Native American Chief

This wonderful image is from B&J's Stamps. The background teepees are from Stamping Sensations. I stamped the teepees in black on Bazzill paper. The Chief is stamped on copic paper and colored with copics. To cover a mis-stamped image, I used feathers as an embellishment.

Paper: Bazzill (2 different browns) and Neenah white paper

Ink: Ranger Archive black ink, Copics #E25, E27, R11 and E51 for the face, T3 for the feathers blended with the 0 colorless blender pen, BG05 and R22

Accessories: feathers (from Stamp A Mania), Deckle Nesties, twine

I made this for my Uncle's birthday. The cool thing about this card is that these cliff dwellings are near Silver City, NM which is not too far from where I grew up in Las Cruces, NM.

The stamp is of the Gila Cliff Dwellings and is from Stamp A Mania. The EP is also from Stamp A Mania and is called Sand Tapestry and it was embossed on Bazzill Tortilla cardstock.

I tore it and put it on a brown from DCWV and added the 3 brads in the corner.

Sympathy Angel

I love this angel and this sympathy verse and given that it is a Native American saying and a Native American angel, they seem a perfect match.

I used a yellowy color paper that coordinated very well with More Mustard, which is what I used for the angel. Then I overstamped the verse using black. I cut out the black matt with deckle edges. I used the smooth side of the yellowy paper for the angel and then the textured side for the bottom matt.

Stamps: The expression is from SU's Hope for Comfort

The angel is from Stamp A Mania

Paper: American Crafts

Ink: Basic Black and More Mustard from SU

Accessories: Deckle scissors

3D Sweet Peas

This doesn't scan very well because of the 3D nature of the sweet peas, but you can get the idea.

I saw this card several years ago and knew that I just had to get the butterfly punch to make the sweet peas. Finally, here is my first attempt.

I used scraps of purple paper, some SU and some DCWV. You use SU's butterfly punch, scrunch the paper a bit, then fold it in half and then fold each edge towards the center. Heidi, on her blog - she has a link to it on her SCS page - which is linked above, has a video showing how it is done. Then you use SU's 5 petal flower punch, and cut out one petal to use as the green part of the flower by folding it around the bottom. I also used a petal for the leaves and used my embossing tool to emboss the veins of the leaves.

I used the grass stamp from SU's Inspired by Nature for the stems and then glued the flowers and leaves to the card. I matted the card face onto one of the purples used for the flowers. I didn't this time, because I was running out of time, but if I do this card again, I would chalk the sky/clouds before I glued on the flowers.

Monochromatic Flower Card

This is an anomaly for me...a Stamp A Mania card that isn't a southwest card!

I used their Iris #2 (large one) stamp, the Brushed Bird in Flight and the saying Hope Blooms for the card. The background uses their Memory Mists - which make GREAT backgrounds - Eau de Pansy, Blueberry Shake and Lavender Tea for the background. When Cynthia (from Stamp A Mania) showed me how do do this, she said that mixing 3 colors together looks better than 2, and now that I've tried both ways, I must agree. I then stamped using the Cat's Eye chalk ink - Blue Iris, and found a complimentary blue to use as a matt.

It is an easy card and I find the monochromaticness calming.

More Get Well Frogs

Here is the second of the Stamps by Judith frog cards.

I used the same leaping frog on the outside of the card, but this time he is coming out of a barrel of water. All the stamps on this card except the "Heard you caught a bug" (I don't remember where I bought this one) and the inside "Get Well Soon" (SU) are from SbJ. I colored them all with Glorious Green and Old Olive, but this time I used a yellow (maybe Summer Sun) on his tummy under the green. I used Bliss Blue and colored just the water on one of the other stamps to use for the barrel. I used a Copics (#) for the barrel and it is popped up.

And, of course, there is the bug. I cut the whole image and put it on an American Crafts green paper.

On the inside I used another of the frog stamps, colored him with the same markers as the first frog, then punched him out with the smaller of the two SU scalloped circles. I used the "Get well soon" stamp from SU's Happy Healing set. 

Like the first card, I used a third of the frogs above where I put my name on the back of the card. 

Get Well Frogs

At the Arlington convention last month, I bought some stamps at Stamps by Judith to make some get well cards. I spent $30 on stamps, so I need to make a BUNCH of cards with them. :) Here is the first.

I also bought a Tim Holtz embossing folder of cattails and thought it would be a perfect match for the frog. I chalked the leaves portion of the cattails with SU's Glorious Green (and erased all the extra chalk) and then used brown flocking powder for the cattails themselves. I chalked the sun (using a template I created with the SU punch) with SU's Summer Sun and a bit of Pumpkin Pie. I colored the frog with copics and SU's Old Olive. I cut the frog out and put him over the sun. I stamped a bug over the frog (one of the SbJ stamps I bought).

