Granny's Thrifty Scrapbook Blog

2011 Blizzard

2011-02-02T09:33:00.001-06:00

We are all fine, just snowed in! Had to go out this morning for photos to scrap. Here is my favorite.

Pretty cool huh?

1st Birthday - Boy

2010-10-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

A friend asked me to make a b-day card for her grandson's 1st birthday. The party is going to be a rock n roll theme. She said he loves drums so this is what I came up with.

The drum is from the "Joys of the Season" cartridge. I found the star on "Accent Essentials" and the words "You rock" are on the Jubilee cartridge. I use glossy red and glossy gold cardstock for the images. Gold stickles were added to the corners of the cuts but that is hard to see in the photo. I made the card 5x7 so that the images weren't so small.

The inside of the card reads "Grandson, Sound the trumpets, beat the drum. Happy Birthday, today you're ONE."

I also stamped some music notes on the inside around the verse. I'm going to take the card to her tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Hope this is what she had in mind.

Birthday Fiddle

2010-10-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

Here is a card that I made for my son's 30th birthday. I wanted a card that was masculine but still slightly humerous.

The "fiddle" was stamped onto Stampin Up Very Vanilla cardstock with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and embossed with clear EB. The edges were inked with the Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain inks. I added the music notes to tie the image to the saying. The striped paper has a glossy shine. I found this at an expo 2 weeks ago. I love the colors for a masculine card. Embellishing a guy card is always hard for me. No flowers, bows, etc. I had the metal buckle and threaded 3 ribbon strands through it. Gives the card a finishing touch without being "girlie", don't you think?

Minnie Mouse birthday card

2010-10-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

My Granddaughter's 3rd birthday is coming soon. I dusted off my cricut for this one. Using the Mickey & Friends cartridge I cut out Minnie Mouse. I used a glossy black cardstock for the base of the image. It sure makes the other pieces "pop". The roses are a border image from that cartridge also. I flocked the roses then added glitter to them. The Happy Birthday is from the Beyond Birthdays cartridge.

The background paper was some that I had made for me at a convention 2 years ago. I had been hording it for a special occasion and decided this was that occasion.

My cricut started making this "clunking" noise while it was cutting. Sure hope my baby bug is not getting ready to croke!

Sympathy Card

2010-08-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

My friend's brother passed away and I wanted to make a nice card for her. I realized I didn't have any stamps for making sympathy cards so I took an afternoon and went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Joanne's. The pickins were slim but I managed to come up with a couple of stamps. I know what I'll be looking for at the next expo I go to.

I used Black Magic cardstock and a Cuddlebug embossing folder to create the background. I sanded the embossing to bring out the green design.

The flowers were stamped in Olive Green Stazon then colored with Prismacolor Pencils. I went over the image with a Versamark pen and heat set clear embossing powder. I used a script background stamp and Dove Gray Stazon to add the script on top of the flowers.

The cardstock is Stampin Up River Rock.

Here is the inside of the card:

It's hard to be creative when you are sad. But I'm sure she will appreciate the thought.

The Calm After the Storm

2010-07-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

Here in Wisconsin we have been having some pretty scary storms for the past 2 weeks. Which is why I haven't been creating much. We have lost power almost every evening so I have all my toys unplugged! The other evening after one of the storms passed through I noticed this orange glow coming from my living room windows. When I looked I saw this absolutely beautiful sunset! I snatched up my camera and ran outside to snap a few pictures. This one is my favorite. Isn't this pretty?

Underconstruction....

2010-07-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

Please bear with me as I redesign my blog. The publisher of the old layout is no longer.....

Karen's Doodles Easel Card

2010-07-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

I wanted to try my hand at making an easel card. I got the instructions from Split Coast Stampers. The image is another Karen's Doodles.

All the paper is Stampin Up. I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and added Stickles to the flowers. The corner is a chipboard piece covered in SU paper and tied with fuzzy yarn.

The border punch was a gift from a friend. It is a set sold by Oriental Trading and comes with 6 different punches. I love the look of these leaves.

All the edges were inked with SU inks.

Here is a side view of the card:

Isn't this cool?

Another Flower Bear Card

2010-07-03T18:53:00.002-05:00

I love coloring this cute little bear so I made another card. This one is going to a friend as a thank you for some terrific goodies she passed my way.

I have been having trouble with my camera. The blue paper is more purple in color but after taking over 50 photos at different settings I can't get my camera to see it as purple! Time for a new camera? Anyway it's a cute card no matter what color it is. LOL

I used a lot of pop-dots on this one.

I can't decide if I should stamp "Thanks" on the front of the card or make a small tag.... What do you think?

Karen's Doodles - Challenge #17

2010-06-30T18:35:00.005-05:00

Red White & Blue is the Challenge colors at Karen's Doodles USA Challenge blog. Click here to check it out. This is my entry. Cruisin' - Celebrate Freedom

Card Recipe
Stamps: Karen's Doodles Cruisin' & Studio G Celebrate Freedom
Paper: Stampin Up Whisper White Cardstock, Paper Studio Designer Paper & The Paper Patch Red & Navy Allstars Vellum
Ink: Stampin Up Real Red
Tools: Crop-a-dile, Sissors, Paper Trimmer, ATG tape, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots
Embellishments: Rhinestones, ribbon, eyelets, brads
Other: Prismacolor Pencils, Mineral Spirits, Sakura Gelly Roll Glitter Pens

I loved the "Flag" paper but it seemed too bright so I topped it with the vellum. The image was colored with both colored pencils and glitter pens. Glossy accents was added to the sun glasses and headlights. Here is a closeup. You can click on the picture for a larger view.

I love how carefree these 2 look. Arent' they cute?

Rubbernecker's Ethel

2010-06-30T06:31:00.000-05:00

Isn't she a pistol? I love the expressions on these old character stamps. I started this card at a friends house this past weekend and finally finished her at home.

Ethel was stamped in Stazon Black and colored with Prismacolor Pencils. After matting the image I added a lace frame. The buttons are from Stampin Up. All the DP is Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

The inside sentiment reads: "I'm in shape. Round's a shape isn't it?" A perfect card to give as encouragement to a friend that is trying to lose weight.

Karen's Doodles Challenge #16

2010-06-27T16:11:00.000-05:00

I created this card as my entry in Karen's Doodles USA Challenge #16. We were given the following sketch to follow:

The image is a digi freebe that I printed out onto SU Whisper White cardstock. The bear was colored using Prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits. I added my own doodles to match the sentiment (which I found at an expo several years ago). I've never done a long card before so this was a fun, out of my comfort zone, challenge.

I didn't win....

2010-06-26T22:15:00.001-05:00

I entered this card in the "Featured Diva" contest over at Karen's Doodles. I met Karen at the Fall 2009 Milwaukee Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo. She was just getting started and I enjoyed speaking with her. She was demonstrating her drawings and she drew a character for me. I also received a copy of her new children's book. Here is a photo of Karen and my "Doodle"!

A couple of months ago I saw her again at the Spring 2010 Milwaukee Expo. She now has a website selling her Digital Images and has recently launched a line of rubber stamps. She told me about her website and since I picked up a couple of her stamps I thought I'd give it a try. There are some exceptionally great card makers entering her contests. I didn't stand a chance. But it was fun trying. Pop over and take a look at her stamps. They are sooooo cute!

Playing around with my stamps

2010-06-23T06:27:00.000-05:00

Do you find that you collect stamps and then never use them? Well I do... so I dug through my stamps and came across this one from Rubbernecker. I hadn't used her because I was looking for just the right saying. I found a saying at an expo 2 months ago so I have no excuse! This is Edna, one of the Rubbernecker "Old People" stamps. They are so cute I wish I had them all.

I used Stampin Up cardstock in black, Night of Navy, and Sage Shadow. Using Versamark Ink I stamped a coffee cup over and over to create a background pattern. The black decoration is a left-over frame that I had cut from my cricut for another project. I think it was from the Storybook cartridge. I took a background stamp that is coffee beans and stamped with versamark over the frame then heat set clear embossing powder.

Edna was colored with Prismacolor pencils. I added glossy accents to the lens' of her glasses and stickles on her slippers and necklace.

The inside saying says... Behind every successful women is a substantial amount of coffee.

Las Vegas - Paris

2010-06-22T06:47:00.000-05:00

The Paris Hotel and Casino was very cool. I was impressed with the architecture of the building. I decided to go for a layout that had the look of an old photo album.

I created a mock postcard for the journaling on this page. I printed my journaling from my computer onto a tan cardstock. I increased the font size for the word Paris to act as the page title. The postcard was grunged up with Old Paper Distress Ink. I used a Stampin Up postage stamp from an old set and smeared it a bit to give it an aged look. Photo corners were added to all the pictures. The corners were cut on the cricut using the Jasmine cartridge.

Las Vegas - The Tropicana Casino

2010-06-20T07:29:00.002-05:00

We had such fun playing the Wizard of Oz slots at the Tropicana Casino. For this page I created tags to put the title on. I cut the letters out using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge. For the tags I used some small tags that I had in my stash, and stamped the circles 3 times with different color inks to match the polkadot border at the bottom. I have a tornado stamp that I found at an expo so I stamped that over the circles. Added some fiber for "fun" and I think this is a cute layout that really blends.

Here is a close up of the tags.

Black Magic Technique - Round 2

2010-06-20T06:59:00.001-05:00

Here is another card using the Black Magic Technique. You really have to try this! The image gives you a look as if you actually drew it, but in reality you cheated! How cool is that?

And the close up:

For those wanting to try this technique here is a link to the instructions on Karen's blog.

Black Magic Technique

2010-06-19T07:45:00.003-05:00

I've had fun trying the Black Magic Technique I read about on the SplitcoastStampers web site. It really is easy and the end result is very striking.

