Cards by Erin

Native American Chief

2011-07-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

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 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

2011-07-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

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 car and I find the monochrome calming.

More Get Well Frogs

2011-07-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

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" (?) 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 t

ummy 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

2011-07-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

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 "loved" 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

2011-07-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

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. 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

2011-06-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

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.

The one I made for my Uncle Mike, who is a big Monet fan, was one of the waterlilies. I punched using SU's small and then large scalloped punch, matted the image with a purple that matched the lily and put the smaller punched piece on pop dots.

2011-06-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

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.

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: Outside is a SU stamp, Inside: from a swap on SCS

Father's Day Cards

2011-06-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

I made 3 Father's Day cards this year.

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 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

2011-06-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2011-06-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

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 I've ever used)

Toolbox Card

2011-01-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-29T16:58:00.000-08:00

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

Christmas Present

2011-01-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

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

Flowery Cards

2010-12-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

I've made some flowery cards for my MIL, which is unusual since I don't usually go flowery. I used the Stampin Up embossing folder Elegant Bouquet to emboss various flowery colors of DCWV cardstock then added flower embellishments from Michael's. In this case, I used silver brads that I flocked with yellow flocking powder (Martha Stewart) for the centers. I matted the yellow on a matching orange cardstock and voila!

More Halloween Cards

2010-11-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

The first card uses batty paper from the Halloween pack from Michael's and I used my Cricut's Jasmine cartridge to cut out the "Boo" from purple paper.

One card uses an image I received in a swap and colored with watercolor pencils and blended with gamasol, a strip of patterned paper from Michael's and the "Bugs and Hisses" sentiment from Stampendous.

Another uses Fluffles the Cat from Stampendous, colored with markers and Spellbinders dies to mat with black on purple with more stripey paper from the Halloween pack. "Bugs and Hisses" completes the front.

I received the spooky shelf of bottles in a swap, don't know what it is called or who makes it. I colored it with map pencils and used gamasol to blend it and put it on a SU Top Note in green I've had and once again, the background paper is from the Halloween pack from Michael's! :)

The last card uses SU's CrossHatch background stamped in black on orange, a pale green strip and then tags made with the Carved and Candlelit pumpkins.

More Halloween cards

2010-11-13T19:41:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of the Halloween cards I made this year. Some are a variation on the theme of the full moon I posted about earlier and all use the circular chipboard from Michael's I mentioned before.

One is covered in yellow paper and has 2 large die cut bats (Sizzix, old original yellow die) with rhinestone eyes. The wings are curled up to give some dimentionality to them. It probably won't survive the mailing, but I tried!

Another is also covered with the yellow paper for the full moon and has a Martha Stewart witch stamped on it, with some bats from SU's Halloween Backgrounds and a ribbon tied at the top.

The third was super simple, since it was just cut out from patterned paper from Michael's showing a crow on a gravestone.

The last one is covered in black with spider web embossed (Fiskar's texture plate) and then traced with a white gel pen. The spider is cut and embossed with a Cuttlebug die and has black lines added to the legs. Black plaid (with a tiny bit of orange in it) ribbon is the finishing touch.

JDRF Auction - Christmas Cards

2010-11-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

My husband's employer has an auction to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and this year I donated 20 Christmas cards. Here's what I made for them. I found the stocking paper at Tuesday Morning and (it's hard to see in the photo) edged the stocking square with gold. The red background cardstock is also edged with the gold and then I tied on a ribbon that I bought several years ago at Recollections. A super easy card!

2010-11-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

I made this card a couple of years ago for fall. Recently my mom had hers sitting out and someone commented on it, thinking it was a store bought card. :-o

The leaves are a SU set called Autumn; the text is a small Michael's $1 stamp from a few years ago and I used the Creole Kaleidacolor ink pad and stamped on Ivory cardstock. It is matted on Really Rust paper and tied with an orangey ribbon.

I'm Back!!! Halloween Cards

2010-11-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted...I have a new job! I've been looking for a job for almost 3 years now and finally found one. It is a contract position, for about 8 months, as a polish engineer at MEMC. They are a company that makes the thin slices of silicon that the semiconductor companies like Intel, AMD and Texas Instruments use as the foundation to make computer chips. So far, I've really enjoyed the job!

But back to cards. I made 40 Halloween cards, but my favorite one (I made 10 of them) is a bit unusual...I found some chipboard at Michael's - in the $1 bin - shaped like a round ornament (with other Christmas shapes) but thought it would make a perfect full moon for Halloween! I covered one side with yellow paper (why do we always think of yellow for Halloween moons when the moon is white???) and used the new jumbo wheel from SU "Bring on the Bats". I tied ribbon through the precut holes in the chipboard and voila...

I'll post more of my Halloween cards later!

White Sands

2010-09-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

I grew up not very far from White Sands National Monument, and visited often, so this card reminds me of home. The sunset sky was made using Memory Mists (from Stamp A Mania) - a combination of Orange Juice, Pink Lemonade and Lemonade, the yucca stamp is from Stamp A Mania, and is embossed in black and the sun is from the SU set Little Shapes using the Warm Red Cat's Eye fluid chalk ink. I glued white sand from Michael's (not from White Sands!) to form the sand dune.

