Summer Birthday card

My oldest granddaughter is turning 18 soon. (How the heck did THAT happen??) I made this card for her. She loves that I mail her handmade cards and notes and ATC cards. She is an artist herself. It's how I stay in touch and connected to her. She is a busy, typical teenager, (read: she knows everything, we are all stupid, we do not understand her, she is all powerful.)  But she does work at two jobs, one full time and one part-time and she is planning on returning to college in the fall. (cross your fingers!) She graduated from high school a year early. (!!!)

Because the threads are tenuous in some ways from a teen to her grandmother, I use the classic snail mail as my way to strengthen the threads. It works. She recently told her mother, (my daughter), that I am one of the few in the family that actually 'gets' her. A compliment of the highest order.

Last month I sent her a package full of collage materials. If I never purchase another craft item I will have plenty to last me until I meet my maker. So I have been culling and going through my stash. I filled up a box and sent it to her. She loved it. She actually made me a beautiful collage card and sent me a heartfelt letter of thanks and it is something I will always treasure and take out when the fear bubbles up in me that she is heading down a wrong path.

I love making greeting cards. To me they are like cupcakes...meant for celebration, a little sweetness to brighten a day, are pretty to look at and fun to make. I never met a cup cake or a hand made greeting card I didn't love.

This particular card borders on that 'cutesy' look of which I do not particularly like.  But once I had grandchildren my 'cuteness' factor rose dramatically. I live near the ocean in Delaware and she was just here last week for a visit, thus the ocean theme. I used mostly Heartfelt Creations products with some other brands thrown in. I love how the tropical flowers turned out. I used a Sizzix dogwood flower die and the Hearfelt Creations Classic Rose die and stamp set to make the flowers and leaves. (That Sizzix die is now retired, but I've seen it on Ebay.) Use the right colors and a rose or a dogwood becomes a hibiscus or any other fanciful tropical flower. I used 'Frosting Powder' on the flower petals. I love Frosting Powder- it has shards of glass and tiny fine glitter- the variety is what I love about it.

Happy Crafting!