating Scrapbook Paper ( Let's Wander Stack by Recollections from Michaels)
• Shadowbox Frame (Michaels) 
• Moon SVG (Creative Fabrica) 
• Digital Cutting Machine ( I used my Cricut Explore2) 

As always, I needed to choose what papers I wanted to use. I had a general sense of what I wanted to do but the papers were key! I went with black, since like me, the mom to be is non-traditional and has a lot of black and white in the nursery, a lavender glitter paper and a sheet of very celestial looking paper from the Let's Wander Stack by Recollections. 

The next step was to design the "Moonogram" so I popped over to Creative Fabrica (disclosure, I am an affiliate there) to look for a Moon themed SVG and found this bundle which was perfect: 

I uploaded the "Man in the Moon with Stars" and the "Man in the Moon" images to Cricut Design Space. Then I chose the letter of the baby's first name in a font that would work well with the Moon images and used the Slice function in Design Space to make the cut out layer of the letter adding stars as well. 

I assembled the "Moonogram" layers using foam squares. 

Then I cut the background paper to fit the frame and attached the "Moonogram". 

The paper, with the gold foiling was already pretty but I'm a more is more person so I wanted to add some more bling and when I saw these jewels at Michaels ( on sale for $5!) they had to come home with me for this project. 

I like how they almost look like raindrops. To finish, I used the interior of the star images from the top layer of the "Moonogram" and attached those with foam squares. 

I need to adjust the letter ever so slightly to straighten as I look at these pics but I'm so happy with how this turned out! 

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Hammered Silver Earrings...Thanks Michaels

 

When you make jewelry, you set yourself up for "Really? You needed another pair of earrings?" Yes. I do so there. In my defense, I went to Michaels because I really did need new trimmer blades for my paper trimmer. But what kind of Maker would I be if I went in and didn't walk around the store? I'm no poser! And "see, what happened was"...I was in the Bead and Jewelry section and a bunch of these earring components said rescue me like when the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz calls out for his oil can. It couldn't be helped! These were just my style since I love big, bold, earrings. 

As you can tell, more earrings will follow but since I'm also preparing to move, maybe not right away. 

Supplies: 

• Bead Landing Silver Earring Components
• Silver Beads
• Head Pins
• Jump Rings
• Jewelry Pliers
• Clip Backs or Ear Wires
• Loctite Gel Glue

Since I bought um "several" , the hardest part was deciding which package to play with first but I chose the hammered silver ones. I had some silver beads in my stash along with my clip earring backs ( for pierced ears use ear wires) and I love the Loctite Super Glue Gel.

Since the main component had three holes I decided to make three beaded dangles using three beads for the middle and two beads for either side. String onto a Head Pin (these are the ones with flat ends vs Eye Pins which come with a pre-formed loop) and then finish with a wrapped loop. 

For clip wearers like me, glue the clip backing to the piece to a flat back pendant shown in the supplies. 

Attach the beaded dangles to the Hammered Silver component using jump rings. See How To Open and Close A Jump Ring here.  Follow the same process to attach to the earring base or ear wire. And then you're done and you have another pair of earrings easy peasey! 

Maybe I'll call them my Moving Earrings. Ha! 

Framed Layered Square Mandala

I attended a virtual  multi-day Makers Fest last December where I met so many talented people. Not just talented, but generous in that they shred and continue to share their creativity and talents through free designs you can download. One of my favorites is Gjoa from Special Hearts Studio who designs gorgeous layered cut files that can be used in your Cricut or Silhouette. We love Frank Lloyd Wright designs and right now live not far from his Taliesin West architectural school so when I saw this one, it was all kinds of perfect! You need a password to download files so just follow the instructions at the link. 

Supplies: 

• Square Mandala Cut File #137
• Coordinating Papers. All papers by Recollections from Michaels
• Background Paper (Michaels)
• Shadowbox Frame (Michaels)

Since I tend toward neutrals, I selected my papers: white, silver, black and cream

I find that it's helpful to lay your papers out in the exact order you want the layers to be on your finished project. It helps me keep things straight! 

