Simple Thanks

I took a little time yesterday afternoon to make a couple necessary thank you cards. I made them all the same.


The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye - Simply Delightful. The sentiment is from a Fiskars thank you set by Heidi Grace. I colored the rectangle around it with a Copic marker, and it's mounted on Dimensionals. I punched the bottom matting layer with a Martha Stewart punch. That's all there is to it.


I got my January - April 2013 calendars printed yesterday! (I would have printed all the months, but I'm out of cardstock, and my "source" was closed yesterday when I stopped by.) I have my images all stamped for January, and one of them is colored. I'm so happy about that!)


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

Happy Birthday ...

... to me! :) It was yesterday, but I had my WIW post for then, so I'm sharing my cards with you today. I guess it's another tradition of mine to take a picture of them for posting here. I had a wonderful day with phone calls and cards from LOTS of people. This first picture shows all the cards I received.

And this second one shows the handmade ones. They are all VERY special, but I thought since this is a stamping blog, I would let you see these a little bit closer up. I received them over the course of a couple weeks, but saved them all to open until the evening of my birthday. Thanks to everyone!


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

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

The weeks fly by, don't they! It's time for another WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge from Repeat Impressions. Wendy comes up with our sketch and we challenge you to play along. Here is the sketch for this time:

Please check out the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details on how you can enter to win a $25 gift card and to view all the wonderful creations by the RI Rock Stars. You can also follow these links to their blogs:

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

For my card, I used the RI stamp called Shade of the Elm, available on this page. I stamped it with an old Memories pad of Soft Wheat and matted with burgundy cardstock. The sentiment is called Life is Not ... and can be found on this page. I stamped it with burgundy ink, cut it with a Nestability and sponged with Soft Wheat before removing from the die. I matted with a matching scalloped oval. I embossed the background with an Argyle Cuttlebug folder and brayered with Soft Wheat. I added butterflies punched with Martha Stewart punches and then used pearls for their bodies.


You have almost another week to participate in the RI Designer's Choice challenge, too. The challenge that's currently open is to make a shaped card and be entered for a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber. That's a lot of stamps! You can find the details for that challenge here.


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

Calendar Files for 2013

How's this for getting an early start on next year's Christmas? I just made my 2013 calendar file and uploaded it. You can find the links here. (They are available at any time by following the link in the title bar of my blog.) I vow that next year I will be ready so much earlier and be able to relax and ENJOY the holiday season rather than being stressed. I have decided to do my calendars at least a year in advance - making the January 2013 ones in January 2012, etc. I will be making my Christmas cards throughout the year, also, as I prefer to make them all different rather than mass-producing them. I was SO happy that I made 55 of one kind this year, though. I NEVER would have gotten ready otherwise!! 


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We did. Our daughter and family will be here through tomorrow morning and we'll celebrate my birthday a day early. Then they will return to Chicago. How wonderful it's been to have our whole family together again for several days.


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

Merry Christmas!

Merry, merry Christmas to all!


I figured I would continue my tradition of posting a picture of our Christmas tree. It really looks the same every year since it's artificial and we use the same ornaments, but here it is anyway! (If you look closely, you can see some of my former interests - crochet, counted cross stitch, macrame, tatting, hardangar, smocking, bargello, etc. I used to make a different type of ornament each year.)


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

Fall-To Layout - Part Three!

I needed a very quick thank you note yesterday, so I used the Fall-To Layout again. After all, that's what it's for, right? I thought I'd share it with you, even though it's very similar to the others I've shared lately.


The papers are again from Recollections. I matted with a textured ivory cardstock that had a raggedy edge. I mounted on Dimensionals. The sentiment is from a Verve Thank  You set.


We had a productive day yesterday of getting ready for Christmas. We bought the rest of the presents and got them all wrapped. Whew! Even did a little bit of tidying up:) I think we might make it! I probably won't be posting for a while. We still have quite a bit to do, and will be having company for a few days. It will be very fun, but I have no more cards to share. Hope to be back next week some time - Wednesday for sure, with the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge.