Mimbres Wolf

2010-09-01T21:41:00.003-07:00

Here is another card using a Stamp A Mania stamp. I used SU's Top Note Die to cut out the background, which I made using alcohol and reinkers using SU's creamy caramel, Cocoa, and gold.

Dustin Pike Has New Digis!

2010-08-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Check out Dustin Pike's newest images. For the next few days, they will be on sale, so check them out NOW!

Organ Mountains Card

2010-08-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is the card I made for my Dad on Father's Day. The mountains are the Organ Mountains in my hometown. The mountain stamp and the cacti stamp are from Stamp-A-Mania and the little hills I used to fill in between the two and the small yucca are from an old Stampin Up set whose name I do not know. I used a brown ink and then chalked the mountains with SU's Creamy Caramel and a tiny bit of Garden Green on the foothills. I chalked the sky using the SU cloud template and Brilliant Blue. I stamped the cacti in Garden Green and then used Liquid Applique from B&J's Stamps in orange, purple, white and red for the flowers. I hope my Dad liked it! :)

Birthday Gift Set for my SIL

2010-08-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

My SIL loves animals and animal themed things...I usually make her animal note cards for her birthday. This year's cards use some slightly dimensional Zoo stickers I got at Hobby Lobby (love their clearance shelf!) and some paper I've had forever. I probably got the paper when Recollections was going out of business 3 years ago, but then again, maybe not... (LOL)

I cut the leaf paper using SU's Top Note Die and used the Top Note for 3 cards and the frame for 3 more cards. The green background papers are American Crafts cardstock.

The alligator uses another piece of paper resembling water for the river and the same leaves for the bank.

The same paper used for the water was used for the sky and sandpaper for the desert.

I hope my SIL likes them. I have another sheet of the stickers in case I want to make some for me!!! :)

Hospital Visit

2010-08-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

Well, I changed cards for this hospital visit...My step-father had hip replacement surgery and I thought I was going to make a card similar to this one for him, but changed my mind. This card uses the little bandaid from on of SU's small-many-stamp-all-occasion sets and creamy caramel. The "body" and the bow-tie on the gown are from the SU set Sketch It. The body is the heart stamped in either the Apricot Blush or Creamy Caramel and turned upside down. I cut the gown out freehand (took 2 tries, lol) and used which ever green it was that matched the scraps of paper used for the gown. I don't recall, as I made this card almost 2 years ago.

Here is what I gave him instead. It is one I posted previously on my blog, but here it is again:

I just love Dustin Pike's dragons!!! The photo of the card isn't the greatest. I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder "Tiny Mosaics" for the green background, I thought it looked like scales! I colored in the dragon with watercolor pencils and then used gamsol to blend.

More Christmas Tags

2010-08-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 more Christmas tags I made for the Splitcoaststampers swap.

The tag on the left uses patterned paper, Coluzzel tag and the Sizzix tag die and was paired with a green ribbon with red edges. The second tag uses the SU! 5 petal flower punch. 2 red flowers and 2 green flowers are used to make the flower and since I didn't have any yellow brads, I embossed a silver one with yellow EP. I used a cream paper for the tag, once again the larger Coluzzel tag and the same green/red ribbon.

Shopping Spree

2010-07-27T22:42:00.001-07:00

I went home to visit family, and while I was there, my mom gave me a shopping spree at Stamp A Mania. They are having an awesome sale on the remaining POSH stamps, check it out before they are all gone.

So here's what I got.

4 of the Pacific NorthWest set:

I also got 2 Stamp A Mania stamps:

Indian Dancer Card

2010-07-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

This card took me a long time to get to where I liked it. I messed up the background and tried to fix it first one way, then another. Finally, I found the turquoise brads and that was a good start, but it wasn't until I added the turquoise paper to the corners that I finally liked it.

The Indian image is from B&J's Art Stamps and I colored it with colored pencils. The background is also from B&J's and inked with Inkredible! Maple Cream in the center and Purple Eggplant around the edge. The feathers are also B&J's and are stamped with the eggplant ink and then the edges cut out and embossed with Stamp A Mania's Silver City EP (the best I've ever used). I used SU's Itty Bitty backgrounds and Tempting Turquoise and Creamy Caramel for the background. I covered up a mistake with 2 turquoise brads and then backed the card on turquoise paper.

Christmas Tag Swap

2010-07-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

I joined a Christmas tag swap on SplitCoastStampers. It took awhile to get into the Christmas spirit, but just in time, inspiration struck!

