Easy Thanksgiving Card

Well here we are into the 3rd day of September.  Fall is coming and I for one and ready for the temperatures to go down a bit here in Phoenix.  The summer was actually pretty mild compared to some we have had but it still had its moments.

I started this past weekend with high hopes of getting a lot done.  Well in a way I did as I was cleaning some and doing laundry.  However, the weekend went downhill on Sunday.  I was so looking forward to attending the birthday party for Jackson but it was not to be.  I woke up that morning with a sore throat, congestion and a low grade fever.  Well there was no way I was going to expose everyone to my cold so I cancelled.  I do hope he had a wonderful time.  I will get to give him his present tomorrow so I still get to celebrate with him. 

I did manage to get into my craft room to make a relatively simple Thanksgiving card.  I kept it simple this time.  I have lots of ideas running around in my head but need to decided which to do first!!  So here we go with a turkey-day card.

 

The base card is a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" Old Olive card stock scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Cajun Craze to this.  It was cut at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  The final layer on top started as a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White.

 

Prior to attaching the piece of Cajun Craze, I stamped some leaves along the top and bottom of the card stock.  The stamp comes from the retired set A Season of Friendship.  They are stamped on using VersaMark ink and heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  Before I go any farther I wanted to tell you that after the tree and leaves were stamped on the card I used the retired eyelet border punch to punch along the top and bottom edges of the white.  You can see it here in the photo.  I added a pearl to the top dot in each scallop.

 

The greeting on the front comes from another retired stamp set called Full of Blessings.  I stamped it using Cajun Craze ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I then punched it out using the small oval punch and inked the edges using a sponge and Cajun Craze ink.  It is attached to a piece of Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired) using a dimensional.  I attached the ribbon to the card with runner adhesive.  Again you can see the eyelet border and the pearls along the bottom edge.   

 

The main image on the front is the tree.  The trunk and leaves stamps are from the retired Season of Friendship stamp set.  I started by stamping the tree trunk using Early Espresso ink onto the Whisper White cards stock.  I wanted to give my leaves fall colors so instead of using ink pads to stamp them, I used my Stampin' Up! markers.  I used the brush tip end and colored each petal on the stamp on of three colors:  Old Olive, Cajun Craze and Pumpkin Pie.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to help me place the leaves exactly where I wanted them.  I like the look of the tree.  I feel it represents fall and harvest time.

Well that's it for today.  I will be back again with another card to share with you soon.  Tomorrow is my day to keep Jackson and it is also my birthday so no promises to post tomorrow or Thursday.  I will see what plans my family have for me.  I do hope to have some crafting time again soon so check back each day to see if I have been creative!!  See you all later. 

1st Birthday Already!!!!!!

Hi everyone.  We are ending the month of August with great speed and September will be here in just a few days.  In our family, we have several birthdays in the month of September.  There's mine, my oldest daughter's, my nephew named Daniel, my mother in law, my brother Chris, my aunt and our newest family member Jackson.  Yes little Jackson will be turning 1 on September 2nd.  It is hard to remember our family without him as a part of it but it is just as hard to believe that he is turning 1 already.  We will be celebrating his birthday with him on the first.  I can hardly wait. 

My daughter and I went shopping for his presents this past weekend.  His mom asked that instead of cards which tend to get tossed aside that we all bring him a book instead.  I was so excited to shop for books for him.  I love to read and think it is great that his mom is already teaching him about the joy of reading.  Now being a card enthusiast, this was also kind of hard for me.  So instead of a card I decided I would make a tag for his present.  Ready to see what I made?  Here we go!!!!

 

It's Elmo!!!!!  One of our favorite shows to watch when Jackson comes over is Sesame Street.  He loves Elmo.  So I thought this cute little guy would be perfect for a tag.  Of course I also got wrapping paper that will go with it.  It started as a piece of Pacific Point cut at 5 1/2" x 5 1/2".  Yes that is a bit large for a tag but Elmo's head had to fit!

 

For the "Happy Birthday" down the side of the tag, I used an alphabet stamp set that I have.  I stamped the letters using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it using Gumball Green embossing powder.  While you can see it on the tag, it did not show up in the photo as well as it could have.  

 

To make his name, I used my big shot and an alphabet set of sizzlit dies.  I cut all the letters out of Basic Black and Gumball Green card stock.  This alphabet set has a shadow piece to go with each letter which helps those letters to stand out.  I attached the green letters to the black using a 2 way glue pen.  The finished letters were attached to the card using the same 2 way glue pen.  I added dots of a blue glitter glue to the attached letters.

