The Long Day

Hi everybody and happy Wednesday to you all.  Boy was yesterday a long day for everyone in my home.  My daughter has to be to work by 5am every day so she is always up by 3 to have plenty of time to get ready and to drive there.  But yesterday, even my husband had to be up at 2:30am.  He had a memorial service to attend for a sheriff's deputy who was killed in the line of duty one year ago.  They held a special gathering at the place and time where he was killed, then he had to attend school all day.  Well I don't know about you but once everyone in my house is up and moving, I too seem to get up and cannot stand to stay in bed and sleep.  So I got up myself by 3:30 and got to work on the laundry.  By last night, we were all tired.  Luckily we went to bed early.

 I was also lucky that I worked hard in the morning and finished my share for you.  Today's card is one I made for my husband's fire chief to celebrate his birthday.  I think I will just show it to you and get started.

 

I started with a base card of Real Red card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Whisper White measuring 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  I attached it using runner adhesive.  For the final layer, I chose Night of Navy.  Yes I went for the red white and blue theme.  Anyway, I cut the navy to be 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this piece through the big shot using the stripes impression folder.  Once embossed I sprayed it using my champagne shimmer spray.  Once it dried, I attached it to the card with the runner adhesive.

 

To make the fire helmet, I used Whisper White and Basic Black card stock.  Believe it or not, I used my Cricut machine and a cartridge called Create A Critter.  Doesn't sound like it would have a fire helmet does it?  However, one of the critter's is a dalmatian dog.  I have actually used him before on a card.  Anyway, I cut the helmet out of white because that is the color of the chief's hat.  I cut the badge out of black.  Once both pieces were cut, I glued the badge on using a liquid glue.  The number one pieces is cut out from the badge by the Cricut.  I filled in the hole left by it with liquid glue and then added the gold glitter.  I used my Basic Black marker to draw on the black line and to write the word CHIEF on it.  It is attached to the card with a dimensional.

 

 For the focal point, I decided I wanted to make a Maltese cross.  I cut it out of Real Red card stock.  I added a 2 1/2" Night of Navy circle to the center of this.  I took my retired Voila stamp set and stamped the Happy Birthday using Real Red ink.  I punched this out using the 1 3/4" circle and sponged the edges with the red ink.  I added this to the navy circle.  These were all adhered together using runner adhesive.  I then used my 2 way glue pen and added the stripes to the red and sprinkled on red glitter.  Once finished, I attached the entire piece to the card with a runner adhesive and a few strategically placed glue dots.  I added some rhinestones to this to jazz it up a little.

I sure do hope that today is more of a normal day than yesterday.  I plan on it being which should give me plenty of time and energy to work on my card for tomorrow.  I am so glad you stopped by today.  Please come back tomorrow to see what I will have to show you.  See you all then!!!!

Dapper Dog Returns

Happy Thursday everyone!!  Did you know today is Santa Claus' birthday?  Well it is so Happy Birthday Santa!!!!  I do hope the elves give Santa some time out of the toy factory today. 

Today's card features an old friend of ours, Dapper Dog.  Remember him?  I have made him with a top hat and cane, as a grilling chef, and as a pirate.  He is an easy punch art animal to make and it is fun to dress him up.  So I bet you know who I made him as for Christmas!!  Here is the card for you to see.

 

Doesn't he make a nice Santa?  I started this card with a base of Cherry Cobbler cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  Next I added a layer of Whisper White card stock measuring 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  It is attached with runner adhesive.  For the top layer, I chose to use a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Always Artichoke.  I ran this piece through my big shot using the holly impression folder and then sprayed it with my champagne shimmer spray.  Once it was dry, I attached it to the card using runner adhesive.  

 

 

I will run quickly through the dog since I have made him before and do not want to bore you.  I started by selecting my card stock colors to use.  They are:  Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Basic Black and Champaign Glimmer.  The punches I used to make him are as follows:

Hat - blossom builder punch

Ears - large oval punch

Head - 1 3/4" circle punch

Muzzle - full heart punch

Arms/Nose - retired heart to heart punch

Body - wide oval punch

Feet - 3/4" circle punch (flatten on bottom)

Fur Trim - scallop oval; I punched this along the edge of card stock and cut it to fit

Eyes - 1/2" circle and the circle from the itty bitty punch pack

Eyebrows - retired horizontal slot punch

The belt and strip down the center of his coat are scraps of card stock and the buckle was cut free hand.  I used the Early Espresso to add features to his muzzle and feet, and white gel pen for the eyes and hat.  Dazzling Diamond glitter was added to all fur.  All pieces are attached together using liquid glue.  I attached the head and body to the card using glue dots and added the muzzle with dimensionals.

 

I wanted to give him a sack so I made one on my own.  I used Cherry Cobbler card stock for this.  The body of the bag is a 1 3/4" circle trimmed to the shape I wanted.  The top of the bag is from the stocking builder punch and is attached to the bag using liquid glue.  I added a piece of elastic silver cord to the bag because Santa's bag has to stay closed while he travels.  I wrote by hand the greeting using a gold marker and added some pretty red rhinestones to the background to complete my look.

Once one more day of the week and we will reach another weekend.  I am so happy you chose to spend some time with me today.  Please come back tomorrow to see what I have.  Thanks for dropping by today!!  

Back To Christmas

Hi everyone and welcome to Tuesday.  I have decided that while I will work on some Thanksgiving cards in the next few weeks, I want to also work on some Christmas cards too.  You cannot believe how excited I am that I will soon have all my Christmas decorations out.  I love love love Christmas!!

