Christmassy Punches

There's a lot of punching here, but I think it turned out cute. I'm just trying to break the silence of no posting since October. Yikes!

Watercolor cards

As mentioned yesterday, I'm taking a beginning watercolor class and I've transformed my practice pieces into cards. I love this charcoal and orange combo, striped image below, and when I did it, others in the class probably wondered why I chose that palette. At the time, I knew it would be used for a Halloween card. I did some sewing machine stitching, added ric-rac, and a Happy Halloween stamped image that my sister stamped for me a few years ago when she was here visiting and we made cards together. Therefore, I don't know the name of the set it's from. My instructor, Donna, was teaching us how to paint a plaid surface, and she really disliked these colors. I told her I love it so she let me take her masterpiece home. I have just added some flowers, brads, and a rub-on sentiment, then placed it on Tangerine Tango and Creamy Caramel cardstock.

This effect was interesting. The idea was to brush the heavy paper with clean water, then put some color on top of it, then using tweezers, add chunks for rock salt until it dries. This was my very first one and it didn't turn out too well, but it's amazing how adding a little (happy birthday) embellishment (Birthday Whimsy) and coordinating cardstock can magically turn any old piece of paper into interesting card art.

This lavender wash was done at my first class. (I've had two now.) I stamped the chandelier image and it was not inked up enough on the right side, so I had to cover it with something. With the machine stitching and other bling, it turned out to be a very luxurious looking card. I like it!

I still have a few more images to play with and see what I can come up with.

Kindness comes in many forms

Here's my first card to do after taking a beginning watercolor lesson. I just painted these three colored images this morning and they're very fun to do. I used heavy 140 pound paper and watercolor paint. First I brushed the paper surface with clear water, then brushed it with one of the bold three colors on each piece of heavy paper, then dropped little amounts of rubbing alcohol on it. Then let it dry, then trimmed it. Then mounted it on whisper white cardstock, scored it, then embossed the sentiment from Stampin' Up's Heard from the Heart Sentiment. I finished it off with 1/2-inch wide Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon by Stampin' Up! I'll be making more cards with my watercolor mini masterpieces.

The second card coordinates with my first, using a similar technique. Wet the surface of the heavy paper with a paint brush, then put dots of color on, then place crinkled plastic wrap on top until it dries.

Miss you

This was a fun little card to whip up for my sister, using Halloween colors. I just stamped the main image, then used two markers for the flower and pot.

Delight in Life

This old set is great and I have an extra one, so I'm sending it to my sister for her birthday. (I don't think she looks at this blog!) This card was cased from a design by Sara L. I'm also sending my sister some cards made using this set to give her some tangible ideas for future cards to create. I hope she likes it!

Quick card makeover

Today I just dressed up this ready-made card by Current, by adding the ribbon and stamped it with an image from Stampin' Up's Timeworn Trim in Tempting Turquoise. The clean look and bright colors are my favorites. Easy breezy, my kind of card.

Good Works by Kelleye

These are my top two picks from Kelleye H. The layers on this card are so pretty in person, especially the three-dimensional birds. This card is very pretty and so nicely colored.

Thanks, Kelleye, for participating.

A toast to Ilene

Ilene H's cards from the swap were some of the best I received. Each one was embossed and colored beautifuly, and had amazing texture and personality. This black one was very elegant. This one is bright and cheery.

This one was a good general purpose card.

I'm crazy about this pennant flag and 3-D chips, which really make this card stand out.

"Olive" this card with the embossed pimentos! Nice job, Ilene.

Mona likes to emboss

My friend Mona L. made these next two lovely cards. She is such a talented card maker and often uses embossing. I love her work and wish I embossed more. These are my two favorites from the swap that she did.Vincent Van Gogh, the famous Dutch artist who cut off his ear, is one of my favorites, so this quote and the card jumped out at me. Nice work, Mona!

