FTL192 Christmas Card - 2nd one

I haven't been able to play along with my usual challenges lately, but wanted to post the 2nd Christmas Card I made using a sketch from the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog from last month:

I used snowflake print paper and stickers from a package I think is by Bo Bunny. The red mat has an embossed red sparkly pattern on it and don't I love shimmer and shine on a Christmas card! 

In between the snowflake sticker and the blue lacy sticker, I added a white punched snowflake (Martha Stewart) and some dots with a Sakura sparkle gel pen. Finally, a flat metallic sticker was added to the center of the lacy sticker which really catches the light.  ;-)

Another CAS (Clean And Simple) card for my Christmas Card Stash!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Baby Crib Card

Here is a baby card made using some sweet stickers from our local dollar store:

I used a patterned card base (DCWV), and cut the label shape (Tim Holtz) out of white card stock. After embossing it with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, I attached the 3-d stickers and a ribbon bow.

The stickers were just too cute to pass up.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Best Things ATC

Here is one of the ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) I included with Sue's May First envelope.

I don't keep track of the supplies when making ATC's - I just grab things in my studio that I think will work and play away. This is a fairly simple one, but I love the embossing on the bird and how you can see the patterned paper through the embossed layers.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Aqua Pennant Birthday Card

I still enjoy using the Pennant Parade (SU) stamp and punch set. I had a scrap of the blue patterned paper in my scrap bin, so used it to make this birthday card for my stash.  I used a small hole punch on each side, barely nipping the edge. It's enough for the string to nestle in and not slide off the front of the card.

The card is 4.5" x 6", and I think it has enough of a masculine feel to work for Masculine Card Monday!

Thanks for stopping by today.

CAS Button Bits Card

One of the sets that somehow (wink) managed to get into my PTI shopping cart, was their Everyday Button Bits. I have seen so many cute things done with these stamps since their release and I thought I would give them a whirl.

I don't usually add buttons to my cards, as I like to make MAIL FRIENDLY cards. The stamp set still won me over.  I haven't had much time to play with it, as I have been making spinner cards etc -- but here is my first quick attempt.

How totally sweet is this?  I stamped the stems from the set in a bright green ink, to match the PTI Green Leaf cardstock mat.  Before I matted the stamped panel though, I sewed -- yes, SEWED, with a needle and twine -- the buttons above the stamped stems. It helped to pierce the holes with an awl before attempting to stitch through the cardstock.

Sorry for the off colour photo, as the card base and button panel are actually pure white.  Oops! But you get the idea, and look at the different patterns on the different leaves. So sweet! I could have added 2 additional buttons, but I liked it as is.

Right into my stash with this one.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Flowers and Butterflies Card

Today's share is a card I did while ago, using a sketch from the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog - FTL 141.

This is a 5 x 6.5" card, and I used pretty paper from K&Co to keep it CAS (Clean And Simple). And Mail Friendly!

 

A Stampin' Up Embosslet was used to cut/emboss the butterflies, and I added flat metallic stickers as well. For some mail friendly bling.  :-)

Since there were butterflies left over from the embosslet, I added them inside the card.  Another card that can be used for a number of occassions, into my stash.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Be Extraordinary ATC

This is one of the ATC's (Artist Trading Card) I included in Sue's June 1st mailing.  For those that are new to my blog, my friend Sue lives in a city a couple of hours away from me. On the first of each month, we pop something in the mail to each other.

 

This is a quick post - I'm on the fly today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sue's Easter Card 2012

I just realized I haven't yet posted the Easter card I made for my far-away friend Sue, so here it is today:

It's an A2 card, that was cut with a Sizzix die from K&Co double sided paper. If you look closely, you will see the curved slot on the lower portion of the card, which cuts with the die. There is a flap on the back of the card that comes around and tucks into this slot.

 

Additional supplies:  Nestabilities Oval dies, Martha Stewart buterfly punch, sheer ribbon (Michaels), foam tape

I sure enjoyed using these beautiful floral papers from the paper stack for my Easter cards this year.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Live In The Sunshine

I have an ATC (Artist Trading Card) to share today; one that I included in Sue's May 1st envelope. For those of you that are new to my blog, Sue and I live in cities 2.5 hours apart and the first of each month we pop something in the mail to each other.

