Getting Paid to Do What I Love - Is There Anything Better?

My mother-in-law recently approached me to make some personalized stationery for a couple of friends of hers.  Apparently she is part of a group who celebrates each other's birthdays and the best part - everyone gets a gift!  (How do I get in on this idea?)  The Birthday Girl is given something really nice and the other two are given smaller gifts.  My contribution was the smaller gifts.  A "Thank You" goes out to Christine and Barbara on SCS for the inspiration cards!

 This group of cards used the Bella Bleu DSP which is retired but you could use Mocha Morning or Beau Chateau from the current catalog.  The letters are from the Lovely Letters stamp set.  The colors used are Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Not Quite Navy.  The ribbon is 3/8" Taffeta in Soft Suede.  The box's dimensions are:  8-5/8"x7-3/8".  The sides are scored at 1-1/2".  For the top, I just scored at a tiny bit less than 1-1/2".  I used the Eyelet Border punch around the base of the lid.

The second stationery box was made using Old Olive , Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla cardstock.  The horses came from a retired set called Brushstroke Horses but you can substitute with the bird from Nature Walk, the zebra from Zoo Review, the wolf from In Wilderness or whatever inspires you!  Again, the ribbon is Soft Suede.  The Old Olive cardstock is stamped with the swirl from Creative Elements which is one of my new favorites from the catalog.  I can't wait to begin making cards with that set so get ready to see them!
Aren't these lovely gifts for someone?  Who can you think of to give such a gift to?  A sister, friend, teacher... the list is endless!