Linda and I had fun with the Paisley Cartridge for the Cricut and cut these Russian Dolls in a variety of sizes to make these cards, (pop over to her blog to see what she made with hers).
I made a card for my dear friend Anita's birthday and another slightly different card for another important birthday later this month. Here is the one I made for Anita as I will be celebrating her birthday a few weeks early at Jill's crop today.


Russian Matryoshka Dolls - I found this information on a web site called Annushka.
There are many theories as to why the name of Matrena (Matryoshka) was chosen for the original Russian dolls. One theory is that it was simply one of the most popular girls names at the time, but the theory that holds the most weight is that the word itself has a Latin root 'mater', meaning “mother”. The name was associated to the mother of strong stature and good health, the mother of a big family, which obviously suited the new wooden Russian doll very well.