Merry Christmas from Kathy

It seems as though I have neglected my little hobby lately! Fortunately, I recently received this lovely card in the mail from Kathy, thankyouverymuch. Maybe her lovely artwork can tie some of you over who keep clicking on my blog hoping for an update. I'll be posting new creations before too long. I'm busy wrapping up the calendar year as well as my cherished 14-year-long career. As Arnold says, "I'll be back!"

Happy birthday to me from my sis

It was definitely worth hopping on my bicycle and riding down the street to check the mail today because I got this whimsical, colorful, fun card from my sister, Julie, in the mailbox! I love the combination of little mini squares from sets that I wouldn't normally think to put together. She really thinks outside the box when she boxes things together. Thank you, Julie. What a lovely card. Homemade cards beat junk mail any time.

Season of Joy

With pleasure, I was able to design an invitation for our women's event at church in December and need to mass produce nearly 200 of these. Luckily, there's a committee to help me with them, and we knocked out about half of them yesterday. It's hard to tell, but we embossed the main sentiment with red embossing powder.

Joy & Merry Christmas

I made this at Kathy's card making soirée last week. Love it. I'm glad I have the Love & Joy stamp set! Yippee!

Becki's birthday cake

This is the other card I made of Becki's design at our recent shoebox swap. Birthday cards are nice to have on hand and this basic greeting card will be appropriate for any age, any gender. Thanks, Becki!

Alicia's baby shower

How I love this invitation I got in the mail for Alicia's baby shower. So soft and girly looking, this card features the Print Pattern background stamp, and the baby palm print and the alphabet is the I'm Here set. The "you're invited" sentiment is from All Year Cheer II.  I'll definitely be creating this again.

Thanks, Making Memories

I enjoyed making this card designed by Becki, her creation that I made at a recent gathering. It's fun to not have to cut the cardstock, gather the supplies, etc., plus have someone else be the creative one. Becki kindly gave each of us at the shoebox swap the package of Making Memories fabric alphabet that we used for this card. Sweet! These adhesive letters were fun and easy to adhere. I love ric rac too, plain and simple, and would put it on everything if I had it in every color, size and texture. Ric rac rocks! Thanks, Becki!

Snow burst blessings

Kathy invited me over to make cards last week and I love this design. It would be nice to have, but I'm not quite ready to spend the money, so here's my wish list for what is needed to create this striking yet relatively simple creation.

• 110386 Snow Burst $19.95 (set of 6 rubber stamps)
• 110382 Star-Studded Season $33.95-yikes! (set of 8 rubber stamps)
• 110148 Blizzard $17.95 (designer wrapping paper, 2 rolls)
• 105120 Bashful Blue $5.50 (8.5" x 11" cardstock)
• 102128 Chocolate Chip $5.50 (8.5" x 11" cardstock)
• 107303 Naturals White $6.50 (medium envelopes)
• 109066 Bashful Blue $6.95 (3/8" taffeta ribbon)

There's also the whisper white cardstock, the coordinating ink, glitter, and adhesives, all of which I have plenty of.

Non-traditional colored Christmas

Not much of a fan of non-traditional colored Christmas cards, I just wanted to try out my Stampin' Up! Snow Blossom punch for the first time. It seems like snowflakes should be in blue tones for some reason. Anyway, just thought I'd post this quickie card I threw together a few weeks ago since I haven't posted lately. It's a busy season for me and I'll create more cards soon, I hope!

Boatloads by Alicia

Alicia made these adorable "Boatloads of Love" cards for me and I appreciate the contrast between the two overall looks, each using completely different color palettes. Both finished versions are fantastic, but I slightly prefer the Halloween card. This is a superb CASE of the design from the current SU catalog. Thank you, Alicia!

Lori's designs

From Monday's shoebox swap I joined in, here are the two cards I made from Lori's design. The flowers, brads, and gorgeous cardstock were a delight to use. This blue and cream floral paper has a Laura Ashley look to it, and really caught my eye with the quality and texture.

Fun to make cards, Lori. Thank you! Or rather "thanks" as the sentiment suggests.

Lynette's card design

From the shoebox swap at my sister's house on Monday, Lynette won the prize for the most complicated cards, but they fortunately turned out well. This one was fun to do, and was actually not too tough. I liked the patterned papers she provided for us.

When I got home, I just added the bling, lavender gem stones and some natural twine.

