Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It has been forever since I posted a card I made (OMG over a year ago) so here are two! I have had the With Gratitude stamp set for a long time and finally got a chance to get it inky.

I took the big leaf stamp and inked it up in More Mustard and rolled its edges in Really Rust ink and stamped it on white cardstock. I trimmed around it and mounted it on a white circle cut with Nestability dies and matted it in Choco chip and Really rust (scallop circle). I love the look of the leaf hanging over the edges.

These two cards use this focal image but I changed up the design of the card for each one. I stamped the small leaf from the set in More Mustard on mustard cardstock for a background on each card, and matted them in Choco chip. For the first card I used the scallop lace border punch (how fun is this) on the choco chip mat. I am terrible at random background stamping, need to practice some more! I also used the Happy Thanksgiving stamp in Choco Chip from the All Holidays set. I really love these cards, and the focal image can be created using many sets like this one. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and eats all the turkey they want!

Mom's Birthday 2009

Ok so I've been gone again...sorry! And I've been looking back at my posts, and realized I never posted the Miranda bag (Lazy Girl Designs) I made Mom for Christmas! OMG I'm terrible. I used Moda's Cotton Blossoms fabric, which is absolutely GORGEOUS! Here's a couple pics of it:



I also for her birthday made a matching pouch, using instructions from a blog I stumbled across in my surfing (or blurfing as it is also known). The name of the blog is so cute, Flossie Teacakes! The tutorial for the pouch can be found here, and I modified the size a little. But other than that I followed her directions and it came out pretty nice. Here's a couple pics of the pouch, one of the outside, one of the inside:



Lastly, here is a picture of the birthday card I made. I used the Stampin' UP! Top Note Die for the Big Shot machine and the colors I used are Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss (both retired boo hoo!). I love the little flowers, from Heartfelt Thanks stamp set which also retired! BUMMER! It is one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets.


Anyway, hope you enjoy! Any questions just ask!

The Boss' Birthday

I have the best boss in the entire world. And I can say that because he doesn't check my blog so it's not like I'm kissin' butt...hahah! His birthday is tomorrow, and I decided to make him a small card to celebrate the day. Poor guy has to work because we are super busy trying to wrap up a few projects.


This card is made from a 3x3 inch Old Olive card base. I cut a 2 1/2 inch square of the leaf print from the Fall Flowers Designer Paper collection, and matted it in Whisper White. I tied a strip of Old Olive Poly Twill ribbon around it, and added a Super Jumbo scallop rectangle tag with the sentiment from the One of a Kind set stamped in Old Olive. The tag is popped up on dimensionals as is the matted square.

It was a quick and easy card to make, made in under 20 minutes. But that doesn't mean I don't care! Claude took a chance on a fresh out of college engineering student 9 years ago, and I only hope I continue to make him happy he hired me. Hope he has as happy a birthday as he deserves...

Mother's Day 2008

I know Mother's Day was several weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting the card and gift bag I made for my mom. Sorry for the delay!! LOL


I stamped the floral motif from the One of a Kind set in Basic Brown so i could watercolor it using Soft Sky ink. I did this three times and cut them out, and glued them to the top portion of a Soft Sky card base. I only glued the center so I could curl the petals up. I cut a one and a half inch strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock and scalloped the bottom edge using the corner rounder punch. I cut a one inch strip of the brown and sky stripe pattern of the Afternoon Tea designer paper and glued it to the strip of Choco Chip leaving an 1/8th inch at the top. I glued this strip about 5/8th inch from the bottom of the card base. I stamped "love you" from the Short and Sweet set in Choco chip in the bottom right corner.

For the gift bag, I used the Blessing Mix Box pattern I found on Angie Kennedy Juda's website (see here) only I accidentally scored at the wrong places so my bag is shorter and fatter...but still cute. I made it with the same stripe pattern paper as the card, and added a tag to the front with a scalloped rectangle in Chocolate Chip (Mega Punch) and a scrap of the reverse side of the stripe paper and Whisper White. The sentiment is from One of a Kind in Chocolate Chip. The ribbon is Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon. Mom loved both the card and bag, not to mention the necklace inside...! Thanks for looking...