I don't keep track of supplies when I make ATC's, they are just for the joy of creating. These colours make me happy these days.  I guess I'm almost out of my PINK phase and have moved quite happily into an ORANGE one.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Vacation Scrapbook Pages

Several weeks ago I was working like mad on a digital scrapbook that was printed into a hard cover book. I haven't downloaded the photos of the finished book yet, but here are two of the pages from the book. Note, I blurred the faces of the people in the picture since I don't have their permission to post their photo online. I find it very distracting, but ...

The album is going to be a gift for our daughters in-laws, and contains their photos of their trip to Canada in February.

Last year I inadvertently reformatted my external hard drive and lost all my digital kits. Everything gone, in a matter of seconds. I was able to gather a few that had been backed up on CD, so now I don't really keep track of whose products I used. I just go through the files (since there aren't very many, ha ha) and use items from various designers and various companies to work into the layouts.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Dog Tag

I don't know where the past two days have gone, but they have sure gone by in a hurry! I have only a quick post to share today ...

When we went to visit friends in the US last month, I knew there wasn't really anything I could bring them from Canada - but that they would appreciate some yummy treats for their two dogs. I was right, and the dogs were really really happy with our gift.

I didn't wrap it, just tied the bag up with ribbon and added a stamped tag:

The dog (Stamps By Judith) was stamped in black ink and all colour was added with pencils. Just a little somethin' somethin' to make the gift special.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Father's Day Card #5

I am giving my husband one of the masculine cards I made in April (Cactus Silhouette Card) for Father's Day, so below is the 5th additional Father's Day card I have made this year. My Mom needed three to hand out, and I need three as well.

This one is going to our son-in-law.

This is that crazy bird DORKY, which is a Stamps By Judith image. This time I used wing-tip shoes and the same hat as yesterday's dog card. The grass is also a Stamps By Judith image. I used masking and everything was stamped onto the white 5" panel.  Colour was added with pencils and odourless mineral spirits.

For the inside (without the words, as I added those afterwards) I stamped Small Dorky twice onto the shoes and added colour.

You can see that while I haven't been able to participate in the challenges I normally like to, I have been busy in my studio!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Father's Day Card #4

There is a new sketch over at the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog this week (FTL195), but I'm afraid I am still swamped and just cannot make anything extra this month. But do check it out - it looks like it could be lots of fun!

Today's share is the 4th Father's Day card I made this year; this one is for my Dad. (The first three were for my Mom to give out).

The card base is 5x7, and the dog, tie and hat stamps are from Stamps By Judith.  I just adore this funny dog image.  He was stamped in black then coloured with pencils and odourless mineral spirits. I did the same thing with the hat and tie then fussy cut everything out.

The hat and tie were attached to the dog image, then the dog was popped up over the stamped grass (Impress) with foam tape. I also added Glossy Accents on his nose. Below is a peek at the inside, without the words I penned & stamped added afterwards.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Beautiful Butterfly Card

This butterfly stamp from Gina K is my favourite from the set.

I cut down a scalloped border from my stash and layered it with the orange plaid piece. The butterfly was fussy cut and popped up with foam tape, over the words which were stamped in coral chalk ink on a blue rectangle.

Just a sweet little card for my stash.

Happy Friday - have a good weekend!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Penguin Birthday Card

I have a friend who likes penguins, so this is the birthday card I made for her.

This was such a fun card to make!  First, those darling penguins. If you have been following my blog, you will know how much I love the critter stamps at Stamps By Judith. This sweet penguin was another of my Mesa Rubber Stamp Show purchases back in March.

The card is 6" square, and the blue panel with the green hill is actually the top 6" of the paper I used on THIS CARD.  :-)   So the 'hill',  is actually the top of the tree.

I stamped the penguin twice on white card stock, and added colour with pencils, Copics and chalks. Then I fussy cut them out, and added Glossy Accents to their beaks.  The hats and stars are stickers from my stash - I thought they fit the theme really well. Fun fun FUN!

Above is a peek at the inside, using one of my new Papertrey Ink stamps. It's so good to have some new birthday verse stamps!!

