Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many things for which to be thankful. My wonderful family, being able to provide for them, and my good health, are just a few of my blessings. I am especially grateful that our son Scott will be coming from Pittsburgh. All of my boys will be home.

I will be working on Thanksgiving, so my sister will be hosting this year. I am making cranberry-applesauce, sweet potato rolls, and four pumpkin pies. These are all things that are easily made ahead and will be brought by my family. I will meet them there after work.

I decided to make these cute little favors for my sister's table. They are super easy and quick to make. You could easily make these, or have your children make these if they need a little project tomorrow. ;)

I used tea lights by Mainstays from Walmart. They come 30 to a box and are available in many different colors and scents. Mine are Mulled Cider. I cut Haiku DSP from SU! into 1/2 " by 5" strips, and adhered these around tea lights. Then I took a cordinating card stock color and punched a scallop to form the base. Very simple, and I think they will look nice at each place setting. Then the guests can take them home as a little reminder of our meal and good times shared together.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may we all be truly grateful for our many blessings!

Stamps: None
Ink: None
Paper: Haiku DSP, Old Olive, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, all by SU!

A Frosty Snowman

Last week I traveled out to DeKalb to my friend Patti's house for a Close To My Heart gathering. I met Patti and another stamping friend, Priscilla, and we went out to dinner. Then it was back to Patti's house for a fun evening of stamping. Our friend Amy is a CTMH consultant and she did a great job.

This is one of the cards we got to make and it uses the Stamp of the Month. I got him for free with my qualifying purchase. They have some very cute stamps, especially if you are a scrapbooker, which I hope to be. I have very few pages made, but I have 27+ years of photos to scrapbook! Yikes! Of course, I will not scrap them all, but I would like to get several albums done. When they are just in boxes or plain photo albums with no journaling, much is lost. The last time my oldest was home, we were going through an album and I was surprised at all of the things I thought he knew, but didn't. If I could scrap and journal, the information would be there. I have many, many photos from my folks, and Wayne's folks, that we just don't know anything about, and there is no one to ask. So sad.

Well, enough of my espousing the virtues of scrapbooking! I can't tell you too much about the card, other than it uses CTMH papers. They have a white core, so we created the striped look by scoring the paper and then sanding to expose the white. I like the look. I added some glitter gel pen to the hat and scarf when I got home. This guy makes me happy! I'm glad he'll becoming to my house!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: CTMH, November Stamp of the Month Decked Out and CTMH alphabet (sorry, I don't know the name)
Ink: CTMH black
Paper: CTMH
Extras: Narrow white grosgrain ribbon, Sakura glitter pen

Happy Birthday to Mark

Mark turned 18 last month and this is the card I made for him. I used a retired SU set called Country Pleasures.It's a fun one to watercolor. After I colored the image, I sponged a little Antique Linen Distress ink to age it a bit.

I used an old SU DSP too, called Four Seasons. The backgrounds were made using Print Pattern and Cheesecloth, both by SU.

I hope you enjoy my fall creation. It's a beautiful, sunny,crisp autumn day here in Northern Illinois. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Country Pleasures, Print Pattern, Cheesecloth, On Your Birthday, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black, Versamark, Antique Linen
Paper: Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke, Confetti Cream, Four Seasons DSP by SU!
Extras: brads

Oldie but Goodie

I made this card several years ago for my display board when I first started as a demonstrator. It is a CASE straight from the catalog. I found it recently while organizing my craft room, and I think it is a lovely design. It features a favorite of mine; a retired set called Fantastic Foliage.

I gold embossed the leaves, watercolored them, and cut them out. They are popped up on dimensional tape. The gold cord is a product called Kreinik Blending Filament. It is very fine and adds a lovely, delicate feel. It can be purchased at a needlework store.

I hope you enjoy this blast from the past. ;)
Have a lovely evening, and thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Fantastic Foliage and Elegant Greetings, both SU retired.
Ink: Old Olive, Encore Gold, Versamark
Paper: Vanilla, Mellow Moss, Old Olive
Extras: Gold EP, Gold Kreinik Blending Filament, Dimensionals

Fisherman Birthday

Our neighbors, George and Karen, have become good friends over the years we have lived here. George is the neighbor who took my boys fishing at a lodge in Canada last year. He celebrated a birthday last month. He loves to fish and he collects antique fishing lures, so I thought he would enjoy this card.

I stamped the background stamp in Black Stazon and watercolored it using an aqua pen and markers. I like to use this method because it is very portable. In fact, I colored this in the car on a trip to see my son at school. Don't worry, I wasn't driving. ;) I take my markers, my aqua pen and a small plastic pallete, such as a margarine tub lid. Then I scribble on the pallet with my markers and pick up the color with the aqua pen. The pallet can be saved, and even if the colors dry on the pallet, you are still ready to go. One year I watercolored about 80 Christmas cards while waiting in the car to pick up my kids. I just left the project in my car and every time I found myself waiting, I worked on them.