  

Now for the star of the tag.  To make his face, I started by sketching on a piece of white paper.  I did this for a while until I was finally happy.  I then cut out the shape to use as a template.   I traced this onto my Real Red card stock and cut it out.  Next, I used a Sharpie marker and drew the mouth onto the face.  The eyes were made using Whisper White and Basic Black card stock.  I punched out 2 white circles using the 1 3/4" circle punch.  Next I punched 2 black circles using the 3/4" punch.  Using the 2 way glue pen, I added black glitter to the black of the eyes.  I then attached the white to the face with a liquid glue and then attached the black with the same liquid glue.  For the nose, I chose Tangerine Tango card stock.  I punched out a 1 3/4" circle and trimmed the sides down to make it more of an oval.  Now I could have used the large oval for this but when I tried it, the nose was too long.  I could have just cut off and rounded an end of it but the circle seemed easier to me.  I added orange glitter to it with the 2 way glue pen and attached it to the card with liquid glue.  

I added dots of glitter glue all around the letters and the face using a blue and a green glitter glue.  It just completed the look.  

I hope my niece and her husband get a kick out of the tag.  I do believe she is scrapbooking Jackson's life and the tag could be used an the scrapbook page if she would like to use it.  I can't wait until the party!!!!

That is all I have for you today.  I will return with another share so please stop by to visit again!!  See you later!!

Almost Finished!!!!

Hi everybody.  I am so happy to announce that as I am typing this, the invitations to my husband's charity banquet are almost finished!!!!  I only have 2 steps left to complete and am positive I will have them finished this evening!!!!  I am so happy!!!!

 

Here you can see the pieces just waiting to be put together.  I just need to attach the vellum to the red piece with brads.  Once that is done, I will attach the red to the navy.   Some of the invitations are just one panel while others are a little fancier.

 

This is a closer look at one panel of the fancier ones.  I used the retired Wedding Sweet stamp set.  I stamped the image on the side panels using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

 

This is a close up of the logo of the charity which I faded onto white card stock.  The corner images were stamped onto the white and the entire piece is attached to the red.

 

Now I know your must be thinking that this looks a bit blurry.  Well, you are right.  I promise they are not blurred.  Since this is printed on vellum, you can see the piece underneath and since it is not lined up perfectly it looks blurred.  

Once I have the finished ones, I will take a photo of them to share with you.  I want you to be able to see them completed.  I have made wedding invitations using these ideas also.

If you have been looking for the Pay Now buttons on my cards, I have to confess that I ran into a snag and have not been adding them yet.  I am trying to work out the problem and as soon as I do, I will put them on.  Until then, if you are interested in purchasing a card just email me.  

I also sell invitations for weddings, birthdays, etc.  Those you would need to email me about as you would need to give me more information about them.  

Well I am off to finish these cards and will then start work on some new material.  I also get to play with little Jackson today!!!!!!  Fun, fun, fun!!!  I will see you all later.  Thanks for visiting.

Mouse Madness

Hi everyone.  Happy Monday!!!!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Today, I wanted to share the card I made using the punch art I shared on Friday.  Let's get started.

 

So here is the finished card.  I started with a base card of Baked Brown Sugar card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Whisper White card stock cut to be 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  I also added a layer of Basic Black measuring 4" x 5 1/4".  All layers were attached to the base with runner adhesive.

 

Across the top of the black layer, I added a layer of Whisper White.  This piece was cut at 1" x 5 1/4".  I punched the one side using the retired eyelet border punch and then ran it through the big shot using the perfect polka dots folder.  I attached it using runner adhesive and added the red rhinestones to dress it up just a bit.

 

Across the bottom of the black layer I wanted to add a layer of glimmer red.  I cut a piece to be 2" x 5 1/4".  Using a 1 1/4" punch for the head and the 3/4" punch for the ears, I punched out the 2 Mickey Mouse heads.  I attached the piece to the card using my 2 way glue pen.  I then added black glitter to the heads using the same 2 way glue pen.  

For the greeting, I turned to my Create a Cupcake stamp set.  I stamped the greeting onto a piece of Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink.  I then heat embossed it using an embossing powder called Red Dragon.  Once cooled, I punched it out using the word window punch.  I also punched a modern label out of black and layered them together using runner adhesive.  I then added it to the card using dimensionals.

As we move towards the characters, I want to start by saying I used the cupcake builder punch for all the base and frosting pieces.  I will not list this punch below unless it was also used for another piece of the character.  All lines were added to bases, frosting, hats, bows and other parts using a fine tip black marker.

 

Let's start with Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  I used the same colors of card stock for each:  Real Red, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White.  

Punches used for Minnie:

Dots - cupcake builder

Ears - 1/2" circle

Bow - retired heart to heart and 1/4" circle

Punches used for Mickey:

Ears - 1/2" circle

Dots on Base - 1/2" circle trimmed into oval shape

 

Moving on to the next 2 characters we find Goofy and Pluto.  

Card stock used for Goofy:  Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzazz and Night of Navy.  

Punches used for Goofy:

Hat top - retired heart to heart punch; I used the wide heart from this and trimmed it

Hat bottom - retired mitten builder punch

Card stock used for Pluto:  Gumball Green, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Basic Black and Daffodil Delight.

