November birthdays

So sorry I haven't posted in so long.  It has been a very busy month.  Working at a church during the advent season is very busy and trying to get ready for our family Christmas, too, doesn't leave a lot of time for fun (stamping) time.  My sister, Stephanie, my niece, Mallory and I all celebrated our birthdays in November (Mallory and I share our birthday and Stephanie's birthday is the next day).  Here is Mallory's and Stephanie's birthday cards.

This is the card I made for Stephanie.  It's a "cased" card style from my friend Marcia, who "cased" it from someone else, who "cased" it from some one else, too.    The flower stamps are from "Summer Silhouettes" by Stampin' Up.  The "Happy Birthday" stamp is from Stampin' Up too.  I just don't remember which set, though.  The dot stamp is from Judith Stamps.  One of my favorite stamps for when you need just a little "filler".  I used Raspberry Ripple, Daffadil Delight, Lovely Lilac and Certain Celery (discontinued) stamp pads by Stampin' Up.  I used Raspberry Ripple card stock by Stampin' Up and white card stock, I picked up at my local stamp store.  The red flowers are by Got Flowers? by Prima Marketing.  The twine is by Doodlebug designs.  And the brads are by Making Memories (I believe).

This is the card I made for my niece Mallory (who turned "sweet 16").  The card stock is Lovely Lilac by Stampin' Up and I used a flower embossing folder by Cart Us on white card stock I picked up at my local stamp store.   I sponged over the flowers with Lovely Lilac stamp pad by Stampin' Up to help the flowers pop.  The Happy Birthday stamp is from "Happiest Birthday Wishes" by Stampin' Up and stamped in Lovely Lilac in by Stampin' Up.  The flower is from the "Simply Soft" stamp set by Stampin' Up, which was also stamped in Lovely Lilac ink.  I filled in the flower with Stampin' Up's Lovely Lilac marker and the stem is with the Always Artichoke marker.  The white gauze ribbon I found at Michaels.  Thank you for stopping by.  I hope to post again in a week with a Christmas card or two. 

Friendly Scarecrow

Here's another fall themed card.  One of my co-workers had a birthday over the weekend and I just loved the way this card finally came together.  I fell in love with this scarecrow stamp.  He's just so darn cute!

Stamps: Stampendous' Friendly Scarecrow; Stampin' Up's Sunflower and Happiest Birthday Wishes
Cardstock:  Stampin' Up's Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and YoYo Yellow (discontinued)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black and Pumpkin Pie
Copic Markers: Y13, E23, B34, B12, C9 and YR68
Accessories:  brown plaid ribbon, yellow and orange flowers

Thanks for stopping by!

Gently Fallin' Tractor

 My son, Tim, is in Boy Scouts and had to organize an event.  He called his godfather, Tom, and ask if he would give the scouts a hay ride to the local corn maze.  Tom, of course, agreed wholeheartedly.  The scouts had a great time!  Tim asked me to make a thank you card for Tom and his son Tyler, who helped his dad out when Tom had to leave, for all the scouts to sign.  Here it is...

Cardstock: Kraft, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler all by Stampin' Up.
Stamps: Tractor by Hero Arts; "Gently Fallin' Leaves" by Stampin' Up and "Queen Anne's Lace & Leaves" by Rubber Stamp Tapestry; and a "Thank You" stamp by Stampin' Up
Ink: Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint Distressed Inks by Tim Holtz; and Memento's Toffee Crunch and Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers: R46, C8 and C5
Accessories: Ribbon by Gina K; and the square brads by a company that is closed.

Fall Leaves from MDS2

I've decided I would try to out the Stampin' Up "My Digital Studio 2" (which you can download for free for 30 days) and publish a card for the first time.  I made a 6x6 card using Always Artichoke and very vanilla cardstock.  I "stamped" the leaves in various colors and sizes in Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke inks.  The stamp is from the "Holiday Blitz" collection.   I "stamped"  thank you in Pumpkin Pie ink and that sentiment is from the "Enjoy Every Moment" collection.  The grosgrain ribbon is Always Artichoke and the brads are Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red.  I also rounded the corners on the very vanilla cardstock.  Not bad for a digitally produced card.   Enjoy your Sunday and the extra hour we gained over night.

Snowflake fun

This Christmas card is also from last year.  Both stamps used are from Penny Black.  "It's Time to be Jolly" and "Before the Snow".  I used Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler ink on the girl and Handsome Hunter ink (discontinued) on the tree along with red glitter glue by Gary Burlin.  I used white cardstock and cherry cobbler cardstock, both from Stampin' Up, too.  I fell in love with "It's Time to be Jolly" stamp because when I was a kid, I loved playing in the snow and there wasn't anything better than playing in the snow when it was falling.  Falling snow just makes me want to spin in circle and catch snowflakes on my tongue!  I still like to catch snowflakes on my tongue when no one's looking...haha.  My secret is out!  Thanks for checking in. 

25th Wedding Anniversary

Today's card is one I created for friends of ours who celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary this month.  We celebrated our 25th last year.  I really find it hard to believe we have been married for more than 25 years already.  It seems just like yesterday we were walking down the aisle looking forward to sharing our lives together.  I remember being a teen when my parents celebrated their 25 wedding anniversary and thinking that's a long time of being together.  How my perception of a "long time" has changed.  I'm sure our friends will agree.  Either way, celebrating 25 years of marriage is a great accomplishment that I don't think any of us would have accomplished without the love of Christ ever present in our lives and in our marriages.  Congratulations!