Using Stampin Up's Whisper White Craft Ink I stamped my flowers 3 times on black cardstock. Heat set the ink with your heat gun. When totally dry color over the flowers with Watercolor pencils. After you finish coloring add accents with a white gel pen.

Take your unique creation and make a card! Here is my 1st attempt.

And here is a close up showing the detail a little bit better.

Las Vegas - We have arrived!

2010-06-17T20:54:00.000-05:00

Since this was my first trip to Vegas I was so shocked to see that there were slot machines in the airport! I was even more shocked when an airport employee came by and put his arm around me and welcomed me to the city.

I realize this is a pretty plain page. But I wanted the focus to be on the photos not the design of the page. I used the Keystone cartridge to do the title. I welded the shadow letters together in Design Studio and cut the tan letters out separately. I added dots of stickles to give it that Vegas Lights look. Since this page is next to the first page I used the same patterened paper but changed out the solid cardstock. Same but different.....

Las Vegas Scrapbook - The beginning

2010-06-17T06:05:00.000-05:00

This isn't the most elaborate scrapbook but I tried to do something creative on each page. This first page I used the Cricut to cut out an airplane from the New Arrival cartridge. Then I typed my journaling in Word so that it would fit on the plane. I think this is a cute trick to make your journaling a little more interesting. The clouds were cut from Mickey and Friends and Jasmine was used for the title.

I'm back....

2010-06-16T18:26:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't believe what I have been up to lately. I finally finished my Las Vegas Scrapbook! It took a lot of time and dedication to stick with it, not get distracted, and keep my mojo going. But I did it.... So watch for my upcoming posts where I'll show off all the pages. Well maybe not all of them, but most.

In the mean time I wanted to show you this adorable card I made using a stamp set and template that I purchased at a recent expo. It's made by Art Gone Wild. They have some really cool stuff.

We needed a birthday card for one of the bosses at work and I was asked to make a card. This is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it!

Now here is the cute part.... The oven door and the broiler door open!

You can click on the pictures to see a larger view. Isn't that cool?

Get a load of these!

2010-05-08T07:31:00.000-05:00

We had such fun creating and swapping ideas at the card swap last night. Every card had something to love. Some have great color combinations and others show how to think outside the box. I love all the cards and especially how enjoyable it was chatting, and joking, and snacking! Check out these terrific cards!

Card Swap

2010-05-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

I signed up for a card swap that is tomorrow evening. Why I thought I could do this I don't know.... I have been stressing over this card for 2 weeks. Our instructions were to design a card, make a sample, then provide the materials for 6 other ladies to make the card. We are to precut as much as possible. Then we will make each other's cards at the swap. Do you know how hard it is to design a card that can be put together in a short period of time? To design a card when you have no idea how advanced the other ladies are? So for 2 weeks I have designed, torn up, thrown away, ripped apart, and generally made myself crazy over this! Finally I came up with this card. I sure hope it is ok.

I precut the cardstock and designer paper then used my nestabilities to cut out all the ovals and my Cricut to cut out the photo corners.

The inside is simple.

I will let you know what they thought and show you the other cards I make. Keep your fingers crossed that I came up with an appropriate design.

Playing with my Cuddlebug - Mother's Day Card

2010-04-11T10:27:00.002-05:00

Do you get in a rut? I sure do so I was looking at my dusty Cuddlebug and realized how lonely the poor bug was. I pulled it off the shelf, dusted him off and put the little darlin' to work!

To begin this card I had colored my image with Primacolor Pencils. I used a Classic Scallop Small Oval Nestability to cut it out and emboss the edge. I figured out that Stampin Up's Certainly Celery color matched the leaves and Orchid Opulance matched the purples. So I cut a layering oval out of the Certainly Celery and a used one of the Label Eight shapes to cut out the purple shape. I embossed the purple layer using a Cuddlebug embossing folder. I inked all the edges using matching inks and gently rubbed over the embossing with a sponge dauber and Orchid ink.

Another stash find was my pack of Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock. (Forgot I had this!) I cut a mat and embossed it with the swiss dots folder. After I sanded the top the green dots came to life. By now my Cuddlebug needed a nap!

I put the card together and wanted to add the heart pins but they were in a really gross orange color. I had found them at a garage sale last summer for $.25 and at the time thought I'd find some use for them. I stared at these gross looking hearts for the longest time and finally remembered a tip my friend told me about.

I dug out a violet pigment ink that was sitting in a drawer. Then I inked the heart end of the pin with the violet ink and quickly dipped it into clear embossing powder. Carefully using my heat gun I set the embossing powder and TADA... Violet heart pins!

So keep digging through your stash and use up what you have! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Perfect Pearls Mother's Day Card

2010-04-11T10:03:00.002-05:00

In these tough economic times I have challenged myself to use things from my stash. I was rearranging some of my inks and embossing powders and came across 2 pots of Ranger's Perfect Pearls that I had purchased last year. I'm also on a mission to make my own background patterns instead of buying patterened paper.

To Create the background for this card I started with a 4" x 5.25" piece of Stampin Up Whisper White Cardstock. I inked the cardstock starting with YoYo Yellow in the center, gradually blended in Marigold Morning and finished the edges with Rose Red. After this dried I used a background stamp that I inked up with Destress Ink in Mustard Seed. Destress Ink stays wet longer than dye inks and works great for applying Perfect Pearls. I chose the Mustard Seed color so that it would be very subtle.

While the ink is wet use a small paint brush and dip the tip in the pot of Perfect Pearls (I used Copper) and brush over the sections you want to highlight. When you are finished adding the Perfect Pearls use a larger paint brush and brush over the entire image removing the excess. What you have left is a shimmery pattern. Click on the top picture for a larger view. It shows the pretty shimmer.

I finished the card using a digi image that was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and cut out. I also created a tiny Mom charm using Shrinky Dinks. Hope you try using Perfect Pearls soon. You will be amazed at how cool the finished image is.

Here is a link to Ranger Perfect Pearls Embellishment Pigment Kit, Metallics so you can see all the cool colors it comes in. Enjoy!

Punch Art Bunny Instructions

2010-04-08T13:17:00.001-05:00

I promised you the instructions for creating the Punch Art Bunny. I finally finished it so here is a link that will allow you to save, print, and view them. Have fun and let me know if you find this useful.

Punch Art Bunny Tutorial

If you need Oval Punches here are 2 of them made by EK Success (the company that makes Stampin UP's punches) The links will take you to Amazon.com:
Ek Success PSPNPOV003 2-Inch Paper Shapers Oval Nesting Punch
Ek Success PSPNPOV004 1-1/2-Inch Paper Shapers Oval Nesting Punch

Jet Max Cubes

2010-04-08T08:18:00.002-05:00

Bindi from Australia asked me for information on some of my storage cubes. I thought I'd share this information in a post for other people that were looking for the same info.

My 4 drawer Jet Max cubes were purchased at Michael's. They are still available (I checked yesterday). The overall demensions of 1 cube is 14.5" deep by 14.25" high by 14.25" wide. These are the outside demensions. They are made with a 1/4" thick board.

The individual drawers are 6.25" wide by 14.25" deep by 6.5" high.

The paper cubes have 4 sections. The overall outside demensions of the cube is the same as the 4 drawer cube. The individual sections are 3.25" wide.

Lastly she asked about my ink storage. I purchased the 48 Ink Organizer from Organizemore.com. I have had the organizer for 2 years and have been totally pleased with it. At one time I had the organizer hanging on the wall but right now it sits on a table next to my work area. The quality and durability is fantastic. They also come with different colored dividers for those of you that want to coordinate with your room. I plan to purchase another one very soon. Check out their web site and send them an email to see how much shipping might be to your country. I love their product and didn't think it was right to give out the details.

Hope this answers all the questions you have. If not.... just let me know. Happy organizing!

Punch Bunny Cards

2010-04-04T11:14:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across a tutorial for creating a rabbit from punched shapes. Since I didn't have all the punches they used I modified it using what I have. I thought this little guy was so adorable that I ended up making 3 cards with him.

I'm creating a tutorial of my own and will post the instructions soon.

Here is the first card. (Excuse the photos, my camera is giving me trouble)

I created a shaving cream background to go with the green that I wanted to use. My friend's favorite color is green so this turned out perfect. UPDATED PIC! My friend took a good photo of the card. Much better!

I made this card for my neighbor. He is an older gent and doesn't get out much. I thought a cute little bunny might brighten up his day. It's not really as green as the picture shows.

This last card is for my Grandaughter. I love pink & purple together. Try creating one of the cuties yourself. They are easy and fun. Happy Easter!

Emboss Resist

2010-03-27T11:26:00.003-05:00

I have been playing around with the Emboss Resist technique lately. This really is a ton of fun!

For this card I started by stamping the flowers with Stazon Black ink. The flowers were colored in with Prismascolor pencils. Then I went over the flowers with a Versamark pen and heat set clear EP.

Now the fun begins... Using one of my script background stamps I stamped using Stazon Dove Gray over the entire piece of cardstock. Take a soft cloth and wipe the ink off of the flowers.

Next using any colors you choose sponge your background. When you finish that wipe off the flowers one last time.

Isn't that cool? I added some white dots using a gel pen to the flowers. It dries just fine on top of the EP.

Mat your image and you have a truly one of a kind card. Give it a try!

Shaving Cream Background Revisited

2010-03-07T13:41:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I got so hooked on the Shaving Cream Backgrounds that I had to try it again. Here is another Thank You Card that uses this technique plus a technique that creates "bricks" out of your image.

Once again I used Groovy Guava reinker but also used River Rock. Since River Rock is green based it came out a shade of green close to Old Olive and Mellow Moss. Swirling the shaving cream is such fun. Reminds me of finger painting as a child!

