New Cards for Birthdays

The goal of "use it up in 2010" is underway. I'd like to pull back from crafting for a while and devote more of my time to other pursuits, but I can't just leave all my stuff sitting there, and I can't bear to sell or give it away, so over the next year I intend to make crafting my full time "job" and see if I can't get the stash whittled down to a reasonable size.

I have a customer who happens to be a close relative. She has decided that she loves sending my cards for birthdays, and I like it as well, because almost all the family members thank her as well as me when they get them! So, this year, for Christmas I decided I would gift her the cards for 2010 as part of our gift to her. Here is a start on them...
This card has a lot of real wood on it--besides the pulp in the paper! The leaves are from some beads that hang on my livingroom window, and the "trunk" is a very thin scrap of wood I used to cut some guitar shapes out of for cards a couple of years ago. I was very happy with the way this card turned out. (This one and the next few are from a set of We Are Memory Keepers cards that I found at Michael's in the clearance bin--the top of the box was missing and a couple of the envelopes were dogeared. )
I bought these little spinners (arrows) a few weeks ago and have been dying to put them on something. The string runs under the extra piece of printed paper and beneath the text box. I don't think I've ever had a bow come out that well on a card!
Another spinner. I covered a chipboard circle with a scrap of printed paper. None of the papers used on this card are from the same manufacturer. The Happy Birthday sticker is on a piece of blue vellum, but you can't tell that from the photo.
I scuffed up the chipboard swirl. The two different papers are mounted on two different styles of black scraps. The sentiments are rub-ons by American Crafts. I do love rub-ons! I bought a package of square black envelopes a few months ago, and decided I would make a card to fit one. I am sure other colors go with black, but I have a LOT of black and white paper scraps!
Simple but elegant--the text box is on opalescent cardstock.
The top card is not my favorite of all time, but if she doesn't want to send it, she didn't pay for it, right? :) The second is one of my favorites. The metal embellishments (corners and palm tree) are OLD from my stash. I used acrylic paint to make the gray metal of the corners brown, and added brown and green paint to the tree, then rubbed off the excess with a paper towel while it was still wet. Sentiment is a rub-on--I have had it for ages as well!