Thursday, January 27, 2011

Birthday Cards 2011 (Part Two)

Happy Thursday Blogger Friends and Thanks for joining me today. Today I'll be sharing the final five cards I will be using for my family and friends birthday in 2011....Hope you get some ideas and enjoy your stop...... First up is a delightful little card that can be jazzed up with no limit. Change up your colors and you have a card made for that someone special on your birthday card giving list. This honestly is one of my favorite "GO TO CARDS". I use it often when I want to create a card for someone I know has favorite colors.........
This picture didn't turn out to good - but the card front flap (where the birthday hats are) will fold down and the flap behind it will lift up and the inside of the card has a small piece of white cardstocked in the center so I have a place to write my birthday message. I have made this card in many colors and have never made one that wasn't prettier than the next......
Speaking of PRETTY.....This little card was inspired (okay TOTALLY CASE'd) from my SU demo friend Mary (http://stampinpretty.blogspot.com). Mary passed these cards out as her SW Stampers card swaps and I knew I would be making these for my 2011 birthday card. THANKS MARY for your amazing creation.......I LOVE IT!
Sorry for the HORRIBLE lighting issues with this card....trust me......This card is darlin! I watched Christina from "Make A Card Monday" design this card MANY MONTHS ago and wanted to include this in my 2011 birthday cards. The design is fun and jazzy and have to say the only time consuming part is embossing the "Happy Birthday" message. The rest of the card just FLEW together and I had SO MUCH FUN making these cards.
And last....but certainly not least is one of my oldest birthday cards I make. It's a card that I've been making since we lived in Wisconsin. It's a card I love to make when I'm feeling I haven't had enough time in my studio stamping.......I grab out my inks (you can make these in a rainbow of colors) and stamp four candles in the lower section of my card.........add a flame to each of the candles and make a large oval "happy birthday" message above the candles. Top it all off with a coordinating ribbon and WOW......I have not only created a fun birthday card.....But.....I've fed my need to stamp. LOVE IT!
So there you have it.......my birthday cards for 2011 and the process on how I stay organized and on top of all the birthdays I celebrate during the year. Thanks for stopping by and hope you can return for more Kards by Kadie creations. Keep Living Your Dream!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Birthday Cards 2011 (Part One)

Thanks for joining me today my Blogger Friends......as promised......I would like to share with you the birthday cards I will be sending out this year. They are in no particular order - just sit back and enoy...... This first birthday card is a portion flap up birthday card. The only portion that folds up is the flap which the birthday cupcake is sitting on. I add a small piece of white cardstock to the inside so my message will show up on the black card stock.
Next up is a favorite birthday card.....because ever single time I make these cards I can't help but think of my little granddaughter. When I make these cards I will mix up the colors for a fun punch of color for each one.
Next up is my all time favorite Male birthday card. I typically will go into my stash drawer and pull out all my DSP that has a male feel to it......and with the help of my circle scissor plus cutter, I can create cards for both male and female.
This actually started out to be one of my Fourth of July cards (many years ago) and I just changed it up a bit for a birthday card. It also is a favorite birthday card to send to all those guys on my birthday list.
And last......a fun "My Pink Stamper" Cricut card. Have to say that when I saw Robyn make this card.....I knew it would make it's way quickly to my card giving pile.
Hope you enjoyed Part One of my Birthday Cards 2011 post. I'll be back tomorrow to share the other five birthday cards I will be using for my 2011 birthdays. Hope to see you tomorrow and Keep Living Your Dream!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Birthday Book

