March Calendar Page

And poof - it's March!! Here is my calendar page for this month. I used a Sizzix die to cut out the sun and its center. The sentiment and the background stencil are from Gina K.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Hello Sunshine

You will be seeing this again next March - on my calendar page. The old Sizzix die that I used cut out the sun and the rays. I used a Gina K stencil on the background piece. The sentiment is also from Gina K. Thank goodness for my MISTI or I never could have gotten the sentiment placed perfectly on the center piece sixteen times!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

More Daisy Birthdays

I made ten of these daisies while I had the die out. I used them all up now, making seven of these cards with different papers. The papers are MANY years old. About fifteen years ago, a co-worker of my son gave me three or four boxes of "stuff" which I went through VERY carefully - sorting it out and tossing the junk. I think she must have been a Stampin' Up! demo because a lot of it was SU! things. I have a stack of samples (?) this size. Some of them are patterned and most of them are solid colors - some with textures. I came across them and thought I could use up a few of them for backgrounds for the daisies. I'm not showing you all of them, because they are the same except for the dp. The sentiment is from Gina K, as is the stem and leaf stamp. I did a little coloring with Copic markers. The flowers are popped up on foam squares.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Birthday Jonah!

Our second-to-the-youngest grandchild turns eleven on Thursday. He is an excellent drummer!! So, this is the card he gets. The "movie reel" die cut is an ancient one from Sizzix - the thick thick die that was used by the really old die-cut machines. I happened across them last week and was inspired to make this card for Jonah. It actually works with my Spellbinders Platinum 6.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

March Calendar Page

Well, it's March. And I remembered to share my calendar page this month. :) It's not really very often that I forget, but I do know that I forgot all about it last month.

I used a Sizzix die to cut the kite. I added patterned paper from Recollections for the kite itself and colored the bows with a Copic marker. I added gold foil cardstock for the background and a computer-generated sentiment.

You can find the files for my blank calendar in the links under my blog title. Please feel free to use them. I'd love to hear from you, if you do. Actually, I'd love to hear from you for any reason! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Gingerbread Christmas

I was glad I went through my list of people to send Christmas cards to very carefully, because I realized I needed three more! Oops. Here is one that I made this morning. I made two of the last one and will post them tomorrow or Friday.

The two patterned papers are from a Christmas matstack from Hobby Lobby. I matted the strip across the center. (Looking at the photo, that strip looks very crooked. I thought about fixing it and taking a new picture, but in real life it's actually perfectly straight! Goodness photos can be deceiving!) The gingerbread man was made with a die from Sizzix. I cut it once from brown and once from white. On the white one, I colored the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. Then I put the little pieces into the brown piece and added it to the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Birthday Wishes

I have several word dies and I was looking through them recently. I'm not sure if I have used this one previously or not. The die set is from Sizzix. It cuts the sentiments in corners. I made a frame from the die cut. I used patterned paper under it. The card base is ivory. Just a simple card, but I share all of the cards that I make:)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Anniversary, Kris! (And My Stamping Room)

This is the card I made for stamping group friend, Kris. Happy Anniversary to you and Ron! I made the second card first, but decided, even though I liked it, that it needed "a little bit more." So I made this top one.

The flower stamp and die are from a Hero Arts/Sizzix set that I've had for quite a while. I colored it with markers, spritzed with water, and stamped on ivory cardstock. I mounted them on foam squares. The sentiment is an old one from PSX, stamped on the same ivory cardstock. I matted with a matching purple. The card base is ivory, also, with a layer of kids watercolor cardstock on the bottom. to the left is the one without the purple matting. Just a bit too plain.

My stamping room is done!!! We went out of town overnight Tuesday night and came back Wednesday, but I still finished putting it back together late Wednesday afternoon. I'm so excited about it! :) I have posts scheduled already for the next few days, but soon I will push them back a day and show you pictures of my completed room. I love it! There are some things that I need to "purge" but for now I just put everything back. I was going to reorganize, but I liked it the way it was.

Edited to add: The Sizzix/Hero Arts set that I used for the flowers is called "Frames with Sprigs." Here is a link to it on eBay in case you want to see what the set looks like.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Simple Birthday

I was sorting through my 12 x 12 papers last week, and I came across this scrap of embossed paper. (I'm sure it wasn't originally 12 x 12, so I don't know why it was in there! :) ) At any rate, I took it out to be used soon. That "soon" was for this card.

I had already cut this card base and had it sitting on my table for a few weeks. The finished card is 4 x 7 - cut to fit an envelope I had. I cut the yellow to fit on the card front with a black mat. The sentiment was cut with a new-to-me die from Sizzix. Simple, but it will probably work well for a kid's birthday card.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Holly Christmas #2

The holly leaves and berries on this card were cut with a Sizzix die. The embossing was done with a Sizzix folder. I mounted this panel on foam squares. The sentiment is from Papertrey. How's that for short and to the point? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Celebrate #2

The second (and last) card made with the Stampin' Up! set called "Celebrate." The stamps from the set are the package, the ribbon on the package, and the bow on the package. I stamped them on a tag that was laying on my table. (It was cut with a Sizzix die a short time ago.) The sentiment is a little stamp I got from someone. I added the hand-doodling around the edge of the tag, and an eyelet in the hole. I mounted the tag on foam squares. The background was embossed with an old Cuttlebug folder and matted with cardstock to match the tag.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Anniversary, Lucy and David!

This card uses the last stamp (except for the words) from the Stampin' Up! set called "Baroque Motifs." The stamps from the set are the swirls in the background and the medallion.