The first tag that I made used some holly paper I've had forever. (I've been doing a lot of using stuff I have had forever and not ever used before for these SCS swaps!) I used my old Sizzix tag die and then the old Sizzix holly die. I cut out the tag and then xyroned the paper and put it on white cardstock and cut out the tag by hand. For the tag on the left, I xyroned the wrong side (shouldn't do things that early in the morning) so I embossed with my ultra thick clear EP. I used some green/maroon cardstock for the holly diecuts that matched the colors in the decorated paper and used the holly leaves for the "to" and "from" which I hand wrote. I edged the tag with a gold pen - something I learned at a convention several years ago, but don't remember who showed me - and finished it with gold ribbon.

I've often used my Sizzix lightbulb diecuts for tags, but this needed something "more" so I used some pine tree paper to make the tag (once again backing it on white cardstock) and using thin twine for the cord, tried to make it look like the lights were strung on a tree. I tried green twine first, since most cords are green, but it didn't stand out much on the background, so I changed to the brown. I used silver EP on the end of the bulb and added clear Stickles to the small cutout on the light as a reflection.

I bought this patterned paper for this swap, but then didn't know what to do with it. So this turned into a very simple tag. I used an old coluzzle to cut out the tag, Big Lots paper for the red and the green. I've had the little green tag forever; long ago I had use of a punch/die and cut out bunches to "use later". Well, it was finally later! LOL I attached the green tag with a white brad and here is my simple tag.

Yes, I'm Still Alive, Just Not Stamping

2010-07-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

I know it has been quite awhile since I posted last, but between vacations, job interviews, job rejections and the resulting depression episodes, I swapped the craft room with one of the guest rooms and have been unable to find anything. Here is the chaos I've created. You can see why I say I can't find anything! Before I can create again, I must organize it all!

Card Candy - Flowers

2010-05-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here is the last of the card candy for the SCS swap, flowers:

I'm not a big flower person, so joining this swap and making flowery things is a big deal. The first one is pink flowers from Prima, 2 layers, with a white brad for the center. The tag is punched from SU's Baroque Motifs in Adirondack's Salmon. The background paper is DCWV and the flower brad is something I had and never used - until now!!! The vase is a Punch Bunch punch, punched out of some recycled paper I got at WalMart...I don't recall the name of the company, but it alludes to the fact that it is recycled paper. I then used more Prima flowers, once again 2 in different shades of peach with white brads for the center. The pansy is a Sizzix die, an original red one called Pansy. I cut out one of SU's purples, but I don't know which one, then white, then green scraps, so I don't know what brand. On the white, I used the purple flocking powder from Michael's $1 bin and then Yellow Stickles. The topper is from a paper pack I bought when I first started doing this about 7 years ago. I've used quite a few items I've had forever and never used making the candy for this swap!!! Always a good thing!!! :)

More Card Candy

2010-05-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here is the graduation card candy for the SCS swap:

The topper, the book and the tassel sentiment are all SU, from Tassel Time. The two die cuts are Ellison Thin Cuts. The books sentiment is hand written. I've included, but aren't shown, different color ribbons for the diploma, so the user can choose an appropriate color. SU circle and scallop circle punches were used. And, once again, deckle scissors were used! :-)

Dustin Pike's Newest Release

2010-05-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Dustin Pike's newest release is a set of zoo images!!! Check them out, and get today's freebie!!!

Stamp A Mania Cards

2010-05-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

In celebration of Stamp A Mania's sale, here are some of my cards using Stamp A Mania stamps.

These two cards use SAM's rollers, the quail is a panel from the Spirit Dancer roller, while the other card uses images from their Southwest roller. Both use brown and cream/tan cardstocks from Big Lots, black paper, black ink and the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Diamonds in the Rough. The sentiments for both cards are from SU, the first is from a very old set ??? and the "friendship" is from Wonderful Words I. I used deckle scissors on both cards.

These cards are also made with SAM rollers. All three use their Ancient Relic roller for the background (I love that one) and the Petroglyph Herder and Petroglyph Hunter rollers for the main image. The top cards use SU's Creamy Caramel ink while the other uses SU's Basic Brown. The lighter paper is from Big Lots, while the darker colors are DCWV. I used the SW corner punch on all the cards. I'm not sure where I bought the eyelets.

I love this stamp. The chile roller is a clearsnap (I think) that I got from SAM and the chile is from SAM as well. I used generic green and red ink and paper.

This eagle is embossed with a mixture of SAM's Silver City EP (the **best** silver EP I've found...and I've tried bunches!) and Desert Jewels EP. I embossed on black paper and put it on SU's Tempting Turquoise.

Stamp A Mania's Big Sale

2010-05-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

My favorite stamp company, Stamp A Mania, is having a huge sale. They are selling their inventory of Clearsnap products; rollagraph wheels, Cat's Eye inks, etc. They are making room for the new POSH line from Dee Gruenig. Check it out!

Flower card

2010-05-10T10:37:00.001-07:00

More Card Candy

2010-05-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

This time around it is Patriotic card candy.

The picture is not perfect because the scanner's field of focus is to narrow for the 3D firecrackers.

