More with Mr. Bones

Thought I'd post another card I made with Papertrey's Mr. Bones stamp set. Isn't he the cutest juggler you've ever seen? I used the coordinating die set as well as the Take Three Die to cut out that rounded edge square at the bottom. Hope you're having a great day!

It was a dark and stormy Sunday

yes, I'm back. I've really been here, wanting to post but too many other things going on. And today, since it is indeed a dark and stormy day, and having gotten a few things off my list for the weekend, I decided to make some cards and post here - YAY!
In the last few weeks there's been work and a nice weeklong vacation to the beach house. And since then, when I've had a few minutes, I was scrapping our vacation. I've been using divided page protectors for a few years now (WeRMemory Keepers and Project Life) - and it really makes it easy and fun. I still have a boat load of scrapbooking to do but I'd say the last two years I've gotten in books right away so not too bad. (we shan't discuss the other 25 plus years of photos still in boxes - less several books on my kids... its a never ending project but I do love it so!)
Ok - so on to the cards - which came together in no time at all - thanks to stamps from my two favorite-ist stamp companies: Purple Onion Designs and Papertrey Ink! The large background like stamp is  one of the Noteblock stamps from Purple Onion Designs. And that skeleton, spider web and the cute little spider are from the Mr. Bones set from Papertrey. (Mr. Bones was cut out using the coordinating die set). I added a little hand drawn little line from the web to the spider. I had cut out 4 of the little Mr. Bones, stamped them, and just sat back and smiled - he is just so darned cute!
I'll be posting a lot of Halloween cards in the next few weeks - can't start too early for all the fun fall holidays right? Hope you're enjoying the day - have a good one!

Another birthday card

yes another birthday card - for a dear male family friend. I do make other kinds of cards but I do send a lot of birthday cards! And I know I am stuck on this one image - that "sending Birthday wishes" there in the center (from Papertrey's 2012 Birthday Tags set - it's just so pretty! And admittedly very generic and versatile right?) -I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of this set. I also used the Mat Stack 5 collection as well as the coordinating dies, Limitless Layers oval and Half & Half dies. The patterned paper is from the Fine Linen paper pack - also all from Papertrey.
I made a few more birthday cards yesterday - and I've been preparing for our beach vacation coming up beginning this weekend. I cannot describe how much I need this vacation! I've downloaded some books and I've got a book waiting for me at the beach house (one of my sisters-in-law is leaving it for me - she's a peach!) and I shall be a fixture on that wonderful stretch of sand with my Nook!  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

It kinda looks like a quilt

do you agree?
I'd wanted to play with my Papertrey Happy Hexagons and Coverplate: Hexagon die over the last few days. I'd had a little trouble using the die itself with my Big Shot but once I pulled out my old reliable Cuttlebug - I didn't have a problem. Once I got that die cutting problem worked out I was off and running.
The stamps and die make me think of quilts - specifically a quilt my grandmother made - it was one of those yoyo style quilts -gorgeous and completely handsewn. Regardless - quilts have fascinated me for years. I've drawn them so I figure a paper quilt would be fun to try.
I stamped with a navy blue ink on Fine Linen cardstock then cut off a few rows and mounted that (with some foam tape) on a cardbase of Fine Linen. Then I cut out the die using white cardstock and added a few rows to the top of the card - and stamped on those white hexagons using another stamp from the Happy Hexagon set. Finally I stamped one of the sentiments from the set onto a diecut banner. I really like the white against the Fine Linen - it kinda crisps the whole thing up - kind like white sheets on a bed withh a pretty quilt topping it off. Okay - thats' all for today - hope you have a good one!