Punches used for Pluto:

Ears - word window, trimmed

Collar/Tag - cupcake builder (flame for tag) and a scrap piece for collar

 

Time for the last character Donald Duck.   I used Pacific Point, Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Black card stock for him.

Punhes used for Donald Duck:

Hat - small oval trimmed

Hat Band - 3/4" circle

Hat Band Tail - scrap of black cut into points on the ends

Bow - small heart and the circle from the itty bitty punch pack

All pieces of the characters are attached together using the 2 way glue pen.  Once they were assembled, I attached them to the card with dimensionals.  Since I wanted Donald to stand out in the center, I double stacked the dimensionals.  That set him up higher than the other characters.

If you have any questions about this card please feel free to ask.  I will be happy to help you.  

That's all I have for today.  I hope you will return to visit with me tomorrow.  I will see you all then!!!!

Another Wedding Invitation

Hi everyone.  Well we have made it through a very sad week and I am hoping we are coming out of the darkness finally.  My heart is still broken for all the families and I send lots of prayers out to all of them. 

I thought I would start this week by sharing with you an invitation to a wedding.  I think I might have mentioned I have been working on a sample wedding invitation for one of my daughter's friends.  I think I will just jump in and start.

 

I went with the square card for this one.  I started with a piece of Night of Navy card stock cut at 5 1/4" x 10 1/2", scored at 5 1/4".  I added a layer of Old Olive to this cut to be 5" x 5".   The final layer on the front is a 4 3/4" square of Whisper White.  I stamped this image from the retired stamp set called Wedding Sweet onto the white using VersaMark ink and Night of Navy ink.  First ink the stamp with the VersaMark and then the navy.  Once the image is stamped, I added clear embossing powder to it and heat embossed it.  I took a 4 3/4" strip of navy and used my eyelet lace punch to punch both sides of it.  I attached it and all the layers together using runner adhesive.  I added a few pearls to the eyelet lace for added effect.  For the final touch, I typed the saying on my computer and printed it out onto white card stock.  I punched this out using the full heart punch, sponged the edges with olive ink and layered it onto a navy scallop heart made using my big shot and an embosslit.   It was adhered with runner adhesive to the scallop heart.  The finished heart was attached to the card using dimensionals.

 

This would be the left hand side of the inside of the card.  I created a pocket on this side with a strip of navy card stock.  I used sticky strip to attach this so it was really secure.  I put a layer of olive and then white card stock onto this to keep the theme.  I added the stamp from Wedding Sweet (retired) to this using olive ink.   The pocket will hold the RSVP card and an envelope for it to be returned,  It will also contain the reception information and a map.  The words on the front let recipients know when to return the RSVP card by to the couple.  I always have my brides include the return envelope and encourage them to address them and add the stamp.  You have a better chance of people actually returning these if you make it easy for them.

 

The right hand side contains the wedding info itself.  Again I added a layer of olive to the base using runner adhesive.  I then took a piece of white and stamped the image of the tree from the set Thoughts and Prayers using olive ink.  The heart is from the retired set called Tiny Tags.  They are stamped using navy and olive ink.  The information for the wedding is printed out onto vellum.  The vellum is cut to match this white layer.  I attached it to the white using brads.  It softened the look of the stamps underneath.  The white is attached to the olive using the same runner adhesive.  

Well that's it for today.  My plan is to be here every day this week.  Thanks for all your understanding and thanks for stopping by today to visit.  I will see you all tomorrow.

Time For A Big Bang!

Here we are at Wednesday!!!  I feel like I have not had a lot of time with my hubby this week.  He worked and then went camping.  He was home for a day and is now at work once again.  I miss him and hope we get some much needed together time soon.

Today's card is a very simple card.  I thought it was time to share just a basic card again and remind all of us that we do not always have to go so big on a card for it to look good.  This is a 4th of July card.  I guess you could say my hubby inspired it.  He use to shoot off fireworks for a firework company.  Now I love to watch fireworks but we usually do not go anywhere to see them.  We just watch from our home.  Neither one of us is big on crowds and snuggling at home is a lot more fun anyway.  So let's get going on today's share.

 

Ta Da!!!!!  This was an easy card to make and put together.  I started with a base card of Real Red cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer to this of Whisper White measuring 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  The final layer is Night of Navy which was cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  Prior to attaching it with runner adhesive to the other layers, I pulled out a retired stamp set called July Fourth and using VersaMark ink, I stamped the fireworks images onto the navy and then heat embossed them using red and white embossing powder.  

 

The greeting is from the same stamp set.  This time I stamped it using VersaMark ink onto white.  I heat embossed it with an embossing powder actually named Fireworks.  I punched it out using my 1 3/4" scallop circle punch.  I then layered it using runner adhesive on top of a Read Red scallop circle that was punched using my 2 3/8" scallop circle punch.  It  was attached to the card using dimensionals.  I then added the small pearls to the red scallops to give a little more decoration to the card.