Enjoy your tri-fold day

Here's the other design Julie came up with at the shoebox swap at her house. I loved making this card because I've received tri-fold cards from her, but have never made any. So this was a nice treat to see it go together from start to finish. Thanks, Julie!

Halloween husband

I made this card at a shoebox swap at my sister's house a few days ago and there's a funny story behind it. The original design says "Halloween hello," but I grabbed the stamp, inked it, then realized I used the wrong side of it, and came up with "Halloween husband" instead. I thought it was so funny, and decided to keep it that way. Now I can give it to my husband, Frank. Just kidding. That's not his name, and he also doesn't give me the creeps like the spider, and isn't spooky either, like the ghost! Cute card idea, Julie. Thanks for the fun stampin' get together!

BOO! the embossed version

Previously I posted this card here, and said that I wanted to recreate it with the BOO greeting embossed, so here's what I came up with. I was excited to find this Stampabilities stamp (called Spooky Boo) from Hobby Lobby yesterday that says "boo" in big enough letters to not feel like I need to use an alphabet set to spell it out. This short cut will make mass producing this card go much quicker. I have 31 women coming to my house to make 93 of these tonight! Also, I hadn't posted the wonderful sentiment on the inside that says "happy halloween" in a sweet font, accented with a row of dots. I inherited the spider stamp from my neighbor who moved to Taiwan this summer. (Thanks, Julie!)

Mini Happy Halloween

Just having fun with my punches with this little 3 x 3 card. This little Halloween image is from the All Holidays stamp set, everything is from Stampin' Up!

• Punches: Scallop Circle, 3/16" Corner Rounder, 1 3/8" Circle, 5-Petal Flower
• Accessories: Circle Metal Tag, Black Gingham Ribbon, Button, Black Twine
• Paper: Only Orange, Lovely Lavender, Basic Black, Whisper White cardstock
• Ink: Green Galore
  

Season of Joy

This is the only set I've ordered (so far) from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Collection 2007. It's called Season of Joy most of the stamps I used are from this set. The Merry Christmas stamp is from All Holidays.

• Paper: Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White cardstock
• Ink: Real Red, Soft Sky, Basic Black, Versamark and Red Embossing Powder
• Punches: Scallop Circle, 3/16" Corner Rounder, 1" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle
• Ribbon: 1/4" grosgrain, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, all by SU
• Tools, etc.: Crimper, Pop Up Dots

Jumbo Eyelet Flower

Love the big, bold new jumbo eyelets by Stampin' Up! I set the eyelet with the Cropodile with ease. No noise and no pounding.

• Stamps: In the Spotlight, All Holidays
• Ink: Timber Brown Stazon Ink, Bashful Blue
• Punches: Word Window, 5-Petal Flower, 1 3/4" Circle
• Tools/accessories: Paper piercing, vintage brads, Cropodile
• Paper: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla cardstock, Blue Bayou and Creative License designer papers, all by SU
  

Grateful for new punches

Here I have used three of Stampin' Up's eight new punches, and the new Cropodile--which ROCKS! I used the Photo Corners punch, the 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch, and the Scallop Circle Punch, my favorite. I used the Cropodile to do the dry embossing (on Chocolate Chip Cardstock). The new Cardstock is Sky Blue, paired up with Sage Shadow and Apricot Appeal. I used the a SU clear button and Linen Thread as accents. The stamp sets used are Dotten Autumn and In the Spotlight.

BOO! Friends

Here's my second attempt at getting the white more bright, using embossing this time rather than just white craft ink. I prefer the look with the "BOO" in embossed white, but I'll stick with the black ink for the ghost and mummy figures for my final idea.

I love this cute little card, adapted from an idea from Kathy R. I just threw it together, as I was trying to come up with a Halloween card for next month, so it's not perfected yet. The three little ghouls are from the Stampin' Up retired Hey, Ghoul Friend set. Cardstock used was Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie, and Kraft. Inks are Pumpkin Pie, Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss Stampin' Write markers, and Whisper White craft ink pad. The alphabet stamps are from the Well Worn set.

Appreciating Elegant Eggplant

For some reason, purples, plums, lavenders, and eggplant, aren't typically the colors I reach for when card making. I like it, so I don't know why this is. So for my Friday entertainment, I've spent some time playing with these colors together and had fun. I hope to use more purples in my future card creating.