I like bright happy colors but....

find myself using a lot of the same, monochromatic color schemes in my card making (and my clothes come to think of it ... hmmm.... well I guess that makes sense huh? but i digress ;-)) As I was thinking about this - I also needed to make a few "hello-how-are-you-I'm-thinking-about-you" kinda cards for a few Aunts that are special to me. So I thought let's get out the colors and make somethin pretty and cheery for them. I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Stitches and Swirls stamp set which I thought would work nicely and found inspiration on Nichole Heady's blog (which is probably the most ridiculously inspiring place to visit as far as stamping goes... if you can't get some ideas there well ... I don't think your eyes are looking at your computer screen k?) I also pulled out the Fillable Frames Sentiments set, and the Fillable Frames #9 die (cute little tag die that coordinates with the sentiments set). I like how they turned out and I definitely fit the "cheery" bill I was goin for.
On another note - I've been busy with this and that - work, home stuff, and I'm working on getting a recent pile of pics scrapbooked so not so much cardmaking going on. I do have one other card I made I'll be back with tomorrow.
Oh one final thing - anyone have any good books they've read lately? I'm heading to the beach in a week :-) and need to fill up the Nook....

Make it Monday #73 Round 2

I intended to get back here yesterday but...  best laid plans and all. I don't know about where you live, but here in Northern Virginia, it's hot. Prediction for today is 102. I've had about enough. And apparently we will get a break in this non-stop heat fest come Monday. In the meantime we're going to have to think cool thoughts ;-) On to the card (thank goodness right?) I needed a card for a male friend and I like the combo of blue and Fine Linen. I used some Fine Linen patterned papers, the Super Stars Border die, Limitless Layers Ovals die, and Half & Half die. I stamped the sentiment (from Tagged Sentiments set) on the patterned paper with some Night of Navy ink (StampinUp) and I wasn't liking the strength of the color - it wasn't dark enough. I tried a few other times and realized that was as dark as I was going to get it. I didn't want to use black as my cardstock (Enchanted Evening) was blue. So what to do? I took the piece of cardstock and covered it in Versamark then clear embossed it - it pumps the color up just a bit and I liked how it came out. It can be a little hard on the fingers heat embossing a piece of cardstock that is completely covered in embossing powder so here's a little tip for you. I took a scrap strip of  cardstock and ran some repositionable adhesive over one half of it. Then I attached that to my EP covered oval - that strip of cardstock becomes a handle to hold your EP covered item. No more burned fingers. If you've figured this out before me - cheers to you! But I've been heat embossing for probably 15 years and this just occurred to me!  Ok - I need to get some weeding done before the heat becomes intolerable. Have a good one!

Make it Monday #73 Stamping on Patterned Paper

 I finally had a little time to play around with my stamps and decided to try the Make it Monday. I love these challenges especially when I need to make a card - gives me a bit of a kick start - ya know? So I had some scraps from last week's challenge where I used Papertrey's Giga Guide Lines to make a background. I used the scraps and added some tiny Raspberry Fizz cardstock circles to coordinate with a flower I made using the Bloom Builders #3 die (I cannot wait to make some of these flowers for some fall cards - it looks like a big fat chrysanthemum to me). I also wanted to use that raspberry color as it would also coordinate nicely with the patterned paper (from the Polka Dot Parade paper pack). I stamped a tag (Fillable Frames #9 mini stamp set) and then chose a sentiment from the Fillable Frames sentiment set. I also added a button to the flower with a little embroidery floss.
I managed to make another card for this challenge so I'll be back tomorrow to share that one. Have a good one!