Joye's Upsy Daisies

This set of cards was my favorite from the swap. Joye Q. really has a beautiful sense of style and creativy. I adore these cards! I'm trying to pick my top two from each set, but I couldn't narrow it down to just two. Simply elegant work.

All her cards even came in a little plastic box that was so cute!

Thank you for the inspiration, Joye.

My swap card favorites

Over the next several days, I'll be posting some of the top two or three cards from each group I received. I'm thrilled with all these fabulous cards and thank the talented artists who designed and created them. This "celebrate you" card was made by Kathy R, her inspiration came from Wendy J. Great colors!Kathy R. made this celebrate hat card. I love the ribbon, the cut out blue and green hats, and tag punch layer. Lily C. made the cutest monkey cards. I loved them all.

This thanks a bunch whimsical card is by Lily C. I love how she made the curvy black strip, then used the spiral punch to create the film strip look.

This was also from Lily's set.

You're on my mind

Usually when I participate in a card swap, I'm one of the last ones to sign up and it's slim pickin's on what sets are still available. This last time was no exception. I do like the Puns from the Past set, but it wasn't exactly at the top of my list. What I'm trying to say is while I like this cute, whimsical set and had fun with it, I was kind of tired of the small images I had to work with after designing four cards. So for my final submission, I just wanted to make something with a bigger image, and I {sort of} stretched it as deeming the card a feature of Puns from the Past. It did qualify since I used the "fan mail" sentiment, but rather than using the fan image, I chose the larger image is from the same page in the new catalog as the puns set. Does that count? I just love the chandelier in the Grand Soiree set, and since it wasn't part of the sets to choose from in our swap, I decided, what the heck. The new paper (and coordinating ribbon) from Stampin' Up! is called Pacific Point and I like it paired with So Saffron. There are times that I only want one particular sentiment or image from a stamp set, so that's why I decided this was fair game.

Life after the swap

Here's the final version of this Just My Type card design I created, and mass produced for a card swap that I particated in. Stamping supplies took over my dining room table this weekend as I was supposed to be hunkering down for Hurricane Ike. My heart goes out to all those who were affected by this recent event, but I'm counting my blessings that hardly a gust of wind and a not even a sprinkle of rain made it to us.

I had a great time stamping in the meantime. I made 72 cards total, with five different designs, using one main set, Puns from the Past.

Sew Glad

Here's another image from Puns from the Past. I'm SEW GLAD I'm almost done with this swap that's due....TODAY! Details may follow. But then again, they may not. It's all from SU.

Grateful for You

I'm grateful for this hobby. What a fun card this turned out to be. I'm using another image from the Puns from the Past stamp set marathon that I'm on. It's all SU products--I'm too lazy to fill in all the specifics now.

Just My Type

Just my type, I enjoy Halloween colors in the fall. I am always a sucker for this combination and am soon going to be decorating my house for the season. Here's a rough draft of the second design for my swap that's due on Monday, using images from Stampin' Up's Puns from the Past set. I'll probably tweak it a few times before I come up with my final design.

• Paper: Brushed Silver, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper Confetti White cardstock, Ghostly Greetings Designer Series Paper (the skeletons were cut out from one of the sheets of DSP)
• Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Pumpkin Pie
• Stamps: Puns from the Past, All Holidays
• Tools: Photo Corner punch, Boho Blossoms punch, 1/4" circle punch, My Way punch, Cutter Kit
• Accessories: black gingham ribbon, 3/8" black organdy ribbon, mini library clips, black brads

Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers

There's nothing like participating in a card swap to get you going on creating some new cards. Finally. Okay, here's my first design that I whipped up today since Hurricane Ike didn't seem harmful in my neck of the woods and I can't think of anything better to do. You can expect to see four other designs from this stamp set by Monday, my deadline. I'm sure you can't wait.

