Prayers for Rose

One of the women who owns my local Curves where I workout is in the hospital. So I made this card to bring in for members to sign. I made it a bit bigger than a standard card, about 5x7, so we would have more room to sign.

I used watercolor paper to stamp the flowers from SU Bud Basics. I then used my markers to place some color directly on the paper. I put the turquoise and green on at the same time and then used my aqua painter to blend the ink directly on the paper. After drying, I cut them out and curved the petals over a pen. Watercolor paper is much easier to cut and shape, I'm thinking because it's a bit thicker than regular cardstock.

I ran a piece of Green Galore through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. The tag is a Cuttlebug slider, stamped with SU So Many Sayings.

To add some bling, I used SU rhinestone brads and some Star Dust Stickles. You can see the bling a bit better in the close up.

Inside the card I stamped a sentiment from SU God's Blessings:

A friend is someone who
strengthens you
with prayers,
blesses you with love,
and encourages you
with hope.
Then I signed it , From all your friends at Curves.
I thought that was a perfect sentiment on a card that a lot of people were going to sign.

Today is a beautifully sunny day in Northern Illinois, and I hope this card will bring some sunshine to Rose. Enjoy your day and thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Bud Basics, God's Blessings, So Many Sayings all by SU!
Ink: Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore markers for watercoloring
Paper: watercolor, Papertrey white, SU! Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore
Extras: SU! Fire Rhinestone Brads, black gingham and grosgrain ribbon, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and Slider die, Aquapainter, Star Dust Stickles by Ranger.

Beate's Sketch Challenge-Welcome Colin

Here is my entry for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge 45. You can find it here. My nephew and his wife had a baby boy last month and named him Colin Edward. I made this card for him.

My post needs to be short since it's Sunday night and I need to be at work tomorrow morning at 6.

I stamped the boat several times and watercolored all of the images. I cut out the different parts of the boat and layered them on top of each other.

I used my Cuttlebug for the blue layer, and the tag. I used my Spica glitter pens and Stickles to bling up images.
You can see the glitter a bit better in the close up shot. I will edit tomorrow evening to add all the particulars. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: SU! Toy Box, Papertrey Mixed Messages
Ink: Stazon Black
Paper: Watercolor, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst
Extras: Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing Folder and tag, SU! Taffeta ribbon, Star Dust Stickles, Spica Lemon glitter pen, Amuse Twinkle dot rhinestone sticker, dimensionals

Papertrey Blog Hop

Papertrey is holding a Blog Hop on Friday, April 25, and I decided to participate. Our challenge was to use their Father Knows Best DP. I didn't own any, but Nichole, one of the owners, let us download a sample sheet. We could use it in any way we wanted, but we had to use squares no larger than about 1 1/2" square. So I decided to punch those cute little Three For You flowers.

This is a simple card, but I like it how it turned out. I used Papertrey Aqua Mist and Spring Moss. I had trouble with the green coming out too dark. It's actually much lighter and prettier. The aqua is more pale too in real life. You can see the colors more accurately here. The flowers are a yellow color which you might be able to see if you click on the photo to enlarge it. I retook the photo this afternoon outside, but it's gloomy here with a storm approaching.

The medallion is a Cuttlebug die. The ribbon is a lovely soft and flexible twill from Papertrey.

This card is for my son's girlfriend, who is graduating on Saturday from The University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Bioengineering. I hope she doesn't read my blog, because I haven't sent it yet! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Mixed Messages (Papertrey)
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Papertrey Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Father Knows Best DP
Extras:Three For You punch, Cuttlebug die and Swiss Dot embossing folder, silver brads, Aqua Mist twill, Amuse Creative Candy micro dots.

Alina's Birthday

This card is made from one of my submissions for an ATC swap on SCS. An ATC, or artist trading card, is a small card the size of a baseball card. You can read more about them here. The swap I participated in was a "bling" swap. I like to use ATCs to make full cards, as I did here.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there is Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the cupcake frosting, and on the dots running across the ATC, behind the scallop and the flowers. I used an Essential Glue Pad to stamp the dots and then sprinkled on the glitter.