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

Happy Hanukkah

Here is the one Hanukkah card I made this year.


I downloaded the patterned paper from the Microsoft site. The menorah and sentiment are from a clear dollar set from Michael's (or JoAnn's.) I stamped them with Versamark and embossed them with silver embossing powder and colored the flames. The matting is a light blue.


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

Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - Shaped Card

It's another Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - where one member of the Design Team comes up with a challenge for the other Rock Stars and for YOU! Today it's Maki's challenge, and it's to make a shaped card. You are invited to participate and be entered for a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of your choice. See the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details. You'll also find the creations by the design team. Or, you can follow these links to their blogs:

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

I chose to make a round card. I stamped the Bird and Blossoms on white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. I cut it, and the rest of the layers, with Nestabilities and added the sentiment. Not much more to it! We'd love to have you join us in this challenge.

You also have almost another week to join the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge, found here.

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

Three More Christmas Cards

Even though my cards were all mailed out last week, I'm still making more! I made all of these roughly based on Natasha's sketch on her Clean & Simple Stamping blog - the one I used on my Saturday post. The papers for all three cards are from a matstack by Recollections. I added a strip down the left side on these first two. The matting is shimmery gold, and the sentiment (from Repeat Impressions) is embossed in gold.

This one is the same as the first one - just different designs in the cardstock.

And here is the last one. I matted with a burgundy cardstock and added the ribbon. The sentiment is stamped with Stampin' Up! ink. Easy, pretty, and I have three more cards done for next year!

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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Boy With Sled

There is a new Stamp of the Week from Repeat Impressions. This week it's Boy With Sled. You can find him on this page. For this week only (through this Sunday, Christmas Day) you can purchase him for 50% off. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the necessary details and to see what the other Rock Stars have created. Or, you can follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Vicki

For my card, I stamped him with Memento black ink and colored him with Copics. I added a little Stickles to the snow. I cut him and the matting with Nestabilities and mounted on Dimensionals. The sentiment is also from Repeat Impressions. I added a pearl to the snowflake. The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With a View and the solid blue is from Stampin' Up!

You still have time to participate in the Repeat Impressions challenges, too. There is always a great prize up for grabs! Please see the details on the Wednesday posts on the blog.

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

Blog Candy - Calendar Winner

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments. I ALWAYS appreciate them!


I went to Random.org and selected the winner. Drum roll, please! ...


Random.org chose:

Comment number 9 was from Judi.
"JUDI said...

Congats on finishing your calenders. mine are still in my minds eye...I love your projects, and the sharing you do for your followers. I would be honored to have one of your calenders. With Love Judi

December 10, 2011 10:36 AM "


Congratulation, Judi! I would be honored to send you one of my calendars. Please send me your snail mail address and I will get it out to you.


This is my second post for today. Scroll down for today's post - a card I made for the Fall-To Layout.


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

Fall-To Layout 171 - Christmas

I took a few minutes today and made this card for the Clean & Simple Stamping blog - Fall-To Layout #171. You can find it here. I changed up the sketch just to make it a "regular" card, and not square.


My papers are from a Christmas matstack from Recollections. I matted with a textured ivory cardstock and added an ivory strip across the middle. The card base is ivory, also. I added the Christmas sticker and sentiment, which is from Repeat Impressions. (EDITED TO ADD: Sorry, that was confusing! The NOEL is a sticker I got from Micheal's a couple years ago. It's by Pooch and Sweetheart. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Repeat Impressions. I shouldn't write my posts when I'm so tired and in a hurry!) 


I will be back later this morning with the winner of the calendar.


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

Anniversary in Gold

I have an anniversary card to share with you today. 


