A Day at the Beach

I have always loved this stamp from Great Impressions. I of course have never gone to the beach in a dress and hat but these girls just look so sweet. I found this striped paper in my scraps and found it went with this image that I had colored awhile back with Copics. Then I went to my stash of Perfect Match card stock from Papertrey Inc. for mats Love this stuff, such great colors. I stamped the sentiment and matted it also. Thanks for looking.

QuicKutz Embossing foders

QuicKutz and Sizzix have come out with their own embossing folders to compete with CuttleBug. I've only purchased some of the QuicKutz folders and they are really great. Unlike CuttleBug these folder designs really are A2 size. I used the Diamonds and Dots folder on the card base for this birthday card (it's in the fund raiser box). The stamp is another Penny Black Brush stamp. I colored it with my Tombow markers and stamped on Neenah Classic white. I then went thru my scrap papers and found some papers for matting. Stamped happy birthday across the flower and it's all set. Hope you like it.

Flying Stars

Penny Black again. I've used this stamp on Sympathy cards but I thought this could be an elegant birthday card. I stamped this card using white ink on black paper. Using a mega curved rectangle Nestabilities I cut it out and then ran a silver leafing pen along the edge. It looked good but not quite enough. I pulled out this white dotted ribbon to finish it off. Hope you like it.

Tulip Fun Birthday

Every once in a while I'll find a scrap of paper in a drawer and wonder why I still have it? I couldn't figure out what to do with this piece so I attached to the card base and set it aside. I colored this stamp "Tulip Engraving" from Rubber Stampede, using markers and stamped it on Neenah Classic White. After cutting it out with a Labels 4 Nestie, I sponged color around the edges. Then I cut a larger Label 4 and mounted the image. After looking at my card base I decided to trim around the scallops, and using a crop-a-dile I punched out the holes. Stamped Happy Birthday and put it the fund raiser box. Hope you like it.

Penny Black

As I've been posting cards I've come to realize that I have allot of Penny Black stamps. This is "Slender". I've had it for quite some time and it's a stamp that is so versatile. I've direct colored it with markers, stamped it several times in different colors or as in this case gone with the black & white theme. I used a Martha Stewart punch on 4 sides to create a frame and added a few rhinestones for some sparkle. I think I'll use this for my sisters birthday. Hope you have a great day tomorrow.

Color Core Paper

This card and the card from yesterday were in the box of cards for the fund raiser. This one was made with color core paper that I ran it thru the CuttleBug using the Bird Call folder. I then sanded off the paper and it came out great. I mounted it on pale green cardstock and attached to my card. Easy but very pleasing. Thanks for looking.

Romantic & All White

This was an easy card to make, I embossed half the cardstock with CuttleBug "Leafy Branch" and the other half with CuttleBug "Script. Then I simply attache a dotted ribbon and tied two short pieces of ribbon in knots on top. Another easy peasy card that can be for a wedding, anniversary or just a card for a sweetheart.

Hope you have a great day.

Box for Cards

I made a dozen cards as an offering for a fund raiser (I'll be posting those later) and I needed a way to package them in a pretty way. So I went to Splitcoast Stampers (absolutely great resource) and found this A2 box recipe. Sooo easy! I had taken a trip to Arnie's in Houghton Lake and dropped a fortune on paper so I had some neat options for the box. The bottom (sorry you can't see it) is a purple dotted swiss (comes in alot of colors) and the top is My Minds Eye Laundry Line Coastal "Lucky". It has glitter through out the paper and is so pretty. I made the belly band from some shiny paper I've had for awhile. The flower I picked up at Joann's last year when they had a sale on embellishments in the sewing department. This has a pin so I pinned to the paper and added magnet closures and I was done. Hope you like it.

Gatefold card

I have had these flower ribbon embellishments kicking around on my desk for quite awhile now and finally decided I had to use them. I made the gatefold card using my scor-pal and then carefully attached the paper so the design matched up. Using these flower/ribbon stickers (?) hold the card closed. I really like the whole black and white design. Sometimes it's a relief not to have to color match. Inside it just says Thinking of You. Can be used for so many different occasions. Thanks for stopping by.

Simple Sympathy #2

This is a very simple card. Sometimes I like to make a card that looks like no effort at all went into it, but in reality I try to figure out how the person receiving it will feel. This card makes me think of sitting at the beach quietly listening to the waves come ashore. You realized that no matter what life does go on and you can accept and enjoy what's out there or fight it and be unhappy. Ther is so much goodness and beauty out there that it is a shame not to enjoy it. Well enough of my rambling. The stamp is from Stampabilities and it is "Beacon of Light". I stamped it on a light brown card stock with Memento Rich Cocoa. the sentimemt is from Stampendous. Thanks for looking.