Hi Blogger Friends - I've been asked MANY TIMES "how is it that you NEVER miss a birthday. I have to say.......If I know it's your birthday....I DON'T MISS IT! And the way I do that is by my birthday calendar book. It's made up from 13 Business Sized Catalog Envelopes and they are decorated and ring-bound. Each month has it's own envelope and a calendar on the front of the envelope for me to write down every single birthday on the front and I can use this envelope system from year to year........when I prepare (in advance) my birthday cards, I simply drop the prepared birthday card into the envelope and pull those out at the beginning of each month so I have all that particular months birthday ready to be mailed. It's totally a system that works for me and today (and over the next couple of days) I want to share my birthday cards for this year.........Let's get started. Here's what my birthday calendar book looks like. As you can see....the 13 envelopes are bound together with two big O-Rings and the front along with all the envelopes throughout this book decorated with DSP and ribbon. Here's what I've been busy all year working on......birthday cards by the dozen. When I sit down and make a birhtday card.....I typically will try to make a dozen of the same card. That way I always have enough cards and those left over.....I can donate to charity.
Here's a close up of six of the birthday cards that I will be using this year for my family and friends.........
And here are the final four designs of my 2011 birthday cards.
This is a fun and easy way for me to stay organized........and I find myself NOT RUNNING around at the eleventh hour trying to pull together a birthday card.
I'll be sharing over the next couple of days a close-up of each of my 2011 cards.....so...Hope you can return Wednesday and Thursday for that review.
Thanks for stopping by today and Keep Living Your Dream!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Sunset SURPRISE

HAPPY MONDAY all.......Hope your weekend was AMAZING and you did some serious relaxing and ENJOY! (I DID!) As many of you know....I'm a SUCKER for an Arizona sunset - Sometimes I can't believe I'm 50-something and I NEVER knew there was such beauty in the end of the day (other than clocking out at work of course). The other night as I was preparing to leave for my SW Stampers meeting I heard Oliver and Olivia (sorry the neighor called me on their original names) who were both sitting up in the tree directly in front of my studio window........ Here they are all ready to begin their nightly hunt........ But as I was clicking the pictures in an attempt to get a close-up of my owl friends.....I realized that the sun was setting......and I was witnessing an amazing site.......so.....I began clicking......
The PURE JOY was with each picture that I clicked from a distance.....the more beautiful things became........
And even though in these next two pictures you really have to know your looking at a pair of owls....you are amazed at how beautiful the sky is......
And I will leave you today with this final view of why I believe SaddleBrooke Arizona to be the most beautiful place in the world.
Hope you can rejoin me tomorrow when I'll be sharing some recent projects I have been working on.......SO.......Until Tuesday......REMEMBER......Keep Living Your Dream!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Three Tag Notepad Holder

Happy Sunday Blogger Friends.....today I want to share a matching/coordinating notebook I made to go along with my Website/Blog notebook that I posted yesterday. Here's a picture of the two notebooks side by side. The one I'm posting today....I use for keeping track of my blog posting.........
The center tab has a piece of elastic cording wrapped around the tag to secure the entire notebook closed.
The notebook itself is just an 8-1/2"x11" piecer of cardstock wrapped around a small junior legal pad and then DSP and tags added to the cover. I had bought two of these coffee type tags long ago when I lived back in Wisconsin and when I was creating this notebook....well.....I just knew that it had to be in PINK and that the whole thing needed to coordinate with my studio. The notebook was going to be kept out on my studio desk and I wanted something pretty - yet functional.
Here's what my notebook looks like when both the flaps are opened up......Simply the easiest and the most functional thing I've made in a long time. And.....as I said earlier......PRETTY! Tomorrow I'm hoping to share with you some pictures I've taken recently of the pair of owls I have in my yard. I'm pretty sure that they are here to stay and my fingers are crossed that they find a great location to build a nest. Until tomorrow.....Keep Living Your Dream!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Website & Blogs Book

