Kathy's Kard Korner

Mr. & Mrs.

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is the last card I'll be posting for awhile. We are off to Florida soon and I am taking a good bit of my card making stuff with me, in fact it's all packed up and ready to go. Have I packed any clothes-no, have I packed any personal care items-no, but I have my fun stuff packed. Priorities, priorities.
Enough about that, this card is one that can be a wedding or anniversary card. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Big & Bold Wishes set. I wanted a subtle card and I think I got it with this design. I started with a Cryogen White card base A2 size, then a 5 1/4 x 4 layer run thru the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I took a scrap of Martha Stewart self adhesive ribbon and wrapped it around the center. I stamped the sentiment with Memento New Sprout and cut it out with a Nestabilities die. Leaving it in the die I ran it thru the Cuttlebug a gain to emboss the edge and then rubbed some New Sprout around the edge. I then mounted it with pop dots and was all done.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Embossed Birthday

2012-01-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is another of the embossed cards I made last week. I've always loved the technique of using two (or more) embossing folders on a single layer. The Happy Birthday folder is a great one to use with many of the others. For this card I paired it with the Swiss Dots folder leaving a space between the two designs. I scored two lines and ran a bit of ribbon between them. A very easy card to make and it looks like it takes a lot of work (let's let that be our little secret).
I've done this on colored card stock also and it can be really festive. Looking at this has given me some ideas for other cards. I think I might try it with two different colors of card stock and cover the seam with a third????
Hope you like this one and thanks for stopping by.

An Embossed Heart

2012-01-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

Lately I've been seeing a lot of very beautiful embossed cards. I've had a yen for getting out my embossing folders and having some fun but life has gotten in the way. However I needed to pack card making supplies to take south with me and while I had my Cuttlebug and folders out I got busy and made a few cards. I'm posting the first one today and I'll post the others over the next few days.
This card is one I've been wanting to make for awhile.
I have always thought that an all white or cream card for a wedding card is just perfect. I used what I call Hearts and Flowers ( I call it that since I can't remember the name of it and it's packed away so I can't pull it out and check) on the first layer. I then cut out the hearts with Nestabilities and embossed the top heart with Swiss Dots. The ribbon and pearl were added and I was all done.
I also had a chance to use my new Christmas gift of a Photo Cube, way cool for taking photos and when I really get to know how to use it the photos should be even better.
Hope you like the card and thanks for stopping by.

A Birthday Picnic

2012-01-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Back in June of 2009 Papertrey Ink released a darling set, Vintage Picnic. It included 5 different picnic baskets, an assortment of toppers and some phrases. Well just recently Papertrey added a matching die for the basket and a picnic cloth and I snapped up those babies as fast as I could. It sure beats trimming out those baskets (I really don't like fussy cutting). So when I went on my card making binge I pulled out the set and die and made this card. I cut the basket out of scrap of brown textured card stock and the picnic cloth out of the DP. I placed the basket on the blue oval to judge where to stamp the topper and then fixed the basket and cloth on it. I stamped the sentiment from the same set and assembled the card. So easy with the dies.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Watering Can of Flowers

2012-01-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

I've had Papertrey Ink's Garden Variety set since it was released last May. I got it thinking it would be a great set to use for my 'gardening' friends. Well that was the idea, but like all good intentions, it got put on the back shelf and forgotten. (does that mean I have too many stamps???? No!). When I embarked on my card making frenzy a few weeks ago I started pulling out sets that needed some loving and this was one of them. Such a simple design but so fun. I stamped the watering can with Memento Grape Jelly, the stems with Memento Pear Tart, and the flowers with Memento Tangelo. I think the colors worked well with the DP I found buried on my desk. I rounded off two corners of both the white layer and the matting (thanks Sandy for this design idea) and added a couple of purple rhinestones and was done.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Butterfly Birthday

2011-12-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

While I had the Gina K Springtime Silhouettes kit out I made several cards using images from the set. I have had this gorgeous butterfly DP for a couple of years and thought the butterbly stamp would be ideal backed by this paper. I stamped it with Memento Lulu Lavender and then took Memento Grape Jelly and touched along the edge of the stamp for some depth. I used Nestabilities to cut it and the sentiment out and again rubbed Lulu Lavender around the edge. A little ribbon for the tag and I was all done. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Shoes

2011-12-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

I have been using a lot of one company's stamps lately and realized I needed to give some of my other stamps some love. Part of my Christmas giving is to to make up a set of 6 cards for various family members and friends. Since I have more girls to give cards to now I pulled out my Gina K Springtime Silhouettes Kit and went to work. The set has some very feminine stamps and I thought this one with the heels would be a fun one to use. I went to my stack of DP that has been sitting around forever and found this scrap that works perfectly. I stamped the image and the sentiment with Memento Grape Jelly then cut them out with Nestabilities. Leaving them in the Nestie I rubbed on Memento Lulu Lavender around the edge. Once they were mounted onto the card I thought it needed a little bling so I added 3 lavender rhinestones. The card base is a hot pink that matches the pink in the DP.

I like how it turned out how about you? Thanks for stopping by.

A Whale of a Birthday

2011-12-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

I love this set from Papertrey Ink, Whale Wishes.
It's such a cute set and has a die to cut out the whale. I think it is adorable for a child but could easily be sent to an adult also.
The DP is some that has been sitting on my desk for over a year (going back to my 'use up what I have' quest). This DP was from 12 x 12 sheet that I had cut in half length wise, then I cut it down to three 4 by 5 1/4 pieces. One piece was all the circles, one was all green and this one of course is half and half and works perfectly for this card.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

Wish Big

2011-12-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Well after all there is no point in wishing small is there? This sentiment is from the Big & Bold Wishes set. What is nice about them is that it can take up a large spot on the card front without overwhelming it, great when you have pretty DP that you want to show off.
I stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and cut it out with Nestabilities, the matting is a very pretty chocolate sparkley paper. It really glitters.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Frame for Mary

2011-12-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

I decided to make two more frames using the Papertrey Ink In The Meadow set. I needed one for my cousin Mary and another for friends up north. This is the one I did for Mary. I wanted to make this one a little different from the others so I chose to cut out two trees from Papertrey chartreuse felt and dot them with glue and glitter. I cut out the 'hills' with felt and ran some blue stickles along the edge to give them more dimension. I then embossed the saying on the glass, let it all cool off and assembled the picture.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Comforting Quilt

2011-12-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

I found this stamp at a scrapbook convention this fall and as soon as I saw it I knew just who I'd be making cards for with this set. My neighbor who makes beautiful quilts It is Rocking Chair from Our Daily Bread and it comes with a matching die. The set up is really neat. You stamp the image , color it and then there is a clear plastic template that goes over it with little circles to mark where to place the die for cutting. Ingenious.
So I stamped and colored with Copics, cut out and assembled the card. Easy, peasy. The DP is Echo Park Victoria Gardens and the matting is Memory Box.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Nativity Framed

2011-12-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

After I had worked on the In The Meadow framed scenes I decided to try using the Nativity set from Papertrey Ink also. I stamped the stable and sentiment with Versamark and embossed with black detail powder. (I'm learning, no burns or cuts this time.)
I used some chalkboard vinyl I found at Michael's for the Holy Family for this scene.
I think it turned out well don't you?
Thanks for stopping by.

Snowflakes Sparkle

2011-12-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

Well snowflakes do sparkle if the sun hits them right and it's cold enough not to melt. These are two more of the framed In
The Meadow sets I made. For the top one I used Papertrey Ink's felt for the meadow and the tree. This felt is so easy to cut (yes I tried a cheaper felt and it didn't cut worth a darn). I adhered the meadow with Scor-Tape and the tree with Zots. On the tree I dabbed some glue and sprinkled some glitter, just a little. I stamped the sentiment and snowflakes with Versamark and embossed with detail powder. (Reminder to self glass gets HOT and is sharp, ouch).

This framed scene is done with black and white self adhesive vinyl and the sentiment and snowflakes embossed with detail powder. Note to self, try not to get heat too close to vinyl cut outs since it can melt.
I think this one is going out west to a friend who can't seem to remember the joys of living in Michigan in the winter.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

O Holy Night

2011-12-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

This Nativity set from Papertrey Ink is a wonderful set for Christmas. The matching dies that let you cut out the Holy Family really make the set.
For these two cards I wanted to show the contrast of the rustic and the more elegant.
Stamping the sunrise and the stable onto the kraft paper and then adding the die cuts over top is a more earthy style.
Using Cryogen white and stamping the sunrise using Memento tear drop pads in Cantaloupe and Tangelo for a more vivid image. After I added the Holy Family I decided it needed some angels (one can never have too many angels can one?). I added the star and the sentiment then mounted it onto some kraft and then to the card base. Both cards were easy to make and so quick, love it.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

A Boy Sledding

2011-12-12T11:52:00.000-05:00

Papertrey Ink's October release included the In The Meadow set and has become my all time favorite Christmas/Winter set (especially since the matching dies make it so easy). The countdown blogs leading up to release day are so much fun to read and so inspiring that I just spend way too much time on the computer (and way too much time deciding what I'm going to buy). One of the design team is Betsy Veldman and her post using this set just blew me away. I knew I had to copy it. (click on 'post' above and see her work).

