Cards I've been working on...

Here are a bunch of cards I've been working over the past few weeks in my spare time.  Some of these cards are CASED, others I made were from inspiration I found from Pinterest and Jennifer McGuire.  If you would like

 

information on stamp sets, colors or dies, please let me know. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Happy Birthday

Hi everyone.  Sorry I haven't been posting weekly as I should be.  But I'm trying to get back with a few challenges to help me keep posting and stamping.  I have been stamping right along.  I've had some orders I've had to fill.  One of the cards I made today is not only for someone's birthday, but also for the Color Throwdown #329.  The colors for the challenge were red, purple, aqua and green.  I started with Stampin' Up's "Elegant Eggplant" card stock as my base and then used PaperTrey Ink's "Tipped Tops Dies" to cut out out the polka dots designer paper (I don't remember who the manufacturer is).  I also used these dies to cut out the borders of the Tipped Tops die in SU's "Certain Celery" and "Pool Party" card stocks.  I used the happy die from PTI's "Tipped Tops dies set and cut out happy and also use one of the birthday dies out of PTI's "Birthday Die Trio" set in SU's "Real Red" card stock and adhered them with pop dots.  I then used SU's Flower Patch stamp set and stamped the flower in SU's "Real Red" ink and the center part of the flower in SU's "Elegant Eggplant".  I also attached the flower with pop dots.  I did use my clear "Wink of Stella" on the flower for a little pop of glitter.

I really wasn't sure how these four colors would come together, but they did make a fun birthday card.  Thank you so much for stopping by.

Winter birthdays!!

I'm back again with a card for the Color Throwdown Challenge #324 and another January birthday card done.

Our color challenge this week was to use Red, Black and White on our card.  I decided to do another snowflake card...



 


I decided to do a triple stamped card.  I just love the way these cards look when finished.

I used Stampin' Up's Black card stock and Gina K's Pure Luxury White Card Stock and SU's Real Red ink and Momento's Tuxedo Black ink.

The snowflakes are from SU's Endless Wishes and the very small snowflakes and dots are from Judith stamps.  The Happy Birthday is from Simon Says Stamp Birthday Messages 3x4.

I finished off the card with black and red bakers twine and a white snowflake button.











Here's the same card, but using SU's Real Red card stock, PaperTrey Ink's Snowfall Additions and a red button.

 
The last card, I went back to using the black card stock as the base, turned the card width wide and stamped Hello from Altenew's Halftone Hello set and just tied the bakers twine in a bow.  Don't you just love this Altenew stamp?  I just had to order it when I saw it, but had to be patient as it was on back order for a bit.

Let It Snow...

January is a perfect time to use a lot winter stamps and dies.  I'm glad I have many birthdays in January, because I have  a lot of winter stamps and dies.

The Merry Monday challenges are back and so am I for another year.  This week's challenge is to use snowflakes.  They could do this challenge for the whole month and I still wouldn't be able to use all the snowflake stamps and dies I have.

This card could work as both a Christmas card and a birthday card.

I started with Gina K's Pure Luxury White card stock as my base, and cut out the rectangle shape with Lil' Inkers Rectangle Stitched Mats out of another piece of Gina K white card stock.  I took another piece of Gina K white card stock and die cut out three Memory Box Frosty border dies.  With inspiration from Jennifer McGuire faux Laser Cut Card video, link here, I cut the dies up and placed them randomly inside the cut out rectangle.  I loved Simon Says Stamp's January Card Kit, and used a piece of the Bo Bunny 6x6 Altitude designer paper as my backdrop.  I ran my Clear Wink of Stella over the dp for some added sparkle, which didn't show up in the picture at all.  I also used Bazzill's Velvet card stock (also part of the SSS January Card Kit) behind the rectangle die cut and adhered it all to the white card stock base.  I then added the "Let it Snow" stamp from Hero Arts along the bottom of the card, which was stamped 3 times and used Silver Wink of Stella randomly on the frosty die.

I am also adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #3, as I haven't used the frosty die, the HA's stamp or the BoBunny dp, and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, to use something new (new crafty stuff!), which was the Bo Bunny dp.




Thanks for stopping by and would love to read your comments.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (just a tad late!)

Wow!  What a crazy Christmas season it has been.  It flew by and I know I didn't spend enough time thanking God for his gift of Jesus to all of us. I even forgot to take a picture of the whole family!  Sorry, I haven't been able to post for the past four weeks, either.

I did get my Christmas cards out before Christmas (Al wasn't sure that was going to happen).  I keep telling myself to get them done early, but for some reason, I can't make it happen.  I'll try that goal again this year!   So here's the funny part about my Christmas cards...I participated in Merry Monday's Christmas Challenge blog almost every week during 2014...I didn't use one of the cards I made for any of those challenges.  Instead, I found inspiration from Jennifer McGuire and my good friend, Marcia Hill.

