Priscilla's Papercrafts: What a Weekend!

What a weekend I just had! Let me fill you in and then I'll show you the creations...

When I celebrated a "big" birthday a few years ago, my husband arranged to have my brother/wife from Chico (90 minutes away) and my sister/husband from LA (6 hours away) surprise me.
Two years later, for my brother's "big" birthday, my sister and I surprised him.
So with my sister's "big" birthday coming up next year, we all knew it would be hard to surprise her...so we did it THIS year!

Yup, my husband and I drove 6 hours on Saturday (and my brother and his wife flew down to LA) to surprise my sister. And was she ever surprised!
My brother had been posting on Facebook that he wished her a happy birthday and wished they could be there; and I had texted that I hoped her day was happy, and was sorry we couldn't be together.

So when she showed up at a wine bar before an evening at the ballet, and we were ALL sitting there waiting for her, imagine her surprise! Priceless! (Even the employees at the wine bar mentioned how they often see birthday parties, but this one "took the cake"!).

And now to the card:

Long ago I saw a card on Pinterest by Kelly Kent. It struck a nerve, as I often visit my folks on Cape Cod (and I grew up on a beach on Long Island, NY) so I had saved it. I duplicated much of her card and here is the result:

I loved the beat up wood look background (Serene Scenery DSP) and the jar of seashells.

It's a shaker jar (Jar of Love), with shells stamped (Seaside Shore) on Vellum and cut out, along with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Gold Sequin Trim.

The jar was embossed with Copper embossing powder and cut with the coordinating Everyday Jars Framelit dies.

And I had a present for my sister--had to make a matching box:

It's a 4" x 4" box that is 1" high--perfect for a silver bracelet made by my friend Nancy. I used the same Serene Scenery DSP for the top and embossed the shell from By the Tide using (retired) Early Espresso Embossing Powder. The little tag is from Cheerful Tags (carried over from the Holiday catalog).

Doesn't that make the perfect gift for the perfect surprise?

Products used are listed below; click on a picture to shop in my online store.

Product List