The Last Lecture

This post is not about cards. I just finished reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. You may have heard about him or seen some of his lecture on the Internet. This is truly a great read. Talk about the ability of someone to have the upbeat positive attitude in the face of the direst of circumstances, this book truly illustrates the capacity of the human spirit. At the end I was laughing through my tears. If you have a chance read this book. If you don't come away with the desire to enjoy whatever life hands you, then read it again.

Mistakes

I know that I've posted a card with this stamp before but I had to show my "mistake". I used Impression Obsession's "Hydrangea Ribbon" on a beige paper and colored it to see how it would turn out. Using my Copics I colored the ribbon just slightly and the edge a little darker. The flowers of course got a touch of deeper colors. It really turned out nice and I decided to make a card with my "experiment" . Well, it just goes to show how fickle things can be. I found this DP scrap that had similar colors to the flowers, then I matted it on white and a sort of cranberry paper. Then I decided to take a Versamark Dew Drop (Gingerbread) and highlight each layers edge. Then at the last moment I stamped the sentiment (Stampendous Everyday Messages #2 Set). When it was all assembled I noticed that there was an ink mark where the acrylic block edge had hit the paper. What to do, what to do??? Aha--bling. I searched my stash and found some rhinestones that could hide my "Mistake" . Remember diamonds are a girls best friend. Have fun today.

Fresh Bloom

I had fun making this card. The stamp is "Fresh Bloom" from Stampendous. I colored with Copics and then for the center I used my gold leafing pen. After trimming around the flower I mounted it on a square that I had run the C'bug using the Swiss Dots folder. The DP had so many colors I could have colored the flower in just about and color scheme. We're off to Cadillac tomorrow to visit friends (and for Bruce to play golf). Hope you have a great weekend.

Cabin

I found this wonderful stamp "Cabin" from Northwood Rubber Stamps at Stamp On It in Grand Rapids. It just jumped into my hand and said "Guy card". I made a similar card as a B'day card for a friend and it was an easy card to make. It's stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa, then lightly colored with copics on a parchment card stock. The corners were done with an EK Success Leaf punch. I look at this and see relaxing in front of a crackling fire with a good book (after a fun day of stamping of course). Have a fun day.

Simple Sympathy

Every year I give 6 cards to family and friends for Christmas. Unfortunately we are reaching the age where sympathy cards are most requested. One family member likes very simple cards that have nothing on the inside so she can write a personal note. Easy peasy right? Well designing the outside can sometimes be difficult unless you have this stamp "Flying Stars" from Penny Black (love their stamps). In this case I just stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa onto a soft brown card stock. The sentiment is Stampendous. On other cards I've used this stamp on white card stock with soft green ink and then added rhinestone all over to make a happy card (sounds like a project for later). Hope you like it.

Multi Purpose Card

I fell in love with this stamp as soon as I saw it. It works great for all kinds of cards. In this case it could be a wedding, anniversary or even a birthday card. It is Impression Obsession's Hydrangea Ribbon stamp. I colored it with my Copics then on the ribbon I used Shimmerz Opal to give it some shine. The sentiment is Hero Arts (great all purpose stamp) and punched the bottom edge with an EK Success punch. For a finishing touch I ran my gold leafing pen along the edge. It is a little hard to see but the DP is a soft gold paisley that works really well with this color combo. Have a great day.

Acetate Again

This is the other half of the acetate sheet I used in my earlier post. I backed it with this great DP after I remembered these cool brads. I pulled out some more of the Micheal's wedding flowers and colored them with Copics. They didn't look finished so in hunting thru my stash I found these star shaped rhinestones for the centers. They really look like they fit well don't they? I had bought some metallic threads along time ago at Joann's (don't ask me why since I don't sew, just thought they were cool). Any way after fighting to get them to wrap around the brads and glue them to the back of the flowers (which swing free by the way) I was done. Hope you like it.

Martha Stewart & EK Success Punches

I was fooling around with my EK Success punch when I got the idea for this card. I had punched out three strips of these trees on some green scraps, then I found my Craf-T metallic rub ons and with my handy-dandy rubbing tool (my finger) gave each strip some additional color. Then of course I had to figure out the rest of the design. I happened to have this fence punch from Martha Stewart and some scrap red paper. Kinda cool how some things work out isn't it. Anyway after I put all these together I stamped out the sentiment (Inkadinkado) in Memnto Rich Cocoa on some parchment paper, tore the edges and used some more of the metallics on the edges. Hope you like it.

Water Color

Hi, I know I haven't posted in along time but life got in the way.

Anyway this is a card using my favorite method of coloring. This is Art Impressions "English Countryside" set. Coloring is done with Marvy markers and water color brushes. I just love this set. There are so many stamps that you have unlimited designs available.

Hope you like it