Many people enjoy receiving a birthday card that makes them laugh! Especially birthday people who have celebrated many, many birthdays!
No matter what kind of a birthday card you choose to give, it is extra nice to present a real card! They can look at it later, display it, and remember their celebration. Plus, they will appreciate your thoughtfulness!
Here are two funny birthdays cards I created that will result in a smile, maybe even a chuckle or two!
I used the stamp set from ‘Inky Antics‘ to create this funny birthday card. When you scratch off the circles, the words ‘liver spots’, “wrinkles”, and “adult diapers” are revealed. There are many other words included in this set, and you can even create you own!
There are many embossing folders on the craft market. I chose one that looks like a quilt to create this next card. I used the top portion of an “Art Impressions” stamp of an old woman and tucked her in bed. My customer really liked this card!
If you know someone who will be celebrating a birthday, I would love to create a funny card for them! Each card is only $3.50US and you will have it in a couple of days!
Contact me at horsemarkcards@gmail.com for special requests or more information.
Enjoy your creative day, and don’t forget to share a smile!
When I began this blog over two years ago, I never knew how much I would enjoy it! What a journey it has been! This is my 100th post!
I extend a huge “THANK YOU” to all my followers and fellow blogging friends I have met along the way. Some have been with me from the beginning, others have just joined. But I am so thankful for all of you who encourage and support me!
Many ideas on creating handmade cards and using items in different ways have been shared on my blog. Perhaps my favorite posts have been about Why I Cut Up Invitations!
Sharing few of my quilts (I am a novice quilter.) have also been part of my blogging journey.
Quilts and Cards created on my blogging journey!
This blog was intended to be about the creative things in life, but sometimes it has taken a different direction. Keeping in touch with the people we care about is so important and I have tried to share this idea through my cards. One of my favorite posts, The Love of Communication, is about someone very special to me. She is almost 100 years old!
Every blogger has their own style and reason for sharing with others. I have enjoyed following and visiting many other blogs and have been so inspired! Many improvements on my blog are needed, so I will be very busy and challenged!
Thank you again for visiting, liking, and commenting on my blog! I appreciate every one!
I look forward to sharing more ideas with you in 2015!
I would like to ‘Welcome’ you if you are a first-time visitor to my little creative corner, and say ‘Welcome Back’ to my regular readers. The support and encouragement from readers like you is what makes blogging so worthwhile. I have met so many friends from many parts of our world since I began my blog about two years ago. It is exciting to share ideas, create, and learn from others!
Around the World Blog Hop
Today’s post will be a bit different since I am participating in the Around the World Blog Hop. My invitation to be a part of this fun blog hopping event, (my first!) was given to me my Thea. Her blog, Time with Thea,is one of my favorite blogs! She always has such wonderful ideas and tutorials on gardening, making wreaths, organizing, and so many other DIY projects and techniques. She has a lot of wisdom to share and has more time to devote to her blog now since she has recently retired from her teaching career. Once you visit her blog, you will want to stay for a long visit! She is also one of the most generous and supportive bloggers. Thank you Thea for this invitation and all the creative ideas you share!
The Around the World Blog Hop involves answering a couple of questions so readers will better understand the process of each blog and the person behind it. Each participant invites another blogger to join the hop the following week. I have invited Tayna, the creative blogger behind Mrs. Hughes to join in on the fun. I have been following her blog for several months. She has a love for vintage sewing and shares lots of ideas on sewing, patterns, DIY projects and tutorials. You will love the dresses she makes! A visit to her blog will be very enjoyable and inspirational! Look for her post next week!
So, now I will get on with my questions and answers as I participate in this fun blog hop! (I switched the questions around a bit, as I thought it flowed better with my thought process.)
Why do I create what I do?
Well, this is an easy question to answer….I enjoy it! I remember when I was much younger, I loved to make my own paper dolls. (Remember paper dolls?) So much time would be spent on coloring and creating different outfits for them. I think I had a couple of dolls, but I made several tops, bottoms, dresses, even shoes for them. I really enjoyed the designing, coloring, and cutting process!
So, fast forward a few years (well, maybe more than a few) and I find myself sitting in my ‘creative’ room cutting and coloring and designing handmade cards. It is relaxing for me to color and I love to fussy cut images from papers. Many of my cards have layered effects, which add dimension. Most of my coloring is done with colored pencils. My attempts at blending with the different markers have been not been successful, but I think the pencils add enough color. Maybe someday I will take the time to learn blending with markers, but for now I will stick with my pencils!