This card is pretty simple. I did sponge over the whole thing with distress ink to tone down the bright colors of the lures.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We are having quite mild temperatures here today, in the 60's. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Sincere Salutations,SU and Judi-Kins (lure backgound)
Ink: Various SU markers, Tim Holtz Distress ink in Antique Linen, Stazon Black
Paper: Confetti Cream, Old Olive, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy
Extras: Nestabilitiy Oval dies, brads

Baby Booties

My sister and I made these favors for a baby shower that my niece is giving on Sunday. We used the pillow box die from SU. The shoes are from an old SU set, Buggies and Booties.

My niece also waned to give thank you cards to the mom-to-be, so we made up the cards with the same design.

We used Baja Breeze and Celery. I like this combo paired with the chocolate ribbon.



Stamps: Booties and Buggies SU, Sentiment from Amuse
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Confetti, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery
Extras: Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU scallop punch, Chocolate wide grosgrain ribbon, Pillow box die, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches

Happy Hallowen!

I saw this darling Halloween ice cream kit on Nichole Heady’s blog. It was created by Tracy Cuccia. You can see hers on her blog here. I decided to make a few to send to my sons and their girlfriends. I also included a gift card to Walgreen’s so they can pick up some ice cream. My tubes just fit in the box, but I did use the little clear stickers that PTI sends with the boxes to keep them shut.

Stamps: Spooky Treats II from PTI

Ink: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss from SU, Plum Pudding from PTI Paper: Confetti Cream, Only Orange, Kiwi Kiss by SU, Plum Pudding by PTI

Extras: 3/4"circle punch, narrow grosgrain ribbon by SU, tubes from SKS Bottle and Packaging, card box by PTI, Magic Shell

I made a little tutorial on how I made these. It’s my first one, so go easy on me. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get all of the pictures lined up.

So here goes....

A note about the supplies: I got the card boxes from Papertrey, and the tubes from SKS Bottle and Packaging.

Supplies needed:

3 six inch plastic tubes with caps

1 acetate cardbox from Papertrey

3/4" circle punch

7 1/2" x 4 1/4" cardstock

paper trimmer with scorer

adhesive

Step 1

Cut a 3 inch piece from the end of your cardstock and set aside. Your cardstock now measures 4 1/2" by 4 1/4".



Step 2

Leaving your CS in the same position, score the remaining piece at 1", 3", and 4".



Step 3

In one of the 1" scored sections, punch a hole in the center. Then punch a hole on either side of the center hole, for a total of three. Turn your CS around and repeat in the other 1" scored section. You will want to line up the holes, so your tubes will stand straight.


Your CS should look like this.


Step 4

Place adhesive along the 1/2" strip.


Step 5

Adhere the 3" piece you set aside in step1 to the adhesive strip.



This is what your CS should look like now.


Step 6

Fold along the score lines to form the holder. You will not need to adhere anything, as the tubes will keep everything in place.


Step 7

Carefully insert your tubes into the holes as shown. The tubes are 3/4" and will be a snug fit. I turned mine as I pushed them in and got them in with no problems.

Step 8

Insert the unit into the box.

Decorate as desired.

Masculine Birthday Greetings

I have such a time with making masculine cards! I know I'm not alone on this, but sometimes it's a true struggle. I turned once again to my trusty Lovely As A Tree set from SU!. This card came out OK. In looking at it now, I wish I had sponged some Creamy Caramel or More Mustard on the Confetti panel. It's looking too stark for me now.

But this card is long gone to it's recipient, my niece's husband. He is married to the niece who received the cupcake card from the last post. Their birthdays are only a week or so apart.

I watercolored this in the car on the way to take Daniel back to school a few weeks ago. I used the aquapainter and a plastic pallet with my markers. A very handy way to watercolor while traveling.

The mustard panel is stamped with the Flannel Plaid background and the greeting is from On Your Birthday.
I used the new large oval punch from SU! for the sentiment.

The kick-off for the hospital massage program was Tuesday and it went well. We had over 45 people and did about 38 short seated massages. There was a PT Assistant who is also a massage therapist who came to help out for a while. Tomorrow is my first day with clients (employees) scheduled. It is also our wedding anniversary tomorrow. Twenty seven years. We will be going out to dinner to celebrate.

Thanks for dropping by. As I am typing this post the Chicago Cubs are beginning their second playoff game. I don't know if I can take much more of this. That game last night was so disappointing. It's easier when they are not in the playoffs. Then there are no expectations; just the usual "There's always next year." Oh my Cubbies...don't let me down!

Stamps: all by SU! Lovely As A Tree, Flannel Plaid, On Your Birthday. Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink: Stazon Black, More Mustard
Paper: Confetti White, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Always Artichoke
Extras: Chocalate Grosgrain, brads, SU large oval, and horizontal slot punches, distressing tool, aqua painter.

This card I made for my niece, Danette, who turned 34 earlier this month.

I used an old SU DSP that I forgot the name of. I think it's Sarah or something like that. The stamp set is Crazy for Cupcakes by SU. I watercolored the image and used Stickles on the frosting.

