HEARTWARMERS FROM VICKI

PENNY BLACK "Spring Charm" Sticker

2012-01-29T03:00:00.006-06:00

This sticker was the last one on a sheet of Penny Black "Spring Charm" stickers which had been on my craft table looking to be used. I wasn't sure if I liked it but then realized that I had some dimensional stickers that blended well with the colors.

The card base was embossed using the Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder. The sticker was adhered to a piece of the same card stock as the base to give it more "body". I trimmed down the piece behind the sticker so that it was even with the edge of the sticker and then attached it to the front of the card with pop dots. A little bee and dragonfly were popped on and the card was finished. You may need to click on the picture to see the little bee.

The sheets have a variety of stickers on them and make really pretty cards that are quick and easy especially when you find yourself needing a card on short notice. I have a supply of Penny Black stickers. There is a link to them on the right side of my blog. The sheets are $2.00 each and can be sent very inexpensively.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..................I love hearing from you!

PINK PAISLEE "Queen Bee"

2012-01-28T03:00:00.003-06:00

Using the same layout as I did yesterday I made a new card with paper from a Pink Paislee "Queen Bee" 6x6 paper pad. I love buying the 6x6 pads because when laying on cards the papers coordinate so nicely together. The flowers were colored with a Y13 Copic Sketch marker to blend with the yellow in the papers. A striped piece was added horizontally this time. It was my intention to do that on yesterday's card but I forgot. I really like the added detail.

This time I happened to place the embellishments a little further apart and was able to add a little "Hi!" stamp.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome................I love hearing from you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNIFER

2012-01-27T12:15:00.000-06:00

I know our daughter Jennifer doesn't check out my blog, but I just want to acknowledge her birthday here and say that I wish her a very special day! She's a very busy mother of four and when she isn't working full time she is running her two oldest children to activities..........a real SUPER MOM! We're very proud of her!

USING FLOURISHES

2012-01-27T12:12:00.001-06:00

I don't remember if I have ever used flourish die cuts but I saw an idea in a 2009 CardMaker magazine that showed a card I knew I could make using some delicate dies.

The designer papers are from the Memory Box Minuet 6 x 6 paper pad. The flowers are some I purchased at Michael's a couple of years ago in the Wedding Department. I'm not sure how many were in the package but there are a lot and were well worth the money.

I really like this layout and the way this card came out. And the PLUS is that all of the materials used are some that I have had for a long time............another very small dent in my "stash".

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome................I love hearing from you!

MORE SNOW

2012-01-25T03:00:00.004-06:00

We have had such a mild winter here until last week that I hadn't been thinking about making cards with snowflakes. Now all of a sudden we've had two snow days here for our school district. Monday's was more because of icy roads. With the weather changing to more seasonal temperatures and snow on the ground I made yesterday's and today's cards.

The background paper that I used on this card came from the same Little Yellow Bicycle pad that I had used yesterday. I also used the same Fleur de Lis Spellbinders die for the white layer. The other white piece was cut using one of the Fleur de Lis Motif dies. The snowflake was cut with the Cuttlebug snowflake die using white card stock but then the turquoise glitter was added. The white flourish at the bottom looked a little plain so I added a turquoise gem to the center of it.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...............I love hearing from you!

IT'S SNOWING.......

2012-01-24T03:00:00.001-06:00

Today's card used two Spellbinders die sets and glitter that I had never used. I rarely make square cards but decided that the Fleur de Lis die would look great on a square card. I cut a 4 1/4 inch square from some paper in a Little Yellow Bicycle paper pad and adhered it to the front of the 4 1/4 inch card front. The paper pad has a great selection of papers in it.

The Fleur de Lis was cut using PapertreyInk white card stock. I had cut several different snowflakes from various dies but settled on these two from Spellbinders Create A Flake One die set. The bottom one was from white card stock. I ran it through my Xyron and wanted the right side of it to be sticky. Then I sprinkled it with turquoise glitter. It didn't cover quite well enough so I pressed the flake into the glitter with my finger and was able to get a little more color. I think the color turned out very well and matches the lighter color in the dp. The smaller flake was cut using another piece of card stock from the paper pad.

The paper pad is 11 3/4 inches x 5 3/4 inches and is actually made to work with the chipboard albums. I don't do albums but love this paper. I am able to purchase Spellbinders dies, the Little Yellow Bicycle paper pad and glitter in case you are interested. Neither of these die sets is available through my distributor but I can get most of the current sets. And remember you always get a discount of at least 20% off retail prices.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..........I love hearing from you!

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES

2012-01-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

OK, this card does still use stickers, but I think these make a beautiful card. The butterflies are from a package of Jolee's vellum stickers and the color on them went perfectly with the SU Soft Sky and Baja Breeze card stock. The stamp is from Stampabilities. The stamp actually has two butterflies on it in the same place where I have placed these vellum pieces...........I just don't ink that portion of the stamp.

The sentiment was stamped with VersaMark and then embossed using Egyptian Gold embossing powder.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you!

SPARKLING BUTTERFLIES

2012-01-22T03:00:00.001-06:00

The butterflies on these two cards were rubbed onto white card stock and then cut out to mount on these cards. I wanted more of the dp to show.

I believe all of the cards I do with these butterflies are going to be donated to the Independent Living Center where my mother lives. Some of the tenants there don't have family close by and probably rarely get out to buy cards to send.

