Cute Critters

I cut these elephants, giraffes and lions last month in Des Moines. They are so cute. I added tiny gems for the elephants' and the giraffes' eyes. For this first card, I used a square of light pink and matted with gray. I mounted the elephant on foam squares. The sentiment is stamped in gray and is from Papertrey Ink.

I cut the lions out of yellow and also out of brown, and used the brown for his mane. He is mounted on foam squares. I used a strip of yellow and brown for him to rest on. The sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink.

I cut the shape for the elephant to rest on using an oval die. The elephant is popped up. I embossed the background piece using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The sentiment is from PTI.

I made two cards exactly like this one. I matted an ivory panel with brown cardstock and added a sticker sentiment. The giraffe is mounted on foam squares.

And one last card, using another lion. The sentiment on this one is also a sticker.

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

Another Matching Envelope

 Again, this patterned paper is from Kris from our Group Gathering in Des Moines last month. I thought this paper was so pretty!! It was double-sided, which you can see by the envelope. For the card, I die-cut the frame from ivory cardstock (the die was a gift from Kris) and added it to the front. I die-cut the flowers and added enamel dot centers to them. The sentiment is a sticker, which I purchased at the store we were at.

And here is a picture of the card with the envelope.

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

Cards With Matching Envelopes

While in Des Moines last month, we used our envelope punch boards for a little project. But, Kris also brought paper for making envelopes with them. So, I made a couple envelopes out of the yellow patterned paper and brought the scraps back to make matching cards. Here are my cards, along with the envelopes. Not much to them! For this first one, I matted the paper with yellow cardstock. Then I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) on to white cardstock, matted with yellow and mounted on foam squares.

For the second card, I used a dark green card base and again matted the patterned paper with yellow. I die cut the sentiment out of the same green as the base.

And here are the two cards with the envelopes. Thanks, Kris!

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

Easter Card-in-a-Box

A member of our stamping group had us make these cards-in-a-box while we were in Des Moines a couple weeks ago. What a lot of pieces to cut!!! Thanks so much, Vicki! She had cut all of the white pieces, the colored pieces, the patterned paper pieces and also stamped and die-cut all of the other pieces!

I finished putting mine together last night, and here it is. A very fun "card" to make.

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

Super-Simple Birthday

I was going to toss the scraps that had accumulated at my paper cutter, and found these two pieces in the pile. I just couldn't throw them out, and therefore this card was created:) The patterned paper is from a Paper Studio matstack and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Die-Cut Ornaments

A friend had this die at our Group Gathering in Des Moines. I do not know what brand it is. I made four cards using the pieces that I made there. I cut it twice from white, green and red.

For this first card, I used the leaves and ornament cut from green and red. I also cut the ornament hanger from silver and used it on this one and one other. Before putting the pieces together, I stamped the ornament with a Tattered Angels stamp and embossed with white. I matted the panel with red and mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from a Recollections set. 

For this one, all of the pieces are white. I stamped the leaves with the same Tattered Angel stamp as the first one and I stamped the ornament with a stamp from the Recollections set. Again, I matted with red and mounted on foam squares, and again, the sentiment is from Recollections.

I used white pieces again for this one. I colored the thin borders and the ornament hanger with Copics. I used the Tattered Angels stamp for the leaves and the Recollections stamps for the ornament.

Again I used red and green pieces for this one. I stamped the ornament with the Tattered Angels stamp and embossed with clear embossing powder. I used the silver for the hanger. Like the others, the image panel is mounted on foam squares.

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

Happy Anniversary, Vicki and Gary!

This card is for a friend from my stamping group. It's her anniversary today. Have an awesome one, Vicki!! (Dang! I just realized it is their 50th! So special, and I forgot. Oh well. At least a card should have arrived on time.)

This is the same die as yesterday, and was also cut in Des Moines. I mounted it on foam squares. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and is embossed with detail white embossing powder and is also mounted on foam squares. The patterned paper is from an old Stampin' Up! stack.

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

Daisy Warm Wishes

I think this is one of my favorite recent cards. I cut and pieced the daisies while I was in Des Moines. The die-cut rectangle was a left-over from another die. The rectangle and the uppermost flower are mounted on foam squares. I added patterned paper to the card base, and also a bit of Washi tape. The sentiment is from a Gina K set.

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

Die-Cut Butterfly Birthday

I die-cut this butterfly with flowers while I was in Des Moines. I matted it with slightly-speckled gold cardstock. The sentiment was stamped in matching ink with a Papertrey Ink stamp.