Today's card has a simple elegance about it.  I tried not to go overboard but did have to add a little dazzle to it.  So let me show you the card and we will go from there!!

 

I made a fireplace card last year that had stockings hanging from it.  I really liked it and wanted to try my hand at another one.  I started with a base card of Riding Hood Red.  I cut it to be 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  Next I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock to measure 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this piece through my big shot using the Lacy Brocade impression folder.  I attached this piece to the base card using runner adhesive.  For my fireplace, I took a piece of Riding Hood Red and ran it through the big shot using an impression folder called Bricks.  I also ran a piece of Basic Gray through using the same impression folder.  I free hand cut out the fireplace so I really do not have exact measurements for it.  I wanted the opening of the fire to have a back so I took a piece of Basic Black, cut it slightly bigger than my opening, sprayed it with Champagne Shimmer Spray and attached it using the runner adhesive.  I cut the gray piece to make a little side wall for the fireplace.  I attached the entire fireplace and the wall to the card with the runner adhesive.   I added a few green rhinestones to the background just for fun.

 

To make my fire, I started with a piece of Early Espresso and ran it through the big shot using the Woodgrain impression folder.  I then punched out 3 logs using the word window punch.  I trimmed a little off one end of each log so they would fit in the fireplace.  The flames were made using Daffodil Delight card stock and the blossom builder punch.  I punched out 3 of the long petals and 4 of the small wide ones.  I edged them with Tangerine Tango ink to add a little more color to them.  I started attaching all the pieced to the fire by placing the 3 large flames first, then the 4 small flames and the 3 logs.  All of the pieces were attached to the fireplace using a 2 way glue pen.  

 

I wanted to put something on the mantel of the fireplace and decided a nice holly spray with a candle would look good.  I apologize that the photo is a little blurry.  The leaves of the holly spray are made from Garden Green card stock and punched using the bird builder punch.  Just punch the top of the branch several times and layer them to make the spray.  I used a 2 way glue pen to attach my leaves to the card.  I then took a small piece of silver shimmer glitter card stock and used it for my candle.  I attached a very slim piece of Basic Black for the wick and used my cupcake builder punch to punch out the Daffodil Delight flame.  The wick, flame and candle were adhered together with the glue pen and then attached to the card using the same adhesive.   I added some red rhinestones to the spray to represent holly berries. 

 

For me, the fireplace still looked a little bare and I wanted to have a greeting on the card so I decided to make a garland using circles and have it spell out my greeting.  I started by stamping the letters onto Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink.  The stamp set I used is an alphabet set I picked up several years ago at a craft store.  Next I heat embossed the letters using silver embossing powder.  Now I will admit, I think I would use a different color of card stock or embossing powder next time.  I feel the garland blends in with the background a little.  Oh well.  Once the letters were embossed, I punched them out using the circle from the itty bitty punch pack.  I attached them to the fireplace using glue dots.  I made sure to have a blank one between the words so you could see them easily.  Of course it could not just be blank so I added a red rhinestone to the blank one. 

I am so ready for the holiday season to be here.  I just love all the traditions we have and look forward to being with my family.  Well that is all I have for you today.  I will be back tomorrow with another card to share with you.  Thanks for dropping by today and I will see you all tomorrow.   

Chomp Chomp

Hi everyone and welcome to Wednesday.  Yesterday was my wonderful husband's birthday.  Today I want to share the card I made for him with all of you.  He is a big video game fan.  While he plays his XBox and Wii most of the time, he is a fan of some of the older games too.  You know the ones I am talking about - Frogger, Pac Man, etc.  So while I could have chosen a game that is newer to base a card on, I went with one based on one of the older games.  I first saw a card similar to this on on Pinterest.  It was made by Dany Piepgrass.  I will link you to her blog a little later on.  For now let's look at my card shall we.

 

I started this card with a base card of Pacific Point card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  Next I cut a piece of Basic Black to be 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  I sprayed it with my champagne shimmer spray and attached it to the card using runner adhesive.  Then it was time to make the border of my play screen.  To do this I used the Pacific Point card stock once again and my word window punch.  I punched 2 windows for each corner and attached them using the runner adhesive.

 

For my ghosts, I turned to one of my favorite punches - the owl builder.  I punched an owl out of Tempting Turquoise and Real Red.  Simply cut the feet off and turn him upside down and you will have a ghost.  They too are attached with runner adhesive.  Now they have to watch for Pac Man so they needed some eyes.  I chose to use googly eyes for these guys.  I loved the fact that the red ghost's eyes were a little crazy looking for the picture.  It just gave him character.  My eyes were not self adhesive so I attached them using glue dots.  These cute little ghosts are attached to the card using runner adhesive.

For the greeting, I used a stamp I bought years ago from a craft store.  I stamped it on Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I punched it out with my word window punch.  It was attached to a piece of Pacific Point card stock with runner adhesive and attached to the card with the same adhesive.

 

For Pac Man, I punched a 1 1/4" circle out of Daffodil Delight.  I then used my scissors to cut out a small piece for his mouth.  He is also attached using the runner adhesive.  For the dots that Pac Man eats, I used those white sparkly balls that I picked up at my local craft store.  I placed them randomly on the card.  I used glue dots to attach all these to the card.

All in all this was a fun card to make and to look at and my husband loved it!!  Now that you have seen mine, let me share Dany's site so you can see hers.  Click here to visit her site.  

I hope you enjoyed this card.  I will be back tomorrow with another one to share with you.  I do hope you will drop by to see it.  Until then, thanks for stopping by today!!

