The End of March Madness

With March Madness coming to a close, there is no better time to create a basketball card! My son was at a basketball clinic all day today and then came home for 30 minutes and turned around to go to basketball practice! So you can imagine basketball is pretty big around here. One of my son's travel team teammates is having a birthday party party this week, so I decided to create this basketball birthday card.  I specifically chose the black and white striped paper reminded me of a referees uniform! It is so much more masculine than the cards I usually make, so I am proud of myself for going outside my comfort zone!

 

To create the card, I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge for the banner and the border. The basketball is from two of the layers on the basketball image on the Cricut Best of 2008 cartridge. Here is a side view so you can see that the banner is added with 3D Foam Tape. I ran the orange ball through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder to make the texture more basketball-like. I sponged the edges of all of the layers and embellishments. I used the Close to my Heart "Celebrate" stamp for the first time and used Cocoa ink for the softer color. The little metal basketball is a brad I have been holding on to for a while. I thought that added just the right finishing touch!

Bye bye for now...Panda Hugs!

J-

Glitter Panda

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Mojo Monday Sketch Clallenge #235 (see sketch below)

  

Use it Tuesday Challenge #28 - Uninked Stamp - I used the Celebrate stamp that came with my CTMH Cricut collection (I also used the basketball brad I've been hoarding, the striped Recollections paper I have had but never used and my go to plain card stock that is taking over my dining room!)

Celebrate the Occasion - Challenge #57 - Child's Birthday

Choose, Vote, Win!

Thanks Coach would say You're Invited

My son's birthday is soon approaching, and with that comes the birthday party. Last year, he opted to go on a family trip and then asked people to donate money to Unicef, one of our favorite charities, instead of giving a gift. This year, he told me he was going to do the family trip every other year and he would like to do a party this year. Instead, we will be walking for the March of Dimes (to raise money for another favorite charity) and he will have the party (gifts and all!).

That being said, I am having trouble choosing the invitation. I know I can ask him directly, but I'd like to get some opinions before I do that. A few weeks ago, I shared what I THOUGHT was the perfect basketball invite. THEN I had to make cards for his basketball coaches and FELL IN LOVE with them. SO, I am going to get some feedback AND offer a little incentive. The basketball shaped card would remain as is, but the coach card sentiment would change to You're Invited! or if you have another suggestion...share it!!

Every week, I log on to see that although I've had a fantastic number of page views, I have only gained 1-2 followers. So I'd like to offer some incentive. Choose between the two cards above. Leave a comment on this post letting me know which of the two you would pick. You don't have to add why, but I would REALLY appreciate it! Then, follow my blog. If you are a follower already, mention that in your post. You have one week to comment and I will use random.org to choose a winner next Sunday, March 11. The winner will be announced here and just has to let me know where to send the prize! If you leave a way to contact you in your post, I will contact you and post it on my bog. If not, I will announce it here and you can contact me then! The prize will be a variety of embellishments (stamp, stickers etc.) to add to your next project!!

Can't wait to get your feedback!!

Panda Hugs!
J-

Thanks Coach

My son's rec basketball team made the final four for their league!! They won the first 2 playoff games and the championship game is on Saturday! They are playing the number one team in the league and it will be tough competition, but the boys are awesome and I am sure they will have a great game. The coaches for the team were great and to show our appreciation, my husband asked me to make a card for each of them. I made identical cards and they came out are just too cute!! I used my son's number on the little jersey and tried to make the character look like him.  The colors really stood out on the pretty green paper. Can't wait to give the cards to them after the game on Saturday.

Panda Hugs!
J-

 

Cartridges used:

Player and Hoop - Everyday Paper Dolls

Basketball - Best of 2008 

Sentiment - Printed from computer and punched with Recollections scallop punch

I am entering this card into the following challenge:

Little Scrap Pieces - Use Green

A Basketball Party

My how time flies when you're having fun...almost 9 years ago, our family was blessed with a beautiful baby boy, and this April, he will be 9 years old! In 9 years, a lot has changed. We even watched him learn to walk and talk and watched him welcome his little sister into the world 6 years ago.  Our Cubby has been interested in many things. He tried baseball and soccer, hip hop and gymnastics and finally...basketball.

Although he still enjoys hip hop, basketball has consumed most of his time. Between two travel teams and a couple of recreational leagues, it seems we are at some game or another almost every day!  So, it came as no surprise that he has chosen to have a Basketball themed Birthday Party!!  I am excited to create all of the extras for this party (and even more excited that it will NOT be at my house!).

The first step in the party prep process is the invitation. I decided to break out my Cricut, Gypsy and Cuttlebug to create the perfect basketball invitations!!

Recipe

Card Base

I used the Gypsy to weld two circle bases together. I used the Cricut Best of 2008 cartridge for the basketball image. I used <Basktbal> on Layer 1 with the shift selected (at 5" width, 10.93" height) to create the circles and then the square (1.04" width x 1" height) welding them together is from the Cricut Classic Font cartridge (but you can use George or any other cartridge with basic shapes on it).  After cutting out the two welded circles with the square in the middle, I scored the middle of the square to make sure it folded more easily.

Next, I closed the card and ran it through my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder to create the basketball texture.

The black basketball lines are also from the same <Basktbal> button, but on the regular shift button. I attached the lines to the circle with monoadhesive.  Finally, I used a white Galaxy gel pen to create the stitching on the black lines.

Invitation wording and circle

To create the message inside, I used my laser printer. I used a piece of green Recollections card stock and ran it through the printer. I typed out my message in Word and made sure it only went to the 4.5" mark on the document. This will let you make sure it doesn't go beyond the size of the circle. The circle is another 10" <Basktbal> cut.  I used the Center point function to create the circle around the words. You just push the center point button and position the blade right in the middle of the card. I experimented to see exactly where the best place to cut would be.  Finally, I attached the circle to the inside using monoadhesive.

Here is the Gypsy cut file for the basketball invitation - Enjoy!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

She's a Sassy Lady - Gypsy Created Shape Card Challenge
Little Scrap Pieces: Anything Your Heart Desires Challenge