Happy Halloween - #1 and #2

I finally got around to making my Halloween cards for the grandkids. Three will go out in the mail tomorrow, heading for Chicago. The other two will be hand-delivered. They are all pretty simple this year. (Not unlike every other year, I guess!!)

The background paper for all of them comes from a pad from Recollections. The papers were all 8.5 x 11, but I cut them down to fit on standard sized cards. I trimmed off the lower left corner of this one, along the spider web edge. I matted with black. The sentiment is from an old dollar set by Studio G. I stamped it with Versamark and embossed with detail white embossing powder. The ghosts are from a Halloween set by Recollections. I stamped them on white, cut them out, and mounted on foam squares.

This piece had the spider already on it. I simply matted the paper with black, added the sentiment (same as above), and then popped up the ghost. These two cards go to the two youngest grandsons.

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

"Thumping" Technique Video

Several people have asked me about the "thumping" technique that I used on this card. It's very simple, and I thought I would do a very short video to show you how I do it. You can view the video here. The tree stamp is from Gina K. (Not professionally done, by any means, but you can see how easy it is to do it!)

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

Autumn Wishes

I placed an order with Gina K last week, and here is my first card using my new stamps. You will be seeing these stamps on my September 2017 calendar page:) I was just a tad behind, but have now finished that page.

I inked up the tree stamp with yellow ink. Then I used four different color markers to finish the tree. I used brown for the trunk and branches. Then I "thumped" with the other three markers to color the tree. I used the coordinating brown ink pad for the sentiment. I doodled the border with the brown marker, also, and matted with matching cardstock.

Edited to add: I have uploaded a short video to YouTube showing how to do "thumping." You can view it here.

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

Best Wishes

A "best wishes" card for today. They can be used for so many occasions.

The flowers on this card are from Gina K. I used markers to color directly on the stamp and then spritzed with water for a water color effect. I matted with green and used the same green marker for the sentiment, which is from Stampin' Up! The patterned paper really does match much better "in real life!" It's funny how photographs change the colors sometimes.

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

More Birthday Flowers

I almost forgot I had this card to post. I used the same flower stamps as this card, but I didn't use the dies on this one. The stamps are all from Papertrey Ink. I added some orange gems for the flower centers. The tiny butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I added a purple gem to each of them. I also used a fine-point black marker to draw around the edges of them to match the black on the edges of the flowers, and to add antennae. The image panel is matted with green and mounted on foam squares. The second panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and matted with the same green.

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

Wedding Shower

Today I am going to a wedding shower for the future daughter-in-law of some long-time friends. This is the card I made for her. It's not the card I envisioned in my head, but it works:)

The heart is a sticker I've had for years. It is slightly popped up. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. It is matted with soft pink cardstock and mounted on foam squares. The background is embossed with a Darice Chicken Wire embossing folder and matted with the same soft pink.

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

Die-Cut Flowers

For some reason, the die I used on this card was sitting on my table, so I used it, possibly for the first time. It's from Papertrey Ink. The die includes the three sizes of flowers. The stamps are all PTI, too. I find it very hard to line up stamps on die cuts. I stamped the stems with green (all one stamp) and then added the die-cut flowers. The sentiment is also from PTI. I added enamel dots for the flower centers. I matted the image panel with matching green cardstock.

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

Birch Tree Christmas and Birthday

A friend was over last week to stamp, and she brought over this beautiful die. I cut three of these birch tree scenes. I made two of them into Christmas cards and one into a birthday card.

This card is a non-standard size - 4 x 6 inches. I mounted the die cut on dark green cardstock and then matted with black. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I cut it with a Memory Box die and mounted on foam squares. I added a red gem for the dot on the "i." The birds were punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Basically the same card, except this one is standard size. I added the die cut to dark blue cardstock and placed directly on the card front. Again, I cut the sentiment with a Memory Box die and mounted on foam squares.

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

Swirly Birthday

I went to a craft garage sale a couple weeks ago. There was LOTS of stuff, but I managed to just buy a little bit. One thing I bought was a stamp set from Close to My Heart. It had swirls and other such stamps. I decided to try it out.

I stamped it in the corner with Stampin' Up! Crushed Curry ink. I added the sentiment, which is from a Paper Inspirations set. I matted with matching cardstock and added the butterfly, cut from the same cardstock using a Memory Box die. I added a couple small pearls for the butterfly's body.

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

Soft Thanks

Another card part used:) This "splotch" was stamped a couple years ago. I found some cardstock to match it and matted it. I also added a matching butterfly, cut with a Memory Box die. The sentiment is stamped with gray ink. The stamp is from Fiskars. I added gems for the butterfly's body and also three more random ones.