Thanks for joining me today........It's Saturday and I'm hoping that today you get some serious stamping or creative time for yourself. Today I have a great little notebook I created and I'm hoping to teach this at a Fun Shop to my fellow SaddleBrooke Stamping Buddies soon. This notebook has everything you need to keep a list of all your favorite websites and blogs in one handy little location. As you can see it has a place for your ink pen and because I used the stamp set from PaperTrey Ink that already had a stampset specifically for Websites and Blogs.........The whole notepad came together with adding a scallop circle and lots of YUMMY Melon Mambo paper!
Here's a close-up of the pen holder.......Love how now I won't be hunting on my desk for a pen each time I want to use this notebook. The pen slides right into that special location so I will always have my coordinating pen available.
And a SLIGHT peak at what the inside looks like. Sorry I can't show you the cover completely pulled back. I use mine for posting my log-in and password for some of my favorite websites - But I'm sure you get the idea of what I've created.
I'll be back tomorrow to share with you the matching/coordinating notebook I made and hope you can join me on Sunday for that post. Until tomorrow.....Keep Living Your Dream!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Valentine's MailBox Card Holder

Happy Friday to you blogger friends.......You made it.....and being as it's Friday.....it's all Party Time now. Hope you have nothing but FUN THINGS planned for the weekend. Mine will be spent in my studio and the rest will be doing fun things with my BFF......... Let's get started today with this FUN LITLE Valentine's mailbox that I made for Jack. I took a plan mailbox that I got over at Michael's last year in the dollar bin....and dressed it up with some SU DSP. I wrapped the entire mailbox with my DSP and even decorated the front and back flap of the mailbox.
Here's a view of the othere side of my mailbox. Hae to say this turned out TOO CUTE!
And here is the mailbox opened up......I tucked some super cute coupon cards into the inside of my mailbox for Jack.
Jack has to be one of the HARDEST guys to buy for.....what do you give to someone who has everything (and I do mean everything). My answer is ALWAYS to hand-craft him something.
Each of these little notecard will have either a special little "Huggie/Lovie" message written on the inside.....or.....I'll write a coupon on the inside for Jack to redeem when he wants. I'm thinking this will be something he will totally love. I'm off to get some serious work done in my studio.......My studio is coming up next month for the SaddleBrooke Stampers Studio Tour and I totally want to make sure that everything in my studio is looking FINE!
Hope you have some YUMMY plans for this weekend......My BFF and her husband and Jack and I are planning a night out tomorrow down to Flemings Steak House......We are celebrating both her birthday and Jack's birthday this month. SHOULD BE FUN!
Stop back tomorrow for more Kards by Kadie and in the mean time......Keep Living Your Dream!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

I'm A BIG FAT looser!

It's Thursday which means.......I weighed in yesterday and YIPPPPIEEEEE....I lost another 3.2 pounds. HOT DOG....That's SEVEN pounds in the second week of my program......I'm on my way and so happy with my results. Have to say that the new Weight Watchers program is SO EASY and because now all the fruit is FREE.....I'm loving the new program. I'm well on my way to enjoying some serious summer shorts and skirts this year! Today I made a mini card holder using the SU BigZ number two box die. Check it out.... This fun little holder has four 3x3 note cards tucked inside. I used the new SU In Colors and kept the cards super simple.
Here's a side view of the little holder......Just love how you can make these holders and use them for about anything. I'm sure that sometime this year I'll be using these little holders for my SaddleBrooke friends when I go to delivery some special little holiday treats.
And here's one last picture of two of the four cards that I created to go inside the holder.
I'll be back tomorrow to share yet a few more of the fabulous creations I've been working on....I have created the cutest little website and blog notebook that I'll be sharing with you tomorrow. Hope you can swing back sometime tomorrow. Until Friday........Keep Living Your Dream!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My First Blog Award

Today, I have some AMAZING NEWS for you........Yesterday morning, I recieved an email messages from Yvonne at http://onecreativemomma.blogspot.com/ that said She was honoring me with the Stylish Blog Award.......CHECK IT OUT!

