Pet Sympathy

A friend recently lost a furry family member. This is the card that I made for her. I die cut the window out of a piece of ivory cardstock. Then I used a Fiskars texture plate to emboss the pawprints in the background. I added the die-cut sentiment, and popped the panel up on foam squares.

I had embossed the panel on this card using the texture plate before I gave it enough thought to realize that if I used the die to cut the window in it, I would un-emboss the pawprints. So I left it as is, and did the other panel for the first card. But of course I had to use this panel. I also used the rectangle left-over from the window on the first card for this one.

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A Valentine??

I did it! :) I got my card parts all gone through. I made eleven cards one day a couple weeks ago and used up the last of my un-filed ones. I sorted them all out, threw some away, and put the die-cut pieces and other small pieces into card sleeves. I have four-pocket sheets for storing my embossing folders and had some extras. I used those for my stamped and embossed and other background pieces. There were several pieces that I just didn't want to put anywhere, so it was either use them or toss them. So, for the next many days you'll be getting more card-part cards.

The card parts for this card are the heart (die-cut and matted), the sentiment (from Taylored Expressions, and the background. I'm pretty sure the background was done by inking up a Fiskars texture plate before embossing with it. It's a pale pink, but you can't see that very well, There were also a few red gems on the finished heart.

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

Loss of a Furry Family Member

A good friend of mine recently had to put one of her three cats to sleep. Always a sad time. This is the card that I made for her.

The embossed background was made using a Fiskars texture plate. I die-cut the kitty and the sentiment. I added patterned paper on the bottom and a thin strip of black.

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

Card Parts Birthday

I found this stamped panel with the tree in my "card parts," along with the punched and scored fence attached to the embossed grass. I just put them together, added the sentiment, mounted the panel on foam squares and added it to a card front. The tree stamp is from Gina K and I stamped it using the "thumping" technique. (You can see a very simple video I made on thumping here.) The fence punch is by Martha Stewart, the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and I used a Fiskars texture plate for the grass.

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

Bunny Scene

I got this stamp and die set a while back and used it right away for these pieces. I even started making the card, but just never got it finished. Friday morning I "got 'er done." I colored the pieces with Prismacolor pencils and used Gamsol on them. I popped some of them up on foam squares. The "grass" was embossed with a Fiskars texture plate. I thought I had some die-cut clouds somewhere, but I couldn't find them. But, Thursday night I had gone to Joann's to use a gift card and take advantage of a sale. I found this embossing folder by Darice and knew it would help me to finish this card. I embossed a piece of blue cardstock with the folder and then took a white ink pad and rubbed it over the clouds to make them white. That was what I needed to finally finish it up:)

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"Card Parts" Cards

I've had bits and pieces of time to spend in my stamping room the last couple of weeks. (Yesterday I had nearly the whole day, though, spending it with a friend!) I've mostly spent that time trying to make use of the pieces I salvaged from older cards. Here are the cards that I've made with those card parts. I only have a couple small parts left to use.

For this first card, the whole main panel was done. The treats are one stamp from Repeat Impressions. I had paper-pieced the sweets using kraft, brown, ivory and pink textured papers. I mounted the panel on foam squares. I used a kraft card base. The dotted pink paper is from Bo Bunny.

This card uses two of the parts - the entire card base with matted embossed panel and the flower/heart piece. The image is from Inkadinkado (I think), is colored with Copics, and has an enamel dot for the flower center. The sentiment is from Darcie's and is mounted on foam squares. I also added Wink of Stella to the image.

The re-used part on this card is the bottom panel. It was stamped with a wheel from Stampin' Up! and matted with matching cardstock. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, stamped with the same ink and matted with the same cardstock as the patterned panel. It is mounted on foam squares.

The recycled piece here is the cardbase and embossed, matted panel. It had been embossed with an embossing plate. The image and sentiment are from a set from Recollections, colored with Copics.

The card part here is, again, the cardbase - this time with the matted patterned paper. It is matted with silver and black. I added an image panel to it - stamped with a Technique Tuesday stamp, colored slightly with Copics, and matted with silver and black to match the card base panel.

Once again, I reused the card base. I had made the patterned cardstock using a Stampin' Up! stamp. Then I used a piece of patterned paper from a Paper Studio matstack and added a die-cut sentiment.

One last card for today. I had made this "patterned cardstock" and put it on a cardbase and I reused it for this card by simply adding the sentiment from Papertrey Ink. I believe the way I had made the pattern is by covering an entire piece with Distress Ink and then stamping with a background stamp misted with water, which removed some of the ink. (So, the lighter areas are where I stamped.)

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

Card Parts Birthday

Well, I did spend some time in my stamping room yesterday afternoon. I got four cards made - yippee! I spent some time in there this morning already, too, after I got up really early. I've been working with "card parts." That seems to have gotten me going again. I didn't get any cards made this morning, but I have several pieces laying around to work with next.