On the inside I used another of the frog stamps, colored him

with the same markers as the first frog, then cut him out as well. I used Bliss Blue for the water. I used a "Heard you caught a bug" stamp that I already had, it isn't the SbJ stamp and the "Get Well Soon" from SU's Happy Healing.

On the back of the card, I used a third of the frogs above where I put my name.

One card down, bunches left to go! LOL!

Kim's Wedding Card

I attended a wedding today. The daughter of one of my stamping friends. Here is the card I made for the bride and groom.

I started with pink tissue paper and glittered hearts on it with SU's hearts wheel, the glue pad, and dazzling diamonds. I stamped "love" using SU's Wonderful Words on white cardstock and then xyroned the cardstock and put the tissue paper on it over the "love". I used the Sizzilits dies to cut out the rings and bells from shiny silver paper. I also used the bell die to cut out the flowers and ribbons in pink, and the leaves in green. I paper-pieced the bells together, and outlined the flower markings with SU's Pretty in Pink pen. I added a bow to the rings from SU's Pretty in Pink ribbon. The scanned image doesn't show the Dazzling Diamonds very well, in real life it is quite sparkly!

Independence Day Cards

I made 4th of July cards this year; 31 of them. Here I'll post 2 of them and here is the link to pictures of all the rest.

The first card uses paper I bought at the Arlington Scrapbook Convention. I wish I remembered the brand, but I don't. I borrowed the Statue of Liberty stamp from a friend and embossed with Stamp A Mania's Verdigris EP on Ivory paper. Matted on a blue and a red scrap paper. The stamp Stars and Stripes is from The Paper Studio and is stamped with SU's Brilliant Blue.

The second card uses patterned paper and red for the background. The Happy 4th is from the SU set Happy Fourth, stamped with Brilliant Blue on white paper. I punched it out with the SU punch Curly Label. The firecrackers I made by rolling strips of patterned paper and gluing a small piece of twine inside them for the fuse. I don't think you can see it in the picture, but the end of the fuses I dipped in red Stickles so it looks like they are lit.

Happy Independence Day!

Paintings by Monet, Cards by Me

I had some note cards with Monet's paintings on them and I wanted to do something with them to make them mine, but without detracting from Monet.

The first card is his painting "Haystacks of Giverny".

I printed on vellum a quote by Monet "Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love." and then put it over the painting. I debated whether or not it would obscure the painting too much, and finally decided it looked good.

The second card is one of his Japanese Bridge Over Pond series. I had to cut some off of the left side to fit the square card. I punched the smaller SU square punch and then the larger one to leave a thin frame around a square of the water lilies. I matted the whole thing on a pink that brought out the color and used pop dots on the small square to add some dimensionality.

The third is one of his Poplar paintings. I stamped Get Well Soon on vellum and put it in the bottom corner. The stamp is a SU stamp, but I don't remember what the set is called. The picture looks like there is a salmon mat and then a purple, but that is a problem with the scan; there isn't any purple in it.

One card is one of a sailboat in Argenteuil. I used the SU scalloped oval to punch out the people on the boat and matted the image on a blue that went well with the boat. I then put the punched piece on pop dots for dimensionality.

Friendship Blossom

I made a card that could have been used as a sympathy card two weeks ago, but I didn't realize I'd need it so soon. A friend's son was killed yesterday so I put the finishing touches on it.  My heart just breaks for my friend and her husband.  Somehow a card just isn't enough, but I can put my love and hugs into this for her.

Paper: Baja Breeze from SU, black and white

Ink: Basic Black from SU, Versamark

Accessories: Crystal Effects, Liquid Pearls, white EP, Nesties

Stamps: SU set

Sentiment: SU

Father's Day Cards

I made 3 Father's Day cards this year (like always!).  I'm triply blessed!

The first one is made from some scrapbook paper that I've had forever. I cut out along the bottom around the race cars and then glued it onto a sheet of green paper

that matched (almost too perfectly, since you can't see where the green front wing of the

race car ends and the background paper begins) the color of one of the race cars. The c

ard is 9.5" x 4" to fit in a regular legal sized envelope. Walmart has them in such nice colors! I then cut a mat out of the same green that was wider than the sentiment so that it mimicked the card being wider than the white paper.

Stamp: Thinking of Father from SU!

Cardstock: AC Cardstock, primaries

Paper: ???

Ink: SU's Basic Black

The second card utilizes an image I've had for a couple of years. I really liked the image and so

couldn't bear to use it, but finally found the perfect card to make with it. The image came from a make and take at the Grapevine or Mesquite convention with Judy of B & J's Art Stamps, so all the stamps are theirs. I should have bought the main stamp because I like it so much. Maybe this year! The background was stamped with one of their background stamps, of which I have several. I love the brushed look! Judy has us stamp the whole background with a light color (in this case a yellow color) and then around the edges with a darker color (Indian Rouge and Patina Beauty). Once the background is stamped, we stamped the Indian with black, covered the whole thing with sparkly EP and heat gunned it. Next we stamped in the Patina Beauty two background stamps in the corners. Finally, we used Versamark to emboss the edges of the card with bronze EP. I put this on teal paper.