The first card, I used Flourishes' "Santa, I Believe" stamp set, which went out of business during 2014.  Which it so sad, as they had beautiful stamps.  I had to use two different kinds of designer paper as I didn't have enough of either.  I bought both of these last year and forgot to write down who the manufacture was of each.



The next card is one that was inspired by Marcia Hill.  Marcia and I have been friends since I girls started preschool together 22 years ago.  She got me hooked on stamping!  Be sure to check out her blog.  I linked her blog to her name above.  She makes amazingly beautiful cards!  She made this card as a swap card for a stamping group we started going to this year.  Here's a link to the card on her blog.  http://marciasstampinpad.blogspot.com/2014/11/o-holy-night.html.  I used a different stamps and an oval die cut, but overall the same card.  Thanks, Marcia!  Your card saved me! 

My last Christmas card I sent was inspired by Jennifer McGuire.  If you haven't checked out her blog, it is well worth many visits!  She did a "My Favorites" series in December that was just awesome.  She has done them in past year's, too.  You can go to her "My Favorites" page and look back to previous years.  I fell in love with this card the moment I saw her video and wasn't sure I would be able to reproduce it, because I am very ruler challenged.  I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, ever!  But she proved me wrong, as I was able to do it...on 30 cards, too!!!  Here's a link to her card, http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2014/10/video-stamping-patterns-giveaway.html.  I changed up the colors and used different snowflakes and Merry Christmas stamps, as I didn't have the stamps she used. 

I've been making cards throughout December, but forgot to take pictures of all of them.  That is how busy I've been.

I do hope that everyone had a beautiful Christmas and I wish all of you a very blessed New Year.  May 2015 bring us all good health, creative minds and a joyous spirit!

Catching up...

Thought I would start with my challenge card first.
 

The first is Color Throwdown #320, the second is Make It Monday #190 and the third is Simon Wednesday Challenge (anything goes).  This was a fun card to make.  For the Color Throwdown, our colors this week were red, aqua, silver and kraft.  I made the plaid pattern which is for the Make It Monday Challenge. I used an old SU stamp I can't remember what the name of the set was, and SU's Lost Lagoon and Cherry Cobbler markers and also a Distress Marker in Antique Linen.  I cut a small strip of it at the bottom of the card and die cut one of the snowflakes from PTI Snowflake Medley Die Collection. I used Simon Says Stamp! Falling Snow stencil with Kraft Ink on the Lost Lagoon card stock and clear embossed the dots.  I inked up PTI's Happy Birthday from Think Big Favorites #24 in Cherry Cobbler ink from SU, which I also clear embossed.  What a perfect card for a December birthday.    

 

Now I will catch you up on the rest of my cards from the past few weeks.

The first one I used a technique that Kittie Caracciolo likes to use.  Here's a link to the video she has showing this technique  http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/the_classroom_new/2014/09/fall-leaves-with-distress-ink-by-kittie-caracciolo.html.  The leaves are from Impression Obsession, called Leaves die set and the Wheat is from the Wheat die set.  I cut the wheat from some designer paper that I don't know the name of now.  The leaves are colored with the following Distress Inks, peeled paint, mustard seed, barn door and spiced marmalade.  I used Copper Pearl Liquid Pearls around the edges of the leaves after I embossed them with clear embossing powder.  I tied both, copper twine and some natural twine around the grouping and adhered them to the card with pop dots.  The background paper is from a local stamp store that has some gold flecks in it.  Very pretty paper.  I finished the card off by stamping Happy Birthday (from PaperTrey Ink's Stylish Sentiments: Birthday) in Spiced Marmalade.

 

This card is the one I made for my sister's birthday.  She is 3 years and 1 day younger than I.  I used Penny Black's Sunny Pair stamp, which I stamped with Momento's London Fog ink.  I then pulled out my Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor paints.  The happy birthday came from PTI's Birthday basics. I finished the card off with a piece of twine and used clear wink of stella in the center of the flowers. 

Last but not least, my niece Mallory shares my birthday.  As you can see, she turned 18 this past week!  I thought a shaker card would be perfect for her 18th birthday.  I cut the number 18 from my Silhouette.  The rest of this card is from PaperTrey Ink's Shaker Shapes Square Dies.  Some of the sequins are from Simons Says and the rest are from PTI's Make It Market Kits Shakers and Sprinkles.  The Happy Birthday is from Penny Black's Celebrations.  I used Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant card stock from Stampin' Up.  Yes, I glued all the confetti around the card.  It wasn't too bad. 

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to check out all the amazing cards over at Color Throwdown #320, Make It Monday #190 and Simon Wednesday Challenge.

feeling so blessed!!!