Congratulations to my niece, Aubrey, on her engagement to Ryan! They just got engaged and I've made this card for them to celebrate. I'm so excited for the two of them.

• Stamps: Pixie Expressions, "Romance," and Touch of Nature, Background Sampler, Memory of the Heart, All Holidays by SU
  

This thank you card is for my wonderful in-laws for inviting my children to visit them for two and a half weeks out of state, and for being awesome grandparents to them. My kids had a ball and I grately appreciate all they did to help create some delightful summertime memories.

• Stamps: Memory of the Heart


• Paper: Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, Kraft


• Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke, Regal Rose


• Accessories: Moss gingham, Rose, Eggplant Ribbon
  

Joyful Fleur de Lis Swirls

Happy birthday, Julie! My friend turned 31 in June, and only recently posted it on her blog, so I'm sending her this belated card. It's similar to the Father's Day card I made for my husband. We made this particular design at my monthly card-making soiree which I host. I liked using the red prefolded note cards from Michael's, sold in packages of 20, in a variety of colors. It matched Stampin' Up's Real Red close enough, since I just had a little bit of red. It's a bit larger than my standard cards, measuring 4.5" x 6.25." Here are a few other details.

• Paper: Confetti Cream, Basic Black, Real Red by SU, The Paper Studio Black & Cream Ornate Leaf from Hobby Lobby, cream and black striped gift wrap, and Simply Paper by Gartner Studios folded cards, size A6, red
• Stamps: Timeworn Trim, Small Sayings, Linen background by SU
• Tools/accessories: Sewing machine stitching, red brads

It's your day

Here's a quick birthday card, nothing too exciting.

• Stamps: Delight in Life, Simply Said, Stampabilities-It's Your Day
• Ink: Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip
• Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red
• Accessories/tools: ric rac (looks more like turquoise and wished I'd used turquoise ink), blender pen, staples, pop-up dots

Olive you!

Here's a little "just because" card I made for my husband who is traveling this week and I am missing him. I used the Stampin' Up! pastels with a cotton swab to color the olive image from the Olive You set. The background stamp, Soft Swirls, is with white ink on Real Red SU cardstock. And to further match the image, I used Old Olive cardstock, with Basic Black.

Maria's wedding

This is the summer of weddings for my friends' kids. Maria used to babysit for us and it's hard to imagine that she's getting married this weekend. I designed this card using the wedding announcement colors, which were gorgeous.

• Stamps: Timeworn Trim fleur-de-lis, Wedding Elegance, and Linen background
• Paper: Confetti White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: brads, ribbon

Congratulations to Maria and Joel. I love when a photo is added to the wedding announcement, as they did. I hid the wedding details with their picture, so you can see the colors and the beautiful couple. The inside sentiment says: "Congratulations to the two of you for choosing the perfect one."

Scrapbook Trends workshop

For a bit of inspiration, I went to a scrapbook trends workshop at the local scrapbook store (on the same evening that I spotted my nephew's work in Old Navy) on Wednesday. That night, I created two pages and had some pictures of Brendan in my purse from about two years ago, so I ended up using them with the two 12" x 12" pages I created. They're "floraly" and not very little boyish, but the colors still look great with the pages, so I didn't mind. I rarely scrapbook, so this class was enjoyable to get a few pointers. I stamped and embossed the red swirls, but don't know the company they are from, but can tell you that they're acrylic. I'll list a few of the supplies I used in case you're interested.

• Paper: Spoiled Brat, Lip Gloss orange, pink and blue Bazzill Bling cardstock, Basic Grey Hippie, Collico patterned paper



• Supplies: Crop-A-Dile, Die Cuts with a View Rub-on Stitches, Hero Art Gemstones, Glossy Accents, chipboard

B. I. G. ads in Old Navy

This has nothing to do with card making, but is an ad currently in Old Navy stores, featuring my nephew, Brendan, whose initials are B. I. G. What a cutie, huh? (My nephew is the one in the green shirt, by the way, as they're both rather handsome little boys.)

Happy anniversary Bobbi & Sherm

This is for my friend, Bobbi, and her husband, Sherm, who just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary! Woohoo! Congratulations to the happy couple.

