The Cousins' Birthdays

Look at this handsome and very silly group of kids - my two boys and my brother's two girls.

They all have birthdays within two months of each other - so we got together for one big celebration this weekend!  (The little one was actually laughing hysterically - although this particular photo looks like she is upset.)

The birthdays meant that I got to make two birthday cards for little girls.  (It's such a joy to do that as my boys rarely care about the cards that I make for them.)  Here's the card that I made for Karina who is turning 4.  I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and I am also going to enter this at Crazy4Challenges (which seems a little unfair as their challenge is to make a child's birthday party and the challenge came out on the day that I already had two cards to make!!)

I haven't used the elephant very often and I got a little chuckle when it called my name for this card.  It's for my 4-year old niece, Karina, who is a tiny itty-bitty little thing - she still fits into 2T clothes!  But she is a whirlwind - constantly on the move, non-stop chatter - probably where all her energy goes!

I put this card together for my 7-year old niece, Natasha.

There is a story behind this simple little card.  I was ecstatic recently when my sister-in-law told me that Natasha wanted to make cards just like "auntie Kim".  So, I put together a package of cardmaking supplies for her birthday gift.  This card was made in the style of the package I put together - I pre-cut a number of colors of background cardstock and I used a variety of border punches.

Check out her face after she stamps her first stamp!

And then see how proud she is to color it in!

And this happy auntie can now proudly present Natasha's card!  Look at her creativity - she even drew in tree branches for the bird!

ELEPHANT CARD

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Wild About You, Hero Arts Birthday Messages (balloon)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo dsp, Lucky Limeade and Pumpkin CS
• Ink: Stampin' Up Going Gray and Melon Mambo
• Accessories: Martha Stewart flower punch, Stampin' Up Pumpkin grosgrain

OWL CARD

• Stamps: Hero Arts owls, Studio G sentiment
• Paper: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo
• Ink: Memento black, copics
• Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, Smooch Pearlized Top Coat (on balloon)

ENJOY TODAY (Natasha's card!)

• Stamps: Hero Arts Wonderful Birthday
• Paper: Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise
• Ink: Memento black, Tombow markers
• Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, Jolee's flower stickers, Smooch Pearlized Top Coat (on hat)