So I headed over to Michael's and picked up some frames and got to work. My frames aren't wide enough to stand on their own so I used Memory Box card stock for my background, oddly enough for a sky background the card stock is a color called Water, go figure. To me it looks like that cold winter sky that's crystal clear and goes on forever. So I die cut my sledding boy using some black self adhesive ( that I picked up at Michael's). I placed it on the glass and then I stamped the snowflakes with Versamark and used white embossing powder. One caution from Betsy I learned in reality, the glass gets HOT. Another caution is that the edges of the glass are sharp so beware if you try this.

After assembling the "picture" I was very happy with the results. Over the next few day I will post others that I did using this set and the Nativity set also released in October.

I hope you like this and thanks for stopping by.

Chriatmas Tags

2011-12-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

I decided to be a little more creative with my gifts this year and make my own tags. Usually by the time I get to this point I'm so tired that I just slap on the sticker kind. Well not this year. I used two of Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale dies, #1 and #4. To me Tag Sale #4 looks like a Christmas ornament anyway so it was perfect, I used #1 because it was the first one I found.
So I cut them all out using white card stock and then decided I wanted colored ones instead. I started out to decorate them with different Christmas DP's and got tired of that real quick. Copic air brush system to the rescue. I just started air brushing using what ever Copics I grabbed out of the collection. Came up with quite a variety (the photo doesn't show all of them either). After I had them all colored I started looking through my stash of embellishments and started to play. It's very interesting what you can put together with limited resources. I had fun doing these and I hope that the gift recipients will enjoy them also.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Chanukah

2011-12-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

These cards are for my sisters. Each of them needed some Chanukah/Hanukkah cards to send out to friends. I had ordered the Mazel Tov set from Papertrey Ink in anticipation of this need.
I had some dark blue card stock so I used silver and blue embossing powders for the sentiment and the Menorah. The card to the right is from The Paper Cut, one of the oval window cut outs. The card to the left is Gina K. The embossing powders are Martha Stewart's.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

A Willow Sympathy

2011-12-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

I went shopping at Hobby Lobby last week and came across some purple DP that I thought was so pretty. I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy any more DP until I had used up what I had, a promise just made to be broken.
Well when I got home I set it aside until I received my order from CutCardStock.com that included this Dark Purple card stock. Wow they look good together don't they? I had also been wanting to make some sympathy cards for my gift packets and use the Willow set from Papertrey Ink for the cards.
So I got to work and cut out the tree using the matching dies for the set. I stamped the tree trunk with Memento Rich Cocoa and the leaves with Desert Sand. The sentiment is from the set also and is stamped with Tuxedo Black and cut out with a Stamping Up sentiment punch. I used strips of the other DP for the tree to 'stand' on just to ground them.
I really like how the cards turned out, hardly any time at all to make and I think they look great. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas for Erin

2011-12-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

My nephew Greg is getting married next summer and his fiance, Erin, chose a deep purple as one of her wedding colors. I've been on the hunt for some card stock that I can use for something for the wedding and or shower. Well CutCardstock.com has some gorgeous colors and this Deep Purple looks like it's a good match.
So I thought it would be fun to make Erin's Christmas card with some of this paper. I chose to use Papertrey Ink's In The Meadow Christmas Tree for the focal point. I decided to use embossing powder, Martha Stewart's Dove, to emboss the tree and the sentiment (from the same set). That white against the dark purple is really striking don't you think?
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Cards from My Prize

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

I was lucky enough to be the first Facebook winner in Ellen Hutson's 5th anniversary give away. The prize was a Hero Arts/Sizzix Floral Stamp & Die Cut set. What was so impressive to me was how fast I received it. Of course I had to play with it right away. Forget about cleaning the house, doing the laundry and getting ready for Christmas, I had to play. For this card I used Echo Park's Happy Days for my DP. I stamped my image using Memento Cantaloupe and Bamboo Leaves and after cutting it out with the matching die I added some Potters Clay, Tangelo and Canteloupe to the petals with Memento markers and colored the center with Rich Cocoa. I mounted the flower and the little dragonflies onto a piece of scrap black card stock after adding the scrap of yellow across it (the DP is two sided so I knew it would work-takes a lot of thinking out of the process when using these paper pads). I stamped the sentiment with Tuxedo Black and cut it out and the card was done.

For this next card I used DP from Jilly Bean Soup's Dutch Mustard paper pad. I used Cryogen White for my card base and then cut the DP slightly smaller. That card stock has a subtle sparkle that I just love and hate to cover up completely. The yellow is Memory Box Sunflower card stock. This flower I stamped with Cantaloupe and then I swiped some Tangelo around the center and again Bamboo Leaves for the stem and leaves. The sentiment was stamped with Rich Cocoa. All of the DP was part of a previous order I received from Ellen Hutson , love her site. Hope you like my cards and thanks for stopping by.

A Tree of Ornaments

2011-12-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

A blog that I follow has been championing the use of products that we crafters have on hand in new and different ways. I had picked up these stickers a couple of months ago thinking to use them on a card making retreat. I used a few but had many left so I thought about decorating a tree with them. Okay that was one idea, then I was making card bases and scoring them for the fold when I goofed on this one, I scored it at the wrong point.
It's great card stock so I didn't want to waste it. I just stared scoring vertically and horizontally every half inch and ended up with a grid card. I pulled out these ornament stickers and made a tree. Trying to find an appropriate topper was a trick until I remembered these snow flake brads that I've had forever. Stamped the sentiment and added a couple of more stickers and there was another Christmas card for my stash.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Balloon?

2011-12-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is how I used the Mega Mat Stack 3 that I couldn't use on yesterdays card. I had cut it out from Papertrey Ink's Simply Chartreuse Perfect Match card stock. I had the Echo Park Victoria Garden's paper pad laying there so I chose this sheet for my base. When I cut it down to match my card front I was left with a narrow strip (it's a two sided paper) so I used that also. I wanted an image that would fit well with the rounded top to the Mat Stack 3 die so I went with the Papertrey Ink Up Up and Away set. I love this set.
I stamped the balloon and the basket separately using Memento tear drop pads. Stamped the sentiment and assembled the card. Easy Peasy.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Mary C.

2011-12-02T08:00:00.002-05:00

I made this card for my cousin (she way younger than me by a whopping 54 days). I used a rose stamp from the Gina K set Year of Flowers. I wanted to try and get it close to the image on the DP which is from the Echo Park's Victoria Gardens paper pad. I stamped the image and colored with Copics and cut it out with Papertrey Ink's Mat Stack 3 Layerz. I wanted to layer it with another Mat Stack but it didn't work out (you'll see it on a different card tomorrow). I thought about it and decided to use one of the Half and Half dies instead. I stamped the rose on it using Versamark ink for a subtle background effect.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Follow His Star

2011-12-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is a wonderful new set from Papertrey Ink. Nativity Silhouettes and Additions came out last month and I knew that some of my Christmas cards this year were going to be made with these sets.
I was laying in bed one night last week thinking about the sun rays stamp and wondering how I could stamp it with multiple colors. So of course I pulled out my Memento tear drop pads and had a go at stamping with first Cantaloupe and then swiping Tangelo upwards a few times. It took me several practices to get the effect I wanted and this is what I came up with. The set has the co-ordinating dies for the Holy Family, so I just took the baby Jesus cut out and stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and set him in front of the rising sun. The sentiment is embossed with gold.
I used a piece of the Gina K Good as Gold card stock for my matting and then a white card base. I like it, what do you think?
Thanks for stopping by.

A Teacup of Flowers

2011-11-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

I received my latest order from Ellen Hutson the other day and had a chance to play with two of the three stamps that came in that order.
I found this image just so charming and it fits perfectly in the oval cut out on this card that I picked up from the Paper Cut ( I love this company they have the greatest pre-made cards).
So I stamped and colored this image (I know it's suppose to be African Violets but I was feeling orangey, so sue me.) I taped some white card stock to the inside of the card and stamped through the window. Coloring with Copics was easy.
I just added the sentiment to the front and was done.
A fast easy card to make and it looks so much more complicated than it is, something a card maker loves.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Recycling Christmas

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

We crafters are the original recyclers I believe. We will use what ever we can to make cards. These two cards are an example. According to the post office whatever is delivered by mail, unsolicited, belongs to us to use as we want. These two cards use the front of some sample cards sent out hoping that you will order sets of cards from that company. The cards were gorgeous but huge. I cut down the front of those cards and made 14 new cards. The front of my cards used about 2/3rds of the original card. Originally I had only intended to make this top card, all I did was attach it to a red card base and was done. Well then I took a look at what was left and couldn't throw out the leftovers. What to do, oh what to do?

