LADY BUG

Isn't this a fun card?  The body and head were made with a circle punch and an oval punch.  The wings were double stamped and cut out.  This was another simple card to make so I made two of them.  It's a card that could be used for various occasions by just changing the sentiment on it.

Thank you for stopping by!

BECAUSE I CARE (from workshop)

I liked the layout of this card but probably would have chosen different colors for the card.  The sample card we followed actually had the pink ribbon wrapped clear around the grey layer as well.  I didn't look close enough.  The sentiment is OK where it is but it should have been in the upper right corner.  After having things put together I realized there was a small black speck in the white paper so I covered it up by putting the sentiment lower than the sample.

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BABY GIRL

After the Baby Boy card, the next one was for a Baby Girl but a different layout.  The wide band of paper was taped only on the three sides to form a pocket for the tag to fit in.  A really easy layout that makes it a little different than the ordinary cards I make.

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BABY BOY

At Saturday's workshop, this was the first card I sat down to make.  I stamped the letters and then punched them out after so I could center the letters in the circles.  I stamped the design on white and then the corners on two shades of blue.  Everything else was pretty much cut to size for us so then we just had to assemble the pieces.

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PRETTY IN PINK

Yesterday's post was made last night and I mentioned that I had gone to a Stampin' Up Workshop last Saturday.  Today I am going to begin posting pictures of the cards I made.

When I walked into the workshop in Brooklyn (Iowa), last Saturday I was a little overwhelmed.  There were all these tables with materials ready for us to make cards and I didn't know where to begin.  Two of my friends (Joanne and Joyce) were already there so I joined them. 

Joyce's sister, Lorraine, was the lady who put on this workshop and designed all of the card we made.  She is very creative!

This wasn't the first card I made that day but I saw a card on "The Stampin Schach" blog using the same stamp and told her I had a card I was going to post today using it as well.  Some of the pieces were already cut to the appropriate size.  The pink background panel had already been prepared.  For this card all I had to do was stamp the flower design and punch it out with an SU large oval punch.......it fit perfectly into the pink embossed and die cut frame which had already been prepared.  Before putting the pieces together, we used a white ink pen to enhance the embossed dots around the oval shape.  We also punched the white panel with the little heart border punch. 

I know that I will be using this layout again with other colors and designs.  Thank you for stopping by!

ANOTHER FLIP FLOWER

Although it is late in the day, I wanted to get a post up again.  The card I am posting is with another flip-flower but in a little different layout.

Last Saturday I went to a work shop put on by one of my friend's sisters.  About 10-12 work stations were set up with a different sample card at each station and materials for us to make one or more of each one.  This is the first time I have gone to something like this and we had so much fun and I will definitely be going more often!!!  I made one or more of each card except for one and will begin posting them tomorrow (Tuesday).

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FLIP FLOWER & NEW TECHNIQUE

Yesterday I had fun doing something new and and fun.  Do you ever watch the Gina K videos?  Yesterday she made a background using waxed paper.  I had never done it before and I had the iron hot already from ironing some clothes.  I really liked the way it came out.  

You can see the video of it here:  Gina K Designs Stamp TV

After I had the background made I decided to use a new Sizzix die that I had purchased after seeing it used on this blog:   The Craftiblog  (March 20, 2012 post)  When I saw Bonnie's post, I broke down and purchased the die to make that very cute flower.  Her blog also has a video showing how to make it.  Check it out.

Here are two picture of the card.  One with the flower closed and one with it flipped open by pulling down on the stem:

 
It took me a couple of tries to get it assembled just right because I was trying to do it from memory.  It was easy once I assembled the pieces as I watched the video.

So what do you think?  Thank you for stopping by!  

PICTURES FROM ITALY

Between my husband and I we took around 1300 pictures during our week in Rome and Assisi.

The ones I have posted here are not in any certain order but will show a few of the highlights of our trip.  Our experience in Italy was nothing but First Class.  We stayed in the Best Western President Hotel where the staff was very friendly and accommodating.  Their continental breakfast every morning was second to none.

 This is a picture of some of the wonderful pastries.  We bought several different ones while we were there.

I had no idea how much I was going to love GELATO.  This is just one of the four times we enjoyed this delicious treat.  All of the ones we had were DELICIOUS!

Before we left I had been told that Italian pizza would be a lot different than what we were accustomed to.  I was a little afraid I'd be disappointed in it.  Well the good news is that once again, it was DELICIOUS!  We enjoyed pizza several times.  I've decided that if I gained weight from our trip, it was due to three "P's"......pasta, pizza, pastries........and GELATO.

Since this was a group from our church that made this trip, naturally the main focus of our trip was to go to the Vatican.  My husband and I were very fortunate to stand right by the baracades where Pope Benedict XVI passed directly by and in front of us.  Thousands of people were there so we felt very lucky to have been able to get such a good location to stand.

One of the days we toured the famous Colosseum.  If you look close you can see that the street  leading to the Colosseum is cobblestone......as are many areas in Rome.  You need really good walking shoes to cushion the uneven surfaces.  Inside we were shown some of the original surfaces that the Romans walked and chariots crossed.  When we toured the area of the Roman Forum it was such a mind blowing feeling to know we were walking where Romans back in the 600 AD time had walked.

One of the many sites I wanted to see while in Rome was La Trevi Fountain.  I thought I knew what it would look like.  I was definitely wrong.  It is much more impressive than I had imagined.  A still picture doesn't do it justice.