I think it came out cute. I stamped some cupcakes on the envelope and used Stickles on there too, but I didn't get a photo of that. I love putting glitter on my envelopes, mostly because I would love getting an envelope with glitter myself! :) The cupcake ovals were cut with my Nestabilities. The oval for the sentiment was cut using the SU large oval punch.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Stazon Black
Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, retired SU DSP, Pretty In Pink, Chocolate Chip
Extras: Lt Pink Grosgrain, Stickles, SU large oval, and slot punch, Nestabilities

Caregiver Thank You

Here is my card for Cammie's Alzheimer's Caregiver's Thank you. You can read about it here.


OK, so I'm reading my email, and I come across a post by my friend Juli, about a blog candy that Cammie is having. She deisigned a stamp set for Gina K, and is donating all of the profits to the Alzheimer's Association. She decided to have a blog candy giveaway and asked everyone to make a card to thank a caregiver. So I decided I had to make a card.

My Mom had Alzheimer's for years and my loving Dad took care of her until she died. Everyday he would bath her, change her, feed her. It was a beautiful expression of his deep love for her. She was both bowel and bladder incontinent, so this was no easy task for an 81 year old man. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June of 1991. My Mom died in August of that same year. My Dad followed her the following May. They obviously did not want to spend any of their anniversaries apart from one another. It has been many years, but I do still miss them both. I was in my early thirties when my Dad died and I was pregnant with my youngest son. I wish my children and I had been able to have more time with them.

So Cammie asked us to send a card to a caregiver we know. I would send mine to my Dad if I could. But since I can't, I will send mine to the home where Cammie's grandmother was living.

On to the details. There aren't many, as I made this card very quickly to get it in by the deadline. But I like how it turned out. The scalloped square is the new one by SU! The scallop lace is from Miss Elizabeth that I picked up at Dollar Tree the other day. It's a sticker type product that comes in a roll and there are 4 designs. Very fast and easy to use. The stamp set is SU's Ronald McDonald set where a portion of every sale goes to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Have a great weekend!

Stamps:Say It with Scallops and Floral, both by SU
Ink: River Rock, Chocolate Chip
Paper: River Rock, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip
Extras: Scallop Square punch-SU, Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, Miss Elizabeth adhesive lace scallop trim.

Daniel's gift

Daniel wanted a photo printer for his birthday. His hobby is photography, and he takes most of his photos to get printed, but he wants to be able to print odd sized prints when he is working on a project. I was not about to buy him one, as I had no clue as to what he wanted. I made him this little gift card with a picture of a photo printer on the inside so that I had something to wrap.

This is simple, but I like how it turned out. I cut a top note from Always Artichoke, and a partial one from Perfect Plum. I lined them up and cut the plum one into a one inch strip and layered it on top of the artichoke.

A little Hodgepodge Hardware and ribbon, and she's done! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Weathered, On Your Birthday, both by SU!
Ink: Always Artichoke
Paper: Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum
Extras: Big Shot Top Note die, Hodgepodge Hardware, More Mustard Grosgrain ribbon

Daniel's 21st!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! My second son turned 21 on the 8th. It's hard to believe I have two adult children now.

I used the Big Shot and SU's Top Note and Naturally Serif dies and the Wanted stamp set for his card. I first cut the letters from stamped card stock, but I thought they were too flat. I wanted more dimension, so I cut anIother set from chip board. I ran the card stock letters through my Xyron sticker maker and attached them to the chip board. Then I ran those through the Xyron again. The scallop is edged in Chocolate Chip. It didn't stand out enough with out it. I cut a second top note, then trimmed it at the perforations and used it to mask my first one. Then I sponged on Not Quite Navy to make a border.

I have a few other things to post, but I started my new job at the hospital as a massge therapist. I still have my old job as a medical technoligist in micro too. I am also working on finishing my massage room at Curves, so I've been pretty busy. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more posts up soon.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: SU Wanted
Ink: Chocolate Chip. Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Kraft, Confetti Cream, Not Quite Navy
Extras: Taupe and Chocolate Chip Narrow Grosgrain ribbon, Big Shot, Top Note and Naturaaly Serif dies, Hodgepodge Hardware, chip board, sponge

Birthday Wishes for Melissa

My stamping/workout buddy Melissa celebrated a birthday last Saturday. This is the card I sent her.

I used some retired, but lovely SU sets. The main image is from Easy Elegance, with a background stamped with French Script. I stamped it on Confetti White and matted it with black and Lovely Lilac. I used my Spica clear glitter pen on the flower.

A spiral clip from Target, a rhinestone for the center of the flower, a thin strip of black card stock, and a bit of organdy ribbon finish the card.
Happy Birthday Melissa!

Stamps: Easy Elegance, Amazing to Zany, French Script, Rough Around the Edges Wheel.
Ink: Always Artichoke, Lovely Lilac, Mellow Moss, Basic Black
Paper: Confetti White, Basic Black, Lovely Lilac, Mellow Moss
Extras: Spiral clip from Target, White Organdy Ribbon, Spica Clear Glitter Pen, clear rhinestone

Big Shot Fun

What fun the Big Shot is! I made these cute little thank you cards and envelopes using the Big Shot. The Scallop Envelope Bigz Die and the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Die are exclusive to Stampin'Up.