The topper is blue splatter paper I've had forever, cut with SU's Top Note die folded in half. The red is cut with SU's scalloped circle punch, the letters are Colorböx's Alpha Stax stamped with blue ink (?) using a little stick stamp from Michael's years ago. The firecrackers are patriotic paper scraps rolled with jewelry hemp for the wick. The stars were cut with the Sizzix Star #2...the smaller red die for the white, SU's larger star punch for the red one, and the blue one is Sizzix's yellow border star die which was then embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder. All paper used was scraps and I don't know the vendor. The photo corners were punched using SU's punch and once again were punched from scraps. The last piece of candy was punched using SU's curly label punch from scraps of blue paper that has darker blue stars on it (scraps) and SU's small star punch from more maroon color scraps...yes, I have bunches of patriotic paper scraps and this is a great way to use them!!!

Card Candy - Father's Day

2010-05-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

For the card candy swap I've joined, I also choose the Father's Day category. Here is my creation:

The topper is cut from ivory cardstock I got from Office Whichever and has the sentiment piece on it. The sentiment is from Auntie Amy's and is stamped on scraps using Adirondack's Cabin Fever ink. The saw, hammer, drill and screwdriver are Dustin Pike images colored with copics. Two of my drills have cords, but the other two are cordless, LOL! The golf tag and hardware tag are punched using SU's tag punches, while the saw tag is an Ellison Thin Cuts (Tag #7). The campfire tag is cut with Sizzix Tag Set.

The golf tag uses SU's Tropical Turf roller and Sporting Goods. The golf tee and the background tag are colored using Bic pen.

The campfire tag uses SU's Roughin' It, with the logs stamped with basic brown and colored with copic XXX, and the flame colored with generic orange and red markers and then colored with yellow copic XXX. The mosquitos are embossed with clear EP.

The hardware tag is SU's Builder Bits roller and embossed on black paper with Stamp A Mania's Silver City EP. This is the absolute best silver EP I've found. I tried multiple brands of EP and *none* work as well as Stamp A Mania's. The background tag is cut from silver envelope linings.

Card Candy - Travel

2010-05-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the packaged travel card candy mentioned in a previous post.

Card Candy - BBQ

2010-05-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Previously, I mentioned a card candy swap on SCS. Here is my creation for the BBQ/Party category.

The hamburger is punched from scraps, using a light brown, dark brown, red, light green and yellow using SU's large oval punch for the bun and burger, the small oval for the tomatoes, the scalloped circle for the lettuce and I just cut a triangle for the cheese. I used SU's Itty Bitty backgrounds for the sesame seeds with More Mustard.

The salt and pepper shakers and the ketchsup and mustard bottles are Dustin Pike images, colored with copics. The gingham paper is from Paper Studio's Back to Basics pack. I cut the K/M background with the deckle scissors and used the curly label SU punch for the salt/pepper background.

I used Sizzix's watermelon (yellow, original) die, cutting out a green and red from scraps and coloring the green with my black copic so the seeds are black. I then used the scallop circle punch to cut bites out of the watermelon slice.

The topper is SU's Top Note die cut from grass paper I've had forever, the BBQ letters are from Colorböx's alpha stax stamped with an ant stamp of unknown origins.

Get Well Card

2010-04-28T07:55:00.001-07:00

Here's a get well card I made using an image from a SCS swap; I believe it is from Whipper Snapper.

Image colored with watercolor pencils and blended with gamsol; paper is all DCWV.

Card Candy - Travel

2010-04-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

I've joined a swap on Splitcoaststampers forSpring and Summer Card Candy. This batch is for the travel category.

Card Candy is a piece you could put straight on a card/scrapbook page without having to do anything to it. An image, a saying, etc. and usually consists of a minimum of 2 layers and possibly an embellishment. There are usually 4/5 pieces of candy in a package.

The first piece is an interstate sign. The die is from ProvoCraft and was cut out of white, blue and red paper and put together. The "66" is cut from white paper using Sizzix's Playground sizzlets.

The next piece uses white and navy paper and the ink is Adirondack Denim. The base layer has little passport stamps - the stamp is an ATC stamp from either Lost Coast Designs or Stamp Camp. I don't recall which - they are generally together at the conventions I go to - and I can't find it on either web page and punched with SU's small oval, large oval and scalloped oval.

The Traveler stamp is from a set of travel words from Impression Obsession.

The round piece is a stamp from Inkadinkado, stamped with Adirondak Cabin Fever on ivory paper from Office ??? and matted on DCWV paper.

The elephant stamp is from SU's Balmy Breezes and stamped with Color Box Antique Pewter on grey paper, cut with Fisker's stamp scissors, matted on white and matted again on the grey, once again cut with the stamp scissors.

The tag is SU's Hiways and Byways background stamp, colored with copics and matted with red paper and punched with SU's tag punches. I left the interstate sign blank so the user can add their favorite highway number.

