Happy Birthday …

... to me! I’m sure I will get more cards in the mail today (since I haven’t gotten one from my mom and dad or my mother-in-law, yet!) but I thought I would share the beautiful cards I have received so far. I’m so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family members. I thank you all for the birthday greetings. I will be enjoying my day today for sure!(EDITED TO ADD: I had to upload a new picture because I received five more cards today!)

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

Thinking of You

 

We just found out our niece broke her leg.  Her recovery sounds awful!  We wanted to let her know we were thinking of her.

I used the flower and branch stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Thoughts and Prayers.  I already had the stamped image in my “card parts” pile.  I had used Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers to color the stamp.  The Thinking of You stamp is from Stampin’ Up!’s All Year Cheer I and is stamped in Soft Suede.  I matted the image with Rich Razzleberry.  The patterned paper is from a pad of Debbie Mum papers and is also partially matted with Rich Razzleberry.  I took some time yesterday and made a few cards.  It was nice!  We’ll be celebrating Christmas with our daughter and son and their families on Tuesday.

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

Merry Christmas!!

Just a brief post to wish all my readers who celebrate Christmas a very Merry Christmas!  I think I posted a picture of our tree on my blog last year, so I’ll continue the tradition.

I appreciate all the new friends I’ve made through my blog – both the ones I “know” and those of you who visit but remain anonymous to me:)

I wish you all a very Happy New Year, too!

Penguin Birthday

 

A simple birthday card for my niece.  (Shoot – I just realized this will be her thirtieth.  I wonder if I should make her a little more “special” one.  Something for me to think about.)

Anyway, the skating penguin is a sticker from Recollections.  (Michael’s brand.)  The oval is cut from silver mirror paper with a Petite Oval Nestability.  I embossed the black strip with a Cuttlebug snowflake border folder, then rubbed silver ink on it, embossed it with detail silver embossing powder and added a couple scored lines.  The sentiment is from a clear dollar set from JoAnn’s and is stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop at my blog, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Three More Christmas Cards

    I’m pretty sure these will be the last three Christmas cards I will share with you this year;)

I saw the sentiment with the dotted circle on another blog and she had a link to the source.  However, since the “source” is a little questionable and the link was removed from that blog, I will not link to anywhere.  I will just say that the sentiment and its surrounding circles were printed from the computer.  I punched scalloped circles for the matting and used either a white gel pen or a glitter pen for the dots on the scallops.  The rest of the cards should be pretty much self-explanatory – Cuttlebug folders, Scor-Pal, patterned paper, corner rounder.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog – today and throughout the year!  I hope you will stop by and visit again soon!

Speedy Recovery

I ran into someone at Target yesterday who I hadn’t seen for a long time, and she told me about someone else I haven’t seen for quite a while who was having surgery later that afternoon. I thought it would nice to let her know I was thinking about her, so I ‘whipped up” (as well as I can “whip up” :) ) a card for her this morning.

The butterfly is from Inkadinkado. I stamped it on shimmery gold with Versafine Black Onyx and embossed it with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder and cut it out. I also stamped it on white. I stamped the “Wishing You” on the same piece. I embossed it with my Swiss Dots folder. It’s matted on the same shimmery gold paper. The border is black, punched with an EK Success fleur-de-lis border punch and misted with my water and gold Perfect Pearls mixture. I stamped the sentiment directly on the card base and added some Martha Stewart ribbon and a couple scored lines.

EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to mention that the sentiment stamps are by Verve from the Wishing You set.

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

Happy Birthday, Sheri!

This card is for a friend in my Yahoo! group.  Her birthday is today.  Happy Birthday, Sheri!!!

I based this card on a card by my good friend, Harriet. You can find her card here. The part I cased was layering cardstock with cutouts separated by Pop Dots.  I used Long rectangle Nestabilities to cut out the rectangles.  The stamps are both from the dollar spot at JoAnn's that I picked up a couple weeks ago. I colored the images with SU! markers. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch and I added pearls for the body. The front piece is embossed (de-bossed, actually!) with a Sizzix embossing folder. Then I scored lines with my Scor-Pal.

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

Masculine Birthday

This card is for a friend of ours.  It’s so hard for me (and others, from what I hear) to make cards for guys.  But, this is what I came up with, and I’m pleased enough with it.