This card uses two card parts - the panel that the sentiment is stamped on and the background piece. I believe that I did the sentiment background with distress ink on an acrylic block. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I matted with black and mounted on foam squares. The bottom layer was done with a Fiskars texture plate. After embossing, I must have brayered some distress ink over it. I matted that layer with black, also. I think this card will go to my nephew.

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

Wonderful Woodcuts #3 and #4

Okay, here are cards using the last two stamps in the Stampin' Up! set called "Wonderful Woodcuts."

This first one could be a Father's Day card, or any card for a father. I colored it with Copic markers. I added microfine glitter to the ocean for added sparkle. It covered up the black lines just a tad, so I used a Tim Holtz distress marker's fine tip to draw over them. I matted with matching blue and mounted on foam squares. The background is glossy cardstock embossed with a Fiskars texture plate. I misted the cardstock before embossing to deepen the impression.

This second one is a masculine thank you card. I stamped it on a brown cardstock with Versamark and used Emerald Pearl Luster embossing powder. I colored with Copics again. The background is actually a deep pine green embossed with a folder from The Paper Studio.

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

Wonderful Woodcuts #2

A late post from me. I haven't missed a blogging day since some time in May, and I didn't want it to happen today. So, I went down and made this card. :)

It uses the second stamp in the Stampin' Up! set called "Wonderful Woodcuts." I'll try to get the last two stamps used soon and post them on the same day. I stamped the image in Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. I used a Fiskars texture plate for the matting. I brayered it with white pigment ink before running it through my BIGkick. I added a scrap strip underneath.

For mrses44: The My Favorite Things stamps from yesterday's card are from the set called "Inspired By the Sea." It's likely retired. Probably about 75% (or more!) of my stamps are retired. I make cards for the fun of making them and post them for inspiration, so it really doesn't make any difference to me if they are available or not.

We went camping again for a couple days with some friends. It was HOT HOT HOT and it rained and stormed. We still managed to have a great time. We just had to go for a couple rides to escape the heat and we ate dinner out on Saturday night:) I'm home today and I hope to get caught up with a few things and maybe get some more stamping time in.

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

Four Cards - Fabulous Four

These cards were all made with stamps from the set from Stampin' Up! called "Fabulous Four." I made them all the same, with different colors and different backgrounds.

Since this one was leaves, I used fall colors. I matted the layers with gold and mounted the panel (on all of them, actually) on Dimensionals. The embossed background was done with a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder.

I used silver to mat the small layer, markers to color, and Diamond Stickles on the diamonds. The background was done with a Fiskars texture plate.

Matted with shimmery blue. Background embossed with a Fiskars texture plate.

Matted with light blue. Background again embossed with a Fiskars texture plate.

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

Happy Birthday, Vicki!

This card is for my friend, Vicki. Her birthday was yesterday. She does like her butterflies:) I thought orange would be a nice color for a fall birthday.

I made the background by brayering orange onto a Fiskars texture plate. I matted with black and stamped the sentiment (from Stampin' Up!) in black, also. The butterfly was die cut with a Memory Box die.

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

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch

It's Wednesday, so that means a new challenge from Repeat Impressions! This week it's the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge where Wendy gives us a sketch and we see what we can come up with. We invite you to join us, too! There is a $25 gift certificate from Repeat Impressions up for grabs to one lucky participant for the month. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details and to see what the other Rock Stars have come up with. Want to BE a Rock Star? Check out the RI blog for that, too! Here are links to the other Design Team members' blogs:

Cheri ~ Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kendra ~ Maki ~ Miriam

My card uses the cute little Kitten stamp, found on this page, and the Feline Better sentiment, found on this page. I stamped the kitten on white, and also on a textured ivory. I did a little bit of coloring on the ivory image and cut it out. I mounted it on Dimensionals and added it to the white image. I matted with black. I meant to round the corners like in the sketch, but I forgot! I used a Fiskars texture plate to emboss the bottom ivory piece, then I brayered some Versamark over it and embossed with clear embossing powder. I added some ribbon, matted the sentiment, and mounted the sentiment on Dimensionals, also.

Do you have any "leftovers" on your desk waiting to be used? You have nearly a week to enter the Designer's Choice Challenge for a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of your choice. See details for that challenge here.

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

Same Stamps - Different Cards

I bought a "grab bag" box from someone (Susan, from the Simplicity blog) and included in it were LOTS of stamps, among other things. These stamps are from Hero Arts, and were in my box. I already had the "water" on this card done (a Fiskars texture plate), so I thought these stamps would work with it. I stamped the whale on patterned paper, cut it out, and colored the flowers. I added Stickles to the water spout. I stamped the sentiment on the same patterned paper and cut it out. I added black marker around the edges. 

I thought it would be appropriate to use some of the stamps from Susan for her One-Layer Wednesday challenge. This week's challenge is to make a card with five circles or more. Those flowers all have circles in their centers! I stamped the whale directly on the card front. I used a green water color crayon to "paint" the whale, then markers for the flowers. I used the same sentiment and Stickles.