MIM#72 Step it up - Embellishments/Moxie Fab World Birthday Card Challenge

Sorry I haven't been posting. :-( We went away last weekend to see my nephew graduate. It was a great weekend away just for starters - but seeing him graduate (Summa Cum Laude - I'm just sayin - so proud)  was the highlight! When I returned I had to get into birthday mode as both my son and husband's birthdays were this week (son born 5 minutes to his Dad's birthday). We had some nice low key celebrations - which suited us all. I have one of the birthday cards to share today which I made with the MIM challenge in mind. I used Papertrey Ink's Giga Guide Lines stamp set and stamped one of the images in black all over kraft cardstock. This took a bit of time, trying to line up the images - I'm slightly off here and there but overall it went well. Then my little bit of crazy took over because I wanted the pattern orientation to be on an angle (not straight across up and down as I'd stamped it - it was just easier to stamp it that way) - so I had to cut it on on angle (not sure  if that's clear - wish I'd thought to take pics as I cut it but there you go LOL). Then I stamped out my embellisment which is the center piece you see here - from Papertrey's 2012 Birthday Tag set. I stamped it on PTI cardstock colors- Kraft, White and Fine Linen - then cut it apart and reassembled it. I used the PTI Limitless Layers Ovals to cut the main oval and the white pinked edge oval - the rest I fussy cut. I know I'm not alone in enjoying some fussy cutting now and again - kinda like therapy isn't it? Finally I decided I needed a little more white in the card. I decided adding some little white circles to the centers of the elements would do the trick - but what could I use to make those white centers? I thought about using a gelly roll white pen - forget it. Then realized maybe just a hole punch? I pulled out my We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-dile - tried both sizes of the punch - and settled on the smaller of the two and punched out a bunch of wee circles and glue penned them on. If I'd had some of those cute little gems handy I guess I coulda used them - but then again this card was for my husband and I don't think he'd be into little sparkly thangs. ;-) (that's my department!)
Anyway I'm hoping to get some card making in this weekend (no I'm definitely going to!) I'm also going to enter this card in the Moxie Fab World Birthday Card challenge because stamping is definitely the primary technique in this card - I love the Giga Guide Lines set for making big bold backgrounds! Thanks for stopping by!

MIM: #71 Bordered Sentiments

I've been a little busy and wasn't able to give last week's Make It Monday Challenge a try but this week I was able to give it a go... sorta. I'll explain. The challenge was to mask off your bordered sentiment and then stamp your background. And I did indeed do that - but after some consideration I wasn't liking what I came up with. Here it is before I kinda went off the Make It Monday trail.... and in the photo you can also see I stamped the sentiment again on a piece of white cardstock measured to fit inside my pen borders.

And here's the card when I added that sentiment and then added some stitching. (click on it for a clearer look). Yes, I added some fringe. Paper fringe. The other day I was playing around with my Martha fringe scissors and thought it might be kinda fun to add some paper fringe to a card. I'd earlier been playing with the Background Basics: Medallions set from Papertrey and thought what I came up with looked a little like bandanna fabric - do you agree? Well I thought they'd make a cute combo - and when I saw the MIM I thought why not give that a try. I spose I really should give the challenge another try - but for this particular card I think I needed that sentiment stamped on white. I do like the line I drew in bordering the white. It accentuates the white just right.

Now while I was at it I decided to try another card with some more faux Bandanna fabric :-) I had a sentiment I'd stamped out on kraft cardstock - Happy Birthday. I stamped some more with the BB:Medallions - put those two together on a darker blue background. Then I made a little more paper fringe - but it needed something else. I looked around on my drawing table and I saw a piece of red cardstock that I used to cut out the Superstar Border Die from Papertrey - it was the negative of the stars, if you will. I liked the red with the fringe - stitched it all up and this card was done.
Okay - I need to get some dinner on the table for this family. Have a good one!

Happy Father's Day

Here's the card I made for my husband. He is quite wonderful and is the world's greatest Dad to our 2 kids. I kinda hit the jackpot when I married him.
I went to look back on this here blog to see what cards I'd made for him in the past (I've been blogging for over 7 years ...  I had totally forgotten it had been that long.. but I digress).
Here's a favorite Father's Day card from the past (it's got the three most important people in my world right on it)

http://smallsmackerels.blogspot.com/2007/06/fathers-day.html

Have a good one ~

Make it Monday #69 - Inspiration into Unique Sketches

 