To create the look of bricks stamp your image then cut it into 1/2" wide strips. Cut each strip into 1" lengths. Alternate your cuts to create the brick look. This technique is illustrated on Splitcoast Stampers if you want to give it a try.

The edges of each "brick" was inked with Distress Ink in Old Paper. By inking the edges you define the bricks so they stand out when your image is reassembled.

This will be a nice card to give when I want to say thanks.

Shaving Cream Backgrounds

2010-03-07T13:17:00.002-06:00

I read about a technique using shaving cream and reinkers to create stunning backgrounds. It is very simple (messy, but simple) to do and you can really create a background in exactly the right color and design you are looking for. The background on this card used Marigold Morning & Groovy Guave reinkers. I used generic white paper, nothing fancy. The swirl of color is just right for a sunset sky background.

I used a stamp that was purchased at an expo several years ago from Lost Coast Designs. They have great stamps! After the background dried I inked the stamp with Versamark and heat set black embossing powder. The effect is truly amazing.

For the inside I reinked the stamp with Versamark and stamped onto Marigold Morning cardstock. Hit it with my heat gun to quick dry the ink and it gives a great subtle background for the inside.

A simple to create but good looking thank you card.

Viva Las Vegas Stamps

2009-12-09T20:27:00.002-06:00

I'm back.... Had a terrific time in Vegas! One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Viva Las Vegas Stamps. Meeting Wayne was great... and the stamps......OMG all the stamps!!!!!!

Getting to the store is a little tricky. Fortunately I had printed out the directions from the website. We ended up telling the cab driver how to get there.

When you finally find the store you need to ring a bell to get buzzed in! The magic begins as you walk through the entry hall. Once you open the main door......be prepared to be amazed! Stamps, stamps, and more stamps! There is even a hugh poker table loaded with unmounted rubber for you to dig through.

Here are a couple of pictures to tease you. If you get to Vegas be sure to visit Viva Las Vegas Stamps.

I also made a short video for my friend Tracy.

Enjoy!

And now for something completely different.....

2009-11-01T10:01:00.000-06:00

I WON... I WON... I WON... At work there is a contest every year. One of the companies that we write policies for (I sell insurance) sponsors this contest and the agency with the highest volume of sales in a set time is entered into a drawing for a trip for 2. This year our agency won a trip for 2 to..... are you ready??? LAS VEGAS !!!!! Since the owners of the agency don't use the trips they hold a drawing among all the employees to see who gets to go. AND I WON !!!!!!

I have always wanted to go to Vegas and I'm jumping up and down with excitement. I've asked my sister to go with me and she was very touched that I asked her instead of a friend. We fly out December 2nd and return on the 6th. Airfare and hotel is included along with a LARGE cash bonus! We will be staying at the MGM Signature Resort (click here to check this out) We will have a Junior Suite. What a fancy place!

Best of all is the fact that in Las Vegas is a rubber stamp store that you don't want to miss. Viva Las Vegas Stamps is right off the strip. They have over 100,000 stamps in the store and they make 15,000 stamps of their own! OMG.... I'm taking an extra suitcase! LOL Check out their blog for videos of the store. You will drool over all the stamps.

LAS VEGAS HERE I COME....

Confirmation Blessing Card

2009-11-01T09:40:00.000-06:00

Sorry to be away so long. Sometimes life takes us away from our hobbies for awhile. October is one of the busiest months of the year for me.

I'm starting out November with a card I made for my friend's son's confirmation. It is the first religious card I have ever made but I think it came out ok.

I found the designer paper and the cross stamp at Hobby Lobby. I tried to keep it simple and relied on my "comfort zone" to create the card. I stamped the cross and then heat set with clear embossing powder. The silver thread is the elastic kind and was really a challenge to work with. Pull to tight and the card curls, not tight enough and it lays crooked! I added the fish charm to dress it up and even though this is for a guy I don't believe it makes the card to girly. What do you think?

The inside verse I found on the internet and I printed it off using my computer. (click the picture for a larger view)

I hope it is appropriate. Your opinions are welcome since I have never done something like this before.

Lizard Birthday Card

2009-10-06T06:35:00.000-05:00

My Son's birthday is coming soon and since I have a hard time designing cards for guys I figured I better get started early. This simple card came together pretty easy since my friend contributed the burgandy cardstock and the ribbon. I found the patterned paper at a garage sale this past weekend. The circles have a glossy shine to them so I stamped and embossed the lizard to coordinate with the paper. After I took this picture I went back and colored in the stars and eyes on the lizard with a gold sparkle gel pen. Since I wanted to tease my son about getting older the inside says "You may be old, but you're not extinct!". He will love that!

Lil Lady Card

2009-10-05T06:28:00.000-05:00

I spent Saturday evening scrapin with a friend until the wee hours of the morning! We had a blast and around midnight we decide to have a contest. We pulled out 2 sheets of purple cardstock, 1 sheet of Very Vanilla, a 2003 stamp set called Cute as a bug (Stampin Up) and said we each had to make a card using one of the images from this set and could only use the 2 purple cardstocks. Anything else in my scrap room was ok to use. We sure did a lot of giggling! But here is my final card. Give this a try next time you get together with friends. It made a great ending to our evening. That and all the chocolate we were eating! LOL

Birthday Dress Card

2009-10-04T14:36:00.001-05:00

I created this dress card for my DGD's 2nd birthday. I found the template here. The steps I used to make the card are:
1. Print the template onto cardstock of your choice. For mine I used Stampin Up's Whisper White.
2. Cut out the template.
3. Lay the template on top of patterned paper so that the shoulder fold is at the edge of the paper. Trace around the template on to the patterned paper. You are only going to trace the large (back) side of the dress.
4. Stamp your images onto the front side of the card. Color in as you wish. I used an aqua brush and Stampin Up inks.
5. Cuddlebug the card. I used the swiss dots folder. It took 3 passes to do both the front and back.
6. Score and fold the dress.
7. I used a 1" circle punch to create the neck opening. Put your punch 1/2 way over the fold to create a 1/2 circle on the front and a 1/2 circle on the back.
8. Punch a 1" circle into a scrap of cardstock to begin to create the collar. Use a scalloped circle punch centered over the 1" hole and punch out. (I ran mine through the Cuddle Bug before glueing it down) Cut this in 1/2 and glue 1/2 to the front around the neck opening and the other 1/2 to the back. I found this worked better than just folding the scalloped circle and gluing it down. When I did that and opened the card the collar popped off.
9. Glue the patterned paper inside the dress. Trim with an Xacto knife if necessary to get a clean fit.
10. Ink all your edges.
11. Add ribbon and any other embellishments you want. I added stickles to the bee's wings and some of the flowers.
Now you have a darling little dress card!

Birthday Shoe

2009-10-01T21:07:00.001-05:00

A quick birthday card for you tonight. I used the shoe from my Happily Ever After cartridge and Design Studio to create the card. All the pieces were cut at 5 1/4". I had the paper and ribbon in my stash and thought they would make a cute shoe. The shoe looked very plain so I added the ribbon and buckle. I think it addes a nice finishing touch. The edges of the patterned paper were inked with Walnut Stain Destress Ink. Glossy Accents worked great to adhere the bow to the paper.

The inside verse was computer generated. I used one of the negative images to trace around the words and then cut it out to fit the inside of the shoe. The one bad thing about this card is that it does not stand up. If you look at the shape of the shoe it is goofy. Next time I make this I'll try and alter the shape.

Baby Carriage Card

2009-09-24T11:51:00.002-05:00

A gal I work with is going to be a 1st time Grandma and the shower for her son and daugher-in-law is this weekend. All of us at work chipped in to get the gifts and I volunteered to make the card. Since the baby's room will be done in monkeys I had to incorporate one somehow.

I saw this card created by Jill (click here) that is so adorable I had to case it.

The cardstock is Wild Wasabi (sorry the pictures are goofy. My lighting was off.) I had to improvise since I don't have the Big Shot Dies, so I used my coluzzle circle template to cut the circles. I overlapped 2 of them so that the card would open on the side.

The Designer Paper is Stampin Up Delicate Dots and the flower stamp in the center of the wheels is from a Stampin Up set called Looks Like Spring.

The monkey was cut on my Cricut using the New Arrival Cartridge. I added tiny beads for the eyes.

I computer generated the Welcome Little One saying and then punched out with an oval punch.

I also computer generaged the inside verse. (If you click on the picture you can read it better.)

The back of the card was decorated too. I got carried away I guess! Because I even cut a monkey to put on the front of the envelope...

So there you have it.... my first carriage card. Isn't this cute?

No cards, just a quick note...

2009-09-20T08:02:00.000-05:00

I've been busy preparing for the Stampin Up party I'm hosting today. Made 2 yummy desserts... Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cheese Cake and Strawberry Margareta Frozen Dessert. I also made White House Punch. It is one of my favorite punches. It has a nice clean citrus flavor and goes nicely no matter what you are serving. I didn't want a punch that's flavor would clash with my desserts. I know, I'm so picky! LOL I finished all the "thank you" sheep too. It should be lots of fun. My demonstrator has so many new things to show us. I can't wait! Have a great Sunday all.

New Layout?

2009-09-14T07:04:00.002-05:00

I finally changed my blog layout to be 3 columns. Although my followers aren't showing (which I'm trying to get fixed) I like how the blog looks. It's easier to manage and the blog doesn't take as long to scroll to the bottom. What do you think?

Cricut Celebrates it's 100th Cartridge - Week 1

2009-09-13T09:46:00.006-05:00

Cricut is celebrating their 100th cartridge—Winter Woodland! They are giving away 100 cartridges over the next five weeks (20 per week). To enter the contest we need to post a reply on the weekly thread over on the Cricut Message Board and to get an extra entry, we can post a link to the product details for Winter Woodland on our blog.

