Friends, fun and handmade cards

Today I  joined a group of ladies who meet once a month to make cards. Mary is a sweet friend from church so I was so excited to go with her this morning. Right as we arrived, she gave me a scrap booking tape dispenser to keep and use as I made my cards. The lady who assembled all of the card supplies together is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. She charged us six dollars to make four gorgeous cards. I'm planning to go again in the near future. She has so many more supplies than I do--and I get to have fun hanging out with the other ladies.

The cards we made today all revolve around spring and I think you'll enjoy them. We got to be creative and make our cards fit any theme--birthday, get well, thinking of you, Easter, etc. I chose to make three of them into birthday cards and one of them into a thinking of you card.

This card was made using a technique called "stain-glass" effect. She embossed these flowers for us, then we painted them on the back side before gluing them on. She let us have a try at the embossing tool--this was a first one for me and it was fun!

The flowers for this card were made by pressing a stamp into a homemade pad of ink. She dropped some purple dye onto a short stack of baby wipes and it helped create the look you see here. Pretty cool, eh?

This sweet and simple 3-D flower card was so easy to make. I love how the wording becomes the stem on the flower.

I think this card was everyone's favorite. It's delicate vintage look is gorgeous! I like how the bird pops out giving the card a three-dimensional look.

The inside of each card and envelope was made to match the front. Our demonstrator said that the stamp on the front lets the recipient know that there is something fun on the inside. ;)

Do any of you get together with friends to do some kind of craft? Whether it's making cards, scrap booking, sewing, or quilting, doing it with people makes it even more fun!