Thank you for checking out these super simple cards. I'll be moving on to something more tomorrow.

WAY TOO SIMPLE

2012-01-21T10:57:00.000-06:00

I almost feel like I need to apologize for posting a card that is beyond CAS. :) I saw a package of Butterfly Rub-On Stickers one time when I was shopping and they were just too pretty to pass up. I hope if you click on the picture that you can see the sparkle. I won't post all of the cards I make with these stickers, but I will post one or two more just to show how pretty they are.

This butterfly was so big that I really didn't know what else to put with it so I just added it to a piece of white card stock and then layered it onto the dp which had been adhered to the front of the card.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...........I love hearing from you!

ONE MORE CARD WITH THE VIOLETS

2012-01-19T03:00:00.000-06:00

This is the last card I made using the Violet Rub-On Stickers. I really like this one. Using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, I embossed just a portion of the front of the card. I used the Spellbinders Grand Calibur to do the embossing since I had to lay it side ways and it was too wide to go through the Cuttlebug. Then two score lines were added just below the embossed area.

I attached the stickers to the white cardstock and then cut out the white layer. The rectangles were cut with the Spellbinders Lattice Rectangles. A strip of smaller violets was added to the bottom of the card.

You may have seen all of the new Spellbinders dies that are being previewed on various blogs. If you see something you would like to order - current or new to come - just email me at the contact on this page. I will offer a 25% discount on all Spellbinders items that have been and are now being previewed over the next few days.

Tomorrow's card or cards will be using a different set of sparkly rub-on stickers. Stop back again. Thank you for stopping by today! Your comments are always welcome..........I love hearing from you!

BEAUTIFUL RUB-ON VIOLET STICKERS

2012-01-18T03:00:00.004-06:00

These are more items I found on my craft table. I bought this sheet of rub-on stickers several years ago and had used some of them..........but now that is another product that is gone from my table.

I don't know if you can see it even if you click on the picture, but the stickers sparkle and are just gorgeous.

I spritzed the card on the left with Tattered Angels "Pomegranate" Glimmer Mist. The color is a not quite the same as the violets but when the card was finished I thought it looked OK.

Let me know if you have any questions. There are still more of these projects to come. Have I got you thinking about all those supplies you haven't used in a while? I hope so!

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...........I love hearing from you!

MORE SUPPLIES ARE USED

2012-01-17T05:00:00.001-06:00

These two cards were made with more vellum flowers that I had on my table. The package had enough stickers for three cards. I will show the third card tomorrow.

I embossed a portion of the front of each card with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then attached the vellum stickers. I stamped each of the sentiments and then cut them out with a Spellbinders Labels 11 die. I tried cutting and embossing the next larger Labels 11 die to layer them but it was just too plain. Luckily I had some green vellum in a pad that was close to the same color as the stems of the flowers and used the vellum instead.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...............I love hearing from you.

USING UP SUPPLIES

2012-01-16T14:38:00.001-06:00

I know I'm not the only one who does this, but I have this "tendency" to see something and think I just have to have it but then I get it home and it stays in my supplies without being touched. Well, today's card and over the next couple of days, I will be posting cards that I am making with supplies that have been laying on my craft table for too long! This one is nothing special but since winter weather finally hit here a few days ago, I thought I would post this card with the vellum snowflakes first.

Cardstock is Baja Breeze from Stampin' Up and the embossing on the bottom of the card was done with a folder from Stampin' Up! There is a little blue on a couple of the snowflakes which matched nicely with the paper. The package of snowflakes was one I got probably two years ago and was unopened. I made more than one card with the supplies and now that package is empty. One project down.......many more to go.

I think I will take some of these cards to the extended living facility where my mother is so that the residents can use the cards as they choose. They seemed to enjoy the Christmas cards I left there.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome.................I love hearing from you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRI!

2012-01-15T12:21:00.001-06:00

I love Penny Black stamps!!! I was buying nothing but the flowers and "pretty" stamps but at one point fell in love with the many cute little hedgehogs images that are available.

My friend, Terri, who belongs to a Yahoo Group along with myself and others celebrated her birthday yesterday. This is a card I made and sent to her. I embossed the front of the card using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The Penny Black image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic CIAO markers. The image was cut with a Spellbinders Classic Circle and mounted on a slightly larger Classic Circle with SU Yo Yo Yellow card stock. These were mounted onto an SU Real Red layer which was cut with the Spellbinders Lacey Circle.

Since I sell Penny Black stamps, you can let me know if you ever wish to purchase something - and I sell them at a discount of 20% off retail prices at all times.

Thank you for stopping! Your comments are always appreciated..............I love hearing from you.

VALENTINE FOR JOAN'S GARDENS CHALLENGE JG112

2012-01-13T10:58:00.003-06:00

This will be a second card for today. I read about a challenge on Joan's Gardens Blog and I thought I would try doing a card for it.

Here is what you need to do for Joan's Gardens #2 Weekly Challenge | Joan's Gardens

Create a Valentine in "non-traditional" colors
Use some kind of lace
Use a flower - rose if possible
Use a key - optional

You will have until next Thursday (January 19) morning 6:00 AM EST to link your project.