That's all I have for today.  I will return with another cute card for you to see tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by today!!

Another St. Paddy's Day Card

Happy Tuesday!!!  I hope your Monday was a good one.  I am glad you decided to stop by today and see what I have for you.  I am going to share another St. Patrick's Day card today.  This one is uses some of the same colors from yesterday so it is easy to make this one and the other one at the same time.  Anyway let's just jump right in!

 

This card starts with a base of Daffodil Delight measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I took my shamrock stamp and stamp it along the edges of the daffodil using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed them using clear embossing powder.  

The center stack of layers are made of Gumball Green, Whisper White and Lucky Limeade.  The Gumball Green layers are cut at 2 1/8" x 3 3/8" and 3 1/8" x 4 3/8".  The Whisper White layers measure 1 7/8" x 3 1/8" and 2 3/8" x 3 5/8" and 2 7/8" x 4 1/8".  The Lucky Limeade is 2 5/8" x 3 7/8".  The order of the layers are from top to bottom white, gumball, white, limeade, white gumball.  The layers are adhered together using runner adhesive and attached to the card with runner adhesive.

Prior to attaching the top layer of white, I needed to stamp my little leprechaun.  I found this stamp at a local craft store and thought it was too cute.  I stamped the image using StazOn ink so that it would be ready to color immediately.  I used my Stampin' Up! markers to color this one.  The colors I used are Gumball Green, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist (eyes), Cajun Craze (beard) and Blush Blossom (face and hands). 

 

I used the same greeting as yesterday on this card.  The stamp is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I stamped it using VersaMark ink onto Whisper White and heat embossed it using Wild Wasabi embossing powder.  I punched it out with the modern label punch.  I also punched a modern label out of Gumball Green and layered the white on top of it using runner adhesive.  I attached the greeting to the card using dimensionals.

Well we have come to the end of another card.  I will return tomorrow with another share for you.  I do hope you will come back to visit.  Thanks for dropping by today!!!!

Lucky Clovers

Hi everyone.  We have made it to another Monday.  I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I thought I would catch you up on mine just a little.  As you know I did not blog last week on Thursday because I was spending the day with my aunt.  Sadly, she woke up that morning with a horrible sore throat and had to cancel.  I hope we get to reschedule soon because I was so looking forward to it.  Instead, I got to spend the day grocery shopping and running errands.  Luckily my hubby was off so we went to lunch together too. 

Friday was so much fun.  I spent part of the day with my little nephew Jackson.  He is 5 months old and too cute for words.  I loved playing with him and seeing him smile.  He has a wonderful laugh to listen to and I was happy my silly little dog was able to make him laugh.  Of course our doggy needed a long nap once he was gone.  Working that hard made her soooooo tired!!!  I so enjoyed every minute with him.  It reminded me of just how fast the time goes and it is nice to enjoy a baby again. 

Now let's get on with the card since I am sure I have bored you to tears by now.  I decided to do a couple of St. Patrick's Day cards to share with you.  Both my husband and I have Irish ancestry in our family.  While we do not go all out for the day, we do enjoy the spirit of it.  This first card is reminiscent of one I made last year but I like the style so much that I had to make one for this year too.  Ready?  Let's go!

 

I started with a base card of Gumball Green measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" Whisper White.  It is attached to the base with runner adhesive.  The final layer on top is a 4" x 5 1/4" Daffodil Delight.  I ran this piece through my big shot using an impression folder who's name escapes me right now but is not a Stampin' Up! folder.  Once embossed, I attached it with the same runner adhesive.  Then it was time for the shamrock.

 

I used Whisper White and Gumball Green card stock to make my 4 leaf clover.  I wanted it to be a lucky clover so it had to have 4 leaves.  I started by cutting out 4 white scallop hearts using my scallop heart embosslit and big shot.  Then I punched out 4 Gumball hearts with the full heart punch.  I carefully placed these inside the scallop heart embosslit being sure it did not reach the edges.  I attached these to the white hearts using runner adhesive.  The stem of the shamrock is just a scrap of Gumball Green that I cut free hand.  I glued the stem to the card with liquid glue.  I then placed and attached the petals to the card using dimensionals.  The center of the shamrock is made with circle punches.  I punched a white 1 1/4" circle and added dazzling diamond glitter to the edge of it using my 2 way glue pen.  Next I added a 1" circle of green with runner adhesive to that.  The final layer is a 3/4" circle in white.  I stamped this little shamrock I had and heat embossed it using Wild Wasabi embossing powder.  It is attached to the green with runner adhesive.  The finished center piece was attached to the card using a dimensional.  

 

My greeting comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I stamped it onto white using Gumball Green ink and punched it out with the modern label punch.  I brushed the edges with Daffodil Delight and layered it onto a Gumball Green modern label.  The finished piece was attached to the card using dimensionals.

