Happy Birthday, Christi!

Surprise! If you came here to see if I have posted anything, you're in luck, because I was asked by her mom to participate in Christi's Nifty Fifty Birthday Blog Hop! I was thrilled to say yes!


Christi has a blog called Blessings on Paper and it's so worth a look if you've never been. She is incredibly talented and creates gorgeous cards. I was tickled pink to be asked to participate in a blog hop to honor her 50th birthday.


I "met" Christi online while we were both consultants with Close To My Heart. We'd frequent the artwork boards for consultants and I remember a few years ago she asked if anyone lived near Denver. She was moving to the area with her family and wanted to ask some questions. I offered to help her in any way that I could. So, we emailed each other from time to time. 


I have thoroughly enjoyed Christi's artwork (and received a few of her absolutely gorgeous cards) and was so excited when she emailed me once that she'd be at our local Butterfly Pavilion and did I want to come and meet up with her? She is just as sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog. An absolute treat! We've also met up at a local (to me, not her) Archiver's and chatted our way shopping through the store. 


I'm so glad to have the opportunity to help her celebrate her 50th birthday. So, without further ado, 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTI!

This is a deceptively simple card. I say deceptively, because it took me a heck of a lot of time to get the focal piece done. I'm so excited to share this and it's sort of fitting, too, because I found what I used at Archiver's! 
And what did I use? The doily you see on the front is from  a limited edition Cricut Cartridge called Mother's Day 2010. There are 30 images on the cartridge and what sent me over the edge to buy it was the three doily images included. Isn't it stunning? 


It took me a while to find the right settings to cut this baby out. I tried using textured black cardstock several times, adjusting my settings, but I couldn't get it to cut fully no matter the depth I used on the blade (and there's a lot of stuff to pop out if they aren't fully cut). So, I switched over to CTMH black cardstock (which has a white core). That worked wonderfully. I took a sponge and carefully pounced black ink over the areas I didn't want to see white.


The oval piece is also from the same cartridge, and there's a layer piece that fits inside the neat black piece. Love it!


The Happy Birthday is from CTMH, Birthday Sentiments I think (probably retired). I inked it in versamark, then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. 


To add a bit of bling, I carefully placed pearls and a few little black rhinestones.


On the inside, I used the scrap pieces from another doily I cut out. Love it! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set.


And you noticed, I hope...I sewed on this card. LOL Not as nicely as Christi does on hers but I used my sewing machine nonetheless. The pattern paper is from DCWV's Latte and Creme pack (I think that's the name of it...it's outside and I'm inside and sorry, I'm not running out in the dark to check it out).


You might also noticed I crocheted a little bit for this card, too. I had to! The center was screaming for something and this seemed to fit. The center is a button from a "vintage button bag" I picked up somewhere. 


Thanks so much for stopping by. If you arrived here from June Houck's blog: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/  You are on the right track. If not, go there and follow along the hop. Help us wish Christi a fabulous 50th birthday! Some cards may not be posted yet, but will be by 11am Mountain Standard time.


Next up, head over to Barb's blog...http://thebuzzfromqueenb.blogspot.com




I'm second on the hop and here's the list of the other participants.


1.  June Houck http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
2.  Jeanne Tomshack http://tomshack.blogspot.com/ <-----that would be me! hee, hee
3.  Barb Walker http://thebuzzfromqueenb.blogspot.com/
4.  Stacy L  http://impressionsofaribbonaddict.blogspot.com/
5.  Christi Thorsen http://cici510.blogspot.com/
6.  Cammie (Carolyn King) http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/
7.  Marie Isom  http://isomcre8tions.blogspot.com/
8.  Mary Ellen Harrison  http://abeautifulscrapbook.blogspot.com/
9.  Sarah Masteller http://sarahspapertray.blogspot.com/
10.  Susan Roberts http://rainy.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
11.  Jeanette Fincher http://2redbananas.blogspot.com/
12.  Elise Durenberger http://mamacowcreations.blogspot.com/

Happy, Happy Birthday Christi!