Sympathy

When I sit down to make sympathy cards I try to make them with some interest and color.  I really think that even in the saddest times people need to have some color and when they receive a note from a friend it should be with an idea to pull them out of the sadness.  I hope these cards qualify.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Early Christmas

I made a promise to myself that I would not buy any new stamps, card stock or designer paper until I have used up the bits and pieces that are lying all over my desk ( and there is a lot of stuff). Believe me it has been very hard not to whip out the plastic and order away from Gina K and Papertrey Ink and Ellen Hutson and etc., etc., etc.

So I started yesterday with the first thing that I put my hand on.  I have several red card bases that I had made up for valentines but never used, then I found two pieces of snowflake vellum and I was off to Christmas.  I have all of my Christmas stuff in one basket that I keep on the floor under my desk and I didn't feel like crawling down there (being lazy) so I pulled out the Gina K Christmas Stamp TV kit that I got but never had time to use and inspiration was born.  I stamped the ornament and then used a stamp positioner to center the sentiment just right. I have a great ideas for the other red card bases and I just hope they turn out.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Sit Back and Relax

I have a whole series of chair stamps from Ellen Hutson's Lockhart Stamp line.  I just love these chairs especially this particular one since I have two of them in my front yard (just plain white ones though, nothing fancy).  For this card I decided to go with a green and white color scheme ( I colored this one while MSU was still in the March Madness contest).  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Velvety Leaves

A year or so ago my friend Sandy showed me some really, really neat textured card stock. It has a velvety soft texture to it and I immediately thought of leaves.  So I brought out my Spellbinders leaf dies and went to town.  I made a lot of these cards last fall and I'm just now getting around to posting one of them.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Few More White Wash cards

When I got going on the white wash technique (you can see it here on StampTV) I just didn't want to stop. So here are some of the other cards I made. Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Change is a Good Thing

I mentioned in a previous post that I had another Archiver card making set that was for guys.  It is another Unity Stamp set and it's makes me laugh when I see it. Very simple card to make and I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

Chanukah, Hannukah, Chanukah

Traveling back in time today. Two of my sisters asked for Chanukah/Hannukah cards for adults and children.  I didn't have many new stamps for this holiday so I worked with what I had and tried some new twists. First off I used Papertrey Ink's Watercolor Wonder set for a modern look, then I used the powder embossing technique for a more traditional look and of course using dies for some of the elements.  Where I really had some fun was with the Papertrey Ink Scent-imentals stamp set.  This set is designed to make scratch and sniff cards.  This I thought would be fun for the kids cards.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

The Positive and the Negative

Papertrey Ink has this Snow Drift die set that allows you to get two cards out of one cut by using both the positive and the negative. What a time and money saver, helps make  card making time go a lot easier and I'm all for that.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

What is Your Secret

Another one of the images I colored last winter is one of the "Ladies" from Inky Antics. I like the image but I always wondered what she was saying. Then I realized I had the perfect set of sentiment stamps to go with it from Great Impressions.  Together they make the best birthday card. The inside says "For looking so good  Happy Birthday". Perfect right? Then I used my Silhouette to cut out some conversation bubbles, great way to do this.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Bottled Flowers

These two stamps from Inkadinkado are a couple of my absolute favorites. These are a couple of the images I colored up last winter (2013) while we were in Florida.  They are so versatile and so easy to color.  Just stamp and swipe on a little color for the bottles and flowers and hey presto done. I left a blank banner on the left one for future use.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Let The Merriment Begin

Last October Papertrey Ink released a set Come All Ye Faithful that is dog related, since I was going through a hard time with my dog it was a no brainer for me to get this set.  It is a set geared towards Christmas but I wanted a variety of cards to give to my Veterinarian as a thank you for all her help with Eddie. This card is one of them, I used a sentiment from this set that works well for a birthday card and added balloons and a cute bow tie. There is a matching set of dies that make paper piecing so easy (although I have to say that handling that little bitty tie was fun NOT).  The reason the front of the card is shorter than the back is that I used the cut off piece for another card, then I added some DP to the inside and to the front.  The tree is from the In The Meadow die set (Papertrey Ink)  as is the "hill" in polka dots. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Lifting Me Up

On the other hand this stamp set from Unity Stamps is so cute and could be such a great card to send a girlfriend who's been there for you that I had to use it.  It works great for paper piecing and for using up scraps. It was part of a card kit I picked up at Archiver's before they closed the store.  There is a guy set also that I'll post another day.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Braver, Stronger, Smarter

Gina K issued a stamp set a while back that is comprised of sentiments that can be used in a Poster Board format. An interesting concept to say the least. One of the sentiments is a great one, that has me somewhat in a quandary.  I love the idea of it, I'm just not sure of how a recipient would see it, would it be encouragement to someone who is feeling a bit lost or would they be offended?  Tell me what you think.