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

OOPS! - July Calendar Page

Oops - I guess you get two posts today, since I forgot to schedule my calendar page:) But, better late than never, so here it is. I used my Cameo Silhouette to cut all the pieces for this page. I had to glue eight pieces on each page. May not sound like a whole lot, but I do make 15 calendars. At least very early on in the process, I realized I could use the scrap piece as a guide for placing the red stripes!

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

Strawberry Gems

Another card from our Group Gathering, courtesy of Kris. This card is square, in case you can't tell from the picture. The small, scalloped squares were cut with a punch, and each square has a strawberry gem. They are mounted on Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Sunflower Hello

A friend in our stamping group brought the pieces to make this card. They were all cut and die-cut, even! (Thanks, Kris!) The only thing I added was the sentiment. Luckily, Kris's pieces were cut from Stampin' Up! cardstock, so I had some to match. 

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

Birthday Wishes

I recently ordered the newest Gina K kit, which included these stamps and dies. All the stamps and dies are from the same set. I colored the flowers with Prismacolor pencils and used Gamsol for blending. I used Stampin' Up! markers for the leaves. The background was stamped with a stamp from the same set. The large flower and the leaves for the large flower are mounted on foam squares.

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

Chinese Lanterns - and Group Gathering Photos

This is one of the two cards I actually completed while I was at our Group Gathering last week. The other is not even blog-worthy. The dies I used were from Memory Box which I purchased at the store we were at. (The store is Inspire Papercrafting. They are SO awesome to let us move in for a few days and leave our stuff scattered all over the crafting area!) It's hard to tell in the picure, but I used silver shiny cardstock for the die cuts and the matting. The orange pieces were cut with pieces from the same set.

I may as well share a picture of the members of our group who were at our Gathering this year.

Here is a photo of all seven of us at The Machine Shed, where we always eat the first night.

Joyce was not able to spend the last night with us, but here is a picture of six of us in front of the stamping store. Left to right: Vicki, Harriet, Sheri, Kris, Georgia and me.

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

Leafy Sympathy

I was in Des Moines last week with six other members of my stamping group. We always have such a wonderful time! Also, there are so many wonderful "goodies" that everyone brings to share. This die is one of the dies that I used. You will be seeing more! I used the die on some very old Stampin' Up! paper and matted with matching cardstock. The sentiment for both cards is from Kaisercraft and is mounted on foam squares.

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

Color Swap - Bright Green and Navy

Here is the card I made for our group's Color Swap. The colors this month are navy and bright green. I decided to add a bit more blue than just the navy. The flower and leaves stamps and dies are all from Gina K Designs. I ordered the Stamp TV kit for fun:) The sentiment is from Rubbernecker and was given to me (and others in our group) by our dear former member of the group who passed away over four years ago. I used clear embossing powder on it for more emphasis, although it's not really visible in the photo. The two smaller flowers are mounted on foam squares.

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

Friends #1

My first card with the Stampin' Up! set called "Friends." Even though I made this one first, I decided to show it last:) I had considered using this image for my next year's April calendar page. However, after coloring it - and using twenty Copic markers! - I decided I didn't want to do that much coloring on fourteen more calendar pages. And, after reading one of the sentiments that came with the set, I decided to use it for my swap card at our Group Gathering, which is taking place now. So appropriate - friends.

It's done very simply. I stamped the image with Memento black ink and colored with Copics - as I mentioned above. I matted with matching cardstock and mounted the image on Dimensionals. I cut the sentiment with a stitched square die and matted with the same color cardstock.

This set also has another sentiment which says, "After the rain ... rainbows!" It also has a stamp with a bunny and a basket of tulips. 

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

Feathered Hope #1

I still had two Stampin' Up! sets sitting on my table, waiting to be used. The stamp on this card is from one called "Feathered Hope." This is the only stamp that I used from the set, though. It's not a Christmas set, but I liked this image for a Christmas card. I stamped with Versamark and embossed with detail gold embossing powder. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I matted with shimmery gold paper.

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

Nature's Sketchbook #1 and #2

Another Stampin' Up! set done. I also used this set for my June calendar page this year. I chose not to use the rest of the stamps.

For the first card, I colored with Copics and added Wink of Stella. I cut the image panel with a stitched square die and mounted on Dimensionals. The purple background was embossed with a Darice folder.

