a little thank you

hey there...
thought i'd post a little thank you card i made today. I don't get many opps to make anything these days so I thought i'd share. I have a lovely wonderful friend, Mary who brought me a gift of bread 2 weeks ago (actually she does this every halloween - its bread that's orange and round - with a jack o'lantern face drawn on it - i think i posted about this another year). Anyway I wanted to send her a thank you. The bread came in a bag that I just loved. It had this image you see here (brown with wheat) and I thought why not cut it out and use it for her card. I stitched on the image to some cardstock and stamped the many thanks from a tag in my stash. voila.. card :-)
I have to run now... hope to be back in the not tooooo distant future!

Deja Vu

Again I'm posting a card after a long absence - this card was made a few weeks ago for a family member and I just have not had time to post it (or anything else) and I haven't made a thing since.
It's just the way things are right now. Between work and home I don't have a lot of free time to make stuff.
I do make things to eat :-) but that benefits everyone and I gotta do that anyway so I'm whipping up all manner of culinary delights LOL. But paper delights? not so much.

It's funny just looking at this card - I'd bought that Tim Holtz mini-rosette die and knew I'd have zero time to play with it. I did manage to make this card with it. So that's something right? :-)

Till next time....

so out of practice

yes thats what i said - I'm outta practice!
I had to make a card for my F-i-l's birthday which is Friday and i sat down to make a card yesterday and pulled out a few things I thought would work. Now of course the masculine card is always difficult LOL - i mean seriously - we girls like to buy cute stamps and flower stamps and while I occasionally pick up something more masculine those stamps don't dominate my collection, kwim? Well, I think I stared at the stamps for like a half hour - nothing was coming to me. I finally managed to crank out the card you're seeing here. He won't care what it looks like or know its not my best - but gosh - it kills me to send something I don't really love. make sense? I do like it but not in love with it....
Anyway, things in my life have changed a good bit in the last month - it seems its the year of changes for me... sigh. (I'm hoping things improve soon cos they can't get much worse LOL.) However I'm trying to embrace the changes - and making a vow I will set aside time to make something each day. Make a card or work on my scrapbooks (I started this on Sunday and got a number of photos and memorabilia stuck down on Sunday LOL... now gotta go back and get that pesky journaling done!). I have a very bad habit of putting my needs (like making things) at the bottom of the list - hence not a happy T.
And more practice will hopefully welcome in the return of my cardmakin mojo!
Oh - on the card I used a Stampin Up! set called Classic Backgrounds - stamped the background in Versamark and clear EP'd. I stamped the star with Chocolate Chip SU! ink then covered it in Versamark then clear EP'd. I used a star punch to cut out the star then used some pop dots to pop it up. The sentiment (from Papertrey Ink set - Enjoy the Ride) stamped in Versamark (i swear it IS my favorite ink!) and used white EP.
Now I need to get after that aforementioned journaling (and maybe play with the Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosette die I recently acquired... interesting to use with a cuttlebug... )

Happy Mother's Day

wanted to try using this adorable little chick from Purple Onion Designs for my card (for my mom). Colored the cage and the bird with copics and the sentiment is from StampinUp! (long retired but a nice one).
Hope you're all enjoying your Mother's Day. I am - both my little chicks are home :-) having picked up my daughter from college yesterday.

Happy Birthday Banner

I got some A-dorable new stamps from Purple Onion Designs - the Build-A-Banner set - you can see all the new stamps here. I had a couple of special people (i needed to make cards for) in mind when I got them.
Today is my niece-in-law's birthday - and here's the card. I should mention it's a folding card - 3 panels - seemed to work when one is going to have a big old banner across the whole darned card! I wanted to take a picture of it but it was too dark (AND late) when i finished gluing it all down so you'll have to imagine okay?
I used some Hippie Chick paper from SEI (yes it's double-sided). I colored the banner pieces using prismacolors. I added embroidery floss and some flower brads to finish it off. I think she'll like it :-)
Edited to add: I totally forgot to mention that I used versamark to stamp on the letters - Alpha stamps are Purple Onion Designs Garamouche Small - then used clear embossing powder; followed by coloring the banner pieces with prismacolor pencils - then I used the MCPT technique - voila - white letters!) i really must stop trying to write up these posts when I'm tired..... oy!

Orange you sweet!

i recently purchased some Purple Onion Designs stamps and couldn't wait to put them to use! These stamps are from the Citrus set - sooo cute!
The scan isnt the best - and there is some kind of spot on the orange that isn't there in real life (i have no idea what happened there) but i think you get the idea. I stamped the background in versamark and used white embossing powder. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white cardstock I embossed using my Scor-Pal (i just trimmed the end with my scissor to create the little flag-like edge). I stamped the half orange on some cardstock and then i colored it with prismacolor pencils and used the mcpt technique. Finally, I used Glossy Accents from Ranger to coat the half orange. I haven't been as pleased with a card I've made in a long time. Hope you're all having a good week!

mr & mrs

my son went to a wedding this past saturday and mentioned he needed a card. that's all i needed to hear :-) i probably could've spent a little more time but it did the trick. i used nestabilites and a stampin up set Together Forever as well as the coordinating wheel (for the background).
have a good one!

Happy Easter

Here are some Easter cards I made using the same set as yesterday - Friendship Jar: Spring Fillers from Papertrey Ink. I also used Background Basics: Gingham and some Memory Box papers, Nestabilities, and my prismacolor pencils.