Before I even started the card I knew I wanted the focal point of the card to be this beautiful heart die cut from Cheery Lynn Designs which I had purchased from Joan's Gardens.

I don't think of "black" as being a traditional color so my aim was to make a card primarily using black and white but I did add a touch of red because of the rose I wanted to use. After I added the layer with the red rose there was an open area above the stem that just seemed so empty so I added the strip of red gems and another strip off set under the image.

Originally I had punched an edge the same as the hearts that run along each side of the card with white card stock but then realized I had not "lace" on the card. So, I removed that edge of hearts and replaced it with some delicate white lace. I didn't have any type of key which was optional.

I hope this meets the requirements for the challenge, but it was still a fun card to make.

LITTLE BLUE BIRD

2012-01-13T03:00:00.002-06:00

A few days ago I purchased this cute little bird stamp for only $.99 from A Cherry On Top's web site. For that price I figured I could make some quick cards.

The card on the right is actually the one I did first and my original idea did NOT work so I spent far more time getting something put together than I had planned. Eventually this is what I got made.

The card on the left is much simpler and really did go together quickly. The embossed tree was made with a Crafts Too embossing folder which I have had for a long time but had never used.

On both cards I stamped the image with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored them with a set of BIC permanent markers which I purchased at a good price a while ago. The color of the darker blue ink matched very well to SU's Ballet Blue paper and ink The frame around the bird was cut and embossed with one of the Spellbinders "Classic Frame" die set. The sentiment was stamped onto a piece that had been cut with the Spellbinders Fancy Tags die set. (I can no longer get the "Classic Frame" set but if you are interested in the Fancy Tags or any other Spellbinders just let me know.)

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always appreciated................I love hearing from you!

LaBlanche Stamp

2012-01-12T12:08:00.002-06:00

The design on this card is from a LaBlanche Stamp which I purchased from Joan's Gardens. I had never heard of LaBlanche stamps and assumed it was going to be a wood mounted stamp. I was wrong.......it is white and made of silicone. I didn't have a lot of success with the first two tries, but I was able to get just the right help I needed after I contacted Joan at Joan's Gardens and also Selma from Selma's Stamping Corner. I believe Joan's sale on LaBlanche stamps is still going on if you want to check them out.

To use this stamp I used Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on Glossy Paper and then colored with Copic markers and got good results. I had tried stamping the image on a smooth card stock but the detail of the stamp was not nearly as good. I just noticed that the picture makes it look as though I didn't center the image on the dark green layer very well. Actually I believe it is the angle which gives that appearance since I was very careful when I put it together.

You can see a beautiful card that Selma made with this same image on her web site. I pretty much stick to the 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch cards so I wasn't able to accomplish the same presentation but I hope the recipient will enjoy it. One of my husband's card-playing partners is in the hospital so we are sending it to him.

(NOTE: The price of Copic markers is going up again so if you are needing any contact me soon before I need to increase my price as well.)

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..................I love hearing from you!

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE - The Paper Players #77

2012-01-09T04:00:00.001-06:00

When I saw what The Paper Players Challenge was for this week, I knew I had a perfect card for it. The theme is "All You Need is Love". The card could be for a variety of occasions but I needed an Anniversary card and had just purchased this Marianne Design die. The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly.

Be sure to check out the the entries at: The Paper Players

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you!

WHEN BIRDS SING - Third set of cards

2012-01-08T04:00:00.002-06:00

These two cards once again have the same sticker but two different looks. I saved these for last since they have a little more detail to them.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you!

WHEN BIRDS SING - Second set of cards

2012-01-07T04:00:00.005-06:00

Two cards made with the same stickers but two different looks.

I LOVE PENNY BLACK

2012-01-06T11:47:00.000-06:00

I love using Penny Black stickers to make cards that are quick but still very "pretty". Today I am posting two cards that were made using stickers from the "When Birds Sing" sticker set. You can see a picture of the complete set at the bottom of this post.

The first thing I did was to use a product that I've never used before. The front of the card was spritzed with Tattered Angels "Autumn Nights". If you double click on the picture, I believe you will be able to get a closer look. I have always liked using vertical stamps. "Thinking of You" can be used for so many occasions. The sentiment on the right is one I haven't used in a long time but can be used just to cheer someone up or would make a great birthday card. The sentiments were stamped in SU Night of Navy.

Check back tomorrow and Sunday for two more examples of cards made with stickers from this great set. If you like what you see, I have more of these stickers on hand and you can purchase them for $2.00 each plus a small amount to send them. This is my favorite set but I do have other Penny Black sticker sets on hand. These other sets may be seen on the store link you will find on the right hand of my blog.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you.

SALTED BACKGROUND

2012-01-05T13:06:00.001-06:00

Our Yahoo group has monthly technique "challenges" and we sign up for swaps. Signing up for these is naturally voluntary. It had been a while since I had done any of them. In December we were to make a card using the "Salted Background" technique and I decided to give it a try. Don't be like me......give something new a try more often. :)

The result is much prettier if you have several coordinating dye reinker colors to use on the background but I only had Distress Ink "Old Paper". The directions can be found on Split Coast Stampers or by going to YouTube and doing a search for Salted Background.

I had to go with all white otherwise because in all of my papers, I didn't have any that went with that ink color. The card base is PapertreyInk cardstock. The embossed background is using the Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl folder and then trimmed down by about 1/4" on each side. Because I was adding brads to the corners, I used this layer so the brads would not poke through to the inside of the card.

