JOY

Well, it's about time that I have a post. Life has been keeping us busy! Who knew retirement would have such a full calendar. :)

Here are three versions of the same card - in different colors. I did the die-cutting at our Group Gathering in June, but I don't know who makes the dies. I used the same embossing folder from Darice for each card. For these cards with colored background, I used textured cardstock and sanded down the design after embossing.

I made six of these cards. I think I have all the cards made that I need for this year. It's possible I need a few more, but I'm not stressed about them. I still have to do the insides. Also, as of just two or three weeks ago, I had only finished three months of next year's calendars. Now THAT was stressing me out a bit. However, I buckled down and now only have October and November left. Whew! I borrowed some stamps from a friend, so I have some idea of what I may do.

A big thing we've been trying to decide about is Medicare. What a huge decision! I turn 65 in December, so we have to figure it out soon.

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

November Calendar Page

Here is my November calendar page. I used QuicKutz dies for the pumpkin. The leafy stamp and the sentiment are from Inkadinkado. I also sponged some brownish ink around the pieces of the pumpkin before assembling it.

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

Speedy Recovery, Wyatt!

Our grandson, Wyatt, had surgery on Tuesday to try to correct his lazy eye. This is the card that I made for him.

The turtles are soft, puffy stickers from Sandylion. The letters are chipboard which I colored with Copic markers. I colored the matting cardstock, too, with the same markers. I mounted the matted layer on foam squares. Here is what I put on the inside, printed with my computer.

Wishing you

a speedy recovery …

much faster than

these turtles!!!

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

Pink Flowery Birthday

While going through my books of stamps, I came across this set from Sheena that I got from a friend a few years ago. I stamped it on vellum and colored on the back side. I placed a panel of ivory behind it to showcase it more. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, is matted with pink, and mounted on foam squares.

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

Stampin' Up! Flowers

I went to a "crafty" garage sale a couple weeks ago and bought this Stampin' Up! set and five new Kaleidacolor ink pads. I wanted to make sure and use the stamp set right away, so I made these two cards. For this first one, the stamps I used are the flower, the stem and the leaves. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I also used one of the Kaleidacolor pads for the flower. The green layer was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The black layer was cut with an unbranded die.

For this second one, I used the flower stamp and the sentiment stamp. I used a Sizzix folder for the orange layer and Copic markers for the coloring. On both cards, the image panel is mounted on foam squares.

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

Wildflower Birthday Wishes

I stamped this image at our Group Gathering anytime in the last several years. It was hard for me to do, but I "sloppy" colored it. I added a small enamel dot (or nail head) to the yellow flower. The sentiment is from a new-to-me Stampin' Up! set that I bought at a garage sale. The stitched frame was done with an unbranded die.

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

Crafty Secrets Birthday

I've had this Crafty Secrets stamp set for many years, and I'm not sure I've ever used it. So, here are two cards using stamps from the same set. I really wanted to combine the stamps, but I wasn't able to do it to my satisfaction.

The first stamp I used was this ferny stamp. I stamped with green and matted with matching cardstock. I added a strip of vellum with the sentiment (from Impression Obsession) stamped on it and embossed with black embossing powder.

For this card, I used the flowery stamp. (Come to think of it, I may have used this stamp previously.) I stamped it in dark purple (Vintage Violet) on vellum. I placed the stamped vellum over patterned paper. The sentiment is done with an unbranded die and is layered for dimension. The cardbase on both cards is ivory.

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

Blue Poppy Birthday

A simple card that happened because of the small matted rectangle:) I had this tiny matted piece on my table. I found a sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) that fit nicely. I also had the tiny strip of black laying around. All I had to do was figure out how to use them both. I stamped the poppy image - from Penny Black - on a piece of ivory cardstock and colored with Copics and put the card together. My table is now (almost completely) void of card parts! Doesn't mean I don't have many, many more to use, but they are tucked away neatly in a box:)

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

Simple Birthday

I got this pretty quarter-sheet of patterned paper from a friend in June at our Group Gathering - and another like it to be used later. I just really liked it! :) I didn't want to cover it up, so this is how I decided to use it. I cut a stitched circle out of the patterned paper, and also out of the pale yellow "mottled" paper. I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) and then I embossed with a Darice folder. I cut one of the flowers out of the discarded circle. I matted with the same yellow and popped it up with foam squares, and also added a couple thin strips to highlight the sentiment.