SERIOUSLY.......I had to read the email a second time before I could even get my arms around the fact that someone as talented and creative as Yvonne would even find anything interesting in my blog.....let alone be inspired by my blog. THANK YOU Yvonne - you seriously touched me with this award. The requirements for receiving this award is as follows: 1) Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.......That THANKS would be going back to Yvonne at http://onecreativemomma.blogspot.com/ 2) Share 8 things about yourself. 3) Give the award to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered. 4) Contact those bloggers and let them know about their award.

SO BLOGGING FRIENDS.......LET'S GET GOING! The 8 things about myself are.......

1) I'm flipped-Out Crazy in love with Jack (whom I met on a blind date)! 2) I have 6 of the most amazing grandkids EVER! (which seriously means...I have three of the most amazing children in the WORLD!) 3) My glass is ALWAYS half full. 4) I require VERY LITTLE SLEEP! (which many of you already know-wink/wink!) 5) I would walk many miles to see another Willie Nelson concert. 6) I have the most AMAZING Studio (thank you Jack). 7) I would really really LOVE to have a dog like the one on the Little Caesar Dog commercials. But seriously........don't tell Jack. 8) I'm Living The Dream every single day!

Here are the 8 blogs that I have recently found & love to visit!

1) Shelley at Cricut Cuteness: http://cricutcuteness.blogspot.com/ 2) Pam at Simply Pam: http://simply-pam.blogspot.com/ 3) Shannon at Cootie Creations: http://cootiecreations.blogspot.com/ 4) Kassidy at Inking It Up Crazy: http://inkingitupcrazy.blogspot.com/ 5) Carissa at Sprinkle With Glitter: http://sprinklewithglitter.blogspot.com/ 6) Brenda at Qbeesquest: http://qbeesquest.blogspot.com/ 7) Diana at Stamping Moon: http://www.stampingmoon.com/ 8) Amy at Prairie Paper and Ink: http://prairepaperandink.typepad.com/ Please take some time to go check out these ladies blogs.....You will be INSPIRED by all their CREATIVITY AND STYLE. And once again Yvonne......MANY THANKS FOR PRESENTING ME WITH THE STYLISH BLOG AWARD! Live is good......and......I continue Living My Dream!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Cards from FRIENDS

Welcome Back and today I'll be sharing some pictures of the two cards I received from two of my SaddleBrooke friends. The first up is from my Stampin Buddie Berta....... Check out this awesome image of the front of the thank you card Berta made for me.
I love the colors Berta used on this card and all the hard work that she put into putting this card together for me......THANKS BERTA!
This next card is from my BFF.........This picture of the donut DOES NOT do the donut justice. It not only has icing that sparkles....but Jan even put some bling on top of the donut to really make it look REAL.
And this is a picture of what the entire card looked like. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this card. One of my favorite colors is Pink and......well.......this card needless to say has taken front row center on my studio desk. Thanks Jan!
It's weigh in tomorrow so I'm going to keep myself busy today in my studio.......figure if I create long and hard enough.........I won't have time to sneak off to the kitchen to see what's behind the pantry door. Keep Your fingers crossed for me that thinking like that works! Hope you can stop back tomorrow for some more Kards by Kadie creations. Until Wednesday.....Keep Living Your Dream!

