My Cards and Tags: Let Them Eat Cake

Greetings loyal readers!  Forgive my neglect of you over the past few days.  My husband and I spent some unexpected quality time in the ER over the holidays.  Yep.  I'll spare you the medical details as things are better now, but suffice it to say that while Saint Nick was making his rounds, I was foraging in the hospital cafeteria for anything under a heat lamp that was still edible.  But I can honestly say that I'm grateful for the lessons I learned during this unique and humbling Christmas experience: that Christ is still an active healing force in our lives (for which I will always be grateful) and that people matter infinitely more than presents.  Love and thanks go to our families and our awesome neighbors who kept the driveway shoveled in our absence during the worst storm of the year!  I also want to give a shout-out to compassionate healthcare workers everywhere who sacrifice their holiday festivities to comfort those who are sick.  Most of all, I want to thank my husband for being who he is: even in pain, even with IV's in his arms and tubes in his nose, and even with self-proclaimed bed-head, that man's a class act that constantly teaches me how to live selflessly.

Okay, okay!  Enough of my Oscar Award-esque "thank you" speech.  Let's move on to the craftiness!  Check out this card I made with my favorite stitch-around-a-shape technique:

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE vintage childrens' dictionaries?  I'm always on the lookout for them at the local thrift stores.  I cut out the "Cake" text from a great little dictionary and stuck it next to my fabric cake slice.  To make the slice (or any shape), all you have to do is trace it, stamp it or draw it onto fabric and then sew around it with your sewing machine. 

I thought I'd also snap a shot at a bit of an angle just in case you had any doubts about my obsession with layers.

Good stuff and all I did was add some ink around the edges of some of the layers to give them even more depth.  So hey- if you're struggling with a card or art project, consider building up instead of out.  There's a great satisfaction that comes with layering different colors, textures and patterns and bonus points go to you if your card's too thick for an envelope by the time you finish!