Simple Thank You

A member of our stamping group lives in Canada and isn't able to join us in Des Moines. She often sends images and die cuts for us. Thanks, Annie!

She sent this little bouquet embossed in gold. I colored it with Copics and mounted it on foam squares. I embossed the sentiment (from a retired Stampin' Up! set) with gold and added the panel to the card front.

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

Die-Cut Stencil

I made both of these cards thanks to a die cut that I made at our Group Gathering last week. For this first card, I used the actual die cut. I simply trimmed it down and glued it to the card front. I used an old Stampin' Up! stamp for the flower and sentiment - using markers to ink up the stamp. I matted with matching cardstock, mounted on foam squares and added a gem to the flower center.

For this second one, I used the die cut as a stencil. I sponged through it with two colors of Distress ink. (Hard to tell, I know, but trust me - there is a green and a blue.) The sentiment is stamped in the blue color using a Papertrey Ink stamp.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Black and White Birthday

I used a friend's die to cut these pretty flowers at our Group Gathering. I think it's by Memory Box. After cutting, I placed it back in the white cardstock. I matted it with black and added light purple gems to each flower. Then I embellished with a strip of black and white dotted ribbon. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Hi There!

Another post for today. I rarely do two posts in one day, but I wanted to get one more entry into Darnell's NBUS(Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge.

Pretty much everything besides the cardstock on this card is NBUS. The flower is

a sticker that I bought in Des Moines on Monday. I placed it on acetate and colored it with Sharpie markers. I put it on some netting from my "junk box." (Never used it before.) I had never used this stamp (from Papertrey Ink) even though I've had the set for a long time. And I have never cut a card like this before. The finished card is 5.5 x 4. I cut a piece of cardstock to 5.5 x 8.5 and folded it into thirds after scoring with my Scor-Pal, which has perfect lines for dividing a piece of cardstock into thirds. (Oh, I cut the window with a Nestability that has been used many times!) One flap is folded inside the card and taped shut to hide the window. (The flower panel is the middle panel of the card.)

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

Beautiful People

I will be sharing a few cards I've made using "card parts" I made and was given at our Group Gathering a couple days ago. What fun!

Vicki gave us each a couple of stampoffs of Stampin' Up! stamps and this is one of them. I colored it with her Blendabilities. I added Star Dust Stickles to the flower centers and the frame. I matted with black, because I didn't have the right color purple. Thanks, Vicki!

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

Card Class Cards

 While our group was at Outstamping Designs in Valley Junction, Iowa, we got to make four cards from a class they have taught. They are all so beautiful! I'm sharing them here without much description. I put the cards together, but they are not my creations - I'm not taking credit for them (even though I'd love to!) They use Anna Griffin dies and folders, Cuttlebug dies and folders and Memory Box die - I believe. Also ribbon and tulle and stamps and other embellishments. These cards are mostly five by seven (except for the pink one, which is larger than A2 but smaller than 5 x 7.)

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

Our Group Gathering

 Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I was in Des Moines, IA for our annual "Group Gathering." We were a pretty small group this year - only six of us, plus a picture of our member who passed away in February.

My friend, Harriet, flew in to Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon. We visited, ate, and packed up our stuff for the next day. We drove to Des Moines and met up in Ankeny at Memory Bound - a scrapbooking/stamping store. We went to lunch and then shopped at Memory Bound, Michael's and JoAnn's before heading to our hotel. We visited and then went to dinner, then chatted some more. We spent Monday and part of Tuesday at Outstamping Designs in Valley Junction before going to Biaggi's and then parting ways and heading home. What an awesome time we always have, although we sure did miss Joanne. Harriet will be staying with me until tomorrow when she will head home, too. And we'll be looking forward to next year!

From left to right in the above photo: Vicki (holding Joanne), Georgia, Sheri, Harriet, Kris, me.

And here are most of us at our final lunch.

Tomorrow I'll share the gorgeous cards that we made at a class at Outstamping Designs. And soon I'll share the cards I've been making while Harriet and I are having some final stamping time.

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

Sage and Orange Color Swap

I am participating in a color swap in my stamping group. The colors this month are sage and orange - a pretty combination!

I used one of my few Memory Box dies for this card. First I cut it out of Sage Shadow and then I cut it out of some orange cardstock. I trimmed the butterflies down and glued them on top of the green. I had had this card base sitting on my desk for quite a while so I decided to use it for this card. I had embossed the left side of it with a Darice embossing folder. I scored that piece plus the card front an inch in from the left. I taped the entire card front on to the card base and then taped the left inch shut on the inside. I hope that makes sense! This picture to the left shows it a little bit better. The sentiment is an old retired stamp from Stampin' Up.

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

Super Simple Hello

I made a super-simple "Hello" card this morning. I used a retired Stampin' Up set that has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks called Sweet Shapes. I stamped the dots with Mauve Mist and the sentiment with Elegant Eggplant. I matted with Elegant Eggplant cardstock and punched the butterfly using the eggplant cardstock and a Martha Stewart punch. I added the "pearl" with a Viva Pearl Pen. It was nice to have a little stamping time. I made a card last night, too, but you won't see it for a few days as it's going to be mailed later to a friend who reads my blog:)

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

Washi Birthday

Hurray for me - I got to make a card yesterday afternoon! :) I'm really not quite sure how I feel about it, but here it is - for better or worse.

I stamped the image (from Inkadinkado) with Vintage Violet ink from Stampin' Up three times without re-inking. I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) with the same ink. I matted with Vintage Violet cardstock. It just seemed to be lacking something, so I went with Washi tape. I added the border towards the outer edges of the card. I decided it needed something to tie the image to the border. I put a couple scrap pieces of Washi tape on scrap pieces of white and punched the tiny butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch. I also added yellow Liquid Pearls to each of them. It still seemed to need something more, so I added Washi tape over the sentiment. Then I mounted the image panel on foam squares.