This is a terrific cartridge and I've been really wanting to try it! Take a look. You will love it! Here is the link.http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

Sheep Party Favors

2009-09-12T13:54:00.005-05:00

I'm hosting a Stampin Up party soon and needed to create party favors. I saw these cute sheep made using punched shapes and decided to recreate them. I enhanced the design a bit by adding the ears and flocking. I think these are so cute, especially since they stand up!

These use 5 different punches: word window, 5 petal, scallop circle, 1 1/4" circle, and a retired punch that goes with the "Looks Like Spring" stamp set.

The sheep is made by punching out 3 white scallop circles. Use the 1 1/4" punch to cut off 3 scallops. This will be the fur on the head of the sheep.

Punch out 2 black 5 petal flowers. Use sissors and cut off 3 petals (as a group). This will be the face of the sheep. The remaining 2 petals become the feet. Do this to both punched flowers. You will have 1 extra face. The feet are glued to the inside of the scalloped circle like in the picture below with just the tips of the petals showing on the front side.

Using just the small 5 petal flower punch out a pink flower. Cut off 2 of the petals individually. These will be the inside of the ears.

The tail is made by punching out a piece of black cardstock with the word window punch. Use sissors to cut it off so it is only 1/4" long. I decided to make the tail a bit larger and stamped the "Thank You" using the Lots of Thoughts stamp set in white pigment ink.

I flocked the piece that is the fur over the face before I glued it by running it through my Xyon and pressing white flock on the sticky side.

To make the eyes put 2 tiny drops of white liquid pearls on the face and let sit until totally dry. Then I took a sharpie marker and made 2 small black dots on the white eyes.

When you have your front and back done, use adhesive to stick them to a peppermint patty. See how they stand up on their own? Aren't they just toooooo cute? And so very easy to make. I finished 14 of them in 1 hour.

Trying new techniques....

2009-09-07T06:53:00.003-05:00

A friend came over yesterday and we spent the entire day playing with techniques we had not tried before. It was a ton of laughs as we messed up, created a huge mess, and generally had a great time. Since she lives in my building we both kept bringing out more and more supplies. Eventually my dining room table looked like a scrapbook store! But it was fun to see what we could come up with.

One of the techniques we tried was using Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Masks, and Perfect Pearls. I created the background of this card by stamping a script background stamp first. I cheated and used Stazon Dove Gray but I didn't want the image to smear. Next we applied masks from one of the mini-mask sets then went over the card using Distress Inks. We used Broken china, Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold, and Mustard Seed. I love how it turned out so I decided to finish it into a card.

I added the cat stamp which is an old woodmounted stamp by a company called Diamonds. I used Aged Mahogony distress ink and while it was still wet applied copper Perfect Pearls. When I brushed off the excess powder the cat has a super copper shimmer. I added the notes and the saying (which is from a TAC set) and there you have it!

This is a fun technique to try. You don't have to be precise. Just smoosh the colors onto the card and see what you get. Give it a try!

Birthday Butterfly

2009-09-05T13:38:00.002-05:00

I had fun creating this birthday card. I used Stampin Up's God's Beauty stamp set. I stamped the images with Stazon Jet Black ink and used a water brush to color the images. The butterfly was colored with YoYo Yellow and Marigold Morning inks. Added pearls to the flower centers and glitter to the butterfly. I lightly inked the lower half of the card with River Rock and the upper half with Soft Sky ink.

I also dusted off my trusty ole sewing machine and added stiching to the edges.

Here is the inside:

Thanks for looking.

Under The Weather

2009-09-02T06:23:00.004-05:00

A freind is in the hospital and I wanted to take her a fun card to cheer her up. This stamp set from Stampin' Up is so cute.

I did use a new technique on this one. I didn't have the right color of brads so I used silver ones and inked the tops with pigment ink and covered with clear embossing powder. Then used a heat gun to set it. This is a good technique to know since there are so many color variations of cardstock and you never seem to have matching brads.

The card is made using groovy guava cardstock and Stampin' Up Designer paper. The dark green cardstock is from Prism.

I used Stampin' Up's scallop border punch for the edges and a white gel pen for the dots.

The inside says... "Sorry to hear you're under the weather, hope tomorrow you are feeling much better".

Etched Plate

2009-08-23T07:16:00.003-05:00

Ok... last post for today! I'm finally catching up. My first attempt at glass etching. This plate was for my Mother's 80th Birthday. I learned that Wall Pops work great for cutting out the stencils on the Cricut, but I sure could have used the transfer tape. All in all it was pretty easy to do. I think I applied more etching cream than what was really needed but wanted to make sure I didn't miss any spots. As it turned out I still had a couple of tiny areas that didn't etch so I went back and applied a bit more cream using a toothpick and that worked great. Sorry for the yucky picture. I just could not seem to get a good one.

I used 3 different Cricut cartridges to make this. First I chose the leafy swirls from Happily Ever After. I welded 3 together in an arch using Desing studio. The Happy Birthday was from Beyond Birthdays. The word Mom gave me the biggest challenge. Have you ever created something in Design Studio only to realize that the cartridge you used is NOT one you have? Well, silly me did just that. I originally selected Lyrical Letters and it matched the Happy Birthday perfectly. When I got ready to cut it dawned on me that I didn't have that cartridge! (Guess what cartridge will be my next purchase!) So I went back and used the one from Beyond Birthdays. Not too bad for my 1st try?

Bugawumps - Very Sorry...

2009-08-23T06:54:00.003-05:00

Another Bugawumps card and a short story. This is a simple card but I had so much fun coloring it. I also realized something. I use a lot of the finger tip sponge daubers for inking edges. I have one for each of my inks. I seem to use my Walnut Distress Ink so much that the sponge is starting to deteriorate! I was going to toss it out and start a new daubler when I realized that the "fuzzy" edges of the sponge were creating the coolest markings. Take a close look at the edges of the image. See the small lines it created? I love this look! So, moral of this story? Don't toss it out!

I stamped the image using Stazon Black onto Stampin' Up's Whisper White cardstock. I created a mask for him and then stamped the grass. He is colored with Prismascolor pencils and a silver glitter pen for the wings. I sponged Stampin' Up Soft Sky ink first then went around the entire image with Old Paper Distress ink. Lastly I added a small border of Walnut ink to the whole thing. Since this card was for my nephew I added the wiggly eyes to the image. Isn't he cute?

Just Because Card

2009-08-23T06:41:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, when you least expect it, a quick card turns out great! I love how this card turned out and I have to admit that I made it in under 1 hour! That's a record breaker for me since most of the time I agonize over a card for days at a time.

I used my Cuddlebug and Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities to cut out the ovals and scalloped ovals. The leaves were stamped using Stazon Olive ink. The branch is a stamp from a Stampin' Up set but the little flowers and the butterfly are $1 clear stamps. I added stickles to the leaves, flower centers and butterfly. The edges were inked with Distress Ink called Aged Mahogany. The paper is from my stash and the cardstock is Stampin' Up. I was having trouble finding just the right ribbon so I added 2 different ones. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Apple Tree Birthday

2009-08-21T06:55:00.002-05:00

I had a request to make a card for a gentleman that was having his 70th birthday. He loves his apple trees so it was a great excuse to pull out one of my favorite stamps.... The apple tree from Cornish Heritage Farms. This is a simple card but turned out very nice.

I used the Storybook cartridge to cut out the label shapes. And colored the image with prismacolor pencils. The apples were done with red liquid pearls.

I put an Irish Blessing on the inside. I think it fits with the card nicely.

Wall Pops & Jet Max Cubes

2009-08-18T16:24:00.002-05:00

I've been super busy organizing, and decorating my scraproom. I picked up several more Jet Max cubes which started the entire process. I spent several days putting them together, then several more days moving everything around. It was also a great time to cull out those things I don't want or will not use. Then I decided I needed to add a little decoration. Since I live in an apartment stencils or painting is not allowed. Wall Pops to the rescue!

Here are pics of my newly organized room and my first Wall Pops project. It came out pretty cute. Oh, I had a left over flower and vine so my cricut got dressed up too!

I also was busy finishing an etched plate for my Mother's birthday and a card for a friend. I'll post those later. Now I'm off to get some rest! LOL

Happy Anniversary

2009-08-08T14:20:00.002-05:00

A quick card for my Son & DIL's 2nd anniversary. I picked up this cute Whippersnapper stamp at a warehouse sale they had a few months back. Stamped the image onto very vanilla Stampin Up cardstock using Stazon Jet Black ink. Then colored the image using prismacolor pencils and the MCPT. I highlighted the image by sponging around it with River Rock ink. I used a gold leafing pen around all the edges. Stickles were added to the hearts and to the turtles.

Enjoy!

It's A Girl

2009-08-06T06:11:00.003-05:00

A co-worker and his wife just had a baby girl. I made this card for them using my "comfort" zone techniques. I love to doodle. The stitching is hand doodles. I also used a Scalloped Nestability and cut it so the bear looks like it is peeking out from the bottom layer. The words were cut from the New Arrival cartridge and glittered. Gotta love bling!

I stamped the bear and colored with prismacolor pencils. Then I cut it out and pop-dotted onto the scallop. I made a tiny bow and glued on the bear. There are red stickles on the heart too. Added lots of tiny pearls. The inside says "Among the world's most precious gifts, among it's precious pearls, God smiles down upon the world and sends us little girls!"

Love them bugs....

2009-08-02T17:16:00.003-05:00

Hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday. I just got home from a brunch at a friends. We each brought a dish-to-pass and there was so much food I'm not sure I'll eat again for a couple of days.

Here is another Bugawumps card. This time a birthday card for my BIL. Men are so hard to make cards for! It is a 5" square card. I don't make many square ones since the Post Office charges more to mail them but this one I'm delivering in person.

I computer generated the inside to match (blocked out his name from the photo) and I think it came out very close.