Import and size file in Cricut Design Space. The frame I chose was 8x8 so I sized my project to 6x6 because I didn't want it to fill the entire frame. Then, cut each layer. 

Once your layered pieces are cut, then you can assemble them! I have done layered file with foam tape or spray adhesive depending on the intricacy of the layer and the effect you want. For this project, I used spray adhesive and I like using a repositionable adhesive so you have the flexibility to line up the pieces properly. 

Spray the back of each layer and adhere. I like building up from the bottom layer. 

Here's the base white layer with the first silver layer. 

Then black over the silver layer. 

Cream layer over black

White layer over cream.

And finally the last (silver) layer on top! 

Cut your background paper to fit your frame. I did use foam dots to attach the assembled Mandala to the background paper. 

I have it displayed on our entry table atop a thrifted candleholder I painted. Make sure to stop by Gjoa's Blog and check out her wonderful creations!

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Every Child Should Be Celebrated On Their Birthday: Box of Balloons

 

April was a blur for me with getting my mom back to full health. So with doctors appointments and follow-ups ( many, many, MANY follow-ups) I didn't have a lot of time and even less energy for creating. But on a stop at my regular Starbucks, I got the jolt I needed and not just from the mobile order I was picking up. 

This location that has become my go to during the pandemic (shout out to the Hayden & Thompson Peak store in Scottsdale) and is partnering with an organization called Box of Balloons which works to provide Birthday Boxes to kids who might otherwise not have a birthday celebration. That hits my heart.

I LOVED my birthdays as a child because my Mom and Dad always made sure they were special. This was back in the day when parties weren't events planned like the D-Day invasion. Home, friends, family, but always special. Always a theme with matching invites, decorations, cake etc. I tried to make my son's special because that's what I knew and my husband, whose experience was different, was initially confused but loved making our son's birthdays special too. 

So when I saw this drive for decorations, favors etc. I knew I could put my skills and my tools like my Cricut Explore to good use for a good cause! There's a reason why I grabbed up the "Happy Cake Day" Hot Buy paper stack at Michaels! 

Supplies: 

• Happy Cake Day Paper Stack ( Michaels )
• Jewel Glitter Paper Stack ( Michaels  )
• Paper Scraps
• Cardstock 

This Happy Cake Day stack is SO much fun. You really need to get it if you see it and no I don't get a commission! It's just a great stack. Foiled and plain papers that all coordinate with each other and so much fun. 

There are a few pages with panels like this that you can cut for multiple cards etc. LOVE these in all of the paper stacks I buy. So I trimmed some from this sheet and another similar one to use as the focal for each card. 

Using cardstock I had on hand ( this was also a great way to use up existing supplies) I cut all the cards 5x7 and kept things fairly simple cutting the coordinating paper panels for the card to 4.75x6.75 and 4x6. I had fun just picking coordinating papers from these stacks and my stash. 

Everything's better with glitter right? So I grabbed my paper scraps which were the perfect size to use to mat the focal panels I'd cut. They really make the cards look festive and fun. I was having so much fun, I ended up making about 3 dozen cards!

But wait! The other thing perfect for birthdays are tags and what's a better way to use up paper scraps than making tags? 

I grabbed a bunch of coordinating scraps and from the larger pieces, I cut some Balloons and Stars using my Cricut Explore and just had fun mixing and matching all of the paper scraps and cutouts. I layered the diecuts and attachd with foam dots to give the tags some dimension and then added bright ribbons. 

I couldn't forget the great team at my go to store. I LOVE the Starbucks Mobile App which allows me to order ahead, pop in and pickup my drink and I must go there enough because different baristas recognize me by name and know if my drink is ready, being worked on, that I want a straw etc. So I also made a long overdue Thank You card for them!

I had this cut file in my collection and used the Slice function in Cricut Design Space to add some coffee beans. I added a couple of the balloons left over from making tags since they're doing the Balloon Box drive, and  used a sheet from another favorite Recollections Stack, "Let's Wander" along with light green glitter paper and white cardstock. 

Being able to do what I love and give back to kids to hopefully make their day just a little brighter was EXACTLY the infusion of inspiration I needed. We're all in this world together. 

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