I made these very quickly last night to add to a few orders. I die cut the envelope from Riding Hood Red, and the scallop flower from Pink Pirouette. After folding and adhering the envelope, I stamped the heart from Bitty Basics, which is a cute hostess set from the new Fall Winter Idea Book. Along with the heart, it comes with a leaf, flower, butterfly, star, coffee mug, cupcake and 3 sentiments: thanks, smile, and hello. I stamped the thanks onto a 2 x 3 inch card and tucked it in. A little strip of chocolate Bella Rose DSP finishes off the design. So simple, but I think they are cute. I left them blank so my customers can use them.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. We've been busy. We visited our oldest son Scott in Pittsburgh in order to attend his lab's family day. We all went and it was fun seeing what he does. (Well, sort of,since most of his work is classified.) I will post a pic soon.

Thanks for visiting!

All supplies by Stampin'Up!
Stamps: Bitty Basics (hostess)
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP
Extras: Scallop Envelope and Birds and Blooms dies, Big Shot

Simple Wishes

I made this simple card for my sister-in-law for her birthday on Monday. Sometimes a simple design is just what I'm looking for.

The size of this card is 6 1/2" by 3 1/4". I stamped the image on vellum and colored it with markers on the backside. I layered it over a smaller white square and attached that with dimensionals.

The sentiment is accented by a drop of Crystal Effects that I covered with Dazzling Diamonds. You could also use a drop of Stickles.

The envelope is from SU. I really like this size card, and the fact that the envelope opens at the end. So cute!

Have a happy Wednesday! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Doodle That, Small Script, both by SU.
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Vellum, Whisper White, Pixie Pink
Extras: Green Galore, Pixie Pink, Yoyo Yellow markers, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds

This is a card I made last fall for SCS Color Challenge 135. The required colors are River Rock, Basic Gray, and Basic Black. I really love River Rock, and will miss it. I bought several packages before it retired.

I used an old retired SU set, Art of Life. I love this set. The trim behind the main image is SU's Trimtastic stamped in black of Basic Gray. It almost looks like a fabric trim.

The River Rock background uses a TP technique I learned from Leslie Miller. I like using this to add a little texture to a solid color card stock.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We had a beautiful day here in northern Illinois. We did a lot of yardwork after church, and then in the late afternoon we took our 3 sons, Suzy (Daniel's girlfriend), and my sister and brother-in-law out to dinner at Maggiano's. We were celebrating a special occasion. We paid our final mortgage payment in June. Certainly something to celebrate!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Art of Life, Trimtastic

Paper: River Rock, Basic Gray, Basic Black

Ink: River Rock, Basic Gray

Accessories: Almost Amethyst Marker, Brads, Sponge

Ordination Favors

My sister's parish had a deacon who was serving there in his last year before his ordination into the priesthood this past June. He was from Poland and had no family here. Her parish was hosting a reception for his ordination and my sister thought she and I could make some favors. His family only speaks Polish and came from Poland to witness his ordination, so they weren't able to do much for him here. So I designed this little chocolate holder that I saw on SCS. I didn't use this video by Angie Kennedy Juda, but it is a great one for making this holder. I originally made a cute little box, but it was too labor intensive to make 50 of them.

I used one of the crosses from PaperTrey's Everyday Blessings set and embossed it in silver. I matted that with SU brushed silver.

On the inside, I used Encore silver to stamp the blessing and the little curly in the corner.

A little bit of retired SU silver ribbon finished it off and kept it closed. I didn't have enough ribbon, but we found a similar ribbon at Walmart. The chocolate inside is a Ghirardelli Intense Dark Mint Bliss 60% cocoa square. I only mention this because there are other Ghirardelli squares that are much thicker. They don't fit in the folder well. They are the ones my sister bought and had to take back because they were too thick! You get about 13 or so to a package. I paid $3.99 at Walgreens, so they are about 25 cents each.

I think Fr. Greg and his family appreciated the fact that my sister made them, and many of the guests commented to my sister how nice they were. I was glad we were able to make his special day a bit nicer. Now I am going to eat the chocolate since the photo shoot is over. ;)

Have a great weekend! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Everyday Blessings - PTI
Ink: Encore Silver
Paper: Basic Black, Brushed Silver
Extras: Silver EP, Silver ribbon from SU or Walmart, Ghirardelli Intense Dark Mint Bliss 60% Cocao Squares

Second Convention Swap

Hello ladies! I've made it back from convention and thought I would show you my second swap I made. (My simpler one!) This one uses Happiness Always, a hostess set from the new Fall Winter Idea Book and Catalog. It features the new In Color, Pink Pirouette. It's such a soft, pretty pink.