I really like the bug noises paper. Found it at a LSS. The music notes are not from Bugawumps, but all the other stamps are. Enjoy.

King For A Day Card

2009-07-26T17:00:00.003-05:00

I needed a card for my 23 yr old nephew's birthday. What kind of card would someone his age like? I decided to use my new "Card Game" stamps from Stampin Up.

The suits DP is Stampin Up's Jackpot. I inked the edges with River Rock and stamped the birthday wishes from Sincere Salutations.

The black cardstock was run through the Cuddlebug using one of the new embossing folders called diamonds.

The gold scallop was punched with the EK Success Card Suits border punch. I also punched the border punch in red then took the shapes and glued them onto the center of the diamonds.

I added a black ribbon and some red buttons for an accent.

I stamped the King for a Day using stazon black then colored with markers. I used a glitter pen also, but it doesn't show up very well. I created a red mat for the center card and used pop dots to put it on the card.

The inside is a computer generated sentiment. I used the Stampin Up Wheel to create the red suits on the cardstock. Since it didn't want to stamp cleanly I decided to go with that and tore a hole in the center and inked the edges with River Rock to give the whole thing a distressed look.

Not wanting to waste anything I used the shapes left over from punching the gold scallop and randomly glued them to the inside also.

Sure hope he likes it. You never know with guys!

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com!

2009-07-12T19:48:00.002-05:00

Well, lets give this a try! I enjoy all the terrific cards and techniques that I learn on The Cuttle bug Spot and now they are having a contest that is unbelievable!!!!!

"The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need our help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out at www.TheCuttlebugSpot.com

Roses In Winter

2009-07-12T18:48:00.003-05:00

I found a very nice Stampin Up stamp set at a garage sale called Roses In Winter. It is a retired set from 2003 and it is also a 2-step set. Since this is my newest passion I used this set to create a card for my Mother's 80th birthday.

The rose was stamped using Stampin Up's Lovely Lilac. I stamped off twice with the large rose and smooshed it 1/4 turn to the right. Then I stamped off once with the medium rose and smooshed it also. Finally I stamped the center (didn't stamp off) with a smoosh. I like how it blurs the edges. The stems were stamped with Mint Melody and again with River Rock. I stamped off once for both of them.

I used versamark and stamped the stems on the background cardstock. This is Prism cardstock called Medium Willow.

I added a strip of Basic Grey DP and inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Add ribbon, lace and brads to finish up the card. (The picture is a little dark, it is very pretty in person)

My Stampin Up order came in!

2009-07-05T13:26:00.002-05:00

I just received my latest Stampin Up order and was so excited to try my new Stamp-a-ma-jig. This tool is just a blast to use, and so easy! I picked up a couple of older stamp sets at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. I made this simple card using a retired stamp set called Definately Decorative Daisy. It is a 2-step set from 2000. If you haven't tried 2-step stamping I highly recommend it.

I used Prism cardstock in Papaya Puree Light and Papaya Puree Dark. The daisy background was stamped using Groovy Guava. Then I stamped the petal outlines in Chocolate Chip. I cut out the flower and added a button with rust colored floss. The stem, leaves, and bee were all stamped directly onto the cardstock. Of course I added some yellow stickles to give the bee some bling and a lace border at the bottom.

I wanted to try the smaller flower that came with this set so I used that on the inside.

The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I think I'll send this to a friend of mine just to brighten up her day. Hope she likes it!

Busy, busy, busy....

2009-07-05T13:19:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Things have been so hectic around here. I had to prepare for a yard sale this weekend and have also been working on invitations for a Tupperware Bingo night I am hosting.

The invites came out very cute (if I do say so myself!) LOL I used the cricut and cut the letters out using the Keystone font. I love the nice block letters. A lot of pop dots on each layer of the bingo ball to give it that 3-d effect. The inside was computer generated, printed onto white cardstock and matted to match.

Teacher Appreciation

2009-06-13T22:03:00.003-05:00

I was asked to make a teacher appreciation card. I've never done one before but decided to give it my best shot. Here is what I came up with. I also made the cute paper clips to go with.

The apples were stamped with stazon black and colored in with a Stampin Up marker. I covered them with glossy accents to give them that terrific shine and 3-d effect. When they were dry I punched them out using a 1 1/2" circle punch. I used 2 scalloped punched circles for each clip, one for the front and one for the back.

I found the notebook paper at HL. I cut it down to fit and punched 3 holes. I tore the paper from the hole to the edge then distressed all the sides. I inked the edges with walnut stain distress ink and used the old paper distress ink to "dirty-up" the paper.

I hate my handwriting but decided that writing the saying by hand was the best way to get it on the paper and stay within the lines. I added stickles to the A+ and doodled the white dots.

I mounted the notebook paper onto Dark Autumn Red cardstock then on a black mat. The card base is a green that matches the leaves in the apples.

The inside is simple with a black mat and a small piece of the notebook paper. I left it blank so my friend can write what she wants to the teacher.

All in all I think this is a cute card and I love the paper clips!

Blog candy at Lisa's Stampin! Weblog

2009-06-03T06:01:00.003-05:00

Check out the blog candy Lisa is offering at her terrific site! This is great!
Click here Be sure to check out her June specials also.

Ad Inspiration Challenge #16

2009-05-31T14:54:00.002-05:00

On the cricut message board there is a challenge that uses this ad from Lowe's

I wanted to make a simple "Hi There" card for an older gent that lives in my building. He is a real sweetie and we share the garage. I haven't talked to him in a couple of weeks. He goes out every morning to get his newspaper so I thought it would be fun to surprise him with a card that I'm going to leave on his car door. When I saw the challenge everything just fell into place. I still have a hard time designing cards for men.

I don't know who the paper is by. I was at Hannah's a couple of months ago and they were selling 6x6 scraps of dp for a nickle a sheet. I picked up several sheets just to add to my stash. I cut the paper on the diagonal and trimmed it down a bit so I'd have a larger gap in the center. It is mounted on a pale blue cardstock, then on a "orangish red" cardstock, then on rust. I inked all the edges with Walnut distress ink.

The duck is a Studio G stamp that normally holds a 4 leaf clover. I used my SU black marker and colored everything but the clover. He is colored in with Marvy Embossing Markers and heat set with clear embossing powder. I used an oval nestability to cut him out.

The saying is from Whipper Snapper Designs that I stamped in Walnut then used a water pen and SU Creamy Carmel ink to highlight.

Here is a tip to get your brads lined up nice and even. I use a 5 x 7 sheet of needlepoint plastic canvas. Line it up with the edge of your cardstock and mark where you want the brads. Then use a hole punch where you marked and they will always be straight and evenly spaced.

Cuddlebug Challenge - Be Inspired #33

2009-05-30T17:24:00.006-05:00

Here is my entry for "Be Inspired #33 - Monogram and Ellie's Studio" over at the Cuddlebug Challenge Blogspot. I chose to create a monogram card for a friend's birthday that is coming up this week.

This is a Flower Pot Pocket card. I found the instructions on the Split Coast Stampers website. It is a great card to make. There is so many options for decorating it.

EDITED TO ADD LINK TO INSTRUCTIONS: http://sluman.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/01/25/flower-pot-pocket-card/

Here is the card all together:

The overall height ended up being 7", so I am able to put this in a 5 X 7 envelope.

The flower pot was made from ivory cardstock cut per the instructions. I used an EK Success border punch on the front edge. Then ran it through my cuddlebug using the Perfectly Paisley embossing folder. To finish it off I stamped over the embossing with a background stamp inked with Stampin' Up's groovy guava ink. I love how this looks. The debossed areas don't catch the ink so your embossed design really stands out.

Here is a picture of the pot and pull-out card:

I used Prism cardstock in Desert Coral light, medium, & dark. The flowers were cut using the Cricut and Storybook cartridge. I cut the large flowers and shadows at 2" and the smaller flowers and shadows at 1 1/4". The large flowers were embossed with the swiss dots folder and the smaller flowers with the Spots & Dots folder. I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Old Paper then added stickles on the swiss dot bumps. I also lightly inked over the embossing on the smaller flowers to accent the design.

To create the leaves I cut out the flourish (Storybook - page 56) and also the shadow. After I glued them together they were embossed with the D'vine Swirl folder. Then I cut up the florish and only used the side pieces as leaves.

The Monogram was cut from the Storybook cartridge at 1 1/2". I ran the letter upside down through my zyron sticker maker and added glitter over the entire letter for even more bling!

Here are some close ups for you to see the detail better.

Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your comments.

Great Blog Candy from a New SU Demo!

2009-05-28T19:52:00.002-05:00

Pop on over to Lynou's blog and check out the great blog candy she is giving away to celebrate becoming a new SU Demonstrator. Here is the link Also if you are wanting some SU product why not shop her store. It's nice to support and help the new Demo's get started!

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T14:13:00.003-05:00

I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I'm happily enjoying the day off work and creating more cards.

This is another Father's Day card. One of the ladies at work has a father that loves to garden so I thought this would make him smile...

And here is the inside:

Have you ever "lost" a stamp? I knew that I had a tiny bee stamp and it wasn't where I thought it should be. I started searching my scraproom and finally found it stuck among the stamps that still need to be mounted and put in my binders! I better get busy getting the rest of those stamps where they belong.

Cuddlebug Challenge - Butterflies

2009-05-24T15:52:00.004-05:00

I have entered this card in the challenge over at the cuddlebug challenge blog. I don't have the cuddlebug butterfly and heart die/folder so I used my cricut and cut the butterfly from my new Home Decor cartridge at 2". I then ran it through the cuddlebug using the swiss dots folder. To highlight some of the dots I used a white gel pan and also put clear rhinestones on some random dots. This is also my first "joy fold" card and I have to say it was a lot of fun to create. I got the information from SCS. Stickles were add to parts of the paper to add even more bling!