A Change for the Go Go Girls

Hello everyone and happy Thursday.  I have been busy busy busy this week with card requests and am having a lot of fun making all of them.  I thought I would let you in on my fun by sharing some of the cards with you.  The one I am sharing today was made for my sister's friend.  My first thought was to use cupcakes on the card.  Well as all creative people have experienced, my thought took a slight turn and the design morphed into something else.  Ready to see it?

Ta Da!!!!  Aren't they cute?!  I was thinking about the go go girls while planning the card and was going to try to use one on it.  All of a sudden, this idea popped into my head.  But I don't want to get ahead of myself so let's start at the beginning.  

I started with a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" base card of Elegant Eggplant.  It is scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Basic Black onto it with runner adhesive.  This piece was cut to be 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  For the top layer, I used a piece of Pink Pirouette card stock cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  I started this piece by using a swirl stamp and stamping it using VersaMark ink.  I then heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  Once it cooled I ran it through the big shot using the music notes impression folder.  Now you would think I had done enough to this piece but no.  I had to spray it with my frosted shimmer spray.  Once dry, I attached it to the base using runner adhesive.  I added some pink and purple rhinestones to this piece after the girls and greeting were attached.

Now let's look at the go go girl who is now a cupcake girl.  I started by using my cupcake builder punch and punching out the pieces of the cupcake.  I used a designer paper I picked up for the bottom of the cake and ran it through my crimper.  I then punched out the frosting of the cake from shimmer white card stock.  I glued these together using liquid glue.  Next I punched the face out of the retired Blushing Bride card stock using the 3/4" circle punch.  I then punched a 1" circle around the 3/4" hole and cut it into 5 pieces for the neck, arms, and legs.  I also punched a 1" circle out of Soft Suede and cut it in half to use as the bangs for the girls.  The back of the hair is from the owl builder punch.  I punched it using the Soft Suede, cut the feet off and turned him upside down.  The nose also come from the owl builder as well as the boots and hands.  The headband is a 1" circle punched just offset from a 3/4" circle hole using the designer paper.  I then punched a glimmer red cherry out using the cupcake builder punch to top it off.  All pieces were assembled together using liquid glue and the finished girls are attached to the card using dimensionals.  I added pink and purple rhinestones to the frosting for decoration.

I wanted to be sure you got to see both girls but the focus of this photo is really the greeting.  This greeting is from the stamp set Perfect Punches.  I stamped it using Elegant Eggplant ink onto shimmer white card stock and punched it out with the wide oval.  I brushed the edges with a sponge and the eggplant ink.  It is attached to the card using dimensionals and of course it had to have rhinestones too.

For the inside I chose a stamp from the stamp set A Word For You.  I stamped it using the same Elegant Eggplant ink onto Whisper White card stock.  It is attached to the card using runner adhesive.  I then punched out several cherries from the glimmer red card stock with the cupcake builder punch.  I attached them around the saying using my 2 way glue pen.

Well I am off to start working on the next request.  I will have another card to share with you tomorrow so please come back by.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Christmas Flower

Happy Tuesday to you all!!  Today's post is going to be short and to the point.  No boring stories.  The flower most people associate with Christmas is the Poinsettia.  I made some of these last year and decided to make them again this year.  So here is the card I created using one of these flowers.

You may remember this flower from last year but who says you cannot use the same punch art again on a different design?  I started this with a base card of Real Red card stock.  I cut this to measure 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  Next I added a layer of Garden Green card stock cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this through my big shot using the Holly impression folder.  I sprayed it with my champagne shimmer spray and attached it to the base card using runner adhesive.  For the final layer, I took a piece of Whisper White card stock and ran it through the big shot using the new impression folder from the Holiday catalog called Holiday Frame.  Once the card stock was embossed, I took my sponge and my Real Red ink and brushed it over the design.  I then cut it out and attached it to the green using runner adhesive.  

To add a little something to the holly leaves, I decided to place pearls where the berries would be.  Now I know berries are usually red, but I did not feel like coloring mine.  I did look for some red rhinestones but did not see any that would work.  Most of the time red rhinestones have a red/orange color to them.  I am just not fond of that.  You can alcohol ink diamond like rhinestones but again I just did not want to.  Guess I was being lazy!!

Finally we get to the poinsettia itself.  I used 2 colors of card stock making this.  The first is Daffodil Delight. I punched a 1/2" circle out of this color for the center of the flower.  The rest of the flower uses Real Red card stock.  I used the blossom petals builder punch.  I used the long thin petal to make the entire flower.  I first punched a 1 1/4" circle out of red to build the petals on.  I then punched out 14 petals for the flower.  I placed these and the center circle (yellow) into the Snow Burst impression folder and ran them through the big shot.  Once impressed, I sprayed the petals with the champagne shimmer spray and then it was time to build the flower.  I used 7 petals for the bottom layer.  I used a liquid glue to attach these to the circle.  Make sure to have the points meet in the middle and leave space between each petal.  Then you are ready to layer the top.  You do the same method making sure to offset these according to the bottom layer so your flower has a nice full look.  Once all petals are adhered with the liquid glue, use the same glue to attach the yellow center to the flower.  I wanted to tie mine in with the other parts of the card so I added a large pearl to the center.  Allow you flower to dry completely and then attach it to the card using a dimensional.

Give this one a try.  It is super easy and I am sure you can design a beautiful Christmas card with it.  I will return tomorrow with another card to share with you.  Until then, thanks for stopping by today.  

Old Friend, New Look

Well, all my excitement over having the internet fixed was short lived.  It started acting up once again on Friday evening.  So this time, we called our provider and had them come out on Saturday to test everything. They are pretty sure they have isolated the problem and solved it.  Now we just surf the net and see what happens.  Cross you fingers.  I really want this to work.