I cut the image when it was all done using a Spellbinders Classic Oval and then mounted it onto the coordinating Classic Scalloped Oval.

The brads are from Lasting Impressions. I have a lot of Lasting Impressions buttons and brads in my inventory for re-sale so if you are interested, let me know. I can also get Spellbinders items for you if you are interested.........and of course at a discount.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...........I love hearing from you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

2012-01-03T12:28:00.002-06:00

First of all, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! May you all be blessed with job security, happiness and good health.

It seems like a really long time since I've had a chance to make a card and post something here on my blog again. Since it has been a while, I wanted to make it something more than a "clean and simple" card which is what I tend to make.

I have a friend from high school days who lives in Texas. When we graduated from high school my mother told me that high school friendships don't tend to last long term. Well I'm very pleased that my mother was wrong. Pam has a birthday this month and as the card progressed I decided this will be a great card to send her. (She doesn't check out my blog so I'm safe in posting this early.)

The card base is the great white card stock from Papertreyink. I embossed it with the Cuttlebug embossing folder. The oval is also made with a Cuttlebug embossing folder but I had not centered it properly on the front of a card so I cut it out and used it for this one. I added Art Flowers from Hero Arts and then punched the leaves with a MS punch. The pearls in the center of the flowers are also from Hero Arts. Sentiment is a stamp from Just for Fun.

With the grandchildren back in school, maybe my schedule will permit me to be a little more consistent about posting cards again........at least for a while.

Just a reminder, if any of you are interested in purchasing items such as Hero Arts supplies, Penny Black supplies, Copic Sketch or CIAO markers, Spellbinders or a large variety of other crafting items just let me know what you are wanting. I sell all these items at least 20% off retail prices with very reasonable shipping costs.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..........I love hearing from you!

CORRECTION: The background embossing folder IS from Cuttlebug (D'Vine Swirl), but the oval embossing folder is not Cuttlebug.....it is from Sizzix (Stationery Collection "Bird and Wreath" - set of 2).

AND WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM

2011-12-24T17:30:00.000-06:00

I wanted to make sure to take the time to wish all of you a very Blessed Christmas and Happy Holiday Season. It's hard to believe that 2012 is just a week away. I hope that you all are having special times with your family and friends to celebrate this season.

BAKING WITH TARYN

2011-12-20T19:13:00.000-06:00

If you wonder where I've been, I've been busy shopping and had the pleasure of this precious little granddaughter last week for two nights and three days. Taryn is the youngest of our grandchildren. We almost always make cookies when the grandchildren stay and our normal routine is to make Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookies for their Grandpa. However, with Christmas so close this time Taryn and I made cut out Sugar Cookies. It didn't take long and she wanted to roll them out herself and she did a really nice job.

Tomorrow I'm off to finish a little shopping and running errands but things are falling into place here better than usual. Hope all of you are enjoying this time of year where you are.

Thank you for stopping by!

GOLD EMBOSSED DESIGN

2011-12-13T00:30:00.002-06:00

I always tell myself that I should choose one design and make all of the cards the same to save time.....but what fun is that? With all the stamps I have it is much more fun to make a nice variety of them. Because of the amount of Christmas cards I make, I do need some that are quick and easy.

This card is made using PapertreyInk off white cardstock. I first embossed the front of the card with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot folder. This beautiful stamp is from Serendipity and I stamped it with VersaMark and then heat embossed it with Egyptian Gold embossing powder. The design was cut with a Spellbinders Classic Oval. Another layer was cut with the slightly larger Spellbinders Classic Scallop Oval using some gold paper to help set off the design.

The sentiment inside the card is "Let Heaven and Nature Sing"........also heat embossed with the gold embossing powder.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome............I love hearing from you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHLYN

2011-12-12T00:30:00.013-06:00

This is the card I made for our granddaughter, Ashlyn, who is 11 years old today. And yes, guess what that means................she will be 12 on 12-12-12!!!! What a special birthday that will be for her next year.

This card was made using a Honeypop stamp set from Inky Antics....."Sundae Birdy". I colored the designs with Copic markers and was pleased that there was a color that matched the sundae dish so well.

When I make these, I do the inside of the card first to make sure I get the Honeycomb paper pieces mounted just right. I don't want to have the outside of the card all finished and then ruin the inside.

The dotted background paper was also a good match for color and came from a JilliBean Blossom Soup paper pad. Before attaching it to the front of the card, I used my Martha Stewart punch to add the "Happy Birthday". The little bird on the front was stamped, colored and then cut with the Spellbinders Lacey Circle.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this card. They are so fun to make. If you are interested, I sell the Inky Antic HoneyPop stamp sets as well as the HoneyComb papers and sell them at a 20% discount. Let me know if you are interested.

THANK YOU for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you.

A ROUND CHRISTMAS CARD

2011-12-11T00:30:00.000-06:00

I sell Penny Black Stamps and I saw a card sample in their catalog that looked a lot like this card. I stamped the image once on white card stock and then angled the stamp around the first one three more times so that I could cut the piece with the Spellbinders Classic Circle. Copic markers were used to color the design. I then swirled Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink over the entire piece and colored the design with Copic markers. The space between the stamped images seemed like it needed something so I took my go Spica Gold pen and just made random marks.