I've had this Bon Appetit Magazine (May 2012) sitting on my kitchen table since...well May ;-) Last weekend I was looking at and was struck by the cover and those gorgeous baguettes. I loved the composition of them on the cover and was thinking - that kinda makes me think of a card I could make.... On Monday afternoon after work I go to check Nichole Heady's blog to see what the new Make it Monday is - I love the videos and have been trying to challenge myself a little in my card making lately. Basically it was about taking an inspiration and turning it into a sketch.  I'm thinking - hey how is she reading my mind about those baguettes? LOL Although there are some absolutely wonderful sketches provided for the challenge I thought why not take the inspiration to make my own and give it a whirl. So back to those baguettes. What intrigued me the most was the composition - particularly the one baguette - on top of the rest or fourth from the left (it is under the S in Paris). I thought I wanted to see what I could do with this little-out-of-order element. I drew a few sketches - my drawing teachers would wonder what has become of my drawing skills... but I digress ;-) I decided on a twist on that little element (instead of it being out of order I'd put it at the top - near the sentiment) and here's my card. I used My Minds Eye Lost & Found paper, the Double-Ended Banner die and Think Big Favorites #12 sentiment from Papertrey Ink. And I did a little stitching around... Okay blogger is not being cooperative so I'm going to stop fooling around with this post. Thanks for stopping by - have a good one!

Queen for a Day - Simon Says Stamp Challenge

I decided to try the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog (be Patriotic, Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, add Crowns and/or Gems). I went with a birthday card - Queen for a Day! I poked around in my stash and found a deck of cards and selected the Queen of Diamonds. The celebrate sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Celebrations stamp set. The smaller sentiment is one I printed on my computer onto a diecut (you knew there had to be one didn't you? The Double-Ended Banner die from Papertrey). The background patterned paper is from my stash - it's from Li'l Davis Designs (who apparently are now part of Fiskars). I used some Antique Linen Distress ink on the sentiments to age them a little - using a stippling brush. I'm kinda pleased with the card - sortofa clean and simple vintage card ;-)
Have a good one!

84th Birthday

My father-in-law will be celebrating his 84th birthday this week and I needed to get a card made so I could put it in the mail tomorrow. Fortunately it came together pretty quickly and I think he'll like it :-) That's all for today! Have a good one~

Cardstock: PTI Kraft & Aqua Mist
Stamps: Background Basics: Woodgrain, Movers & Shakers Sentiments; StampinUp! Stippled Shells (retired)
Ink: PTI Kraft and Aqua Mist; Stampin Up! Craft White
Die: PTI Mat Stack 1
Ribbon - from my stash

Make It Monday #68 Pocket Cards

I've wanted to try this Make it Monday challenge all week and yesterday I finally had a little bit of time to give it a go. The challenge was to create a pocket card. I love pocket cards. So fun! I also really loved Heather Nichol's video - she made a beautiful card using the Rosie Posie stamp set - I didn't think I needed that one but it has now gone on my wish list! Okay so I decided I'd like to stamp my background, as Heather did - one of my favorite things to do and I don't do it enough. And since I'm currently in love with my Strawberry Patch stamp set - that decision was easy. Leah at Paper Blossoms had posted a lovely card using the Strawberry Patch set - stamping on PTI Fine Linen. That color combo had also been on my mind all week- red with Fine Linen. So I was ready to begin. I was going along fine til I got to stamping with white. My old StampinUp! White craft ink pad was just not cutting it. The white was just not white enough. I am still happy with my card but now I've decided I must have PTI's Fresh Snow Ink. If you look at the coverage that ink gives in Heather's card - well it's a no brainer.  Onward. I decided I really wanted a white card to go in the pocket but I needed another source of white on the outer card to balance that out - hence the white scallop border. I created the white card and edged it in some Fine Linen Ink (one of those details you'd only notice if it wasn't there yaknow?). I used the little plaid patch in the set, stamped it on Fine Linen and cut it with the Framed Out #1 die. I stamped a strawberry and die cut it, popped it up with some foam on top of that little patch and adhered it to the white card. I looked around for a sentiment and finally settled on the "Hello you" from Trendy Tree Tops. I made the little tab on the upper right corner using the same little plaid patch and glued it on. Finally, I stitched around the whole thing. That's all for today. A lot to do this afternoon. Why are the weekends so short? Have a good one!