Yesterday was an okay day for me.  It was my brother's birthday and while I shed a tear or two at his not being here, I also rejoiced thinking about the amazing party he was probably having in Heaven.  I miss him everyday and miss spending time with him.  He was taken too soon by my thoughts but I know it is God's timeline that counts.  Doesn't make it any easier to accept but I can be assured he is in a wonderful place now.

For my card today, I turned to a punch art character I learned to make from Ellen Kemper.  I made him a month or so ago.  He was the birthday card for my sister this year.  This time, I did the same character but put him in a holiday theme.  Let me show you the card and let's get started shall we.

I started with a base card of Cherry Cobbler measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  For the top layer of this one, I turned to my Garden Green card stock.  I cut it to measure 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran it through my big shot using an impression folder I picked up the other day at my local craft store.  It is called Holly.  I love the look it embosses and thought it was perfect for Christmas.  I sprayed this piece with my Champagne shimmer spray and attached it to the base using runner adhesive.  The words were cut out using my big shot and my decorative strip which is retired called Billboard.  I cut them out of shimmer silver card stock and attached them after Garfield was on using a liquid glue.  

I thought I would break Garfield down for you this time.  I think I sent you to Ellen's site last time.  For the Santa hat, I used the Blossom Petals Builder punch.  I used the largest petal with the scallop ends and the largest skinny petal.  These were punched from Real Red card stock.  I cut the scallop part off the large petal and then layered it on top of a scallop oval punched out of Whisper White.  I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the scallop oval prior to attaching the hat.  The other petal is attached coming out from the large scallop petal.  I attached a pom pom ball at the end of it and added Stickles green glitter glue to the hat for looks.  

Garfield's face is made using a wide oval circle.  I punched most of him out of Tangerine Tango card stock.  His eyelids are 1" circles trimmed down.  The white's of the eyes are 3/4" circles punched out of Whisper White card stock.  The under eye part is from the 3/4" circle and the cheeks are the circle from the itty bitty punch pack.  I punched both of these from So Saffron card stock.  The pink is a 1/4" circle punched out of Melon Mambo.  All pieces are attached to one another using liquid glue.  I added the black eyes and fur to him using a black marker.  Many of the pieces of him are also outlined with black.

For all of the pieces punched for the bottom half of him, I used the Tangerine Tango card stock.  The body is a 1 3/4" circle.  For the arms I used the retired heart to heart punch.  I used the wide heart from this for them.  His hand is the end of a modern label punch that I punched off using the 1/2" punch.  His tail is a large oval punched around the hole from the retired small oval punch.  His legs are word windows and his feet are retired small ovals.  Again I added the fur and toes using the black marker.  All these pieces were also put together using the liquid glue.  Once the entire body of Garfield was completed, I let it dry completely and then attached it to the card using dimensionals.

I think the only thing I might add to him is a candy cane in his hand.  I think it would look cute.  Otherwise, I like him very much.  

Well that's it for today.  I hope your week gets off to a good start.  I will be back tomorrow with another share for you.  Hope to see you all then.  Thanks for dropping by today!

Is It Fixed?

Happy Friday everyone.  Well after replacing our router, we found that it was not our problem since the internet continued to go in and out.  So we went to the next step and replaced the modem.  Luckily we could take the router we bought back and use the money towards the modem which is kind of pricey.   So far so good.  We have not lost the internet once since installing the new modem.  Cross you fingers that this is the fix.  I will be once happy person if it it.

I have another Christmas card to share with you today.  This one is very simple to make.  If you are looking for an easy idea, I hope this will inspire you.  Ready?  Let's go.

This one starts with a base card of Real Red cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  Next I cut a piece of Garden Green to measure 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran it through my big shot using an impression folder called Snowflakes.  I picked this one up at my local craft store.  Once embossed, I sprayed it using a Champagne shimmer spray and attached it to my card using runner adhesive.  I wanted to add a little something to the corners so I found these cute little dots that are covered in glitter.  I bought them several months ago at a craft store.  Since they are not self adhesive, I used glue dots to attach them to the corners.  I thought about adding some other gems or glitter glue to the card but chose not to .  I did not want to distract from the focal point.  

The stamp I chose for this card is one I really wanted to get from Stampin' Up! but failed to do so before it retired.  Luckily, my mother in law did buy it and has now passed it along to me.  The stamp was and individual one you could purchase called Christmas Postcard..  I stamped the image using a dark green StazOn ink.  While SU! only sells this ink in black, there are many shades of it.  I found this one years ago at the craft store and grabbed it.  It works well for all my greenery stamps.  It is stamped on a piece of Whisper White measuring 2 3/8" x 3 3/4". This is layered onto a 2 5/8" x 4" piece of Real Red using the runner adhesive.  I chose to use my colored pencils to color the image in.  I wanted the colors to stand out but also wanted the softness the colored pencils seem to produce.  

The bells on the stamped image actually have holly on them that I could have colored.  However, my daughter and I were out shopping in our favorite craft store a couple of weeks ago and came across these beautiful holly brads.  I did not realize at the time that they would fit perfectly onto this image.  Imagine my joy when I realized that and used them.  They add just a pop of shimmer without taking away from the overall appearance of the card.  I did think about adding some of those white glitter dots to the corner of this too but I really liked the look better without them.  

I kept this post short just in case the internet chose to act up.  I am happy to say that it allowed me to type an entire blog without going out once.  