Oh I almost forgot - I made a few cards for my sister's kids. Little cards using stamps from the Papertrey set which I colored with copics for the background as well as the egg and chick image i colored with pencils.
Happy Easter everyone!

you've got mail

so i mentioned i've been making some cards. here's one i made using a set from Papertrey Ink" Friendship Jar - Spring Fillers It's a great set - very versatile (and i love versatile). i had some ribbon, cardstock and a piece of patterned paper i thought worked well.
i'll be back with some more cards tomorrow

I love a book

and if you love books - OLD books in particular - and you like to sketch, journal - heck even keep lists ( i love lists) you will absolutely LOVE ex libris anonymous
As it was my darling daughter's birthday yesterday (i cannot believe she is 20 years old!) I bought one of these as a sketchbook for her (she's an art student and goes thru a lot of sketchbooks!). When it arrived I have to admit I had to force myself to wrap it up - I wanted to keep it for me! LOL They take the old book and spiral bind the covers, adding blank pages - but they retain some of the original pages, illustrations etc (you can read more about it on their website) - it is so wonderful! I think I will be buying one (maybe more) for myself very soon.
Obviously I have been absent from the blog for a few months. It has been a tough couple of months and I feel most fortunate to have some very special friends and my wonderful family who lent emotional support - thanks so very much!. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I even made a couple of cards (gasp!) Hopefully I'll share something soon.

Jingle Belles 05

This week the challenge on Jingle Belles was to make a card based on a sketch (click and you can check it out). Nice and simple - just my speed in general and this week. Used some Basic Grey paper, a SU! stamp (retired) and some cute little Prima poinsettia flowers that I found on sale at Michael's. In general I'm trying to stay away from purchasing anything but these babies were marked down quite a bit (from 6.99 to 2.99 and I had a gift card!) And I made use of my Top Note die yet again - but the stitching is machine (which seems obvious as its not quite so perfect... but I thought I'd make that clear). Oh and a couple of yellow brads I had laying around. I'm loving this Jingle Belles challenge every week - if you're not playing - think about it !

the extended birthday

which is another way of saying - belated birthday.... sounds nicer though doesn't it? well we always say round here when the cards (and presents if we're lucky) keep arriving after the birthday - that it's been "extended". Don't know bout you but i like to extend my birthday celebration as long as i can - i mean isn't it nice to feel special for a few days? sure.. :-) anyway i'd gotten a little bogged down with having a wicked cold, working and a number of other things and hadn't gotten a card out to one of the nicest girls i know. So i made her this belated birthday card. I drew a piece of cake and the words, stamped on some forks, and used a ricrac die i got from papertrey (i love ricrac). It's a little wacky but I like it - I hope she does too.

Jingle Belles 04

the challenge this week - to use colors: Pink, Dark Pink and Lime Green - and possibly use papers that aren't necessarily Christmas. I looked thru my stash and found some old KI Memories paper - one of which was called "Summer" :-) I used my Stampinup Top Note die and also a Christmas tree die, threw in a few gems, and punched some of the striped paper with a star punch and used some holographic EP to make it sparkle a little. Not totally thrilled with my results but i kinda like it. If you haven't joined in the Jingle Belles challenge yet - give it a try - it's a lot of fun and hey - I've got 4 cards already!

Jingle Belles 03

I'm barely making it in under the wire on this one. The challenge was to use acrylic paint. I use it, but not a lot. So it would be a challenge. I found a stamp I thought I'd like to use (it hasn't seen much use so why not?) It's a Stampington stamp called Berries on Music. I stamped it with Versamark and used a clear EP on some dark olive cardstock. I watered down some celery green acrylic paint and painted that on - the EP resisting the paint. The fact that I painted my cardstock isn't apparent - but trust me when I say the original cardstock color is somewhere between the EP'd image and the resulting bg color. I used some red glitter glue to highlight the berries and a gold paint pen around the edge of the cardstock. I took a piece of Basic Grey Wassail striped paper and brushed on some watered down Cream acrylic paint on the right edge and then machine stitched that on. And finally I added a K&Co sticker to finish it off.
I hope next week's challenge isn't quite so challenging! LOL Have a good week!

Jingle Belles 02

Okay here's my entry for this week - we had to use inchies or twinchies. I opted for a round version of an inchie :-)
I used some great Christmas stickers i had hanging around - isn't that Santa a hoot? the candy canes are also stickers. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the red cardstock bg (the embossing folder has the same swirl pattern as Santa's coat) and swirly blue bg paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Jolly by Golly Mini-Deck. And the stamp - Purple Onion Designs - but of course :-) I used versamark and some holographic ep - hard to see here but it has a nice bit o'sparkle. Oh yeah - some Basic Grey snippets i had laying around are what i used to make the candy cane like corners.

Jingle Belles

yes... i know its been a while. i'm posting now to tell you about a fun challenge blog called Jingle Belles. The premise is making one Christmas Card every week so by the time it's December you've got a nice pile of Christmas cards all ready for sending! Sounded good to me - i did not get my cards out this year (and worse yet I bought them! that's how bad things got round here - you heard it right girls.. i bought cards. Eek. with all the fun card making materials i've got here it's almost a sin!) Anyway the challenge for the first week was Something Old Something new.
Everything on this card - with the exception of the Top Note die (which arrived yesterday LOL) -is old... and although its not my favorite creation I was happy to get to use up some stuff AND get a Christmas card made!
I know it's been months since I've posted. That should tell you something. I haven't been making anything. Life has been too busy. That's why this challenge, every week, is something I'm really looking forward to. I'll get my cards made, a little at a time, and I'll get myself back into MAKING THINGS - which is what I love. Why don't you join us over at Jingle Belles?