Birthday card and gift bag

It's a dreary rainy day here!! I try to keep reminding myself that we really need this rain. I thought it was time for a bright and cheerful post.

I got the inspiration for this card from a mass produced invitation where the design was simply printed on the cardstock. I thought it would be fun to reproduce this with diamond shaped cut cardstock, placed in the same format. Well...it was fun, but WOW, it took a lot more time than I thought it would. I used only leftover scraps, except for the card base. I found the perfect diamond cut in Cricut's Art Philosophy cartridge by Close to My Heart. I ran each little piece thruogh my "X" and lined them all up. The pieces along the edges have to be cut to fit. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out, but if I do it again, the diamonds will be bigger, so there will be fewer to deal with. =)

Here's a cute little bag that went together in a snap! I used the purse from Cricut's Tags & Bags cartridge. Sooooo Easy!! I tucked in a gift card and gave it to my coworker for her birthday with a few chocolates. They go together so quickly, they'd be great for party favors too!

 The flower decoration on the front is just as simple. I got the idea from my StampinUp! consultant, Jodi Geers. Find a newspaper ad with the colors you're looking for. Cut six with two different sized scalloped punches. Stack them all up with the smaller circles on top of the larger circles (6 of each). Poke a hole and put a brad through the center, and crumple up all of the layers individually. What a beautiful way to recycle all of those sales ads!! Perfect for presents or cards.