Edited to add: I'm linking this card up to the Let's Craft and Create challenge. The challenge is anything goes, with the option of using paper strips instead of ribbon.

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

Another "Freebie" Sticker

I recently posted another card I made with a similar sticker and matting. The stickers came from a mailing from Habitat for Humanity, and I just couldn't throw them away. I still have several more to use, though! I used an unbranded die to cut the window for the matted sticker. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Water-Colored Flower

I had a few things laying around my stamping room and decided to take care of them. Some of the items were from the watercolor class I took in July. So, before I cleaned up, I used them:) I ended up painting this flower. After painting, I added the black lines with a thin black marker. I matted with matching pink and popped up on foam squares. The sentiment is a sticker from Mrs. Grossman's. The cardbase is ivory.

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

Watercolored Christmas

Another Christmas card for today. I've had this stamped (along with fourteen more!) for a couple years. The image and sentiment are from Penny Black. I watercolored the image and added some hand-doodling around the edges and matted with green.

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

October Calendar Page

Another month is here - amazing how time flies! The stamps on this month's page are all from Paper Studio House Mouse. I colored with Copics. Happy October!

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

Another Christmas Card

I used friends' dies while I was in Des Moines last summer, and made a card with one of them. The die cuts all the openings that you see here. I matted with red and popped up on foam squares. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things.

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

Another Ornament Card ... and an Updated Card

For today's cards, I'm sharing the rest of the cards I made with the ornaments I had cut out using Penny Black dies.

For this first one, I used silver and red. The cardbase is dark green. The background is silver and is embossed using a Darice embossing folder. The ornament hanger is a thin strip of cardstock.

Here is the card from Tuesday, updated. I added the die-cut Christmas sentiment, mounted on a strip of matching green. I believe the die is from Impression Obsession, but I'm not 100% certain.

I actually have a few days worth of posts to share with you. Thursday was a good day in my stamping room:)

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

Penny Black Ornament Dies

Here are four cards I made with the Penny Black ornaments die set. They are all the same - just subtle differences. On each, I drew the ornament hanger with a silver marker/pen. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I used a gel pen to add the "snow" on this one. The bows were done with dies, also. The backgrounds were embossed with a Darice folder.

Edited to add: Oops - the folder is actually from Cuttlebug, not Darice.

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

Christmas Bird Ornament

Several months ago, I brought out my Letterpress - thought I would experiment with it a bit again. I made two pieces like this background. I think it works fine as a background for a Christmas card. I bought a Penny Black die set while I was in Des Moines in June. It comes with four dies - the solid background, this bird, a deer and the word "Joy." I made up two of each several weeks ago using red, green, gold and silver. This is the only one on a card so far. I popped up the ornament on foam squares and added a silver brad and silver cord.

Oh my goodness - only three months until Christmas!! I am so far behind on my calendars - I only have three months of them done so far:( Hopefully I'll have some time soon to spend in my stamping room. Besides taking our trip to Alaska, we also went camping and took a trip to Chicago in September. We've been playing a lot of pickleball, too, and I have taken up golf this summer. Time just flies!

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

Shimmery Birthday

Another stamped image from June - unknown company. The sentiment is from The Paper Company. I colored the flowers using Spectrum Noir Sparkle Glitter Brush Pens. It's rather shimmery in real life:)

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

Floral Anniversary - Times Three

 Finally - a blog post from me. It's been one thing after another, but I finally have some time for blogging. (Haven't had stamping time yet, though! These cards were done quite a while ago.) The flowers on these cards were all stamped at our June Gathering. I THINK the stamps are from Altenew, but I'm not sure. I used my MISTI for the flowers. The sentiment is an old stamp from PSX. For this first one, I added Wink of Stella to the flowers, and also to the leaves, I think.

I added a few Nuvo drops to this last card.

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

Anniversary Birds

I spent a few hours in my stamping room last night, and made a few cards. It felt good. They are not very fancy, but I used up some parts, anyway. We got some stickers in the mail recently. I'm not sure where they were from, but I think Habitat for Humanity. I couldn't not use them. :) These cute birds are one of them.

I cut a scalloped oval with a Nestability to place the sticker on and I mounted it on foam squares. The scrap of dotted paper was on my table and it matched perfectly. I matted it with ivory cardstock to match the card base and I mounted that layer on foam squares, also. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

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