Mom's Birthday Card 2008

Here is the card I made for my mom's birthday this year. I used Splitcoast's Color Combo #171 which is Soft Sky (retiring), Kraft and Black. I love Soft Sky and Black. I also love Soft Sky and Chocolate. I'm sorry to see Soft Sky go, but I believe one of the new In Colors is a close match, maybe a bit darker.


I used the Embrace Life stamp set for this card, and also the Happy Birthday stamp from the Warmest Regards set. Once again I tried my hand at watercoloring using Soft Sky ink from the pad and a waterbrush for the focal image (stamped in black Stazon, matted in Kraft and Black cardstock, and attached with dimensionals). The background is stamped on the Soft Sky cardstock in the same ink, with a piece of Soft Sky double stitched ribbon tied around it and attached to a Kraft card base. Thanks for looking!

Color Inspiration #5 from Kristina Werner

My mom and I are huge fans of Kristina Werner. She has on her blog every week a Color Inspiration where she takes pictures (usually of home decor items) from magazines and converts the colors to Stampin' Up colors, giving us a color combo to work with. This week the colors are Close to Cocoa, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Bashful Blue. Here is my card for this combo:


For this card I pulled out a set I've had for a LONG time but never inked up. I have a lot of those sets...(sigh). It is called Sheltering Tree. I stamped the leaves in Certainly Celery and then the trunk in Close to Cocoa (using the stamp-a-ma-jig to get things lined up YAY!). I used the little flower stamp in Bashful Blue in the spaces provided and scribbled some grass at the tree base with my celery marker. I trimmed this image down, matted it in So Saffron, and again in Celery.

I made a Bashful Blue card base and tied a piece of striped ribbon around the front. This ribbon AMAZINGLY had every color except cocoa...couldn't have planned it better. It came from an old Ribbon Originals collection called Seaside. I stamped Thinking of You from the Warmest Regards set in Close to Cocoa at the bottom right and then placed the tree image above it with dimensionals. Thanks for having a look, and thanks to Kristina for the inspiration!

With Sympathy Card for Nancy

I hadn't had the need to make a sympathy card since I started my card-making hobby, until recently when the husband of my friend Nancy passed away from cancer. I made this card a couple weeks ago.


It's a simple design, using Mellow Moss and Basic Black, with the fern stamp from the Stem Silhouettes set by Stampin' Up! stamped in Mellow Moss on Whisper White. I tied black gingham ribbon around the focal image and attached it with dimensionals. The sentiment is from the Warmest Regards set stamped in Black Stazon ink.

I pray that Nancy and her family and close friends find comfort during this time. I never got to meet her husband Jacques but have been told that he was a joy to be around. God bless him and his family and friends!

Grandma's 90th Birthday!

Here is the third card in my Sketch 155 series, this time in Perfect Plum and Pale Plum with shiny silver brads. I made this tonight for my Grandma's 90th birthday on Thursday. I think I'm done with these cards for now...lol!


One cool new thing I tried for this card is dyeing white grosgrain ribbon! I used my Perfect Plum reinker so that it would match the cardstock, since we don't sell Plum grosgrain ribbon (too bad it's one of my favorite colors in our collection). It wasn't too bad, kept my fingers clean by swirling it around in the ink/water mixture with a paintbrush. Hope you like!

I Cased Myself!

I was so happy with the way that my friend Carmela's birthday card came out I decided to repeat the joy for my best friend Patsy's 35th birthday which is this coming Saturday. The only difference is that instead of Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip I used Soft Sky and Basic Black (all colors from Stampin' Up!). Plus the ribbon is the narrow black gingham ribbon from SU!.


I love it when a plan comes together...Happy Birthday Pats! You'll always be older than me...heheehehe!

My grandma's 90th birthday is March 20th, and I'm thinking of this same card design in Pale Plum and Perfect Plum! I think it will be GORGEOUS so look for that in the next few days.