I stamped the open butterfly with Heat and Stick powder, heated it, then covered it with Dazzling Diamonds. I embossed the sentiment with silver EP. I really love pink and black together, even though the pink and brown combo is really more "in" now.

I will try to get some of my best swaps from convention posted. They aren't even out of my suitcase yet! Thanks for visiting!

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Happiness Always (hostess)
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette
Extras: Heat and Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Silver EP, silver brads, black gingham ribbon, Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon

Convention Swap

I am at the Stampin' Up! annual convention in Salt Lake City. Actually I am in my living room getting ready to leave for convention tomorrow. I am going to set this to auto post on July 31st. Hopefully it will work!

This is one of my swaps for convention. Way too involved! But I like the way it turned out. I realized when I was printing out the recipe that I used a bit of ribbon from the last mini. Hopefully it will be in the new catty. I will tell everyone before I swap, so they know it has something expired, if it's not in the new catty. I hope it is, because I like that polytwill ribbon.

I used the new scallop edge punch and a new set we were able to preorder, Dreams du Jour. Ii watercolored the image with reinkers, then embossed it twice with Iridescent Ice EP. I didn't like it just embossed once, so I tried it again and liked the effect.

The DP is the new Bella Rose. New In Colors are Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Pink Pirouette. I don't know if you can tell, but I used Versamark and the butterfly in the set on the Baja Breeze background.

I made the pink flower by repeatedly curling a piece of pink cardstock over the edge of a ruler until I had broken the fibers and I could separate the layers of paper. Then I used the Boho Blossom punch to make my own paper flowers.

Hope you enjoy the weekend! See you when I get back! Thanks for visiting.

Edited on 8-7-08 to add the full photo. I didn't even realize it wasn't there! Sorry!

Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Ink: Black Stazon; Versamark; Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, and Baja Breeze reinkers.
Paper: Bella Rose DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Confetti White
Extras: Iridescent Ice EP, Scallop Edge, Boho Blossoms, and large oval punches, Old Olive Polytwill ribbon, Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, Pretties Kit.

A Brady Boy Wedding

We went to a lovely wedding on Monday night. It was a wedding uniting two families with 3 boys each. There ages are 18, 17, 15, 13,13, and 11. It was a beautiful ceremony; each boy lit a candle in a seven candle array and the parents then lit the final one together. Very touching.

We decided to give them a gift card, so I made a holder with a very cool inside. I found it on SCS, and I tried to find the blog that I used for the tutorial, but I apparently lost the link. I will try to update with the dimensions.

I used Blush Blossom card stock to make the holder, and River Rock for the ink and mat. I used a clear Spica glitter pen to trace over all of the swirls. You can see that in the second photo.

There is really very little stamping here. I did use the retired Damask background from SU for the inside, since it seemed rather plain when I went to sign it. You can see that in the last picture.

Thanks for visiting!


Stamps: Illuminations, Damask both by SU!
Ink: River Rock, Blush Blossom
Paper: Blush Blossom, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Extras: Pink rhinestones, Spica clear glitter pen, Word Window and 3/4" punches, pink satin ribbon

Cakeabella for Tori

A few weeks ago I mentioned about a day of stamping with friends. Patti had some Bella stamps. This one is Cakeabella, and I watercolored her with Twinkling H2Os. I used a little Prismacolor pencil in a brown shade to add a little color to her hair. She was a little too blond for my liking. I blended it with a colorless blender pencil.

The ribbon, flower, and most of the bling were all part of a blog candy I won from Patti a few months ago. The bling on the cake was from a clearance scrapbooking find at Target.

Tomorrow is my oldest great niece's birthday. She will be 17. I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend.

Happy Birthday Tori!

Stamps: Cakeabella, SU Small Script
Ink: Stazon Black
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Cool Caribbean, watercolor, Retired SU DP
Extras: wide grosgrain ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Twinkling H2Os, rhinestone stickers, fabric flower, Spica glitter pens, scallop edge scissors.

A Star Spangled Birthday

Happy 232nd birthday to our nation, and happy 23rd birthday to my son, Scott!

I made this birthday card for my son, but I didn't put any sentiment on it. I thought the flag said it all. He is on vacation this week in our nation's capitol, so he will see some spectacular fireworks tonight. As a kid he always thought they were just part of his birthday celebration!

The stamp I used is an old Peddler's Pack stamp. I used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to color the image. The fireworks were colored in with Spica glitter markers.

Happy Birthday Scott! Happy Birthday America!

Stamps: Peddler's Pack
Ink: Stazon Black
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Night of Navy, all SU, PTI Stamper's Select
Extras: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Spica Glitter Pens

Greetings from Louisville

Today I am in Louisville with my husband who has a conference here. I spent the day walking around downtown Louisville and stamping! Most of my suitcase was filled with stamps and supplies!

I needed to make a card for my great nephew, Andrew. He turns 4 tomorrow. I brought along the paper that I received from Kisa, Daisy D's Sidewalk Chalk Mini's. (Thanks, Kisa!) The second card below was my first attempt. I had everything cut and ready to assemble when I realized I didn't bring any adhesive! Oops! Off to find some.