The next step was to cut a slightly larger red circle with SU card stock and then a SU Garden Green circle with the Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle. I added small gold dots to each of the scallops with the gold pen.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...........I love hearing from you.

SEASON'S GREETINGS

2011-12-10T00:30:00.001-06:00

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

2011-12-09T00:30:00.000-06:00

It may not show, but the ornaments are attached with very fine gold thread.

SILVER BELLS

2011-12-08T00:30:00.000-06:00

Let me know if you have questions.

PEACE

2011-12-07T00:30:00.000-06:00

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

GLITTERED CHRISTMAS TREE

2011-12-06T00:30:00.001-06:00

Let me know if you have any questions.

SNOW WHITE TREE

2011-12-05T20:41:00.000-06:00

If you click on the picture and enlarge it you may see the rhinestones I added to some of the snowflakes.

CHRISTMAS BELLS

2011-12-05T20:22:00.000-06:00

Over the next few days I will be posting pictures of Christmas cards that I have been working on. To get a closer look at them, all you have to do is click on the picture. Time is pretty busy right now so I won't be going into any details about each one...........but..............please email me if you have questions about any of them. I'll try to get back to you in a timely fashion.

Thank you for stopping by!

SAME STAMPS - DIFFERENT CARDS

2011-12-03T00:30:00.002-06:00

When I pulled out my stamps to start making Christmas cards, I found some "card parts" that were left over from previous years.

Since I have some new people on my list for this year, I figured this would be a good time to use some of these pieces. Both of the cards shown here today were made using two Penny Black stamps. A glue pen was used to add glitter to the stamped star.

Thank you for stopping by!

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #6

2011-12-01T15:22:00.001-06:00

I love this Santa sticker! I can just see the smile on the face of one of my grandchildren when they receive this card at Christmas. Although our family generally is able to get together on Christmas or close to then, I usually make each of the children their own cards.

NOTE: I have prepared the last three weeks of posts in advance because of moving my mother. This post is appearing on December 1 and I hope to have things settled enough that I have returned to making some new Christmas cards to share with you. If not, I'll be back soon! I hope you have enjoyed the posts that were prepared in advance.

(See full sheet of stickers on my November 10 post.)

Thank you for stopping by!

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #5

2011-11-30T00:30:00.004-06:00

It may be the last day of November, but Santa is probably showing up in various stores and malls to talk to the children and get their wish lists. This will make a great card for one of our small grandchildren.

(See full sheet of stickers on my November 10 post.)

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #4

2011-11-28T00:30:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving weekend is a time when many families begin decorating for the Christmas holidays and put up their Christmas trees. This sticker seemed to be appropriate for today.

(See full sheet of stickers on my November 10 post.)

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #3

2011-11-25T00:30:00.004-06:00

So did you enjoy your Thanksgiving gathering yesterday? I know our family enjoys being together on Thanksgiving Day and the food is always so yummy! It's so nice that we all pitch in with the food so that no one has to do it all themselves. Now is a day to rest and wonder why we ate too much!!!

(See full sheet of stickers on my November 10 post.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRIET!

2011-11-24T00:30:00.001-06:00

This year my friend, Harriet, is celebrating her birthday on Thanksgiving Day. I hope she has a very special day.

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #2

2011-11-23T00:30:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...........I hope all of you have a wonderful day celebrating with family and friends!!! (See full sheet of stickers on my November 10 post.)

PENNY BLACK STICKERS - Christmas Traditions #1

2011-11-21T00:30:00.006-06:00

Because of all the things that need to be done moving and following the move of my mother, I decided I was going to need some quick and easy cards to send to family and friends this year. A few days ago I posted pictures of two sheets of Penny Black Christmas/Holiday stickers. (See full sheet on my November 10 post.) Today's post and five out of the next six posts will show cards that I made using stickers from the Christmas Traditions set.

The front of the card was embossed using a Sizzix snowflake embossing folder. The strip behind the sticker was made with SU Pacific Point card stock which matched so well with the color on the sticker. I punched the edge with a MS snowflake punch. I mounted this sticker onto SU Real Red card stock and added it to the card. To give it a little sparkle I lightly touched the center of the embossed snowflake with Crystal Stickles.

I am going to post the other cards at this time and schedule them to appear November 23, 25, 28, 30 and December 2 so please stop back and check them out.

Remember, these stickers are available for purchase by contacting me. Thank you for stopping by!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ANNIE!

2011-11-20T00:30:00.000-06:00

Today my friend, Annie and her husband are celebrating their Anniversary! This is the card I made and sent to them in Canada.

THANKSGIVING CARD #4

2011-11-18T00:30:00.000-06:00

THANKSGIVING CARD #5

2011-11-17T00:30:00.001-06:00

THANKSGIVING CARD #3

2011-11-15T00:30:00.001-06:00

THANKSGIVING CARD #2

2011-11-14T00:30:00.005-06:00

THANKSGIVING CARD

2011-11-13T14:47:00.000-06:00

Last night when we went to church, the sermon was about using our talents to help others. I'm not one that volunteers out of the home but I realized that maybe my "talent" of making cards could be a way that I could help others remember that they are being thought of during the holidays. We live in a small community and I know of people from here who are in care centers or friends of my mother who are in the same center where she will be living. Today I spent time making several versions of Thanksgiving cards to send to them and will be posting them to appear over the next few days.

