Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Twofer Challenge

Hello crafty friends, I hope your week has started off nicely. For those who are in the path of these storms and have no electric, I pray that your electric will soon come back on, I pray for the people who are cleaning up this storm mess and I pray for the people trying to get the electric back on for so many. With this cold, people need their heat! We have dodge many of the icing bullets thankfully. But we do have more snow coming on Thursday. Snow I will take, ice I don't want! 

My financial guy is a young man in his thirties. He came into my life out of the blue one Oct. after Dwayne's passing and has been a God send since. He is like a son. He stopped by on Friday with this little bouquet of flowers. Wasn't that just so sweet?! He and his assistant are both so sweet and nice. He always tells me to call if I need anything. His Mama sure raised him right! It helped what is usually a difficult time to get through as the 13th is Dwayne and Mine's anniversary, then of course Valentine's the next day. This sure helped brighten that weekend for sure!  So I want to get something baked to take into them as a thank you. I just had to share this little special moment I had and the amazing people who made it possible for me. 





I thought I would play with the gals over at the Twofer Challenge, the theme is balloons.  My cards are not original. Shocking right?!! I CASed from Pinterest. Again.....Here and here are the cards that I CASed. I didn't have the dies they used, but I do have my Cricut machines. The one I used is the Cricut Joy because it is a tiny but powerful machine that I can use out in the living room so I can keep an eye on Bret's dogs. Cause as soon as I go to my craft room, they get in trouble! So my Cricut Joy lets me do some crafting out in the living room. A win for me in so many ways. So to my design studio I went to design. Then I got inky. And this is the results of my CASed cards that I designed the cut files in Design Studio. Sorry for the dark photos but it is has been gray here. Sun is finally out today but it took a while. 


My Twofers, see that little machine in back of the cards. It's barely bigger than the cards themselves. That is my little powerhouse Cricut Joy. Isn't it cute?! It's where all the magic happens, that and my laptop or iPad or even my phone as I can design on all three of them. 

This happy birthday circle was the one die I knew I could "copy". I wasn't sure how it was going to cut since I was cutting it on the smaller scale, but it cut wonderfully. I made mine different from the die one on Pinterest and kept a large area open so my balloon or whatever could fit in-between the happy birthday's. 

The balloons were a premade image, I just took three of the balloons and sliced out the letters. I also had my Cricut Joy write my sentiment in the fishtail banner for me instead of searching for one in my stamping stash. All papers but the card base are snippets, yay for using up some more snippets from my mountain of snippets! 

And that's it! As always I thank you for taking time out of your busy day to stop and visit me. Your comments and visit always brighten my day! 

Crafty hugs,





Card Recipe:

Cricut Joy and Design Studio
Snippets from my snippet mountain
AliExpress for the Scallop Stitched border dies on the second card. For the white, I just cut the scallops off.
SU for the white twine balloon strings
Distress Inks and blending brushes 


21 comments:

Brenda in IN said...

I am so amazed at all the things you can create with that little machine. Plus, just knowing how to do it. These cards are both so cute and cheerful. Great job with the twofers. I'm glad you are safe and dry and especially, warm.

Marcia Hill said...

Your little machine sure does some great work Brenda...both of your cards are so bright and cheery and just perfect for our challenge!! Thanks so much for sharing with us at The Twofer Challenge!! :0)

Bonnie said...

Both designs are so happy and fun, Brenda! Love the colors of the balloons and how the trio fits inside the Happy Birthday circle! The layout of the balloons to spell YOU on the second card is fantastic and fun! Love the colorful stripes and pointed layer! Thanks for sharing with us at The Twofer Challenge!

Marilyn said...

That was so thoughtful of you your friend! The flowers are beautiful and I love your cards
Have a great day!
Marilyn💖

Leslierosek said...

Nice Brenda. You are getting quite a collection of cards going.

Happy Dance said...

Snow. Lots and lots and lots of lake effect snow here. 17.3 inches in about 24 hours. Thankfully, I have a 'plow guy,' and I didn't have to go anywhere. Yes, that sound you heard was me screaming. hahaha. These are sweet cards, Brenda. Love all the bright and happy snippets you've used, and the papers make those balloons just (if you'll pardon the expression)pop! I was delighted to see you in the gallery, and want to say thanks for joining us at The Twofer Challenge this month! Stay warm, stay safe. Sending hugs. xo Bev

Irish Cherokee said...

Happy, joyful with fun colors. The balloon strings look like they are flowing in the breeze. Nice touch. These cards are sure to bring a smile.

Hugs and Blessings,
Jim

I Card Everyone said...