Happy Easter

One of the things I'm doing this year is being a prayer buddy for a student at my parish school, part of that duty,

in addition to praying for him/her (obviously) is to send a card now and then to let them know that prayers are coming their way.  This is the Easter card I sent. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Wild Prairie Rose from Stately Flowers 7

On March 10th Melanie Muenchinger posted a video on Stamp TV of the white wash technique (you can see it  here-White Wash Technique).  It is so beautiful that I had to try it, and try it I did, again and again.  I ended up making many cards.  I started out just making my Easter cards then I decided to make additional for other categories such as birthday and sympathy.  I'll be posting those later but for now I will just post the Easter ones.  After I had finished my white wash Easter cards done on kraft card stock I thought I would try the same method on color card stock.  Well I liked the look of the white embossed flowers that I never did the white wash, but I will try it soon. So for now here are the white wash Easter and the embossed Easter.  All items used are Gina K except for the embossing powder.
Thanks for stopping by and hope you like them.

Paper Piecing

I picked up a cute Unity stamp set at Archiver's a while back and I found these images great for paper piecing.  The clouds are Papertrey Ink.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Southwestern Scene

I have a box full of Rosie Roadshow stamps and I made a promise to myself that I would start using them.  Among the stamps are these adobe houses and the cacti. I think they are the cutest things and they make a great scene.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

How an Embelishment Can Fix an Error

One of the many things I've learned in card making is that when you goof up a card it is often an opportunity to embellish. This card is an example.  I had this card all done and as I stamped the sentiment it was crooked. Darn! So I covered it up with ribbon then deliberately stamped the sentiment crooked.  All of the elements for this card are from Gina K Designs.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Papertrey Ink's Pedal Pusher

When I think of pedal pushers I think of the short pants we used to wear, the ones we now call cropped pants.  In this case I mean bicycles.  Several of my family members are bikers (and I don't mean with motors).  Papertrey Ink's Pedal Pusher set is an ideal set for cards for them.  There is a coordinating set of dies that make for a fun option on the cards and the little additions for the basket are great. This card is an all Papertrey card. Blue card base, map design DP, a hill made with the blue check DP and sentiment from the set.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Art Impression's Try'folds

Art Impression came out with these really neat sets called Try'folds. The idea is that you make a card that folds in 3's, trim around the images and each layer shows a part of the picture.  When I watched the video showing how to make one I fell flat in love with the idea.  So of course I ordered three of the sets. So far I've only made one card and it was for my friend form high school Marti, for her birthday in January. I used Gina K's 120 lb. card stock since I can color with Copics with no bleed through. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Having One of Those Days?

Last winter Bruce and I were lucky enough to spend most of it in Florida, this winter (one of the coldest on record) not so lucky. It was so nice I could sit in the sun and color images to my hearts content and now I get to use them to my hearts content (a year later). This stamp is from Rosie's Roadshow and I think it is such a hoot. Probably a very descriptive of many of us on the out of sync days we occasionally run into.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Since It's Still March

Since it's still March I thought I would share my St. Patrick's Day cards.  I chose two designs to do, one for the people I mail to for my Card Ministry group and the other for friends and family.  After I had them done and mailed I realized I should have reversed who I sent them out to, but I'll let you be the judge. One card is very simple just a green card base with a small jar (Stamps by Judith) with 4 leaf clovers in it (Gina K designs) and sentiment Best of Luck (the name of the stamp set).  The other is a white card base with an Irish Blessing on white card stock and matted with green.  I have no idea where the stamp comes from, I think I picked up years ago at the Novi stamp show.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Angel Eddie

Well, when I decided to get busy posting I didn't take into account how many decisions I would have to make. Which card to do next, so I'll just go back and forward in time. We had to put our dog Eddie to sleep a couple of weeks before Christmas and that was a hard thing to do. We are so lucky with our Veterinarian that I wanted to make some special cards for her.  The Come All Ye Faithful set from Papertrey Ink was the perfect set for me to use.  This set is dog images, accessories for the dogs and

sentiments.  Way cool.  So anyway I made several cards for the Dr. and this is one of them, I call it Angel Eddie for obvious reasons.  I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Party On

Hi All, I'm back!  When my cousin Mary told me I hadn't posted anything since September I was shocked.  I have been busy but that is crazy.  When I looked at my cards to be posted photo file I found over 150 cards waiting to be edited and posted.  I've been making them just not sharing them, so I'm going to get to work.  I decided to star with the latest card I made 'Party On'.  I used a set from the Journey of the Heart Stamp TV kit's Party On, from Gina K designs. Sharon Harnist did a video on Stamp TV on coloring balloons and transparent items with Copics. So I made this card.  all of the stamps, card stock, DP inks are Gina K's.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Ann

I finally had time to play with some sets from Gina K Designs that have been sitting on my desk.  There are Silhouette Cameo cut files to go with the sets that make it even more fun to create cards.
First up is this Lady Slipper flower from Stately Flower 7 and the frame cut files that match.  Tell me you don't think this is a beautiful idea.  I colored the flower with Copics and mounted onto Gina K card stock.  The sentiments are form Papertrey Ink's Signature Greetings II.  My sister Ann's birthday is today and the card on the right is what I decided would be the perfect card for her.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping bu.