This simple leaf stamp with lady bug is also in the set. I colored with Copics and used Wink of Stella. The sentiment is from Papertrey. I matted with black.

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

Left-over Sticker Cards

After making cards using larger Penny Black stickers, I had these four stickers left over. Today was the day to throw them on cards and get them off my table! Very simple, but good enough. I liked this oval placed at an angle, so I did that for both of the cards. I had these white rectangle pieces cut for a calendar page that I didn't end up using yet, so I used them for all three cards. For this first one, I matted the image panel with matching cardstock, added the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink), and mounted on Dimensionals.

 Same image panel and Papertrey stamp. Also mounted on Dimensionals. The orange piece on the left is embossed with a Darice embossing folder.

Two butterfly stickers, sentiment by Papertrey Ink, matted and popped up.

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

Faux Embossing

 

Someone in my stamping group asked me to demonstrate what I call the "Faux Embossing" technique when we go to Des Moines next week. So, I've been working on it. Here are two cards I made using the technique. It's just stamping, but it really does look like it's raised embossing. All you do is stamp a fairly solid stamp with ink matching the cardstock you are stamping on. Then, using a Stamp-a-ma-jig or a MISTI, you stamp the image again with white ink, moving it slightly one way or another from the original stamping. 

The image I used on these cards is from Gina K. The sentment on this first card is from The Paper Company.

On this one, I used my Score-Pal to make a border around the outside. The sentiment is from Gina K.

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

Friends #3

I wasn't going to use this cute stamp (from the Stampin' Up! set called "Friends"), because I was too lazy to color it! :) So, I thought about just stamping it and showing it, but then decided that I could use it this way. I stamped it with Versamark ink on pink cardstock, then embossed it with detail white embossing powder. I cut it with a Memory Box stitched rectangle die. I matted with a thin border of white, then cut another pink layer with a slightly bigger stitched rectangle die. The sentiment was cut out of silver metallic cardstock and has been sitting around on my table for a few months.

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

Friends #2

Here is my second card made with the Stampin' Up! set called "Friends." (You'll see the first one in a couple weeks.) It's very, very similar to a card I made a few weeks ago, but I do like the layout and it works so perfectly with this little stamp. I cut the opening with a die. The bow was also done with a die. I mounted the top panel on Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I colored with Copic markers and used some Wink of Stella.

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

Cute Christmas Reindeer

All of the stamps and dies that I used for these cards are from the same Hampton Arts set. I got it when I was at Michael's when we were in Chicago the week before last. They are all basically the same with different placement of the image panel. The die cuts are all mounted on Dimensionals. I used Wink of Stella on them, too.

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

Christmas Tree

I made six more Christmas cards yesterday and this morning. The five I am sharing with you tomorrow are my favorites. This one came about because I accidentally cut an extra matting panel and felt I needed to use it right away. :) The stamps I used for this card are from Recollections. I stamped the tree on scratch paper before stamping on this panel so that I could stamp the sentiment over it. I added the trunk of the tree with a marker. The whole panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

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

Oriental Paintings - #1, #2 and #3

Another Stampin' Up! set finished. I continue to make progress on my quest to use all of my SU! sets, although I will admit to cheating a bit! For today's cards I used the set called "Oriental Paintings." For this first one, I used Versamark on black and embossed with detail gold embossing powder. The background paper is also shiny gold and black. It is paper our daughter brought me from her visit to Japan. The image panel is mounted on Dimensionals.

For this second card, I used watercolor paper. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir Glitter Sparkle pens. I mounted the panel on Dimensionals. The background paper was given to me by our daughter-in-law who got it in Japan.

And the third stamp of the set. I colored with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. It's also mounted on Dimensionals. The patterned square underneath was cut with a stitched square die. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Happy Graduation, Emma!

Our niece's youngest daughter graduated this year. Here is the card that I made for her. Her school colors are red and white. The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The circles were cut with Nestabilities. I popped that panel up on Dimensionals. The graduation hat and diploma were cut with Quickutz/Lifestyle Crafts dies. The diploma is also mounted on a Dimensional.

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

June Calendar Page

Here is my calendar page for the month of June. I used a stamp from an old Stampin' Up! set called "Nature's Sketchbook." I cut it out with a stitched rectangle die and colored with Copic markers.

If you are interested in making your own calendars and using my files, you can find them at the top of my blog page under the title. I'd love to hear from you if you do!

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