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

Another Simple Birthday Card

When I get something new, I like to "sample" it a bit - try it out. I got some new dies a couple months ago from Michael's with a 60% off coupon and cut this piece right away. I almost returned the dies, but decided to keep them. But, this piece had been sitting on my table since then and I made this card using it. I added the ribbon and scored two lines above and two lines below it with my Scor-Pal. I added the sentiment, which is from Papertrey Ink. I added that piece to a white piece, and popped it up with foam squares.

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

Pink and Gray Birthday

I've had this gray, die-cut and scored piece in my card parts for several years. I took it out and it sat on my stamping table for a few weeks. I kept staring at it, and decided it needed some pink behind it. Also in my card parts were some very old pieces that had been done, I believe, with reinkers and glossy cardstock. This one was the perfect size and just the color I was looking for. I stamped the sentiment, from Papertrey Ink, with gray ink.

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

Gina K World Card Making Day Challenge

Wow, I actually did a challenge! I think it's been years since I've done that:) The challenge I participated in is Gina K's World Card Making Day Challenge #1. Here is a link to her tutorial. She calls it "Carved Wood." It's fun, and I'm looking forward to trying it in different colors. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The stamped image is a Gina K stamp.

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

Happy (Pokemon) Birthday, Andrew!

Today is our oldest grandson, Andrew's, birthday. He is eight already! As usual, I like to try to make personalized birthday cards for the grandkids. Andrew likes playing Pokemon Go. I really know VERY little about it, but our daughter was going to try to make cakepops that look like this, so I thought I would make his card to match. I guess this is the thing you "fling" to catch whatever it is that you try to catch! :)

It was really a very simple card to make just using circle Nestabilities. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

October Calendar Page

Totally amazing that it's October already!!! Seems like summer just started and it's fall already.

Today I'm sharing my October calendar page with you. I borrowed a friend's Stampin' Up! owl punch to make the bat. The wings were done with an oval Nestability and a circle punch. I sponged white ink on the body and wings. I cut the moon with a circle punch and sponged orange ink around the edge. I added the eyes with a white gel pen and a black marker. The sentiment is from a Recollections set.

This is not my original idea:) My friend had seen it on-line and I CASEd it.

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

Gina K and Me

We went to Chicago a couple weeks ago to visit our daughter and her family. We had a wonderful time there. On our way, we stopped at Gina K's "brick and mortar" store, Village Paper and Ink, in Greendale, Wisconsin - a suburb of Milwaukee. It was really just right on our way. How fun!

I was lucky to see Gina there and she was so nice. I asked if I could take a picture of her Stamp TV studio, and she said yes, and then asked if I wanted a picture of me at her desk, and then offered to be in the picture with me. Very cool! What a wonderful person she is, and such a great store. (You can shop on-line, also, of course.)

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

Orange and Gray Color Swap

I made this card for this month's color swap in my stamping group. The colors (in case you can't tell!) are orange and gray.

I cut the swirl while I was in Des Moines at our Group Gathering in June. I believe it may be Memory Box. The butterflies were cut with Memory Box dies. I punched the little flowers. After stamping the sentiment, the background was embossed with an Anna Griffin embossing folder by Cuttlebug and matted with gray.

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

Happy Birthday, Wyatt!!

I can't believe Wyatt - our youngest grandson - is three years old today! Happy Birthday, Wyatt!

The theme of his birthday party yesterday was "Where the Wild Things Are." So, I found some pictures on-line and made them into this card. I cut out the little boy from a second printing of the picture and popped him up on foam squares and added him to the image. I matted with a thin border of black. The card base is ivory. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I added another picture, complete with popped-up little boy, on the inside.

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

Simple Sympathy

I found this very pretty paper in with my scraps the other day and decided it deserved to be used. It is ivory and black, so I used ivory cardstock. I matted the patterned paper with black. I stamped the sentiment (from Stampin' Up!) with Versafine ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I matted that with black, also, and mounted on foam squares.

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

More "Card Parts"

I've had these two frames in my "card parts" for several years. I'm so happy to have finally used them. I do believe they were stamped and cut with Stampin' Up! products - probably stamped and punched. 

For this first one, I found a flower that I liked from an Inkadinkado set and stamped it in the middle. I colored it with Copics and mounted it on foam squares. The leaves were some I die-cut at our Group Gathering. I embossed the white panel with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and matted with matching coral cardstock. The sentiment is from a Papertrey set.

For this second one, I used Papertrey stamps. I again mounted on foam squares. I added a piece of black rickrack that's been sitting around for quite a while. It may have been left over from the card class we took in Des Moines in June. I added these pieces to a white panel and added to the card base.

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