I am so glad you chose to drop in today.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend.  Do something fun and creative if you can. I know I am going to try to have a little fun.  This month is a difficult one and the first hard day is this Sunday.  It is my brother's birthday.  I miss him tremendously but I know he would not want me to be sad.  He loved to laugh and joke around so I am going to do my best to honor him in that way.   I will return Monday with another share.  Please come back to see me then.  Thanks again for stopping in today!!

Internet Troubles Still At Work

Let me tell you I am truly frustrated with our internet right now.  It just goes in and out all day long.  We reboot the system and it works for a while, then it's gone again.  It is simply maddening trying to get anything done.  I work with a status box open on my desktop so I can see when the internet takes a vacation.  I really wish we could figure out what is causing the problem.

At least I am battling through these troubles to bring you another share.  I decided I would stick with the Christmas theme since Christmas makes me happy.  It just brightens up my mood.  Here is what I managed to come up with for you:

I decided to start with my favorite red, Cherry Cobbler.  I used this for the base card and cut it to be 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  Next, I took a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Garden Green card stock and ran it through my big shot using an impression folder called Evergreen.  I got this folder from craft store.  It just stood out to me.  I attached it to the base using the runner adhesive after I attached the greeting and the brad.  I added a few rhinestones to the background just for show but you could leave them off if you would like to.  

The greeting I chose to use for this one comes from the retired stamp set called Christmas Punch.  I stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink.  I sprinkled Cherry Cobbler embossing powder on it and heat embossed the image.  I punched it out using my wide oval punch.  I also punched a wide oval out of Cherry Cobbler and layered the embossed piece on top of it.  They are attached together using runner adhesive.  I also added a cute little stocking brad I happen to have.  I added this after attaching the greeting to the green card stock.  The brad was added to this before the green card stock was attached to the base.  

For my tree, I used a new stamp in the 2012 - 2013 catalog appropriately named Star Tree.  This is an individual stamp you can purchase.  I stamped the image onto Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink.  I then used an embossing powder called Green Tinsel I bought at a convention a few years ago.  It had a little glitter in it and is very pretty once embossed.  Yes it is heat embossed.  I cut my piece of Whisper White down to measure 2 3/8" x 3 1/2".  I used my corner rounder to round the corners of this and then edged it using my sponge and Garden Green ink.  I layer this on top of a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock cut at 2 5/8" x 3 3/4".  I rounded the corners of this with the corner rounder also.  I layered these together using my runner adhesive and attached them to the base card using the same runner adhesive.  Once all components were attached to the base, I sprayed the entire card front with my champagne shimmer spray so it will sparkle in the light.  

If all the stars align I will be back tomorrow with another share.  Maybe I will not be so frustrated but no promises.  I appreciate you patience with this.  I hope it is fixed soon.  Thanks for stopping by today.  

Inspiration By Pinterest

A couple of months ago, my oldest daughter introduced me to Pinterest.  I had no idea what it was but she assured me I would really like it.  Well, she was right.  I not only post my creations there but I find good recipes and inspiration for cards as well.  I will say you do need to set aside time to spend going through all of the things you can find there.  Trust me you can get lost for hours if you are not careful.

My share from today was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest by Peg Coombes.  When I saw her card, I immediately loved it and wanted to try it.  I have changed the theme of the card and the colors and decorations to suit my needs.  Let me show you what it looks like.

The part inspired by Peg is the actual piano.  We will get to that in a few minutes.  I chose to use a base card of Tempting Turquoise cut at 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  I knew I was making this for a birthday and wanted bright happy colors for it.  I added a layer of a white glitter card stock I found at a local craft store.  It is cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  To make the top layer of this card I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock cut at 3 3/4" x 5".  Then I took scraps of Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight and Gumball Green and cut strips measuring 1" x 3 3/4".  I adhered these side by side using runner adhesive.  I wanted to emboss it so I ran it through the big shot using a music note impression folder I got at my local craft store.  You have to put a little muscle into this when running it through since it is 2 layers thick.  I then sprayed it using my champagne shimmer spray.  All layers were adhered together using the runner adhesive.

Let's move on to the words on this one.  I know it is hard to see but I used the same white glitter card stock to cut out the letters.  I ran the pieces through my big shot using the Billboard letters die which is retired now.  These were adhered to the top of the piano using a liquid glue.  (Yes I know I was a little messy but it is hard to not get a little extra glue somewhere on the card.)  I also used a small music note punch I was given as a gift and punched out 3 of these from the same card stock.  They too are adhered using the same liquid glue.

Now lets talk about the piano itself.  I started by cutting a top note using my big shot and Basic Black card stock.  I actually cut 2 of these and then cut 1 of those in half.  Next I punched out word windows from Whisper White and Basic Black card stock.  I placed the white ones side by side across the top note and adhered them down with a runner adhesive.  Then I took the black ones and placed them to look like the upper keys on the piano.  These were also adhered with the runner adhesive.  Once these were all in place and securely fastened, I placed the half top note on the top of the piano and adhered it using the runner adhesive.  I sprayed this with the champagne shimmer spray also which you can see in the picture with the words really well.

I love this piano.  I certainly hope to use it again for another card.  Maybe I will do a holiday card with it.  If you have never been on Pinterest, I encourage you to go and take a look at it.  You will be pleased with the variety of topics and the creations you find there.

I wish all of you a nice weekend and I will return on Monday with another share.  Thank you so much for stopping by today.  See you later!!

  

  

30th Birthday

Happy Friday everyone.  And it is a Happy Birthday wish to one of my sister coworkers, Katie.  She turns the big 30 today but no worries.  It is not the end of the world.  I was asked to make a birthday card for her for the office to sign and present to her.  I was more than happy to do it.  I thought I would share it with you today since I think it turned out really cute.

