2007 Cards Once Again

For this card, I cut the front off an old card I'd received from someone and saved. I always save the cards I get. Old cards can be used for so many things! There are always art or craft projects with the children. They can be cut into gift tags or postcards or bookmarks. Or they can be recycled into new cards, as I did here. The three solid colored squares at the top of the card are cut from paint chips you get when deciding on new paint colors. Just as a FYI, at the Blain's Farm & Fleet store we shop at in Chippewa Falls, WI, they now carry paint chips that are about the size of a sheet of poster board. Each one costs about $3 but think of how many cards you could make with pieces from that! No, I haven't bought any, mostly because I have oodles of the freebie paint chip strips & cards saved already. You can punch paint chips or cut them into whatever shape & size you want. You can find some interesting projects using them at GoMakeSomething.com, which is a really cool website with a lot of neat projects and free printables.

This card also makes use of paint chips, in the small colored squares that frame the outside edges. The background paper is computer-printed, using an email background I had saved. The pumpkin is clipart from the good folks at pccrafter.com; I love their stuff and the prices are really good! I used my own calligraphy on the sentiment tag and colored the edges with crayon.

This card uses different shades of lavender cardstock, cut in diamond shapes. The floral design is cut from giftwrap paper. The sentiment tag was computer-printed and torn to size.

I hope you'll forgive me for not taking the time to edit this image. It's been a long day already and I'm tired. This card is another of my personal favorites. The background is a floral wallpaper sample. I machine-stitched the ric-rac to the card to simulate a stem, as well as using it as a frame around the flowers. The silk flowers are hand-stitched to the card, using embroidery floss, and button centers. I really should make another card like this!

A Few More From 2007

This sympathy card used wallpaper samples for the background and center strip. The sentiment was computer-printed, then torn to size.


This birthday card is one of my favorites. I used sticker paper for the rock frame around the lighthouse; this paper comes in printed sheets, with a peel-off backing, like Con-Tac paper. I picked it up at a liquidator store and like it a lot. The lighthouse picture is the front off a small pocket calendar. The sentiment is computer-printed and torn to size.

Another one of my favorites, using wallpaper samples and a floral motif cut from giftwrap paper. Very simple, actually, but also pleasing to the eye, I think.

Looking Back At Some Older Cards

This card uses wallpaper samples for the papers, a design cut from giftwrap paper (Holly Hobbie), and has a crocheted trim hot-glued around the design oval. I made this back in July 2007.


This card features a wallpaper background with a corner cut from a coordinating wallpaper. The design is cut from giftwrap paper. The sentiment tag is computer-printed. This card, also, was made in July 2007.

The Last Two To Date

This card was for Tim's cousin, one of the daughters of his Aunt Rose who recently passed away. I know this is going to be a difficult birthday for her, having just lost her mom, so I didn't want to get too bright with this card. I started with a white cardstock base, covering the front with the rose-patterned paper and the digital faux-corrugated paper at the bottom. The bottom digital print comes from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I added a sticker ribbon strip across the card, added two little ribbon bows and a button, then stamped the sentiment in the lower corner. Then I inked the card edges--all rather simple, but still attractive, I think.

My daughter Holly's next-door neighbor generously offered to let me come dig up perennial flowers in her back yard. Pam is going to re-do her yard and wanted the extra perennials to go to someone who could use them. I never say no to free perennials, so I was more than happy to go dig up a bunch of them. I came home with daylilies, peonies, siberian iris, shasta daisies, and more. Now I just need to take the time to replant them in my yard! Guess what's on tomorrow's agenda?

Anyway, I wanted to send Pam a thank-you card. To make it, I started with a white cardstock base, covered the front with that green print I like so well (DCWV), then added an orange circle of cardstock, actually half of a circular card blank I got in one of those monthly cardmaking kits from the folks at Annie's Attic. On top of that is a white cardstock circle cut out with paper-edger scissors so I could get the scalloped effect. Then you have a floral print circle cut from giftwrap paper. I cut individual flowers out of that same giftwrap paper, mounted them on old index card and then adhered them along the edge of the circle, with the largest one having foam tape under it to "pop" it out. I stamped the sentiment down in the corner and just like that, there you have it...

Three-color Challenge

In the cardmaking group I belong to, Crazy Card Makers, we had a challenge to use just 3 colors on a card. My youngest daughter, Thea, was here when I decided to make my card so I asked her to pick out three colors for me and I'd take it from there. She looked through my cardstock and picked out an orange, a red, and a bright blue. I knew she'd pick colors I'd never think to put together. She also offered ideas on how I should make the card, so this is the result of our joint effort.