Graduation Thank You cards

2010-04-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

Last night I was making thank you cards to give to my nephew at his high school graduation; I'd cut out 20 diplomas, colored the ribbon on them, rolled the background for all 20 and cut out the paper to finish them when my husband comments to me, "Do you think a teen-aged boy will use these?" Argggggghhhhhh! Really, 4 hours into the project (the cutting and coloring were done while we were watching TV) he says this???? Why not 10 minutes into it, when we were sitting 10 feet apart and I was cutting? Well, here they are, he better use them!!! His school colors are red and black.

The diploma is an Ellison thin die (like a Slizzlet) and the background is rolled using SU's "Graduation Day" wheel, the ink and paper are SU's "Real Red" and the diploma is cut out of American Crafts cardstock.

Dustin Pike's Blog-iversary

2010-04-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've been out of town, so I don't have any new cards for you, but Dustin Pike is celebrating his "Blog-iversary" with a fabulous sale of his digi-stamps. Go check it out!!! He also has some freebies!!!!

Actually, here is an older card using one of Dustin's images. I love his dragons!!! The photo of the card isn't the greatest. I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder "Tiny Mosaics" for the green background, I thought it looked like scales! I colored in the dragon with watercolor pencils and then used gamsol to blend.

Travel Inspired Cards, Take 2

2010-04-11T21:19:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple more travel inspired cards I created last week. They both use pictures from the Fodor's Page-a-day calendar I have.

This one is of London at night, with Big Ben, Parliament and the Millennium Bridge. I used a variety of postmark stamps; one from Stampabilities, Seaside Stampin Ink, Inkadinkado, SU's World Traveler and Office Ephemera and the London Cube from Judikins. The paper is from Big Lots, I used my Deckle nesties and Adirondack "Denium" ink.

This one features a picture of Ponte Vecchio over the Arno river in Florence, Italy. I used paper from DCWV and my deckle nesties. The stamps I used are from Seaside Stampin Ink, Inkadinkado, SU's World Traveler and Office Ephemera and a little (ATC sized) background stamp from either Lost Coast Designs or Stamp Camp. The "Journey of the Heart" stamp is from a PSX Pixie set.

Card Remake

2010-04-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

One of the Splitcoaststampers forums that I occasionally participate in is for Clean and Simple (CAS) Cards and one of the regular weekly challenges is to give a card a makeover. I chose a card I made that I didn't like. I was trying a monochromatic theme, but just didn't like the end result. Here's the original card:

For this Makeover challenge, I colored the leaves with orange and yellow watercolor pencils and used gamsol to blend the colors. I then matted the card on a matching orange/yellow paper. Here is the end result:

I'm much happier with this version and will save it for fall and send it to someone.

Cat Card

2010-04-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for a kitty person. The Southwestern cat is from After Midnight Art Stamps and with it's complex design I like to use it on simple backgrounds. This cat was colored with copics and put on a textured black cardstock.

Glitter!!!!

2010-04-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

This is the card that introduced me to glitter. I'd been given some pink glitter in a swap and thought I give it a try...and I loved it! So, of course, I had to buy some more at the next convention. I think I now have at least 15 colors of glitter. I made this card for a friend who stamps and knits. We used to stamp together until she moved to DC.

Repeat Impressions Design Team "Audition"

2010-03-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm "auditioning" to become a member of the Repeat Impressions Design Team. They want to see 5 of my cards to decide if they like my style. Here is what I've chosen:

This birthday card uses Repeat Impression stamps for the words and the cat while the bird feet is a stamp from SU's "Best of Cluck" set. I colored the kitty with copics and embellished it with a real feather. The background and all of the words/images are cut with Deckle scissors and matted with DCWV paper, also cut with Deckle scissors.

This cat is from After Midnight and is colored with my copics. In the picture, the card base looks like it is 2 colors, but in reality it is white with a rectangle of SU's Chocolate Chip paper. Three black brads finish the card.

This cliff dwelling reminds me of one I visited a number of times in my childhod. I'm not sure if it is really the Gila Cliff Dwellings, but that's what it makes me think of. The stamp is from Stamp A Mania and so is the Flagstone EP I used. The paper is DCWV and I used twine and wood beads for the finishing touch.

This card uses all SU products. The paper is Basic Black and Old Olive and the inks used are Old Olive, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Basic Black and Night of Navy. The stamp set is "World Traveler".

This Father's Day card uses SU's "Builder Bits" roller, Only Orange and Really Red paper. The main image is from a background stamp of unknown origins as is the sentiment. I don't recall where I got the nut brads. When I first started stamping, I didn't think to keep track of such things.

Bubble Card

2010-03-30T20:58:00.001-07:00

I gave a friend's daughter some bubbles...after I'd played with them, of course. I love bubbles and couldn't resist. I bought one for me, one for her and then gave mine to her as well. Here is the card I made to go with the bubbles. Once again, a Dustin Pike image. I used copics to color and then matted it on orange. The orange patterned paper is Provo Craft's Color Wheel, Tangerine. I used my Cricut and the Jasmine cartridge to cut out the POP.

Owl Get Well Card For Delia

2010-03-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made using Dustin Pike's digi stamp owl for a young girl with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He gave the owl images to people who sent cards to Delia. I hope she is feeling better! Here's a link to Dustin Pike's Blog. Check it out, his images are incredible!!!