The last card was an easy card, nice and simple. At the Arlington convention this month, I bought some paper from Scrapbookers Painted Page. One of the papers I bought was of a sea plane on a lake. My step-father likes planes and I thought this would make a great card for him. I used a whole

sheet of 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock and folded it in half to make a larger card. I used a red color from AC (American Crafts). I glued the paper on the cardstock and then punched an oval through the front of the card using the SU medium oval punch. I masked the oval and stamped the word JOY on the inside of the card through the oval. The JOY came from SU's Small Words set.

Ocean Cards

I wanted to make an ocean birthday card for my aunt, but didn't like the first attempt, or the second attempt, or...

I finally came up with 3 variations...which do you like best and why?

The first card has a turtle. In the first, failed, attempts the grass didn't look very good when it was embossed with the bubbles. So with the turtle card, I only embossed part way down, but I'm not sure I like the abrupt stop of the bubbles.

The second card has a seahorse and different grass. The grass held up better to the embossing, so I think I like this one best.

The third card doesn't have the bubbles embossed on it. I will put it on the same orange background as the others once I've decided if I am going to emboss it or not.














Here is the inside.

For all cards:

Paper: SU Bordering Blue, DCWV orange

Ink: Adarondack's Lettuce

Embossing folder: Cuttlebug bubbles

Animals: Spellbinders Shapabilities From the Sea

Chalk: SU Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Olive Green

Stamp: Inspired by Nature by SU for the second and third cards and Potted Grasses from Stamp A Mania.

I'm Back

Hi all - I took a break from making cards, but last weekend my mom was here and we went to the Arlington Scrapbooking and Stamping convention. That got me back in a creative mood. So here is the first of a few cards:

I've had this background stamp from SU for just about ever and never really knew what to do with it. I stamped and colored one and cut it out with Provocraft scissors and put it

on a red card, but didn't send it because I just didn't like it. It had no focus. Then, at the convention, I saw a card made with the stamp as a background with 2 girls

and the sentiment was something like "Friendship survives long distance" and I instantly thought of my bestest friend who lives (and has lived) far away. So, I wrote around the edge - on all four sides - "Long Distance doesn't separate friends..."

Stamp: SU Highways and Byways

Inks: various copics

Scissors: Provocraft

Card: DCWV

Zoo Cards

I made some zebra and elephant cards for my sister-in-law last year and thought I didn't have any pictures, but I stumbled upon a picture of one.

The card itself is a DCWV zebra print card, the Zebra (and elephant that I don't have a picture of) are from a swap (on Splitcoaststampers of course) and I don't know who made them. I wish I did, because now that I have a job, I'd buy them. I colored the zebra with watercolor pencils and used gamasol to blend the colors.

More Birthday Cards

Here are several versions of a birthday card made using the Martha Stewart punch. Most of the paper came from a pack, so the solids matched the patterned. The party paper, however, took some searching to find two solid colors to match it. :-) On one of the cards, the paper was embossed with the Cuttlebug Folder Swiss Dots before being punched. The MS punch is perfect for both landscape or portrait cards, punching either 1 or 2 times.

Birthday Cards

I am making a bunch of birthday cards for my step-mom and here are some of them:

These two use a borrowed present stamp and colored it with my copics. I stamped the present again and cut out the bow after I colored it, popped it up and then added glitter to the bow decorations.

Ink: Versamark, SU black, copics R05 and B24

Stamps: Unknown present, SU Wonderful Words I

Paper: Bazzill paper

Accessories: Popdots, stickles

Musical Card

I wanted a musical themed card for a birthday card and finally came up with this one. The scanner had a bit of a hard time with the silver paper because it is so reflective, but the two main components of the front are matted with the silver paper.

Paper: Black, silver envelope liner paper, white DCWV textured card

Ink: Versamark, SU Black

Stamps: SU Musical Manuscript, sheet music background is Rubber Stampede

Accessories: Stamp A Mania's Silver City EP (the absolute best silver EP I've ever used)

Toolbox Card

I "borrowed" a layout from a friend but the design is all mine...not that others might have come up with it also, but I didn't see any of them first! LOL

It is a masculine card; I think I'm going to use it for my Dad's birthday card.

Paper: black cardstock, silver envelope liner used as paper

Punch: Martha Stewart's Happy Birthday

Accessories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Diamond Plate, screw brads

Doodle Dragon Studios Freebie

Doodle Dragon Studios has a Valentine's Day freebie! Check it out!

Christmas Present - Dream Catcher

Guess what my husband gave me for Christmas!!! (Yes, there was some hinting involved!) The retired SU set Dream Catcher!