I started with an orange cardstock base, adding a layer of a striped print scrapbooking paper that used all 3 of our colors. I cut a square from the red cardstock, mounted a square of the blue cardstock on top of it, then Thea punched the flower shapes in the reddish-orange print paper so that when I put it on top of the blue, we'd have blue flowers surrounding the little kitty in his flowerpot which is a stamped image I punched out with a 2" scallop punch and mounted on a red circle of cardstock in the center. Thea wanted orange brads in the corners of the square. I stamped the sentiment with blue pigment ink, sprinkled on holographic clear glitter and heat-embossed it. The stamped image was colored with markers, BIC Mark-It and Crayola (the flowerpot).



This black, white, and red card was my original idea for this challenge and I couldn't resist making it even though I really liked the card I made with my daughter's input. To make this, I started with a square of white cardstock, a size I don't often make, but I wanted to do something a little different. Then I covered the front with the patterned black & white print. From a coordinating print paper, I cut out the stripe with the medallions on it that I adhered across the card. From yet another coordinating print, I cut out the large flower and two smaller flowers, adhering them on top of the horizontal strip. The large flower is mounted with foam tape to make it pop out more. And there you have it...

With Sympathy

My sweetheart's Aunt Rose passed away a little over a week ago. She was a much-loved mother figure in my husband's life. She was predeceased by her husband, Tim's Uncle Jim, and leaves behind 3 daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews who mourn her passing (my apologies to any other family members who may see this and who didn't get mentioned).

We weren't able to attend her funeral but we did send a card. I started with a piece of the light green parchment-looking cardstock for my base, added pieces of those blue/green prints I've been using a lot of lately (all this from scraps out of my scrap bag), and used a Dover clipart painting print in the center. The sentiment tag was printed on the computer and torn to size. All the edges were inked and I lightly sponged distress ink over the papers and print. And there you have it...

Two Birthdays & A Thinking of You

This card pleases me very much! I'm just really liking this color combination lately for some reason. Anyway, this card started with a light green cardstock, actually a parchment-look, if I remember correctly. I used two prints from my DCWV paper stack for the background, tearing the one on top and inking the torn edge. The graphic comes from a clip-art set I bought from pccrafter.com; I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in the center. The graphic is mounted on pink cardstock, then on blue, and lastly green, tilting the bottom two layers. I added 3 buttons and 1 flower brads along the torn edge. And I inked the edges of the card, a technique I am liking a lot lately also. I find the small inkpads work really well for this, using a corner of the pad and drawing it across the edge I'm inking.

This card was another quick and easy card to make, winging its way to an online friend overseas. I started with a white cardstock base, covered the front with a piece of scrapbooking paper (another corner of the same paper I used on Venetta's You're Special card a couple posts back) from DCWV. Then I added 4 dimensional flower stickers and a blue sentiment tag. The sentiment is stamped. It just doesn't get any easier than that! And I finally used some of those lovely stickers I have in my sticker file box.

This birthday card was for my sweetheart Tim. Why is it that cards you make for the person you love the most never seem to turn out quite the way you wanted? He liked it, though, so I guess that's what matters most. Again, I used the blues and greens that have been a favorite lately, mounting them on a green cardstock base, over a layer of darker green cardstock. I tore the edge of the top paper and inked it. Then I stamped the Happy Birthday design on in brown and a second time with green. The two stampings didn't line up as closely as I had wanted, though, so it looks kind of blurry. I went over the Happy Birthday letters with a gel pen. I added some brads to the design and a small gold heart brad to the lower right-hand corner of the card, inking the edges of the card. And there you have it...

Three More July Cards

This lovely card was made for my oldest daughter, Venetta. I had tried something a little different with this one. I started with a white cardstock base, then adhered a piece of scrapbook paper to cover the front. This paper comes from DCWV; the flourish and dragonfly are printed right on the paper. Then I cut out, very carefully with my X-Acto knife, a window around the flourish and dragonfly. Behind the window, I adhered a piece of floral giftwrap paper. To complete the front of the card, I stamped a sentiment in the lower right corner and added two mini-brads to the bottom of the flourish. On the inside, I adhered a liner of blue flecked paper. On the right side, I used a Martha Stewart edge punch to punch a border design. Under it, I adhered a strip of the floral giftwrap I used on the front. Usually I don't decorate the inside of my cards, as I print the sentiment right onto my cardstock base using the computer printer.

This card went to an online friend for her birthday. I started with a white cardstock base again, covering the front with a dark green cardstock. The background paper is a digital print I made on the computer using a background tile from KittyWompus.com. I added a strip of reddish print scrapbook paper from my scrap bag. Behind it I added a lattice-punched strip of white cardstock to mimic the gate in the painting. I used a print from a Thomas Kinkade page-a-day calendar (a gift from one of my daughters and you can be sure I saved every page!) for the design motif, matted on a reddish brown cardstock. To complete the card, I stamped the sentiment and added 3 white flower brads and a bronze dragonfly brad.

