Autumn Birthday

Hello everyone.  Today's card uses some wonderful designer paper from Stampin' Up.  It's called Autumn Spice.  Aren't the patterns just wonderful?  The card base is More Mustard, and the pieces of Autumn Spice are framed by Early Espresso card stock.  The sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set.  I punched it out using the new extra large decorative label punch found in the Holiday Mini Catalog for 2010.  I used the Crop-a-dile to set two large eyelets and threaded the 1/8" taffeta ribbon.  The two little leaves in the upper left hand corner are punched from a couple of leaf punches I've had forever.  I used Cajun Craze and Early Espresso cardstock for those.  That's it for this one.  Thanks for stopping by.

There's No Place Like Home

Hello everyone.  I needed a card for a special young woman who just bought her first house.  I used the Good Neighbors stamp set for this little cutie.  The trees and houses in this set are adorable.  I created the cloud background using bashful blue ink and a template I made of acetate and punched out with the scallop circle punch.  The hills were made using my Nesties and a kind of textured image from the Watercolor Minis stamp set (retired).  I then ran it through my Big Shot using the dotted swiss embossing folder.  Voila!  instant hills.  The fence is a MS punch.  The sentiment is from PTI.  The little house is popped up on dimensionals.  A couple of rhinestone gems in the corners finish off this one.  Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments.

Simple Froggy Thank You

Hello everyone.  Today, a clean and simple card showcasing the main froggy image.  I think some of the most difficult cards to pull off are simple design.  This one lets the main image take center stage.
I stamped the image from the A Flower for All Seasons set in Black Staz On ink and colored it with Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi markers.  I popped this white layer up on pop dots onto a frame of Wild Wasabi cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment in black and drew a box around the card using a black marker and ruler.  I also drew a box, in the same manner, around the main image.  A couple of embossed lines were added using my Score Pal and 3 green gems make the centers of the flowers sparkle.  All of this was placed on a base of white.  Quick and simple, but a lot of fun to make.  I hope you give it a try.
Thanks for stopping by today.

It Was Just Calling to Me!!!

Hi Everyone!  I woke up this morning thinking I was hearing voices!  No, I'm not crazy (I guess that's a matter of opinion really), but I think my blog (sorry I haven't posted in awhile--busy summer) and Cricut machine were calling out to me for some attention.  I haven't been the best about keeping up. 

I needed to come up with a card for my 7 year old nephew and thought this rooster image would be perfect.  It's from the Cricut cartridge called "Just Because Cards".  The colors I used were for today's color challenge over at SCS--baja breeze, poppy parade and crumbcake.  Don't those colors make great tail feathers?  I stamped the chicken wire background in soft suede ink and sponged around the edges.  I also sponged the white circle using baja breeze.  It's supposed to represent the sun coming up in the morning (I guess you have to use your imagination on that one--I was running on only one cup of coffee).  I added a google eye to finish this one off.  Thanks for stopping by today. 

Petal Punching

Hello everyone.  I'm really in love with all the new Stampin Up colors and punches.  For this card I used poppy parade, pear pizzaz, peach parfait and concord crush.  Aren't the colors yummy together?  The little envelope at the bottom left is made with the new large petal card punch.  I used vellum cardstock and folded up 3 sides, and used a little adhesive on the bottom petal to keep it closed.  If you've never used Stampin Up's vellum cardstock, you should give it a try.  It is sooo thick! 
I used the new hostess set called Cute by the Inch for the little pull-out.  I put a piece of ribbon on the back of the little square to help pull it out.  I frayed the ribbon by pulling on a piece of the thread until I liked the amount that raveled. 
The large flower is made from a bigz die called daisies #2.  A cuttlebug border embossing folder was used to mimic the punched scallop border.  The sentiment on the flower was stamped using the Stem Sayings stamp set.  A new Stampin Up rhinestone and some sponging on the flower petals finishes this one off.  Thanks for stopping by today.