I do not know why these little go go girls just make me smile. I also don't know why the theme to the Austin Powers movies was running through my head the entire time I was working on these.  Weird, huh?

 I wanted to make this card larger than I normally do so I started with a base card cut at 7" x10", scored at 5".  My color choice for this was Tempting Turquoise.  I then added a layer of Basic Black measuring 4 7/8" x 6 7/8" followed by a layer of Whisper White cut at 4 3/4" x 6 3/4".  All layers were adhered together with runner adhesive.  Next I cut pieces of Gumball Green, Elegant Eggplant and Melon Mambo measuring 2" x 3".  I placed each of these into the impression folder called Spots and Dots and ran them through the big shot.  They were attached to the card using a runner adhesive.  Finally I cut a strip of Basic Black 1 1/2" x 6".  I attached it to the bottom of the card front using the same runner adhesive.  I sprayed the entire front of the card using my champagne shimmer spray.  

I wanted to share a close up of each little girl with you.  So here they are and I will give you all the details of how to make them after the last one is shown.

I have made these little girls before so you may already know how to do them.  If not here is the recipe:

Hair - owl body from the owl builder punch

Bangs - 1/2 of a 1" circle

Headband - a 1" circle punched around a 3/4" circle hole, do this a little off to one side

Face - 3/4" circle

Arms, Legs, and Neck - 1" circle punched around a 3/4" circle; for this one you want to center it around it

Dress - vest from the owl builder punch

Shoes - heart from the owl builder punch cut in half

I used Blushing Bride (retired) and zebra striped card stock for these headbands, dresses and shoes.  I picked these up at one of the local craft stores.  I wanted the center girl to be different so I went with a pink glittered pattern for her and a black glittered for the other two.  I added a few rhinestones for each girls background to complete the look.

My sister came up with the greeting for the front of the card.  I used an alphabet set of Sizzlits for my big shot called Girls Are Weird to make the letters.  I actually got this set on clearance at a local craft store a few years ago and thought it was fun lettering.  I cut these out of Shimmer Silver card stock.  After all I made everything else sparkle and thought the letters should sparkle too.  They are attached with a liquid glue.

Again I wanted the sparkle to carry to the inside too.  I used the same set of letters and my big shot to cut each letter as well as the shadow for each letter.  I layered these together using a liquid glue and then attached them to the card using the same glue.  I used the same Shimmer Silver card stock for the letters and Basic Black for the shadows.  I wanted to keep the inside greeting simple and be sure to leave lots of room for people to sign.

I do hope Katie really likes her card.  I enjoyed making it and was pretty pleased about the outcome. I just love these little go go girls!! (Yes I know I said that earlier but it is really true!)

I can't believe it will be July already next week.  The summer is flying by.  I want to wish all of you a wonderful weekend.  Be safe and watch your little ones around the pools and such.  I will return on Monday with another share.  Not sure what it will be yet.  Maybe it will be more Peanuts characters or more go go girls or even something new.  I guess you will just have to come back to find out.  

Thanks for taking time to stop by today.  See you all next week!!! 

Happy Birthday To My Sister!!!!

Yes today is my big sister's birthday.  No I will not share her age as it would give you a hint as to how old I could be!!  I want to send her wishes for happiness, laughter, success and peace on her special day and all through the year!!  She and I have been through a lot in the last 5 years with the loss of our mom and big brother.  Life has not been easy.  My wish for her would be for life to turn and go in the most positive direction she could ever hope to see.

While she had taken a few days off, she had to return to work today (on her actual birthday).  Those coworkers better be nice to her.  Anyway, we took her to dinner last night to celebrate and I gave her the card I made for her.  I was so glad to get to do that so I could share her card with you today!!  I made one of her favorite cartoon characters this year.  It is a cat who loves lasagna.  Ready to see him?  Let's get started.

It's Garfield!!!  Before I start with anything, I want to thank the punch queen Ellen Kemper for teaching me how to make him.  She is so wonderful at her craft.  I am so glad she is willing to share her art with everyone!!

The base card for this one is Marina Mist card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Basic Black using runner adhesive.  This piece measures 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  For the top layer I decided to use Gumball Green card stock cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  First, I used the retired stamp set called Voila To Go and stamped food images using VersaMark ink onto the green.  I then heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  Second, I ran the piece through my big shot using the new Chevron impression folder to get those crazy zigzag lines!  Last, I placed the piece in my color catcher and sprayed it using Champagne shimmer spray. Can you see the shimmer in the photo?   When it was dry, I attached it to the black using runner adhesive.  

The greeting I chose to use on this one comes from the retired stamp set called Outlined Occasions.  This was a sale-a-bration set.  I stamped it using Basic Black ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I used my Marina Mist and Gumball Green markers to color in the letters and confetti.  I cut it out free hand and then sponged the edges with Marina Mist and Gumball Green ink.  I attached it to the card using dimensionals.

Since this is Ellen's design, I would like to send you to her blog to get the instructions.  Here is the link:  http://blinkthinkink.blogspot.com/2010/04/fat-lazy-and-lovable.html.  You will get the instructions for making him and you will also see a picture of Odie.  I am going to try him for tomorrow.   I will tell you I used Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Whisper White and Melon Mambo for the colors of him.  All parts of him are assembled using liquid glue and the finished Garfield with tray was attached to the card with dimensionals.

