I needed a birthday card for my favorite niece, Brooke {hold it right there ... whichever niece I am referring to at the time is my favorite niece ... it's just funner that way)! I thought Brooke would like this adorable owl from Kim Hughes' collection U R A Hoot. Mr. Owl Hootie is colored with copics, then cut out and "popped" onto his tree perch. Isn't that branch stamp the coolest thing? Oh my stars ... how many birds and owls and butterflies do you think can go "out on a limb" with this great stamp set? The sentiment is stamped inside a cuttlebug embossed circle, sanded to show the white core paper. After double matting, I used a SU ticket punch on the corners and mounted the image on a SU So Saffron card. Blue rhinestones add a finishing touch!

Okay, so my good conscious got the best of me and I have to tell you why there is a separate "Happy Birthday" sentiment with rhinestones. There I was -- in my happy place as I made this card. My happy jammies, no make-up, and Ipod in ears. When all of a sudden, Saints Preserve Me, I reached across the table to clean Mr. Hootie stamp and darn if my masterpiece card didn't drag right along with me, landing smack dab into the open black stamp pad.

Onto to Plan B. Hmmmmmmm. Hold the phone! I can cover that boo boo and no one will know! {You've been there -- go ahead -- admit it baby!}

Happy Birthday to my favorite niece, Brooke!