When I returned, I decided the card was too girly. So I swapped out the Mellow Moss cardstock for Certainly Celery, and the Orchid Opulence cardstock for Brilliant Blue. It's still not too masculine, but he's only 4, so I don't think he'll mind.

I took the first photo during the day, but didn't photograph the second one until evening, so
unfortunately the image isn't as nice.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Unfrogettable SU!

Ink: Stazon Black pad, Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Garden Green, Orchid Opulence, and Bordering Blue Markers for watercoloring

Paper: Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Brilliant Blue, Orchid Opulence, watercolor, Stamper's Select White by PTI, Daisy D's Sidewalk Chalk Swatches Paper Minis.

Extras: Black Brads, Martha Stewart punch, Black gingham ribbon, dimensionals, google eyes.

Copic Weekend Thank You

This was my weekend to work, and since we work with less staff on the weekends, they are usually quite draining. So I many times don't have the energy to stamp after dinner. But I managed to get a card stamped over a few days.

This is a card for our neighbors, who recently returned from an Alaskan cruise, and brought us back all sorts of fun stuff. Smoked salmon, which on l plan on using in a smoked salmon pasta salad I like to make, Alaskan chocolates, a HUGE Washington state apple that 4 of us shared for dessert, and my favorite, a bag of huckleberry pancake mix that smells heavenly. I'm planning on making them next Sunday after church.

The pancake mix is packaged in a fabric bag that gave me the inspiration for these colors. I used my Copics to color in the image. I am slowly increasing he image size! lol I wasn't too happy with the way the word melon smeared a bit when I used my blender over it. But not unhappy enough to redo the whole thing over. ;)

The background is Weathered, by SU!. I used my clear Spica glitter pen to color over the melons, and some Black Diamond Stickles on the dots next to the word melon.

A little bit of ribbon, and some brads in the corners finish off this card. Hope you had a great weekend, and you managed to get some stamping done. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Farm Fresh, Weathered, both by SU!

Ink: Versamark, Adirondack Pitch Black

Paper: PTI Stamper's Select, SU! Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Only Orange

Extras: Mustard grosgrain, and Black gingham ribbon, Black Diamond Stickles, Copic Markers, Spica clearglitterpen, ticket corner punch, dimensionals

Bit of a Repeat

This is sort of a duplicate post. This is the original card I made for our stamping day last Thursday. It is the same as the Birthday card in my post from Tuesday, the 17th, except for the sentiment. I wanted to tell you about this particular card and about TAC stamps.

I made this card especially for Suzy, my son Daniel's girlfriend. She is certainly one of my nicest thoughts. She is a great girl and we love her very much. She is away at school this summer and I know she is a bit lonely. So I'm hoping this card will brighten her spirits a bit.

This sentiment is a TAC stamp. I had never used a TAC stamp before, but I received this one from a blog candy that I won from Kisa. She has a great blog, Kisa's Paper Cuts, and she gave away a fabulous package. I got loads of TAC stamps, designer paper, and two darling rub ons that come in an applicator. I will be sure to post once I use the things she gave me.
The TAC stamps come as blue rubber and need to be trimmed. They come with cling vinyl foam that I stamped the image onto before I trimmed it. So you stick the rubber onto the sticky side of the foam, trim it out, pop it on an acrylic block, and you are good to go. Thanks again Kisa! You can find her blog on my blog roll to the right.

The details on this card are in my previous post here. The only difference is the sentiment from TAC.

Have a lovely day, and I hope you get to stamp! Thanks for visiting!

A Turtle Birthday

This card is for my nephew, Matthew who turned 18 the other day. It is a pretty simple card: no ribbon and few layers. My masculine cards tend to run that way.

I used the turtle from the retired set Nature Prints. I like this set and all of the images are appropriate for cards for guys. I watercolored him with my SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

I distressed all of the panel edges and rounded the corners of both the panels and the card. The turtle panel is wrapped in gold DMC metallic thread. It a good fiber to use on a masculine card since it has a metal element, and it's rather subtle. I had forgotten that I had it, until I saw a piece trying to escape from my drawer, and I decided it would be a good addition to my card.

Today was a picture perfect day here in northern Illinois. I met a friend for lunch at the Morton Arboretum. Everyone else seemed to think this was the perfect day for lunch at the Arboretum too, as it was one of their busiest days. I enjoyed the view, the company, and the lunch! Hope your day was picture perfect too. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Nature Prints, Birthday Whimsy, and Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black, Versamark
Paper: Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Basic Black, watercolor
Extras: Watercolor Wonder Crayons by SU!, Black brads, Corner rounder, DMC Metallic thread Lt. Gold

Birthday Wishes

I made this card for my sister's 65th birthday. She lives in Ohio, so we don't get to see each other too often, but I lived with her for several summers as a young teen. She was a teacher, and would take classes over the summer, and I would live with them for the summer and watch her kids.