Valentine's 2008

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. As a single girl, I normally try to ignore the day...lol! This year, however, I made a couple cards, one for my mom and one for her friend Reno using the Happy Heart Day stamp set from Stampin' Up. I didn't mean to, but I ended up making these at the last minute on Monday, as I had to drop them in the mail Tuesday to make sure they got to their recipients in time!!


This is the card I made for my mom. I started with a card base of Pretty in Pink cut at 4 1/4 by 11 and scored at 5 1/2 inches. The Rose Red layer is ticket cornered and the flower image was randomly stamped all over in Regal Rose, and attached to the card base with adhesive. The scallop circle was cut from Pretty in Pink cardstock using the Nestabilities die cuts and my Cuttlebug and was also embossed using the Fiskars texture plates. I sponged a bit of Regal Rose ink over the embossing, and attached to the card with adhesive. I used the little mouse image with Black Stazon ink on Whisper White cardstock. I tried my hand at watercoloring with markers and a paintbrush. I have got to get me a aquapainter or waterbrush, to avoid the cup of water mess (my cat's obsession with water again...). The colors I used are Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red, with a bit of Going Gray. I matted the mouse image in Pretty in Pink and then again in Regal Rose cardstock. The Regal Rose layer was distressed with the distressing tool. The mouse focal image was then attached to the card with dimensionals. The final touch is silver brads in each corner.


Here is Reno's card. I cut a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock 3x6 inches and scored at 3 inches to make a 3x3 square card. I cut a piece of Regal Rose card stock 2 3/4 inches square and stamped the flower image all over in Regal Rose ink. I wrapped a piece of sheer pink plaid ribbon I had in my stash around it and attached to the card base using adhesive. I stamped the Happy Valentine's Day tag image in Black Stazon ink on Whisper White, and watercolored it using Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red markers. I punched out the image using the small tag punch from Stampin' Up and matted it with Rose Red using the large tag punch. I attached a piece of pink grosgrain ribbon with a silver brad and then attached the tag image with dimensionals in the center of the card front. I love these little cards!

I got a Valentine from Mom, but she gave it to me early when she came over last weekend. She's caught the cardmaking bug too! Thanks for stopping by!

Reno's Birthday 2008

This card was made for my Mom's bud Reno's birthday. I think the dahlia flower challenge on Splitcoast is definitely one of my favorite challenges. I used the Fall Flowers designer paper, Soft Sky and Really Rust cardstock. The sentiment didn't exactly turn out how I had hoped, I stamped "CELEBRATE" from the Celebrate Everything stamp set (Stampin' UP!) in Soft Sky ink and then overstamped it in New Canvas Palette Ink. It was supposed to be a drop shadow but I dont think I inked up the stamp enough in the white ink. The picture doesn't show it well. What is cool is in real life it almost is holographic. Maybe I will try that again some other time. But the flower is AWESOME...thanks for stopping by!

Valentine's Day

I've been seeing a bunch of Valentine's Day cards on Splitcoast and various blogs I frequent. I just love the 3x3 inch card size for valentines, and was inspired by Kristina Werner's blog recently to make one.


This card is made from Real Red cardstock, cut at 3 inches by 6 inches and scored at the 3 inch mark on my Scor-Pal (love that tool) and folded to make a 3x3 card. I then punched a Giga scallop square in Whisper White. The embossed red layer (1 and 7/8 inches square) was done by using my Cuttlebug with the heart texture plate from Fiskars. It turned out so cute! I then stamped the For You With Love stamp from the Riveting set by Stampin' Up! in Real Red classic ink and punched it out with the 1 and 1/4 inch circle punch. The three layers were adhered together with adhesive, and the whole thing was attached to the card base with dimensionals. Finally, I tied a piece of red gingham ribbon from American Crafts around the card front using Kristina's method. Simple and cute, and QUICK! Thanks for peeking in...

For Carmela

I just loved this sketch when I saw it on Splitcoast last week, but with Christmas and all I hadn't got a chance to make it. I had a great idea one morning this weekend as I lay in bed (contemplating whether to get up or not...lol) to make a pink and brown birthday card for my late brother's high school and beyond girlfriend (who is now married and has a baby boy). Greg died ten years ago, but we still keep in touch with Carmela because she meant so much to him. She's like a sister to me. Her birthday is on New Year's Eve, and I hope she likes the card.


