Stay Home and Stay Well!

Even with all this time at home, I haven't had time to spend in my stamping room. Maybe soon! But, I just wanted to take this time to check in. We are taking this situation very seriously and are staying home except for going out for walks. We are not even getting together with our son and his family. I think we will start seeing them again in another week or so, after we've all been "quarantined" for a two or three weeks each. Edited to add: And by that I mean - they are not going out at all and we are not going out at all, so as long as we only see each other, we will be fine.

Stay well, everyone!!

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

Simple "Guy" Birthday

When my friend, Bonnie, was here last week, she brought over a card in this design. Hers was a very feminine card, but I needed a couple of cards for nephews. The front of this card is open above the patterned paper. The patterned paper is from an old stack from Die Cuts With a View. I cut the sentiment and the circles with dies. The sentiment is layered for more dimension and stability.

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Fishy Birthday

My neighbor and stamping friend, Bonnie, was here last Friday. She brought some things over that she had gotten from another friend. One of the things she brought was this cool patterned paper. She had made a card like this, and I got enough of the paper to make two cards. Such quick and great masculine cards. I cut the circles with Nestability dies, and the sentiment was also cut with dies. The sentiment is mounted on foam squares.

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Glittery Presents

I had a friend over to play on Friday, and I made five cards. Only three different designs, though. This is the one I made to show her how easy it was to use stencils and glitter. I totally messed up a few times! LOL!

At any rate, I did end up with this one. I used a Lasting Impressions brass stencil and some sticky paper, along with Martha Stewart glitter. I mounted the panel on foam squares. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.


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Watercolor Flowers with Pink

My last watercolored card for a little while. For this one, I drew the image and then watercolored it. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I added a couple black "nail heads." The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With a View. I also did some "doodling" around the edges of the image panel.

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Even More Watercolor Flowers!

Another watercolored flower card. One more tomorrow - my favorite of the three. :)

For this one, I did the watercoloring, and then I added the black outlines. The image panel is mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from Stampabilities, I think.

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Watercolor Anniversary

This is one of the three cards that I made "from scratch" as far as watercoloring. I painted the flower and then drew the lines around it. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. At least I'm pretty sure it is and I don't have time to double check right now! :)

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More Watercolored Flowers

I've been having fun with watercolor. This card uses a stamp, but the next three I'm going to post are "from scratch."

The image stamps on this card (the three flowers and the leaf) are from a Hampton Arts set. I stamped them on cheap watercolor paper. I painted the flowers and added the stems, and the leaves to the middle flower. I matted it and added the sentiment, which is mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

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Watercolor Flowers

Time just flies by, doesn't it? It seems like we are busy most of the time, but I can't really account for it. I haven't spent much time in my stamping room again lately. But, while walking on the treadmill, I have been watching some drawing and watercolor videos on YouTube. They make it look so easy! :) 

I love this simple image by Inkadinkado. I have used it in a few different ways. This time, I stamped it on watercolor paper with Versamark ink and embossed it with black powder. Then I very simply watercolored it. The sentiment is by Inky Antics and is also black-embossed. I mounted the panel on foam tape. The tiny-striped paper in the background is from a pad from Die Cuts With a View.

Another project that I did in the past week or so is to go through a few of the cards I've received and "repurpose" them. I turned them into new cards and donated them to our church. I figured it was better to have someone else enjoy them, too, rather than have them just sit in a box in my room. I still have TONS more sitting in boxes, though! LOL.

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March Calendar Page

I used an old, wooden stamp for this month's calendar page. It's from Canadian Maple Collections. I colored with Copics. The background paper is from Recollections.