The final touch to this card is the rhinestones.  I added these after I had the shamrock and greeting secured down.  I just felt the background need a little pizzazz!!  

Well that is all I have for you today.  I hope you come by tomorrow and see what I have for you.  Thanks for dropping by today!!!

Think Spring

It's fantastic Friday as well as the first day of February.  Welcome to you all.  I am happy to report that I am finally back in my craft room regularly.  It is so nice to sit and craft and relax.  Here in Phoenix, AZ we are experiencing the temperature slowly rising up.  We have had a few days that felt truly like winter, and when it rained for 3 days in a row it was really like winter.  Well now we are heading back into the 70's.  Soon it will be the 80's and past that I don't even want to think about. 

So to put me in a springtime mood, I wanted to do a card that felt light with muted colors.  I used several new items from the spring catalog on this one so I hope you like it.  Here we go.

 

I started with a base card of So Saffron cut at 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  I added a layer of Whisper White that measures 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  For the final layer, I cut a piece of Old Olive card stock at 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this through the big shot using the new Vine Street impression folder.  Now this folder is available through the Sale-a-bration promotion going on currently.  For every $50 you spend on products from the regular or spring catalog you get to select one product from the Sale-a-bration catalog.  I love the look of this folder.  All layers were attached to the bottom base card using runner adhesive.  I added gem stones to the corners just to dress it up a little.

 

The next feature I added to the card was the adorable pinwheels.  Now I made a pinwheel card a few years ago.  I cut a piece of designer paper into a square, cut from the corners towards the center and punched little holes in the folded in pieces to attach them.  Well the spring catalog gives us a product that will do everything for you so all you do is fold in the pieces and attached them together with a brad.  It is a Sizzix Sizzlit die called Pinwheel.  This is used with your handy Big Shot machine.  I was so excited to get this one so that I could make more and more pinwheels.  Let me show you the other one.

 

This one is made using the same die.  I used a retired designer series paper set I had to make these.  The pole for the one above is So Saffron while this one is Baja Breeze.  I used an antique looking brad in the center of each to hold the pinwheel together.  The poles were attached using a glue dot.  I then attached these to the card with a 2 way glue pen on the pole and another glue dot up at the pinwheel.

 

When I think of spring, I think of butterflies.  It just makes sense to me.  So I had to put a couple on this card.  I used Whisper White card stock to make these.  The large one is punched out using the Elegant Butterfly punch and the smaller one is punched out using the new Bitty Butterfly punch in the spring catalog.  Once they were punched out, I ran them through the big shot using the impression folder Flower Garden.  I attached them to the card using liquid glue.  This is just put along the center of the butterfly body to attach it to the card.  I then added rhinestones to the center of each butterfly forming the body on top.

 

Last but certainly not least is the greeting.  I chose to make this one a thank you card so I used the "Thanks" stamp from the stamp set Perfect Punches.  I inked the stamp first with VersaMark ink and then with So Saffron.  I stamped this onto Whisper White and added clear embossing powder to it.  Once it was heat embossed, I punched it out using the scallop oval punch.  I attached it to the card using dimensionals.

Well that's all I have for today.  I will be back on Monday with something new to share so please stop by then.  Have a wonderful and safe weekend and thanks for stopping by today.

And We're Off!!!

Hello everyone and a big Happy New Year to you all!!!  I have really missed blogging and spending time with you all each and every day.  It is also nice to get back into the craft room and play with all my stuff.

My family had a wonderful Christmas.  We had a Christmas Eve dinner with some of our family, spent Christmas morning with our girls and their guys and had all our other family over for Christmas night to play games and have dessert.  It was a lot of fun.  My husband and I also did something different this year.  We always do a Christmas breakfast so that our girls can have one meal with us.  Then we just eat sandwiches or something easy for dinner.  Well this year, we went out to dinner.  Now I did not do this to support businesses being open.  The restaurant we went to is one of our favorites and we went because one of our favorite waitresses was going to be working.  We wanted to visit her and spend time letting her know how much we appreciate her.  It was truly a nice experience and I think it will become a tradition for us as long as the restaurant is open.

The biggest excitement for us over the holiday was celebrating our youngest daughter, Kaitlyn.  She finished all her pharmacy tech classes as well as her externship meaning she is an official licensed pharmacy tech.  But the most exciting thing is she got a job in her field.  We are so happy for her and know she will be a success.

Now onto the card.  Since Kaitlyn was going to be starting a new job, she had to give up a job she has had for 2 years.  She wanted to give a few of the people she had worked with a thank you card for all their support throughout her schooling.  Today's card is the one I made for her to give out.  So let's get started shall we.