The only part that was added by me is the tray.  I punched a large oval from Brushed Silver for the tray.  The dome was made from a 1 1/4" circle trimmed flat on one side and a standard hole punch for the top.  We will see the tray again inside the card.

Here is the bottom half of Garfield.  Again go to the link above and get all the instructions on how to make him.  I wanted to carry the theme to the inside of the card.  Celebrate can be for many different occasions but I knew it was for a birthday.  So designing the inside was kind of a no brainer for me.  Let me show you what I did.

As you can see I recreated Garfield and attached him to the bottom of the card.  I cut off any excess.  I also recreated the tray.  Then I took my wonderful cupcake builder punch and made the yummy cupcake you see on the tray.  I used Chocolate Chip for the bottom and scored it with my bone folder giving it the cupcake wrapper look.  I punched the top from Whisper White and the sprinkles are Marina Mist and Gumball Green.  I added the cherry on top from Real Red card stock.  This made choosing the inside saying a "piece of cake" (pun intended).   Garfield and the cupcake are attached using a liquid adhesive.  The saying is from the stamp set A Word For You.  I stamped it using Marina Mist ink onto Whisper White card stock and punched it out with the decorative label punch.  The edges were sponged using Gumball Green ink.  It is attached to the card with runner adhesive.  

Even though I have given you the link to Ellen's blog for the instructions, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  I will do my best to answer them.  

I hope you enjoyed seeing my sister's card today.  Again Happy Happy Happy Birthday to her!!!!  Thanks for dropping by today and I will see all of you tomorrow!

It's Almost Mother's Day

It is hard to believe that April is almost over.  Next week we will welcome May.  There are so many events coming up it May it is a bit overwhelming.  Between birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, and Mother's Day, I will be very busy. 

Mother's Day has always meant a lot to me.  I love spending time with my children and celebrating all the moms in my life.  I am blessed to have a wonderful mother in law and always look forward to seeing her.  I will admit that this day is also a bit sad for me because I miss my mom very much.  So while it may sound strange, I find comfort in creating cards for this special day.  It just brings peace to my heart. 

Today's card is another Mother's Day card for you to view.  Believe it or not, this special day will be here in just over 3 weeks.   If you have not made your cards yet maybe mine will inspire you.  Of course, you can always order one from me and I will be happy to make it for you.  So let's get started.

 

As you can see, this card has that fun rosette flower again.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  I started with a base card of Very Vanilla cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I used my corner rounder punch and rounded all the corners of this card.  Next I chose to use Calypso Coral card stock.  I cut a piece to measure 4" x 5 1/4".  I rounded the corners of this using the corner rounder also.  I ran it through my big shot using the Vintage Wallpaper impression folder.  I placed the embossed piece inside my color catcher and used my smooch spritz spray to spray it all over giving it a nice glimmering effect in the right light.  I adhered it to the base card using a runner adhesive.  

 

Next I went to work on my rosette.  Step one was to choose my designer paper I wanted to use.  Now I did choose this prior to starting my entire card so that the base card and the layer would coordinate with the dsp nicely.  This particular paper came from one of my local craft stores.  I cut a strip to be 1 1/2" x 12".  Using my simply scored tool, I scored this strip every 1/4".  Once the entire strip was scored, I accordion folded it just like the fans you use to make when you were little (or was that just me?).  I adhered the ends together using a liquid glue.  I allowed this to dry before going on so that it would not come apart on me.  I punched a 1" circle to adhere the rosette to on the bottom.  I placed sticky strip on this to ensure I had a strong adhesive for it.  Pressing down on my accordion circle, I formed the rosette and carefully set it on top of the 1" circle.  I was slightly off center but not too bad.  This really does not matter though because you will not be seeing the bottom of this one on the card.  I punched the large flower from the boho blossom punch in vanilla and layered a 3/4" coral circle on top of it.  I added a dot of coral ink to the petals using my SU! marker.  The pearls in the center were bought at a local craft store.  They are a champagne color and looked good with the vanilla.  The flower center was adhered to the rosette with liquid glue.  I then placed this in my color catcher and spritzed it with the same spray as the card.  I adhered it to the card using dimensionals.  

 

For the greeting, I used a stamp from the retired stamp set called Well Scripted.  I stamped it using VersaMark ink onto a piece of Calypso Coral and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I cut it out using the Framelits Labels Collection for my big shot.  I also cut out one size larger than my greeting in Very Vanilla.  These were layered together and coral dots were added on the exposed vanilla part.  I then spritzed the greeting in the color catcher with the same spray as I had used before.  I adhered it to the actual card with dimensionals.

I do understand that from just looking at the photos you probably cannot see the shimmer on the card.  I promise if you were holding it under a light, you would definitely get the glimmer.  It is very beautiful.

 

For the inside saying, I used a stamp from the stamp set called Word Play.  I stamped it with VersaMark ink onto Calypso Coral card stock and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I cut it out using the Framelits Labels Collection and my big shot.  I adhered it to the inside of my card using runner adhesive.  I had space left at the top and decided to add a flower to match the center of the rosette on the front.  So I punched the large flower from the boho blossom punch, added a 3/4"  coral circle on top and finally added a 1/2" vanilla circle on top of that.  I added coral dots to the petals again as well as to the center vanilla circle.  

Don't let this special day sneak up on you.  Get your cards ready now so you have no pressure as the date approaches.  

That is all I have for you today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my card.  Maybe I will give this one to one of my mom figures.  Please come back tomorrow to see what I come up with next.  Thanks for stopping by today.

 

 

Dance, Dance, Dance

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Here in Phoenix, we actually got to enjoy some cooler weather.  What a blessing!  Now we will be back in the 90's by the end of the week but I am truly grateful for the cool time we had this weekend.