The owl is from Dustin Pike and was colored with watercolor pencils (from Michael's, don't know the brand) and gamisol was used to blend. The "Don't feel so hot?" is from SU's "Happy Healing" and embossed with clear EP. The blue paper is from Big Lots and the background patterned paper is from Provo Craft's Color Wheel, Ocean.

Raccoon Thank You

2010-03-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

I made this card to thank the vet that took care of the injured raccoon I rescued. If you want to read more about the raccoon, check out this entry in my other blog. I got the raccoon image in a swap, colored it with my copics, hand-drew the trash can on shiny silver paper and punched out the moon on DCWV paper using SU's circle punch. A nice simple card.

Travel Inspired Card

2010-03-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

I love to travel and when I found a Fodor's Page A Day calendar with pictures from around the world, I thought that some of the pictures would be great for cards. Here's my first one. The map stamp is from Rubber Cottage, the post mark is from SU's "World Traveler" and I'm not sure where the other three stamps are from.. I then used SU's "Bitty Backgrounds" to fill in the empty space. The ink is SU's Basic Brown and it is matted on a dark maroon paper.

Thank You Card

2010-03-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is quite handy. My husband and I, on the other hand, are not, so Ruben has helped me out in the past. This time my Sizzix Sidekick was broken and I tried to troubleshoot the issue, but I couldn't even find the screws to take it apart. So Ruben fixed it for me (yeah!!) and here is the card I made to thank him.

This is the front, followed by the inside. I bought the tool background at the first convention I attended about 4 years ago and I don't remember what company it was. (That seems to be a common theme with me! LOL) The Mr Fixit and the larger tools on the inside are from Dustin Pike. I printed the "thank you" using Burnstown Dam. I used a mixture of Copics, and markers from Michael's, matted it on red cardstock.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

With the death of my Grandmother and traveling for the funeral, my husband and I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day. So here is a card I made for him a couple of years ago.

I don't recall where any of the stamps/stickers came from except for the love which is from SU's "Wonderful Words I".

Dots

2010-02-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

My most recent cards:

For all three cards the paper comes from Paper Studio's Back To Basics pack and the ribbon is from Target's $ Spot. The sentiment for the first card is SU's "Wonderful Words II", the second is from "Sincere Salutations" and the third is from "Small Script".

Pat's Birthday Card

2010-01-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is the card I made for my step-father Pat's birthday. It was late, as usual, but...

I used SU's "Carved and Candlelit" for the cacti and Whirly-Twirly for the wind. For the wind I used Versamark and brown chalk. A small flower punch was used for the flowers and I used sandpaper for the dirt.

Zoo Cards II

2010-01-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some more of the zoo cards I made for my SIL. I utilized my Cricut for these with the Zooballoo cartridge. All of the animals are cut out on DCWV cardstock. The hippo's sky is chalked and the grass is done with SU's Terrific Turf roller, and the water is created with the Cuttlebug S'vine Swirls embossing folder and cut to look like waves/ripples in the water. The two koala cards and the giraffe card all use SU's Bamboo II background stamp and Old Olive ink. The first of these cards uses either Green Galore or Garden Green for the base while the other is white on Old Olive. The giraffe card uses drywall tape (it's so perfect - it already has adhesive on it!!!) to try and allude to a zoo cage. I'm not sure it worked, but...

Zoo Cards

2010-01-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

My SIL loves

jungle/safari animal themed things and so I made these cards for her for Christmas. I got these animal images in a SCS swap and don't recall who made them...which is too bad, because I'd love to get them now. If anyone knows, please let me know. I used my Bic markers, SU's scallop punch, brads and fringe yarn (I don't know if it has an actual name) and my Spellbinder Nesties. The lion card uses the SU roller "Tropical Turf" for the grass and the sky is chalked. The paper is a zoo pack I got at Hobby Lobby and/or DCWV. The first giraffe card's background is sponged with SU's Really Rust, Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip.

New Year's Cards

2010-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

I had a few people who got New Year's cards instead of Christmas cards, here are a couple of them.

I'd joined an image swap on Splitcoaststampers (SCS) and one of the categories was New Year's. I was all excited that I could use my Stampin Up! set "Ring in the New" and stamped out images/sentiments. I was disappointed to find out that I was the only one who wanted to swap these, and I got my own images back. Well, they ended up being very handy when I needed to make these cards quickly! The cards were prefolded DCWV cards, the paper is for the most part, DCWV and the stamps for the first card front are the roller "Party Streamers" from Rollagraph and SU's Contemporary Alphabet numbers. The inside of the first card and both the front and the inside of the second card are a Stampin Up!'s set from the early 2000's called "Ring in the New". The ink is a Color Box Paintbox with primary colors. I used SU's circle and scalloped circle for both cards.

Christmas Cards

2009-12-26T20:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the Christmas cards I made for this year. Of the 26 different designs (some very similar) I created, these were my favorites.

