you say it's your birthday?

or perhaps not. but much in the way it's always, "5 o'clock somewhere", every day is SOMEBODY's birthday, which is why most of us need more birthday cards throughout the year than anything else. this week at shopping our stash we are all about getting a jump on birthday cards, so let's see those cupcakes, presents, party hats, balloons, pinatas and... well, whatever says, "birthday" to you! here's what i made, and then there's a little story, lol:

ok, so the night before i made the card above, i made this card, for our grand niece, maddy, who will (already!) be *three* in february:

and i woke up the next morning and thought, "wahhhhhhhhhh!!!" because honestly there is JUST. TOO. MUCH. going on here. even for me! as i was slightly dreading having to start from scratch, it occurred to me that i really liked both the center circle panel (YES, apparently i'm in a Circle Phase!) and also the background... i just didn't like them together. luckily, the circle panel was attached with foam tape, which meant i could gently pry it off with only minimal damage to the background and none at all to the circle. so i did. and i made a new, much calmer, background:

but then i thought, "welllllll... it doesn't have many traditional birthday accoutrements without the cupcake paper". so i made another circle panel, with a big cupcake on it. and thus, although i spent a bit more time than anticipated on one assignment, i did actually wind up with two cards i really like--  both of which use absolutely ANCIENT stash items-- so i'm callin' this a win!

patterned paper: junkitz ('member them?!) cupcakes, dcwv pink plaid, creative imaginations word circles, best creation sparkly animals (which i fussycut), echo park, crafty secrets, mme and doodlebug scraps for cupcake and animal background; birthday stickers so old i honestly don't know who made them... maybe mambi?; flower diecuts: simple stories; dark pink cardstock: core'dinations; glossy white cardstock: the paper cut; ink: colorbox; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

something else that can absolutely always be called a win is the amazing work of my SOS design team sisters. in fact, you should probably go and see that right now! ♥