This was my card for a shoebox swap that I was at last week. I got together with my old stamping friends Patti and Juli, and met a new friend, Theresa. We spent the morning making our shoe box swaps, had a lovely lunch provided by Patti, and then spent the afternoon playing, mostly with Patti's goodies!

My card uses my Nestabilities, and that cute Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch.
The stamps are from SU!. The watercolored heart is from the Occasion's Mini set Just Celebrate, and the sentiment is a hostess set in the Spring Summer Collection.

I used my Spica At You glitter pens on both the heart and the candle. You can just about make out the clear on the heart in the close-up.

I hope you had chance to stamp today. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Just Celebrate, For A Friend,Hot to Dot wheel, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black, Soft Sky Classic pad, Soft Sky, Lavender Lace, and River Rock reinkers
Paper: watercolor, Soft Sky, River Rock, Lavender Lace, Very Vanilla
Extras: Nestabilities, Spica glitter pens, River Rock double stitched ribbon, SU! rhinestone brads, Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dad's!

I remember my Dad with much fondness today. He was a wonderful Dad and loved all five of us kids very much. He was a good provider working full time into his seventies until I was finished with college. One of the best memories I have of my dad is the last time I danced with him. We were at my niece's wedding and I was dancing with him to "Unforgettable." I always loved to dance with my dad. He was an excellent dancer. I remember telling myself to enjoy this dance, because I couldn't be sure I'd get another opportunity to dance with him. He was 81 at the time. That was in February and he died that same May, just nine months after my mom. That was 16 years ago, and when I hear "Unforgettable", it still brings tears to my eyes. I love you, Daddy.

So anyway, I made this card for my husband, who is a dedicated dad to our 4 boys. Our boys are turning into honest, caring, and loving young men, just like their dad. Well, maybe not the young part!

I watercolored the focal image from SU!'s Thinking of Father. The embellishments on the corners are Dew Drops, and I applied Ranger's Sepia Accents over the main image to give it an aged look. You might be able to see that if you enlarge the image. I used Flannel plaid on the left and Cheesecloth on the right, both by SU!. I thought the right side still needed something, so I used toilet paper wadded up and dabbed on some Antique Linen Distress ink.

I like how it turned out, and more importantly, so did my husband. Although he's so nice, I'm not sure he'd ever say he didn't like a card I made, unless I didn't like it, and then he might agree with me.

I hope you enjoyed Father's Day, either with your own dad, or thinking of him, or with the father of your children. May God bless Father's everywhere today, and everyday.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Thinking of Father, Cheesecloth, Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Stazon Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink
Paper: Watercolor, More Mustard, Really Rust, Basic Black
Extras: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon, Dew Drops, Sepia Accents by Ranger, SU! ticket corner punch, Watercolor Wonder Crayons by SU!

A Pair of Graduates

These are a pair of graduation cards I made up for some graduation parties we had a few Saturdays back.

I used Debbie Olsen's design here. She used the small letters and medium numbers to put the school and the year on them. When I ordered my Just Right Stamper, my medium numbers and small letter set was missing, and I didn't get the replacement shipment in time. So I used the graduation sentiment from Papertrey's Mixed Messages.

Our first recipient graduated from Buffalo Grove High School, so I went on the internet and looked up the school's colors to use in my card. I used Brilliant Blue and Pumpkin Pie from SU!. I was working, so I didn't go to the party, but I'm hoping he appreciated my using his school colors.

Our second graduate just finished 8th grade, so I didn't use any particular colors. I chose Pixie Pink and Certainly Celery for her.

The card is a tri-fold, with the inside flap going half way up the card to make a pocket, where I placed a check for the gift. A gift card would also fit nicely.

I apologize for not posting in such a long time. Things are more back to normal around here, so I am hoping to be blogging on a more regular basis now. We had a beautiful day here today in northern Illinois. I hope you did too. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: PTI Mixed Messages, Just Right Monogram stamper
Ink:Pixie Pink, Brilliant Blue
Paper PTI Stamper's Select, Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue
Extras: Martha Stewart Zig Zag punch, Making Memories Photo Anchors, Nestabilities

My First Try with Copics and other new stuff

I used my Copic markers to color this image for a card for my niece's birthday. She is 40 today. Happy birthday Joelle!

I have had some Copics for a while, but I haven't really sat down to play with them. So I tried them on this image. I want to try them on something larger next time.

I also used my new Doily Lace edge punch from Martha Stewart. I think it's lovely. I used it on the front egde of the card, so the pink from the back side shows through.

Another new for me product that I used on this card is Glimmer Midt. I used Pearl on all of the white cardstock. I'm not sure you can see it, even in a close up, but it is very pretty. It gives the paper a beautiful shimmer.

I had fun playing with my new toys! In my next post, I will tell you about the fun day I had stamp shopping with a friend. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your weekend!

Stamps: SU! Oh so Lovely, PTI Mixed Messages
Ink: Stazon Black, PTI Berry Sorbet
Paper: SU! Regal Rose, Rose Red
Extras: Cuttlebug die tag, Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch, Copic markers, SU! Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon, silver cord, Pearl Glimmer Mist, Spica At You clear glitter pen, dimensionals

Belated Graduation Gift

This is one of a set of note cards that I made for my son's girl friend. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh last month, but I got a little behind with my knee problem. She has sent me several notes, so I thought she would appreciate a set of note cards.