Over the next couple of weeks or so I am going to be very occupied with helping my 89 year old mother move into the Independent Living Center so I am not going to have much time if any to be making or posting new items. Please continue to check back for when I can start posting more items again following these Thanksgiving cards.

Thank you for stopping by!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBY!

2011-11-12T01:00:00.002-06:00

Our Granddaughter, Abby, is celebrating her birthday today and this is the card I made for her.

Inky Antics has several stamp sets that can be used with Honeycomb Paper Pads or just by themselves. Since I can purchase these for resale, I bought several and the granddaughters just love them.

The image was stamped and then certain areas colored with SU markers. Since part of the inside of the card is just one layer and has coloring, I didn't use Copic markers on this one or the colors would bleed through the card stock.

The pink layer on the front of the card was run through the Cuttlebug with one of the Cuttlebug embossing folder. Below you can see a picture of the inside of the card.

If you would like to order any of the Inky Antics HoneyPOP stamp sets or the Honeycomb Paper Pads, just let me know. I will be more than happy toorder them for you at a discount. You can see all of the stamp sets here: Inky Antics Rubber Stamps

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments would be welcome!!! I love hearing from you.

BIRTHDAY CARD FOR GRANDDAUGHTER

2011-11-11T01:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday one of our granddaughters will be celebrating her birthday. My card for her will be posted tomorrow, but my mother-in-law asked me to make a card for Abby as well.

The stamp I used is from Penny Black "Sweet Thing". I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. I wanted to just add dots of Stickles to the frosting on the cupcake but it came out in big "blobs" so I smeared it around the entire topping. Stickles was also added to the wings of the little girl.

I have a tendency to color my objects and then search for the right patterned paper to use as the background. I should choose the paper first since there are so many colors and shades of Copic markers but it worked out OK this time. The brown layer of dp and the patterned dp is from a Basic Grey 6 x 6 paper pad "Bittersweet".

Remember...........if you are ever interested in Penny Black stamps, let me know. I have an order I am preparing to send over the weekend -- so let me know and you will receive the everyday discount of 20%.

Your comments are always welcome.................Thank you for stopping by!

PENNY BLACK CHRISTMAS STICKERS

2011-11-10T01:00:00.003-06:00

If you are wanting to make some quick and easy Christmas cards because time is premium for you, I have several sheets of each of these Penny Black stickers for sale. The first set is a whimsical, fun way to make Holiday cards and the second sheets has some beautiful religious designs. The sheets will be $2.00 each plus a small amount to send them to you. To minimize the shipping expense, I can carefully cut these sheets apart so they can fit in a smaller envelope.

Let me know if you would like to purchase both or either by emailing me at vboddicker@aol.com.

I have been appointed Chairman of the elections held in our precinct and this requires some time the day before elections, pretty much the whole day of the election if not early morning to late at night, and again some time the day after the election (which was today). I need a little time to catch up so I'm sorry there is no card today.

Thank you for stopping by!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, LYNETTE

2011-11-09T18:43:00.000-06:00

Today's card is getting posted a little late in the day, but it is an anniversary card I made and sent to my friend, Lynette and her husband Jim for their anniversary which is today. I sent it plenty early and I know they received it but I wanted to wait to post it until their special day...........sorry it's so late in the day!

The patterned dp used on this card is from a K&Company 6 x 6 paper pad "Julianne". The solid color card stock is from Stampin' Up. I saw this layout on a weekly layout challenge and liked it so tried to come up with complimentary papers to make one.

Your comments are always welcome............I love hearing from you!!! Thank you for stopping by!

ANNIVERSARY

2011-11-07T12:39:00.000-06:00

A little break from Christmas until I get some more cards made. Once again my MIL needed an anniversary card for some friends.

I made this a top fold card and ran the front through the Cuttlebug with the SU tulip border embossing folder.

The stamp is from Great Impressions. It is such a detailed stamp and makes such a pretty stamped design to color with my Copic markers. The colored design was cut with one of the Spellbinders ovals and the mounted on a layer of SU Real Red which had been cut with one of the Spellbinders scalloped ovals.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the card. Thanks for stopping by!

YULETIDE BLESSINGS

2011-11-05T01:00:00.003-05:00

I have to say that I really like today's card. It was a challenge to get it finished so I'm not sure I'll be making large quantities of this one.

The card base is SU Real Red card stock. The Gina K stamp was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on off white card stock and then colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is from a stamp set designed by Joanna Munster "Christmas Cheer" which I won on her blog. (Be sure to check out her blog: Inspired by Stamping. You will find a lot of wonderful ideas for cards and see several stamp sets which she has designed and is selling.) The sentiment was stamped with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with Egyptian Gold embossing powder.

There was just something missing to give it the pizzaz that was needed to make it more special. I went over the oval frame and the outside rectangle frame with my VersaMark marker and again heat embossed those areas with the Egyptian Gold embossing powder. I think the finished project turned out nice.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...............I love hearing from you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-11-04T01:00:00.000-05:00

This stamp is from Penny Black (4208K Christmas Narative). I stamped the design with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on off white card stock and colored the design with Copic markers. After the design was colored I added some yellow glitter to the center of the Poinsettia.

