Ahoy, there!

It's birthday season for the toddler set.

From late summer to fall, we get invited to a lot of birthday parties for my son's little friends. This past weekend, we attended a birthday party for a 3-year-old, and I made this card to celebrate his day.

I used the retired Stampin' Up set, Boatloads of Love, to create this super-cute card. I cut the waves freehand, using card stock and some Stampin' Up designer series paper. I used some of my Stampin' Up markers to color the boat and smoke, then I cut those out and added some dimension behind them. The clouds were created using my new large scallop punch -- how clever is that? --and again I added some dimension to puff them up.

You can't see it because I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the card, but I stamped three candles inside below the words "Make a wish." I love the added touch of stamping the envelope. I think it gives your cards such a custom appearance.

This was completely unintentional, but I am so pleased with how well the card matches the wrapping paper that I used. I'd already wrapped the gift before I made the card, so perhaps that informed my color choices. But I really didn't set out to match the card to the package. But now that I realize how "Martha Stewart" that makes me look, I'm going to do that more often!

In fact, I'll have another chance this week. We have another birthday party to attend.

And then, I need to get busy making invitations and favors for my son's 4th birthday in September.

When he saw this boat card, he informed me that he wanted this card for his 4th birthday. But I've got bigger surprises planned for him. He's having a pirate party, and he'll be getting a cool homemade card to match the theme!