SplitCoastStampers Free 4 All Challenge

I hadn't uploaded a card to SplitCoastStampers since last April! I didn't have Wyatt today and took the opportunity to do a challenge and upload my card. The challenge was to confine your "art area" to a space less than two and a half inches square.

With this card, I am also continuing my mission to use all of my Stampin' Up! stamps. Both stamps on this card are from the set called "Happy Harmony." I colored the flowers with markers and used the "thumping" technique. (Color with one color, and then lightly "bounce" or "thump" over the colored area with a darker marker.) I embossed the frame with a square Nestability.

Edited to add: Here is a simple video I did on this technique. I hope it helps!

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

Valentine #5

Finally - the last valentine for our grandkids. I was a bit under the weather the last couple days and napped while Wyatt napped, so no creating time.

This last one is for Owen. He loves playing with Legos. I found the background picture on-line and printed it out. I also found the Lego heart on-line, printed it out and cut it out. I mounted the heart on foam squares. Then I downloaded the font and printed the sentiment. I colored the letters to match the printed background and also mounted the sentiment on foam squares.

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

Valentine #4

Here is the valentine I made for Wyatt. He really is SO sweet!

Again, the stamp set I used is from Fiskars - both the image and the sentiment. I stamped the bird on white, colored him, cut him out and mounted him on foam squares. Then I stamped the image again on a piece of white and added the bird. I colored the hearts on the branch and added Star Dust Stickles to the hearts and a gem for his eye. I used a Copic marker to draw the border on the white layer. One more to go - just Owen left.

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

Valentine #3

Valentine #3 for the grandkids. This one is for Jonah. He will be two at the end of May. I might possibly make the same one for Wyatt. We'll see how much stamping time I have in the next few days.

I stamped the "Love Bug" on a scrap of white cardstock and colored him with Copics. I cut him out and mounted him on foam squares. I stamped him again on the red cardstock and added the sentiment. I also added Star Dust Stickles to his wings. I stamped the row of hearts on white, colored it, and added it to the red. The white strip is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Wyatt didn't get to go home yesterday, but the plan is for him to leave the hospital about nine this morning. That will be nice!

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

Red and White Swap

My Yahoo stamping group has two challenges every month. I have not been a participant in many of them. However, I'm going to try to start being better about them. One of the monthly swaps is a color challenge. This month's colors are red and white, and here is the card I made for it.

I used embossing paste and a Sizzix brass stencil to make the heart. I also sprinkled glitter over it for some sparkle (which does not show up in the picture.) I matted with white and mounted on foam squares. I stamped the sentment (from Inkadinkado) with Versamark and embossed with detail white embossing powder. Again, I matted with white and mounted on foam squares. I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug folder.

Wyatt made a great recovery yesterday, and could possibly go home later today! I sure hope he does!

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

Valentine #2

Valentine number two for our oldest grandson, Andrew.

I stamped the Fiskars image with Memento ink and colored with Copics. The sentiment is from the same stamp set. I scored lines between the turtle and the sentiment, and also around the edges. I glued the image panel to the red layer, which was embossed with a heart Cuttlebug folder and I mounted that layer on foam squares. The bottom layer is plain white with a strip of Washi tape.

After over three days in the hospital, Wyatt is not improving. In fact, he is worse. :( He has pneumonia, RSV and has thrown up and had diarrhea. Poor little guy. I'm really afraid he is going to have to have an IV. They don't have much luck with them, and last time had to try about seven times before they got one in correctly. It will lengthen his stay, too. Not sure when he will come home. On a more positive note, my dad and brother and sister-in-law made it to Atlanta. They drove straight through (with several stops) and arrived at about 5:00 a.m. yesterday. My dad is doing well!

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

Valentine #1

The first of at least five valentines I will be making. I'll make for the grandkids, then see if I have time for the "adult kids" and my husband!

