Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

It's time for a new Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge. You can find the sketch and all the details on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. Create your card based on the sketch, upload to your blog or on-line gallery, and link to the RI blog. You will be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. Very cool! Visit the other Rock Stars' blogs by following these links: 

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

For my card, I used Candy Cane Santa, found on this page. This is also the Stamp of the Week, so, through Sunday, you can purchase this stamp for 50% off. (See the details here.) I stamped him with Memento ink, colored him with Copics, and added Stickles to the white parts of his hat, mittens and pants. I cut him out with Nestabilities. I embossed the red pieces with a Cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions, also. The Santa panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

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

Blue and White Christmas

This is sort of Part Two of my post from Wednesday. I used the same image and sentiment. I stamped them on a shimmery white paper and didn't think they matched my stamped snowflake background well enough, so I used them on this card, instead. I cut and embossed them using Nestabilites and mounted them on Dimensionals. The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and I used the ink pad to ink up the edges of the embossed layer.


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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of my American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all have someone special to share it with. We are so lucky to be with our children and grandchildren - very special!


Even if you are not celebrating Thanksgiving, I still hope you have a wonderful day!


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

Repeat Impressions - Designer's Choice Challenge - Snowflake

Today is Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge. Today's challenge is brought to you courtesy of Kendra. The challenge is to make a Christmas card and be sure to use at least one snowflake. Use this challenge to knock another card off your list! :) Visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for the details and the Rock Stars' cards. Or follow these links to the Design Team members' blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

My card, of course, uses Repeat Impressions stamps. I stamped the images and sentiment with a JoAnn's metallic ink pad. I embossed the tree and sentiment with clear embossing powder. The sentiment and image were cut with Nestabilities dies. The image and sentiment are mounted on Dimensionals. I rubbed the ink pad around the edge of the stamped background piece.

We'd sure love to have you join us!

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

Simple, Sparkly Christmas

Another quick card. I think in January I should have some time to create:)


This is another card made with pieces from my "Card Parts" box. The embossing was done already - by using a brass stencil and my BIGkick. I matted with shimmery green cardstock and added Stickles to the embossed part. I also added two scored lines and the sentiment, which was stamped with Versamark and embossed with detail white embossing powder.


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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Earth Ornament

By now, I'm sure you know that Monday brings a new Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week. This week's stamp, available for 50% off through next Sunday, is Earth Ornament, found here. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for the details and to see the other Rock Stars' creations. Or, you can follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Vicki

Simplicity is my thing:) I stamped the image on Kraft with Versamark and embossed with Detail Gold embossing powder. I chose light blue, light green and light brown Copic markers to lightly color the globe. The sentiment was embossed with gold, also. I matted with shimmery gold paper. The base is ivory.

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

Happy Anniversary, Annie and Ray!

I needed a quick anniversary card last week for a stamping friend, and this is what I made for her. 


I had gone through my brass stencils a little bit last week, looking for calendar ideas, and found this one that I don't think I had ever used. I embossed it with my BIGkick. (That was originally why I wanted the BIGkick - to emboss with brass stencils without having to do it by hand.) I added sparkly/holographic circles for the eyes, the "i" and by the words. I matted with black. That's it!


I hope you have already received this, Annie, but if not - this is what is headed your way:)


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

Life ...

Life is great. But, Life is very busy these days!!! It's a good busy, I guess, but busy nonetheless. 


My crafting time has been almost non-existent. I have been meeting my "obligations" and that's about it. I've even been "shopping" in my card stash for cards to send out to family and friends! I'm glad I have those cards available, though, for sure.


Last weekend I spent the entire weekend at a women's retreat with our church. I had never done that before, and I enjoyed it.


I finally got my calendars printed and cut last week. Yippee!! I have to make 15 this year, and haven't even thought about what to put on them. At least I think my Christmas cards should be about done, with the ones that I mass-produced and the ones I've been doing for the Repeat Impressions Design Team, so that is a good thing. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is in five days, though.


Anyway, enough. Just wanted to let you know that all is well here, and to thank you again for stopping by. I have a few posts scheduled for the next week, and I'll sure try to get something else done, too. I hope you are all doing well, also!


