A Shining Christmas

I'm headed out to brave the Black Friday crowds but before I dive into the melee of a mall parking lot I thought I'd post up a card for today.

This card is done with the Cuttlebug Lace Tree folder on a shiny red metallic paper. I didn't realize just how shiny until I noticed my reflection in this photo LOL.

It really looks better in person, no reflection to detract from the image.

A simple card but very beautiful. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Today will be a quiet one for us. My sister Ann is coming to dinner and we'll be trying (trying being the operative word) to have a healthier dinner. Turkey is the main course of course LOL. I'll be brining the bird as I've done for the past few years. If you want a moist flavorful turkey this is the way to go. If you go up on Food Network TV every chef/cook has their own brine recipe and you'll find one to suit your taste. I use Alton Brown's (Good Eats) recipe. Simple and tasty.

Well to get back to the reason for this blog. This card was done using the Cuttlebug folder for Fall and the sentiment is from a clear set Thankful For You from Inkadinkado. I lightly sanded the color core paper and colored the sentiment in just a bit.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to family in Virginia, Colorado and Iowa.

Golfing Christmas

I had to come up with a special card for our golfing friends, so this is it.

Embossing came to the rescue again. This Northwoods Rubber Stamps image works really well with embossing powder. I'm sure many a golfer is dreading the change of season and the end of golf for this year. (Bruce played just 2 days ago and doesn't think there will be any more for the year).

The sentiment is Inkadinkado.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas in Black

I know black is an unusual color for a Christmas card but I had to try it. This is the Cuttlebug folder Snow Village and I thought it could make a stunningly different card. What do you think???

The sentiment is done with embossing powders.

Multi-Colored Balloon

This is the other way I did this balloon that I wrote about yesterday. In this one I stamped the balloon onto two different DP's. I then cut out each segment and interspersed them with each other. (Does that make sense?)

This is really labor intensive and I don't think I'll be doing this again. (I like the easy way best LOL).

Anyway, I glued each section down (and that was a real pistol of a job) then highlighted the balloon and colored the basket. Again I sponged on Memento Summer Sky, rounded the corners and slapped this baby together.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Thinking of You Hot Air Balloon

I hauled out my Gina K Eclectic Summer kit to make some Thinking of You cards. I just loved watching Gina K make similar cards on Stamp TV, so I got busy and did some of my own.

I stamped the image onto Curious Cryogen white card stock then stamped it onto DP from the set. I cut out the balloon and taped it onto the image on the card stock. I used Copics to highlight the balloon and colored in the basket.

I used Memento Summer Sky to sponge around the balloon to make it look like it's drifting through the sky.

I rounded off the edges and also the mat, then mounted it onto another piece of DP from the set.

I made 4 of these cards and I'll show another one tomorrow done a little differently.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Mary C.

This card was made for my cousins Birthday. She loves to remind me that she is so much younger than me. (A whopping 1 month and 3 days, and no I didn't count the hours and minutes.)

I made this with the Peony Nestabilities, cutting each layer with a slightly different color card stock. I ran them through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder then I put them back into the Nesties and sponged on some Memento Desert Sand and Potter's Clay.

The sentiment is Stempendous and cut out with Nestabilities Fancy tag, also sponged with Mementos.

The little orange thingy in the center of the flower is a Recollections epoxy sticker left over from Halloween.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Reindeer

I got the bug to work on Christmas cards. ( I got a call from my sister asking for 15 cards and that got me going).

I really wanted to work some more with embossing powders and this set seemed to cry out for this technique. It is an Inkadinkado clear set that is really beautiful. I'm using very fine detail white embossing powder and it works great.

The sentiment is also Inkadinkado, but a different clear set.

I used a snowflake edge punch from EK Success.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Sympathy in Brown

I've often thought that brown is kind of a forgotten color in card making. It seems to me that brown is a soft and warming color.

Think of that favorite teddy bear in your childhood. That comfortable blanket or that snugly robe or slippers that just wrap around you.