• Paper: Loves Me DP, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise
• Ink: Regal Rose
• Stamp: In the Spotlight
• Punches: Scallop Circle, 1-1/4" circle, 1-3/8" circle, 1-inch circle
• Accessories: Ric Rac, Nylon Twine, clear word stickers

Two weddings in a week

Paul and his sweetheart are engaged to be married on Friday, so tonight I put this together as I came across a bag of red hearts that I had cut out about two V-days ago for my son's Valentines at school. I can't believe I kept them. Rather than tossing them, I just started attaching them to the white paper, then kept adding things. The inside says "happily ever after."

• Paper: Brocade Blue, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Basic Black
• Stamp: Sweet Shapes
• Punches: Folk Heart, Corner Slot Wrought Iron, Rectangle Handheld
• Accessories: Misc. ribbons, all from SU except black dots, from Hobby Lobby, sewing machine stitching

Merideth's wedding

Isn't it fun to get wedding announcements in the mail? I love receiving good mail and was delighted when I received Merideth and Daniel's formal "love letter" recently. The elegant announcement and invitation was white with a dry embossed "double door" opening, wrapped with a satin bow in a soft blue {slightly aqua} colored ribbon and was so beautiful. Using some of my Loves Me patterned papers which were on my desk from Lindsey's birthday party invitations, I created this card for the soon-to-be newlyweds. Unlike the wedding announcement, these papers aren't very formal, but I felt that this whimsical young design matches Merideth's fun and cheerful personality. Best wishes to the new happy couple!

Sweet 16 party invitations

My daughter is turning 16 next week and I designed these invitations for her birthday party. I made a sample one without disclosing personal information to post here to show. My inspiration came from Cambria's cute Halloween card using a similar layout.

• Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Loves Me Designer Paper by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Computer generated
• Tools/Accessories: Round Tab Punch, 1-inch, 1 1/4-inch, and Scallop Circle Punches, Foof-a-La brand clear Bag-O-Buttons from Archiver's, Turquoise Gingham Ribbon sent to me from Keri in Missouri, white nylon twine from Alberton's

Happiness, continued

This is one of those cards that looks much better in real life, and my photography doesn't do it justice. The colors look really nice together in person. Again, I've tried out a brand new punch, this photo corner punch. Stampin' Up! has the best punches and I highly recommend them to anyone who likes to make cards or scrapbook.

• Paper: Soft Sky (brand new from Stampin' Up!), Taken with Teal, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
• Ink: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Taken with Teal Stampin' Write marker
• Stamps: Happiness background stamp, All in a Row
• Tools/Accessories: Ric Rac, Spiral Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Creative License to Think Happy Thoughts

This fun layout really stood out by zoeyjack2 from SCS, so I wanted to create my own using the new Simply Scrappin' Creative License set with the rich warm colors and attractive patterns and textures.

• Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi, Creative License
• Ink: Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie
• Tools: 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and Scallop Circle Punches
• Accessories: Soft Sky Double Stitch Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Brad
• Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts

Happiness in Red

So I have my new Happiness background stamp and am playing around with it for the first time, and this is what I came up with so far. I also used my scallop punch for the first time and love it.

• Stamps: Carte Postale, Happiness
• Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Whisper White, Old Olive
• Ink: Real Red, VersaMark
• Tools: Scallop, Spiral, 1 1/4-inch Circle Punch, Cutter Kit
• Accessories: Red Gingham, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

It's my nephew's birthday today. This card was inspired by a similar version to Jen Bamberg's. This was my first time using Stickles, and I'm hooked. The second and third versions I did look even better.

• Paper: Apricot Appeal, Ballet Blue, Only Orange, Black, Whisper White cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Only Orange stamp pad, Stazon Jet Black; Apricot Appeal, Only Orange Stampin' Write markers; Ballet Blue ink refill with Aquapainter, and also Diamond Stickles
• Stamps: Send a Celebration, Snow Flurries by Stampin' Up!

Gee, thanks!

Tonight I'm cleaning my desk and just put together some scraps and concocted this random mixture. I'm not going to bother saying what any of it is, but that I love the SPIRAL PUNCH and have not used it until now. It's such a cool invention. And of course, the adorable gingham turquoise ribbon sent to me with kindness from SCS Inkyhugs, Keri, from Missouri! Thank you! Or shall I say "Gee, thanks?" from the All Around Argyle set.

Aunt Gertie's Garden Butterfly

Life has given me many reasons to smile as this sentiment suggests. I love this recently retired Stampin' Up! hostess set and have paired it with patterned papers titled Aunt Gertie's Garden by s.e.i. It's a quickie card for any occasion. T.G.I.F!