SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS

The Stacy Stamps set that I used yesterday also had this tree design as part of the set.  First I stamped it on the middle of a card front but put that aside.  Next I stamped it on another card front but moved the stamp up so that a sentiment could be added and still leave an equal border at the top and bottom of the card.  

Using a Spellbinders circle die, I cut it using a large enough piece of card stock so that I could mask the tree and sponge through the open circle with Daffodil Delight ink.  The image seemed to call for a sympathy sentiment. The one I used is from Papertrey Ink. 

I've heard many times that Cardinals may be lost loved ones visiting so I added the Cardinal from Impression Obsession to the tree.

It's New Year's Eve!  Another year that seems to have flown by.  However you choose to celebrate, please be safe!

Thank you for coming by today!

A WINTER SCENE

We are expecting some snow later today although it doesn't sound like much.  I decided that this would be an appropriate card to post anyway since so much of the country is experiencing snowy weather..........much of it very dangerous.

I started with a piece of white card stock measuring 5 1/4" x 4" and stamped the trees with Shaded Spruce ink from SU.  The Tree image is from Stacy Stamps.  Then I embossed it with the Stampin' Up! folder.  The deer are from the Memory Box Deer Trio die and the Cardinal is from Impression Obsession.

If you are in an area receiving the horrible storms, please remain safe! Thank you for stopping by today!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Wishing everyone a Blessed day however your family celebrates!

CHRISTMAS EVE

This Christmas Eve we will be attending church services. My favorite Christmas Hymn is "O Holy Night".  Tomorrow our family will gather for our celebration.

WITH HEARTFELT SYMPATHY

This time I didn't need a sympathy card right now, but decided to make a few for my mother to have on hand.  The flower was from an old SU set.  Right now I'm not sure who made the sentiment stamp.

Things are finally falling into place for our family Christmas.  I think all of the gifts are bought but need to be wrapped.  Most of the cookies and treats have been completed.  Some cards may not be in the mail yet so they'll probably be late.  Everything seemed to come very quickly after Thanksgiving!

Thanks for coming by today!

CAT RETIREMENT CARD

The daughter of one of our friends is retiring and tonight we will be going to a party to celebrate the next chapter of her life.  She has had health problems since having a stroke years ago which it's amazing that she survived.  The struggles she has faced could have left her a very bitter lady, but her spirit has signed through BIG TIME!  So she really deserves this party and now being able to enjoy her life outside of work!

She's a cat lover and has 2 or 3 beautiful special breed cats and my husband asked if I'd be able to make her a card with cats on it.  I have the little Impression Obsession kittens and the SU Cat punch.  After investigating Pinterest, I found one like this with the same colors and loved the layout the person had used so..........here is mine. 

Thanks for coming by today!

CHRISTMAS SWEATER AND MITTENS

I refrained from doing much on-line shopping with the Black Friday sales, but I did get these dies for the sweater (from Hero Arts) and the mittens (from Poppy Stamps).  I thought the set would be fun to do with the Stampin' Up! Perfect Plaid dp and was pretty happy how they came out. 

Once the pieces were cut and the little green inserts put in place, I wasn't sure what to do with them.  In one of my last Stampin' Up! orders I had received the "Tufted" 3D Embossing folder.  The 3D folder took a little time to figure out what "sandwich" to use for embossing the design, but with a little help from a YouTube video it worked and I love the embossing!

Thanks for coming by today!

A HOLLY "MERRY CHRISTMAS"

In my Christmas card parts, I had 3 pieces of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 pieces that had been randomly stamped with this design.  After coloring the leaves with SU Light Old Olive Blender Pen I added strips of Old Olive card stock behind the pieces.  The red "holly berries" were done with Ruby Red Liquid Pearls whenever it was that I had stamped the designs.

These pieces were then added to a standard A2 card base and a die cut "Merry Christmas" finished the 6 cards.

Thank you for coming by today!

I'm not sur

STOCKING STUFFERS

I saw the idea for these on YouTube.  The items are made using Dollar Tree 3 1/2" x 5" Mini Note Pads.  If you search for "Craft Fair Idea #8: Chunky Note Pads" I'm sure you can find the video instructions.  If you want to make these, click on the "Contact Me" and I'll tell you a minor change I made in the pattern.  (See below for a few other ones that I have made.)

I'm using these as little unexpected gifts to our City Librarian, City Clerk and Postmaster.  Our granddaughters will each receive one too.  Couldn't come up with the right paper for our grandson.

Thank you for coming by today!

GIFT CARD HOLDERS

 Our grandchildren are getting more difficult to buy gifts for so we have turned to using a lot gift cards for them to use in various places where they like to shop.  I had so much fun making these that I just kept making more.  Some of been delivered to the beauty shop where I get my hair done.  Below yo can see several of the ones I've done.

This picture shows the inside.  A pocket on the far left has a notch in it to make it easier for the gift card to be inserted. There is plenty of room for a personalized message.   It isn't necessary to use double sided dp or a combination of two coordinating papers but sometimes it makes for a nice contrast.

Thanks for coming by today!

