Time for a Spring Nap!

It's a wild winter so far, and warm Spring days seem far away.  What better time to create with Spring colors and images?

Here are two cards featuring an adorable House Mouse image:

This picture gives a truer representation of the colors, SU's Gable Green and Pale Plum:

The green panels were embossed with a Fiskars plate and the image was colored with various types of watercolor pencils.  A little brass oval frame from my treasure trove (perhaps by Recollections?) and some pale yellow ribbon finish it off.  Oh yes, tiny lavender brads.

Rather simple cards, but I like how peaceful they are.  This brings me to 31 cards in my attempt to use up my stash to make 100 cards in 100 days.  I'll be gone for a short business trip the rest of this week, so catching up will have to wait until the weekend.

Wishing all of you a peaceful end to this week and to the month of January!

Revisiting An Old Favorite

I just love the retired set from SU! called "Sweet Herbs" (1999), it's one of my very favorite sets.  I love to grow my own herbs each year and this set always reminds me of the short Spring and Summer months up here when we cram a lot of gardening in!

The stamp was colored directly with SU's markers and inked onto Very Vanilla CS.  The panel is mounted onto some rust colored Mulberry paper that has been torn and feathered on the edges.  The two DP's are from SU as well, layered onto Navy CS and then onto Very Vanilla for the card base.

Here's a closer view.

See the little flower in the corner?  It was made by punching two little flowers, curling up the edges and adding a little gem in the center.  Here's a closer look:

Well, if my tally is correct, this makes 29 cards for the 100 Cards in 100 Days challenge.  A brave attempt to use up some of our collections of treasures, not purchasing anything new to create the 100 cards.  So far, so good!

Thank you for stopping by and thank you for leaving your comments.  I appreciate them all and wish each of you a great day!

Penny Black Valentines

Next up for the 100 Cards in 100 Days Challenge: some Penny Black images with a cat and mice:

Aren't they the cutest?  Here's a closer view:

The pink and white panels were cut with a Cricut Cartridge, "Elegant Edges".  The paper is at least 2 years old, from a pack called "All Seasons".  Red and pink Stickles were used on the heart box, cupcakes and to decorate the corners and DP.  The ribbon is from either WalMart or Michael's, and is probably 4 or 5 years old.  Guess I don't really make many Valentine's cards, do I?  (haha)

I think our daughter will like one of these.  Knowing me, I'd better get it ready to mail soon, or time will fly and I'll be late.

This brings my tally to 26 for the challenge.  I fiddled around today but only produced one card.  I like it, but I was just s-l-o-w today.  I'm giving it to my friend tomorrow at church so I'd best take a picture now...

Catch you later!

Candy Hearts Valentines

Here are cards 21-23 for the 100 Cards in 100 Days Challenge!  (Objective is to use what you already own, no new purchases unless you need adhesive refills)

Last weekend was really fun for me.  I crammed a whole lot of ink and paper into the 3 day weekend!  Here are three cards made with a stamp that I've had for years and has never seen ink before.
















I always admire those of you who frame your layers in black, yet have never done it myself until these cards.  I think maybe I got it right? (ha ha)

The hearts were colored with my old friends the SU water based markers.  Then painted over with Crystal Effects to make the colors pop and give the image some gloss and shine.

Now, those of you who know me, know that I usually start off with blank paper and make my own DP, so if you look closely you can see that the pink panel is dry embossed with hearts.  See that red panel?  Well, some time ago I picked up a couple of SU's letter press plates.  Last weekend I gave them a whirl and the red panel is the result.  It was pretty cool (IMHO).

Here's a better look:

Plain red CS, the letter press plate inked with Frost White ink by Color Box and heat embossed with Diamond EP from A Muse Studios.  I was so tickled with the result that I dragged hubby away from his computer to see! (I tend to be like a child when making my cards - "Come and see...!")

Here's what I used for the red panel:





I also made 5 other cards for the challenge last weekend. I'll be getting those ready to post later today or tomorrow.




Thanks for stopping by and thank you also for leaving comments.  It's very generous of you to take the time!

Cards 15 - 20 (100 Cards in 100 Days)

By now most of you know of the Challenge on Split Coast: 100 Cards in 100 Days.  The agreement is to make cards from your treasure trove of goodies, you can not buy anything for these cards except adhesives if you run out.

Most of the participants are making a different card for every day - WOW!  Ummm, not me.  But I'm playing along in spirit since I need to use up some of my papers, embellishments, ribbon and ink up a lot of stamps that need some love!

Here is a set of two Valentine cards that were part of a project back in 2010.  How do I know the year?  Ahem...it was a calendar project intended to be Christmas gifts.  I managed to make about 10 months for 6 calendars, then never got back to it in time to finish them and give them out.  Pathetic, but true!  So I rescued 2 February panels and made Valentine's cards out of them.

