A Summer Birthday Card

So, this month is a lot easier on birthday cards than June was... I think I got overloaded when it came to the month of June, but here I am back posting a really cute card for my nephew in NY. His birthday is at the end of July, and for his second birthday I was able to be there for the big party. I remember it was really hot in NY, and the block where he lives closed down for a block party. It was loads of fun, and I carry those wonderful memories with me all over the place.

At any rate, whenever I think of his birthday I think of that party and the hot summer sun, so I decided to do a summer themed card, and it just happened to coincide with Fabtabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday . The theme this week at Fantabulous Cricut is Pool time. So I thought about my favorite times growing up and getting into the water, and the best memory I have is my first time at the beach. My parents took me to Myrtle Beach to pick my brother up from college, and we got to go to the beach for some added fun. I remember being a little afraid of the ocean, I was about 7 or 8 at the time, so it sounded really loud and scary, especially at night. However, my favorite thing to do was to gather up sea shells and starfish that was on the beach. So I decided to make a card with that theme on it.

I took the shape idea of the potted plant that I saw in my recent Scrapbook etc. Mag and tweaked it so it would look like a little sand bucket. Then I added my little crab from Create a Critter Cart. The crab is holding the new stamped sentiment I recently bought on clearance from Hobby Lobby, its from The Paper Studio, and it seemed to fit perfectly for this card. Now every bucket needs a handle, but I didn't have anything really sturdy to use, so I improvised and used some ribbon from another clearence rack I found while I was in PA, and it acts as the handle.

The card does not open, but rather a seperate sheet is tucked in at the top, and you pull it out to see the message inside. To decorate the top I put sea shells and star fish from the create a critter Cart too. Then I took a marker, because I didn't have the right ink to really do it up right, and outlined the edges, put a little stickles on the sea shells, and there you have it. When I showed it to my hubby he said it needed a shovel, but I didn't have any cartridges with a shovel, so instead of giving up, I went ahead and designed a shovel out of scrap card stock I had laying around, then outlined it with a couple of markers and glue dotted it on the back. This way he can see the whole shovel when he pulls the message part out.

So now I have a really cute card designed just for my nephew in mind, and the summer fun we had when he turned two. We live very far apart now, so I don't get to see them at all anymore, but at least I can remember his birthday in a special way. Oh, and another cute thought... without even thinking I put a crab on the card, and his name happens to be Sebastian, as in the crab from The Little Mermaid... how appropriate is that!!! See you all soon.