A WINTER SCENE

My friend, Carol, had just received a stamp set and offered to let me see if it would work with this pretty die cut.  I love this die cut frame.

JOY TO THE WORLD

Today's card is a pretty close replica of one I saw on Pinterest.  I used a 5" x 6 1/2" card from a pack of cards/envelopes I purchased at Michael's.  The sentiment die is from Impression Obsession and the other die cuts are all from the Stampin' Up! "Pretty Pines" Thinlits.

Thank you for coming by today!

GOLD FOIL DEER

I had to angle the camera to get a picture where there was little reflection from the gold foil.  The deer is a Penny Black die.

Thank you for coming by today!

THREE CARDS FROM 2018

I don't believe I posted these last year.

Thank you for coming by today!

5 CARDS FOR IOWA VETERANS HOME

A few months ago I discovered that the Iowa Veterans Home appreciates cards for the veterans to use when they want to send a card to friends or a loved one.  I always have an abundance of cards on hand and have started sending bunches to them.  The local auxiliary ladies get them delivered for me.  

I had quite a few Christmas cards made up early and decided to put together a package of them to send. The cards below were all from a sheet of Penny Black stickers but I sent a wide variety of designs for them to use.  It's a small gift I can give them for their service to our country.

Thank you for coming by today!

SPARKLY SNOWMAN

This was a piece which I did last year and was ready to mount onto a card base.  The snowman is a sticker from Elizabeth Crafts Designs.  I added the sticker to double sided adhesive and then covered the entire piece with sparking white glitter.  The design was then colored with Copic markers.  When using Copic markers on glitter I just dab the tips onto the piece because the glitter can ruin the tips of the markers.  

This piece from last year was added to a red card base and a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white card stock was added to the inside for the sentiment.

Thank you for coming by today!

PEACE

The 4" x 5 1/4" white piece of card stock was embossed twice.  First with the random dots and then again with the Tim Holtz evergreens.  The piece was added to the card base.  Stick-It was added to the red card stock and then the "Peace" from Penny Black was cut and added.

Another quick and easy card!  Thank you for coming by today!

MEMORY BOX - Merry Christmas

When you need a last minute card, this is a a real easy one to put together.  I added a piece of designer paper to the front of a card base.  Then I cut the Merry Christmas  and added a punched tree.

Thanks for coming by today!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

The "window" openings were cut with a stitched rectangle on a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of card stock..  I placed the piece on the white card base so that I could stamp the designs appropriately in the openings.  All four stamps were from the dollar bin at Michael's.

Thank you for coming by today!

HOLLY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today is "Black Friday" but you won't find me out in the rush of people pushing and shoving for the best deals.  I'll gladly do my shopping at a more relaxed time.......although from now until Christmas the traffic and people are just going to be there.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is a CASE of a card my friend Lynette made at one time.  The die cut the holly design on a piece of cream card stock, and then I mounted it on a Garden Green card base.  Red Stickles was added to each of the berries which also added sparkle to the design.  I believe the "A Merry Christmas" is from a Stampin' Up! set.

Thank you for coming by today!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

WREATH using 2 SU Die sets

The Soft Suede circle was made using a die from "Swirly Scribbles Thinlits". The bow, pine and red piece were cut from the "Pretty Pines Thinlits".

I actually took the picture of this card quite awhile ago but since then I did add a red "Peace" die cut at the bottom.

Thanks for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Ornamental Pine

We made 42 of these cards for the independent living center where my mother lives.  Mat and pine are SU Garden Green.  The pine cone was inked with  Memento Rich Cocoa.  After adding the pine cone, I used an Ink of Stella Gold marker to fill in the cone which added some great sparkle.

Thank you for coming by today!

HAPPY LITTLE TREE

Last Friday my friends joined me to make the 100 cards for Christmas.  We made 60 of these for the nursing home.  Actually this one has one more added addition.  When I was coloring the trees, I accidentally touched the tip of the marker in a spot to the left of the tree.........therefore, this card has a little added Cardinal. It worked perfectly!

The stamp is from Impression Obsession and the sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! Ornamental Pine stamp set.  Tomorrow you will see a card using the SU set.

Thank you for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Thoughtful Branches

At one of our group gatherings in Des Moines, I stamped off some pieces from the SU Thoughtful Branches stamp set that belonged to a friend.  For this card I had stamped the tree and the two little birds.  I had temporarily attached the one little bird off to the side so I could finish the card when I got home.  Well, the pieces got put off to the side and forgotten.  That was at least a year and a half ago. 

To make a long story shorter, this is what I ended up with.  I am OK with it other than the streak of "snow" that I made across the trunk of the tree. That was poor planning, but at least the two cards have been finished.

Tomorrow my two friends are coming and we're going to be making the 100 Christmas cards. I also have a quick little project for them to each make a gift card holder.  Thank you for coming by today.

MAKING A "BENDY CARD"

I had never seen one of these cards let alone tried to make one.  When I saw one on someone's blog, I knew it was going to be the next challenge to myself.  I pretty much CASED the card I saw but on a second one made some minor changes in how I did it.  And if I do another one, I have another change I'm going to make.