I just love this stamp, it was an eBay find years ago.

Here's a closer look, it's chock full of cute details:

At the time I colored with SU watercolor pencils and a blending pen.  The flower hearts are painted over with Crystal Effects to give them some shine and make the colors pop.

These are cards 15 & 16.

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Here are cards 17-20:

Do you remember Stampin' Up's "In Colors" from 2009-2010?
            Rich Razzleberry     Melon Mambo
            Crushed Curry        Dusty Durango
            Bermuda Bay          Soft Suede
Well, I certainly do!  I loaded up on card stock in those colors when they changed them out.  But now that I have them all in the same place in my craft room, Holy Toledo!  What was I thinking??!!  I could make 300 cards using those colors and barely put a dent in my supply. I'd better get moving on it!

I was in a mood for some cheery and sunny colors and images last weekend, so these were the result:

This lovely stamp is another eBay treasure from years ago when eBay used to be all about the bidding on someone else's things.  It's changed a lot now.

But I digress...the stamp is marked "The Artful Stamper" from London, Canada.  That's it.  No other info.  But I just love it.  It's stamped in Bermuda Bay and clear embossed.  Yes, that is Crushed Curry CS and ribbon, layered onto a base of Bermuda Bay.  Yellow Stickles give a bit of bling to the flowers.  A MS corner punch was used on the main panel as well.

The inside is not finished yet.  I have to decide whether these will become "Thinking of You" cards or Birthday cards.

Thank you for stopping by and a big thanks for your comments!  They are like a little treat at the end of my day when I check my blog.

Off to get inky and create some more Valentine's Day cards.

Another Round for the Mystery Image Swap!

I've been waiting for January 18th for a long time.  Why?  Because on January 18th the friends in the Mystery Image Swap on Split Coast can reveal their latest creation - and I actually had mine done and postal a few weeks ago (shocking, I know!)

Jeanette (aka Forest Ranger on SCS) was our swap hostess this round, and that means that a couple of months ago she chose our images, stamped them all.  We receive the Mystery Image with our swap returns from the previous round.  Jeanette gave us an image of a pizza box, some pizza slices and a sentiment from a company called TooMuchFun Rubber Stamps.  And it was fun!

Here's what I came up with:

It's doesn't show up well in the photo, but the yellow and brown pieces of CS have been embossed with a diamond embossing plate so there is some texture there.  Here's a closer view:

And a wee bit of perking up the inside:

The red patterned paper was left over from a kit from last summer, it was a backyard barbecue theme, but I thought that it also looked like a tablecloth one might find in a pizza parlor.  The image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and the little heart gem is from my stash (probably from Michael's).

Thanks for a fun image and being such a fun hostess, Jeanette!  I can hardly wait to see what the next round will bring!

Dueling Darlings Book Blitz

The 15th of the month brings another round for the Dueling Darlings 

and this month's Dazzling Hostess is Terry! 

January is "Book Blitz Month" so the kits for the Divas and Dazzlers have a reading theme.  Terry's fun kit contained images from MFT's Who's That Girl line entitled "Well Read" - the image and the sentiment as well.

Her generous kit also included DPs from Basic Grey "Study Hall", DCWV solid brown and Fancy Pants "Frigid".  Terry also gave us baker's Twine, star buttons, nailheads metal stickers and brown ribbon.  Wooo, lots to work with here!

Right when I saw the image I wanted to create images floating above her as if she was reading a travel adventure or mystery novel.  Here's what I came up with:

The other stamps are from a gifted set that I have never used, "HannaStamps" and I think may be of Hanna Montana origin, not sure.  At any rate, when I received them I couldn't imagine how to use them.  Well, this kit provided the opportunity!

The picture on the right is a close up of the image, colored with Spectrum Noir markers. That's a safari hat hanging off her ankle, not part of the MFT image.  It's a little out of proportion, but I thought it was fun.  

Here's a peek at the inside:

Not in the kit, but from my stash are the eyelets and antique brad used to hang the sentiment.  It's actually hanging loose, like a sign and not glued down.  

We are also to post our favorite author or our favorite book.  Those are almost impossible choices since my reading taste spans quite a few genres.  I guess, if forced to pick just one it would be fantasy/adventure/mystery types of novels and certainly at the top of the list would be J. R. R. Tolkien.  I discovered The Hobbit and the Trilogy in the early 70's and it's still beloved.  Another masterpiece is Stephen King's "The Gunslinger" series.  He kept us waiting years between installments, so long that I had to read the previous book again to remember where things left off.  

Thank you Terry, for such a marvelous kit!  I had a lot of fun creating with it.  (Although when my husband saw the card, he didn't understand what I was going for with the travel, safari theme.)  Hopefully it comes across for all of my card making friends out there!