This one is a Penny Black hedgie image that I colored with my copics and Bic markers, matted on generic red paper and then music paper I've had forever and don't remember where I got it.

The SU roller "Candy Cane Christmas" was used with Real Red for the background. The House Mouse Image HMJR1020 and colored with Bic Pens.

This one was sooooo simple. I was running short of time and so the cards like this helped! The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Joy and Cheer". I don't remember where the sticker came from.

This card used the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Snowflakes" and the SU set of unknown name...it's my mom's and I don't recall what it's name is. The hat and mittens are stamped with Adirondeck's Cranberry. The hat is edged with flocking and the mittens are strung together with yarn.

Another simple card. I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Holly" and red Stickles. I think the paper is SU Forest Foliage.

I got this super shiny gold paper from someone via Craig's list and I don't know what company it is. I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Joy and Cheer" and used my Sizzix original die "Holly" with SU's Real Red and Forest Foliage.

House Mouse Halloween Cards

2009-09-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween and these HM stamps are adorable. The first 2 cards I made the fronts as backgrounds, but then thought they were too cute to cover up so I added the mice to the insides.

For these cards, I used Perfect Plaids for the backgrounds:

I love this stamp, "Sweet Find", probably because I love candy corn, so I really enjoyed making these:

I got this background in a Splitcoaststampers Swap and thought it was perfect for this House Mouse.

Fall Cards

2009-09-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Halloween Cards

2009-09-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

I made Halloween cards over the weekend whilst watching TV with Johnny.

Baby Announcements

2009-08-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I mentioned that I was making baby announcements for friends. Well, it took some time, but they (all 25 of them) are done. What should have been a simple thing was not. I stamped all the images I needed and then took them with me out of town to color. After coloring them all, I started cutting them out. I got all of the safety pins cut out and about a quarter of the babies by the time I got home. I started to put together the first card and discovered that the colored images didn't match the paper (both were Pretty in Pink). Shock and horror! So my first thought was that my pen was running out of ink, so I used my reinker to reink it. This still didn't work, so I borrowed my demo's pen. I very carefully checked the color with the paper after each image (yes, I'm a bit OCD haha) and it matched perfectly. So, I relaxed and colored in all 25 babies and 25 safety pins, and then cut out all 25 safety pins - they are the easiest. I also ordered another pen. The next morning, to my horror, they didn't match! Well, there are only 2 variables to this...the pen and the paper. I always buy GP cardstock, so I didn't think that would be the problem, but I had used a new ream of paper. So I went to Michael's and bought white cardstock. Guess what - it WAS the paper. The image matched the paper perfectly the next day, (I finally smartened up and only colored one image as a test!) so I finished the cards. What a mess. But, finally, all 25 are done and delivered. The moral of the story? Even if the paper is the same, it's the paper's fault! :)

Stamp A Mania's Eagle

2009-07-28T14:26:00.001-07:00

I love this stamp! I made these while my mom was here. The first one is Embosses on black and matted with Tempting Turquoise. The EP is a mix of Stamp A Mania's silver and Desert Sky. The second card is embossed in black on a shimmery, almost metallic green paper matted with black.

New House Mouse Stamps

2009-07-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

My mom got me some new House Mouse stamps at the convention. All Fired Up and All Fired Up 2, Count Mouse and then I bought The Graduate from HL's clearance.

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French Lavender Fields

2009-07-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

While watching the Tour de France ride through the lovely lavender fields, I decided to get this out and make a card. I used watercolor pencils and then painted water over it. I backed it with purple and used a darker purple for the photo corners.

B & J' Art Stamps

2009-07-24T18:11:00.001-07:00

I made this at the B&J Make and Take while at the convention. I believe this is a new stamp, because I don't remember seeing him before. He is awesome and I will probably be buying him soon. I inked up the background stamp with a yellow, a blue and Indian Rouge. After stamping the Indian (oops Native American) I embossed it all with Fire EP. You can't tell in the scan, but it is clear with iridescent sparkles in it. I then stamped the swirlies in the blue before embossing the edges with the Indian Gold EP.

2009-07-24T18:00:00.001-07:00

I've had this stamp for more than 2 years and it has never been inked before this. I saw a card example at the convention using browns like this and thought it was so wonderful, so here is my version. The cat is from After Midnight and I used my new Copics...E57, E29 and E33 to color it. The background cardstock is from a Neutrals pack I got at Michael's by AC. I added the three black brads and was finished.

Hopi Kachina Card

2009-07-23T17:42:00.001-07:00

I just love this Hopi Kachina from Stamps Galore. I've had him for several months now, but this is the first time I've used him. The background and the swirls are from B & J's Art Stamps and the background speckles are from SU's Prehistoric Paintings. I used Inkcredible inks...Desert Peach for the center, Harvest Gold for the edges and speckles and Passport Green for the very edges and the swirls.