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

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

Wednesday means challenge day at Repeat Impressions and today is another WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge. Wendy shares the sketches with us and the Rock Stars get to creating. Then we ask you to join us! Make your card, upload to your blog or an on-line gallery, and link it up to the Repeat Impressions blog. Here is the sketch for this week:

Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details and to see the other Rock Stars' creations. You can also visit the blogs by using the following links:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

I started with the stamp called Peaceful Observation. You can find it on this page. I stamped it with Versamark on a slightly textured dark blue cardstock and embossed with Detail White embossing powder. I matted with a layer of white and then a layer of the same blue. I scored lines with my Scor-Pal according to the sketch. The sentiment is also from Repeat Impressions.

We'd love to have you join us. Each entry earns you a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. You still have nearly a week to participate in the Designer's Choice Challenge, too. Those details are here.

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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Cats Will Be Cats

As always, Monday brings a new Stamp of the Week from Repeat Impressions. This week's stamp, available at 50% off through Sunday, is Cats Will Be Cats. You can find it here. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details. You will find the cool cards made by the RI Rock Stars there, too. Or, you can follow these links to their blog:

Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

For my card, I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers. I cut it out with a Nestability and sponged with some red ink before removing it from the die. I matted with red cardstock, also cut with a Nestability. I mounted it with Dimensionals. I embossed the top part of the white matting with a Cuttlebug folder, then scored below it with my Scor-Pal, then matted that with red, also. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions, and can be found on the same page as the kitty.

While you're at the Repeat Impressions blog, check out the WHAT IF? Wednesday and Designer's Choice challenges for a chance to win awesome prizes.

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

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

OK, here is the last of my "card parts" cards for a while. It's for my forever friend, Lucy. 


The "part" for this card was the vellum with the image stamped on it. The stamp is from Inkadinkado. I used small Versamagic pads for it. The stamping is actually on the back side of the vellum. I cut the window in the front of the card and I also cut the vellum to be just larger than the window. I adhered the vellum on the inside, and added a thin frame to cover up the edges. As it turned out, I could have adhered the image to the front of the card, since I ended up added the green scalloped frame, which would have covered it up, too. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The fancy tag die is from Spellbinders. I carefully stamped the sentiment inside the card so that it would show through the vellum but not be covered up by the image. Hope you had a great birthday, Lucy!


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

Quick Christmas Card

I woke up early this morning and decided to make a card. I was looking through my embossing folders last night and realized how neglected they were, so I used one:)


This is a border folder. It's seven inches long, so I cut it down. I brayered Stampin' Up!'s Soft Sky ink on to the folder before embossing with it. I matted it with Soft Sky, also. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions. I matted it with the same Soft Sky. I added a couple brads and mounted it on Dimensionals.


A couple updates/answers to questions:
Thanks everyone for the comments about my beautiful wedding dress. I agree! It belonged to my sister-in-law, who graciously let me borrow it.


My "Card Parts" box consists of pieces that I have experimented on, or extra pieces I have made, or for any other reason I have partially put-together items laying around that I can't bear to throw away. I stick them in a box, and pretty much forget about them. Then I happen across the box one day, rummage through it, and pick out some things I feel like working with. I'll have one more on Sunday's post. It should be received by then.


Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson moved out last weekend, into their beautiful new home. We miss having them around, but yes - it is nice to have the house to ourselves again. And of course, I still have Owen every day while they are working.


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

Thirty-Seven Years Ago!

No card again, so I'll just share a picture. This is me and Jim 37 years and one day ago.

And here we are today. (Well, actually, just over a year ago. :) )


Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful cards and anniversary greetings we received.


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

Repeat Impressions - Designers Choice Challenge: Fall Waterfall Card

It's Wednesday, so that means it's challenge day at Repeat Impressions. This week it's a Designer's Choice Challenge, and it's by Miriam. Her choice is to make a Fall Waterfall card. You can find the directions on SplitCoastStampers, here. Wendy also sells precut kits for waterfall/FLIP cards, available on this page. Check out the details and learn how you can enter for a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. Also check out the very cool creations by the rest of the Rock Stars! Or follow these links to their blogs.

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

For my card, I used the Hugs FLIP set, found on this page. I colored the images with Copic markers. The "fall" portion of it is in the patterned paper:) It's from an old tablet by Fiskars. I used an ivory base and Kraft for the trim pieces. The mattings are a dark olive green. I used buttons and twine for accent and for pulling open the card.

We'd sure love to have you join us! You have another week to participate in the latest WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge, too. The details can be found here.


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

Totally Non-Stamping:)

Since I have done almost no stamping recently, I will share a photo of our grandson, Owen, on Halloween. He is trick-or-treating at our door:) Can you believe - he will be eleven months old on Sunday! (He is a golfer, but his "clubs" are not with him.)