I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug to emboss the pink panel and decorative scissors to make the scalloped border. I finished it off with a piece of Soft Sky ribbon tied to a flower ribbon slide from SU!

This card is for my great niece's 3rd birthday. She is the sister of Benjamin, the recipient of the keepsake from my last post. I'm sure she will enjoy her birthday after all of the festivities for her brother! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: SU Short and Sweet
Ink: Stazon Black Pad, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, and Real Red markers for watercoloring
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Soft Sky DSP
Extras: Essential Glue Pad, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2 way glue, Three for You and scallop punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, scallop decorative edge scissors, Soft Sky double stitch ribbon, SU! flower slide ribbon, flat back pearls, rhinestone

Vintage Christening

Yesterday was the baptism of my niece's son, Benjamin. The babies in our family use a gown that my paternal grandmother made in 1902 for my uncle's birth. My father, my brother and sisters, most of my nieces, nephews, their children, my children, and I were baptized in it. So this image from Buggies and Booties from SU! is perfect.

Several years ago at convention, SU! demonstrated making a baptism record using this set. This is my version of it. I made a pink version for my niece when her daughter was born 3 years ago, so I made her one for Benjamin too.

This is actually quite easy. The gowns are stamped in Stazon on watercolor paper and watercolored with markers. I used Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, and Apricot Appeal. I distressed the edges, mounted them on torn Barely Banana panels and tied off-white narrow organdy ribbon around the bottom of each panel.

I die cut 3 tags from watercolor paper and stamped them with date, time and place on each tag, using markers to color in the words I wanted. Then I wrote in the date, time, and church with a grey marker, and tied them onto the ribbons with a length of crochet cotton.

I really wanted to be able to have an embossed background because I wanted the vintage look that embossing would lend. The Cuttlebug folders are only about 4" by 5 1/2", and the Cuttlebug is only about 6" wide, so I wasn't able to emboss the entire sheet. I thought about cutting and piecing the background, but I really didn't want any seams. So, I got out my rolling pin and placed my folder on my large sheet and rolled away. It was pretty hard work, and I had to do it 6 times, moving the folder to a new section each time. The embossing didn't come out nearly as crisp as when it's done in the Cuttlebug, but I was pleased with how it turned out; sort of a "distressed" embossing.

The frame is from Walmart, $9.99. In the corner, I used a Hodgepodge Hardware frame to enclose the baby's name. I attached the frame with some dimensionals and attached some pale blue grosgrain around the corner.

I wanted to create a space, like a shadow box, between the framing glass and the art work, so I attached the glass to the inside front of the frame with my ATC gun adhesive. I tossed all of those filler pieces that come with the frame to help keep your picture against the glass. Mounting the artwork onto the back panel of the frame left a nice space so that the 3 dimensional parts of the project stay that way.

Of course, the baby needed a Christening card, so I used the same gown image for the card. I die cut a tag and stamped the word Blessings from the SU set God's Blessings. The rest of the details for the card are the same as for the baptismal record.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend. We had a picture perfect spring day here in northern Illinois. Spring is finally here! Woohoo! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: SU Buggies and Booties, God's Blessings
Ink: Stazon Black, Going Grey, SU Markers for watercoloring
Paper:Watercolor, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana
Extras: Hodgepogde Hardware, Ivory narrow organdy ribbon, Oval punch, Cuttlebug tag die cut and embossing folder, pale blue narrow grosgrain ribbon

Textured Elegance

This card was my entry for a VSN challenge on SCS last weekend. The challenge was called Wedding Elegance, and the challenge was to capture the elegance of a wedding. The card did not have to be a wedding card, just be elegant.

I chose to make a card for my husband. He is a wonderful husband, a great dad, and a good provider. Besides, I love him too! ;) I wanted to let him know that.