Hope you enjoy!

and here is the inside:

Father's Day Card #3

2009-05-23T22:28:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that this card is my favorite so far. Have you tried Bugawump stamps? They are such fun!

This card is embossed, and embossed, and embossed..... etc. I think I used almost a whole jar of clear embossing powder on this card! I stamped all the images using Stazon Black. Then colored them in using colored embossing markers and heat set them with the clear powder. Even the white dots are embossed. This allowed me to use my inks to create the background. When that was finished I used a paper towel to wipe off any excess ink from the images. Don't you just love the firefly?

Anyway... here is the inside.

I got a little carried away with the fireflys but I couldn't help myself! The inside sentiment was printed onto the cardstock using my printer.

Father's Day Card #2

2009-05-23T22:14:00.004-05:00

So you ready for the next one? Well, ready or not, here it comes....

I love this sailboat stamp from Stamping Sensations. I ran into them at a scrapbook expo.
I stamped the sailboat with Black Stazon and colored it in with my prismacolor pencils. I created a mask for the sailboat then stamped the script background using Stampin'up River Rock ink. I also stamped the sailboat a second time and cut out the green sail and used pop dots to mount it on top of the stamped image. I added a touch of stickles to the waves for sparkle.

The anchor is cut from the Mickey & Friends cartridge at 1 1/2". I added glossy accents on the anchor to give it a wet look.

I think the inside sentiment is very appropriate. Here is a pic of the inside of the card.

Remember, you can click on the pictures for a larger view.

Finally got time to create!

2009-05-23T22:00:00.002-05:00

It's been quite a long time since I had any time to be creative. But I started working on Father's Day Cards. I hope you get some inspiration from them.

This first one was made using a stamp set from Darcie's Stamps called Fishing Fun. Darcie's stamps are high quality unmounted rubber that are ready for acrylic blocks and come in a great plastic case. She even provides sample cards for you with each stamp set. (I am not affiliated in any way.)

This card is my version of one of the samples.

It was a little challenging for me since I am "Sissor challenged". But I ended up using an xacto knife to cut out the fish and that worked much better.

Here is the inside:

If you click on the picture you can see a larger version.

Baby wipes technique

2009-04-25T15:22:00.004-05:00

I was watching a video on Stamp TV and saw one on using babywipes and reinkers. I thought this was the coolest idea and decided to give it a try. My card didn't come out nearly as pretty as Gina K's but it's not too bad. Here is a link to the 2 videos that show how to do this:

Baby Wipes As An Inkpad
Baby Wipes Background

Watch these 2 videos and give this a try. I'd love to see how your cards turn out!

I used Stampin Up reinkers in yoyo yellow, chocolate chip, and pink passion. Since I have trouble drawing a straight line I decided to make the lines wavy. It did take a few minutes for the ink to dry on the glossy paper (Stampin Up) but only about 5 minutes. While I waited I cut out the card and mats. I used my Cricut Jasmine cartridge to cut out the corners. I used real dial size and cut the brown at 2 1/2", the yellow at 2", and the pink at 1 1/2".

I'm thinking of adding a touch of yellow stickles on the flowers. Or maybe just some glitter? What do you think? Anyway it's a pretty cool technique. I didn't even get very messy! Imagine that!

Color Challenge Tuesday Entry

2009-04-22T18:38:00.005-05:00

Over on the "From C to Shining C" forum there is a color challenge every tuesday. If you haven't checked it out take a look. It's a great new forum!

I didn't have the Stampin' Up colors but was able to come up with cardstock that was very close.

I love this little cat as he (or she) is peekin' through the "hole". It is an unmounted rubber stamp that I found on the Addicted to Rubber Stamp site. Unfortunately I can't remember who it is by.

opps....I almost forgot to show you the cute candy bar wrapper I made to go with the card...

Make your friends laugh!

2009-04-22T18:31:00.002-05:00

I couldn't resist the sentiment stamp I found at a recent expo. My friend was sorry she didn't see it. So to tease her I made this card. I hope you find it as funny as I do!?!

Here is the front of the card. No... this isn't the funny part!

Here is the inside.... Are you ready????? You may have to click on the picture to see the larger version in order to read it.

Funny???

Peek A Boo Card

2009-04-18T08:46:00.002-05:00

I saw a video that Dawn had made on creating a Peek A Boo card. Click HERE to watch it. I thought this was so cute and had to give it a try.

This is a thank you card for someone that really helped me out last week and since she is a hugh cat fan I decided to use a cat theme for the card. It's simply decorated since it's my first try at this. What do you think? Should I add flowers? More glitter? Coloring around the words? I just can't seem to decide.

This is the card closed. I used Prismatics Island Mist Medium cardstock. I love the subtle texture and weight of this product. I'm having problems finding this cardstock now and I'm hording my stash!

When the card is fully opened a new picture appears in the window. I glittered over the text. Of course I forgot to turn off my fan when I sprinkled the glitter and now my room, cat, dog, and desk are very glittery! LOL

Here is a shot of the card as it is opening. See how the hidden panel begins to move into place?

This is the top view of the hidden panel. I am sure to be making more of these type of cards!

Penny Black Hedgehog Easter

2009-04-05T19:32:00.003-05:00

I was scrappin' with a friend and digging through all her wonderful stamps when I found this Penny Black stamp. It is a retired 2005 stamp so she graciously allowed me to borrow it. I stamped up an entire page of the image and just had to make at least one Easter card.

The egg was colored with Prismacolor pencils. I used embossing markers on the dots and heat set with clear embossing powder. The ribbon was also embossed with an orange embossing marker. I added clear stickles to the flower centers and glitter on the "ropes". I think this is a great easter image. Hope you do too.

House Mouse Easter

2009-04-05T19:25:00.002-05:00

I love House Mouse images and this cutie was such fun to work with.

I stamped the image on Stampin Up's Whisper White cardstock and cut it out with an oval nestability. I also cut out a scalloped oval in red with a scalloped oval nestability. The mouse was colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits. I colored the eggs with sparkling gel pens.

The jelly beans were a challenge until I found a nose to a pig on my Animal Kingdom cartridge! Using Design Studio I was able to remove the "cuts" that would have been on the shape and the end result is a perfect jelly bean! I cut them out in different colored cardstock and covered them with Glossy Accents.

The inside says "Do I smell Jelly Beans?". Isn't that cute?

Easter Basket Card

2009-04-05T19:18:00.002-05:00

This card was made using my cricut and cuddlebug.

The label was cut from the Storybook cartridge. I put 18K gold paint on the edges. I used Mini Monograms to cut out the scalloped circle then ran it through the Cuddlebug using the Harringbone folder. All the eggs are from Doodlecharms. After they were cut I added stickles to parts of them, let that dry, than covered them with Glossy Accents.

The flower stems are from Walk In My Garden. They are actually the tulip border. I just put the eggs where the flowers would normally go. The basket is also from Doodlecharms. I pop dotted the basket and the label.

Tinkerbell Easter Card

2009-04-05T18:54:00.005-05:00

One of the ladies at work has a daughter that really loves Tinkerbell. I hadn't tried using my Tink cart yet but decided to give it a try. The tiny pieces are a challenge but I'm very please with how she turned out.

The egg was cut at 2 1/2" (real size) from Doodle charms. I stamped and embossed all the flowers and the bunny. The bunny was stamped with Versmark and clear embossing powder then while the powder was still hot I sprinkled golden sand powder over the top and heat it again. It give the bunny fur a cute look.

Tinkerbell's wings were cut using a silver shimmer paper (from HL) and glitter was added to the detail lines.

This card was made using a clear acrylic sheet from Sheetload Shortcuts. They are great to work with and have just the right weight to support larger/heaver images.

St. Patty's Day Card

2009-03-12T18:57:00.003-05:00

I've been busy making cards for the ladies at work. Here is one of my designs. I just love this leprechaun. It is a stamp by Inkadinkado. He is so fun to color. I used prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Then I highlighted the buttons with White Opal Liquid Pearls. They were also used for the dots on the card corners. Stickles were added to a few parts of the image to give him some bling!

Busy, busy, busy....

2009-03-08T10:46:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I feel that there is not enough time in a day to do everything I'd like to do. Between work, crafting, shopping, and my family I am so tired at the end of the day. My recliner has become my best friend in the evenings! LOL

I've had maintenance at my apartment off and on for the last week. Our building finally has a management company that is getting all the neglected repairs taken care of. But it is a real pain to deal with the maintenance guy coming and going. Most of my repairs were in the bathroom which ment that I had to pack up everything under the sink (I didn't know I had collected so much stuff under there!) and remove all the rugs, shower curtain, etc. It's finally fixed and now I'm looking at all the boxes that need to be unpacked but really should go through and toss a lot away. I'm just not in the mood to sort bathroom junk!

I've also been trying to learn a new stamping technique and if I get it perfected I'll post for you to see. It's very simple and very cool. But positioning is everything and I'm just not getting it right yet. Stay tuned....I'll show you this real soon.

I'm also feeling my age today. Yesterday was such fun "hanging" with my Son, DIL, and DGD. We went to one of those liquidation expos up in Milwaukee. It was very odd. So many things for sale but I was surprised that most of the electronics (like computers and monitors) were actually older models that had been refurbished. But my DIL and I found purses that we really liked. I don't really know much about purse brands but my DIL says these are Coach knockoffs. I just like it! LOL

The baby was pretty tired after all the shopping too. She loves to shop and talk to everyone around her but by the end of the day she was pooped! Take a look...

She slept all the way home. I also had my very first experience playing a Wii and today I have a sore arm and shoulder from the tennis and bowling games! Getting old is not fun! LOL

Well, this got very long, but I wanted to update you all on why I haven't been posting as much. I'll try to do better if things slow down.

