Good morning friends! It’s Wendy Sue here today. Can you believe we’re already starting the second week of the new year?  That means a lot of us are committing ourselves to try new things, or to work on things we want to improve, or even just a renewed commitment to keep working on things we’re already doing!  Whichever category you fall into, I sure hope papercrafting and cardmaking is on your list of things to do this year!  One of my goals this year is to ALWAYS have a stash of birthday cards on my shelf.  I feel like, even with the number of cards I make, I’m often scrambling at the last minute to create a card before a party!  Well, this year, I’m going to stop doing that!  So whether you’re looking to start cardmaking for the first time, or (like me) you just want to work on keeping your supply full, here are a few tips I’m going to be implementing! (Here’s a sneak-peek at one of my completed cards, but please read on for details about how it came to be!!)

In order to keep a well-supplied birthday card stash, I’m starting with this awesome sheet full of cute graphics and sentiments from the “Happy Hooray” collection:

It will only take a few minutes to go ahead and cut it apart.  For today’s cards, I want to focus mostly on the little square pieces:

In order to be efficient, I’m going to use the same basic design to create a bunch of cards.  So, from several coordinating patterned papers, I’ll cut the following pieces: (1) 4″ x 5 1/4″  (1) 4″ x 2″ and (1) 4″ piece of a coordinating tear strip.  I will assemble all of the card bases at once.

Next, I will choose several different colors from my baker’s twine stash and tie a bow around each base.  Then I’ll add the squares to the top portion of the card.  I want one square flat against the card, and the other one will slightly overlap the first square and be popped-up with foam adhesive.

Now is the time add additional embellishments, if desired, or you could stop here.  I wanted to add some cute sprinkles.  Other options include die-cuts or stickers.

Finally, place the completed piece onto a pre-cut white 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card base:

Using the same process (I am a big fan of “assembly line” scrapbooking and cardmaking), create as many cards as you can with your supplies:

I used the same process to create some cards with the larger pieces from the original page:

I’m so excited that I’m getting a good start to one of my goals for this year.  This is a nice stash that should last for at least a few months! (I actually could have made a few more cards from the pieces on the original sheet too!!)

Thanks for stopping by the blog today – I hope your new year is off to a great start too!!

Supplies I used:
Happy Hooray “Rainbowtastic ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Candy Shoppe ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Sprinkles on Top ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Make a Wish ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Party Animal ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Eat Cake ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray “Party Time ” Patterned Paper
Happy Hooray Puffy Sticker Icons
Happy Hooray Sprinkle Stickers
Baker’s Twine
Foam Adhesive Squares
Adhesive
White Cardstock