I used the puffball on a stick stamp from the Heartfelt Thanks set by SU! and Happy Birthday from the Warmest Regards set. The colors are Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. I found some brown gingham ribbon and added some copper brads which are as close to brown as I could get. The circle punches I used are the 1 - 3/8 and 1 - 1/4 ones. I also used my Perfect Layers tool to get a 1/16 mat on the sentiment. Pretty sweet tool. Both the focal panel and sentiment are attached with SU dimensionals. Thanks for looking!

Making Up for Lost Time

Howdy folks, long time no blog. Time seems to get away from me pretty often, and this was one of those times. Not only that, but I haven't been in a stampin' mood. (GASP!!)

The last couple weeks I finished up two cards I had started LAST year (LOL), the sketch from a few weeks ago (SC138), and the Limited Supplies Challenge from two weeks ago (LSC131). Better late than never...

The first card here is Sketch #92, a Halloween card, which I started last year and didn't finish before Halloween so I put it away until this year. This card uses scrapbook paper by Die Cuts with a View, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock, and the pile o' jack-0-lanterns from the Halloween Smiles set by SU! I used markers to color in the image. I made 3 of these cards, and I have enough supplies to make one more. I just have to cut another striped panel...


The second card here (another card I started a while ago...) uses the polished stone technique and reverse embossing, just like this card I made here. I used Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White cardstock, and the inks I used include Choco Chip, Creamy Caramel, and Close to Cocoa. The horse image is from the Brushstroke Horses set from SU! The tag is punched out using the Marvy Extra Jumbo Scallop Rectangle Punch, and stamped with the "friend" stamp from the Noteworthy set by SU! I used the direct to paper technique to add a distressed look to the caramel card base using caramel ink. The brown grosgrain ribbon is wrapped around the card front and the ends are tucked under the tag and antique bronze brads hold it down.


This next card is from Sketch #138, from a few weeks ago. I liked the sketch, and looking through my stamp sets I came across the Trick or Treat set from SU! and used the cat head. I've been dying to use this cat face for a while, and thought it would be cute with this sketch. I also used the striped scrapbook paper I used in the first card above! The cardstock is Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Whisper White, and I used Versafine Black inknk to get even coverage on the cat face, but it turned out kinda faded and looks kinda dark grey, which is fine with me.


The final card I have for you was for the Limited Supplies Challenge #131, which was to create an Autumn card, and I chose to do the 3rd challenge, the tent topper card. I used another polished stone/reverse embossing technique using one of the outline leaves from the Lovely Leaves set from SU! I used More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive inks to do the polished stone technique, and punched out a circle using the Marvy Mega plain circle punch. I cut a circle slightly bigger in Whisper White using my Coluzzle companion template to mat. Finally, the Giga scallop circle punch was used to add the Old Olive scallop mat. The card base is Old Olive with direct to paper streaks using ColorBox chalk inks in autumn colors. I cut a strip of More Mustard and swiped it with More Mustard ink and stamped "Warm Wishes" from the Hugs and Wishes set by SU! in Old Olive. I added the antique gold brads to add a little somethin'.



WOW! Four cards in one post! I will try really hard not to be away so long again...

Mom's Birthday Card

I made this for my Mom's birthday this year which was June 24th. I started to come down with a cold the Thursday before and hadn't made the card yet! I felt well enough to make this card Friday night, so when she came over Saturday the 23rd it was ready to give. But by then I was in the throws of a huge virus. YUK. I felt awful, not only from the cold, but also because I couldn't take her out to dinner for her birthday. She spent the day taking care of her sicko daughter. What a bummer, for both of us. I finally am well enough to post it.