Using white cardstock, I embossed each end only part way with my Stylized Flowers Cuttlebug folder. In the center, I stamped the sentiment in black.

I tied a length of SU's white taffeta ribbon around the panel and mounted it on black cardstock. I used white cardstock for the base, and completed the card with a Swarovski crystal at the end of the sentiment.

This card was very quick and quite easy to make, but I think it makes a big impact.

I hope you get some stamping in this weekend. I am working, and most of my boys are camping this weekend, including my husband, so maybe I will have some time to stamp. Enjoy your weekend! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Wonderful Words by SU
Ink: Basic Black
Paper:Papertrey Staper's Select white, SU Basic Black
Extras: Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers folder, SU taffeta ribbon, Swarovski crystal

Hoping For Spring

This is another card I made for the Virtual Stamp Night on SCS. For this challenge we had to use a "sketch" type stamp. So I chose this cute little spring tree from SU's A Tree for all Seasons.

I used markers straight and I also watercolored parts of the image. You can't really see it in the photo, but I used a Spica clear glitter marker on the blossoms. The celery panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, and the tiny tag is a Cuttlebug die. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages.

The last touches were some ribbon and little pink crystals that I got on clearance at Target.

I like how this turned out and I am sending it to a friend who had surgery recently, but I neglected to send her a get well card. Well, it's a little late now; she's feeling much better. So I began the inside of the card with "Just because I'm a dope, and I never sent you a get well card." ;)

We've had a few spring like days since I made this card. The birds sure know it's spring with all the glorious singing they've been doing in the morning. I hope there are some signs of spring where you are today! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: A Tree for All Seasons, Mixed Messages (PaperTrey)

Paper: Confetti White, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Blue Bayou, Porcelain Prints DSP

Ink: Stazon Black, Blue Bayou

Accessories: Markers, Grosgrain ribbon, Cuttlebug tag and embossing folder, Spica glitter pen, Stick-on rhinestones on clearance at Target( I think they were by Marcella), SU Scallop and 1 3/8" punch.

Tickled Pink!

We are tickled pink! Our son Daniel has been dating his girlfriend for about 4 years now. Suzy has become a part of our family and we think the world of her. She is a sophomore at ISU and has been waiting to hear about her acceptance into the school of nursing. She was recently accepted and we are so happy for her. I made her this card to let her know. She will make a wonderful nurse!

This card was made for another VSN challenge. See my last post if you aren't sure what this means. This challenge, following the fashion theme, was a limited supply challenge. We were supposed to remember our school uniforms and think no bling, 2 stamp limit, only 2 colors of paper, only 2 tools from a limited list, and only 2 accessories from a short list. The challenge is explained here if you'd like to try.

I chose pink and black as my colors, 2 sizes of circle punches for my tools, and brads as my embellishments. These choices ensured a much better look than my Catholic school uniform garb of gray and drab blue scratchy wool plaid! ;)

This first card was blinged up a bit after I posted it on SCS, because it's really hard for me to send out a cute card without ribbon, glitter, and bling! ;) The second photo below is how I submitted it for the challenge. I added the bow, 2 little pink crystals on the ends of the antennae and traced over the sentiment with a clear Spica glitter pen. I'm not that happy with the bow. I would have preferred to have it tied behind that main image panel, but it was stuck on too well.

Hope you have something today that you are tickled pink about. Happy Monday! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Very Punny by SU
Ink: Stazon Black pad, Pixie Pink and Bordering Blue Markers
Paper: Basic Black, Pixie Pink, and Confetti White
Extras: 1/2" and 5/8" circle punches, brads, pink crystals (Target clearance), pink grosgrain ribbon, clear Spica glitter pen
Technique: watercoloring

Fashionable Fish

You might be wondering why this fish is fashionable.
I've been participating in a challenge stamping weekend over at SCS. It's called Virtual Stamp Night, or VSN. You can read about it here. A challenge is put out every hour that somehow relates to the theme. The theme this weekend is Fashion. You have 45 minutes to make the card.

