March and April birthdays!

It's that time again...birthday cards! First, a piece of housekeeping: I've decided not to continue to list my cardstock on every post. This is for a few reasons. First, I bought a pack of Recollections cardstock and it is mixed in with my Paper Studio because I sort by color. I now have no idea which is which, and I realized that's ok.  This leads to my second reason: I'm finding that cardstock is a personal choice.  Every person already knows what kind of cardstock they like, and what stores they will be going to in order to get it.  I like smooth cardstock in most cases, so I get brands that reflect that.  Others might like textured.  So nobody is likely to care which type I chose for which project, because they are going to use the kind they like best.  So, from here on out know this: unless otherwise stated, my cardstock is either from a value pack of Paper Studio or Recollections.  :)

Now, on to the fun!

Both my husband's and my father have birthdays in these two months, so I made them identical cards.  I figured it would be easier to make them the same cards each year, in order to make sure that I wasn't duplicating in future years.  For this card, I used the Birthday Bash cartridge for the candles.  Behind it is a scrap of patterned paper from my scraps.  I think it might have been Doodlebug?  Or else it is Miss Elizabeth's (the Dollar Tree brand).  I've had it for years.  Regardless, I thought this card was sufficiently masculine.  Since it was pretty busy on the front, I decided to put the sentiment inside.  I cut this from Zooballoo.  It's such a fun font!

Surprisingly, both of our mothers also have March/April birthdays.  So again, they're each getting the same card.  I've just been introduced to the wonderful world of kraft paper as a background (late to the game, I know!) and was really excited for these cards because I had just bought a value pack. 

Anyway, I used my Birthday Bash cartridge again for this card.  I just got it, and was excited to use many of the cuts.  They're so cute!  The piece of ribbon is from American Crafts, and I used my brand new Pink by Design "Scripted Year" stamps for the sentiment.  I don't know if I've mentioned yet that I love Pink by Design stamps, but I do.  I never realized how clear stamping could be until I bought Pink by Design.  Love!

Last, but certainly not least, is the birthday card for one of my sister-in-laws.  (Yes, I have many.)  She turned 19 in April.  This card uses some patterned paper from Paper Studio's The Basics stack.  The cuts are from Four Legged Friends (hamster), Create a Critter (chick) and Life is a Beach (lizard).  A little backstory: this particular sister-in-law has a long history of having had many small pets as a child that she loved but eventually escaped from her (multiple hamsters and the lizard) or turned out to be roosters and had to be given to a farm (chick).  The point of this card is that her previous pets have returned to wish her a happy birthday.  Plus, I had just gotten Four Legged Friends and that hamster is ridiculously cute!

You may notice the baker's twine (aka leash- it's part of the lizard story).  I actually made it myself, based on an awesome tutorial that I found on pinterest.  If you're interested, you can watch the original video here.  Basically, you use plain cotton thread #10 (I found mine in the yarn section at HL on sale for $2.22), wrap it around a ruler that has been covered with masking tape, and then color it in straight lines with some form of permanent marker.  I have a ton of Sharpies that I got in a pack, so with those few supplies I now have a lifetime supply of whatever color of baker's twine I want.  Word to the wise: color the lines kind of thin.  This pink was my first attempt and some of the marker did bleed together and didn't leave as much white as I wanted.  My second attempt (light green) turned out much better.