 

I started with a base card of Daffodil Delight cut at 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  Next I cut Whisper White card stock to be 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".  Along the 4 1/4" side, I used the retired eyelet border punch and punched the pretty border you see.  I edged it with Daffodil Delight ink.  Once it was completely decorated I attached it to the base using runner adhesive.  I lined the one straight edge up with the top of the card as I was attaching it.  The background on this card was made using the Daffodil Delight ink and a daisy stamp I picked up a couple of years ago at a local craft store.  

 

For the greeting of this one, I used the Perfectly Penned stamp set.  I inked the stamp with VersaMark ink and then with Daffodil Delight ink.  I heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  I love the overall look of this stamp set.  

 

For the focal point of the card, I took a scrap of Whisper White card stock and stamped more daisies on it using the Daffodil Delight ink.  I used my colored pencils and colored in the petals with a golden yellow and the center with orange.  I then cut the daisies out using my small scissors.  I added some Dazzling Diamond glitter to the tips of the petals and an orange puffy dot sticker to the center.  To attach it to the card, I used a dimensional.  

Well that is all I have for today.  I will be back tomorrow with another card to share with you all.  Please stop by and see me.  Thanks for dropping by today!!!

A More Religious Christmas Card

Welcome to Wednesday!!!!!  I thought I would share another Christmas card with you today.  I received a request for a religious card from a friend.  She wanted me to design and make a total of 15 for her.  I was more than happy to do that.  So let me show you the card and we will get started.

 

I started with a base card of Always Artichoke card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I then cut a piece of Crumb Cake card stock at 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this piece through my big shot using the top note die.  I set the top note aside and kept the frame to attach to my card.  I stamped a star on it from the retired stamp set Holy Family using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Once embossed, I attached it to the base card using runner adhesive.

 

Here is a close up of the embossed Crumb Cake card stock.  It adds a little design to the edges of the card but is not so overpowering that it detracts from the main image.  Let's move on to the main piece now.

 

 To begin the main piece of my card front, I took a piece of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Very Vanilla card stock and ran it through my big shot using the top note die.  This time I kept the top note and set the frame aside for future use.  I trimmed the top note along the perforated line to make it a little smaller so it would fit into the top note hole cut from the Crumb Cake.  For the center piece of my card front, I used the image from the retired set Holy Family and stamped it onto the vanilla top note using VersaMark ink.  I also stamped the star onto this top note using the VersaMark ink.  I then heat embossed the image using gold embossing powder.  This gold is called Gold Ice because it shines with glitter when embossed.  Love it!!!  I then took a gold brad and placed it into the center of the star and brushed the edges with Always Artichoke ink.  The image was attached to the card in the top note opening using dimensionals.

I was really happy with how this turned out.  You never know when you emboss an image how it will look until you do it.  I took a chance on this one and it paid off.  Now I just need to get the others finished!

Thanks for stopping by today and please come back tomorrow to see what I can make to share.  See you then!!

Let's Trim the Tree Shall We

Well it's Wednesday and while most of you might be looking forward to it, I am not.  It is my day to go to the doctor for my check up and that means they draw blood.  I am not scared of the needle or anything like that, it's just the last few times I have gone, I ended up with bruising from the blood draw.  I just do not like how it makes me hurt.  Luckily my doctor is an okay guy and seeing him does not bother me but it also does not thrill me ( no offense doc ).  So believe me when I tell you the card I made for today is one that gave me something to look forward to doing - Christmas tree decorating.  Let me share with you my creation (that will make me happy too).

 

This card just sparkles!!!!  I started with a base card of Garden Green cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I then focused on cutting my other layers for this one.  The bottom Whisper White layer measures 3 3/4" x 4 3/4" while the top one is 2 3/4" x 3 3/4".  For the middle layer I cut a piece of the shimmer red glitter card stock to be 3 1/4" x 4 1/4".  Before I layered these together,  I added some glue using my 2 way glue pen to the edge of the bottom white layer.  I added Dazzling Diamond glitter to this.  The glue was about a 1/2" wide strip down each side.  I wanted to be sure it stood out behind the red.  The red is attached to the white using runner adhesive.  For the top white layer, I attached it to the red using runner adhesive and a glue dot in each corner after I edged it with Cherry Cobbler ink and had stamped the tree on it.  The entire layered piece is attached to the base card with runner adhesive also. 

 

Prior to adhering the layered piece to the base card, I wanted to add a little design onto it.  I knew there would be about a 1/2" exposed on each side and felt it needed a little something to enhance it.  I took out one of my retired stamp sets called Christmas Punch and used the snowflake punch from it.  I stamped this image using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  

 

Finally we get to the tree.  The stamp is a current one called Star Tree.  I started by stamping the image using VersaMark and Garden Green ink.  I inked the stamp first with the VersaMark and then with the Garden Green so I could heat emboss it.  I described this technique in detail this past Monday so you can refer to that post if you need.  I used a clear embossing powder on this and heat embossed it to enhance the color.  I then added red, green and clear rhinestones to the tree for decorations.  Finally I used the star punch from the Merry Minis punch pack and punched a star out of the shimmer champagne glitter card stock.  I attached it to the top of the tree using a dimensional.  