 Near La Trevi Fountain, some "Roman Soldiers" caught my husband.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRIS!

My friend, Kris, is celebrating her birthday today.   This is the card I sent to her.  The flower design is from Hero Arts and was colored with Copic markers.  The sentiment is from The Stamp Barn (a Canadian company).  I love the font on the sentiment.

After stamping and coloring, my thoughts went to what am I going to use for background paper.  Instead of choosing background paper first, I was afraid I would have a hard time finding something that would coordinate with the colors of the flowers.  The one I chose is from a Basic Grey "Out of Print"  6 x 6 paper pad. The dp is a "busy" pattern but picked up the colors just right.

This Hero Arts stamp is available to be ordered and at a discount, so if you are interested, just let me know.

Thank you for stopping by!  Comments are always welcome!

CONE FLOWER

When I first started purchasing stamps, this was one of the very first Penny Black flower stamps I bought.  I have always loved this stamp and unfortunately I have been neglecting it.  Today I thought I'd make a couple of cards using it.

 This is a slightly different version using the same papers and stamp.  The stamp is still available.  If anyone is interested in purchasing it, just let me know and I will be happy to order it for you.  The name of the stamp is "Blush" so that is why I chose the color of ink that I did.

Thank you for stopping by!

MY VERY FIRST POST

The rose stamp and sentiment are from a Kitchen Sink stamp set.

I hope you have enjoyed looking back at some of the favorite cards that I have made.  I hope to have something new for you tomorrow.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

OK.......this isn't a very Irish card because I haven't made one for several years, but it is GREEN.  :)

As many of you know, I sell Penny Black items and I have some of the Penny Black stickers.  This is by far one of my favorite cards I made using one of the designs.

THREE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I chose to show this card again because it really has three of my favorite things:

Flowers, a butterfly and this gorgeous dp.

A VERY RECENT CARD

CAMEO

This was a Birthday card for my sister which I made with the retired Spellbinders Cameo die.

RELIGIOUS EASTER CARD

As I write this post to be revealed on March 13, a group of 77 from our cluster of five parishes is preparing to make a trip to Rome, Italy.  My husband and I are part of that group.  It is a trip I never dreamed we would be able to make so it is still a little unreal.  By the time this post shows on my blog, we will have hopefully returned safely but I am sure I will be too tired to do any posting right away on our return.  It just seemed appropriate to have this card posted at this time especially with Easter Sunday just a few weeks away. 

The layers and cross die cuts are from Spellbinders and I am so glad I purchased this set.  The tiny gold cross in the center is a sticker.

When I am finally feeling rested, I will post a few pictures of what I assume is going to be a very special time.

A WEEK IN REVIEW

As a part of this week in review, I decided I really needed to post a card that I made using a Lasting Impressions brass stencil.  Using brass stencils was what really got me started making cards and although I have not done dry embossing for a while, I still like the look it gives a card and I need to remember the roots of what got me started.  This card is a case of one that my friend, Joyce, made.

BAPTISM CARD

This card has to be one of my favorites because it is a Baptism card made for one of our grandchildren.

EASTER CHICK #2

ANOTHER EASTER BASKET

SPRING FLOWERS

EASTER BASKET

CHICK WITH TULIP

EASTER CHICK

   

Some of you probably saw this picture appear last Thursday and are now seeing it for a second time.  I had scheduled it for today and if you noticed the date on it last Thursday was March 5.  I deleted that post so that it would appear today like it was supposed to do.  Since I was going to be unavailable for a little over a week, I scheduled some Easter cards that I had made to appear during by absence.

I hope to be back to posting again on March 14 or 15 but in the meantime, you can view ideas for Easter.  I do hope you will continue to leave comments on the cards during this time.  I will publish your comments when I am back on the computer.

Thanks for stopping by!

EASTER BUNNY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANCY!

One of my friends from our Yahoo Group....namely Nancy.....is celebrating her birthday today.  This is the card I sent her.  I sent it early to make sure I didn't forget and end up sending it late. 

The stamped design is from Penny Black.  It is such a fun design to color.  I was happy that I was able to actually accomplish some shading on the "bouncing balloons".  Copic markers were used for coloring.  The image was mounted onto SU Tempting Turquoise card stock and then onto the card front.

Nancy, I hope you are having a very special day!!!!

ONE OF MY FAVORITES

Since I am going to be unavailable for a few days, I scheduled some cards that I made recently for Easter, but for a few days after those I have decided to go back through my blog and have a "Week in Review" giving a second reveal of cards some of you have probably seen but maybe the first time for anyone who is stopping by for the first time.

This card was made using a stamp set from Flourishes.  If you have any questions, you can certainly email me and I will answer any and all questions when I am back to blogging again.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoy seeing some of the cards that are my favorite.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

   

Recently my friend, Lynette, made a card using a different embossing folder but colored part of the embossed image with markers.  I had tried chalking a design once but not with a lot of luck and I think I had tried using a marker once too without any luck.  When I saw her card though "Hello Friend" I wanted to try it again.  I already had the front of a card embossed with this image so I experimented with it using SU Mellow Moss and YoYo Yellow markers.  It looked OK but I decided to mat it on Mellow Moss cardstock so I cut the embossed portion from the front of the plain white card.  I really like the idea of being able to add a little color to an embossed image.  Thank you, Lynette, for inspiring me to give it another try.

Thank you for stopping by!