I used ivory for the card base and the matted layer. I stamped the background on the ivory piece and embossed with gold embossing powder. I stamped and embossed the sentiment on the same piece. The butterfly and leaves were stamped on a separate piece, cut out, and mounted on Dimensionals. The matting is shimmery gold, scored with my Martha Stewart scoring board. I'm adding this to Danni's "Flutter-By Wednesday" challenge which for this week - and the whole month of December - is to simply use a butterfly, angel or fairy. I almost forgot to say - all the stamps used on this card are from last year's Papertrey's anniversary set called Round and Round, which was a gift to me from my great friend, Harriet.


You still have until tonight to leave me a comment on this post to be the drawing to win one of my calendars.


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

Airplane Birthday

Instead of working on Christmas stuff - which REALLY needs to get done! - I took some time to clean up my stamping area and make a couple cards. This one is just an extra one that I did for fun. And it sure WAS fun to do something that didn't HAVE to get done:)


I got this Cuttlebug airplane die a while ago for ten cents from Oh My Crafts. I cut it from white, red and acetate, so it has "windows." I used Nestabilities for the circles and hand-doodled. The panel is mounted on Dimensionals. The background was embossed with a Fiskars texture plate. I thought it kind of looked like clouds. The sentiment is a rubon.


Don't forget - you have until tomorrow night to leave me a comment on this post for a chance to win a calendar. I'd love to hear from you!


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

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

Time for another Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge - where Wendy gives you a sketch, you make your card based on it, upload it, and are entered for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. Easy enough, right? You can find the details on the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built. You will also find the creations by the Rock Stars. Or you can follow these links to their blogs:

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

For my card, I used Tulip Bouquet. I stamped it on watercolor paper and used Stampin' Up! inks and an AquaPainter. The matting is all Deja Views paper. The sentiment is also from Repeat Impressions.

We'd love to have you join us!


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

Regarding My Calendar Giveaway

Thanks for all the comments so far. It's nice to hear from you!

I was asked about a "sneak peek."  OK - here's a piece of the upcoming January page. Also, if you choose the link on the right column of my blog called "Calendar" (under "Labels") you will find all the pages from the last three years. You have until Friday night to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of my calendars.


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

Blog Candy

In celebration of finishing up my 2012 calendars, I would like to give one away to a blog reader. It feels so good to have them done - now I can get on with getting ready for Christmas!


If you would like to be entered into a random drawing to win one of my calendars, please just leave me a comment on this post. I will announce the winner on my blog on Saturday. I appreciate all your visits and your comments!


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

Birthday Cupcake

Quick post for today. This is for our daughter-in-law, whose birthday is today.


The card base and main image panel are vanilla. The stamp is by Inkadinkado. I colored with Copics and added some Stickles. I pierced around the edge and matted with green The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With a View Nana's Nursery. I embossed with my Swiss Dots folder. The main image panel is mounted on Dimensionals.


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

Rich Razzleberry Birthday Flowers

A birthday card for my niece. It was fun to have some time to make her a card.


I used two stamps from the Gina K set, Various Verses. I used Stampin' Up! markers on both of them and stamped them on watercolor paper. I matted with Rich Razzleberry cardstock from SU!, punched a butterfly with a Martha Stewart punch, and added a "pearl" with my Viva Pearl Pen. That's it!


I hope everyone is managing to feel "under control" this holiday season. There have been times when I haven't, but I'm doing better now:) We still don't have our tree up, though, which rather bothers me. It used to go up the day after Thanksgiving, but since we often go to Chicago, we're not home then. We also better start shopping soon!


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

Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - Bookmark

Another Wednesday - another Repeat Impressions challenge. Today's challenge is a Designer's Choice Challenge. It's Vicki's turn, and her challenge is "ABC" - Anything But a Card - to make a bookmark. Fun! Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for the specifics on how you can enter for a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of your choice. You'll also find the projects by the other Rock Stars. Or you can follow these links:

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

I thought this sentiment and the chair would be perfect for a book mark.  I paper pieced the chair with some paper from Deja Views and colored the trim and legs. I stamped the sentiment on some textured, very shimmery cardstock. I scored a couple lines and added a bit of flowered paper from the same tablet of paper. I matted with the same flowery paper and then used a plain brown for the bottom layer. A fun and easy challenge - I hope you'll join us!