I need a sentiment, please help.

In my quest to use all of my stamps, I am going through one box at a time and creating 'scenes'.  So while I was picking through my Rosie's Roadshow box (here is the website)  I found these three stamps and created this card.  Now I do think it is a cute card but I am at a loss for a sentiment or what it could be used for, a shower card maybe, but it doesn't seem quite right so if any one has an idea let me know and who knows, you just might get a prize. The pretty dotted DP is Papertrey Ink and the matting for the scene is Gina K.  Thanks for stopping by. 

A Dapper Guy

In my quest to use all of my stamps I got a head start last year when I stamped off so many images to color while we were down south.  Several of the images are these great Penny Black stamps of guys and gals at that age that you think they can be any where from teens to 30's.  This image is Dash, don't you love the name.  When I started to color him I picture him ready to go out on a date with a steady girl friend maybe to dinner and a movie.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

When Life Gives You Limes

This card made using the Good Times card kit set from Archiver's that I bought a while back.  Since my favorite drink is the Margarita it seemed perfect for me.  The set include all the card stock-Archiver's, DP- My Mind's Eye  and stamps-Unity.  The idea is to make 2 of each card in a size that to me was odd 3x4, so of course I changed it to an A2 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 and I had more than enough supplies to make my cards.
The whole set up is kind of a neat idea and I did like the cards so there are more cards for my stash.

 

 

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Baby, Baby, Baby

Last Christmas when I passed out my sets of cards to various family and friends it was noted that there were no baby cards.  I stopped to think about it and realized that the next generation is starting families and my contemporaries are becoming grandparents.  Oh how time has flown, I distinctly remember when my oldest nephew was born (Buffalo, January, 3 feet of snow-need I say more) and how friends were having babies and I was always in need of baby cards.  So I got busy and made some.  This first set I made with a Great Impression water color set (I cheated and went the easy way and used Copics) and did a girl set and a boy set.  I really like how they turned out.  I stamped each image with Memento Espresso Truffle (Gina K is right it is the perfect brown/black) and then colored with Copics.  The DP is various pieces I had in my stash. Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Is this true?

This card was made with a Flourishes stamp set kids play and the sentiment I used from it is the question.  I'm not sure if I want to be a child again, but if I could go back knowing what I know now would I change anything?  No, I'm in a happy place in my life and I wouldn't change anything about my life,  I might change other peoples lives but I suspect they wouldn't listen to me any more now than they would then.  Oh well that's enough philosophy.
One of the great things about this set is that it is an easy card making set.   Using silhouettes means no coloring except for the choice of stamp color, in this case Memento Paris Dusk.  The biggest choice is the DP.  It was an easy choice,the dotted DP is Echo Park Dots & Stripes Bundle of Joy, the strip of DP is from My Mind's Eye Play Date, appropriate right?  

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Brief Note

A week or so ago I was talking with my sister Beth and she told me that her son (Dylan) was frustrated with me, seems he wanted to send me a card (I think) but he couldn't compare with the cards I make.  Well I decided to go ahead and make some cards for him to use (and yes it's ok to send me a card that I made).  Since he's 21 and a cool dude I had to make cards that he would like to send out and there was only one stamp that fit the bill , correction make that two stamps.  The stamps are from Custer's Last Stamp (now out of business).  This was also a great way to use up scraps, I stamped the image and fussy cut them out and mounted them to the card base and stamped the sentiment.  I made quite a few of these cards as you can see (and no I didn't send them all to Dylan had to save some for other projects).  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Rosie's Roadshow Revisited

Recently a card blogger I follow posted a challenge she made to herself to use every stamp she had in her card making.  Wow, that gave me pause.  I talked with my friend Renee about this and said I didn't think I would live long enough to use all the stamps I have.  The point the blogger made (and oh how I wish I could remember who it is) was that when you buy sets of stamps there usually one or two in the set that never sees ink.  I mentioned that I have a plastic shoe box of Rosie's Roadshow stamps (you can find them here) that had not seen the light of day in way too long and I needed to take a look at them.  (I also told her to come over and go thru my stamps and borrow some, I really hope she does that.)  So anyway I pulled out the box and grabbed some stamps and made this card.  One of the cute thing about these stamps is they are given names, the houses are Adobe, Slim and Bungalo, then there is Ramon (the saguaro cactus) and Lance,  the other cactus and of course Sun and Cloud.  I stamped onto Desert Storm Card stock from Ellen Hutson (used the same for the card base) matted with Dark Chocolate from Gina K and colored with Copics YR23,YG91, E30, E33, E42 E50 and E53.

I didn't use a sentiment because my creativeness didn't go so far as to tell me what to use this card for, so it can be anything.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.