This card was made with all paper...no rubber stamping was used.  I purchased all the paper from my local scrapbooking store called Scrap, Scribble and Stick.  I used white, light and dark gray textured shimmering cardstock.  I also used designer paper from Creative Imaginations.  The glitter cardstock is by Best Creations.  I used the 25 from the Tim Holtz's "Mini Reindeer & 25 Set".  The "Happy Anniversary" was made on my computer and printed on the white textured shimmering cardstock.  The white sheer ribbon and the silver cording is from Stampin' Up and the rhinestone dots are from Michaels.  Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Snowflakes

Here is one of my Christmas cards from last year.  The stamp set used is "Snow Much Fun" by Stampin Up.  This is a CASE'd (Copy and Steal Everything) card.  The credit for this card goes to Sharon Field.  Here's a link to instructions on how to make this card, too.  http://createdbyu.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-super-saturday-and-christmas-duo.htmlTri-Fold (or bi-fold) Window Punched Christmas Card Duo.  I did add touches of my own.  I want apologize ahead of time for how dark this card looks.  My camera didn't seem to cooperate the day I took these pictures.  This card was labor intensive, but still fun to make.  I used Bashful Blue and Brilliant Blue from Stampin' Up. to sponge the blue background.  I used Encore! Silver Ink by Tsukineko to stamp snowflakes (from Stampin' Up and Hero Arts).  I also randomly stamped Glitter Glue from Gary M. Burlin & Co. on this page too.

On this part of the card, I used the Brilliant Blue and Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up) to stamp the snowflakes (Stampin' Up & Hero Arts).  The saying is from Stampendous called Family Season and stamped with black ink (Stampin' Up).   I stamped the bird with Going Gray (Stampin' Up) ink, and colored the bird with Brilliant Blue marker and Pumpkin Pie for the beak & feet.  I also colored the snowball with Ranger Diamond Stickles.

The inside of the card was masked with an oval frame and sponged using Bashful Blue (Stampin' Up) ink pad.  The tree was stamped with Basic Gray (Stampin' Up) ink pad and then outlined with Alway Artichoke marker (Stampin' Up). The Christmas bulbs on the tree were colored with Brilliant Blue as is the bird sitting on top of the tree.   The bird's feet & beak are colored with Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up) marker.  The saying is from Stampin' Up and stamped in black ink (Stampin' Up).

I have started working on this year's Christmas cards already.  If you ask my husband, Al, he can't believe I'm ahead of the game.  I usually wait until mid-November to even figure out ideas in my head.  I then scramble to get them out on time.  I make about 90 to 100 cards each year and have always had them in the mail by Dec. 20.  I have one card almost fully figured out.  Just need to settle on a final design so I can start making a lot of them.  I have other card ideas floating around in my head, just need to find time to work them out on paper.  

Thank you for stopping by.

 

Fall Harvest

We have a member at church who has been in an assisted living facility for awhile and someone at church thought it would be a great idea to have a card shower for her to celebrate her birthday this weekend.    The stamp is from Stampin' Up "Always Thankful".  I colored the card with both Copic Markers (YR68, E25, 100 & C1)  and Stampin' Up markers (Real Red, Poppy Parade, Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana).  I used the Spellbinders "Classic Ovals-large" and mounted it to the Spellbinders "Lacey Ovales" (yes, the spelling is correct).  I used Chocolate Chip cardstock from Stampin'Up, the orange card stock I picked up at a stamping convention and don't remember which company sold it.  The orange cardstock has a shimmer to it. The designer paper is from Pebbles Inc, which I've had for a few years.  The button is from Stampin' Up, the ribbon from Michaels, the floss from a local craft store and the leaf brad is also from a local craft store, which I bought about 4 years ago.  I fell in love with this card as soon as I finished it.  I hope you like it too!  Thanks for checking it out.

A Good American Book Review

I picked up "A Good American" at the library just because of the cover.  I do that quite a bit.  I never agreed with the quote "Don't judge a book by it's cover".  If the cover catches my eye, more than likely I will enjoy the book, which in this case, is true again.

The book begins in Germany in 1904 with Frederick and Jette falling in love, getting pregnant and leaving Germany because of Jette's disapproving mother.  I can't imagine boarding a boat bound for New Orleans, pregnant, with just my husband and not knowing what lies ahead.

When they land in New Orleans, they end up taking another ship up the Mississippi to Missouri.

They end up raising a family in Beatrice, Missouri.  Frederick was so excited to be in America, Jette, not so much.

Their story is narrated by their grandson, James, and covers all the trials and tribulations of the Meisenheimer family and the many people they encounter during their lives.  There were some funny moments and very sad moments.  Overall, just a great book that could have been written about any of our ancestors who immigrated to America. 

This story really made me think of the hard sacrifices our ancestors made.  Leaving the land, family and friends they knew to land in a country they knew nothing about, other than what they may have read from letters of family and friends already living in America.  I can only guess that some of those letters were exaggerated a little bit to entice them to follow.

Overall it is still true today, as many people arrive in America every day looking forward to their dream of a "better life".

I hope you will read the book and let me know what you think.

Autumn Card (Maple Leaf by Hero Arts)

Hi everyone,

I thought I would start a blog to post pictures and descriptions about greeting cards I create, talk about books I've read and post pictures of trips and other items I just find pretty.

This card was such a work in progress.  I randomly stamped maple leaf (Hero Arts) on cream card stock (Stampin' Up) using Distress Inks (spiced marmalade, fired brick and peeled paint). At that point the card was missing something, so I decided to emboss the card with an Autumn embossing folder (Cuttlebug), but you couldn't make out the words, so I rubbed the creamy caramel stamp pad (Stampin' Up) across the card to make the words pop. Mounted to certain celery card stock (Stampin' Up). Embellished with orange ribbon and metal leaves (don't remember manufacturers).

Here's a closer view.