When it comes to a sympathy card I'd like the recipient to feel a dose of comfort as soon as they open this card. My photo doesn't do justice to this card since the flower has a slightly green cast to it and I couldn't get it adjusted properly. The mat is a fuzzy textured card stock that matches perfectly with one of the stripes in the DP. The flower is matched to another stripe in the DP also.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Hello

I had to get away from the hot pink and lime green. Talk about polar opposites, I went to the black and white. It all started with this white "hello" sticker. I cut out the layers of white and black card stock with Nestabilities Labels 7.

I then added the sticker and before adhering it to the white I wrapped a little black sheer ribbon to the white layer. After adhering all the layers I placed it on the DP and was done.

A simple but elegant card to send someone and let them know you care. That's what I think what do you think???

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Paul

This birthday card is for my brother-in-law Paul in New York (the state not the city, he's a Buffalo guy).

I used a new set I got from Papertrey Ink called Button Basics. It's a really neat set and I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. I took the photo of this card outside and the shadows of the wheels a really prominent unfortunately.

There's not much coloring (Copics of course) on this card just the bike but I did sponge in some Memento Sky Blue.

I used a corner edger to give it a little extra design and added the sentiments. Happy Birthday is Stampendous and Enjoy the ride is Button Basics (really a great set).

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Marianne

This card was made for my step-daughter's Birthday. Pink is her color (she also loves elephants, should I have used a pink elephant???).

Anyway I love the color combo of hot pink and lime (did anyone watch Dancing With The Stars, hot pink and lime were every where). I used the Cuttlebug Numbers embossing folder and Swiss Dots for the lime layer and just Swiss Dots for the pink. Adding the hot pink flower from the Paper Studio just finished it off.

The sentiment is Stampendous and a couple of hot pink rhinestones for a girl who likes her bling.

Marianne called to say she like the card (got it a day early) so I'm happy.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Thinking of you in pink

I'm really going to get it from my friend Sandy about using so much pink (her favorite color NOT) LOL.

I picked up these Labels 7 Nestabilities a week or so ago and have been using them a lot. I think I like them most because they look like an open book. I love to read so it's an image that really appeals to me.

I ran the paper through the Cuttlebug in the Divine Swirls folder, found this narrow ribbon that matches the darker pink on the DP popped on the flower and I'm done.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Black and White

Sometimes it is so easy to assemble a card that it almost seems like fate.

This card just came together like magic. I had the flower laying next to my work space and this paper turned over in front of me. The flower jumped up and grabbed the ribbon told it to lay down and it hopped on and said "stick a fork in me I'm done" (for those of you who read Evanovich you recognize that quote).

It really was that simple. The ribbon was self adhesive so I just clipped the end on an angle, centered the flower and let it be.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Hot Pink Birthday

I really had fun putting this card together. The colors are so cheerful and fun. I started out with the flower from the Paper Studio and went looking for some DP to use. I found this paper that had the same hot pink in it and some lime green also. I grabbed a scrap piece of lime green paper and stamped this happy birthday sentiment (Stampendous) on it and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. I added the flower and was done.

Another easy peasy card to add to my stack of cards.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Sympathy

I sat down last night and made a list of all the people I'm making cards for this year. I mean the ones I give a small assortment of cards to as gifts. As near as I can figure out at this point the number of cards to make is over 120. Need to get hopping.

The interesting part of this is that most of the people want sympathy cards.

Well here's one of them. Penny Black comes through again with an image that works so well for this type of card. I just stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa on a light beige paper and added this sentiment by Kathy Davis from Inkadinkado. I trimmed the paper down and mounted it on a dark brown DP cut out with Nestabilities Mega Curve rectangle. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Really, Really Pink

It's a beautiful sunny day today (but a cold sunny day) so I took all the cards I've made over the last couple of days to photograph. It really brings out the colors (and shadows) but I think the colors show up better. Usually I use my Ott Lite for photos but this is better.

Anyway I made this card to use up my Paper Studio flowers, added some pearls for decoration. The lime green paper makes a nice pop of color. You can just barely see a thin strip of DP under the pearls (under the thin strip of pink) that has a matching lime green in it.