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

Fall-To Layout #169

I thought I'd do a card for Natasha's (Clean & Simple blog) new Fall-to Layout. This one is number 169. You can find it here.


I cut my image panel, used a circle Nestability and cut a circle out of scratch paper, then used that circle as a mask to sponge Stampin' Up!'s Rich Razzleberry ink on to the main panel. Then I stamped the sentiment and the image onto the panel. I matted with shimmery black. The card was a little unbalanced, so I added the black strip across the bottom. Much better! I added some Stickles to the flower centers.


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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Snowflake - Prism

 As you know, each Monday Wendy at Repeat Impressions offers you a new Stamp of the Week, available for 50% off. This week's stamp is called Snowflake - Prism. You can find it here. Visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details and to see what the other Rock Stars have created. (Please note that orders placed will not be processed until December 19, as Wendy and Bill are on a much-welcomed vacation!) You can also visit the other Design Team members' blogs by following these links:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Vicki

I stamped my Prism Snowflake with Staz-On black ink on "holographic" paper from Crayola and cut it out. You can get some idea of what it looks like in real life by checking out the smaller picture. I added red gems to the innermost little dots. I cut it out with a circle Nestability and matted with a red scalloped circle. I mounted on Dimensionals. The background paper has some sparkle to it. It may be from Stampin' Up!, but I can't say for sure as I won it as blog candy a while back. I matted that with black and added the sentiment - from Repeat Impressions, of course!

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

Happy First Birthday, Owen!

It's not quite Owen's birthday, but his party was yesterday. I hadn't had time to make him a special card, but I found him one in my stash. However, when I saw the paper my husband had wrapped his presents in, I knew I had to make him a new one. The wrapping paper had jungle animals on it, and I had a set of stamps from Recollections with the same cute animals. Then when I found the set and saw there was also the word "ROAR," that's what I had to use. Owen is very good at saying that a lion says "roar." :)


I stamped the lion on yellow slightly patterned cardstock from Sizzix and cut it out. I colored the mane, ears, mouth and nose with Copics. I mounted him on Dimensionals. I colored the ROAR, too. I placed them both on textured brown paper and added that to Kraft base. I added googly eyes for some fun. The color is a little off in the picture - it actually all matches better than it looks here.


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

Christmas Cheer Snowman

I've been working on my calendars for next year - finally - and had stamped a couple extra of this image. (It's for January, so you'll be seeing it soon.) Anyway, I colored this one with Copics for Christmas instead of just winter. The stamps are all from Inkadinkado, including the one I used for the background. I matted with red and mounted on Dimensionals. I also added a little bit of Stickles on the snowflakes.


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

Clean and Simple Fall-To Layout

I made this card for the Clean & Simple Stamping blog's Fall-to Layout #168. I always love Natasha's sketches.


The doily came from my friend, Annie. Thanks so much, Annie, for including it with the cards you sent me. I stamped the sentiment from an Inkadinkado set on it, coloring the stars with a pale yellow and adding Stickles to them. I added a circle of Baja Breeze for a little bit of color to show through the innermost part. I hand-cut the bottom arc and embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder, then rubbed ink over it. The top half was embossed with a Swiss Dots folder. The doily panel was mounted on Dimensionals. EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to say that this card is five inches square.


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

December Calendar Page

The last calendar page for 2011 - unbelievable! I always like to do embossing for my December page, and this one is no exception. (I have my 2012 page done, too, and it's also embossed:) You'll get to see it in a  year!) I used a Lasting Impressions brass stencil for the ornament - with my BIGkick. I matted with shimmery gold paper and embossed the background with my Swiss Dots folder. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.


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. If you use them, I'd love to hear from you!


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