This bright, bold card went to an online friend who is laid up in the hospital, going through a rough time. I started with a white cardstock base, covering the front with the bright pinkish striped paper. Then I cut rectangles from two complimentary patterned prints--all 3 papers from DCWV, matting them on dark blue cardstock. I attached a strip of pink ribbon using staples and added a silk flower with a bright brad center to the ribbon. To finish, I stamped a sentiment in the bottom right corner.

And there you have it.

Two For The Guys

This card was for my son-in-law Jordon. I think it rates as one of the quickest cards I've ever made. It started with a piece of tannish cardstock. Then I added a layer of scrapbooking paper by DCWV which already had those cool white designs printed over the stripes. I added a computer-printed sentiment with torn & inked edges. I inked the edges of the card and it was done. It looks pretty good, too, if I do say so myself!

This card went to our son-in-law Bradley. It didn't take too long to make, either. I started with the olive green cardstock, then added a piece of printed scrapbooking paper by DCWV. On top of that I added a piece of wallpaper sample. Then I took a stamp I had from the American Wildlife Fund from years gone by (I don't throw things like that away!), matted it on another piece of the olve green cardstock, adhered it on top of the wallpaper sample, then stuck on 4 gold foil stickers and added a stamped sentiment. Voila! and there you have it...

Catching Up On July's Cards

It's amazing, isn't it, how quickly time can get away from us? July has been busy with gardening. In between planting and weeding (of which I still have more to do), I have managed to make some cards. So let me bring you up to date on the cards I've made...

This pretty card was made for an online friend. I used two different blue cardstocks. The dotted background paper and the plaid background paper are from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I used my Martha Stewart border punch to make the white doily edging. The "hello Firiend" floral image is stamped and colored with markers; I'm liking the BIC Mark-It permanent markers a lot and just got a new set of 36 of them for less than $16 at Shopko. I rounded the corners of the layered stamped image and inked the edges. Floral brads add the finishing touch.


This card was also made for an online friend and is one of those cards that's a favorite of mine. I started with a light blue cardstock, added a layer of faux corrugated paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, then a layer of a digital paper I printed out using a background tile, with the edge torn and inked, a shaped layer of cardstock with edges inked, a shaped layer of scrapbooking paper from DCWV with edges inked, and in the center a butterfly print from a page of German decoupage designs. I added two square mini-brads set on point and a stamped sentiment in the lower right hand corner, then inked the card edges.


I like this card a lot, too, even though it was really quick and easy to make. I started with a brown cardstock, added a layer of scrapbooking paper, a Creating Keepsakes design from Sandy Lion, and a mauve shaped bit of cardstock matted behind a simple stamped sentiment plus the flower, both of which have inked edges. I rounded the corners with my corner-rounder punch and I colored the stamped flower with a colored pencil. I also lightly colored the sentiment piece with the side of a colored pencil to make it match the pink stripe in the background paper. This card went to another online friend.

And there you have it...

A Hello Card

This cheery card for an online friend starts with blue cardstock. Then I added a layer of bright dotted paper from one of those Stacks by DCWV. The purple cardstock rectangle was punched with that lattice punch and a piece of flowered & dotted paper, another DCWV piece from that Stack, was inserted into the punched corners. I added yellow flower brads on 3 of the corners. There's a pink dotted strip attached diagonally, a scrap from my bag of paper scraps. Lastly there's another smaller rectangle of the blue cardstock with a white piece on top of that, stamped with the Hello sentiment (one of those dollar stamps from Michaels) and a flower from another stamp set, popped with foam tape. I colored the flower with Sharpie markers and I added two sparkly hair pins as an underliner. In fact, it was a challenge to myself to use the hair pins (aka bobby pins) that pulled this card together. I picked a bunch of hair pins up at a liquidator store by us, thinking they'd make a neat embellishment on cards, then stashed them away. It was time to challenge myself to use them on a card. I like the way they look, too, so expect to use them again; after all, I have quite a few of them, in two different sizes and in different colors. And there you have it....

Three Birthday Cards

This card was made for Tim's Aunt Rose who lives in Pennsylvania. She's a very special lady; unfortunately, we live almost a thousand miles away so don't get to see her very often. In fact, the last time we saw her was about 3 years ago when Tim's dad passed away and we went out for his funeral. Miles do not stop affection, though.

To make this card, I used a background paper from one of those Stacks by DCWV I got recently. Then I added a silk flower sporting 3 layers and a brad center, as well as 4 chipboard embellishments and touches of ribbon. It didn't turn out quite like I had pictured it in my mind, but I hope Aunt Rose liked it all the same.