At this point the layer was just a square and needed help. There was a lot of empty space in the two right hand corners so I took a chance and used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch to remove some of that space on both corners. It still needed a little something more but the square was a little too big to add another layer of gold card stock under the design so I took a Gold Leaf Pen and edged all four sides. In real life it really added the right finishing touch.

A Cuttlebug border folder was used to emboss the bottom edge of the card.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome................I love hearing from you!

(Supplies you can purchase from me at a discount for this card:
Penny Black Stamp, Copic Markers, Glitter, Gold Leafing Pen )

PENNY BLACK - Snowflake and Holly - #2

2011-11-03T01:00:00.000-05:00

Using the same stamp as yesterday's card, I stamped it onto off white card stock and colored it with Copic markers. I sponged Ranger Distress Ink Brushed Corduroy around the design and heavier onto the area with the snowflake. After cutting and embossing it with the largest Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Oval, I added the Red Stickles.

The card base is SU Real Red and was embossed with the SU embossing folder. Before attaching the stamped layer to the card base I wanted to set off the layer a little more since I wasn't able to cut a larger area for underneath. I took the Distress ink pad and added a little bit heavier ink to the scalloped edges although I doubt it shows up very well if at all in the picture.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comment are always welcome...........I love hearing from you!

Supplies for this card which you can order from me:

Penny Black stamp, Spellbinders Ovals, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Copic markers, Distress Ink and Stickles.

PENNY BLACK - Snowflake and Holly

2011-11-02T01:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is November already!!! So I am going to start posting ideas for Christmas/Holiday cards.When I saw this stamp, I knew I was going to want it to use for some of this year's Christmas cards. The first thing I did was to stamp it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink so that it could be colored with Copic markers. I like to use layers on cards and I prefer using 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards. This stamp was so long that I wasn't sure I'd have a die to cut it out that would be good proportions. The largest die from Spellbinders Labels Seventeen turned out to be the only die I had that would not cut off part of the design and since it was the largest one, I wasn't going to be able to add an additional layer under it.

Once the design was cut and embossed, I sponged the area around the design using Ranger Distress Ink Bundled Sage which seemed to go well with the Copic green I had used. I sponged that same color a little heavier over the area with the snowflake. The design still looked unfinished so I used Red Stickles to enhance the berries and added the three small dots as well down in the lower corner. The card base was embossed with the new SU Snow Burst embossing folder.

I have a second card made using the same stamp which I will be posting tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by today! Your comments are always welcome...............I really enjoy hearing from you!

Supplies for this card you can order from me:

Penny Black stamp, Spellbinders Labels, Copic markers, Memento Ink, Distress Ink and Stickles.

BABY BOY

2011-11-01T04:00:00.003-05:00

A couple of days ago I posted the Baby Girl card I had made. Instead of dimensional stickers, I stamped three small designs from Paper Inspirations inside the window openings. The tag is from Spellbinders.

I can hardly believe it is November already so for the next few days, I'm going to start posting some ideas for Christmas cards.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2011-10-31T04:00:00.001-05:00

Today is Halloween so my post really needs to be something "spookey". Since I didn't have any additional ones to show, I am pulling a card out of the ones I made in 2009. This was a case of a card that my friend Georgia made. The main difference between hers and mine was that she had added an orange layer of card stock between the yellow layer and the card base which really set hers off even more.

If you are out Trick or Treating tonight with the kids, hope everybody is safe and has a wonderful time. Our weather is actually going to cooperate here.............no rain and not overly chilly. It means up and down answering the door a lot of times but I do especially enjoy the little ones and some of the very clever costumes.

Thanks for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..................I really enjoy hearing from you!

BABY GIRL

2011-10-30T14:08:00.001-05:00

I decided it was probably a good idea to have some baby cards on hand. Last summer I purchased some great dimensional stickers and decided to use them to make one for baby girl and one for a baby boy (which you will see later once the recipient has received it).

The card base is obviously white card stock. I cut a piece of SU Pretty in Pink card stock to approximately 3 3/4 x 5 inches and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. This layer was attached to the card base.

I then cut the three windows using the die from Papertreyink. Three of the pastel colored dimensional stickers on one sheet were small enough to fit within the windows so it made for quick embellishments. The label was cut using one of the NEW Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents after I had stamped the "Congratulations" with VersaFine Onyx Black ink. The SU pearls are from blog candy I won from The Stampin' Schach. I colored the pearls using a Copic marker which matched the pink card stock.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I love hearing from you!

50th ANNIVERSARY #2

2011-10-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

The main focus of this card is the piece I cut and embossed using the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Brocade Window. I trimmed the 5 x 7 piece slightly to fit on the front of this card. I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to place the stamped sentiment correctly. I used VersaMark and Egyptian Gold EP.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome.................I love hearing from you!

ANNIVERSARY FOR FRIENDS

2011-10-27T04:00:00.002-05:00

I made this card for our friends Joe and Cindy who celebrate their anniversary on October 27th. The stamps are from Heartfelt Creations. There is a set of dies to cut out various sizes of flowers for matching stamp sets.

The first step was to use the largest of the Spellbinders Lablels 17 die to cut the cards base by setting the die slightly above the fold. Then I cut a second complete piece with the same die and stamped the flower bouquet onto it. It was colored with Copic markers and yellow Stickles added to the center of the flowers.