From the time I was little through my teenage years, I took dance classes.  I took ballet and jazz and tap.  I loved tap.  It was my favorite class.  When I got into college, I as no longer taking dance class but I did take dance history classes.  I always hoped if I had girls that they too would develop a love of dance.  No such luck with my two.  They excel in other areas though.

So what does all this have to do with today's post?  Well remember I told you I might do some more work with the owl punch.  I still have lots of ideas and want to give them a try.  So this weekend, I decided to make a card using that punch once again.  I took one of my favorite characters, the mod girl, and turned her into a dancer.  A ballerina to be exact.  Let me show you what I came up with and see what you think.

 

Isn't she cute!  This is another one of those ideas that hit me in the middle of the night.  I am so glad it does not keep me up.  At least I go back to sleep and create the actual card the next morning.  Oops!  I got off track.  Back to the card we go!  I started with a base card of Pink Pirouette card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I knew I had bought some designer paper a few years ago with dance themes from a local craft store so I went to my stash of paper and found the ballet one.  It works perfectly with the color scheme I did on this one.  I cut it to be 4" x 5 1/4".  I adhered it to the pink using runner adhesive.  Next I cut a piece of Perfect Plum card stock and cut it at 2 3/4" x 3 1/2".  I ran it through my big shot using the Vintage Wallpaper impression folder.   also punched a modern label out of plum.  I took the label and the impressed piece and sprayed them using my frosted spritz.  I used my Teeny Tiny wishes stamp set and stamped my greeting using StazOn ink onto the Whisper White card stock.  It was punched out using the word window punch,  I adhered the impressed plum piece to the card using runner adhesive. Next I attached the word window greeting to the modern label using the same adhesive.  Then I attached the greeting to the card using dimensionals.  I also added a couple of teardrop pink rhinestones, one to each end of the greeting.  

 

For my little ballerina, I used the same recipe to make her as I did to make the mod girls last week.  The only addition I made was a scallop oval for the tutu.  I also added some slivers of Pink Pirouette card stock to the legs for the ballet shoe ribbons.  In the picture, her eyes look green to me.  However, I made them out of Soft Suede.  The tutu, headband and shoes are all from Pink Pirouette.  The face, neck, arms and legs are Blushing Bride card stock.  For her hair, I decided to use Early Espresso.  I drew the mouth on with a light pink felt tip marker.  I added pink rhinestones to the base of the top of the tutu where it meets the skirt.  I also added dots of Stickles glitter glue called Cotton Candy to the top, headband and edge of the skirt.  She is adhered together using a liquid glue and attached to the card using dimensionals.  

 

For the inside greeting, I used a stamp I have had for years.  I stamped it using StazOn ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I attached it to a piece of Perfect Plum card stock with runner adhesive and attached it to the card with the same adhesive.  I pulled out my Stampin' Up! markers out.  I pulled the Daffodil Delight, Perfect Plum and Pink Pirouette one and traced over the words as well as colored in the stars and dots.  I chose to add the Daffodil Delight since the designer paper had yellow ballet shoes as well as purple and pink.  I liked the additional color.  

Okay I will try to tear myself away from the owl punch but no promises.  I hope you are not bored with the creations from it.  I do appreciate you stopping by today.  Please come back tomorrow.  I will see you all then.

 

The "Incredible" Fashion Designer

Once again we have come to the end of the week.  While this one was not plagued with medical illnesses and emergencies, it was still a pretty stressful week.  Do you ever feel that you try so hard to do the right thing and follow the path that God wants you to follow only to find hardship at the end?  I am going through a time in my life when this question runs through my mind a lot.  Well now let's turn to a happier topic.

As I sat down to work on some punch art, I came across instructions I had written down from Ellen Kemper on how to make a character from the movie "The Incredibles".  Did you see that movie?  It is one of my favorites.  Well if you did, do you remember who designed and made all their uniforms?  See if this picture rings a bell for you.

 

Do you remember her now?  It's Edna!  That's right a short little lady with a big attitude.  I think the one Ellen made has more sass to her but this was my first attempt.  I started with a base card of Melon Mambo cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".   Next I added a layer of Basic Black to the front measuring 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  I attached it using runner adhesive.  It's funny how your mind works.  The idea of how I wanted the next layer to look came to me in the middle of the night.  I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  I put it in my color catcher and sprayed it with my alcohol/shimmer paint mixture to give it a little sparkle.  Next I pulled out my big shot and ran it through using an impression folder called Spots & Dots.  For some reason,  this design just seems to go with Edna really well.  

 

Since I got the instructions for this one from Ellen, I would ask that you go to her blog to get all the information about how to make her.  You will see when you look at hers that she definitely knows how to give characters attitude.  You will also see that Ellen has not been posting lately.  I hope everything is okay with her and her family.  I did choose to spritz my Edna with the same shimmer spray as I did the card.  After all, she is Edna!  She is attached to the card using dimensionals.

 

If you have seen the movie, you know that "darling" is one of her favorite words to speak.  So I took my handy Sizzix decorative strip called Billboard and cut the letters of the word out of Basic Black card stock using my big shot.  I also spritzed them with shimmer spray.  The letters are attached using a liquid glue adhesive.  This is a card I could send to one of my girlfriends for almost any occasion.  I think she would bring a smile to their face and a giggle to their day.

Believe it or not, we are still having internet problems.  It has taken 3 hours for me to be able to get this blog typed and posted.  I hope a new router is in our future - the near future.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Please come back to see me on Monday.  Thanks for stopping by today.