I think this makes a very cheerful card that some one would like to recieve.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Lacey Thinking of You

I was fooling around with this paper and the lace and came up with this card. I wanted to use up the rest of the dotted flowers from the Paper Studio also so I added it in the mix.

The lace was part of a trio of laces also from the Paper Studio. The red of the flower and the DP don't exactly match but I thought the lace would be enough of a break between the colors to make it work.

I just stamped the sentiment on a piece of scrap paper and tucked it under the lace and I was done.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Trees

I made this card for my cousins husband. (Hi Mike). I'm not sure I achieved my purpose with this card. I wanted a masculine type card but didn't want the typical golf, fishing, hunting etc. card.

I decided to use this stamp from Penny Black and emboss it with white embossing powder. That was fun (I didn't have any white embossing powder and had to get to the store before creative juices ran dry).

So I stamped with Versamark and then used Martha Stewart Dove embossing powder (I also used the clear embossing powder and that's what looks black on the card).

The sentiment is embossed with black. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Birthday

I'm still playing with these flowers from the Paper Studio. I've had this DP for quite some time and put off using it just because it's so pretty. Doesn't make sense does it??? I guess my thinking was I didn't want to cover up the DP. What to do, what to do???

Well I decided to keep it simple. Just this flower on a Nestie cut base that I ran through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

The sentiment is Stampendous that I cut out with a tag Nestie then sponged Memento Rich Cocoa on it while still in the Nestie.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Button, Button Who's Got the Button

I used the Button Basics set from Papertrey Ink as my jumping off point for this card. I had ordered that set and a whole lot of buttons at the same time. It's amazing how many buttons you get in each package. The variety of sizes and shapes is so much fun.

I just kind of dumped them out onto my table and started pushing them around and pretty soon came up with this tree. I've had the wood strips I used for the trunk for more than a year (bought at a wood working shop Bruce took me to) and haven't used much. I thought it worked well for this card. I'll have to pay extra postage for this one or hand deliver it. The sentiment is Inkadinkado stamped with Memento Lady Bug.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Sympathy

My friend Renee came over the other day to show me some cards she had made using DCWV La Creme matstock paper. Her cards were just beautiful (yes Renee I'll get over real soon and get your blog up so you can share your gorgeous cards too).

I ran right out to Hobby Lobby and bought the same pad of paper. All I did on this card was stamp the sentiment (Papertrey Ink's Sympathy set) with Versamark and emboss it with Martha Stewart Dove embossing powder.

Talk about an easy card to make!

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Pink and Black

I'm not really much of a pink person. I like pink mind you, I just don't think of it as a favorite color.

Having said that I do like this color combo. I was walking through a store the other day and saw some mugs done in black with pink designs on it and really liked the look.

When I got home and started looking through the mess that is my craft desk I found these black polka dotted flowers. Aha I thought, find pink paper and I'm all set. Well it needed a little something more so I found this black ribbon and it finished off the card nicely.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by

Just Rite

I have been fascinated with the Just Rite stamping system for a long time. I finally broke down and ordered the Thinking of You oval borders and centers. I've only made this one card so far, but I think I'm going to use this set a lot.

I stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa, then cut it our with my oval Nestabilities. I used the scalloped Nestabilities to cut out the mat (it's a fuzzy DP that really doesn't show up in the photo.) I had picked up this lace by Paper Studio (Spare Parts) and decided to add this for a little more texture. The larger mat I ran through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, then rounded off the edges.

I have to make many ( and I mean MANY) sympathy cards for my Christmas gifts and I think this set is really going to make the process a lot easier.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Fall Color

Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a few days, but life got a little busy. It is now 11:30PM and I'm getting ready to take my sore body to bed. I have eleven bags of leaves at the curb for pick up tomorrow. I really do love trees and I love the fall colors but really someone needs to develope a tree that doesn't find it neccessary to drop it's leave in my yard.
We live on a corner so that means we get leaves from all sides. We have two huge Maple trees in our yard and two others curb side. Trees are great for the ecology, cleaning the air and providing oxygen but if I keel over from exhaustion who will rake the leaves.
Oh well that's my rant for the day.