Gray Birthday

I hadn't used this stamp in forever, but a friend borrowed it and when she returned it, it made me want to use it:) So, here it is.

The main stamp is from an old retired Stampin' Up set called Garden Collage. I stamped it in Going Gray, colored it lightly with Copics and matted with gray. I mounted it on foam squares. The sentiment was stamped in black and is from a Papertrey set.

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

Pink and Green Birthday

This brad has been laying around on my table for a while. I'm not sure where it came from, but it went very nicely with this flower that was also laying around:) I matted them on some Berry Sorbet cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I embossed the white layer with a Stampin' Up! embossing folder and matted that with Aqua Mist from PTI. The sentiment is from my favorite birthday sentiment set - Birthday Basics from PTI.

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

Happy Anniversary, Joanne and Mark!

Today is the anniversary of a friend from my stamping group. This is the card they received from me.

The little birdies are from a Studio G set and were colored with markers, cut out, and mounted on foam squares. The ovals were cut with Nestabilities, and the white one was embossed with a Swiss Dots folder. The sentiment is from Stampendous. Happy Anniversary, Joanne and Mark!

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

Flutter By Wednesday - Shaped Card

This week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is to make a shaped card - no squares or rectangles allowed! :) Be sure to include your butterfly or fairy, then link it up to the FBW blog.

I decided to go with a heart card. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday, so this is for the new bride and groom. I used QuickKutz dies for the hearts and doves. The doves are cut from shimmery silver. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch from the same silver. I used dark gray gems for the eyes of the doves and the butterflies. The stamps are from an Inkadinkado set and are embossed with silver. The stripes in the black paper are silver, also. Oh, and I put a little Versamark along the edges of the white heart and added silver embossing powder to that, too.

Edited to add: I'm linking this card up to the Designer's Choice Challenge at Repeat Impressions. The challenge this week: No Square Cards! :)

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

Simple Thanks

A simple thank you card. Our church sells handmade cards in our Library, and also at our annual Lutefisk Dinner in the fall. They sell them for only $1.50, so I don't like to put a lot of time in them! This one will go there, and I have selected others to be donated, also. I need to make more, though, as the supply is running low.

All of the stamps are from a Papertrey Ink set. The matting looks pretty dark in the photo, but it's actually a purple.

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

SplitCoastStampers Inspiration Challenge Birthday Card

I made this card for Saturday's Inspiration Challenge on SplitCoastStampers. The image I used for my inspiration is this one. I'll admit that I'm not very patient when it comes to looking through photos for inspiration, and this was one of the first ones I saw! However, it reminded me immediately of the old Stampin' Up! set, Tender Toile.


I stamped the image randomly with Versamark and embossed with Detail White embossing powder. I added the ribbon and added another layer of black for the matting. I think that gave it a little bit cleaner look. I embossed the sentiment (from TPC Studio) in white, also, cut it with a Spellbinders die and mounted on a foam square.

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

Christmas Sunday

Another Christmas card, and again I'm linking it up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. I used a Spellbinders Impressabilities plate for the background. I brayered it with Versamark and embossed it, then used Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder. You can see the sparkle better in the picture to the right. I cut the sentiment tag with a Spellbinders die. The sentiment is a rub-on. The tag is mounted on Dimensionals.


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

Clean and Simple Stamping Sketch

I've had lots of stamping time the past couple days and I've had such fun!

I made this card for Natasha's Clean & Simple Stamping blog sketch challenge. I actually started with the patterned paper, something I rarely do. I cut the rectangle with a Spellbinders die. The sentiment was stamped in gray with a TPC Studio stamp. I added the Prima flowers and brads and popped up the panel on foam squares. I added the ribbon, per the sketch.

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

CAS(E) This Sketch!

I made this card for the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. I used a Spellbinders die for the circles. The stamps are both from a Papertrey Ink set. I used Liquid Pearls for the center and I mounted the sentiment circle on a foam square.

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

Double Challenge Card

I made this first card for two challenges: the Clean and Simple Stamping blog challenge, which was a sketch and the CASual Fridays blog challenge, which was to use orange, aqua and green.

I cut the flowers using a Spellbinders die. I added leaves underneath and brads for the centers. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Using the negative strip from the aqua, I simply glued it on a piece of ivory cardstock and stamped the flower centers. It felt great to use up my card parts right away!

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

Flutter By Wednesday - "Emboss It!"

Thanks to all of you who joined in last week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge! Today starts a new one. The theme this week is "Emboss It!" Use any kind of embossing that you would like and play along! Simply link your card to the Flutter By Wednesday challenge blog.

This stamped and matted butterfly was in my stash and after I made the card, I realized it would be perfect for this challenge:) I simply embossed the border around it with a Nestability and added the sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

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

Die-Cut Thanks

I found this pre-stamped blue piece in my card parts box. You can barely see the stamping on it, and I have no idea who makes the stamp, but I liked it and so this card came into being. I added the flowers and "thanks" die cuts, which were also in my box. I believe they were both cut with Memory Box dies. The card base is kraft.

I'm submitting this for the CAS on Sunday challenge. This week's challenge is to make a card with a flower/flowers on it.

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

Christmas Sunday

 Six more cards done for this year - total of 48 finished so far. I do kind of feel like I'm "cheating" when I make multiples, but it's helping me get them done:) I'm linking them up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. Edited to add: I am also submitting this to the Addicted to CAS challenge, which is the theme word "Holiday."