I stamped the background with Versamark and used a new jar of embossing powder from Michael's called Glitz. It's the same as my old one called Iridescent Sparkle. I did the same with the medallion stamp, then I trimmed around the edges and mounted on foam tape. Since it sort of resembled a flower, I used a swirly die from Spellbinders to cut "leaves" from green textured cardstock. I matted with black and added sheer black ribbon. Actually, I added the ribbon and THEN I matted! :) I cut the tag with an old Sizzlits die from Sizzix. I stamped the sentiment using a stamp from Papertrey Ink. I inked up the whole tag with my Versamark and used the same Glitz embossing powder. Then I inked it again with Versamark a couple times and added some thick embossing powder. I've tried to capture the multi-colored effect of the embossing powder.

This card is for one of my oldest (well, not really the oldest! We've just been friends almost forever!) friends and her husband on their anniversary. Their anniversary was yesterday, but I wanted to give her time to open the card before seeing it here. Happy Anniversary, Lucy!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Valentines

Here are the valentines I made for this year. Everyone gets pretty much the same valentine - five grandkids and one for Jim.

I cut all of the pieces (including the card base) with a Sizzix set that I borrowed from my friend, Georgia. (Thanks, Georgia!) It's hard to tell in the pictures, but some of the hearts were cut from red foil cardstock. This is such a cool set!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Hi there!

I stamped this butterfly while I was in Des Moines, using Kitchen Sink stamps. I added gems to the body. I cut it with a circle Nestability and added the black scalloped mat which was also cut using a Nestability die. I mounted on foam squares. I stenciled the leaves with a Memory Box stencil. I matted with black. The corner was cut years ago using a Sizzix die. I added a few pearls to the corner piece.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Anniversary, Lucy and David!

Happy Anniversary, Lucy and David! Lucy is one of my oldest friends ... well, make that our friendship is one of my oldest! :) This is the card I sent Lucy and her husband for their anniversary, which was yesterday.

I used a friend's die set when she was here to stamp with me a couple weeks ago. (Thanks, Bonnie!) It's by Sizzix through Stampin' Up! The papers are SU! also. The die cut flower border is from my stash from our Group Gathering last summer. The stamps are from Verve. I would not normally choose to sponge black ink around the edges. However, that was my solution after somehow rubbing the card on my black ink pad after it was finished! Oops. The butterfly was cut using a Memory Box die.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

March Calendar Page

Well, here it is - the first day of March. Time for my calendar page. The Excel files (and Open Office files) that I have made to print the blank calendars are always available at the top of my blog.


For this page, I used Sizzix dies for the kites and cloud. The kites are cut from My Mind's Eye papers and the cloud was cut from Die Cuts With a View textured cardstock. The image stamp is from a dollar stamp set from Studio G.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

February Calendar Page

Wow, February!  Gosh, spring will be here before we know it!  Well, maybe in another couple months! LOL!  At any rate, it's time for my February calendar page.

The hearts are cut with a Sizzix Sizzlits die.  I stamped a heart from Inkadinkado on the pink and also sponged a little Versamark around the edges.  Then I embossed with white embossing poweder.  The bottom matting is shimmery white and is embossed with a Swiss Dots embossing folder.  The sentiment is from Inkadinkado, also.

If you would like to make your own calendars, you can find a link to my Excel file on a separate page of my blog.  You can find the page in my blog banner, called 2011 Calendar File.  I also have my cutting instructions file there.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Another Sketch Challenge

This card is for a sketch challenge over at Our Creative Corner. You can find the challenge here.

I first stamped the Whimsy Tree from Verve on Certainly Celery and white cardstocks. I cut out the tree and the grass and adhered them to the white. I stamped the sentiment, which is from Thoughts and Prayers by Stampin' Up! I matted with a brown cardstock that I got from a friend. I embossed the white background layer with a Sizzix embossing folder and the celery layer with a Cuttlebug folder. The border is punched with an SU! punch. I added a little flower, per the sketch, and added a rhinestone to the center.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon! 

Rich Razzleberry Birthday

I rarely make a card with a cardbase of anything other than white, ivory or kraft, but today's card is an exception.

I started with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.  I misted it with a mixture of Perfect Pearls (in the pearl color) and water.  Of course, you can't see that at all in the picture.  Trust me - it's very shimmery in real life!  I embossed it with a Spellbinders Butterfly Impressability.  I sponged Rich Razzleberry ink (from Stampin' Up!) on the edges and matted it on a cardbase of Rich Razzleberry.  The sentiment frame is cut with a Sizzix die.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set.  I got that set for Christmas, and I sure have used it a lot!  I LOVE all the different "Happy Birthday" fonts.  I added some gold brads to the hearts (the die cut includes the holes) and mounted the frame on Pop Dots.  Before I added the frame, though, I added a thin strip of cardstock.

EDITED TO ADD:   I've had a couple questions about how I emboss.  I don't have any "secrets," but this is what I do.  I have a BIGkick that I do my embossing on.  I use a piece of rubber from Home Depot called "plumber's gasket" for my embossing.  I also have the rubber mat from Sizzix, but I find the plumber's gasket embosses a bit deeper.  I sometimes mist my paper before using texture plates, to get deeper embossing.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

February Calendar Page

Here is February's calendar page.  And the details:)  Can you believe it's February already???  I sure can't!

The background is shimmery light pink paper embossed with a heart Cuttlebug folder.  The hearts stamp is from Michael's from the dollar area, stamped with Real Red from Stampin' Up!  The heart frame is cut with a Sizzix die.  The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkado.

If you would like a copy of the Excel file I created for the blank months, just send me an email at LJNeus@hotmail.com.  For those of you who have already received it from me, I would love to hear from you and see if it printed out correctly for you.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!