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Glittery Snowflakes

A very simple Christmas card for today. I had made these snowflakes a while back and finally got them added to a card. I had made them using my new (at the time) Couture Creations sticky paper. (I don't even remember what it's called now.) I lightly colored them blue (perhaps with distress ink??) and added Wink of Stella to "glitz" them up a bit. I embossed the background with a Darice embossing folder. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Glittery Flower

This card happened because I wanted to use a little bit (well, I'd love to use a LOT!) of my glitter paper. So I stamped and die-cut the flower from gold glitter cardstock. I used a Hero Arts set for this. I colored the center of the flower with a Copic marker. Then I die-cut and embossed the leaves from green glitter cardstock. I covered the entire card front with a piece of patterned paper from Recollections and used a die to cut the stitched border along the bottom. However, I had cut it such that the "stitching" was on the part that I intended to toss. Oops! So, I decided to add that piece to the inside of the card. I added a few sequins from the thousands that I have that used to be my mom's. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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Butterflies Birthday

I have had a note to make a background like this on my desk for months, and I finally did it. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers directly on an acrylic block and then spritzed with water and placed it on my cardstock. When it was dry, I added a bit more color with Distress spray. (That doesn't show up very well in the photo.) I die-cut the butterfly piece and also the sentiment. The sentiment is layered with three die-cuts and also has a vellum shadow layer.

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Paper-Pieced Flowers

More paper-piecing on this card. I stamped and heat-embossed the floral image onto patterned paper and then I used four different patterns of the purple cardstock for the flowers. I cut the flowers out and added a bit of purple ink around the edges. I also used Copic markers to color the leaves and stems.

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

February Color Swap

Here is the card I made for the color swap in my stamping group. The colors are gray and raspberry. I cut the panel on the left with a die. I embossed the right side with a Darice embossing folder. I placed this piece over gray cardstock. The sentiment was embossed with Versamark and mounted on foam squares. It's from Papertrey Ink.

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

Sending Birthday Wishes

I have had a bunch of these large flowers in my "stash" for many years. I've always thought they were too big to use on a card, but they have remained in my room anyway. Finally one of them made it onto a card. I cut the ferny leaves with dies and colored them with Copics. The sentiment strip was in my card parts and I do not know what company made it. The matting on the sentiment and the flower center are glitter paper.

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

Paper-Pieced Trees

Hey, finally a card that does not use pre-made card parts! LOL!

I used Gina K stamps on this card. The trees are paper-pieced with Bo Bonny patterned paper. The image panel is mounted on foam squares. The stamping is all heat embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder.

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Daisy Bouquet

Another stamped panel from my card parts. I colored this one with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The sentiment is from Gina K and I'm pretty sure that the flowers stamp is, too. I used an old Stampin' Up! stamp for the speckles in the background.

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Flower Card Parts

Here are four more cards that I made in my quest to use up my card parts. I will never use up ALL of my card parts, but I am going to continue toward that goal.

I believe that both stamps on this card are from Gina K. It was colored with Copics. I added strips of thin glitter tape along each edge of the image panel. I used a Darice cloud embossing folder for the background.

Again, I think these stamps are from Gina K and again are colored with Copics. I matted with gray cardstock and used patterned paper for the background.

I'm pretty sure this flower stamp is from Stampin' Up! It, too, was colored with Copic markers. I had stamped the background using a Taylored Expressions stamp when I was at a friend's house in early February. The rose image had been colored for years and I realized that it matched the background perfectly. Poof - two card parts used! :) The sentiment stamp is from Gina K.

More Gina K stamps, I think. The image panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

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Wishing You Sunshine and Love

Another card using a piece that I stamped while visiting a friend. This floral stamp is from Gina K, and the sentiment is, too. I colored the image with Copics. I added a strip of glitter tape to the top of my panel. I mounted the panel on Dimensionals.

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

Balloon Birthdays

I stamped and die-cut the main pieces of these cards at a friend's house. The balloon stamps and dies are from Taylored Expressions. I did all the coloring with Copic markers. On this first one, I added dots to the three separate balloons with a Copic colorless blender. Those balloons are mounted on foam squares. The sentiment was cut from Bo Bunny printed cardstock.

