Card times Four

Hi ya friends,
Just catching up on some cards I've made recently. I have four to share with ya today!

The first was for my friend who was celebrating a retirement & birthday party:

I made a fun shaker card using MFT's Congrats Shaker dies. I wanted to incorporate her favorite things: casinos & turtles. I didn't have ANY turtle stuff, so I opted for the color green. I made a few playing cards and tucked them behind the "A." The background is an old SU Wheel stamp I unmounted to make flat.
Here's another peek:

 and the innies:

This SU set (Congrats) was perfect for a retirement/birthday card as it had sentiments for both! *Ü* The bottom is embossed with a CB border embossing folder.
I used this week's MFT sketch: #255

Next, I created an encouragement card for a friend:

I used the MFT Sun Ray Stencil along with embossing paste & Distress Inks to create the background. I added a couple of stitched glittered clouds (La La Land Crafts), and scattered some sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh). The "Thinking of You" word dies are from Impression Obsession.

Card #3:

This card went to another friend for her birthday. I had my eye on this Unforgettable stamp set from Wplus9 for ages. I broke down & finally bought it, & I'm so glad I did! It is ADORBS!!! It has great sentiments too. The little elephant is colored with Copics & the background was ink blended with Distress Inks.

My final card went to a student in one of my Spanish classes:

My poor student has had a hard time recuperating from an appendectomy she underwent. I thought I would send this card her way & hope she's back to good health speedy quick. I used a few sets from Lawn Fawn on this card: Get Well Soon, Into the Woods, Woodgrain Backdrops. It was colored with Copics & ink blended with Distress Inks.

Thanks for hanging in for all these cards! I know I should post more often so I don't have to bombard you with cards all at once, right?! *Ü*

Thanks so much for peeking today! Have a great day! *Ü*