Tag Cards

I'm just not great at handmade cards.  Perhaps I have high expectations but I'll start and generally end up disappointed at the end result.  For Mother's Day this year, I really wanted to make my mom a card. I mean she loves anything I make for her...still...all these years later so how could I not win?  True, but I still wanted it to be cool and unique.  I was searching the web and pinterest when I came across this.  She called it a Pretty Large Tag Card and I just loved the idea!  So I ran with it.

And I love how it turned out.  I grabbed all kinds of pink papers and ephemera.  I also grabbed my pink and blush color shine and set to work.  I cut different tag shapes, added elements, and stamping.  Each piece has sentiment on it such as love, cherish, and celebrate. In the back I stitched a small piece of paper onto a tag on three sides allowing me to tuck a note inside.  This was quick and easy to make, super fun, and looks amazing.  I loved watching my mom look through it!

So being on a bit of "high" with my tag card, I wanted to try it again.  I have a few friends that I have really grown closer to and bonded with during the year. Not only that, but they are moms too and always have invaluable advice and support to offer.  I thought Mother's Day might be a great time to just say hey, thanks for being a great friend.  So I made a little gift of an emery board, nail polish, and some nail polish removal pads in these tiny buckets I found on the Target dollar rack and added a tag card to them!

Again, I hit up my stash for mostly pink items.  They are all similar but not the same.  I love how they turned out and it was just a great way to say thank you and enjoy your special day!

RIGHT NOW memories

 

I'm very excited to share this quick and simple project that will help you document your memories quickly.  I make a point of saying that because I often hear from my friends "how do you find the time to do that!"  Well, not everything is a big project but it can be just as cute.  However, my main goal is always to record the memories - I just enjoy being creative and playing with pretty papers in the process!  This idea was inspired by this post.  I loved this new way of folding up a memory file.  While it was used as a gift-giving card in that project, I thought it would be a perfect way to quickly document my family members right now.  I used a memory file from the Mixed Company collection by Heidi Swapp.  I decorated it by stenciling with some color shine and magic medium.  I added ephemera and also the stickers from the memory file kit to indicate each person's section.  There are four of us in my family so this worked out easily.  I kept the cover simple and decorated it with the date - May 2014.  On the back side (after folding) I adhered a tab from the ephemera pack just to keep it all closed.  It's important to be generous in your folding so you have room to insert the journaling cards and photos.

 I used a 4x6 journaling card from the Heidi Swapp Hello Today collection and also some Project Life lined cards to capture my thoughts - those right in the moment thoughts.  I love looking back at the funny things my kids said or little things they were into.  For example, my youngest son has decided to call his pacifier a papi...not sure how he decided this but it's a fun little memory that will likely be forgotten as time passes.  Next, I printed some individual photos of everyone that highlighted the month and added those.  Ok, so how simple is that?  I really think anyone can find the time to do this small project to capture some great RIGHT NOW, right in the moment stuff to remember.