I just love Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, and Mellow Moss together. I used the puffballs on a stick stamp from Happy Harmony, inked them up with the Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, and Mellow Moss markers, and stamped them on Whisper White cardstock. I punched it out using the Mega scallop oval punch, and mounted it on a Giga scallop oval punch in Perfect Plum. The background is Pale Plum, which was Cuttlebugged using the swirly texture plate from Fiskars. It is more subtle than the Cuttlebug folder. I ticket cornered it and tied moss grosgrain ribbon around it. The sentiment is from Warmest Regards in Perfect Plum, and attached on top of the ribbon. The focal image is attached with dimensionals. I added pewter brads to the corners to finish it off.

Chocolate Rose Thanks

I just love pink and brown, don't you? I made this card for this week's sketch challenge. This is a very neat, easy to do sketch. I still have most of the papers from the Stampin' Up Loves Me designer paper collection (since I'm a hoarder), so I need to make some stuff from it. This was a great opportunity since you can use the double sided paper to make the putting the pieces together much easier.

I took a 4 inch by 5 1/4 inch piece of the designer paper and cut from corner to corner both ways. (Probably the hardest part of this was cutting the original rectangle, as I wanted the stripes to be going vertical, and the designer paper has the stripes going diagonally!!) Then I flipped the top and bottom triangles over to reveal the other side. I glued them down and attached the brown stitched ribbon from the Seaside collection of Ribbon Originals from SU. This covers any wonky seams. The center image is very simple, just the single flower image from the Heartfelt Thanks set by SU! stamped in Regal Rose, with the outline stamp in Chocolate Chip. I cannot do the two-step stamping with out my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig, thank goodness for that tool. I stamped the Thanks image in Regal Rose after "rock and rolling" the stamp in Chocolate Chip. Trimmed and matted it in Chocolate Chip and mounted to the card front with dimensionals. How easy is that?

Coral and Brown Reverse Emboss

This card was inspired by a beautiful card made by Nichole Heady I saw on her blog, "Capture the Moment". Let's just say I'd like to capture her talent as well as her creativity! Nichole has a great tutorial for this technique of reverse embossing, and I just had to try it with my Reverse Prints hostess set by Stampin' Up. I used the colors from this weeks color challenge which calls for Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, and Chocolate Chip, with an optional Tempting Turquoise. I opted OUT of the turquoise for this card...

I used the French Script background stamp in celery on Whisper White, and stamped the main image in Versamark, then clear embossed it. I sponged chocolate chip allover it to reveal the flower image and create a "halo effect" around the image. I then wiped off the excess ink and mounted it onto Chocolate Chip cardstock after I ticket cornered it. I added antique gold brads, tied a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon around and mounted onto a Cameo Coral card base using dimensionals. That's all there is to it! Thanks Nichole for the inspiration! You rock!

Heartfelt Thank You and a New Obsession

I made this card for this week's color challenge on Splitcoast. We were to use Elegant Eggplant, Ruby Red and Certainly Celery. I used the main flower image from the Heartfelt Thanks set by Stampin' Up, and colored it in with my eggplant, ruby, and celery markers. I stamped the outline over it in eggplant and always artichoke using my Stamp a ma jig. I used my ticket corner punch on the white and the celery cardstock, and mounted them on the ruby red cardstock. I added the gold brads and attached it to my eggplant card base with dimensionals.

For the circle accent, I used my markers to color in the Thank You Very Much stamp from the Riveting set by Stampin' Up, then cut just outside the line. I need to get the 1 1/4" circle punch, as it would have been MUCH easier. Then I mounted it onto a 1 3/8" eggplant circle, and attached with a dimensional. One more step would have made this perfect for the sketch challenge this week, except I couldn't figure out how to attach the strip across the center front without covering up most of the flower. Oh well.

Isn't it funny how you can stumble across a technique or design and you just get obsessed? This week's technique challenge was to make an origami shirt out of designer paper. Cambria Turnbow (a very talented lady I might add) has an excellent tutorial on her blog. The step by step pictures are very helpful. I've made several of them, although I have had yet to make a card using them. But aren't they adorable? Hopefully soon I can put them to use. Enjoy!