The popped flower is from a separate stamp in a coordinating set and was cut out with the Heartfelt Creations die which is made by Spellbinders. It was also colored and then popped onto the matching flower in the bouquet.

The sentiment was stamped and then cut and embossed with one of the Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents. After cutting and embossing, I left the tag in the die and then sponged some pink ink over the design to go with the flowers.

Thank you for stopping by! Would love to hear what you think!

50th ANNIVERSARY

2011-10-26T04:00:00.001-05:00

We needed some 50th Anniversary cards. I ran the card front through the Cuttlebug. The stamp is from Ann-ticipations and was stamped using VersaMark and then heat embossed with Egyptian Gold EP. The design was cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circle and then mounted onto the Lacey Circle.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome.............I love hearing from you!

BASKET OF CHRISTMAS TREATS

2011-10-25T14:28:00.001-05:00

Today's card doesn't need much explanation. I cut a piece of Lasting Impressions "Ballet - Fleur" card stock just slightly smaller than the 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card front and added that to the card base. The design is another sticker from a Precious Moments set and was attached to a piece of white card stock which was then cut and embossed using a Spellbinders Classic Standard Circle die. The next larger size of die was used to cut a layer using Lasting Impressions "Ballet - Solid" card stock. Final layer was cut using the largest Spellbinders Lacey Circle die.

I usually make Christmas cards for each of the grandchildren. Although I like to make them cute, I try not to spend a lot of time on them. Our youngest granddaughter is very petite and the pastel colors on this make me think of her.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome...............I love hearing from you!

BABY GIRL

2011-10-24T04:00:00.001-05:00

A few days ago I posted two cards that were made using Precious Moments nativity stickers. This cute little lamb was one of the set. I wasn't able to use all of the stickers on those cards and decided that this would be the one to eliminate because it would make a great sticker for a baby card.

The card base was run through the Cuttlebug with the baby sentiment folder. The next step was to add a punched edge along a piece of Lasting Impressions "Ballet - Fleur"and add it to the right side of the card front.

I added the sticker to a piece of Lasting Impressions "Ballet - Solid" card stock and then cut and embossed the piece with a Spellbinders Classic Oval. I then cut a white piece of card stock using the Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Oval which was slightly large than the plain oval and added the lamb to the front of the card. The ballet papers were the perfect papers to use with this cute little sticker.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome............I love hearing from you!

ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT

2011-10-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Recently I made this card for a Yahoo Group card swap and I had just purchased and received this cute Precious Moments stamp from a seller on eBay. Most of the members of our group agree that it is sometimes difficult to come up with a card for the guys so when I saw this stamp I definitely wanted it. It's a design that will work well for "congratulations on your retirement", "relax on your birthday", "take it easy as you recover".

I stamped the design using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored the image with Copic markers using the colored design on the stamp itself as a color guide. The brown and turquoise card stock is from Stampin' Up.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome............I love hearing from you.

LAST HALLOWEEN

2011-10-20T04:00:00.000-05:00

I think this looks like a pretty scary Jack-O-Lantern. I'm not overly pleased with card. I had the image stamped and colored already from last year so I wanted to do something with it. I cut it out with the Classic Scallop Oval Spellbinders and then cut a piece of the Lasting Impressions Creamsicle Pinstripe paper with the next larger size of oval. The bold striped dp is from Recollections.

Not too long ago the distributor I use started selling "Candi". I had no idea what these were all about so I ordered four packages of different colors. They are very light weight and have a "cupped" shape so I mounted these orange dotted ones with little glue dots. If you are interested in purchasing some, let me know.

I think this will be my last Halloween card.........but then you never know. Thank you for stopping by!

DOUBLE, DOUBLE....TOIL AND TROUBLE

2011-10-19T04:00:00.002-05:00

Today's card is made with the other stickers from the Jolee's boutique dimensional sticker package I mentioned yesterday. The witches in this package were so nice. The card doesn't show it but the lavendar cape that this witch is wearing has a velvet feeling to it.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome............I love hearing from you!

BEWITCHING HALLOWEEN

2011-10-18T04:00:00.002-05:00

Last year after Halloween, I found a pack of Jolee's boutique dimensional stickers on clearance at Target. I really liked them and thought they would be fun to use this year on cards for a couple of the grandchildren. The dp I used for the background is from my "stash". I cut the white layer with a Spellbinders die and then lightly sponged it with a green ink before adding the stickers. I wanted to add a fine line of black around the edge of the layer and made a little slip with the marker, which explains the little black lines I added around the entire piece to help camouflage the boo boo. I'm sure one of the granddaughters will love this one.

Thanks for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome............I really love hearing from you!

HALLOWEEN SPIDERS

2011-10-17T04:00:00.001-05:00

I think this Halloween card will be for our Grandson, Tucker. He's at that age where he will probably love getting a spider on his card. I stamped the spider web on the front of the card in several spots. The spider web is from Paper Inspirations but I'm not sure where the tiny spider came from...........I cannot find the stamp at this time.

The black layer and orange layer were cut with Spellbinders Labels Four. The spider is a Cuttlebug die and is popped with a tiny foam dot.

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are always welcome..............I really love hearing from you!