Monday, January 17, 2011

How Sweet

It's Monday and hope you had an AMAZING weekend and are off and running on this FABULOUS new week. As many of you know.....I rejoined Weight Watchers and have been SUPER GOOD about staying on track. I rejoined with Debbie my new stamping buddie and several of her unit lady friends. We all head up to Catalina on Wednesday afternoon to weigh in.......Clap....Cheer....and Laugh at our meetings and have the most amazing leader known to man. Sherrie totally keeps us interested and coming back. Last week was my first weigh in....and....I'm SUPER HAPPY to say....I lost almost FOUR POUNDS. YAHHHHOOOOO! So today's post is in honor of those FOUR POUNDS.........CHOCOLATE! I made this adorable nugget holder that holds five hersey nuggets. This is a close-up of the scallop circle that adorns the top of my treat holder.
I added 1"x3" stripes of DSP around each nugget to get the nuggets to coordinate with the entire packaging theme.
I used the SU Big Shot Tags Die that I used in yesterday's post to be the topper of my treat holder........And the really big news.........I'm able to make these little treat holders without DIVING INTO THE BAG!
If I eat two Hersey Nuggets.....It's THREE POINTS. Because I'm going to make Weight Watchers work this time.......I am working with program with a SERIOUS ATTITUDE. I take my points very seriously and can say - before I bite it to write it (thanks Jan). I seriously think to myself......do I really want to sue my points that way. This type of thi8nking has allowed me to weigh in on Wednesday afternoons with some GREAT RESULTS. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this Wednesday's weigh in reflects all my hard work from this past week.
I'm off to create in my studio.....hope you have an amazing Monday and can return tomorrow and I'll share with you another project I've been working on.......Until Tuesday........Keep Living Your Dream!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Guess Who?

It's Sunday and I would like to welcome you back to my blog......Many thanks for stopping in and visiting me today......My wishes are for you to have a fabulous day and RELAX! I will be sharing a set of cards I made this past week.......and I honestly got this idea when I was bloggin last week. I honestly CAN NOT remember who's blog had this card (if it's you.....please share yourself with us-I only remember the blog was AMAZING).....but I saw the card and knew that I had all the product to make these cards and off I went. I used four of the new Stampin' UP! In Colors for my cards.....and think they turned out SWEET!
Here's a close-up of one of the cards. The original used a SU stamp set and didn't cut out a matching circle frame to fit around the punched out 1-1/4" hole. I totally wanted my cards to say "Guess Who?" and enlisted the help of my laptop and studio printer to help me get what I was looking for.
The card is made from Chocolate Chip and Kraft CardStock. I punched a 1-1/4" circle out and then created a 1-3/8" frame to go over the top of the 1-1/4" punched out circle. The owl is actually a bookmark that slides over the front portion of the card.....TO STINKIN CUTE (no?)!
Here's a close up of the Peach Parfait bookmark. I used the SU Two Tags BigZ Die from Stampin Up (page 206....which by the way.......you can use the BigZ Die's in your CuddleBug too). When I diecut out the bookmark, I placed my folded cardstock just to the inside of the long tag and that allowed the cardstock to run through the Big Shot without cutting on the die cut line and gave me a bookmark that was able to fold over my card.
And a final last picture of my Owl Bookmark card. I think these cards turned out SO SUPER CUTE and I can't wait to make a gift box for these and give them to one of my friends up here in SaddleBrooke......UHM....doesn't a little someone have a birthday coming up here soon?
Hope you can stop back tomorrow and I'll be sharing some additional cards and creations I've been working on since the first of the year. Until Monday.......Keep Living Your Dream!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Sunset in Arizona

Greetings Blogger Friends - Hope you are enjoying your Saturday and have plenty of time this weekend to enjoy your family and friends and are able to do something extra special for yourself. I'm feeling in a relaxed and happy kind of way today and thought I would share with you just a couple pictures of some of the amazing sunsets we have here in SaddleBrooke Arizona. This first picture I took on December 27 on a ride Jack and I were taking in the GolfCar.
Here we are on the final hole of one of our three (or maybe it's four) golf courses and as we stopped to look at some of the deer (which honestly are plentiful on all our courses), we turned around and saw this scene......UNBELIEVEABLE BEAUTIFUL! (this was also taken just two days before our big snow.........)
And these next two pictures are from my front yard........And taken on New Year's Day!
The saying here in SaddleBrooke is.......When the Catalina's (mountains) are P*I*N*K......It's time to D*R*I*N*K. Needless to say.......there's a whole lot of drinking that can go on in SaddleBrooke any particular night!
I'll be back to my regularly scheduled bloggin tomorrow.......Thanks for letting me share just a few of my non-Kardmaking pictures with you.......I promise to get back on track again tomorrow. Until Sunday.......Keep Living Your Dream!