Louisa is 2!

Louisa loves Kitty!  "Where's Kitty?" is the first thing she asks when I go get her out of her crib in the morning.  He's so patient with her and will even follow her around.  She likes to give him pretend tea.  I don't know what he thinks!

So we had a black cat themed birthday party for Louisa.  Which is also perfect since her birthday is so close to Halloween.  We just used pink and teal as the accent colors instead of orange.

Here's a look at the buffet top.  

Strawberry cake and black cat sugar cookies!  Yummy.  We ate cake at the party and sent cookies home with everyone in the little cat bags.  I found the cute black cat bags at Target. The cat face made an easy decoration for the top of the cake.

Here's Louisa enjoying her cake at her little table (which used to be her mommy's).

I added bows and party hats to black cats and made a tiny card with cat buttons.

I wanted to use the cat buttons, because Louisa loves playing with all my buttons.  She sorts them, carries them around and calls out the colors.  I think her favorite activity is deliberately dropping them on the floor, saying "Oh, no!" and wanting us to help pick them up!

We had so much fun at Louisa's birthday party!  
She was adorable when my mom and dad left: they said "Bye!" and she said, "Happy Birthday to you!"

Put a (Background) Spotlight on It!

Oh, boy is it HOT!!  We've had several days at or almost 100 degrees and I'm a cold weather girl.  Always have been.  This time of year has me yearning for fall weather. 

I can't wait for Louisa and her mommy and daddy to get here.  They're coming to stay for a couple of days.  What are you up to?

I've been up to bear cards again.  This time a cute birthday bear and that same bear couple from my last post, but I got to color them this time.  I figured out how to take out the color of the image with a bit of trial and error and a tip or two from a couple of videos.

The birthday bear is highlighted with what I'm calling a background spotlight.  It's super easy to do and adds a fun element to your card.

The masking paper makes the creation of a spotlight really easy.  I'm sure you could use a lightweight paper, but the masking paper has the added convenience of an adhesive that's easy to remove.  

Masking paper is also really thin making it so easy to glide over with the applicators.

The key here is to use a light touch with the distress inks, so that you can build up color.  If you start with a heavy hand you might get way too much color for your liking.  I'm sure you don't have to ask how I know that.  Let's just say blotchiness is not pretty!

I mentioned that the masking paper is lightweight, but it's also strong enough to use a couple of times.  I stuck the same piece to the inside of my card.

And then stamped my sentiment and another birthday bear in that background spotlight.

Don't throw away the trash (oh, excuse me:  the negative space).  It works great to leave the circle space open, but cover the area around it, so the stamping just shows in the spotlight.

I just love this beary sweet couple.  They were fun to color too!   I split them apart and created a fold-over card using twine to hold it closed.

The polka dots on the front and the squares inside were created using stencils, inks and stencil brushes.  So soft and pretty.

I've got the bear couple for you, if you would like to color them too.

Download Bear Couple Coloring Page HERE.
That's it for me.  I've got to go open a box full of toys and board books that just came for Louisa.  Who is also beary sweet, by the way!
Have a lovely week!

birthday bear	birthday bear dies	circle dies	Spellbinders Nestabilities CLASSIC HEART
MASKING PAPER 20	True Black Cardstock	solid twine	Distress Ink SPUN SUGAR
Distress Ink CRACKED PISTACHIO	Premium Dye Ink Pad ROSIE CHEEKS	Premium Dye Ink Pad DUCKLING	Memento TUXEDO BLACK INK PAD
Tsukineko Versamark	Memento LONDON FOG	EMBOSSING POWDER WHITE Fine Detail	clarity stencil brushes
blending tool	accent opaque 80 lb	Accent Opaque White 120lb	Aleene's Tacky Glue
tombow mono glue

LinkDeli.com

Outside In Cards + Clarity Stencil Brushes

Don't you just love it when you have the best time creating a couple of cards?   I'm calling these Outside In cards.  I just made that up because I put elements that might normally be found on the outside of a card on the inside.  Also, this is the first time I used my Clarity Stencil brushes.  And I love the results!

See those hearts?  Created with a handmade stencil and a Clarity Stencil brush.  Love how they look!  I've got a video posted below to show the brush in action.
That cute puppy is from an ancient Sandy Lion set of stamps that I've had for years and never opened.  Seriously. Had it forever.  So cute.  Why did I not use it???  Oh, well... using it now!  

Here you can see the Outside In part of the card.  Kind of fun and made me smile!  Created a larger heart stencil for that one.

You know I love sweet and cute!  This card hits all my buttons.  And I finally used one of my vintage candles.    

Here's the Outside In part.  Adorable birthday pups!  If you like them, you can download them below.

I created some circle stencils of various sizes with a die and punches.  You can see one of the Clarity Stencil brushes there.  I've used stencil brushes that you pounce in the color.  This is brushed on, so you get that beautiful gradient look in the color.  
You can see in this video how I used the brush:

Download Birthday Pups HERE.
Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you.
So glad you stopped by!  Happy Creating!

clarity stencil brushes	spellbinders ovals	Spellbinders STANDARD CIRCLE Dies	Spellbinders Nestabilities CLASSIC HEART
Premium Dye Ink Pad Hollyhock	Premium Dye Ink Pad ROSIE CHEEKS	Premium Dye Ink Pad DUCKLING	Simon Says Stamp Ink Pad BLUE JAY
ASH PINK - Hug Snug	Accent Opaque White 120lb	Aleene's Tacky Glue	tombow mono glue
solid twine

InLinkz.com