The heart image on this card is from PSX, long retired. Such a pretty, delicate stamp. I stamped it on white, and then again on pink and red. I cut the hearts out of the pink and red, leaving the lace border off of the colored ones so that it shows on the white. I glued the colored hearts onto the white cardstock. I matted with red and mounted on foam squares. The pink background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The white layer was embossed with a Sixxix folder. I added some red and white ribbon to this white layer. This one is for our granddaughter.

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

No Card - Just a Couple Updates

I don't have a card to share with you today, so I'll give you a couple updates. 

The first one is about my dad. He finished his thirty radiation treatments on his cheek and neck on Tuesday. He passed with flying colors! He really is amazing - truly. He did so much better than was expected. It's hard on ANYONE and he will be ninety in April! He hardly lost any weight, didn't get dehydrated, didn't end up in the hospital, kept a VERY positive attitude, drank his water, drank his Boost, forced himself to eat, etc. He will continue to get worse for a week or two, and then start the recovery and hopefully not have any more cancer. He is normally a VERY fast healer, so we're all hoping he will be healed up very soon. My wonderful brother and sister-in-law have spent the last two and a half weeks with him here in Minnesota and this morning they are leaving to go back home to Georgia and are taking my dad with them. That is just SO awesome. We're not sure when he will come back. He may love it down there and stay for a long time! He will be back by April for his birthday, though, and hopefully we can do our skydiving then!

On a different note - Wyatt is back at Children's Hospital:( He came down with pneumonia again and went to the hospital on Tuesday. He's doing OK and is getting great care. His breathing has to improve again before he goes home.

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

Delightful Decorations #3 and a Couple Tags

The last card and a couple tags using the Stampin' Up! set "Delightful Decorations."

I really didn't know how was going to use these small stamps. I thought about stamping the background. But, then I decided to stamp a strip instead. I stamped with Garden Green and matted with Garden Green, also. I stamped the ornaments with the same ink and mounted on foam squares. The border strip is mounted on foam squares, too.

I also made a couple tags with the last stamp. I stamped them on silver and embossed with clear embossing powder. I punched a tiny hole in the top and added some silver cord,.

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

Delightful Decorations #1 and #2

The next set in my quest to use all of my Stampin' Up! sets is this one called "Delightful Decorations." For this first one, I stamped the ornament with Versamark on red cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder. I used the coordinating punch and mounted on foam squares. The background was embossed on white with a Sizzix embossing folder.

For this second card, I also used Versamark to stamp the ornaments, but for this card I embossed with silver embossing powder. Again, I used the matching punch and mounted on foam squares. The background was embossed with the same folder, but I used shimmery silver this time.

I'm linking this up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. I just happened to match the optional challenge, but the overall 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!

Drawing on Nature #4

My fourth and last card using the Stampin' Up! set called "Drawing on Nature." An extremely simple one:)

I stamped the cute little bunny three times on white cardstock with Creamy Caramel ink. I trimmed them all down right to the edge of the frame. I mounted them on foam squares and lined them up on the card front. The sentiment is stamped in Close to Cocoa and is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Drawing on Nature #3

My third card using Stampin' Up!'s "Drawing on Nature." One more to go.

For this one, I stamped the image in Versamark and embossed with detail black embossing powder. I colored the image with Tim Holtz markers. I'm pretty sure I made my own species of hummingbird! I wanted him to be bright, as I sent this card to a friend recovering from knee surgery. I mounted the colored image on pop dots. I used two colors of dotted cardstock for the background (from a matstack I got from Archiver's) and mounted that layer on pop dots, too. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

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

Drawing on Nature #2

Here is my second card using Stampin' Up!'s "Drawing on Nature."

I stamped the butterfly image with Versamark ink on white and embossed with detail silver embossing powder. I mounted it on pop dots. I stamped the sentiment - from Papertrey Ink - on shimmery silver paper with Versamark and embossed with silver embossing powder, also. I used a Memory Box die to cut the butterflies from white cardstock and mounted them on pop dots. I scored a single line with my Martha Stewart score board.