The image is by Impression Obsession.  I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and colored it with Stampin’ Up! chalks.  I misted it with a mini mister filled with water with a little bit of gold Perfect Pearls mixed in, but I could not get that to show up in a photo.  I matted it with a kraft cardstock which I punched with an EK Success border punch.  The background layer is a shimmery off-white paper embossed with a Cuttlebug Fleur-de-lis folder matted on a dark brown.  The card base is Very Vanilla.  The sentiment is from a Verve set and is also stamped with the Vintage Sepia.

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

Wishing you …

I made a quick stop at a local paper store near me to pick up some envelopes, and they had their QuicKutz items on sale.  They rarely have anything on sale, so I had to check them out:) I got an embossing folder and used it on this card.  (I also got the envelopes and some Sizzix texture plates which were on clearance.)

So, here are the details on the card.  The background is embossed with my new QuicKutz folder.  I trimmed it down, added a couple lines with my Scor-Pal, and mounted it on shimmery pink paper.  The stamps are from Verve and I used Stampin’ Up!’s Rose Romance ink.  The “Wishing You” has rounded corners, is embossed with a Swiss Dots embossing folder and is mounted on the same pink shimmery paper.  The butterflies are also pink shimmery and are embellished with pearls.  That’s it!  It felt good to make something other than a Christmas card.  Even though I’ve been done with my Christmas cards for quite a while, I still seem to be making more of them!  I have 20 done for next year already.  I will try to upload some of them for tomorrow.

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

2RedBananas – A Tree

This week’s 2RedBananas challenge is “What Can You Do With a Tree?”  I first made the red and green card and thought I would improve upon it and made the white and gold card.  I think I like the red and green one better, though.  What do you think?

Both trees started out as a triangle cut into three pieces.  For the top card, I embossed each piece with a different Christmas Cuttlebug folder, then sponged it with gold ink.  For the second one, I just used some older Fiskars patterned paper.  Both have Close to Cocoa cardstock for the trunk and a reflective star on top.  The stars are from a pack of “confetti” I picked up from the dollar section at JoAnn’s.  (I got it for the white and blue snowflakes, but the stars came in handy for this card!) The base of the red card is Very Vanilla and the red is Real Red from Stampin’ Up!  The other card has a white base and has shimmery gold paper on it.  Both of the matting pieces are scored with double lines using my Scor-Pal.  The sentiment is from “Christmas Wishes” from 2RedBananas.  It is stamped with Versafine Onyx Black on the bottom card, and embossed with gold embossing powder on the top card.

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

Another (Extra!) Christmas Card

Following links from a comment left on my blog (thanks, Mindy!) I found a website called “CuddlyBuddly” that has free digital stamps and papers, among other things.  I printed out this paper just for fun, and then of course I had to make a card out of it.  I guess it will be for next year.  :)

The card base is Real Red.  The next layer is a layer of white, leaving just a sixteenth of an inch border on each side.  The left side snowflakes are embossed directly on that layer and the paper I printed is on that layer, also.  The other embossed strip is mounted on Real Red and added on top.  I stamped the sentiment with Versamark and embossed it with white embossing powder.  The ornament is from my “card parts” pile.  It’s stamped on Real Red and embossed with a glittery white embossing powder, then mounted on Pop Dots.  The stamp is from “Delightful Decorations” by Stampin’ Up!

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

We wish you a Merry Christmas

 

I don’t need ANY more Christmas cards, but I had to use this new image from 2RedBananas.  Isn’t it great?  It will be released soon.  The card base is 5.5 inches square.

The main image is “Caroling Jack” and the sentiment is part of a sentiment from “Christmas Wishes.” (The rest of it is “and a happy New Year.”  And it will be released soon, also.)  I paper pieced the wreath and bow with Old Olive and Real Red cardstocks. The berries are red/gold Stickles. I also paper pieced his book with a gold shimmery paper. I added Crystal Stickles to the snowflakes. The snow on the fence and on the ground is an ultra-fine glitter. I colored Jack with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I scored a double line between the sentiment and the image. The matting is Old Olive, and I scored a double line on the bottom of that, too. The card base is 5.5 x 5.5 inch and is a pre-embossed card from DCWV.