The challenge for this card was to use thread in your design. I started thinking about this as I was going to bed last night. I wanted to use my sewing machine, so I started thinking about fabric. The SU background stamp, Flannel Plaid popped into my head and I remembered that my niece's husband's birthday is coming up. He is an avid outdoorsman and fisherman. So I thought I would go masculine for this card.

I watercolored the fish with one of my favorite methods; markers scribbled on a plastic pallet and picked up with a wet brush. It's quicker than opening up a bunch of stamp pads, and more transparent than watercolor crayons. I sponged on Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye on both the fish image and the sentiment.

I stamped the teal layer with the Flannel stamp in Garden Green to help tone down the brightness of the teal. I stamped the Canvas background on the small green panel and then I stitched it onto the flannel panel. I heavily distressed the edges of my layers with the distressing tool from SU! to invoke the feeling of flannel.

I had to use my Spica glitter pens on the fish. I used turquoise, olive, lemon, and clear. I LOVE these glitter pens. They have such a fine sparkle. I know that most "men" type cards don't usually have glitter on them, but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, nature has lots of sparkle, and I had to make my fish fashionable, right? teehee.

So, if you have a bit of time this weekend, join in some VSN fun. Anyone can play and the only requirement is to do the card in 45 minutes. That is a challenge, but I find that I can make a nice card in that time. I'm thinking I should limit my time for all of my cards to an hour. I spend way too much time agonizing over every little detail. With just 45 minutes, you can't ditz around with decision making. Decide and do it! That's my new motto.

I hope you are enjoying some lovely spring weather. We are having our first beautiful spring day today here in Northern Illinois. How nice for us that it's on a weekend! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Nature Prints, It's Your Birthday, Canvas, Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black and Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress ink pads, SU! markers in Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Close to Cocoa, and More Mustard.
Paper: Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Confetti White,and watercolor
Extras: Spica glitter pens in turquoise, olive, lemon and clear; SU! cutter kit, circle paper clip, sewing machine, and black thread.

Happy Birthday to my ol' Bro

I made this card for my brother's birthday. He will be 66 tomorrow.
It's a little hard to believe, but it's OK to say that because I know that he doesn't read my blog!

I was experimenting with the faux shaving cream technique. I first learned this technique at an SU! convention a few years ago.
Take a solid image stamp, (I used a solid rectangle here) and ink it up. Then ink up a wheel in a complimentary color and twist and swipe it onto the solid stamp. Huff on your stamp and stamp it onto your cardstock. I used More Mustard for the solid stamp and Chocolate Chip for the wheel. This is a great Faux Shaving Cream tutorial.
The giraffe and sentiment are stamped in black. The image on the right is a retired SU! wheel that I stamped in Versamark and embossed in gold. A bit of gold cord, a torn edge, and a little distressing on the edge of the giraffe panel add some texture to the card without adding much thickness. Thickness can be an issue when mailing a card.The PO is becoming
more strict at times about the 1/4" rule. Anything over 1/4" thick requires an additional 17 cents to mail. I had been mailing mine with a 41 cent stamp and they haven't been returned. My children have not said anything about postage due either. But I do know of some people who have had trouble.

Stamps: In the Wild, DoubleLine Stitched Plaid Wheel, Batik Wheel, all by SU! and all retired
Ink: Basic Black, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Extras: Gold EP, Gold cord


This second photo is of some of the eggs we dyed for Easter. My son Daniel wanted a paint brush for the egg he was dying, so I brought up several watercolor brushes. I wanted to see how an egg would look if I painted it. I chose complimentary colors and just swirled the dye on them. I like how they turned out and they were very easy.

If you haven't noticed, I finally figured out how to post my labels on the side for reference, and I also have a list of blogs I like to visit. Check some of them out. There are some very talented ladies (and gentlemen) out there. Thanks for visiting!