• Paper: Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White cardstock


• Ink: Chocolate Chip


• Stamps: Puns from the Past


• Tools: Scallop Punch, Word Window Punch, 1 3/8" Punch, Crop-O-Dile, Instant Eyelet Setter


• Accessories: Silver Eyelets, 1" Chocolate Chip grosgrain double stitched ribbon

Baptism cupcake accents

This summer has been fun and filled with adventures and travel. Our most recent getaway was for my niece's baptism, and I made some lovely cupcakes (I love to bake) and put them on a three-tiered stand and put one of these little festive cards on each cupcake for the party afterwards. Here's more of the decor that I matched it up with. The flowers weren't in the vase yet, but everything turned out nicely and the event was very special for all of us.

Just because you're YOU

This layout was copied from Gone INKognito. What a fun layout and simple repeat pattern of the pseudo fleur de lis stamp. I'm aiming for simple cards recently--can you tell?

• Paper: Lavender Lace, Regal Rose, Barely Banana, Whisper White cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Lavender Lace
• Stamps: Simple Delights
• Tools: Scallop Punch, 3/16" corner punch to create scallop border
• Accessories: Hobby Lobby gingham ribbon, Polo Button Brads by Making Memories, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sweet Melissa

Ever heard that song by the Allman Brothers? It's a good one. Anyway, sweet Melissa sent me these cute cards a couple of months ago and I think they are adorable. Thank you so, so much.

Paisley Argyle Pink & Green

Have you ever decorated a room around a picture? How about a card around an envelope? I have some 6.25" white square envelopes that I wanted to use so I came up with these big square cards with a lot of pretty layered papers and a simple image. I wish I was better at water coloring, but as every other art form requires, I just need to practice more. But since I'm now getting back into my creative mindset after a two month hiatus, I'm taking baby steps. Blogging pals Melissa, Jenn, and others, I miss your blogs and will catch up soon.

• Paper: Tinted Dawn 12 x 12 Basic Cardstock, Color Translucent Light Green by The Paper Company; Brooke Argyle, Brooke Paisley by Making Memories; Whisper White, Gable Green, Regal Rose by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad, Watercolor Wonder Crayons Bold Brights, Regal Rose Stampin' Write Marker
• Stamps: Blooming with Love
• Tools/Accessories: Silver Circle Brads by Making Memories, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1/8 inch handheld punch, paper piercing tool

Snappy birthday!

This was crazy to cut out! I think this stamp set is really cute and have seen several interesting cards made with the crab figure cut out, so I thought I'd try it out. I don't recommend it for large quantities, that's for sure. But it's just such a great little character and it really pops when you have it cut out.

• Paper: Simply Paper A6 Folded Cards - 4.5 x 6.25 from Michael's, Basic Black, Whisper White, Ruby Red Cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Stamps: Crab & Company by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Basic Black, River Rock
• Accessories/Tools: wiggly eyes adhered with mini glue dots, distressing tool, black and white ribbon

Sew what?

I haven't made a card in a couple months! Sew what? It's a hobby, not a job, right? I got this colorful postcard with all the spools of thread and sewing notions and had fun transforming it into a greeting card. By the way, the outlook for my cardmaking in the near future is good. Thanks for not giving up on me.

• Paper: Ruby Red, Sahara Sand cardstock, Tommy Hilfiger fall sale postcard
• Stamps: Simple Sayings II
• Ink: Night of Navy
• Accessories: Button, hemp twine, pop-up dot

I feel some cards coming

I've been in a stamping lull, obviously. But I'm going to be making some cards this week and thought I would alert the masses!

A Mother's Love

Today I found this designer paper at Hobby Lobby to match the yellow circles that my sister cut out for me. The sentiment "a mother's love is like no other" seemed to be quite fitting for this bird and nest. Thanks for loaning me your stamps too, Julie. You're such a nice sister.

