SEM's 2nd Birthday Blop Hop!!

Cara here to say welcome you to our (woot-woot!!) 2nd Birthday Celebration!! You should have come over from Nicole's blog. 

I love celebrations...and I especially love birthdays! Hmmm...maybe it's because I love presents and cake...who doesn't? Even though we can't all sit down and have some cake together, we still have an awesome party planned....we have five fun, easy challenges you can enter this weekend to win some amazing PRESENTS (I mean prizes)!! 

We'll also be celebrating over at our Facebook Chit-Chat Page where you can join in the fun and games and possibly even get another present/prize! They'll be tons of fun stuff going on there...you won't want to miss it!

I have THREE projects to share with you...

The first is a Birthday Card. I love making cards, and I figured it wouldn't quite be a birthday celebration if I didn't make a birthday card.  I decided to raid my stash of ribbon scraps for this one and used a cute Pebbles flower along with some MME enamel dots. 

Next up is a layout I created from a few photos of my daughter Ellie's 6th Birthday that I had yet to scrap. 

I love bright, fun colors and birthdays are the perfect opportunity to use those colors. I again went to my stash of scraps--this time my "patterned paper" and used some strips and some small pieces (to punch out my arrows--I actually used my photos corner stamp from Stampin' Up). I also added some sequins that I've had in my stash for a looooong time and never used...decided this would be the time...because I wanted the look of confetti. And I finished it off with some circle embellishments from Pebbles. So fun!!!

Lastly, because I was talking about the "arrows",  I'll share a super easy and more masculine birthday card (told ya I love to make cards!)...

I really like how simple this one is...and really fast to put together!

*As a side note, if you're a card lover like me, check back on my blog next week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) as I'll be sharing lots of card-making inspiration!

And now...because I not only love getting presents (yes I do confess I LOVE it!), I also love giving them too ...I have a present/prize for one lucky winner. To be part of my prize drawing, just leave me a comment about the best birthday present you've ever received. And if you're not one of my blog followers...become one and leave me an additional comment stating you did and I'll give you an extra entry! I will announce my winner on Wednesday, July 17th.

Here's the "blog candy"....:)

...to celebrate my love of stamps, washi tape and baker's twine (not to mention bright colors):

Studio G Clear Stamp Set (I can totally see this set being used to make your own washi "paper" tape)

1 roll of hot pink baker's twine (from American Crafts)

1 roll of orange baker's twine (from American Crafts)

1 roll of green baker's twine (from American Crafts)

Don't forget that over at the SEM blog we're also giving away a fabulous GRAND PRIZE from...

Blog: http://bluefernstudios.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueFernStudios

The hop will remain open until Sunday night, July 14th at midnight PST. 

And remember in order to qualify for our grand prize you must leave a comment on all the blogs.

Now, on with the Hop....

HOP ON OVER to 

Elizabeth's blog! (and have FUN!!)