Take Care.

Thank you for a fellow crafter

2009-03-08T10:13:00.002-05:00

A fellow crafter made me the most beautiful Easter wreath for my door. I wanted to give her a thank you card that was pretty, but not too frilly. My Stampin Up order had just come in and the Polka Dot Punches stamps seemed perfect for this card.

This is a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base ( an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock cut in 1/2 and scored at 4 1/4") that is out of a generic dark brown cardstock. I've also used Stampin Up's Very Vanilla, and Prism's dark, medium, & light coral cardstock. The Friend DP is by DCWV.

Punches used were Stampin Up's Flower punch and Scalloped Circle punch, and EK Success 1 1/2" circle punch.

I cut a piece of the friend paper at 5 1/4" x 3", then matted it onto medium coral cardstock that was cut at 5 1/4" x 3 1/4". And the whole thing was matted onto very vanilla cardstock cut at 5 1/4" x 3 1/2". I added the ribbon ( a $1 Michael's find) around the piece after all layers were taped together then taped it onto the brown card base.

I stamped the flower stamp onto very vanilla cardstock using Stampin' Up Creamy Carmel classic ink and punched it out. I punched out another flower from the medium coral cardstock. Using the medium & dark coral cardstock I punched out a scalloped circle from each.

The flower was layered using the dark coral scalloped circle, the medium coral flower punch, and the stamped and punched flower for the top. I added a gold bead to the center of the flower.

The Kindred Spirit saying was stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock using a stamp from a set by Hampton Art called Friendship. It was punched out with the circle punch, then layered on top of the medium coral scalloped circle. I added tiny gold beads to every other scallop.

Last I added the tiny ivory buttons to the top.

It's a pretty simple card, but I love the colors. The inside is stamped with "friends are flowers in the garden of life".

Brenda's Dahlia Fold Card

2009-03-08T10:04:00.003-05:00

Brenda had emailed me a while ago that she wanted to try her hand at making the dahlia fold card using the instructions I had posted. I asked that she show me her card when finished.... Well I received an email this weekend and a picture of one of her terrific dahlia fold creations. I wanted to show it off because I think it is a beautiful card. She did such a great job. Check out her blog to see some of the other cards she has made. They are all so pretty! Here's a link to her blog http://brenda62052.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-just-love-learning-something-new.html
If you have a Boss Kut machine be sure to check out her videos!

Great job Brenda!

Warning....Slightly Adult Content...St. Patty's Day

2009-03-01T07:56:00.004-06:00

I couldn't resist these stamps when I found them on Hambo Stamps. I have a strange sense of humor anyway and this guy made me laugh. It is a little "off color" so to speak but for an adult St. Patrick's Day card I think it's great!

OK I WARNED YOU....

Isn't that funny? Anyway.... I stamped the image onto Stampin' Up Whisper White cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils. I cut the image out and mounted him using pop dots. The Warning sign was stamped the same way. I used a white gel pen to add the dots around the outer circle. I also got to use my new EK Success border punch "Dotted Wave". These new punches are terrific. I highly recommend them. They punch easily and with the new design that lets you lock them down for smaller storage I'm very happy with them.

BTW...Hambo Stamps is an Angel Company and the back of my card has their "Image by Hambo Stamp" stamp on it. Check out their site for some funny and terrific stamps. They stamp very crisp and have a lot of "different" types of stamps. I am not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer!

Fishing you a happy birthday...

2009-03-01T07:36:00.004-06:00

This card was a lot of fun to make. The stamp is one I picked up at a convention. Just the rubber and I mounted it on E Z mount cling. The card stock is from Prism. The patterned paper is from my stash.

I colored the image using prismacolor pencils and sparkling gel pens. I highlighted the edges of the image with Stampin' Up's River Rock ink. The corners were punched with Stampin' Up's ticket punch. I love this punch and think it give an extra dimension to the images.

The most fun was in creating the fish hook charm using Shrinky Dink Frosted film. It was so easy and I still giggle like a child as it shrivels and shrinks! I stamped the fish hook onto the film using Jet Black Stazon Ink. I then punched out the image using a 1 1/2" circle punch. To get the hole for the string I used an ordinary 1/4" hole punch. A heat gun was used to shrink the film.

For the inside sentiment I printed the saying onto Stampin' Up Ivory cardstock using the computer. I added a couple of fish hook stamps to the inside. You can see how large the stamp really is as compared to how tiny it becomes on the shrink film. Isn't that a blast?

Simple Scrapbook Pages

2009-02-21T21:15:00.002-06:00

I decided to start catching up on a few scrapbook pages that I need to get done. Here is a simple layout I did of my DGD's first trip to the pumpkin farm. I know...I know... that was last October! Well, at least I'm getting closer to being caught up!

I used the Storybook cartridge for the mats and the letters. The "film strip" was cut from Mickey & Friends.

Here is the other side:

Birthday Altered Paint Can

2009-02-18T20:19:00.003-06:00

A very good friend just celebrated her 40th birthday and I really wanted to present her gifts in something different than just a wrapped box. This was my first attempt at making an altered paint can but I think it came out pretty nice.

This is a view of one side of the can. The leaves were cut out using the Cricut Storybook cartridge. (I'm loving this cartridge) I used a heavier weight Bazzill cardstock so they were very thick and sturdy. Both the shadows and images were cut at 3 1/2. I had to set my blade depth to 6, pressure to 5, and speed at 3. They cut out beautifully.

Before I glued the leaves to the shadows I ran them through my Xyon upside down and added fine glitter. After they were glued together I placed tiny pearls in a few places on each leaf.

A view of the other side:

I also created an ATC card to use as the tag. Since her gift contained some Flower Soft and a Flower Soft stamp I used it on the stamped image so she could see how it looked. I also used the Happy Birthday Cuddlebug folder to emboss the foil paper.

Oh, the big envelope behind the can was made from 2 12x12 pieces of paper from the DCWV's Blossom & Butterfly stack. I machine stitched the two pieces together. It was made to "wrap" some EZ Mount that I had for her.

So.... that is why I haven't posted in a while. Busy, busy, busy!

Get Well Card

2009-02-18T20:03:00.004-06:00

My neighbor just had surgery and I wanted to welcome her home with a nice card and some flowers. Here is the card... I forgot to take a picture of the flowers :(

I used the cricut Storybook cartridge to cut out the label shapes. The holes were hand pierced using a piercing tool. I free handed them.

Don't you love this stamp? It is from http://www.cornishheritagefarms.com/ I believe it is called apple tree.

I stamped the tree using stazon black ink then colored the tree using several shades of green prismacolor pencils. The colors were blended using the MCPT. Stampin' Up's River Rock ink was sponged around the entire image. Red liquid pearls drops were added to create the apples. I also added light green pearls around the label shapes.

I inked the edges of the patterned paper with the River Rock ink.

The "thinking of you" stamp is a Studio G that I stamped onto the same ivory cardstock and cut out using sissors. I also hand cut the rust colored mat to go behind the sentiment. Raffia (I think that is what it is called) was added to finish off the card.

For the inside:

I used the negative from my label and cut off the excess to fit the inside of the card. I placed a matching piece of patterned paper behind it and stamped the sentiment. This stamp is from a Stampin' Up retired set. I added the little raffia bow to the bottom because it just needed something to finish it off. Surprisingly this is one of the few cards I have made that had NO stickles on it!

Thank you card

2009-02-18T19:50:00.003-06:00

Sorry for neglecting my blog but I have been very busy. I have had so much going on the past couple of weeks that I didn't have the time to keep you all updated. So to kick it off....

I created a thank you card for a very special lady on the Cricut Message board. She sent me a RAK of a retired Stampin' Up ink refill that I desperately needed! What a great person!

No matter how many times I photographed this card it just did not show up as pretty as it was in person. (IMHO) LOL

This is a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card. The card base was an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock that I cut in half. The ovals were cut using Nestabilities. I stamped the flower stems onto the ivory oval and then stamped the flowers separately. I used embossing pens to color in the flowers and heat set with clear embossing powder. Then I cut them out and used pop dots to place the flowers at the top of the stems.

The scalloped center strip was done using a Fiskers Threading Water punch. (One of my favorite border punches!) Matching patterned paper was added on top for contrast.

Stickles were added to the flower centers and to several of the flowers on the background paper.

Snoopy Biker Valentine Card

2009-01-31T21:11:00.003-06:00

I had a request from a friend to make a Valentine's Day Card for her to give to her husband. He loves his motorcycle so I made this card using my Snoopy stamp.

Snoopy was stamped with black Stazon ink onto Stampin Up Whisper White cardstock. I colored the image using Prismacolor pencils then went over the motorcycle parts with a Versamark pen and heat set clear embossing powder. It makes the bike parts shine like they are clear coated metal. I added a tiny bit of black stickles to the tires.

The inside saying was printed from my computer onto Whisper White cardstock.

I hope she likes it!

Friend Valentine Card

2009-01-25T20:08:00.004-06:00

Can you handle one more card today? This is the last one.... at least for this weekend!

This is a simple card to send to a friend. I'm enjoying playing with this tree stamp. As I said before, I'm also keeping to my New Years Resolution to decorate the inside of my cards. They certainly aren't fancy but they are getting better. At least they coordinate with the front of the card now! LOL

The light pink is a pearlized cardstock. It's hard to photograph. The flash bounces back very strongly, but you get the idea.

The white swirls are rub-ons. The tree was stamped with black Stazon ink then colored in with embossing markers and heat set with clear embossing powder. I added a pink rhinestone to dot the "i" in the word friend.

Oh I also wanted to point out that all the cards I've posted today have been made using supplies from my stash!