All Caged Up

Hello everyone.  The birds are back.  I told you that you'd be seeing the Aviary stamp set again.  Could there be anything cuter than these cages and birds?  I love all the colors I used.  The card feels so much like summer.  The fun colors include tempting turquoise, tangerine tango, daffodil delight, and real red.  I cut the white pieces of paper a bit smaller on each side so that I could layer them onto a black piece of card stock.  They all look like they've got a separate mat behind them.  The sentiment is from a retired hostess set called Picture This.  Isn't it perfect for the bird theme?  A red brad and daffodil delight taffeta ribbon finish this summer card.
Thanks for stopping by today.

A Brady Bunch Kind of Love

Come on, sing with me!  Here's the story, of a man named Brady...I know that song is going to be in your head for the rest of the day!  Ha ha.  Sorry about that, but just had to share.  You know the beginning of the Brady Bunch show where the dad and mom are looking at each other from a square box?  Well, when I first saw the new Stampin' Up! owl punch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  Owls in a tree. 
The base of the card is white.  I punched 2 holes with a 1 1/4" circle punch first.  The next layer is crumb cake.  I stamped the Woodgrain background stamp in Soft Suede ink, placed this layer onto the white base and lined it up to exactly where I wanted it.  Next I traced the two holes that I made in the white base onto the crumb cake layer and punched them out.  I put the two owls together using Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink (and dsp), Not Quite Navy (and dsp), Baja Breeze, black and white.  The ribbon was added and the owls glued into the inside so that they peeked through the holes.  Isn't this hilarious?  It could be used as an anniversary card or a Valentine's Day greeting, or I suppose whenever a lovey-dovey card is needed. 
Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Lovin' It!

Hi Everyone!  The card I made today uses a stamp from one of Stampin' Up's new sets.  It's one of the Hostess sets, so you can't buy it outright.  The set is called "Because I Care".  I really love how this turned out.  The light colored card stock is really Very Vanilla and not white and the pink card stock is Regal Rose.  This set is so versatile for so many occasions.  I made this one for a neighbor's birthday, but made one earlier in the day, as a sympathy card.  I'm not sure if the camera did a good job of picking it up, but I finished the card with a little bling.  The centers of the blooms sparkle from a dash of Stickles.  I almost needed to put on my sunglasses while looking at this one!  :-)
Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Together

Hello Everyone.  I made this cute card today for our son and daughter-in-law.  It's hard to believe, but they're celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary.

I used a new Stampin' Up! set for this one called Aviary.  The stamps are just the cutest!  The colors for this card are some new In-Colors:  Peach Parfait, Concord Crush, Whisper White and Peach Parfait designer paper.  I tied a white taffeta ribbon at the bottom of the cage for a little dimension.  Clean and simple.  Thanks for stopping by.   

It's Been a Long Time!

I can't believe that it's been since April that I last posted!  I know it's been a long time, but our daughter's wedding took up most of my time.  She's finally married and the wedding was beautiful.  We had such a gorgeous day and the bride and groom are so very happy.  It seems so long since I've been in my stamping room.  It felt so good to get my fingers dirty again!

This card is for a friend of mine who just shot a hole in 1!  For the sun, I punched a 1 1/4" circle and sponged daffodil delight ink in the negative hole created by the punch.  Then I took the positive circle, and covered my sun so that when I did the sky, it wouldn't get colored with blue.  I masked off a horizon and sponged in the clouds, then masked off the sky and brayered in the grass (the putting green).  I stamped little bits of grass from the Watercolor Minis stamp set (retired).  The hole cup is an oval and the ball is 3/4" circle punch that I ran through a cuttlebug folder (dotted swiss).  I used the de-bossed side that I thought looked like the dimples on a golf ball.  For the flag, I snipped real red cardstock with my scissors and wrote in the lucky 13 (number of the hole on the course) and dotted a white border with my gel pen.  I can't wait to mail this off. 

It 's good to be back.  Thanks for your patience and for stopping by today.