I am still TRYNG to stay away from challenges this month. June is going to be crazy busy around here, and when I'm in my studio I need to be focusing on items other than challenge cards. Come July I'll get back at it. Please forgive me for not keeping up with my comments on your very often blogs this month.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Magnolia Anniversary Card

I put aside some of my more pressing projects last night, to participate in a couple of challenges with my card.  First, the Dynamic Duo challenge this week has the following colours:

 And I loved the sketch at the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog. One of my favourite card layouts is to decorate a panel and attach it to the card base with foam tape.

Since I will need an Anniversary card shortly, this is what I came up with:

 

I used card stock from my stash, and a Martha Stewart border punch for the white panel. The little strip of rose card stock was embossed with a Stampin' Up embossing folder for some nice texture. I love how it looks like fabric.

The word (Stampin' Up) was stamped with grey ink, and I found this lovely K& Co Magnolia sticker in my stash to use as the embellishment. The grey card base is 5.5 x 7.75",  cut to fit into a Hallmark envelope I have. I like how 'hefty' this one is, yet still mail friendly.

AACK, looking at this photo I realized that the green on the leaves of the embellishment might mean that this doesn't qualify for the Dynamic Duos challenge, as you are only to use the two listed colours and a neutral. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Party Hat Recycled Card

I have another recycled card to share today. Our nephew's fiance sent me this sweet card for my birthday, and again - it was too nice not to share. It was a smallish card, only about 3 x 5.5".

I cut the main panel, inked the edges, then added a scalloped border to each side with PTI die.  That panel was attached to an orange sparkly panel (paper by MME) and that was in turn attached to the front of an A2 card.

I added another strip of orange sparkly scalloped paper inside the card as well as the stamped birthday verse. I loved how sparkly the little party hats were on the original card, and the colours went so well with the MME paper stack.  Easy Peasy!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Merry Monday #24 Challenge Card

This is an exciting day for me! My first time at being a Guest Designer for Lesley's Merry Monday challenge! Each week she offers a sketch, and the challenge is to make a Christmas card using the sketch.

What a great way to get your Christmas cards done without that last minute rush. Especially with all the inspiration from her talented Design Team! Be sure to check them out HERE.

The sketch this week is another really good one.  I love it when I can see multiple uses for a sketch, and had a hard time narrowing down which idea I was going to use for today's challenge post.

Finally, I settled on a stamp I've had for years -  the Azadi Earles snowman face - and I decided to stay very close to the sketch.

The card is 5 x 6.5", and the sparkly patterned paper is from a My Minds Eye paper stack. I'd been hoarding it, but because I LOVE snowflakes for holiday cards I cut into the sheet.

The white strip was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder, and after colouring the snowman (coloured pencils & odorless mineral spirits) I added Crystal Effects to his eyes, nose and mouth. I like the dimension the Crystal Effects give an image - and how it catches the light. The photo above gives a hint of the sparkle in the snowflake paper as well!

I actually made two cards - nearly identical. I couldn't decide whether or not to add a punched snowflake or not, so made one of each. And in the end? I prefer the one without.

The lacy layer behind the snowman circle was cut with a My Favorite Things doily die, and I used paper tape for the little red strip. I also added 3 gems to the holly on the snowman hat for a little more holiday sparkle.

I really liked all the little paper banners in the new Stampin' Up catalogue samples and thought I'd try my hand at one. I cut a 1/2" strip of white card stock then  inked just the HAPPY from the Papertrey Ink stamp and stamped that on one end of my strip. After carefully folding it on an angle, I repeated the inking/stamping process with the HOLIDAY word. I had to make three of these little banners because I actually screwed one up.

The corner of a square punch helped with the notches - whoever came up with that one was brilliant! Then I attached it to the card, between the snowman and doily layer.

FOR PETE'S SAKE,  I could have just stamped the words each on their own banner because you can't tell that it's folded. It took me waaaaaay longer to make the banners than it should have, ha ha - all because of that folding. Too funny.

I have a large, pretty Christmas ornament stamp that would also work with this sketch - using a velvet ribbon to 'hang' it from the strip. I also wanted to try a reindeer instead of the circle shape - so these are ideas I'm tucking away for when I have some more time.

Thanks to Lesley for the privilege of being your Guest Designer this week! Remember to check out the Design Team inspiration HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!