Happy Birthday, Georgia! (In Full Bloom #3)

A card for my friend, Georgia - a member of our Yahoo! stamping group. Happy Birthday, my friend!

This card is #3 from the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." The three stamps I used for this card are the flower, the stem and the border. I colored the images with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I added Star Dust Stickles to the bee in the border. I matted each piece with green cardstock. The patterned paper is from a Recollections stack. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. It's hard to tell in the picture, but I also used my Scor-Pal to make a scored line on the top and bottom of the stamped strip.

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

In Full Bloom #2

Card #2 using the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." For this card I used two stamps - the flower and the leaves. I "messy" colored them with Copics. I embossed the bottom part of the panel with a Darice folder. (I think a different one would have worked better. Oh, well!) I scored a couple lines between the stamping and the embossing. I die-cut the sentiment, and matted the panel with black.

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

In Full Bloom #1

This is card #1 using the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." It consists of nine stamps. Over the next few days, I will share four cards using all of the stamps except a bee/fly. I just really didn't want to use that one:)

For this card, I used the flower stamp and the leaf stamp. I stamped a flower, masked it off, stamped another, masked that one off and did one more. I added the leaf stamp two times. I colored with Copic markers and added Wink of Stella to the flowers. I matted that panel with black. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I had the Spellbinder die-cut pieces sitting on my table. I had cut them as potential pieces to add to the photo board for my mother-in-law's funeral, but they went unused for that. They worked nicely for this card, though:)

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

Flowers & Friends - Three Cards

 Wow, I'm finally continuing on a challenge I set for myself almost three years ago. I set as my "mission" the task of using ALL of my Stampin' Up! sets, and I have a LOT of sets. (Nearly 200.) I was pretty faithful in working on them for quite a while, but then life got in the way, and I also kind of lost interest. But, a few days ago I got out another stack of stamps and got to work on them.

The set that I used for today's cards is called "Flowers & Friends." It consists of nine stamps. I have used them all on these cards. For this first card, I used the flower pot stamp, the tulip stamp and the other flower stamp. I cut out the flowers and the top part of the pot and mounted them on Pop Dots. I hand-drew the stems. I matted with purple. After adding the cut-out pieces, I thought it looked kind of plain, so I added the speckles with an old SU! set called Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I think I added too many speckles and couldn't reach the middle, but I still think it looks better than it did without them:) I added patterned paper to the entire card front. The sentiment is from The Paper Studio set. I also added gem stones to the flower centers.

 For this second card, I used five more stamps - the stem, the leaves, the flower, the butterfly, and the bee. I stamped the stem in green, the butterfly and the bee in black, and then embossed that piece with a Cuttlebug folder. I also stamped the butterfly, the flower, the leaves and the bee on white scraps with colored inks and cut them out. I glued the butterfly and bee on, and added Pop Dots under the parts of the wings that extend beyond the edge. I also used Pop Dots under the leaves and the flower. An enamel dot adorns the flower center. I added Star Dust Stickles to the bee's wings. The sentiment is from the same Paper Studio set. I cut it out with a Memory Box die and mounted it on Pop Dots.

This card uses the last stamp of the set. I inked the entire stamp with the lighter blue ink, then colored the beak and legs with markers. I stamped the bird again on a scrap with a darker blue, cut it out, and mounted it on Pop Dots and added it to the already-stamped image. I cut out that panel with a Memory Box die and added the sentiment - from the same set as above. I cut out a piece of patterned paper with another die and added the pieces to the card base. Then I added a tiny black gem for the eye.

Wish me luck as I continue with this project. I think I'm only about half done with my sets, and the sets are getting bigger so I haven't even used half of the stamps yet!

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

Happy (Golfing) Retirement!

A good friend has just retired. (His last day was last Friday.) This is the card I made for him, with input from my husband.

I used a Lasting Impressions brass stencil for this. First I embossed the entire thing on off-white cardstock. Then I did parts of it on different cardstocks and paper. After embossing, I cut the pieces out and glued them on the main image. You can't tell very well in the picture, but the clubs are cut from "mirror" cardstock.

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

Thanks, Annie!

A stamping friend from Canada in our stamping group sent us some stamp-offs. Thanks, Annie! I made these two cards with them. The birdhouses on both are popped up on Pop Dots. The images were embossed with glittery gold embossing powder. I believe Annie said the image was from Great Impressions. I colored them with Copics. I matted each of them with shimmery gold paper. For this first card, I mounted the entire image panel with Pop Dots, also. The sentiment is from Stampabilities.

The sentiment on this one is from Papertrey Ink. I embossed it with gold embossing powder. The patterned paper is ancient and is from Stampin' Up!

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

April Calendar Page

Another month has rolled around, oh so quickly! Time for another calendar page.

For this month's page, I used a digital image. It's on the Cuddly Buddly site and you can find it here. I've had it for quite a while. I colored with Copics. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

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

Happy Retirement!

A former co-worker of my husband is retiring, and this is the card I made for her. I only had a few minutes to make it, but I'm pleased enough with it. There's nothing new or innovative with it, but it's still pretty!

The patterned paper is from a stack by Recollections. I matted it with matching blue cardstock. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions. I cut it out with a Memory Box stitched rectangle die and matted with the same blue cardstock. I embossed a piece of ivory cardstock (the cardbase and the sentiment are also ivory) with a Cuttlebug folder and added it to the card front. The sentiment is mounted on Pop Dots. I think she will like it. :)

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

Sympathy Thank You

Here is the thank you card I made for memorials for Jim's mom. I brought home two purple roses from the funeral and took a picture of them. I cropped it and printed it on off-white cardstock, and that is what I used on the card. I matted with a darker purple. The sentiment is from an old Stampin' Up! set.