When my eldest son went off to college several years ago, I sent him cards for encouragement in his studies: Thinking of you, various holiday cards, and Get Well 😦 cards. I even sent him a card when he joined his fraternity! When he returned home, I found that he had saved every card I sent! My heart swelled two sizes that day! It made me realize that receiving a card in the mail really means something. (Of course, I also sent cards to my youngest son when went off to college. He saved his too!) These college cards were created almost eight years ago! Wow. I can see how I have evolved in my card designs over the years!
Like so many before me, I began creating cards to give to family and friends. Through the encouragement and support of my husband and two sons, I created HorseMark Cards so I could sell my creations online and share with others. There is some logic behind the name ‘HorseMark’. My last name is Horsfall and I wanted to make my ‘Mark’ in keeping in touch with the people I care about.
Our world is so filled with technology, which I love, but it seems the use of the old fashioned snail mail has slowed even more. I would love to be an influence in changing that. I do know some younger people are starting to send cards and that is so encouraging! Sending and receiving cards via my mailbox on the street is my social media!
What am I working on?
I am always working on ideas for creating new cards, but in recent days I have been working with fabric instead of paper. My nephew and his wife are expecting their first child next month, so making a baby quilt for them has been my main focus. I chose three prints from Jo-Ann’s that I just love. I had enough fabric left over to make my first bib. When I finished it I thought it was too small, then realized that babies are small!
I used a Speedy Baby pattern I found at Taffy Jane’s and I love the way it looks. Free motion quilting is on my list of things to learn. I have only tried it on practice items and it still needs a bit of work, so I just used simple straight line stitching to finish this special baby quilt.
I love to have things coordinate, so I used some of the left over fabric and created a baby card to match the quilt and bib. I must say, I am really pleased with how it all came together. What do you think?
Baby quilt, bib & matching card
Since Christmas is just around the corner, I have also been busy at my sewing machine making coasters using a pattern I found from Karen at Sew Many Ways. (Visit her blog and you will stay awhile! She has so many creative ideas to share!) I have been making many of these coasters from different fabrics to give as gifts. They are so easy and quick to make, and they launder very well! I lay them flat to dry, and they are ready to be put to good use again!
Yes, the holidays are approaching and I have also been creating a few harvest and Christmas cards. I must admit, getting into the holiday spirit in September takes a bit of encouragement, so I visit the Christmas section on Pinterest to help me get motivated. How many of you have used Pinterest for motivation?
Holiday Coasters & Cards
How does my craft differ from others in this genre?
I like to make my cards simple, yet different. Some require more detail and time than others, but I enjoy creating them all. The one type of card that I really love designing is to take an invitation and use it to create a card.
My favorite cards to create from invitations are wedding cards. You can see two wedding cards I designed from the invitations here and here.
I have not seen many people who take invitations, cut them up, and create a very personal and original card. So, I guess that is one way I differ from other talented people who make cards.
How does my creative process work?
Wow! That’s like asking me how do I think? My mind wanders frequently. It seems that I am always thinking of something else when I am doing something entirely different!
There is so much inspiration I receive from looking at what others have created. Sometimes I may take an idea from one person and combine it with another to come up with an entirely different idea for a card. I may think, if ‘they’ did ‘that’, why couldn’t I do something similar or do ‘this’ using ‘this”. (Does that make sense?) Whenever an idea pops into my head, I make a note of it immediately. (It seems that my mental filing system gets a bit mixed up these days!) Once I have an idea written down, I come back to it later and see how I can implement it. I love the creative process!
Many times I will think of a new idea from an item I see on my work table, like a scrap of paper left over from a die cut or punch. The light bulb goes on, like it did when I created these ladybug and purses cards. I love those creative moments! Don’t You?
There are so many talented people who make many creative cards and handmade crafts and share them on their blogs. They are wonderful and provide so much inspiration for me. I hope the ideas and cards I share on my blog inspire some people too! My blog and website keep me very busy, as I am always learning something new. It is challenging at times, but I still enjoy it!
Thank you for visiting today and letting me share a little of me and my creative corner of my HorseMark Cards world.
Look for another Around the World Blog Hop post from Tayna, the talented blogger behind Mrs. Hughes next week! Of course, you can always visit her anytime!
I have made a few quilts over the years, and usually make them with a certain theme or memory in mind. I completed a quilt from high school t-shirts for my younger son, and a theater/magic quilt for my eldest son. Some of my regular readers will remember the wedding quilts I made for our two nephews when they married last summer.