Pucker Up Valentine

2009-01-25T14:26:00.004-06:00

I'm running out of Valentine inspiration but wanted to get a couple more cards completed. Here is a cute card using a Stampabilities stamp called Love Birds. I added the "Pucker Up" saying from a Studio G set. Inside the sayings are stamps I found at a garage sale. They are unmounted rubber so I don't know who makes them.

The gold swirl background paper is from a pack by Scrapworks called Formal Affair. The hearts on the inside are die cuts using a Cuddle Kid die.

I stamped the birds using Stazon Saddle Brown ink onto Stampin' Up Whisper White cardstock. I colored the birds with Prismacolor pencils.

Valentine Tree

2009-01-24T15:05:00.002-06:00

What a cute little tree stamp! I added the bird to the image. It's from a Studio G set.

Lots of Cuddlebug on this card. The swirls are a Sizzix die that I cut out twice. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the front of the card then cut out the oval hole with a Nestability die. A little bit of Cricut ....the white and red hearts are from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge as well as the tag on the inside.

I stickled the hearts on the tree after coloring them in with Stampin' Up markers.

Frosted Acrylic Card - Beautiful Music

2009-01-24T14:58:00.003-06:00

I picked up this stamp at HL's this past week. I thought it was so pretty. I've used it to create this Valentine card on frosted acrylic that I purchased from Sheetload of Cards.

This was a tricky image to color. First I stamped with black Stazon ink onto Stampin' Up Whisper White cardstock. Next I used Prismacolor pencils and outlined the heart in red. I scribbled pink in the center of the heart then used the MCPT to blend the 2 colors into each other. I highlighted the music lines with a burnt yellow pencil. The stamp's picture shows all the splatters of color and to recreate it I put a couple of drops of ink from my Stampin' Up Reinkers into separate wells of a paint palete. Then using a tiny paint brush I dipped it into the ink and tapped the brush to create the splatters. I did this using red, yellow, pink, and green. I also managed to splatter my work surface, my tee shirt, my hands and my wall! But it was worth it! LOL Lastly I inked the edges of the cardstock with yellow and red Colorbox ink.

I stamped the dotted swirls on the acrylic using Stazon Red ink. After I was sure it was dry I added small drops of red stickles to the dots. The music notes and tiny hearts were stamped using Stazon Black ink.

Here is the inside:

The verse was printed onto the cardstock using my computer.

I have been Tagged!

2009-01-24T07:14:00.004-06:00

This is such fun! Sandy from Ukiah tagged me. Be sure to check out her blog for a really great picture of her family. When you are tagged you are to go to your pictures and pick the 6th folder and then the 6th picture in that folder. Post it and explain what it is all about. So... here is my 6th/6th pic.....

I organized the baby shower for my DIL when she was expecting my DGD. This shot is of my Mother and Sister during the "Diaper" game. I had taken 8 disposable diapers and put some type of food item inside each one. The ladies had to guess what was in the diaper. Some of them were so funny! If you ever do this game use Italian Salad dressing in one. It has a very odd look to it when poured into a diaper! Everyone totally enjoyed playing.

Now it is my turn to tag 6 well deserving bloggers that I'd love to know better. I've chosen Ted, Ruby, Linda, Pam, Florellis, and Patti.

Bee My Valentine...

2009-01-23T20:43:00.003-06:00

I love this little bee and decided to make a Valentine card with him. My Valentine's day cards are not very traditional... I have more fun just getting creative! The bee is stamped using stazon black ink. I colored him in using embossing pens then heat set with clear embossing powder. I used Nestabilities to cut out the oval and scalloped oval.

Valentine Teacher Cards

2009-01-23T20:23:00.004-06:00

I've been working on Valentine Cards for Teachers at the request of my co-workers.
This first one is very cute.....

I used the apple from Doodlecharms and in Design Studio placed a heart from George and Basic Shapes in the center of the apple so when it was cut out the apple had a heart shaped hole in it. I also cut out a separate heart that was just a tiny bit larger to place behind the opening. The picture doesn't show it but the white heart is flocked. The leaf is from Walk In My Garden. I outlined the leaf and stem with stickles. The stamp is from a Studio G set.

This next card is my favorite....

I had never made a suspension card before and this one took extra time to figure out the holes but the end result is very cool. The circle words were printed onto the designer paper using my computer and Microsoft Word. The black background is Black Magic cardstock with the blue core. I ran it through my Cuddlebug using the hearts embossing folder then gently sanded the raised portions to allow the blue to show through. The heart is glittered to add "pop" to the design. I think this would be a nice card for a male teacher.

Double Flap Belated Birthday Card

2009-01-13T21:54:00.002-06:00

I picked up the instructions for making a Double Flap Card from Youtube a while back and decided to give it a try. This is a fun card to make and very simple. I did add a magnetic closure to the card just for fun.

Here is the first flap opened. You can see one side of the magnet on the brown flap.

And the second flap opened. See the other magnet on the purple flap? These are self sticking card magnets. They are very thin and do not add bulk to the card.

Valentine Treats - Wild About You

2009-01-11T14:36:00.005-06:00

In an effort to stay ahead of the holidays I finished the Valentine Treats for my co-workers.

The sour cream containers were made using the directions on splitcoaststampers.com.

To create the tag I cut out the zebras from Animal Kingdom at 2 1/2". I added a blue rhinestone for the zebra's eye. and used pop dots to stick them to the heart. The word "Wild" was cut from Opposites Attract at 1". I welded the letters together in Design Studio. The hearts were cut from George and Basic Shapes at 3". I ran the white heart through my Zyron machine upside down and added Martha Stewart Glitter. The About You words were stamped using a rolling stamp by Etcetera. It is the 12 pt Swell font. The back of the heart has "Happy Valentines Day" stamped on it and I signed my name.

I filled the containers with small conversation heart candies. The tags are tied to the containers with Happy Valentine's Day ribbon threaded through holes punched in the tags and the tops of the containers.

These were very quick to make and a terrific project if you need to make multiples. I made a dozen in 2 days.

CD Calendar Box Instructions

2009-01-10T21:16:00.005-06:00

I received many emails asking for instructions on how to make the box that I created to hold the CD Calendars. The original instructions were given to me by my NSSS Jess-A-Girl. I modified them slightly by adding the decorative border at the top. The instructions are a .pdf file (you will need Adobe Reader to view it) Click HERE to open the file. You are welcome to save a copy to your computer or print it off for your own personal use.

If you try my instructions and they work for you please leave me a comment.

St. Patrick's Day Duck!

2009-01-04T14:29:00.003-06:00

I got in a really silly mood yesterday while organizing my clear stamps. I saw this duck and since I had just finished putting away my St. Pat's day stamps I put 2 + 2 together and decided he would make a fantastically silly St. Patrick's day card. I crack up every time I look at him. His expression and those glasses....LOL Anyway, the duck is from an Inkadinkado mini stamp set. The sentiment is a Studio G set (#26). The large shamrocks are a $1 stamp I found at Joann's.

I did this card almost entirely with clear embossing powder. I stamped the duck using Colorbox black pigment ink and heat set with clear embossing powder. I colored him in using a yellow embossing pen and sprinkled clear embossing powder over the duck again. Heated it up and quickly sprinkled the embossing powder one more time. When it was heated and cooled he has a very thick, shinny, yellow color. It almost looks like plastic.

I stamped the shamrocks with the Colorbox black pigment ink and heat set clear embossing powder over them also. I colored a few shamrocks in using a green embossing pen and guess what....more clear embossing!

Lastly I stamped the sentiment and embossed that too! My poor heat gun really got a workout on this card!

I added green Liquid Pearl drops to the corners to finish it off. Doesn't this duck just make you smile?

My New Years Resolution is to decorate the inside of my cards also. I have a lot to learn about doing the inside, but I'm trying!

Overcoming frustrations

2009-01-03T10:40:00.006-06:00

I sat down last night to create a masculine Valentines card. Well, as most of you know "the best laid plans....." It was one frustration after another. I ended up with a nice FATHER'S DAY card! Thought I would share how this came to be. (This is a long story since I'm adding all the exact dimensions that I used.)

I picked out a very nice green patterned paper from a 6x6 paper pad made by Basic Grey called Boxer. Then I found matching ivory and green cardstock. So far so good right? I stamped the deer on the ivory cardstock using Stampin' Up's Chocolate Chip ink. Cut out the stamped image with an oval Nestability. I also cut out a scalloped oval from the green cardstock using another Nestability in a size slightly larger. Next I cut down the green cardstock and folded it in half to make the 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base. I cut an ivory mat at 4" x 5 1/4" and cut the patterned paper at 3 3/4" x 5". Now I was ready to add the "extra" touches.

Using Colorbox Hunter Green pigment ink I bounced the ink on the edges of the ivory oval. The ink was very wet and even though I thought it was dry I smear it! So I start over and create another stamped oval. Once again I bounce the ink on the edges and guess what? SMEARED it again!!!! So for the 3rd time I create a stamped oval. I bounced the ink on the edges and quickly sprinkled on clear embossing powder and heat set it. Now it can't smear! As I looked at the result I liked what I saw. The shine gave another dimension to the oval. Hey, why not do the same thing to the scalloped circle? I tried it and really like how it turned out.

So now I'm thinking why not try this on the ivory cardstock mat. It looked really nice! I found some matching ribbon in my stash and 3 dark brads and put the card together. I cut an ivory cardstock piece to fit the inside of the card and added a strip of the leftover patterned paper.

Now it's time to add the sentiment. I tried writing my own verse.... no good! I surfed the net for 3 hours! NOTHING... I was so frustrated I put it aside and went to bed. When I got up this morning I looked at the card again and it hit me.....This is a terrific Father's Day card! So I was reminded again that my mistakes can sometimes create something new and unique and to stop fussing with something and GO TO BED!

Here is the final result. I really like the embossed edges do you?