Stamps: A mothers's love from http://www.stampingsensations.com/ , Cavallini Bird & Nests
Paper: So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Rose Red cardstocks by Stampin' Up!, DP by My Mind's Eye
Ink: True Thyme, So Saffron
Embellishments: brads, moss gingham ribbon, ivory 3/8" organdy ribbon, red hemp twine
Tools: 1" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, 3/4" Punch for ticket corner effect, Double Circle Punch

You cheer me up award

A big {THANK YOU} to Donna for giving me this cute little Lucy "You Cheer Me Up" award. I thought that was so sweet of her to say that, and the funny thing is she cheers me up every time I see her. Donna is a talented stamper and quite an accomplishe chef too. Now I'm supposed to select five others to nominate for this award and here's who I have picked. They are generous in sharing on their blogs with all of us. When I've been tagged with things like this, I tend to be somewhat slothful at replying because I don't want to leave anyone out, but this was a fairly easy one, because these people do really cheer me up when I go to their blogs.

Simply Pink: Melissa was the first person whom I received a random act of kindness (RAK) card from. This sweet gesture from someone whom I'd never met in person, had the inkling to send me a card because I told her how much I loved it, really touched me. She certainly cheered me up and has ever since with her sweet blog and lovely art.

Kiyomi Krafts: Sweet Miss Jenn is from Hawaii, and is one my my newest blogs I love to visit. She puts together these wonderful Aloha Friday videos with delightful music and gorgeous cards. She also leaves me nice detailed comments which are always fun to get.

Me, My Stamps & I: Chat is a stamping machine! I have enjoyed copying so many of her excellent designs and am amazed at how much she cranks out. She is very talented and her beautiful cards really cheer me up.

Kristina Werner Design: This woman is truly a superstar. Anyone in the stamping and card making world would agree. I love her style, enjoy her creativity, appreciate all the videos and excitement that exudes from her blog. She is remarkable. I've participated in her Color Challenge #6 in this post, by the way.

My Creative Treasury: Kandis has a style like noone else and comes up with the most unique, interesting designs. She's fantastic and I admire her stitching and unique embellishments she adds to her cards.

Thank you to each of these women from the bottom of my heart! You {really} CHEER me UP!

--Kelly

Mom celebrate

It's my mother's birthday today, so happy birthday, Mom. I hope it's a great day for you.

Stamps: Looks Like Spring, Wonderful Words, Letterpress Alphabet
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, embossed
Embellishments: Silver Brads
Tools: Spring Flower Bouquet Punch

Birds in springtime

My sister, Julie, sent me this adorable card (above), and I copied her layout (turquoise and red card, below) to create a similar birthday card (bird-day Ü) card for my mom. Julie's colors are so pretty! Thanks, Sis. I'm too tired and lazy to fill in the details. Just let me know if you need to know about any of it.

Looks Like Spring, Martha

Last year I made a card similar to this for my mom for her birthday and it turned out to be one of my most viewed and commented on cards on SCS and was created with the now discontinued Cool Caribbean cardstock. I've been wanting to create it again in some new colors, so here's what I came up with. I am drawn to the Martha Stewart craft section when I go to Michael's, but usually just look. This time, I bought some of the ribbon, and designed the rest of the card around it. The envelopes and prefolded cards match Stampin' Up's Soft Sky perfectly.

• Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky
• Paper: Simply Paper 6.5" x 4.5" Envelopes, Simply Paper Cards, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
• Stamps: Looks Like Spring, Print Pattern, French Script
• Embellishments: Martha Stewart Piped Nylon 3/8" Cloud Ribbon, Coke can tab, Pop-Up Dot to adhere tab securely, Crystal Stickers Pearl by http://www.markrichardsusa.com/ from Archiver's
• Tools: Spring Floral Bouquet Punch, Scoring Tool

If there was an inexpensive and easy way to buy about 100 of these hardware pieces at a time, not in a kit with other things, I'd be happy to get some. So in the meantime, when I'm mass producing, I'll just use my cheap Diet Coke can pull-tabs.