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

Happy Hanukkah

This is the Hanukkah card I made this year.  Simple, but I do like the way it turned out.  I suppose maybe I should have waited until Saturday to post it, but since I haven’t made any new cards recently, it was the only thing I had to post today:)

The light blue textured paper is from a Scrap Pack.  The silver is shimmery. The darker blue with light blue dots is from Die Cuts With a View Holiday Collections Winter Matstack.  The image stamp is a dollar stamp from JoAnn’s.  I stamped it with Versamark and embossed it with silver embossing powder and added two shiny sliver brads.  I scored the light blue trim piece with my Scor-Pal and added some beautiful ribbon (which is available at 2RedBananas.)  Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it!

Well, it DOES look like winter out there now!  Luckily for us, most of the blizzard stayed south of us, but it’s still snowing here and the temperature is dropping.  I hope everyone is staying warm.

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

Wishing You … a Happy 90th Birthday!

I made this card for my husband’s aunt who turns 90 tomorrow. We went to an Open House for her yesterday.

The base size of this card is 5 x 7 inches. I wanted a larger card for such a special occasion. I used Very Vanilla cardstock for the base, Rich Razzleberry for the matting and butterflies, and watercolor paper for the stamped sections. The border is punched with a Stampin’ Up! punch. I used SU!’s Thoughts and Prayers stamp set for the flowers/branch. I colored the stamp with Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers, stamped them on a piece of scratch paper, misted the watercolor paper and then stamped the image. I did the same thing with the sentiment. The little trim piece is a leftover scrap from the punched border. The sentiment is from a set that I just ordered from Verve called Wishing You.  The butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart punch.  I added pearls to the butterflies and the flowers.  The image panel is mounted on Pop Dots.

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

2RedBananas Banana Split Sunday – Stay Warm

When I saw the theme of this week’s Banana Split Sunday Challenge was to make a card reflecting “warmth” I was a bit stumped. Then when I saw the gingerbread people in the new Journaling Spot set, I knew what I wanted to do. What could be warmer than freshly-baked gingerbread cookies! I hope you will join in the challenge this week. The prize this week is a super-cute House Mouse stamp.

The gingerbread people are done on gingerbread-colored cardstock, cut out and mounted on Pop Dots. I used gel pens to color the icing on them, and a black glaze pen for their eyes and buttons. The embossed snowflakes borders are done with a Cuttlebug folder. There is a piece of Real Red cardstock partially matting the image panel. The striped paper is from an old Fiskars book. The sentiment is from a Stampin’ Up! set called All Year Cheer.

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

SCS Limited Supplies Challenge – White Christmas

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Limited Supplies Challenge #249 - to make a white Christmas card. You can use only white with one color of ink. I did not have time to make a card, nor did I need another Christmas card, but there was no way I could resist making a card for this challenge - I love white!!

So here the card I came up with. I used three of my new Cuttlebug Christmas embossing border folders and a snowflake punch. The vertical piece is mounted on Pop Dots. The snowflakes have pearl centers. I used Stampin’ Up!’s Soft Sky ink to sponge lightly around the edges and for the sentiment, which is from a clear dollar set from JoAnn’s.

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

Happy Birthday, Bruce!

This card is for the husband of a friend who just turned 60.  Happy Birthday, Bruce!  (And thanks for sending me the picture, Harriet. :) )

The card base is embossed with a Cuttlebug border embossing folder.  I used an olive green cardstock for the background, and misted it with bleach.  The owl is a dollar stamp from Michaels’s and the sentiment is from Stampendous.  They are stamped with Versamagic Vintage Sepia ink.  The image panel is mounted on Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip cardstock.

Sorry the infrequency of posts.  I’ve been trying to get ready for Christmas.  I just finished writing the Christmas letter last night, so I’ll check it over today and get it printed out.  The cards without letters already went out.  I took out all the Christmas decorations yesterday and got the boxes put away.  Now we just have to put the tree up (which we’ve had since last Saturday) and decorate.  The shopping is about half done.  I sure hope we can finish everything really soon so we can sit back and enjoy the season.  That’s my goal!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

December Calendar

I can’t believe it’s December already! 
Here is the December page of my calendar.  I love using embossing on December’s page – it’s so peaceful and lovely, I think.  The stencil I used is from Dreamweavers.  There is a long row of trees.  I did the embossing with my BIGkick and cut them in half for the calendars.  I matted the trees with a shimmery pine green paper and stamped the background.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!