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!

House Mouse Halloween

Happy Halloween to all! Today I'm sharing the cards I made for two of my grandchildren. The third one received (hopefully today!) this one - except I added Stickles to the faces.

For this first one - and the second one, too, actually - I used House Mouse stamps for both the image and the "BOO." I colored the cute little image with Copic markers. The image and matting were cut with Spellbinders dies. The image panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

For the black panel on this second one, I applied white ink to a Fiskars texture plate, just by tapping the ink pad on the plate. Then I embossed the black cardstock and matted with Tangerine Tango from Stampin' Up! Once again, the image and matting were cut with Spellbinders dies. Both the image panel and sentiment panel are mounted on Dimensionals.

There is a new Stamp of the Week from Repeat Impressions, too. This week it's the Tombstone, found on this page. It's available for 50% off by visiting the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, and following the instructions found there. You will also find the creations by some of the Rock Stars. We'd also love to have your join our challenges - both the WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch and the Designer's Choice Challenge (my "recipe!") See the blog for details and join in the fun for a chance to win a great prize.


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

Happy Fifth Anniversary, Eric and Brooke!

This is the card we gave our son and daughter-in-law for their fifth anniversary. I can't believe it's been five years already!!!


It's also a card made from my "card parts." The pre-made parts were the embossed glasses already matted on silver, and the embossed background strip. The strip was made by brayering white ink on the Fiskars texture plate before embossing. I matted that strip with silver, also. The embossed panel was mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is part of a stamp from The Paper Company.


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

"You're So Tweet"

I have so many cards to make for November, a few more Christmas cards, and about 13 calendars. However, I've been having a great time digging through my "Cards Parts" box! I have several cards to share with you - I've made 12 in the past few days! Some will have their own day and others will be doubled up:)


For this one, my card parts were the embossed background and the Nestability matting. I added the image and sentiment - from Fiskars. I colored the image with Bic markers. The background was done with a Fiskars texture plate. First I inked it up with white ink and then did the embossing. The image panel is mounted on Dimensionals.


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

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Foliage Positive

This week's Repeat Impressions stamp of the week is Foliage Positive. It's available through Sunday at 50% off. You can find it on this page. Be sure to check out the monthly special, too! You can find it here. This month the special is select Halloween stamps. Wow, I got distracted - back to the stamp of the week! LOL! Be sure to check out the details on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. Check out what the other Rock Stars have created, shown on that page, also. Or follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Vicki

The card that I made went to another friend from my stamping group who recently lost her sister-in-law. I inked up the stamp with Close to Cocoa ink from Stampin' Up! Before stamping with it, I "thumped " on the leaves with three colors of SU! markers - Old Olive, More Mustard and Really Rust. I colored the small, open leaves and the pine cone with markers. The sentiment is also stamped with Close to Cocoa. The matting is Chocolate Chip. I used ivory cardstocks. For the background, I used a Fiskars texture plate. Before embossing, I brayered it with Close to Cocoa ink.


You have until tomorrow evening to submit your card for the Designer's Choice Challenge to use an animal on your card or project. This would earn you a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber. You can find those details here. You also have just over a week to participate in the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. Details for that challenge 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 - Humpback Whale

It's the start of another new week. That means it's time for another new Stamp of the Week from Repeat Impressions. This week's stamp is the Humpback Whale. You can find it on this page. For this week only, you can purchase this stamp for 50% off. For all the details, please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. You can also find the other creations by the RI Rock Stars there. Or you can follow these links to their blogs:

Darsie ~ Dawn ~ Joy ~ Karen ~ Michele

For my card, I stamped the whale in black and used a light gray chalk to color him a little bit. I cut him out and mounted him on foam squares. I embossed the textured blue cardstock with a Fiskars texture plate and matted with black. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions, also.  It's matted with black and also mounted on foam squares.


You still have until tomorrow to make your card for the Designer's Choice Challenge to make a card "For the Guys." Details are here. You also have another week to make a card for the WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge. The details for that challenge can be found here. You have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate or a full sheet of unmounted rubber.


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

Another Baptism Card

This baptism card uses the same stamps and the same Fiskars texture plate as this one that I made last week.  This is the one we are giving to our new grandson, who is getting baptized today.

The stamps are all from a Stampin' Up! set called Special Blessings.  I stamped the dove in Versamark and embossed with silver embossing powder.  I popped it up with thick Dimensionals.  It is cut with a Long Oval Nestabilities die.  The mat is cut from shimmery silver.  The silver on the bottom is embossed with a Fiskars texture plate.  The main panel is also matted with shimmery silver.  The sentiments are stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  The "on your Baptism Day" is cut with a Long Rectangle, as is the matting for it.  The dove panel and the "baptism" panel are mounted on Dimensionals.

Today I'm leaving for LA for CHA.  I'm so excited!

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