I Said I Wouldn't Do It! ...

I was wrong! :( I said I would NOT be making any more Christmas cards this year. But ... I did. It just happened. And even this is not the end of them. I will be adding more tomorrow and the next day, for sure! I love this snowflake stencil from Echo Park and I did so want to use it with glitter. I covered a piece of white cardstock with my Die Cut and Bond and then placed the stencil over it. I added the bluish glitter and removed the stencil and added the pearl glitter. I added the silver strip and the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) embossed with silver.

Ditto for this card.

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

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere!

I used my new-to-me Die Cut and Bond,  a The Crafter's Workshop stencil, and glitter for these cards. I love the sparkle of glitter! Any my stamping room is so sparkly, too! LOL! I covered a piece of cardstock 5.5 x 4.25 with the Die Cut and Bond. Then I removed the backing and added the stencil. I used some Martha Stewart glitter to cover the entire panel. Then I removed the stencil and added another color of glitter. I cut 1.5 inches off of each side and added them to this card front. Then I added a thin strip of silver paper beside the panels. I also added the die-cut sentiment. I put Diamond Glaze on the die-cut, but I'm not sure that was very effective.

I used the remaining section for the bottom of this card. I added a blue strip of cardstock above the panel. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a wish for a Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends. I hope this holiday finds you surrounded by good friends and family.

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Winter Birthday

I recently purchased some Die Cut and Bond so that I could use my stencils with glitter. (You'll be seeing a few of those coming up.) I also knew it would be useful for adhering die cuts. So, I pulled out a few of my dies and cut pieces using cardstock covered with the sticky paper. This is one of the dies that I used. For the background, I used brushes and distress inks. After doing that, I took some gouache (a type of white acrylic paint, as far as I can tell) mixed it with water and splattered it on the background. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Printed Vellum

While digging for some vellum or acetate recently, I came across this already-cut piece of printed vellum. I decided to use it up right then and there! :) I simply stamped and embossed (in gold) the sentiment, which is from Papertrey Ink. I added a thin strip of gold foil to the left side.

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3-D Embossing

Both of the image panels were embossed at our Group Gathering. I think they were done with 3-D embossing folders from a company in England. I finished them up very simply. A corner of this first panel was accidently cut off, so I straightened it out and cut the opposite corner to match, then matted it and stamped the sentiment along the diagonal edge. The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

EDITED TO ADD: The embossing folder is from Stampin' Up!Thanks, Vicki!

The sentiment on this one is from Papertrey Ink. I have sure used it a lot lately! I do love it, along with the birthday sentiment that came in the same set. :)

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

Stamped Flowers

These first five cards all use flowers and shaped sentiment panels in my "stash." All of the flowers in this post except the second card use Sunny Studio stamps and dies. I think the second one is from Gina K. I think the patterned paper is all from Die Cuts With a View.

I embossed the top panel of this card with a Darice embossing folder. The flowers are mounted on foam squares. All of these cards are headed up to church for card rack.

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

Stamped Card Parts

 

I stamped these flowers at our Group Gathering in June. I have SO many card parts to use up, but I'm very slowly whittling them down. For this first one, I started with a white embossed flower on white cardstock. I used distress inks and spread over the entire panel. Then I sprinkled it with water. I used Versamark and white embossing powder for the sentiment, which is from Papertrey Ink.

For this second one, I simply added a sentiment (from Papertrey Ink, also) and a few black pearl drops, along with a matching mat.

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

BIrthday Roses

I used up a few more card parts on this card. I had the flowers and the leaves already stamped and die-cut. The rose stamp and die are from a Sunny Studio set. The leaves are from Gina K. I did a kind of a fun technique on the leaves that I learned in a Jennifer McGuire video. I stamped the leaves once, using my MISTI, then took a stylus (previously used for "old-fashioned" dry embossing) and "drew" the center line on the stamp for the second stamping. It's a two-step stamping technique, but only uses one stamp. The front-most rose is mounted on foam squares. I added Wink of Stella to the flowers. I also added a few black dots with Liquid Pearls. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Happy Anniversary, Annie and Ray!

Happy Anniversary, Annie! Hopefully you have received this card by now.

I die-cut the flowers and backed that piece with tie-dye glitter paper. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. (As you can tell from the flurry of anniversary cards, I love this sentiment!)

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

Watercolored Flowers

OK. This card was made with more "card parts." The flowers and leaves were stamped on watercolor paper with Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder and then die-cut. I used watercolor paints to paint them. The large flower is mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Welcome Little One

A couple more baby cards for church. The image is die-cut. The sentiment is from another old dollar stamp set from Studio G.

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Teddy Bear Baby

More cards for church. The teddy bear is die-cut. I added tiny enamel dots for the eyes. The sentiment is from an old dollar stamp from JoAnn's from Studio G.

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Lighthouse Sympathy

Another simple card. The image stamp is from My Favorite Things. The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

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Simple Sympathy

I've been making several cards to bring up to church for the card rack. Most are quite simple. I made two of this design. I simply matted the patterned paper with black and added the die-cut sentiment. On my sympathy cards, I usually add a stamped sentiment.

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

Die-Cut Sympathy

I used a die to cut the sentiment three times and layered them for added dimension. I matted with patterned paper and then a matching gray-blue mat. The card base is ivory. I made two of these cards, which will be donated to our church for the card rack.

Edited to add: I was asked by a couple people about the die in this post. It's from Elizabeth Craft and is called "Lovebirds."

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

Absolutely the Last Christmas Card for this Year!

Even if I make more Christmas cards this year, I promise this will be the last one I post. :) I had two of these sentiment panels done and laying on my table, and I wanted them gone. (I have all the parts from my table dealt with. Doesn't mean I don't still have TONS of card parts, but at least the ones that I have taken out have been used.) I used preprinted sentiments from Gina K and then used foil and my laminator to shine them up. The panel is mounted on foam squares. The patterned paper is from Gina K, also.

I am pretty far ahead in my blog posting, with all the cards that I've been making. I'm writing this a week ahead. As of today (November 6) I have my cards all finished, with 15 left over for next year. The insides are done, the envelopes are labled, and, perhaps the hardest part - the cards have been matched up with their recipients. Whew! Now we have to get the Christmas letter written. My calendars are all packaged up. I'm still panicking just a little bit, though, as I have not even thought about shopping yet. Oh well, it's early, right? :)

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

I Just Can't Stop!

OK. Two more Christmas cards done - probably for next year!  I had this sentiment done and wanted to get it off my desk. I had used a Dreamweaver brass stencil, Deco Foil Transfer Gel, gold foil and my laminator to make it. I also used two die-cut frames that had been in my card parts for a while. I glued the frames together and put them around the edge of the card. The patterned paper is from Gina K. 

Of course after trimming the patterned paper for the first card down to size, I was left with a strip of it. Couldn't let it go to waste! I matted it with blue and put it on the side of this card. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Birdy Birthday

Three more card parts used up. The birds were die cut at our Group Gathering in June. I added them to a die-cut oval. I had stamped the background with a Darcie's stamp and Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. I mounted the panel on foam squares. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions. When we visited there last June, we used a sentiment stamp and die to make several sentiments. This is one that I hadn't used yet.

Edited to add: This die is from Elizabeth Craft and is called "Lovebirds."

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

Forty-Five Years!

Forty-five years ago today. Oh my! :)

Edited to add: Ah yes. After reading Bonnie's comment, I am reminded that many people commented on the dress the last time I posted this picture. I borrowed it from my sister-in-law! I agree - it's lovely.

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