It's been awhile since I've made something so I wanted to share with you a card I made back in the summertime.  It was a birthday card I made for my former roommate, and one of my best friends Tommy.  He loves the show Dexter so I wanted to make him a Dexter themed card.  I cut the card base using the Cricut cartridge beyond birthdays.  The two stamps are Birthday Riley and Sock Monkey Riley.  The balloons was cut from another riley stamp and then paper pieced and pop dotted behind the sock monkey Riley.

Now the reason behind the sock monkey is because my friend Tommy is deathly afraid of sock monkeys, he finds their texture, dead eyes, and red lips very creepy.  Because of this, he is ensured some sort of sock monkey item each year.  I found the Dexter picture online, and just printed it out.  Inside, I printed the sentiment "Hope you have a Killer birthday!"

Sorry for the blurry picture, I really need to get an actual camera instead of always using my iphone!

So this is a set of cards I've been working on for quite awhile.  I started them over the summer and was meaning to give them to some of my former VMI (Virginia Military Institute) athletes who are now stationed all over the country and world.  I wanted to give it to them for 4th of July, and then Veteren's Day, and then Memorial Day...but I just couldn't get them to look the way I wanted.  So FINALLY, I was able to sit down and get everything squared away!  I'll admit, I'm very proud of this set of cards, almost as proud as I am of the people they went to.

So this card is for Jakes who is now stationed in Afghanistan.  He's in the army and so I paper pieced a little camo background for him. The frame and My Hero cut for all of these comes from the stand and salute cartridge.  Military Riley was the stamped I used.  SOOO CUTE AND I LOVE IT!!  I scored the edges for some interest.  Here's a pic of Jakes over there in Afghanistan.

Sorry for the blurry picture.  This is for Lynn, my marine who flys helicopters and is stationed in Pensacola for the time being.  I used patterned paper from Michaels for the inside, and the white frame was cuttlebugged with the diamond plate folder and rubbed with a silver stamp to bring out the pattern.  I used a gold sakura gelly roll pen to color in the anchor.  

Here's Lynn

Last but certainly not least, here's the card I made Tommy who is in the airforce and flying jets in Wichita.  Same diamond plate paper, I just arranged it different, and also added a scored border on his.  

Here's Tommy in his formal wear.

I loved making these cards and the people I made them for.  I think these will be a favorite for a long time coming.  

Since it's been awhile since I've posted since I've gotten busy with the holidays and being home in California for a bit without my crafting supplies, here's something I made that I didn't remember to post. 

For a housewarming gift for a friend, I purchased a yankee candle and just made a cute seasonal wrapper.  It was during the fall so I figured that the Pumpkin Patch Riley would be perfect (especially since the candle smelled like pumpkin pie!  I colored in Riley with copics, and the sentiment was printed out (I wish I had printed it out bigger!)  I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz antique linen to make the white less harsh.  I then added a brown spotted ribbon (dollar bin!)and some pumpkin colored cardstock.  Nice and simple!