"card" might be the wrong word...

...for some of the birthday greetings i make. case in point:

remember those elvis stickers i used for june's blue christmas card? i still have most of the sheet left! i also have the tradition of making the weirdest card possible for my chiropractor's birthday. it's his own fault really. he will say things like, "well you definitely won't ever make one stranger than THIS!" ummmmmmmmmmm... i might, actually! :)

the last few years i've done "legendary crooners". he likes them; me too. i've done sinatra, obviously. and dean martin starred in another "not really a card" scenario. i did a different version of elvis two years ago, but i am ok with repeats if concept's different; after all, elvis had more than one hit, didn't he?! :)

i don't think he ever sang... or thought... or could've imagined... this phrase, however. nope, this one's all me:

in case you're wondering about the mechanics, no, i did not use a ruined pair of sunglasses for this... but i suppose you could. actually, this is a pair of 3-D glasses we got when we saw the 4th pirates of the carribbean movie this spring. i brought them home because i liked the sort of retro rayban shape of them, and the fact that they fold up almost flat; and i thought i might do something crafty with 'em. i was envisioning a graduation card, you know, something along the lines of, "the future's so bright... i gotta wear shades!" but they seem to be making A LOT of 3-D films lately, so i figure i'll get another shot.

when you make something too lumpy or bumpy to fit in an envelope what do you DO with it? i generally attach it to the gift, if there is one. like this:

you can see that my love affair with maps as giftwrap continues; as well as the thrall of torn denim "ribbon". i've used a little blutack under the specs so they don't fall off in transit. fortunately we're hand-delivering this, the next time our backs get adjusted!

and now you'd probably like to see a photo of someone silly enough to put on said elvis glasses and pose for a grainy i-phone photo, wouldn't you??! yep. i thought so:

never let it be said i don't stand behind my work, darlings!!! ♥♥♥