This is  a simple card but I had fun making it.  I sure hope it inspired you with your card making too.

Well that's all for today.  I am going to do my best to have a card for you tomorrow.  However, I must tell you my doctor runs notoriously late most of the time.  I have sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half past my appointment time waiting to be seen and then had to wait another half hour in the exam room before he came in to see me.  So while I do intend to have a card, there is a slight possibility that I will run out of time today.  After all, once I see him I have to go wait at the on sight lab to have my blood drawn and who knows how many people will be ahead of me!!  

Thanks for dropping by today and I will do my best to see you all tomorrow!!!

Trick or Treat Bow-Wow

It's Thursday!!!!  This week has gone by so quickly.  The wonderful thing about this week is I have had a lot of time to spend with my husband.  He is gone so much with his work and teaching that any time we can get is wonderful.

For my share today, I decided to make another Halloween card.  Although it might be hard to believe this card was inspired by my laundry.  That's right I said my laundry.  I was folding and hanging up clothes and happened upon one of my Halloween shirts.  On it was a very cute kitty.  Seeing this cat got me to thinking that so much of Halloween is centered around cats.  Now I like cats.  We don't own one because my husband is highly allergic to them.  We do however have a dog.  I realized I wanted to do something to bring a doggy into Halloween.  Of course that was all I needed to get me started on a card.  Here is the card I came up with:

 

Isn't he cute?!!!  I started my card by using a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock, scored at 5 1/2".  I added a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Basic Black.  It is attached using runner adhesive.  for my top layer I started with a piece of Basic Gray measuring 4" x 5 1/4".  I sponged it with a little Basic Black ink so it would dull it a little.  I punched a moon out of Very Vanilla using the 1 1/4" circle punch  and attached it to the card using runner adhesive.  I then used my XL big shot die that you use to make those beautiful rosettes and cut out a strip of Chocolate Chip card stock on the end with the picket fence looking boards.  I bent each slat on the crease just a little and brushed it with Chocolate Chip ink to add some texture.  I attached this using runner adhesive and trimmed off any excess that hung over the edges and attached the entire piece to the card with the same adhesive.  Then it was time to create the scene. 

 

For the greeting of this one, I used a stamp I bought several years ago at a local craft store.  I stamped it at the top using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it using a Halloween embossing powder.  It is simply black powder with some orange glitter in it.  Next, I used the retired bat punch and punched a bat out of Basic Black.  I then added black glitter to it using my 2 way glue pen.  It is attached to the card with dimensionals.  For the pumpkin bucket, I punched a 1 3/8" circle out of Pumpkin Pie card stock.  I trimmed the top off to make it flat.  I then took a scrap of black and punched out a small oval using the retired small oval punch and then punched around that hole using the large oval punch.  I used a cartridge for my Cricut machine called Paper Pups and cut 4 bones out of vanilla card stock.  I brushed the edges of these with a little Crumb Cake ink and glued them to the bucket using a 2 way glue pen.  I then used the same adhesive to glue the handle on.  I added some orange glitter glue stripes to my bucket and attached it to the card using dimensionals.  

 

Now let's talk about the star of the card.  I was going to dress my dog as a pumpkin but thought a pirate would be more fun.  To make the dog body parts, I used punches.  I used the owl builder punch for the eyes of this guy punching them out of black and white as you can see.  I added a little white gel pen to them.  For the ears and nose, I used Early Espresso card stock.  The ears are made with the large oval punch and the nose is the small heart from the retired heart to heart punch.  Again I added some white gel pen to it for character.  His head, muzzle, arms, and feet are made out of Crumb Cake card stock.  All of these pieces were sponged on the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  The head is a 1 3/4" circle punch.  The muzzle is the full heart turned upside down.  I used my chocolate marker to add the line and dots to the muzzle.  The arms are made using the wide heart from the retired heart to heart punch while the feet are 3/4" circles that have been trimmed to be flat on the bottom.  I added some black marker to make his toes.

For the pirate outfit, I once again turned to my Cricut machine for help.  I used the cartridge called Paper Doll Dress Up for this one.  I used Chocolate Chip for the shorts, Cherry Cobbler for the shirt and Basic Black for the hat and mustache.  I did have to modify my pieces a little to make them look right on my dog.  I sponged the shirt with a little black ink and added black stripes using my black marker.  I added the cuts at the bottom of the shirt too.  The pants had to be trimmed down just a little.  I added some gold glitter glue to the hat to add some dazzle to it.  

Now I will tell you, I do not dress up my real pet dog for the holiday.  I husband would have a fit.  He thinks all those costumes for animals are just plain silly.  So it is fun to make cards like this one where I can dress up my animal.  