Well I pulled out my black Papertrey Ink card stock and went looking for some gold card stock and found some Gina K Pure Luxury Good as Gold card stock. Now normally I would center the focal point on the gold card stock and then center that onto the card base, however when I picked up the stack of papers it was all offset like you see it here and I liked the look. I took some of the gold card stock and embossed the sentiment with black detail embossing powder and cut it out with a Nestabilities label and mounted it with some black brads. So there you have it my adventure in recycling, gotta love it! Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

A Trio of Angels

2011-11-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

When I saw this Love Lives Here: Holiday set from Papertrey Ink, I knew I had to have it. My sister Ann collects angels and I wanted to make some cards using this set for her to send out at Christmas.
I have been watching the various blogs and web sites and I'm really loving the trend away from the traditional Christmas colors. So for these cards I decided to go outside of my comfort zone and picked out some pretty wild DP's. Unfortunately I can't remember for the life of me where this DP is from (and of course I can't find the paper pad to give you a name ). The sentiment is from Stampendpous. I used the co-ordinating die to cut out the angels and then stamped them, the little heart ornament is also from this set that I stamped and cut out by hand.
Hope you like these cards and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm running late posting these cards since we've been so busy. I've actually been making cards (along with a million other things I have going on) and just have not had time to photo them and get them posted. I made a 20 of these cards using Papertrey Ink's Gobble Gobble set and their Fall Prints and Patterns DP. I decided to go with the idea of a camouflage turkey for my cards. After all what turkey wouldn't want to blend into the background when it comes to this time of year. I used the Gobble Gobble dies to cut out my turkeys from the DP's from the paper set and also for the layering on the card. All in all they turned out to be quite colorful.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Leftovers from Fall Cards

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

The one thing I love about crafters is that we never (or almost never) throw anything out. These cards are and example. After making cards for a few hours I started to clean up and put things away and came across these scraps of DP from Papertrey Ink's Fall Prints and Patterns. The leaves were there also so all I had to do was make a couple of card bases and hey presto two more cards. Rounding the corners and rubbing Papertrey Ink's Fresh snow along the edge finished them off (after stamping the sentiment).
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Krafty Birthdays

2011-11-08T12:18:00.000-05:00

The card ministry group that I belong to at my church held a creative retreat this past Saturday.
The idea was to teach how to make cards using basic items that you might have around the house.
These are two of the cards I designed as samples of what you can do with tissue paper and double sided sticky tape. First of all I used kraft card stock for the bases then for both cards I took bubble wrap and created the background just by stamping with Memento Rich Cocoa. The card on the left I ran glue stick all over the card base and after crumpling up the tissue paper I spread it over the glue, pressing down firmly, then I bubble wrap stamped it. I put another layer of kraft and stamped again with bubble wrap. Finally I tore some tissue and glued it down and stamped the sentiment.
The card on the right was easier to do with just two layers. After I stamped the bubble wrap over the card base I layered some more kraft card stock and stamped the sentiment. I ran a layer of double sided tape and carefully sprinkled green and copper glitter on it and pressed it down with my finger.
The leaves are some that I have had laying around for years so I just positioned three of them and added a green gem to the center.
We had a lot of fun at the retreat and none of the cards made turned out looking anything like mine but all were fabulous. My cards were intended to be a jumping off point and the ladies took them and ran with great results.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

A Crafty Halloween

2011-11-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

We went a bought our pumpkins a week ago but they've been sitting out in the garage waiting to be cleaned up and decorated. So the day before yesterday I finally felt well enough to tackle the job. Cleaning them up was no problem but decorating???? That was a whole other story. I'm really not a Halloween person and cutting up pumpkins is way to messy so I look for other ways to do the job. I bought 5 pumpkins (is that crazy or what) and now had to come up with a way to decorate them. So I grabbed my Sharpies and decided to doodle some faces. The odd shape of the larger pumpkin was easy so that was done first, then I took a close look at the small round one and all the lines went in first and then I doodled eyes and bats, kind of like looking through prison bars, right? So I had two done and had to come up with ideas for the other three. I turned to my card making supplies for ideas and came up with Memories Mists in Whipped Cream and Black. Perfect! I took all the pumpkins out front and started spraying them, I did one of the small ones in white and one in black and the large one in both. After I had them all done I coated them all with an acrylic spray.
We had a lot of Trick or Treaters last night (close to 300) and my pumpkins were a hit.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Thank You Trees

2011-11-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is another of the thank you cards I made a week or so ago. I used Papertrey's Fall Prints and Patterns for this card also and the image and sentiment from their Masculine Motifs set. When I made this card I originally intended to use the stamp on DP idea. I had it all finished and ready to go and took a second look at it and decided that it was all wrong. The DP was too dark and you really had to look hard to see the trees and the sentiment. Nobody should have to work hard to read a card. Luckily there was enough room for me to stamp the image and sentiment onto a piece of Cryogen white card stock and mount it over my mistake. In the end I think it looks great, what do you think? Thanks for stopping by.

An Oopsie Halloween

2011-10-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

One of the mantras of card makers is that when ever you goof on a card it's just another opportunity for embellishments. This card is an example.
I love working with vellum, I really do, BUT it is so darn hard to attach it to any thing. In this case I pulled out my vellum tape and used it on the four corners, but you could still see it, bummer. So I thought about it and decided to make some photo corners. Well I went looking for my punch and instead found this leaf punch and went with that instead. I just punched the leaves from some of the Basic Grey Indian Summer DP that I had used for this card. The card base is DCWV, the DP is Indian Summer and the Ghost is Penny Black. I had stamped the ghost onto kraft and it came out well so I didn't use the embossing powder.
Great, the card was all done, or so I thought, when I went to put a sheet of white paper on the inside I realized I had assembled it upside down. LOL I quickly pulled the focal piece off and turned it around and all was well.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make a half dozen Halloween cards to send out and didn't have any Halloween paper. Oh my what to do. I've been battling a really bad cold and didn't want to go out to shop (not wanting to share germs with the general public) so I went looking for some DP I could use for my project. Luckily I found my Basic Grey Indian Summer 6x6 pad and with the darker colors I thought it would work. So then I chose this ghost stamp from Penny Black for my focal image. I started out stamping it with Papertrey's Fresh Snow and it looked good but I wanted better. I realized that it is a hybrid ink so I quickly poured on some Reflections white embossing powder and hey presto a whiter ghost. I did worry about embossing on vellum, but I was careful and it worked great.
I used DCWV charcoal card stock for my base and then layered Indian Summer and black and orange vellum to finish the design.
It may not be the spookiest card but I think it turned out really well. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by. P.S. Lots of layers just for you Sandy.

Trees on Leaves

2011-10-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is another of the thank you cards I made last week. Using a white card base and Papertrey's Fall prints and Patterns DP I made a very simple card.
I stamped directly onto the DP using the trees and sentiment from Papertrey's Masculine Motifs.
Very simple, very elegant and very masculine.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Celebrate A Hoppy Day

2011-10-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

What can I say about these cards except that they make me smile. There's just something about a smiling frog that makes me grin. I had been making some fall cards using Papertrey's Fall Prints & Patterns and had some scraps leftover so I made an anniversary card. Yes I said anniversary, I think they don't always have to be bells and flowers, anniversaries can be fun and amusing. (Think of Kermit and Miss Piggy if you want a laugh).
Anyway I used the Boy Basics-Frog Hop for these cards (only one is for an anniversary, the other will be a birthday card-maybe). I used the matching dies to cut out the frog and the lily pad and stamped and colored them up. I added the fly from the set as an after thought thinking the frog might be hungry. I cut a circle of orange paper with my Limitless Layers die and stamped the sentiment from the set, put it all together and was done.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Postal Notes

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

There was a request for some thank you notes and since they had to be more of a masculine style I pulled out several of my Papertrey stamp sets and got to work. I made a dozen cards and these are two of them.
First of all I pulled out the Postmarks DP, thinking it would be appropriate. Then I used stamps from the Postmarks set and a sentiment from a Stampendous Everyday Messages 2 set. It was such fun putting these cards together. These were not the first cards I made and as I was layering these I just started through the left over bits to use for matting and decoration.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Trees from Scratch

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

These cards are designs made up for a Creative retreat that the Card Ministry that I belong to at my church is putting on next month. The idea is to teach people how to get in touch with the creative side of themselves that they have let go of in the course of daily living. We want to keep it very simple and basic and help them to look around the house and use things they already have to make cards.

In these four cards I just used card stock and embellishments to make the trees. The trees are just squares of green card stock cut in half and layered on top of each other. The card bases are all just white card stock and the first layer is just red with the sentiment stamped on it. I placed the trees on that and then 'decorated' the trees. The tree with the ornament stickers is my least favorite, if I could do it over I'd use only one sticker at the top and call it done. The card next to it and the one above were just decorated with pens and the top left card with some bling. The button was and after thought and I'm still thinking about it.