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

Drawing on Nature #1

The main image on this card is from the Stampin' Up! set called "Drawing on Nature." I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and colored with Copic markers. I mounted on pop dots. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink set. I matted with patterned cardstock to match the background and also added a pop dot. The background paper and strip across are from a matstack I got at Michael's. I cut it into 6 x 6 pieces and don't remember what brand it is.

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

Curvy Verses - and NBUS CASology

I again used my Stampin' Up! set called "Curvy Verses." It consists of eight stamps, but I decided to not "make" myself use all of my sentiment stamps - just the image ones. So, I'm done with this one after using three of the eight:)

I stamped the cute little bunny (NBUS) from Inkadinkado on pink dotted paper and cut it out. I added a little bit of color with a Copic marker, but I can't even see it in the picture. I mounted it on foam squares. I stamped the sentiment on some matching pink paper with a pre-printed border and added the bunny. The background was embossed with a Darice (NBUS) embossing folder and matted with the same pink.

I am entering this card into two challenges. One is Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) and also the CASology challenge with the keyword "NBUS."

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

Delight in Life - #3 and #4

Here are my last two cards using the "Delight in Life" set from Stampin' Up! Cross another one off my list! :) (I am on a mission to use all of my retired SU! sets. I'm taking a stack of 7 - 10 sets and using them before I move on to the next stack. I'm finally making progress again.)

For this first one, I stamped the small flower three times on a piece of white cardstock. I colored them with markers. I added gems on each side of the flowers and matted with Crushed Curry cardstock. The sentiment is from another set in my stack of stamp sets to use, "Curvy Verses." I'm thinking that I am not going to make myself use all of the sentiments that I have, but I'll use several. This set consists of eight sentiment stamps.

For this second card, I stamped the flower petals using Brilliance ink. I don't use it very often, but I do really like the shimmer - which of course you can't see in the picture! The stem is from my little scraps beside my paper trimmer. I intentionally added a curve to it, but I think I should have done more of a curve so it just doesn't look "crooked." Oh well! I added a home-made enamel dot for the flower center. I stamped the sentiment using another stamp from the "Curvy Verses" set. I matted with Old Olive and added a small piece for the ground under the flower. (I had to cover up a small smudge!) 

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

Delight in Life #2

My second card using Stampin' Up!'s "Delight in Life" set. I stamped the flower on orange glitter cardstock and again on yellow glitter cardstock and cut out the entire flower from orange and the flower center from the yellow. I glued them together and mounted the flower on pop dots. When I was looking in my glitter matstack, I found this blue glitter piece already cut and embossed, so I used it:) The embossed background was done with a Darice embossing folder. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I did a white-on-white layer.

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

Delight in Life

The next card in  my mission to use my Stampin' Up! sets. This set is called "Delight in Life."

This card uses three stamps from the set - the background circles, the swirl (in the border) and the sentiment. I used Perfect Plum ink for the backgrounds and matting and black for the sentiment. I colored the little flower in the sentiment and added Diamond Glaze to it. I also colored all of the little circles in the border piece green, and random circles in the background. I'll be back with another card or two using this set soon.

Update on my dad: He has seven radiation treatments left. He is doing quite well. My brother and sister-in-law are taking very good care of him, and we are all very lucky.

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

Close as a Memory - Sympathy

Another set closer to using all of my retired Stampin' Up! sets:) A LOT to go!

This card uses all four stamps from the set called "Close as a Memory. I inked up the flowers and stems with markers. I love the stamps like this that have "shading" built in so they look watercolored with no effort. I stamped the sentiment over the stems and matted with Old Olive cardstock. I mounted the panel on pop dots. The background was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. The inside shows the other two stamps in the set.

Edited to add: The embossing folder that I used is from a set called  Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Birthday Set #2.