For each of them, I started with a die-cut sentiment that I cut while I was in Des Moines at our Group Gathering in June. I had two in navy, two in olive and two in "Christmas green." The patterned paper I used is from a Recollections seasonal matstack. I also added a strip across the top of each of them, embossed using a snowflake border embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

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

Birthday Rose

The white squares were in my card parts box for some reason, and I just couldn't throw them out:) I stamped the rose (from an Inkadinkado set) on them and colored with Copics. I matted with green. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is matted with the same green and mounted on foam squares.

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

"Gold" Anniversary

The two-step flower was already stamped and matted with shimmery gold paper in my Card Parts. The stamps are from a retired Stampin' Up set called Heartfelt Thanks. The outlines were embossed with detail gold embossing powder. I used a shimmery gold piece on the right that I embossed with a Stampin' Up folder. The sentiment is from Stampendous and is also embossed with gold. The card base and image panel are ivory.

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

Flutter By Wednesday Sketch

Today's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is this sketch by Kathy, a design team member. We'd love to have you join the challenge this week - just use Kathy's sketch and be sure to use a butterfly or fairy! Then link up to the Flutter By Wednesday challenge blog.

I've been trying to use up some of my "Card Parts" and that's how this card started. The stamped circle and sentiment were already to use. I rounded the corners and matted with black. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The strip down the middle was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The patterned paper is from a Recollections stack.

I can't wait to see what you all come with using this great sketch.

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

Butterfly Birthday

This butterfly has been in my Card Parts box for a couple years. It was sent to me by my friend, Annie. I don't know what company made it. I added the tiny gems to the wings. I put glue only on the body and antennae so the wings would be "free." The sentiment (Hero Arts) layer is a textured ivory cardstock. I matted with black and use a kraft base.

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

Christmas Sunday

I had five of these already-stamped images to work with, and I made them all the same. 

The image is from Northwoods. I colored with Copics. I matted with white, but I sponged red ink partially around the edge first. I am entering this into the Christmas Card Challenge blog. (The specific challenge is week is to use evergreen trees, but the main challenge is just to make a Christmas card.)

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

Oh My Gosh - Halloween???

I had two of these completed tags in my "card parts" box, and I didn't want them around any more so they became cards:) They will be for our two new baby grandsons.

The tags were stamped and punched with Stampin' up! products. I added a brad and googly eyes and mounted on a foam square. The paper and sentiment are from Recollection.

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

Young Boy Birthday

The colored image was in my "card parts" box. It's from Repeat Impressions. I scored a line under it with my Scor-Pal, added the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink), added another scored line and then added the patterned paper, which is from a Die Cuts With a View matstack called Nana's Nursery Baby Boy. (Probably long retired.)

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

Total "Card Parts" Card

In my "card parts" box, I came across the stamped background for this card, and also the vellum stamped with "Happy Anniversary." All I had to do was trim them down, mat them with green cardstock, and adhere to a card base. I'm pretty sure the roses were stamped with a multi-step stamp set from Kitchen Sink, and I'm also pretty sure the sentiment is from Verve.

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

Flutter By Wednesday #247

Flutter By Wednesday returns today with everyone's favorite challenge - any winged creature! We are sponsored this week by Inky Impressions. Create your card or project, making sure you include something with wings, and link it up to the Flutter By Wednesday blog! There will be a prize of a $10 gift certificate from Inky Impressions awarded to one lucky random winner.

The design team was given three images to choose from. I chose this Wishing Well image. I colored it with Copic markers and added some Star Dust Stickles to the bird and to the water in the pail. I matted with black. The border along the left side and the sentiment were both cut with dies. I made them while I was at our Group Gathering in Des Moines in June. The sentiment is from Memory Box (or at least I'm pretty sure it is) and the border die is from Papertrey Ink.

We'd love to have you join the return of Flutter By Wednesday! Can't wait to see what you all come up with.

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

Super Simple Birthday

The stamped image was from my "card parts." It's from Paper Inspirations. I added the sentiment (from Hero Arts), matted with brown cardstock and used a kraft base.

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

Simple Embossed Bird

I got this embossed piece from my friend, Kris, in June. I rubbed an almost-dry white ink mini pad over the embossing to highlight it, and then matted with black. The sentiment - from Hero Arts - was embossed with pewter embossing powder. The card base is gray.

EDITED TO ADD: The folder is from Cuttlebug and is called Bird On Branch.

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

Christmas Sunday

 Two more Christmas cards. I think I'm about half done - 37 finished.

Both of today's cards have snowflakes from my "Card Parts" box. They were cut using a Quickutz die. I added Star Dust Stickles. This first one has patterned paper from a Recollections stack and the sentiment (from Hero Arts) is stamped in black.

This second one is made using a textured blue card base. The sentiment is embossed with pewter embossing powder.

I'm linking these up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog.

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

More Die Cuts

Three simple cards using some card bases I cut at our Group Gathering in June. I believe it was a Memory Box die I used. For this first one, I cut a circle, put the butterfly sticker on it, and glued it under the die cut. Then I mounted it on dark purple cardstock and adhered it to the card base. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.

For this one and the next one, the stickers are on the inside of the card. The sentiments are both from Hero Arts.

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

Gray Birthday

I'm really liking using gray for my cards:) For this one, I just punched the border along the bottom of the main panel with a Martha Stewart border punch. Then I used my Martha Stewart scoring board for the raised lines. The flowers are some I've had around forever and I put them together with a glittery brad. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

August Calendar Page

Here is my August calendar page. The watermelon is a Repeat Impressions stamp, colored with Copics. The "Happy Summer" is from Repeat Impressions, also. The background paper is from a Recollections pad. That's it! If you're interested in making your own calendar, please feel free to use my files. You can find them under my blog header.

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