Well, I FINALLY made a quilt for my husband, which was long overdue! He is originally from Seattle, so the Seahawks and Mariners are his teams. He was also a fan of the Seattle Supersonics, but they moved to Oaklahoma a few years ago. Since we have lived in northern California for over 15 years, the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants are also his favorite teams. And of course, we are loyal Sacramento Kings basketball fans! I decided to make a quilt representing all these teams. I thought it was a great idea at the time, but then realized the different colors of these teams. Yikes! How was I going to make blue, black, red, purple, orange, yellow and green work in my quilt design? I had my work cut out for me.
It took me awhile to figure out how to cut the fabrics and what pattern I would use to make this special quilt. I decided to cut longer strips of fabric this accomodate the logos and patterns of the teams. (I decided to include the Seattle Supersonics fabric since my husband was a fan for so many years.) This is what I created…
Handmade quilt made with favorite sports teams!
My husband also plays piano and guitar; sings and writes music and lyrics; and has been in local community theater productions. I decided the back of his quilt had to include music-themed fabrics…
The back of the sports team quilt had to include music fabric!
I decided to label his quilt ‘Sports and Music’. Some of the music fabric was also used on the two high school t-shirt quilts I made for our sons. (Now, all three of my favorite guys’ quilts are ‘linked’ with common fabrics!)
In spite of the different colors, I am proud of this quilt I made for my dear husband. It was truly made with love and I know he will enjoy watching his favorite teams with his own favorite teams sports quilt!
I know so many people that love to create items and have wonderful talents! It is very satisfying to see an idea come alive when a handmade quilt, handmade card, or anything handmade is completed and presented to someone.
These high school theater t-shirts were used to make a memory quilt!
When our eldest son, Ryan, attended high school he became interested in the theater department. He was cast in most of the musical productions, which resulted in a collection of t-shirts that were signed by the cast and crew of each show. When Ryan was a senior, his younger brother, James, entered high school and also began performing on stage! Another collection of musical t-shirts came home! They wore them several times, but soon they were put away as they moved on to college. Since they were left behind, I knew I had to store them away for a quilt to be made for each of them, someday. Well, Ryan graduated in 2007 and James received his diploma in 2010. I guess it was about time I made these quilts!
Part of my hesitation in beginning this project was knowing how to make t-shirt quilts. I researched online and found so much information on how to prepare the fabric. Now for the pattern! The backs of the t-shirts were signed by the cast members and others associated with each production. Several of the shirts had a small logo of each play on the front, while a few had larger images related to the musical on the front. There was no consistency in the shirts at all! Well, since this was the case, I had to cut the shirts in different sizes and come up with my own pattern.
These were some of the shirts I used to make a T-shirt memory quilt for Ryan!James’ high school theater shirts were used to make a memory quilt!
I finally decided to cut the front and back of each shirt into a 16′ x 16′ square. Since most of the productions were musicals, I decided to use fabric with musical notes as the borders and between the shirt panels. I chose to piece each quilt back with the fronts of some musical shirts, and included some other shirts they wore before going off to college.
The back of Ryan’s quilt included theater and magic t-shirts!The back of James’ quilt also included shirts from his guitar and Jazz band performances!
I found a great way to make the labels from Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation. (She makes beautiful quilts! I especially love the quilts she made from her grandfather’s shirts!) You should visit her blog!
This was the perfect name for my son’s quilt!Most of the shirts were from musical productions, so this was the right name for my son’s quilt!
I had intended to have these two quilts under our Christmas tree this year, but my husband knew I was so anxious to see their reactions when they opened them, so he thought I should not wait until Christmas. (Thanks Honey!) I was also concerned with them ‘snooping’ before Christmas! So, I was able to give them these special quilts when they both happened to be in town together in September. (Very rare these days.)
Ryan had not seen these shirts for over 5 years!
Ryan was surprised to see the logo from the “Poof’ magic and entertainment production he wrote, directed and starred in during his senior year! He didn’t have a t-shirt of this special show, so I searched my files and found the information to transfer onto fabric to include in his quilt! He has been interested in magic since he was 9 years old! (If I am allowed a proud mom moment…Ryan is a professional magician living in San Francisco. His professional name is Ryan Kane and you can check out his website here!)
James enjoyed looking over his old high school t-shirts!
Okay. If you will allow me another proud mom moment…James played Barnaby in Hello Dolly and won an Elly award for his performance! Well done James! (I miss seeing him on stage, but since he is getting ready to graduate with a degree in Molecular Biology, he doesn’t have much time for rehearsals and musical performances these days.)
Since our sons live on the California coast, (San Francisco & Santa Cruz) it is often chilly, so giving these quilts to keep them warm before late December was great for me…and them! It was so wonderful to see their reactions! My heart melted.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Enjoy your Creative Time! ~ Vickie
I appreciate you visiting my blog! Enjoy your day!
HorseMark Cards Blog 