Hi everyone, no card to post today, but I will post some before the weekend is over. 

I turned 50 this past Tuesday and our beautiful daughter, Sarah, surprised me by coming home from NYC for my big day.  She had called her dad back in July and they arranged the whole thing.  I bawled like a baby when I came home and discovered her in the family room. Especially since she hadn't been home since last Christmas.  I'm glad I raised an independent daughter, but it does have some drawbacks. 

Our son, Nick, also came home from Wisconsin, too, but not until Wednesday night, as he has his "grownup" job, now that he has graduated from college.  I, also, wish he lived a tad closer, but he is only six hours away.

Our youngest child, Tim, is a junior in high school, so now all my kids were home for Thanksgiving.  We all were able to go to my sister's house to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with some of the family.  Unfortunately, not everyone was able to come home for Thanksgiving, and they were all missed very much.

Nick took pictures of the whole family, but he hasn't emailed them to me yet, otherwise I would have a picture of all my kids on here, too.

Our family is starting another phase in our lives, as Nick is getting married August 15, 2015.  His fiance, Danielle, is a beautiful person.  She has been living with us this fall as she completes her student teaching at a high school not too far from where we live and she graduates from college this coming Saturday.  It has been a pleasure to have her live with us for almost four months.

Our children are truly a blessing from God and we are very grateful!  

The week turned out hectic, but it was well worth it!  I hope everyone had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving and that, you, too, were able to spend time with family and friends!

Make A Wish

I am cutting it close on another challenge.  This time, I forgot until now (15 minutes before close time).  I had the cards done yesterday.

So this is really brief.  These cards are for Color Throwdown #318.

I used Marina Mist, Soft Sky and Pumpkin pie as my 3 colors.  I used all the circles from Simon Says' Luminary Circles and and Ring Frame dies.  Make a wish came from Penny Black's  Celebration dies.  I added some sequins to the orange card, too.

Thanks for stopping by.  Unfortunately, our internet is still acting up and I didn't get the cards posted in time.  Grrr!  I did find out, that it's Charter who is having a problem and it's not specifically our issue. 

Merry and Bright

Well, due to internet issues, I missed the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge deadline, but am able to use this card for both Simon's Monday and Wednesday challenges. 

I didn't come up with an idea until this morning and as usual working last minute never goes as smoothly as it is suppose to.  

I used Stampin' Up's Holiday ornaments to cut out the 3 ornaments from a dark blue speckled paper I get from a local stamp store.  I then used Memory Box Stars Starry Nights stencil with embossing paste mixed with silver glitter stickles and let that dry.  I also sprayed a piece of white card stock with Distress Spray Stain in Brushed Pewter and after it dried, I cut out Merry and Bright with Tim Holtz's new dies for Christmas #660058.  I used a piece of SU's Bashful Blue card stock and stamped dots all over it with Encore's Ultimate Metallic Silver ink.  I added silver cording to the back of the ornaments and put everything together on the card.  

Thank you for stopping by and be sure to check out all the beautiful cards made over at Simon Monday Challenge and Simon Wednesday Challenge.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours.

Here's another Christmas card for another challenge.  This one is for the Color Throwdown Challenge blog #317.  This week's colors are white, black, purple and light blue.  I really like these colors and it didn't take me long to figure out a night sky was in order and I also was able to use a new die set I bought last month, but haven't been able to play with until today!

This card would work great as a shaker card, too.  I just might do that before Christmas for a few close friends that I hand deliver their cards to.  I die cut out the houses from Home and Hearth by Essentials by Ellen in Stampin' Up's Bashful Blue card stock and also in white and used the white windows and doors in the blue houses.  I then used Distress Inks in Black Soot, Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord to make my night sky.   I then splattered some Perfect Pearls for the stars (a few big stars, too) and also used SU's white chalk marker.  I cut a piece of white card stock for the snow and attached to the night sky.  I colored the white with Wink of Stella to make the snow glitter.  I also added some white chalk marker and wink of stella to the houses too.  I attached the houses and added a purple star to one of the houses.  I then cut it out with PTI's Shaker Shape Circle die.  I added the blue ring and then the black ring to finish off my focal point.  I attached the circles to a piece of Gina K's Pure White Luxury card stock after I stamped Sweet 'n Sassy's Snowflake background stamp in SU's Bashful Blue, which I off stamped first.  I added the Merry Christmas to you and yours from PTI's Think Big Favorites #20 in SU's Elegant Eggplant ink.  I attached the white card stock to a piece of black card stock and then a piece of SU's Elegant Eggplant card stock.  

Thank you so much for stopping by and you still have time to enter this week's Color Throwdown Challenge blog #317.  Don't forget to stop by their blog and check out the other beautiful cards using this week's colors.