What do you think? Thanks for stopping by.

Flower on Top

2011-10-19T14:15:00.000-04:00

When I was at the Novi stamp show last August one of the places I had to stop at was The Paper Cut booth. I'm always excited by the variety of papers and shapes that they have.
This card is from a set of cards that came with the card base and the over layer. It's such fun to try and figure out what to do with these cards. (NOT) I first went through the whole stack and decided what over layer to put with what card base. Then I had to come up with how to decorate.
Well for this one I chose to use a stamp from this set that I won in a Sweet Stamps challenge. This stamp set is great.
I colored with Copics of course and then just stamped without coloring on the over layer. I added the leaves on the over layer just to add some more color.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Sympathy Sail

2011-09-28T11:46:00.000-04:00

This image of the sail boat was another element 'floating' (pardon the pun) around on my desk. So of course I had to use it as part of my quest to clean up the area. Since I had stamped this boat in Memento Rich Cocoa I used the brown and blue color scheme that I had going already. The image is from Papertrey's Masculine Motif's set.
I really had goofed a little bit while stamping this by not getting the best coverage of ink. The image is somewhat distressed anyway so I still think it works.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Lone Sunflower

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

This card was part of the birthday gift for my sister. She doesn't like to acknowledge the passing of another year but she can always use a card or two to send out so that's what she gets.
Papertrey's August release had a Simple Sunflower set (with the matching die of course) that just jumped into my virtual shopping cart and screamed 'Take me I'm yours' (do ya think I've been reading to many romance novels???).
So I made this card with a leftover sunflower and a strip of DP from the Fall Prints and Patterns by Papertrey. The sentiment is from the Think Big Favorites 7, also Papertrey.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Tea Pot of Sympathy

2011-09-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

I was lucky enough to win a challenge on the Sweet Stamps blog a little while ago and with my prize I selected this stamp (among others lol). There were so many great stamps that I just had to go over my budget.
I really like this stamp a lot. While I was getting ready to color, with Copics of course, I tried to picture what kind of card I wanted to make and sympathy kept coming to mind. After all what is more comforting in sadness that a nice cup of tea. I have also come to believe that sympathy cards don't always have to be somber so I chose to go with bright colors. After I had the flowers done I went to the color wheel and picked this blue from the opposite side of the wheel. I wanted strong contrast and I think I achieved my goal. I used a bit of distress ink around the edges of each layer to soften it up a bit.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

The Flower In a Tea Cup

2011-09-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

To continue my saga of desk cleaning....this tea cup was an element that was left over from a card making session many months ago. I had seen this idea on a blog some time ago and thought it was a really cute idea. I used my mat stack dies and cut out the frame and set it on the card base to get an idea of positioning. Then I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey's Think Big Favorites 7. The cup is also from Papertrey the Tea for Two Additions and was cut out with the co-ordinating die.
The flower is from their Flower Fusion #5 set. I stamped directly onto the DP (also Papertrey, Bitty Box) then the flower was cut with a die and stamped with Memento Lady Bug and mounted to the DP. This shows that you can have several layers and still keep a clean look that highlights the image and sentiment. I truly love cards like my friend Sandy makes that show great color and texture with layers of DP that make a great card but I also love the Clean & Simple cards that are just as satisfying. If you click on those names you can see what I mean about the cards in both design ideas.
I do hope that you like my card and thanks fro stopping by.

Alice Says Hello

2011-09-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

While cleaning up my desk last week I came across some images that I had colored up and set aside for future use. Well the future came and went and there they sat, so since they were on my conscience I said ok already stop whining and I got to work. This image is from Maurie Manning and is so sweet that I had to have it, but has been a struggle for me to come up with what to do with it. Well inspiration struck while I was looking at it and this card is the result.
Since Alice's dress is blue I went with the brown and blue theme I had used on other cards. For Alice it works very well. I used the hello sentiment from Papertrey's Peaceful Garden set.
I'm really fond of this card, several layers but still a very uncluttered look.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Rose Red

2011-09-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Well actually it's Raspberry Fizz. That's the name Papertrey gives this card stock. I used co-ordinated DP from the Bitty Box Basics set on the base, then a layer of white card stock then another layer of the Bitty Box paper.
Then I got tricky, I took my Mat Stack 1 die and the Mega Mat Stack 1 die and layered them and ran them through with the white card stock. That left me with a separate center portion that I could then rub the edge with Memento Lady Bug ink. This makes it look as though it's another layer but it is just nestled back into the frame.
I used Memento markers to color the rose from Papertrey's Year of Flowers set, trimmed it out and pop dotted it onto the mat. While I was making this card I kept thinking "Wow this is a bold color, not sure if I'm getting it right" but in the end I loved it.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Card for Tara

2011-09-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a granddaughters birthday. She turned 18 and I think that age brings out the sophistication in a girl. So for that reason I decided to go with black, silver and white theme.
In the past I've used medallions on my cards and so I pulled a couple of them out to work with on this card. I also pulled out this beautiful DP that I believe is from The Paper Company. It's a black and silver paisley pattern and when ever I see I grab a sheet of it.
I ended up selecting the card on the right to send her as I like the angles of the DP and the medallion. The medallion didn't show up very well on the DP so I cut a small piece of white card stock and rounded the corners to mimic the medallion. I opted to leave off a sentiment from the front of the card to keep it very simple.

Big Sisters

2011-09-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

My sister is Nanny for a family that has grown this past week with a new little girl. She has two older sisters that are so excited about a new baby. I thought it would be fun to send them each a card to congratulate them on the new baby.
Last August at the Novi stamp show I picked up several card sets at The Papercut. I just love that company, they have the neatest items.
These cards are an example. The set consists of the card base and and over layer that has a cut out under the circle. I used a Papertrey 3/4 inch die (Limitless Circles )as a mat for the focal image and the image is from an acrylic set that I've had for years and I no longer know where it came from. I colored with Copics and added the sentiments on the over layer. By the way I ran the over layers through my Cuttlebug using Swiss Dots for one and Divine Swirls for the other. I haven't heard how the girls liked them but I'm sure they are to busy playing with the new baby.

Happy Birthday Ann

2011-09-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

Like many of us my 'younger sister' Doesn't really want to acknowledge her birthday. I don't know why since it's a day traditionally spent eating cake and ice cream. Oh well.
I did make a card for her that just asks her to celebrate the day anyway and on the inside I asked her to enjoy the day that she joined our family. It's a fall card since it is fall and I used DP from Papertrey's Fall Prints and Patterns.
It also gave the chance to use some of the leaf cut outs I bought from The Papercut that I bought at the Novi show in August. (One good thing about cleaning my desk is finding all the goodies that had gotten lost in the shuffle.)
So I used a green card stock for the base then the DP and layered on some of the leaves. I decided to stamp the sentiment right onto a leaf rather that add another layer (sorry Sandy).
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Thank You Cards for West Side Story

2011-09-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

I've been super busy lately with many ongoing projects, but I have had some time in the last couple of days to make cards. These are cards that are long over due but still needed to be made and sent.
Last May was Bruce's 75th birthday and my family went in together and bought him a gift certificate to the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts. What a terrific gift. We took it over there this past week and purchased tickets for West Side Story that will be here in November. This is one of Bruce's favorite musicals, can't wait.
So of course I had to get off my (you know what) and get the thank you cards made & on the way.
I have been clearing my desk off (again) and had made some other cards (to be posted later) using a brown and blue theme. I'm really liking this color combo so I decided to use the scraps and for my images I chose to use Papertrey's Peaceful Garden set. Using the dies that go with the set I cut out my focal points and stamped them with Memento Rich Cocoa. The middle card was easy but I decided to get fussy with the other two. First I stamped the image onto the blue card stock, stamping once and then again without re-inking, I then added a narrow strip of the brown card stock as a base and pop dotted the focal images. Then I just stamped the sentiment and was done. I think they came out very nicely, what do you think?
Thanks for stopping by.

Poppie in a Bottle

2011-09-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Back in July I made these cards and loved how they turned out. When shopping at, I don't remember where, I found this stamp also from Inkadinkado and had to have it. I just love the whole flower in bottles thing.
So anyway I decided to do the one layer thing again and stamped directly onto the card base. This time out I used Prisma pencils and Gamsol for my coloring and just colored the flowers and lightly shaded the bottles. Stamped the sentiment from Papertrey and was finished.
It has been a long time since I've seen the top of my desk and I have to spend some time clearing it up but as I do I'll be making cards and getting rid of extra stuff (package for Kristi being filled up).
Hope you like the cards and thanks for stopping by.