Well that is all I have for you today.  I am so glad you decided to stop by and spend a little time visiting.  I hope you will return tomorrow to see what I have for you.  Do something creative today and have fun doing it!!  See you tomorrow!!

Patchwork Halloween

Welcome to a brand new week.  Isn't it funny how weekends seem to fly by?  Where does the time go?  I spent a fun day on Saturday with my youngest and my sister.  We went to an event to raise money for my husband's charity.  It was a shopping event so of course we had a lot of fun looking at everything.  I did find time to work on a few card ideas so I do have a fun card to share with you.  Let's just jump right in and get started.

 

When I started this card, I was actually planning on putting different punch art items on it.  However, once I laid the background down, I found it was too busy for my art.  So I have saved that for another day.  I did like the look of this card so I just created a design to go along with it.  

I started this card with a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Gumball Green card stock.  It is scored at 5 1/2".  Next I pulled out scrap pieces of Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant and Basic Black card stock.  I punched 1 1/4" squares from these, three of each color.  Next I laid them in a random pattern and adhered them to the base card using runner adhesive.  Once they were secured down, I pulled the circle and the plus looking flower punch from the itty bitty punch pack and punched circles out of black and flowers out of green.  I outlined the outer sides with the circles and placed the flowers in the center where corners of the squares meet.  I adhered them using my 2 way glue pen.  I added large pearls to the four outer corners, small pearls to all the other circles and rhinestones to the flowers.

 

The stamps I chose to use for this card are all Halloween stamps I have picked up over the years.  On the daffodil squares I stamped a moon with a bat using Basic Black ink.  I added yellow glitter glue to this.  Next I stamped a pumpkin onto the pumpkin squares using Basic Black ink and added orange and  green glitter glue to the image.  I did add yellow glitter glue to the eyes, nose and mouth but it is hard to see in the photo.

 

On the eggplant squares, I went with a witches hat stamp and stamped it with black ink.  I added a lime green glitter glue to the hat band and purple glitter glue to the hat.  For the black squares, I knew an image would not show up as well if stamped with regular ink.  So instead, I stamped this image with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it using black embossing powder.  Since it has a bit of a shiny look to it, I did not add any glitter glue.  

Think of this card as a sample of how to turn a mistake into a workable project.  After all as I said before, I laid the pattern down and adhered it to the base card and then decided it would not work for the card I wanted.  I am glad I came up with another idea and was able to make it work for this one.  

Well that is all for today.  I hope you have a wonderful Monday.  Please come back tomorrow for another card.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Another Medallion Card

Happy Monday to you all.  I want to start by welcoming in the month of October.  Halloween is invading my home as we speak but my husband is thrilled it is finally time.  I also want to thank all of you who came to the Saturday crop at my home.  I enjoyed spending time with you all and crafting for a day.  I will be planning another one soon so if you missed this one I hope you can make it to the next.

While I was busy crafting at the crop, I was asked to help with a birthday card.  I had just finished those beautiful thank you cards using the new medallion stamps set I bought and decided to use it for the birthday card too.  So here is the card I made:

As you can see, I used the same pattern as the thank you card but changed the theme and color scheme.  I started with a base of Midnight Muse card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  Next I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock at 4" x 5 1/4" and ran it through my big shot using the Lacy Brocade impression folder.  I attached this to the base using runner adhesive and set it aside while I worked on the medallion.

To make my medallion, I selected the four largest stamps from the stamp set Daydream Medallions.  I stamped 2 on Midnight Muse card stock - the bottom one and the second from the top.  I did this using VersaMark ink and then heat embossed it using white embossing powder.  Next, I stamped the other 2 onto Whisper White card stock.  Now I wanted these to be the Midnight Muse color but also wanted to emboss them.  Since I did not have embossing powder that color I chose to do a little different technique.  I took each stamp and ink it first with VersaMark ink.  Then I took the stamp with the VersaMark ink on it and immediately inked it using the Midnight Muse ink.  Do not stamp in between the two inks.  You want them layered on the stamp.  Once both colors are on the stamp, stamp the image onto the white card stock.  Use clear embossing powder to heat emboss the image.  The nice thing about this technique is you can emboss any color you want.  

Once they were all embossed, I pulled out the big shot and the Floral Frame framelits.  I cut out the medallions using the framelits.  Once they were all cut out, I layered them together using runner adhesive.  I added a white brad to the center of the medallion and then attached it to the card using a glue dot in the center and runner adhesive over the rest of it.

For the greeting, I turned to my Create A Cupcake stamp set.  I stamped the greeting onto Whisper White card stock using Midnight Muse ink.  I then punched it out using the large oval punch.  I layered this onto a scallop oval punched out of Midnight Muse using runner adhesive.  It was then attached to the card using dimensionals.

Now I was fairly productive this weekend at the crop so I have other cards to share with you already prepared.  I will return tomorrow to share one of them with you.  Thanks so much for dropping by today to spend some time with me.  See you all tomorrow.