I used Stampin' Up! supplies for this card:  Marina Mist card stock, Night of Navy ink, Happy Scenes stamp set and Sleigh Ride dies 

The pieces with the sleigh ride and three trees are able to lay flat for mailing.  It would be difficult to explain the process of making one. Here is a link to the video I followed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1XC_I8LUpc&list=WL&index=46&t=0s

If the link doesn't work for you go go YouTube.com and do a search for Sleigh Ride Bendy Card.

Thank you for coming by today!

PEACE

This was actually a card I made last year.  I have so many dies and supplies for Christmas cards that when I start making them in November it's hard to stop.   The green card stock and designer paper are from Stampin' Up!  I cut the white and green mats with stitched ovals.  I think the die is from Spellbinders.

Thank you for coming by today!

IMPRESSION OBSESSION - Holly Joy

This was a pretty quick and easy card to finish off the week.  I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers (R27 and G05).  I matted it first with red and then white before adding it to the red card base.  A piece of 4" x 5 1/4" white card stock was added to the inside for a sentiment to be added.

Thank you for coming by today!  Hope you have a great weekend!

TRADITIONAL COLOR vs NON-TRADITIONAL - 2 cards

Sometimes I like to use non-traditional colors on Christmas cards.  I have a few of the new blender markers from Stampin' Up!.  I wanted to use the new Balmy Blue card stock so I picked out three colors that worked pretty well together.  The stamp is from Impression Obsession and I found a name for this one....."Patterned Trees".  

I wanted to make several of these so I used my MISTI to stamp them on the lower half of a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of card stock.  The trees were colored with Highland Heather, Balmy Blue and Old Olive & a Copic E31 for the trunks of the trees.  I added the gold metal pieces to the top of each tree and added the no brand Merry Christmas die cut.

I like the first card really well, but this one is my favorite.  I used the light and dark Old Olive blenders for this one and the Copic E31 for the trunks.

So which one is your favorite?  Thank you for coming by today!

IMPRESSION OBSESSION - Merry Christmas

Last spring I was able to make an unscheduled stop at Memory Bound in Ankeny, Iowa.  Naturally I found some things that I really "needed", but I also was pleased to find some Impression Obsession Christmas stamps that were marked way down.  I bought four different designs. Two more are scheduled for this week.  The fourth one is one we will be using to make the cards for the living center and care center.

Impression Obsession only put F21136 on the package - no name of the stamp.  I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copics (R27, G05 and G17).  A red mat was added.

I was going to just add it to the white card base but it looked a little plain so I used a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of embossed card stock and added it to the card base first.  The matted design was added with foam squares.

Below is a second card with the same colors and layout.  On the first card I was wishing the "Merry Christmas" could have been  heat embossed in gold.  I stamped the design again with VersaMark and heat embossed it with Egyptian Gold powder.  I like the "Merry Christmas" but I don't like the rest of it.  It didn't color as nicely as the first one.  I won't be doing it again like the second card.

Thank you for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Another Feels Like Frost card

The Frosted Frame die frames part of the designer paper perfectly.  I am loving the cards that these papers make so much that I'm going to have a hard time parting with them. (This card is 5" x 6 1/2")

Thanks for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Feels Like Frost & Sleigh Ride

The beautiful designer paper would have made a beautiful card all by itself, but I thought it would be fun to add a die cut from the "Sleigh Ride" die set.  It just seemed to fit.  The card is 6" x 5 1/2" to take full advantage of the designer paper.

This scene is particularly appropriate for us today.  We received our second snowfall over night and it was enough that they cancelled school for the day.  Winter has arrived early and it's way too soon to be having "snow days" for school kids!

Thanks for coming by today1

STAMPIN' UP! - Feels Like Frost

I've said it before, but these papers are just so pretty!  I trimmed very little of the dp from all sides and matted it with SU Blushing Bride card stock.  The piece was then added to a white 5" x 6 1/2" card.

While the card was still laying on my craft table, I decided to add some Clear Wink of Stella to the trees and snowy ground.....sorry it doesn't show up in the picture.  Later I thought it would be fun to add a couple of little white bunnies who look like they might be wanting to play.

Thanks for coming by today!

100 THANKSGIVING CARDS

I have to give credit to my friend, Kris, who sent me a card very similar to this last year for Thanksgiving.  It was a great idea for me to use this year.

This post is a replica of a card that we made for a care center and an independent living center.  This was a sample that I had made up ahead of time but the ones we made actually used white card stock for the base since I didn't have enough of this paper.  The dp used was very economical since I was able to get it at Hobby Lobby for 4/$1.00. 

Leaves used on the cards were Maple and Oak leaves.  The large leaves were all cut from a discontinued SU card stock that matched perfect to the dp.  I think that was Ruby Red but not sure.  I had gold paper that made a nice accent leaf.  Fortunately since I needed so many leaves for that many cards I was able to cut multiple leaves at one time.

The sentiment is from Stampabilities.  Thank you for stopping by today!