New Abbey Stamp

2009-07-22T17:32:00.001-07:00

I used my new abbey stamp from Magenta for this card. Once again, I used both the Harlequin (Lost Coast) and Italian Script (Judikins) backgrounds, stamping both with the Dune from ColorBox. Both the abbey (Magenta) and the saying (Stamp Camp) also were stamped in Dune.

Flowers...Really, A Flower Card

2009-07-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

I know, me making a flower card is surprising. But I do...on occasion. I was showing Mom how to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig and this is one of the sets I have that needs it. I used the harlequin background in Pretty in Pink and the Italian Script background in Purely Pomegranate. The hollyhock is from SU's Spring Garden set and is stamped with both of those colors and Glorious Green for the stem. I used the Victorian scissors to trip the edge before double matting it with both colors.

Petroglyphs and Pots

2009-07-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

These two cards are made using tan/cream paper - the tan just happens to match the Dune ink from ColorBox. The background is the Relics wheel from Stamp A Mania and the pots are Marvy punches. The first card uses the swirl and background from SU's Ancient Art. The second card has the hand stamp from B & J's used on the pot.

Cards, Cards and More Cards

2009-07-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

While Mom was here, we made cards...lots of cards.

This is one of my medieval cards. Da Vinci's Leda is from Lost Coast and the saying is from Stamp Camp. I used SU's basic brown and brown and cream paper from a set by AC Paper I got at Michael's. I used a duster to add the brown to the whole image and then the inkpad to color the torn edges. I didn't have the right color brads, so I used embossing powder to get a good brown.

Stamping Convention

2009-07-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

My mom came to town for the stamping convention and some stamping. We met up with Amy and Sharon and had a great time at the convention, getting new stamps, punches, paper and ideas.

Purple/Green Card

2009-07-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Last night as we were watching Torchwood (yeah!) I made this card. I've had the fiber thingy for several years - a make 'n' take at a convention (and yes, I bought the fibers and haven't done anything with them) - and finally decided to use it. I have some green shimmery paper that I thought would be great with it, and sure enough, it's perfect. The picture isn't very clear and the color is sorta off, but the purple in the fibers is a perfect match for the purple paper.

Baby Announcements

2009-07-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am making baby announcements for a couple of friends and I gave them a choice of several designs. They chose the top left.

Top Left:

SU "Cuddles and Tickles"

Cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dots

Pretty in Pink paper/ink

Spellbinders scalloped rectangle dies

Top Right:

SU's "Cuddles and Tickles"

Spellbinders scalloped rectangle dies

white ribbon

SU roller "Hand Prints"

Pixie Pink paper/ink

Bottom Left

SU "Cuddles and Tickles"

Pretty in Pink paper/ink

Scallop die (Cuttlebug?)

white ribbon

Safety pin and pink beads

Decorative scissors

Bottom Right

SU "Cuddles and Tickles"

Cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dots

SU scallop circle and circle punches

Paper from ???

Today's Cards

2009-07-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

I found a package of patterned paper that I really like. It's not my "normal" type, but I was drawn to it. So far, I've made a few cards with it. I also used flowers from Michael's with brad centers and the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder. The last one uses ribbon from the $1 spot at Target and the SU stamp set "Everyday Expressions". I used Fiskar's Victorian deco scissors for the edges.

White Cross Card

2009-06-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I created for a swap on Splitcoaststampers. It was a White only swap and I had a hard time coming up with an idea. To make matters worse, there are a couple of *very* creative ladies in the swap that have signed up for (and created cards) for 11 spots! Their cards are amazing and I was always thinking that my ideas wouldn't measure up. Then inspiration hit and I came up with this card. I've had this stamp for several months and not used it, so it was nice to come up with a design using it. The cross is from Stamp A Mania (I love their stamps!!) and I used SU Dazzling Diamonds. The background is the Swiss Dots embossing folder, cut with the Victorian scissors. The cross has been cut out and popped up.

2009-05-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for my step-dad when he was sick. I'd gotten the Achoo image in a swap and thought it was perfect. I used my Bic pins to color the image and it is layered on a tissue - a clean tissue!

Graduation Cards

2009-05-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

One of my family members is graduating from high school this month and here is the card I made for her and the thank you cards I made for her. I used the SU set Tassel Time and the Graduation Day roller. The die cuts were made using "Thin Cuts" die. None of the paper or ink is SU, just paper I had that was the right color. The thank you cards were made using the DCWV pre-folded cards.

Wedding Card

2009-04-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

I made this card for a wedding that Johnny, his mom and sister are going to next weekend. I would be going but I already had unchangeable plans. The bride is Annette's cousin's granddaughter. I used some heart tissue paper as the background (thanks Mom) and then Real Red for the heart which I embossed with the script Cuttlebug embossing folder. I used a white ribbon to "tie" it all together.

2009-04-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

I made this set of cards for a swap. I used the Script embossing folder and then used my ink spots to ink them, concentrating on the raised letters. I used the SU scalloped/circle punches and the Small Script for the front. I used Die Cut With a View paper and the following SU colors: Regal Rose, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Bliss Blue, Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Gable Green and Mint Melody. The last color is Whisper Blue from another company.