A Get Well Pearl

2011-09-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

I absolutely adore this DP from the Paper Company. I got in this brown and also in black just so I could make some masculine cards. Well men like pearls don't they????
I've been saving it for a time when my creative mojo was working and it finally kicked in the other day.
I decided to use this dark brown card stock from Gina K for the base and the Mehndi Medallion stamp set from Papertrey stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. I stamped the medallion onto one of the Limitless Layers shapes. I thought this one worked well with the stamp. After I had it done it just felt unfinished so I slapped a flat backed pearl in the center. I used the larger of the Double Ended Banners, also from Papertrey, for the sentiment and used two small flat backed pearls at each end. The sentiment is from the Little Labels set.
I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Kellen

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've had a fun and exciting summer and haven't been able to get any where near my craft desk for over a month. It's been KILLING me.
I did however manage to make a couple of cards in spite of the chaos going on in my home (kitchen redo, new windows, minor basement flooding and a short vacation--whew!)
I had to make my great-nephews card for his first birthday and I went right to the Train Tracks set from Papertrey (after all that set was bought mainly for Kellen's cards anyway). What a fun set it is. I cut out the kraft paper using the co-ordinating dies and then stamped them accordingly. I stamped and colored the gift packages and trimmed them out and placed them on the flat bed. I found ribbon to use for the train tracks , a little checked ribbon on the blue card and then I found the birthday ribbon for the other and it worked out perfectly. I used Papertreys Road Trip DP for the card on the right and I just used blue card stock for the base on the other without any DP. Stamped the 'steam' and the sentiment and was done. Kellen of course loved it and spent a lot of time showing it off to everyone (she said tongue in cheek).
I'm pleased with how it turned out and I hope you like also. Thanks for stopping by.

Sweet Stamps Challenge

2011-08-01T10:55:00.000-04:00

Over at the Sweet Stamps blog there is a Christmas in July challenge going on, yes I know today is Aug. 1st, but I didn't have a chance to finish the card and get it posted until today. I'm dealing with water in the basement and the kitchen reno that just finished up.
I really had fun making this card, the challenge was to make a Christmas card using the sketch posted. Now following a sketch is hard for me, for some reason they get me confused. So I was 'challenged' in more ways than one, and this is the card I came up with.
First of all when I saw the little Gingerbread people my first thought was Mom, Dad and two kids so I went with a family card and inside I'll put "From Our House To Yours".
I colored the images with Copics, E21 & E25 for the gingerbread, then R83 & R85 for the dressed (reversed for Mom and daughter) and B45, B93 & B95 for the guys (again reversed). All of the DP is from a 2009 Christmas pad from DCWV along with kraft for the matting's. I used Papertrey red for the card base and a scrap of red ribbon from Gina K. The final touch was the flat back pearls on the ribbon.
It was a struggle for me but I finally wrapped my head around the sketch and finished it up.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Embossed Sympathy Cards

2011-07-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

I needed to add to my stash of sympathy cards and I wanted to make a dozen cards quickly, so I chose the Gina K Year of Flowers set and Year of Leaves set for my project. Wanting to keep it quick and easy I chose a one layer design of just the sentiment and the flower or the leaf for the card front and then to add just a little pizzaz I went with a favorite technique of using embossing powders. While I was making the cards my husband came by and asked why nothing showed up after I had stamped the image with Versamark. I told him to wait and watch the magic as I poured Zing embossing powder over the leaf I had just stamped. He thought that was pretty cool. I just love watching that powder change to solid, to me it really is magic. I used Martha Stewart's Bronze for the flowers and that little bit of sparkle just thrills me. I made two of each flower and leaf design, one vertical and one horizontal. Unfortunately I only ended up with eleven cards since I got interrupted in the process and smeared one of the cards, but eleven is more than I had before and that makes me happy.

A Spring Time Get Well

2011-07-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I wanted to make some get well cards to add to my card ministry baskets, so I spent some time looking around for ideas and came across this video on StampTV.
I have the Spring Time Silhouettes set from Gina K, so I pulled it out and got going. I've decided that when I'm making cards like this I'm always going to make at least two cards so I ended up changing the format slightly. Rather than going with the oval shape for the focal point I went with rectangle, it worked out better for me since I could use the scraps from the card base yellow layer for my focal point and sentiment.
I also skipped making the bow since that is something I just have more trouble with than it's worth when I'm rushed for time.
If you watch the video you'll see how this card was made and it really can be translated onto any stamp and DP.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

The Little Birthday Truck

2011-07-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

I don't know about you but when I'm making a card for a specific person or occasion I will often stamp off extra images for later use. Very often they just sit there and feel neglected but not this image. I LOVE this little truck, something about it just warms my heart. So of course after I finished Nate's card I went on to make this one. It served two purposes, I used up scraps on this card and I colored and used this image. Actually it also served the purpose of adding to my card stash but that's a whole other story.
I used Copics to color and then layered the scraps onto the card and added the sentiment and was done.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

One Layer Flowers in Bottles

2011-07-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

The other day I posted up a couple of cards I made using this image from Inkadinkado. While I was looking at the stamp I wondered how it would look just stamped onto the card base and minimally colored.
Well here is what I came up with. I pulled out some Beckett Expressions card stock in soft blue and pale green, I stamped the image on the front with Memento Rich Cocoa and only colored a few of the flowers with Copics using RV17. I traced the edges of the bottles with B000 for the blue card and G20 for the green.
I'm really happy with how they turned out and I hope you like them also. Thanks for stopping by.

Flowers in Bottles

2011-07-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

Bruce and I made a trip over to Grand Rapids yesterday, mostly just to get out of the house. We, or rather I, was having a bad case of cabin fever. It's so hot I just don't want to go outside. So we went , we shopped, we ate lunch and came home. Nice little break and I scored some craft items and this stamp from Inkadinkado was one of them. One of the few remaining independent stamping stores left in mid-Michigan, StampTherapy, has just moved into a new store, so of course I had to check it out. They are still setting up but it's really nice.
So last night I was looking at my goodies and I inked up this image and stamped it onto some Cryogen white in Memento Rich Cocoa. I decided to keep the coloring very light so I just outlined the bottles with Copics (top card B00, bottom card G20). Then the flowers were done in shades of pink, R85, R83, R30 and RV14 for the top card and bottom in shades of yellow this touches of violet, V0000, Rv00, YG0000, YR00 and YR31.
I used a kraft card base for one and Neenah Classic white for the other with Papertreys Bitty Dot Basic for the DP. The orange and the brown mats were from scraps and the ribbon, flat back pearl and rhinestones are from my stash.
Warning, it's never a good idea to craft when you're tired. When I went to pull out my drawer of embellishments I dropped it on the floor. Do you know how it hurts to kneel on a rhinestoen when crawling around to pick up those little buggers. And of course trying to pick them up and getting them stuck all over me wasn't a picnic either. Oh well lesson learned.
I really like how the cards turned out in spite of the aggravation. Hope you do also.
Thansk for stopping by.

Embossed Black Vellum

2011-07-20T14:24:00.000-04:00

When I was playing with embossing powders the other day I started to wonder how it would do on vellum. I have this black vellum that I picked up at last years stamp show in Novi, so I tried it out with gold silver and white embossing powders. I really like how these turned out. Heating embossing powders on vellum is a little tricky, the vellum tends to curl up if you keep the heat on too long, but if you keep your heat tool moving around it's all right.
I had just received an order from Papertrey and decided to use all of the small medallions in the Mehndi Medallion set, mounting them all onto the same block and just rotating the block as I stamped.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

For Ann

2011-07-18T08:51:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I made these cards as a thank you to my family for an anniversary gift. My sister Ann called me a few weeks ago and asked me to make some cards for her. She so liked the thank you card that she wanted something similar. She wanted cards that could be for a variety of occasions. The Thinking of You sentiment works wonderfully well for these cards.
I used a dozen different colors of Memory Box card stock for the card bases and for the focal point. Papertrey's Year of Flowers set worked perfectly for this whole set of cards. I ended up making 24 cards, two of each flower, one vertical and one horizontal. I stamped each flower and sentiment in Versamark and then used Martha Stewart Dove embossing powder. After heat embossing I mounted the focal point onto a white mat and then to the card base.
Ann only took some of the cards so the rest will go into the raffle card baskets at our Church fund raiser in a couple of weeks.
These cards are really easy to make just a little messy (I tend to get embossing powder all over) and time consuming, of course when I'm doing cards like these I end up making a lot of them. If I'm going to make a mess why not make a real mess. lol
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Nate's Graduation

2011-07-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to making our grandson's graduation card. He's out of high school and headed to college in the fall.
He's headed to classes to become a Master Mechanic (did you know there was a college degree in that?) So of course his card has to have cars on it. The little truck is one of my favorite stamps so that was one of the first ones I went looking for, then I chose to use this antique car also. I colored the truck with Copics but left the antique car just stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. The card base has a layer of dotted textured card stock with plaid from DVWV Natural over that. After I mounted the cars I stamped a strip of kraft with the sentiment and was done.
I know he'll like the check enclosed more than the card, but I liked how it turned out. What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by.

