Now that my son's birthday is over I will post the card I made for him.  Not that I really think he would be reading his mother's stamping blog, but it seemed better to wait!  When this stamp set first came out and Stampin' Up! demonstrators had a chance to preorder it at a discount, I was going to pass on it.  But then I remembered my son was going to be working on some robot project at college, so gee, it might come in handy!  I've seen lots of cute cards made with it so it is a great set to own!

Here is the card for his 21st birthday…..and he LIKED the card!  What more could a stamping mother want??!

I used the In Colors Crushed Curry and Soft Suede, plus some Basic Gray under the 021, only because I couldn't find my Brushed Silver at the moment.  That is one of the Sweet Treat Cups holding the screws, etc. from the Holiday Mini.….so the Sweet Treat Cups aren't just for candy!  The Sweet Treat Cup is actually mounted to the inside of the card so that the front opens and you can still see the robot in the cup.  You use the 1 3/4" Circle Punch to make the holes.  After I made the first one, I traced with a pencil where the next one would go so I would get the placement right with the punch and everything would line up.  The punches work best with one layer of card stock at a time.

Use some Mini Glue Dots to attach the front of the Treat Cup to the layer you see here, then when you attach the stamped robot layer you will peel away the adhesive strip on the actual Treat Cup to adhere that so it looks like the robot is inside the cup.

I left the right hand corner unstamped so we could sign the card there!  Be sure to stamp the images before adhering over the Treat Cup……otherwise it is difficult to stamp near the cup!  Duh!

And the finished card again………..

I hope these photos make the assembly process somewhat clear, but if not, email me with any questions!

PS:  Since I don't own any number stamps, I used My Digital Studio to print out the numbers I wanted and then adhered them to this card!

If you don't already own the stamp set "Lovely As a Tree" you should really add it to your collection right away! We all held our breath when Stampin' Up! retired stamp sets this last time because "Lovely As a Tree" has been around for awhile!  But it just is the most versatile, necessary stamp set to have on hand!  It is perfect for making cards for men, which is often a bit of challenge, but it can also be made into a beautiful Christmas card or a sympathy card or used on scrapbook pages and gifts.  Since my husband and I are planning a fall foliage trip to New England, it seemed perfect to make yet another "Lovely As a Tree" card for his birthday yesterday, this time with colored leaves and the new Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper in the catalog.

I got the best surprise yesterday for my birthday when my brother called from Kansas and said he might be flying to Houston that evening on business.  We haven't seen each other  in a couple of years and he rarely gets to fly to Houston, so that he was coming to Houston, much less on my birthday, was a pretty big treat!  He did just barely make it in by evening, and then we went out to his and my favorite restaurant for him to have dinner and me to have a second dinner I guess!  He even brought along handmade birthday cards from my nieces and nephews!  I was so impressed with how "fancy" they made the cards!  Their mom said on the phone that they love the stamped cards I send them so now they make fancy cards also!  They used decorative scissors and had belly bands around them or around the envelopes, glued on borders, and lovely little notes! Here's a photo of the cards and handmade envelopes!

So never underestimate the power of a handmade card, whether you are giving or receiving!

If you enjoy a good ESP story….this was weird!  At dinner my husband, brother and I were talking about amusement parks and roller coasters.  I asked my brother if he liked roller coasters.  He said yes, he loved them (crazy fool!).  As soon as he said that, I remembered that one time as teenagers in St. Louis, I went with him, his best friend next door Ronnie, and Ronnie's girlfriend (and later wife) Patty to Six Flags.  They wanted to ride the new wooden roller coaster, the Screamin' Eagle I think, and I DID NOT but I stood in line with them for 45 minutes just to wait with them.  By the time we finally got to the head of the line, I decided I should go ahead and ride it and I did.  As soon as we got off, they wanted to ride it again and we stood in the long line again……and again.  Now last night I literally barely had those words out of my mouth when my brother's cell phone rang…..it was his friend Ronnie!!  How weird is that?!  Ronnie calls him now and then but not real often so for him to call like one minute after I was talking about him was really unbelievable!

So this morning I have just taken my brother back to the airport and gotten to board some rich person's private jet that he is going to fly back to Montana after maintenance here.  It's nice to see how the "other half" lives!  And I came home to a beautiful bouquet of birthday flowers on the porch from my upline/best friend!

I'll get back to Stampin' Up! Convention news and photos later!

It's spring and that means it is time for butterflies……or "fooflies" as our daughter used to say!  Stampin' Up! offers several stamp sets with butterflies right now and they certainly are the "in" thing!  This butterfly is from the stamp set "Simple Friendship" on page 92 of the Idea Book & Catalog .  I got the idea for this card on SCS and it was from a sketch challenge, a diagram of a layout.  I used Baja Breeze for the card base since it coordinates with the beautiful new Designer Paper in the Occasions Mini called "Walk in the Park" on page 9.  I almost hated to cover up the design of the paper on the bottom layer, but I can always make another card showcasing that paper!  This card is 6×6 since the person I was making it for wanted a large card that a group of people could sign (therefore you would cut your cardbase 12×6 and fold in half).  The ribbon is a new one in the Idea Book & Catalog, on page 179, the Whisper White Organza Ribbon.  It is so beautiful to use!  But if you wanted a new ribbon from the Occasions Mini, you could use the Whisper White Satin Ribbon in there on page 17!  The words stamped under the butterfly are from another butterfly set called "Flight of the Butterfly" (page 98).  My butterfly is stamped and cut out and the little half pearl is from the Pretties Kit, adhered with a mini glue dot.

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There are beautiful products in the new Occasions Mini AND a special "Get Connected"offer!

From April 1-30, spend $40 on products in the Occasions Mini Catalog or host a $150 workshop and get a FREE item from the “Under $10” page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog (p. 208).

*In Celebrando Creatividad, p. 28

Contact me if you want to "Get Connected"!