I got the idea from Emily here.

I used Baroque Motifs for the background, and my Just Right Monogram Stamper. I used my circle Nestabilities and Cuttlebug to cut the circles and the Nestability scallop to cut the mats from Purely Pomegranate. A little bit of pink ribbon completes the design.

I hope she likes them. Thanks for visiting!


Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Just Right Monogram Stamper
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Paper: SU! notecards, Purely Pomegranate
Extras: Scallop and circle Nestabilities, SU! lt. pink grosgrain ribbon

I'm Back!

Sorry that I haven't posted in so long. I was in the hospital last weekend with a cellulitis/bursitis in my knee and leg. I needed IV antibiotics, and ended up going home with a central line so that I can infuse IV antibiotics at home. So things have been pretty crazy around here!

This card is for my niece's daughter, Ava, who was 5 on Wednesday. She's getting this a little late since I was out of commission for a bit. This card is also a submission for the Ways To Use It 166 challenge on SCS. This challenge is to use Inchies in a card. Inchies are little mini canvases to work on. One inch by one inch. You can use a little stamp, or a portion of a bigger stamp.

I used the little cupcake from SU's Short and Sweet. I used masking so it looked like a group of them. The other images are from SU's Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories. I used a square Nestability to make the scalloped mats for the images.

If you click on the image to enlarge it, you might be able to see the Amuse twinkle rhinestone stickers I used for the cherries on the cupcakes and for the dot on the "i" in big. There is also some of my favorite Spica clear glitter pen on the images too.

I hope you enjoy this little inchie birthday wish. Have a great weekend, and hopefully you will have nice weather and maybe get a bit of stamping in too! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Short and Sweet, Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories, all by SU!
Ink: Black Stazon
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, WW
Extras: Amuse Rhinestone Twinkle stickers, Spica clear glitter pen, Lt pink grosgrain ribbon, SU key tag and horizontal slot punches, Nestability square scallop.

Happy Birthday to Karen

A quick post to show you a birthday card for my neighbor Karen. Today was her birthday, and she is a special lady. She and her husband have sort of adopted our boys. They have watched them grow up since they were born. They have no children, so they enjoy ours. Last summer her husband George took my 4 boys to a fly-in fishing lodge in Canada for a week. They all had a great time. It is a great blessing to have such wonderful neighbors!

This card uses a chip board flower as the focal point and I used Beate's weekend sketch 46 for my layout. I will edit later with a link and more description.

I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the blue Creating Keepsakes paper. This paper is white on the back, so I used a sanding block on the dots which whitens them. I like that look. It will also work with white core paper. It will not work with SU paper because SU paper is solid color throughout the paper. But you could achieve the same look with a white ink pad softly brushed over the dots.

I covered a chipboard flower with the same paper as I used for the embossed background paper. I stamped it with SU's Fresh Fillers in Soft Sky. It has a Target $ Spot rhinestone and some of my favorite flavor of Stickles, Star Dust.

Hope you had a great weekend! It was a perfect spring day here today!
Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: SU For a Friend and Fresh Fillers
Ink:Soft Sky, Stazon Black
Paper: Making Memories DP, Certainly Celery, WW
Extras:SU chip board floer, lt.pink grosgrain ribbon, SU flower slide, Target $ spot rhinestone, scallop edge scissors, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, sanding block, Star Dust Stickles by Ranger, SU horizontal slot punch, Lemon Spica glitter pen, dimensionals.

Edited on 5/6/08 to add more information and link.

Get Well Melissa

This is a quick little card I made for my Curves buddy, Melissa, who hasn't been able to work out for a while due to a back injury. So I've been missing her and I thought I'd let her know by sending her some flowers. haha

I watercolored the pick up with my markers. I partially colored the truck with markers and then I used my aquapainter to blend the ink. I used a gel pen on the chrome parts of the truck. You can see that better in the close up.

I used decorative edged scallop scissors to make the scallop edge and then punched with my 1/16" hole punch. The little paper flowers are my faux primas. Here's how you can make some. Take a small piece of card stock and run it over the edge of the table a bunch of times until it gets soft. The edges will begin to separate. You should be able to pull the pieces apart fairly easily. If they aren't separating easily, keep working your card stock to break the fibers a bit more. Once you separate it, you can take any flower punch you have and make your own Prima-type flowers!

A few rhinestones, a little Stickles, and an SU flower ribbon slide teamed up with some pink grosgrain finished up the card. Hope you have a great weekend and you find some time to stamp! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories both by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black
Paper: Watercolor, Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Retired SU! DP
Extras: Three for You Punch, Sakura gel pen, Spica glitter pen sin lemon and melo, SU flower ribbon slide, pink grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge scissors, 1/16" punch, Target $ spot rhinestone tattoos, Star Dust Stickles