Now, off you go to visit the other marvelous creations by my fellow Dazzlers and the Divas on our opposing team!  Be sure to leave love along the way.  Thanks for stopping by!

Cards 10-14 for 100 Cards in 100 Days

I'm trying to keep up with an ambitious challenge on Split Coast: make 100 cards in 100 days.  Here's the main point: use only things that you already have in your stash.  The only thing that you can buy are adhesives!
It's a great idea to get some of us hoarders to use up our treasures.  I also want to use this to get a jump on 2013 Christmas card production, so here are 5 cards made today.  That brings my total to 14 so far.  Hmmm, I'll be behind again tomorrow so I guess I'd better get busy!

I've had this St. Nick stamp for at least 5 years.  It's seen ink, but never with a finished card.  It was a stamp that I just couldn't get to look right.

It's stamped with Old Olive ink, then misted with Stardust Finishing Spray by A-Muse Studios.  The flowers were in a kit that were bought years ago.  Each flower has 3 sections plus the center bling.  It took a while to find the right glue to hold them together.











To the right is a closer view of one card.  Below is a true close up of the St. Nick panel to try to show the shimmer from the mist.  Unfortunately, it rarely photographs well.
















The DP's are from two different packs that I bought about 4 years ago and decided that this was the year to use them!  The card base is Very Vanilla, and stamped with an oldie but goodie little square stamp from SU! which was colored with SU markers, direct to rubber.  That took a while so if I make more of these I may re-think that step!

Well, I'd best get busy on some more since I rarely have time to create during the week.  This challenge will keep me hopping, but it will be great to use up my supplies and create variety of cards to have on hand.

Thanks for looking!

Cupcake Birthday Cards

Some of my friends are participating in a challenge on SCS called 100 Cards in 100 Days.  The objective is to make the 100 cards from your stash, purchasing nothing new for them unless you run out of adhesive.

Hmmmm.  I doubt that I can make a card every single day for 100 days.  But I am going to participate as often as I can.  I made 6 birthday cards to use for the Birthday Random Act of Kindness committee on Split Coast, of which I am a member.  (we send birthday cards to the lovely people who perform RAK's on Split Coast)  And all of the 6 birthday cards were made from things in my treasure trove:

The cupcake is two stamps: frosting & cupcake with liner.  I fussy cut the liner in textured paper from a DCWV stack and embossed it with sparkly EP.  Then the cupcake was stamped again  onto dark brown Mulberry paper (remember back when tearing Mulberry paper and having the soft, feathery edges was the style? Well, I have loads of Mulberry paper in my stash, LOL)

Anyway, it did give the desired affect: brown texture like a chocolate cupcake.  However, it was  covered up by the frosting!  Ha ha, I didn't see that coming.

The shiny pink (gasp again!) DP is from scraps, the "Hey cupcake" is a hand cut banner.  The inside of the card is finished with another panel of the blue paper.

What I like about this card is that it is FLAT!  Well, there's just the smallest bit of dimension behind the cupcake to allow for the baker's twine.  But it should mail easily.

Today is the 3rd of January, and I have made 9 cards so far from my stash.  These 6 birthday cards and 3 cards for friends (the ones posted here on January 1st).

I still have a lot of stamps and paper out from making Christmas cards, maybe I'll get a jump on making those!  Thanks for stopping by and best wishes for a great day.

The Blessings of Friends

Happy first day of the New Year!

It seems that recently there has been an abundance of sad news, nationally and in the personal lives of those we know and love.  A couple of days ago I prescribed ink and paper therapy for me (with music of course!) to regroup and center myself.  What better way than to make some cards for some special friends to let them know how important their friendship is to me!  Here is the result of my time:

There are soft shades of pale pink (gasp!) and Old Olive CS, ivory satin ribbon and pastel green pearls.  All stamps are from SU, although I do not know the name of the sets.  Years ago I did not realize that the stamp sets had names with the stickers for the wood mounts, so they are all long gone.  :(

A Fiskars border punch was used on the lower edge.  Here is a photo with the edges temporarily held down with a post-it tab:

And here is a picture of the inside:

The inside panel is finished with a very pale pink CS from a treasured pack of coordinated colors made by Making Memories.  It really is a wonderful collection of colors, all matching and a few years ago they stopped making it, hence my treasuring and hoarding of it, LOL.
I have no idea why the picture has a green tint around the sentiment, some sort of defective photography on my part!  I made 3 of these and they will be sent out tomorrow to 3 very special friends.  Each is a blessing in my life!

Thank you for stopping by and thank you also for your kind comments here!  May you also count many friends amongst your blessings this year!

Oh, Bijou sends his best as he argues with me for control of the keyboard!