This pretty pink card went to an online friend, Tajuana. I did like the way this one turned out! I started with a pink cardstock base, then added a layer of Happy Birthday (Birthday Pink) paper by DCWV. I border-punched a strip of pink cardstock, on top of which is an oval cut from PL-267 by Me & My Big Ideas, then a shaped piece of light pink cardstock, a smaller pink oval, and in the center a stamped butterfly image which I colored with gel pens and colored pencils. I added faux stitching with a gel pen, inked edges, and brads. The stamped butterfly image is mounted with foam tape to "pop" it up above the oval under it.


That brings me to this birthday card made for Tim's brother Terry. I started here with a brown cardstock base, added pieces cut from a Paper Pizazz Vintage papers pack, as is the "ribbon" strip that runs down the center of the card. I also used brown and light blue cardstocks to cut the solid-colored pieces, rounding the corners of the two layers in the center. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment and heat-embossed it in copper. Then I added brads and inked the edges of the card and the one piece of brown shaped cardstock. (What DO you call that shape? I know there's a name for them!)

And just to let you know, I make my own stencils for these shapes. It's easy enough. I use a light piece of card, usually the reply cards that are stuck in all the magazines these days, fold it into quarters (that's why you want to use a LIGHT piece of card), then cut one-fourth of the shape you want, unfold it and see if it suits you; if not, refold and trim as desired or start over. Hey, the cards are free and just going in the trash anyway, right? Any symmetrical shape is easy to do this way, either cutting on the fold, as with a heart shape, or in quarters as with this shape. You can even do your own nesting shapes by cutting the smaller design first, then tracing one-fourth of it onto your next piece of folded card and cutting outside that line as close to the same distance away all the way around as you'd like to add. I did that to make the two nested shapes on this card. I save all the stencils I make and reuse them. And if you want them to be a little more permanent than the light card you used to make them out of, trace them onto a plastic lid, such as a whipped topping lid, and cut out with an old pair of scissors. I have oodles of stencils I made this way when my children were still small and we homeschooled. Greedy me, I still have them, too! I'm supposed to be copying them to make sets for the grandchildren--one of those rainy day projects I haven't gotten to yet, but I have plenty of plastic lids saved for when I do get around to it (ice cream pail lids, whipped topping, sour cream, yogurt, etc, but not the brittle plastic lids, only the softer, bendable plastic lids). Besides ovals and circles, hearts and shapes like I used on this card, you can trace cookie cutters, coloring book images, craft patterns, and other images to make stencils from. They won't be as intricate as your purchased brass stencils, but you can still do a lot of interesting things with them. And children love them!

Two Thinking of You Cards

This pretty card was made for an online friend in my Yahoo group, The Potter's Garden. I started with white cardstock, added a layer of a pretty pastel stripe print called Wedding Stripes by SandyLion, then layers of colored cardstocks to match. I used a new punch I'd gotten at Jo-Ann's to punch the lattice corners on the light green cardstock. I rather like the look that punch gives. I also rounded the opposite corners with my corner-rounder punch. I added two pearlized mini-brads in the corners of the light green cardstock and a matted computer-printed sentiment tag, which I lightly colored with colored pencils to match the background paper. Not too difficult, but attractive, I thought.


This card was hard to part with, being made with my favorite color, blue. I started with a white cardstock base, but covered it completely with my other papers. The blue & green dotted paper at the bottom came from the big Summer Stack by DCWV that I got on sale recently at Jo-Ann's; I've picked up two different Stacks by DCWV now--love their papers! And sales help! (Right now Jo-Ann's has all the Stacks priced at 40% off through tomorrow, but I've determined to be good and NOT make the hour trip to town to pick up any more; my sweetheart thinks I already have WAY more than enough paper as it is, but those sales are really hard to resist and no one can ever have TOO much paper, can she?) The blue/green/white splattered print at the top is a digital background tile from EverydayIcons, another of my favorite prints. Then there's a strip of white cardstock border-punched with the Martha Stewart doily pattern punch and with blue gel pen dots. The solid blue layer is another digital print from ScrapbookScrapbook.com to which I added faux stitching with the gel pen. I stamped the "thinking of you" sentiment on a piece of matching blue cardstock (from my scrap bag), rounded off the two opposite corners with my corner-rounder punch and added some gel pen highlights to the image. And there you have it...

Playing Catch Up

Whoa! Where does the time go? I've been making cards, but with all the gardening that we've been attempting to accomplish, it seems that I haven't had time to post here. Today being the Sabbath, we've been resting and enjoying a quiet day at home--no Sabbath fellowship to attend today--and now I find myself with a bit of time to spend posting my latest cards. So to go back to the card I was making for my sweetheart, mentioned in my last post...

This is it! Done on brown cardstock, layered with wallpaper samples, black & brown cardstocks, and the oval cut from a pretty divider page out of one of my wallpaper sample books. I heat embossed the word Love in the senter, added gold heart brads, and there you have it. Oh yes, I lightly inked the edges of the brown shaped cardstock with copper pigment ink.

Tim really liked it and that's all that matters!