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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Christmouse Decorations

Time for another Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week, available at 50% off. This week's stamp is called Christmouse Decorations. Please visit the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details you need and also to see the creations by the other Rock Stars. Or, follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Vicki

I stamped my image on white with Memento black and colored with Copic markers. I also stamped it on a tannish piece of paper and cut out the mushrooms and added a little bit of shading. My matting is from a Recollections Christmas matstack. The image is mounted on Dimensionals and the sentiment is part of a stamp from Repeat Impressions.


I'd love to have you participate in the Designer's Choice Challenge, which was my "recipe" challenge. You have through tomorrow to enter. You can find those details here. You also have another week to enter the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge found here.


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

Card Parts - Again!

 Whew - this is the last of the Card Parts cards for a while. I have one more that I will share on about the 13th. What fun I had making all of them!


For this first one, I had the embossed portion in my box. It's done on a lightly speckled cardstock. I matted with black. The strip down the middle is kraft, and the card base is ivory.

Kind of an odd time of year to share a Mother's Day card, but I was just using what I had:) I had the stamped, colored and matted image in my box. I added the black dots and the doodling around the edge and the flower centers. The patterned paper was embossed with my Swiss Dots folder and sanded down a bit. The image panel is mounted on foam squares. The base is ivory, also.


I spent a couple days (Friday and Saturday) helping our son and his family move out. It took a while to get things back to "normal" at our house, but I think we're almost there. As I write this (Saturday night) I sure am exhausted. Everything is moved into their house, but not unpacked. It was awesome having them here for eight weeks, and now it will be nice to have our house back to ourselves:) I haven't done ANY stamping for about two weeks, so it will be good to have some time to do that. I have a Stamp of the Week card to make  yet. It should have been done already.:( Oh well, better late than never!


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

Stenciled Butterfly Thinking of You

 I'm running out of Card Parts cards, but I have this one and one for tomorrow, as well as one for next week. And I haven't done anything new in at least a week!


The part for this one was the butterfly - embossed, inked and matted. I'm not sure because I don't have the packaging, but I THINK the stencil is from Anna Griffin. I embossed it (probably with my BIGkick) and rubbed it with an ink pad. The patterned paper strip is from Die Cuts With a View and matted with Stampin' Up!'s Old Olive. The sentiment is from SU! and is stamped in Old Olive, also. The butterfly panel is mounted on Dimensionals.


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

Two Card Parts Cards - Christmas

Two more cards from my "Card Parts" spree. Not much to them, but here they are, nonetheless. I still have a few more. One will have to wait until it has been received. (It will be coming your way, Lucy!)


Both of these images were in my card parts box. I matted them and put them in the middle of the card. For this first one, I had colored the images with markers before stamping. The matting may look black, but it's actually a pine green, as is the sentiment and the lines on the image.

For this second one, the image was stamped all the same color and matted with the same color cardstock. I added little, sparkly, puffy holly stickers to each corner.


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

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

Today starts a new Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge. Here is the sketch for this time:

Wendy gives all of us Rock Stars the sketch and we create our cards. Then we share them with you and ask you all to play along. Won't you join us?? Just create your card or project based on this sketch, upload to your blog or on-line gallery, and link it up to the RI blog. Easy peasy! One random winner for the month will win a $25 gift certificate to Repeat Impressions. Please visit the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all of the details and to see what the other Rock Stars have come up with. You can also follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam ~ Robin ~ Vicki

For my card, I started with the Christmas Teddy, found on this page. I colored him with Prismacolor pencils, but didn't use Gamsol. I cut him with a Circle Nestability and drew the doodles around the edge. I cut the square with a Nestability, too. I added a couple more layers - the white, embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and then the red matting for that. The ribbon is from Martha Stewart. I colored the pearls with a red Copic marker. (I don't think the pearls are large enough. I should change them.) I added Star Dust Stickles to the hat's "fur" and gold Stickles for the bell at the end of the hat.

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

November Calendar Page

I know I say this every month, but gosh, I can't believe we're done with another month already! Here is my calendar page for our new month of November.


I stamped the Scarecrow and Friend image from Repeat Impressions and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. I used a blending pencil on it, also. I trimmed it fairly close and matted it on brown. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions, too, and is found on this page. I stamped it on scratch paper first, and then on the calendar to make it lighter. One of these days I have to print my 2012 calendars and get started on them! I need to make a couple more this year - I think 14.


If you are interested in making your own calendars, you can find my files at the top of my blog page, under the title.  Just follow the link.


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