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

In Memory Of Helen Neus

 My mother-in-law passed away last Wednesday. She was ninety-nine years old. She was a wonderful woman who lived for her family. She was so sharp and witty until her last couple years. She is in a better place now and dancing again with my father-in-law.

These are the boards that my husband and I put together to honor her. We also did another board with pictures of his mom with us and our kids and grandkids, but I have chosen not to share that one.

Thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers.

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

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

Finally, a card:) Life has very much gotten in the way of stamping time. Sick grandkids, travel, extra help with grandkids, etc. My mother-in-law is failing and won't be with us much longer.

But, I had to get this card done. It's for our only granddaughter, who will turn seven on March 29. She is just the sweetest thing:) This card measures four by seven inches. The flower, leaves and stem stamp are from an old Stampin' Up! set. I colored with Copics. I stamped the flower again on scrap cardstock, cut out the center circle and mounted on Pop Dots. I added a min-brad to the center. I also added Star Dust Stickles to the flower center and the dots on the flower. The sentiment is from a Stampabilities set. I stamped with Versafine black and used sparkly embossing powder on it. Rather a simple card (that took me a while to make!) but I hope she will like it.

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

Iris Birthday

I almost wasn't willing to post this card, but it's all I've got. I've just have had NO time in my stamping room, for one reason or another - or many. I actually  just went down there to sit for a minute or two yesterday and found this card ready to be photographed. So, I thought I would go with it.

The iris image is by Penny Black. I stamped it on kraft (one last scrap that I had found) with Versamark and embossed with clear powder. I colored it with Copics. The yellow (slightly speckled) cardstock was also in my scrap pile. I decided I really should use some of my edge punches and also my Scor-Pal, so I did:) The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, again embossed with clear embossing powder. It is matted and mounted on Pop Dots.

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

Simple Christmas

When I was sorting through some scraps, I came across this piece of kraft, and also the green card base. I stamped the bird on the branch and also the sentiment with Versamark and embossed with an Emerald Pearl Lustre embossing powder. I sponged some Antique Linen Distress ink around the edges and added it to the card base.

Two more Christmas cards done. I think that makes seven so far:)

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

Kraft Christmas

Finally - a new card! :) I was sitting in my stamping room a couple days ago, looking at my shimmery paper. It was intermingled with some other colored scraps. In amongst the scraps were a few pieces of kraft, so I thought I would use them - or at least one of them. I had taken this Christmas stamp set out a couple weeks ago to make sure to use it, since I've had it for a few years and I don't think it has seen ink yet. It's by Stampendous. I thought perhaps it would work well on kraft. I stamped the image and the sentiment with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. I matted with a brown cardstock and then with a wider border of white, then added the layers to a kraft cardbase.

I even did another Christmas card which I will share with you tomorrow.

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

March Calendar Page

The year is flying by - it's March already! Amazing! Although, judging by the weather we had in February, it seems like it should be April already:)

At any rate, here is my calendar page for March. The tulips are a stamp by Gina K. I colored them with markers before stamping., The sentiment is computer-generated. I matted with matching green paper.

I'm hoping to take some time for stamping soon, but time just keeps zipping by and it always seems like there is something more important to do. I at least have my January and February calendar pages done for 2018.

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

One Last Valentine

And here is the valentine for our only granddaughter. :)

I cut the hearts and the "love" with a Stampin' Up! set that I borrowed from a friend. For some sparkle, I covered one heart and the sentiment with Versamark and then embossed with "Glitz" embossing powder. The background paper is from Bo Bunny, and I matted with the same red as the die cuts.

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

Two More Valentines

These are the cards for the two younger grandsons - both age 3. I'm pretty sure I have used these stamps before for grandkids, but oh well! I don't have a lot of valentine stamps. They are from a Recollections set.

I stamped the turtles and the sentiment with black ink and colored the turtles with Copics. I added some Diamond Glaze to the hearts. On the bottom card, the whole shell is covered with Diamond Glaze. I matted with red. I thought for something different, I would put one at a slight angle.

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

Two Valentines

 

This is the valentine my husband will get. (He rarely looks at my blog, so I think it's safe for me to post it!) I used a white card base. The pink heart (the background for the scrolly heart) and the scrolly heart were cut with Spellbinders dies. I embossed the background with a Darice folder. The folder is meant for cards to go the other direction - portrait, not landscape. I just embossed part of the red piece (after cutting the heart out of it) by staggering the plates on my BIGkick. Then I moved the folder and embossed from the other direction, again staggering the plates so that I didn't get a line from the edge of the folder.

This is the very, very simple card for the two older grandsons. I cut the heart out of the red and embossed the background, using the same method as the first card. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado. You cannot tell at all from the picture (sorry!) but the background for the red piece with the heart cut out of is actually kind of a very pale yellow/light tan. I didn't think the boys (ages 8 and 6) would appreciate pink:)

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

"Kraft Magic" Thinking of You

I watched Gina K do a video on this technique, and thought I would give it a try. Here is my result.

Basically, you stamp solid stamps on kraft with white pigment ink (or use black cardstock, for "Black Magic"), and then color with colored pencils. I used Prismacolor. The flowers, stems and leaves use Gina K stamps. The flower centers are acrylic dots. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! I matted with black and used a kraft base.

I'll be back tomorrow (and for a couple days) with my valentines, which I finally finished on Friday.

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

February Calendar Page

Wow, another month has flown by! Here is my February calendar page. I used dies from Quickutz (LifeStyle Crafts) to cut the center hearts, and a Fiskars punch to punch the smaller hearts. The background was embossed with a Darice embossing folder.

If you would like to print and make your own calendars using my blank calendar file, you can find the Excel file and the cutting instructions in the Calendar tab under my blog title. I'd love to hear from you if you do! If you have problems with the files, please let me know and I can email them to you.

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