Tag-a-lot

When my daughter and I used to do Girl Scouts we'd also do the summer Day Camp program for a week that they have here in my neck o' the woods :-) It was called Camp Tag-a-long. (The idea was mom's who volunteered could also bring other kids with them and those kids could participate in all the activities too - it was great - course my son is 5 years older than his sister - and he was not gonna tag-a-long LOL but that's another story). Anyhow I was thinking about those days while I was making a bunch of tags this afternoon. I tagged-a-lot. I cracked out Papertrey Ink's Tiny Treats: Birthday set as well as the 2012 Birthday set - I just love these stamps! The first pic shows tags using the 2012 Birthday set. I did a lot of stamping, cutting apart, and gluing - I swear it's better than therapy. I just love doing this kind of shtuff. I used that Tag Sale #3 die again as well as the Limitless Layers Ovals and Circles Collections. 
On the next two tags I used the Tiny Treats: Birthday set. There are so many cute little images to choose from but today that little bee caught my eye. I used a Copic marker as well as a Prismacolor pencil with a little sparkly Gelly Roll pen (for the wings) to color him in. And those polka dots? I had some Smash tape sitting on my desk and I thought it would go very nicely.
Okay that's all from me - have a good one!

Baby Cards

 I recently bought a baby stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Bundle of Joy - it's so cute and a really nice basic set. I hadn't had a new baby set in years - I needed something new! I thought I'd make a few cards for my stash this afternoon.  The background paper is from the Fine Linen Pattern Pack from PTI.
This set is so easy to stamp with - lining up the different bundle patterns with the main bundle image - easy peasy! Then I just colored in the baby with some Copic markers.
It's been a while since I've made a card with no die cutting involved! I do love my dies :-)

With that said, I did make some gift tags to go along with these cards - using what else? a die LOL  I used the Tag Sale #3 die from Papertrey. It's just the best all around tag. Here's a pic of the tags. I think they're really going to look so cute on a baby gift. I didn't add any ribbon right now. I'll pick the ribbon when I wrap the gifts.
That's all for today - have a good one!

A few more Father's Day cards

I'm back again with a few more Father's Day cards using the World's Greatest stamp set from Papertrey Ink. On the first card I also used the Background Basics: Medallions (I think next to the BB: Gingham, the Medallions is my favorite!) On all three of these cards I used the Half & Half Die Collection (you see two of the three dies here - such an easy way to create a design element on a card. I also kinda think they'd make nice bookmarks yaknow?). Oh yeah - on the first card I cut the striped circle using a circle die and the other cards I die cut those cute little ties (I still have a bunch of ties sitting on my drawing table here just waiting for some ink).

Hope you're having a good one - it's been pretty hot here in the 'burg- our upstairs A/C gave out on Monday.  Not great timing but then again - it never is right? The temps on Monday and Tuesday were over 90. Today the temperature is more like 80 and - the repairman came and we're back in business. 
Alright - enough from me for today! Have a good one ~

Father's Day Cards

A few cards I made using PTI's World's Greatest stamp set. It's really a great set for Father's Day or masculine birthday cards - so many wonderful sentiments that you can mix and match.

A few more Graduation Cards

 I made a few more graduation cards

Make it Monday #67 Mixing Patterned Papers

So the challenge was to combine 3 or more patterned papers. For me.. this was a challenge. I go for two routinely, but 3 is hard. I used two papers from the Memory Box Minuet 6x6 paper pad and some lovely plaid paper from Chatterbox I've been hoarding. I love that plaid....  I used the Papertrey Ink Enjoy the Ride set I've had for a long time (and it needed a little love :-)) to make a Graduation Card. I die cut the cute little car and stamped the colored portion twice with Spring Moss (I wanted a darker green that's in that Chatterbox paper). Cut the double ended banner die and stamped it in a navy ink. I used some foam mounting tape to pop up the car and the center of the banner.  I've taken about 4 pics of this card and it looks crisp and clear until I upload to blogger - I wish I knew what that was about...grrr. Anyway, that's all for me for today - we're going to look at flowers for the yard so I need to get a move on. Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Oh I just checked and if you click on the pic of the card you'll see a nice clear image - yay!