Ed's Retirement

2011-07-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

We have a retirement party to go to tonight for a friend of Bruce's. Ed has finally decided that 45 years is long enough to work for anyone. He is so right, waaaay to long. He's still a young guy so he'll have lots of fun enjoying his favorite hobbies.
We know that he loves his beer (asked what kind of beer he likes he just said 'cold') and fishing and enjoying the world around him. So that gave me the idea for this card. I pulled out this beer stamp from Custer's Last Stamp, the little truck with the fishing pole from Great Impressions and this wonderful summer chair from Lockhart stamps. I colored them up with Copics, trimmed out the beer mug, and cut out the chair and car with Nestabilities. I was trying to decide what to use for the background when I remembered this DP that has been sitting in my stash for several years. I knew one day it would be useful. All that was left was to stamp the sentiment onto some kraft paper and tear the edges and put it all together. I know Ed will have a great time in retirement but I worry about Julie (his wife) still working while Ed is at home. I had 12 years of that with Bruce, I may have to give her some tips. lol
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

An Ice Cream Birthday

2011-07-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

My Echo Park Summer Days paper pad has so many fun designs that I just kept going back to look at it and smile. The colors on all the different sheets are just so bright and cheerful that you just have to smile when looking at them.
I decided to use the ice cream cone paper to make several birthday cards and this is one of them. I first selected the diagonal stripe for the background, such yummy colors, then trimmed off two rows of cones and a strip of yellow card stock from Memory Box. I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey's Simple Sentiments onto the yellow and then had some fun. I pulled out my Quickie glue pen and some glitter and 'iced' some of the cones. You can just see a little of the glitter here, but in person it really pops. I didn't glitter all of the cones so there would be some contrast and besides my hands were getting tired.
I'm really tickled with how it turned out. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by.

Sympathy for Erin

2011-07-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

When I had a chance to make some cards the other day I knew I needed to add to my sympathy card stash. Unfortunately I just learned that my nephew Greg's fiance just lost her Grandfather so I chose this one to send her.
I had just a few sheets left in my Basic Grey Cappella paper pad so I decided to use them up. I had my Papertrey Botanical Silhouettes set handy and I thought I could use up some of my kraft scraps and keep my pledge to use up existing supplies.
The DP is a little formal and the kraft is a little rustic and I think it turned out very nicely. I stamped the image in several Memento colors and used a Copic to draw in the stems. To ground the image I used a Papertrey Text stamp in Versamark. The sentiment is from the Sending You set also from Papertrey. (I really do have stamps from other companies and I'm going to get them out to play as soon as the kitchen is done, I just don't have room to spread out right now.)
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Happy Accident

2011-07-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

I goofed up cutting some card stock for card bases and found that I had scored the fold at the wrong place on one of them. I set it aside and went on to make the other cards and then picked up this card base and came up with this design.
I had just picked up two new DCWV paper pads at JoAnn's and thought I could use DP's from one of the pads and make a card. I had to trim off a half an inch from the long end to make a 5.5 by 4.25 card and then trim the DP to fit.
I chose to use The Natural matstack for this card. I just love the foil roses on this sheet and the a subtly textured paper for the inside. It's really neat since the top folds down for a little different design (hard to stand up on the shelf for display) but still very pretty.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Remade Christmas

2011-07-12T13:54:00.000-04:00

One of the nice things about our church members is their donations to the various ministry's. For our Card Ministry group people donate cards or card fronts for us to remake.
This is one of the card fronts that were in the stack pulled out at our last meeting. I loved the water color design of the manger scene and decided to go with a more rustic theme. I trimmed the card front close to the embossed edge and then went looking for a mat that picked up on one of the colors. Since there was so much blue I decided to pick up the green instead for a very narrow border and then mounted it to a kraft card base.
One of the lessons I've learned is that as much as I like to create my own designs, having a great picture to start off with still leaves a great deal of creativity to play with.
Thanks for stopping by.

Stars and Stripes

2011-07-04T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here are a some more of the 4th of July cards I made for the summer food baskets. Using the est. 1776 set from Papertrey and the Star dies (also Papertrey) I went with a stars and stripes theme for these. Please note the grouping of stamped stars on the card to the right. I accidentally smudged some ink and this is how I covered it up. Love it. I used a white pen to decorate the stars for a little pizazz.
I went with a little bit of a rustic look on these cards with a kraft card base.

For this next card I used some more of the Postmarks DP from Papertrey and scraps for the rest of the layers and stars. Using a white card base completes the red white and blue color scheme. The only stamping on this card is the sentiment for est. 1776 set. Very simple, very patriotic and a wonderful use of scraps.
Hope you like these and thanks for stopping by.

Happy B'day Kristi

2011-07-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

I made this card for my cousin's daughter. Kristi is an artist and an art teacher and has decided to get back into creating works of art in addition to teaching children.
One of the things she has been wanting are Copic markers, so her mother is starting her out with some sets. I decided to stretch her Copic horizons by getting her the air brush system (not the compressor just the cans, I love Kristi, but not that much).
Well this leads me to this card, I took out my Copics and air brush system (yes I have the compressor) and had a go at creating a background. It's not the greatest, but then I haven't had time to play with it in a while. After I had created the background I went looking for some stamps to use and found these felt flowers that I had cut out with Flower Fusion #4 die from Papertrey, perfect. I went through my stash of brads and used them for centers and stamped the stem and leaves from Flower Fusion #5. The sentiment is also from Papertrey the Simple Sentiments set.
Now for the confession. When I went to stamp the stem and leaves I started with the center flower and goofed it up, luckily since it is a clear stamp I could re stamp and fix it (sort of). The flower to the left I had to add some extra leaves and the flower to the right I drew in the stem and added leaves. As a lady I used to work with so long ago would say "I'll never be noticed from a galloping horse"
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Enjoying the 4th

2011-07-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

I made these cards for the food baskets our church gives out for the 4th of July (as my Pastor says "It's a long way from Easter to Thanksgiving".
So when I started to make my cards the first set I reached for was Papertrey's est. 1776. Then I went looking for DP and remembered Papertrey's Postmarks set of patterned paper that I had been wanting to use. I used kraft card stock for the base and layered the different papers over that and stamped the Eagle and the sentiment.

Not wanting to waste any of the DP I used the leftovers in a different layout. I really like how these two turned out and I will post the others I made over the next few days.

Birthday Balloons

2011-06-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm making headway on replenishing my stash of cards. I have been able to take time to get into my 'toys' and play while my kitchen reno is going on and it makes me very happy. I was down to just a few birthday cards and when I saw this DP from Echo Parks Summer Days paper pad I immediately thought of Papertrey's Up, Up and Away set.
I used another of the sheets from the same set for the balloons that I die cut and then stamped onto the card base. So easy. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Sending You set.
Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Charmed Cards

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

I found these Vintaj charms at Hobby Lobby in the jewelry supply aisle and thought they would be 'charming' on a card. I hear all those groans.
All puns aside when I started to make these cards I really was pleased that I had found them, they are sturdy enough to stand up to mailing but delicate enough not add a lot of bulk to the cards. I kept the cards really simple to highlight them and as you can see I used the same DP on both of them and for the life of me I'm not sure if it's Basic Grey or not.
The sentiment is from Papertrey's Sending You set.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

An Adventure In Color

2011-06-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

Each month I make 5 cards to send to church members who are no longer able to get out as much as they would like. This is such a fun way to use my passion for card making.
This month I am so enjoying our good weather that color was the inspiration for the cards. Well that and the fact that I had a bunch of scraps I wanted to use up.
Most of the DP is from the Echo Park Summer Days paper pad that I had gotten in an order from All That Scraps, the butterfly scrap was laying on my desk and worked well for the one card.
I had used the Button dies and the Flower Fusion die to cut out some felt (also from Papertrey) pieces.
So then I started putting them all together and hey presto I had two of the five cards I needed done in no time at all. So glad my mojo is back.

Gold and Black, Hmmm!