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

Crazy for Christmas

Four more Christmas cards done for next year:) They are all done with the Stampin' Up! set called "Crazy for Christmas." I'm moving along again with my goal of using all of my retired SU! sets.

This first one was stamped with Versamark (both the image and the sentiment) and embossed with detail silver embossing powder. I scored double lines on top and under the image and matted with shimmery silver paper.

 I colored these last three with markers and stamped the sentiment with black. I again scored lines above and below the images and matted them. I mounted each of these image panels on pop dots.

I'm linking these cards up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. The specific challenge this week is a color challenge (which I did not use), 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!

Botanical Blooms

Another card in my series of using all of my retired Stampin' Up! sets. This card uses all seven of the stamps from the set called "Botanical Blooms."  Doesn't look like seven stamps, does it?:)

The set includes two flower stamps with stems, the leaves stamp, the sentiment and three stamps to add color to the flowers and leaves. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the images. After stamping, I embossed the bottom third with a new-to-me Darice embossing folder and scored a line above the embossing. I mounted the sentiment on pop dots. A bit of honesty here - I am very practical and generally only make cards that will actually be used. I wouldn't use a card that says "to thine own self be kind." So, after I took the picture, I removed the sentiment and added a birthday one:)

I'm submitting this to Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) Challenge. The embossing folder is new for sure, and it's possible that I have never used this stamp set before, either.

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

Non-Stamped Birthday

Another card I made when I got up SO early last week. No stamping involved:)

This is a Papertrey Ink die that I used when I got together with my stamping friends last summer. I placed it over striped cardstock and mounted on pop dots. The dotted cardstock was from the same pad from My Mind's Eye. 

Here is another card using the same die cut, but with the "very" gone. It didn't cut well on this one. The cardstock behind it is some that I made using distress inks and a stencil. I punched the butterflies out of the same piece. I glued them on to a piece of white cardstock and embossed with a Stampin' Up! folder. I mounted the sentiment panel on pop dots. I added a butterfly to the raised panel, also, with pearls for the body.

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

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

It has become tradition for me to share with you all of the cards that I get for my birthday. My birthday was on the 28th, so this is a bit late. But, better late than never! I was at my dad's house on my birthday and hadn't gotten the mail since the 24th. Our mail was supposed to have been delivered on the 31st, but it wasn't. Finally got it yesterday, so this is the first opportunity I have had to post them. I hope you can see how beautiful and wonderful they all are! Thanks to everyone who sent one to me! I appreciate them all!

Here is a closer look at the hand-made cards that I received. Thank you Gloria, Kris, Harriet, Nancy, Vicki, Annie and Sheri!! (left to right, top to bottom)

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

Christmas???

I just got this embossing folder from Darice a couple weeks ago, along with several others. (I didn't have enough of them, you know! LOL!) When my oldest grandson was here for Christmas, we got to spend a little time playing in my stamping room. He loves it! So, I showed him how to sand down an embossed image when it's embossed on white-core cardstock. Here is the result. (He got to bring one home, too.) I simply added it to a card base, added Stickles to the snowflakes and white embossed the sentiment from Technique Tuesday. (The embossed panel is navy.)

I wanted to share my birthday cards with you today, but the USPS did it again. We were supposed to get out mail delivered on Wednesday, but it didn't come. Hopefully it will arrive today!

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

Happy New Year!!!! (And a Calendar Page)

Happy New Year to ALL! I hope that your 2015 is a wonderful year. I sure hope it's a good one for me, too:)

Here is my first calendar page for 2015. I used two stamps from the Stampin' Up! set called Festive Favorites - the snowmen and the snowflakes for the background. I colored the image with Copic markers and used a white gel pen for the snowflakes by the snowmen. I also used Diamond Stickles for the snow on the ground.

You can find links to my blank calendar pages under the title of my blog. If you have problems with them, I would be happy to email them to me you if you give me a way to be in touch with you. I'd love to hear from you if you use them!

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