Brenda, gifts like this are a blessing, but also an indication of how special you are! What a wonderful gift!
and TWO wonderful cards using your magical little machine! I can't even fathom how it works, but I'm amazed by the things you do using it!
A little more sunshine heading your way - but COLD!! Yikes!
=]

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

You are SOooo clever Brenda, I love what you and Joy have done, people may think it's easy to do something like this, but it takes a lot of thought before you cut, so my admiration is coming your way. They have turned out so beautiufl and happy too. How lovely and kind for the young man to bring you flowers and check up on you, I bet it made your day. A real cheer up I would have thought.
Keep safe and warm, mwah.
Faith x

Liz said...

Two fabulous cards, Brenda. Looks like you've got a great little machine there. How lovely to receive a surprise of a little bouquet of flowers. xx

Mac Mable said...

Wow what a fabulous job you and your Cricut Joy have done Brenda x. Both cards are so happy and your balloons are amazing x.
I am sending friendly hugs and love at this difficult time for you and how wonderful to have 'your financial guy/son' to care so much about you. So very thoughtful and it's the little things that mean so much x.
Stay safe and warm Brenda x.

Veerle's Kaarten Hoekje said...

Hi Brenda, what a beautiful and lovely bouquet. So nice of him. Hopefully you are okay with all that snow? I have seen on the news the US have a LOT of snow hit them. I love your cards and I love those happy balloons, so nice.
Sending you love and hugs, Veerle x

Nstiz said...

These cards are fantastic! You are a wiz on that Cricut to be able to do so many designs. More impressive are the clean cuts you achieve ! I like your cards better than the ones you cased. I smiled at your comment about no surprise that they are not original designs. We all do that- we all take ideas from others and at times I shamelessly copy the card. No shame there at all. I love your bold colors too.

Carol L said...

I was never very creative with my Cricut so I sold it a few years ago, but what you do with yours is just amazing! I love how you can design with it and don't need to buy all those dies to create a card! The balloons are so cute hanging inside of the birthday circle with their tails flying in the wind! Then too, the 2nd card with all those great colored stripes is festive and totally fun! I'm a little late, but I hope you found some sweet memories to comfort you on the day you and Dwayne got married so many years ago.
What a beautiful, thoughtful gesture for your financial advisor to bring you such a lovely floral gift!! Now that is impressive and not many would even think of doing something like that! Hopefully it brought some joy to an otherwise sad day for you! Stay warm and have a good week ahead! Big hugs!!

Darnell said...

I'm so glad you've had this angel come into your life, Brenda, and how sweet that he brought you flowers during this hard time for you. His mama really did raise him right and then some! Your two balloon cards both make me smile from ear-to-ear! Your CASE is awesome and I love the festive colors! Thank you for playing in TCC #35! Sending big hugs! Take care! Auntie

oldpunca said...

Fabulous balloon twofer! I like your colorful cards. Birthday card with the heart in the back is so sweet and the sentiment matches perfectly. Balloons and the matching stripes on the second card are perfect combination. Thank you for playing at Twofer Card Challenge. Sonja, DT

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Lovely... simple and brilliant.... case is good.. love the bouquet comes from a kind caring heart, well done, Brenda.. keep safe, please, dear precious sis, and agreeing with you in your prayers for everyone!
hanks for Sharing, God bless and keep you safe, and all those you love, hugs Shaz in Oz.x

{Wonderful Words of Life - Shaz in Oz}
{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

Julia Aston said...

What wonderful balloon cards Brenda! Your shading on them is beautiful! xx

Anita in France said...

Beautifully done, Brenda! Your bouquet of birthday balloons in the sentiment circle is so happy and celebratory ... fabulous with the strip of pp! That colourful line-up of vibrant balloons would have anyone smiling ... the inking you applied adds such delicious dimension to them! What a sweet gesture from your financial guy ... those blooms are lovely! Thanks so much for playing along with us at Twofer! Hugs, Anita :)

Loll said...

Beautiful cards Brenda! I LOVE the happy birthday circle sentiment with the balloons inside ... that heart shaped balloon is especially pretty! :) The striped strip is just a perfect balance. Your second balloon card is so creative with die-cutting "YOU" from the balloons. I love the background with rainbow strips. Such a happy card! Great work on your Twofer cards!

What a lovely, and thoughtful person to bring you that sweet bouquet for Valentine's Day! You are blessed to have so many thoughtful people in your life. xx

Sue - said...

Two beautiful cards Brenda. I had intended entering the Twofer challenge but somehow never made it! What a lovely gesture from your financial guy. xx