Happiness Always

Sometimes being under pressure to get a card done can be a good thing. My best friend Patsy's anniversary is in a few days, and I just remembered today! Got to get a card made and made FAST! I had the idea to use the Happy Anniversary stamp from Favorite Greetings set by Stampin' Up!, but naturally I can't find that stamp! I must have used it a while back and didn't put it back, and my house is like a black hole sometimes.

As I was looking through my collection of stamps, I came across the Happy Harmony set, a Sell-a-bration set I hadn't used yet. EUREKA! There is a stamp in there which says "Happiness Always" which is what I wish for Patsy and her wonderful husband Tim.


For this card, I used a Rose Red card base, and the Palette O' Prints papers in Rose Red and So Saffron. I cannot wait for the new catalog, which will have these papers in 12x12 sheets in lots of colors, including the new In Colors! The designs are so yummy! I used the trio of flowers stamp from Happy Harmony, inking them with my markers in Rose Red, So Saffron, Regal Rose, and Mellow Moss and stamping on Whisper White Cardstock. I cut out the oval shape with my Coluzzle, and mounted it onto a scallop oval in Rose Red (Giga size). The image is attached to the card using dimensionals. I stamped Happiness Always in Rose Red on a scrap of WW and cut out using the Coluzzle. I sponged the edges lightly with Regal Rose, and attached using mono adhesive. The ribbon is from the Sweet Shop collection of the SU Ribbon Originals, and is attached with glue and trimmed at the sides of the card. It matches PERFECTLY!

Now let's just hope this card makes it to Atlanta by Saturday.

Totally Cool Triangle Sketch

Sketch Challenge #124 over at Splitcoast was so interesting, I've made three so far. The first one I did was for my grandmother, but the picture was so awful I don't want to post it here, and since I don't have it anymore, I can't reshoot. But since then I have made two others that came out better anyway.

The best way to go about doing this sketch is to start with your scrapbook paper cut at 3 3/4" by 5". Flip it over to the back, and make a mark on one short end 1/2" from the top and from the bottom. On the other short end, make a mark 1 1/4" from the top and from the bottom. Connect the top mark on one side to the bottom mark on the other side, and do the opposite going the other way to make an X. Cut apart on these lines, and you have your two triangles! I matted these triangles 1/8th " on the two long sides of each triangle, with the short side flush. Then on a 4" x 5 1/4" panel I centered the triangles facing each other. There is a slight overlap which you could trim, but since you will be covering it with your focal image, it doesn't really matter. This panel is then attached to a regular size card base (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"). I hope this makes sense.

The card below was made using Tempting Turquoise and Chocolate Chip cardstock, to go with the scrapbook paper I got in the Die Cuts With A View 4x6 Retro pad. The turquoise panel is Cuttlebugged using the "fabric" Fiskars Texture Plate, and attached to a Choco Chip card base. The focal image is made using the flower and Thank You background stamps from the Mini Messages set by Stampin' Up! I used Tempting Turquoise ink for the flower and Chocolate Chip ink for the background Thank You's on Whisper White cardstock. I punched this image out using my 1 1/4" square punch and matted it with a Marvy Mega scallop square in Chocolate Chip. I attached the focal image using dimensionals. I just love this color combo!


I liked this sketch so much that I made another card using the sketch and also for the Ways to Use It challenge for the week (WT114) which was to use of all things, YOYO YELLOW! Yuck! Not my bag, so I made it a secondary color for this card, which is mainly Pumpkin Pie! I stamped the Thanks So Much stamp from the Riveting set by Stampin' Up! in Pumpkin Pie on Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the 1 3/8" circle punch, matted it with a Super Jumbo (blue Marvy punch) circle in Pumpkin Pie and again matted with a Mega Scallop Circle in Yoyo Yellow. The triangles are made using a downloaded digital scrapbook paper from Lettering Delights.com, matted in Yoyo Yellow and placed on a Pumpkin Pie panel and attached to a Yoyo Yellow cardbase. The circle focal image was attached with dimensionals. I probably would have added a touch of Certainly Celery cardstock, but I'm out and need to order more...


This won't be the last sketch like this I'll do, but I like this week's sketch too, so maybe I'll have to move on for a while...LOL!