The sentiment on this card is from the same set as the balloons. I added three scored lines above and below the sentiment. The loose balloons are mounted on foam squares.

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Snowflake Christmas

This card was made with another piece that I die-cut with a friend's die. I think it's from Memory Box. It's supposed to have two pieces coming out the left side, also, but I messed it up. It was too pretty to toss, though. I added it to a strip of blue which I scored with my Scor-Pal along the top and bottom. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I cut the panel to 4 x 5.25 and added it to a white card base.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the valentines I made for the grandkids this year. I realized after I was done that I had one of these sets last year in time to use it for their last year's cards. Oops! I don't think they'll mind too much, though. :) The stamps and dies are all from Recollections. The backgrounds were embossed with embossing folders. Simple enough!

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Poinsettia Christmas

I played in a friend's craft room last week, and this is one of the cards I made with my pieces. I used a die set that I believe was from Memory Box/Poppystamps to cut the poinsettia pieces and leaves. I had cut them from white and colored them with Copics after I got home. The background is patterned paper from Gina K. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.

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

Home Birthday

Well, I finally took some time for card-making. It feels good. I'm not sure how much time I'll spend in my stamping room, but for now at least I have a few cards to share.

I cut these houses and stars with dies. I made the background with some Tim Holtz Distress Sprays that I got on clearance at Michael's when we were in Chicago in December. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I placed it on a strip of black and mounted on foam squares.

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

February Calendar Page

Well, it's February! And here is my calendar page. I used a Recollections Valentine's set for this one. The background was done with an old, retired stamp from Stampin' Up! from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp set. I sponged pink ink around the edges.

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

January Color Swap

Here is the card I made for the January Color Swap in my stamping group. (I missed the sign-up, though, so for me it's just a "virtual swap.") The colors are navy and coral. I die-cut the sentiment out of navy cardstock. I matted with the same color. The patterned paper is double-sided and I folded up the corners and added navy brads.

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Hedgehog Birthday Wishes

More card parts:) Both the image and the sentiment were pre-stamped and in my card parts box. Gone! I colored the image with Copic markers and matted it with black. I trimmed the sentiment way down and matted it with black, too. Then I mounted it on foam squares. I do not know who made either of the stamps.

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

Butterfly Hello

Another simple card for today. This stamped image was in my stamp-offs pile. I have gotten rid of most of them, but saved some to color and use. I'm not sure who made this stamp. It MIGHT be Northwoods. I colored it with Copic markers and added black strips under the top and bottom. The "hello" was die-cut four times and stacked.

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Die-Cut Dragonflies - Times Six

I die-cut these dragonflies a couple years ago and finally used them up. I used different colors for each of them with different colored matting and various stamped sentiments.

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Loss of a Furry Family Member

A good friend of mine recently had to put one of her three cats to sleep. Always a sad time. This is the card that I made for her.

The embossed background was made using a Fiskars texture plate. I die-cut the kitty and the sentiment. I added patterned paper on the bottom and a thin strip of black.

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Iris Sympathy

These stamped and die-cut irises were in with my card parts. I decided to color them and add them to a card, finally. I used Copic markers for the coloring. I used black cardstock for a thin border mat. The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

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Belated Birthday

Well, life has been busy, but I'm finally continuing on with my tradition of posting pictures of the birthday cards that I receive. So, here they are! This first picture is of all of them.

And this second one is of the handmade cards that I got, from left to right, top to bottom, they are from: Lucy, Leslie, Darnell, Harriet, Vicki, Kris, Joyce, Annie and Sheri. Thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings.

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

January Calendar Page

I simply colored this image with Copics and then die-cut it with a stitched frame die. The stamp is one I borrowed from a friend and is from Brother Sister Design Studio. Happy New Year to ALL!!

The files for my 2020 and 2021 calendars can be found in the links under my blog title.

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