2011-06-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry that this photo doesn't show how really pretty this card is. The gold on the card base is really shiney and of course the gold embossing is also.
I've said before and I'll say it again it never is a good idea to by pass the jewelry supplies in the craft stores, such a treasure trove of inspiration.
While I was making cards the other day I moved some papers and found a stack of card bases and design elements ready to be assembled. This card base didn't have anything to go on it but I had been to Hobby Lobby and picked up some medallions (again) and thought this one would work well on it.
I used the die and the stamp from Papertrey's Sending You set as a background for the medallion. I used a sentiment from the same set and embossed in in gold. This is a card that went together so easily. Don't you love it when that happens.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A One O'Clock in the AM card

2011-06-17T10:23:00.000-04:00

Well it was really 1:06 AM when Eddie (my dog) woke me up to go outside. I'm glad he wakes me up (NOT) because it means he's well trained, but if only I could train him to wake up my husband instead, oh well.
At least this time it was productive. I had been working on cards all day and had left all my stuff out since I knew that I would be able to play again today. So while I was waiting for Eddie to do his business I fiddled around with some scraps and this is what I came up with.
The card base and sentiment DP are from Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety Mini Deck. While I was reading the various blogs of the Papertrey Ink's Design Teams I was inspired to use their dies to cut out some felt. I chose the die from Delightful Dalia then stamped the image on it. I used the Limitless Layers dies for the plain and scalloped circles, on the scalloped circle I rubbed Scattered Straw Distress Ink around the edge for some distressing. Then I stamped the sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes and was done.
Not bad for a middle of the night card huh?
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Watercolor Fun

2011-06-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

While on that previously mentioned vacation in Tennessee I used my laptop (yes I know it's crazy to take a laptop on vacation, but I wanted to keep up with my email) and received an email from Art Impressions with the new watercolor stamp sets and Project Series 8 info. I violated the rule of spending money for things other than vacation fun and immediately and I do mean immediately ordering the sets and the Project guide. Boy was I excited when I got home and found them waiting for me. I didn't have a chance to play with them for a few days but then Bruce went to play golf and I had the whole day to play. I made several cards and these are two of them. Three houses a fence, a lamp post, a sign post and the hanging flowers.
I had so much fun that when I had to put my stuff away I just dumped it all into the box thinking I'd play again the next day. Well here it is a month and a half later and it is still waiting. Kitchen reno starts today so I'm not sure when I will be able to play again. Wish me luck please?
Hope you like my card and thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Flowers

2011-06-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Way back when on a shopping safari at Hobby Lobby with my friend Sandy I found this DP. It has, of course, been sitting on my desk waiting to be used. I just love this DP, all the colors and shapes just make me happy to look at it. I did, however, have to really think about how to make a card with it. Since I like the paper so much I didn't want to cover it up too much. While going through my 'stuff' I came across my Peony Nestabilities, they don't exactly match the DP, but their close. I cut each of them out and then just rubbed some Memento Rhubarb on them and added a sticker for the center.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy B'day Sean

2011-06-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

When it came time to make this card I was really stumped. How to design a card for a boy turning 13. It really had me going until the other night just as I was falling asleep. I remembered this blog post and hey presto my inspiration struck. The good news was that I remembered it the next morning.

So I pulled out my Memory Box card stock and chose a sheet of Pool as my card base. Then I pulled out my PaperTrey 'Dot Spots' and Birthday Basics sets and got to work. I used Memento Tear Drop pads in Bahama Blue and Tangelo for the dots and centers (but I really have to work on applying pressure on all of the stamp). The missing dots are because I violated my own rule of having some padding under the paper (it helps make sure you get even pressure).

I do like how it came out (this was my second attempt and I was too tired to start over again).

I'm sure Sean will like it and the check I enclosed lol.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Anniversary Mary & Mike

2011-06-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I may have posted this card before but I sent it to my cousin Mary and her husband Mike for their 38th anniversary (btw I'm way to young to have a cousin celebrating 38 years of wedded bliss).

I've always loved this card and saved it for someone special. It is kind of a different spin on an anniversary card with the colors and all but I did have fun making it.

I used a Sizzix folder (I think it's Hearts & Flowers) to emboss the white card stock then used my finger to rub on the colors, added the sentiment then mounted it to a black card base.

Another elegantly simple card.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Thank You Notes

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

One of the fun things we did on our vacation was to go out to dinner at a 'Fine Dining' restaurant courtesy of my family. We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and my sisters, bro-in-laws nieces and nephews all chipped in to give us a gift certificate for a fun night out. Dinner was great.

When we returned I set about making these thank you cards. All of the card stock is from Memory Box and the images are PaperTrey Ink Year of Flowers. I saw this idea on a blog somewhere and I didn't write it down, my bad, but just loved the cards so I copied. I embossed the flowers and sentiment in Martha Stewart's white (I think it's Dove) and it makes a elegantly simple card. (My sister said at first she wondered why I went out and bought cards, then notice my stamp on the back, compliment???)

Anyway I love how they truned out, what do you think? Thanks for stopping by.

Why I've Been AWOL

2011-06-07T10:23:00.003-04:00

First we went on vacation to Tenn. the first weekend in April with friends. This photo was taken from our balcony, you can't see it from this photo but beyond the woods is a golf course, which made the guys happy/miserable. Happy because they could play golf, miserable because it was a tough course and it had been raining.

After we returned home some renovations were scheduled. First was all new windows. Wow what a difference, the old windows were original to the house (built in 1954) and the new ones really made a change in noise level and the amount of air coming through (from lots to zero). Also the front one is the only one I have to go outside to clean.yahoo!!!

Then I through an open house to celebrate Bruce's B'day ( he doesn't like me to say the # (3/4 of a century) so don't say anything). The guys sat down stairs and watched some of the Indy 500.

Now we are dealing with a kitchen reno and this is where we are at now. New cabinets are here, old cabinets empty and all the stuff scattered all over the house. Waiting for a call to say when they will start (pray soon). Every day is an adventure since I've already sold the stove, keeping the refrigerator as long as possible, but that will go as soon as demo starts.

Next on the agenda is getting trim work done around the new windows, just waiting for the estimate to come in. Hopefully we will survive all of this. Wish us luck.

Thanks for stopping by. I do have cards to post and they will start tomorrow.

A New One from Gina K

2011-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

The last Gina K release included this stamp set Framed Greetings. The really neat thing about this set is that it co-ordinates with the Labels 14 set from Nestabilities.

What I liked about it is that it is so versatile. Just changing the color ink that you stamp with changes the whole feel of the set.

Since I wanted to use up the last of the black and creme paisley DP I chose to go with black ink. I wanted to keep the colors muted to I used the palest of the violet and pink Copics for the flower and the butterfly and light green for the leaves.

The Cryogen white that I stamped on has a creme shade to it and the matting is of course black.

I think of it a subtle elegance.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

See you when I get back from vacation.

Bright and Cheery

2011-04-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Well this card was fun to put together, not. The DP and card stock was some that I bought on my fun filled shopping trip with my friend Sandy last month. It has been sitting there waiting to be used and so I finally got to play with it.

I got the Sending You set from Papertrey in their last release and I thought they would work well together. First of all I cut a section of the flower DP out and mounted it to some black card stock to give it a little more weight. Then I trimmed out some of the flowers to mount onto the striped DP. When I oredered the stamp set I also got the co-ordinating dies and boy do I love that whole concept. Even though I like how this card turned out I do have to say that cutting out these flowers was a pain. Probably won't be doing that again, but you never know.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Jeanne

2011-04-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

This is another of the Lockhart stamps that I got with my Ellen Hutson order. It is Farmers Market Bouquet and I thought it was so sweet and it would make a good birthday for a friend.

I colored with Copics Leaves/Vase-YG01 and YG03, Flowers-RV13,RV00,RV21,RV34 and RV04, Shadow YG000 and then air brushed YG06 around the edge.

The sentiment is from Memory box.

I'm short on details for these cards since I'm trying to get ready for vacation and these will be pre-posted.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Dick

2011-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

This card is for a friend who is still working and has to do a lot of traveling in his job. I'm sure the days he's able to stay home are busy also since he's away so much.

Hopefully on his birthday he will have some time to relax.

I used a new stamp, Clear Lake Chair, from Lockhart that I got with an order from Ellen Hutson.

The DP is some from my stash that has been sitting around for awhile.

I colored with Copics Chair-E74, E57 and E35, Throw-B91,B95, B45,E35,E57 and E19,Lamp-B91,B95,B45,E57 and E35, Floor E55.

I ran a narrow brown ribbon across the blue card stock for some contrast to all the polka dots.

The sentiment is also Lockhart.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Little House

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Way back when I had made a pledge to use up existing supplies. Well that has been a struggle since it's impossible for me to resist all the new and wonderful stuff coming out. However on this card I did use up a little item that has been floating around my desk. There is an inchie and a twinchie under the little house. I had assembled them with a scrap of DP and it's been jumping into my face every time I sit down at my desk.

Well in my order from Ellen Hutson I got this darling little house, IB House in the Woods, and thought it would be perfect. I colored with Copics using W0,W1 and W3 for the house and YG3 for the trees and shrubs. After I had it mounted to the inchie/twinchie I realised it was lost on the card base and so I matted with cream and black to give it more substance.

I love the black and creme paisley DP that I got at Hobby Lobby and I think this is the last of it so I may have to go get some more.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Jen

2011-03-30T11:42:00.003-04:00

When I started to think about making this birthday card I really thought about the type of person Jen is. She's an athletic girly girl. I really admire that about her.

I decided to go with the pretty, feminine card for her. I also wanted to try out a technique I've seen around of using sticky double sided tape to add glitter to a project.