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

Father's Day

Super simple Father's Day card. I simply brayered nearly-white ink on to a Darice Brick embossing folder and used reddish-brown cardstock. Then I used the same cardstock and rolled the brayer over it and stamped the sentiment in the same ink. I mounted the sentiment on foam squares. The card base is kraft.

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

Beautiful Days

Lots of stuff going on lately and not much time for stamping. But I took a little while today to make a card.

I used Repeat Impressions stamps for this card. I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used an Aquapainter and Stampin' Up! inks to color it. I added Star Dust Stickles to the bee's wings. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine black ink and embossed it to make it stand out more against the image. I matted with black and used an ivory card base.

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

Christmas Wishes

I finally had a little time to finish a card. Life has been a little busy lately:) My sister is in the process of moving back to Minnesota and is spending a few days with us. Very fun!

Another card for my Christmas pile. I think this only makes number ten. I embossed the frame with a small Sizzix folder. The center said "My Christmas Wish" and I didn't like that much, so I cut it out. I used a small brayer to add green ink to the raised portions of the frame and added red brads. I put small pieces of foam square along the edges and cut an oval to put underneath. On the oval I stamped the sentiment using a Papertrey Ink stamp. The patterned paper is Recollections.

I'm linking this up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog and also Darnell's NBUS challenge. (I had not used this embossing folder yet. I got it last December.) Please check them both out!

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

Silver Blessings - Christmas

I guess I'll just throw some Christmas cards at you whenever it works:) 

The background on this card was done with a Darice embossing folder, but it wasn't embossed. I brayered the folder with distress ink, spritzed it with water and just laid the cardstock over the inked folder and pressed. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado and is embossed with silver detail embossing powder. I matted with shimmery silver paper. I'm linking this up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. There is always an optional challenge, but the main challenge is to make a Christmas or winter holiday card.

Also, here is the updated version of this card. I like it better with the colorful tiny gems. :)

And I am submitting this card to Darnell's "never-before-used-schtuff" (NBUS) challenge. Both cards actually use NBUS embossing folders. I'm also pretty sure that I hadn't used the sentiment before, either. I have more NBUS coming, too:) (Because I have LOTS of NBUS!) You should check out Darnell's blog. It's very entertaining. And she has the coolest place to stamp!

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

White on White Butterflies

Today I'm sharing another card made with one of my new (to me) Darice embossing folders. The cards practically make themselves:)

I embossed using the butterfly folder, then trimmed down and glued it to the card base. I added Star Dust Stickles to all of the raised design. I embossed the largest butterfly on another piece of cardstock and cut it out. I added Stickles to that one, too, and mounted it on foam squares. The sentiment is from my favorite birthday sentiment set from Papertrey Ink. I love all the white on white and sparkle.

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

Gray Birthday

While I was looking through my Stampin' Up! stamps a few days ago, this one jumped out at me. I set it aside for future use and Thursday was the day to use it:)

The four rectangles are all one stamp, from a retired set called Sweet Shapes. I stamped it with Going Gray and matted with shimmery pewter. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I mounted the panel on foam squares. The card base is gray.

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

Sympathy

A simple sympathy card for today.

I still had my Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp and die set out from a few weeks ago, so I used it for this card. I mounted the sentiment panel on foam squares. The patterned paper is from K & Co. and I matted with Mellow Moss cardstock. It was fun to have a little time for card-making yesterday. I have a couple more cards to share with you soon.

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

Christmas Card ... Wednesday???

I guess I really don't have a "dedicated day" for Christmas cards this year - at least, not yet. So, you get this one today, since I have nothing else to share. After a long streak of making lots of cards, I have hit the end:) I haven't had much time for stamping, and if I've had the time, I've not had the mojo. Hopefully, both will return soon.

This simple card was created with Sizzix embossing folders. I got several last year after all of my cards were finished, so I'm finally using some of them. The small piece is mounted on foam squares. The matting is a dark green, but it looks almost black - even "in real life." Not sure if I can really use this one or not. Possibly if I add some teeny gems to the tree it might be OK. I'm linking this card up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. The challenge is simply to make a Christmas or other winter holiday card. The optional challenge for this week is to use stencils. 

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

Speedy Recovery to Owen

Our grandson, Owen (three and a half years old) had tubes put in his ears and had his adenoids out yesterday. Everything went well and hopefully he will STAY well for a long time. He's pretty much been sick since he started preschool/daycare in January. This is the card I made for him yesterday.

I stamped the background of the pocket with a long-retired Stampin' Up! background stamp called Just Jeans. I stamped the stitching using another retired SU set called Pocket Fun and cut it out. I stamped the frog (from the Pocket Fun set, also), colored with Copic markers, and cut it out. I added googlie eyes. I also added some "rivets" to the corners of the pocket. I mounted the pocket and frog on foam squares. The background was made using a Cuttlebug Diamond Plate embossing folder and silver shimmery paper. I matted with black. The sentiment is from another SU set called Curvy Verses, which I assume is also retired. I matted each piece with black and mounted them on foam squares, too.

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

June Calendar Page

And now it's June??? How did that happen? :) Amazing how quickly the months are flying by.

My June page is quite simple, but it took a while to color fifteen of these images. The image is from Stampin' Up! I colored it with Copic markers. I matted with very thin blue paper. The files for my blank calendar pages can be found near the top of my blog - under the header. Please feel free to use them. If you do, I'd love to hear from you!

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