So for these cards I ran several lines of red tape across the card, pealed off the top layer and sprinkled Doodlebug Design glitter over them. Worked beautifully. I then stamped the dress form image from the Gina K Springtime Silhouettes StampTV kit in Memento black. After cutting out the images I embossed them and sponged color around the edge. I also cut out the mats with Nestabilities. I just lightly colored the dress forms with Copics.

On one card I stamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) directly onto the card base, on the other I goofed while stamping it so I stamped onto a scrap of white card stock, cut it out with a Nestie, sponged it and mounted it with pop dot.

All done and I think they turned out well. Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. the one I sent is the one on the right.

A Lullaby Card

2011-03-25T14:37:00.003-04:00

I went to the book store yesterday to pick Mariah Stewart's latest (Almost Home if you like to read this Chesapeake Diary series is terrific) and after I had paid for my purchases and on my way out of the store I saw this CD. Well of course I thought of my great-nephew Kellen and went back and bought it. I'm shipping it to him with this card that I whipped out in 5 minutes.

Of course the only reason I could put this card together so quickly is my inability to throw anything out.

Way back when I got the brilliant idea to make up card bases to have on hand (turns out not to be such a bad idea after all) and this is one of them. Then another idea I had was to print out some digital images to color up (the coloring up part never happened on this one) and have at the ready. So these two items have been sitting around for about a year and all I had to do was color up 'Michael' from Mo Manning and cut it out and mount it to the base. I have no idea where the DP is from but it works beautifully with this image don't you think.

I used Copics to color and this is what I used-- Hair YR21,YR31; Cloud B000 under the cloud for shading BG000; Skin E00,E21;Nightshirt Boo and for the wing and halo I used a Sakura silver Jelly Roll pen.

I cut the image out with a Nestabilities Deckled rectangle and edged it with YR31.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Easter Cards

2011-03-20T12:25:00.003-04:00

When I set out to make Easter cards for the Easter food baskets I knew I that an assembly line process was going to be a must. I also knew that to make 20 some cards exactly alike would bore me to tears. So I went looking through my goodies for ideas and these are what I came up with. I stamped the three different crosses from Papertrey's Everyday Blessings in Memento Rich Cocoa and then stamped Rejoice from Inkadinkado and He Is Risen from Great Impressions all on Beckett Expressions White. Whew...

Then I mounted them onto card base from Memory Box in what I call the Easter/Spring colors.

This assembly line process is working really well for me. I may have to make some more to mail to friends and family.

Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

The Rainbow card

2011-03-18T11:56:00.002-04:00

I was puttering around my craft desk the other day and realized I had left a few bits and pieces laying there. As I shifted them around I saw that all of the scraps worked well together, I just didn't have a focal image. The pink scalloped circle was one I had cut out with a PaperTrey Limitless Circle die so I went looking for something I could put in the center and PaperTrey came to the rescue again. Back in February PaperTrey made several tags available (design team creations) for a contest (I didn't win) and this was one of them by Melissa Bickford. (If you click on her name it will take you to her blog and see some really great creations.)

I can't tell you where the DP comes from since they were scraps but I believe they were from different sources, just a lucky chance that they worked together.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Some cards just fall together. A few weeks ago I met my friend Sandy for lunch and shopping at Hobby Lobby. I found this DP from the Paper Studio and thought, okay I can use this for my March cards. So I bought a sheet and some cards stock for the base and figured I'd find a stamp or digi image to use. Well then I was in Michael's the other day and found these glittered shamrocks on a display and thought they'd make and easy peasy card.

Can anyone have too many shamrocks???

There are so many Irish blessings that could be written on the inside that it's hard to choose, but there is an Irish saying that I really like and would be a boon for many people. "When God made time He made plenty of it" Wouldn't it be nice if time was a bit more elastic and we could stretch out a day now and then. Of course when time snapped back into place it could really sting lol.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Tulips and Butterflies

2011-03-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

When I was making the 'Black Butterfly' card last week I found this DP from Memory Box's Minuet paper pad and thought it would make a cute background for this tulip stamp from JudiKins. The mat is from the same set.

It just gives me that spring is coming feeling (even though there is still snow on the ground).

I colored with Copics of course and used Memory Box Wisteria for the card base.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Variety

2011-03-15T12:06:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post this series of cards using the last of the medallions I bought on that fateful shopping trip with Sandy. These medallions are very thin and so delicate looking that I had a lot of fun making these cards.

I chose a wide variety of DP's on these four cards and I really, really like how they turned out. They could be used for almost any occasion and could go either masculine or feminine. In these cards the DP actually is the high point of these cards rather than the medallion. The colors can reflect almost any mood and I hope you like them as much as I do.

Four Flowers

2011-03-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Well when I get on a roll I keep on rolling. I had these embellishments out along with the medallions and decided that they deserved to be used. The package came with six of these flowers and I had used two of them and wanted to clear them off my desk rather than put them away (and forget I had them). These four cards really weren't planned out at all. The first thing I did was choose the card bases to go with each flower then I chose the DP's which in a couple of them changed the card bases. The first card used scraps from another card and a Martha doily, the second card I didn't have a ribbon I really liked so I layered a brown over creme, the third card had a mark on the DP so I found a scrap to run across the card and placed the flower over that, and the fourth card I pulled out my airbrush and colored the doily to match. It's a wonder I finished them at all.

Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Slanting the Focal Point

2011-03-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Occasionaly something happens that sparks a creative idea. I was making three cards using this same image from JudiKins. (as a side note-while cleaning up my craft area I sorted out stamps I haven't inked up in a long time to give away and found old favorites that really needed to be loved again).

I decided to use and assembly style of card making and stamped out the images, chose the DP all from Memory Box the Minuet collection, colored (leaves YG03,YG95 and flowers BG11) the images, cut out the ovals and used a scalloped oval Nestabilities for the matting. So, after all that this image fell onto the card base at a slant and the light bulb went off and voila a card was born.

A Trio Of Medallions

2011-03-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Shopping with my friend Sandy is always fun. She has such good ideas and a wonderful color sense.

When shopping with her the last time we wandered down the embellishment aisle and I found these Medallions by Tradition at Hobby Lobby. I bought a package of them ( 4 for $2.47, what a bargain) and made these cards (and one other but it wouldn't fit in the photo). Isn't interesting how the different DP's and card bases give such a different look and feel to each of the cards. When it came time to mount the cards I used some new dies I just got from Papertrey the Limitless Layers Circles. On the center card I used only the 1 3/4 " size but for the other two I used that and the 2 1/2 " circle. They co-ordinated perfectly with the medallion.

So I quickly made four cards with a lot of color but no ink. Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. wait til you see what I made with the other goodies I bought that day.

A Scrap Tale

2011-03-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

A few days ago while putting stuff away I had this Prima Flower on my desk along with scraps from previous cards. I looked at the flower and the scraps and thought they would look well together.

I remembered these doilies by Martha Stewart and thought it would work well for a base for the flower.

The card stock is Memory Box and the DP is also Memory Box the Pixie collection.

So instead of throwing out the small scrap and putting away the card stock and flower I made a card.

Hoe you like it and thanks for stopping by.

The Black Butterfly

2011-03-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

"The Black Butterfly" doesn't that sound like a title from an old black and white film from years ago?

A lesson I've learned when wandering through Michael's and Hobby Lobby is never to bypass the jewelry making aisles.

I found this black butterfly by Traditions in the jewelry components section of Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure how it would be used as jewelry but I couldn't resist it for a card.

I had found this DP from the Paper Studio on the same shopping trip and last night as I was cleaning up my desk and getting ready for bed I came up with this idea.

I knew I wanted to make this a black and creme card so I found some scraps to mount and mat the butterfly on and assembled this card in just a few minutes. I just love it when I think of a card and I can make it come together the way I want. In that same aisle there were some medallions in gold and bronze that I'm itching to work with so I'll have to stay up late again and think. Hope it works.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Beckett Tulips

2011-03-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

My final experimental card is done on Beckett Expressions Radiance.

The coloring for this one is again YG01 and YG03 for the leaves and the flowers are RV00, RV11 and RV34.

The color went on smoothly and blended well, so my conclusion is that whatever paper you like and can afford is the best one to use. I enjoyed this experiment so much I think I'll do it again.

The DP for this card was Memory Box Pixie with card stock in Cranberry and Meadow.

Hope you have enjoyed my experiment and thank you for stopping by.

P. S. While going through my stamps I came across so many old favorites that I think I'll be tripping down 'Memory' (pardon the pun) lane for awhile.

Cryogen Tulips

2011-03-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is the second card in my experiment. For this card I used Cryogen White, it is more of a cream color with a very lovely sparkle to it.

For coloring I used YG01 and YG03 for the leaves and Y11,Y06 and Y15 for the flowers. Again the colors went on smoothly and blended nicely.

The DP is also from Memory Box Pixie with the card base in Sunflower and the matting is Cherry Blossom.

So far I'm not finding much difference in the papers for coloring.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.