The Big Fish

This card is on its way to our son-in-law Levi, married to my daughter Holly. He likes to fish. I just bought this stamp, a wood-mounted rubber stamp, at a little store in our area that sells scrapbooking stuff. They had their stamps on sale, to make room for new stock, so I decided to take advantage of the sale. I am liking this stamp a lot! Since most of our son-in-laws are into hunting and fishing, this stamp is likely to get a lot of use.

So anyway, I stamped the fish twice on white cardstock, colored both images with colored pencils (Crayola and RoseArt--nothing fancy), then layered one over the other onto the "wood" mount, using foam tape to pop the top image. The "wood" mount is cut from textured brown cardstock, using my own shape template, and given a "beveled" edge with Sharpie markers. The green plaid paper behind is a wallpaper sample. I wanted this to look like a trophy fish mounted on a plaque and hung on the wall. I added gold triangle brads for an extra touch. Simple but effective, and definitely masculine!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

A Little Hoppy

A while back I came across a cardmaking blog with a request for frog cards to be sent to her sister who was battling terminal cancer. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of which blog it was; I only copied down the sister's mailing address. I obtained this great freebie digitial stamp from Whimsy Stamps and couldn't resist using it on an encouragement card for this gal. I only hope I didn't take too long in getting the card into the mail, but the LORD knows and I trust that He will use it to bless in His perfect plan.

The frog was colored with Bic markers and cut out. I punched a circle from green paper using one of my Fiskars circle punches (I've got them, I might as well use them-right?) to put behind the frog. I cut rectangles out of three complementary pieces of scrap paper, added a strip from another piece of scrap paper (under the frog's footsies), then finished up with a strip of peel & stick paper ribbon purchased from PaperWishes and bling flowers from WalMart. I used foam tape under the frog's hand & the umbrella to add a bit of dimension to her form. Oh yes, I can't forget that I gave her sparkly eyebrows with a touch of Stickles. She's quite the diva, you see! LOL! I love this frog!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Swat's Up?

I belong to this great cardmaking group on Yahoo groups called Crazy Card Makers (check it out!). We have swaps each month that you can participate in. I made this card for the Don't Bug Me themed-swap. I had been sorting my rubber stamps and saw this fly stamp (it's rubber on foam and I think it may be a Stampendous design--don't have that info any more). Thinking of flies led me to flyswatters and picnics. The background paper is from one of my DCWV stack packs and seemed to holler "picnic" all over it. I stamped the fly images, heat-embossed them, then used colored pencil to highlight their wings & bodies. I made the little flyswatter using a length of floral wire I had handy. I made the mesh portion with drywall tape, then hand-stitched around the frame of the swatter to anchor the tape and make it look more authentic. The swatter is hot-blued to the card front. The flies are attached with foam tape. The little sentiment tag is hand-lettered; the "brads" are red marker circles covered with Clear Accent. Again, I ink-distressed the edges of things, one of my favorite techniques to soften and blend edges.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Two In Brown

A couple of weeks ago I happened to catch a Freecycle post from a gal in our area in which she offered to give away some rubber stamps and other things. I contacted her and was blessed to be her choice to receive those items. My eldest daughter Venetta and I divied out the goodies: Stampin' Up! stamps and 12"x12" papers and other odds & ends. What a blessing! I'm not sure which thrilled me more: the stamps or the papers.

So of course, I had to make a thank you card and this is what I came up with. I was thinking of a challenge over at PaperCraft Planet in the Anything But Cute group to make a card using brown & just one other color. These papers were in with those I received, as were the two stamps I've used on this card. I used my big Marvy punch to punch out the scalloped oval. To add the small punches inside the scallops, I used my small hole punch. The stamped writing in the background is the Thank You stamp, done with tan ink. Then I stamped the long-legged birds over the writing. Some ink-distressing and a border using my favorite Martha Stewart punch and there you have it!

This birthday card was made for my Sweetheart's cousin Sherry. I was on a roll here with the brown & turquoise. I'd wanted to use this felt border (purchased from the dollar bins at Michaels) on the previous card, but it didn't fit, so I made this card to feature that border. I added wooden beads and the chocolate bunny button. The sentiment is a stamped tag, highlighted with gel pen and Sharpie marker. I carried the card upstairs to my sewing room to add the sewn lines. A little ink-distressing on the edges of things and there you have it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

For My Sweetheart's Birthday

My sweetheart Tim (yes, he's STILL my sweetheart after 14 1/2 yrs of marriage!) observed his 51st birthday on July 18. I wanted to make him a special card, but struggle to get my cards for him "just right." Maybe because he is so special to me, I find it harder to make cards for him that truly express how much I love him and am thankful to have him in my life.

At any rate, I tried a couple of things but they weren't working out. Then I came up with this sentiment and the card began to come together. It wasn't particularly hard. All of the scalloped circles were cut with a punch. I made a circle template for the plain circles behind the scalloped circles. I ink-distressed edges and layered everything. I was aiming for colors and a quilted look, both of which I think I achieved.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

You're Special Card for Daughter

I wanted to use a paint chip card on this You're Special card for my daughter. As I pondered how to make this card, I happened to wonder if I could score & fold the paint chip card. When I did, it worked beautifully and made me think of the striped awnings that used to be over storefronts. So I cut a scallop template that fit the lines on the paint chip card, then cut the scalloped edge by hand. The lower part of the awning is popped up with foam tape. I turned to my stash of wonderful old Hallmark and American Greetings giftwrap papers I have to get the floral background paper. I also stamped the two vases & flowers that are in them, colored them with my Bic markers, cut them out and adhered them in the corner on top of the giftwrap paper background. The sentiment is computer-printed. I was quite pleased with the way the card turned out! And my daughter Venetta, my lovely eldest daughter (I have 5 of them), loved it also, which made it all worthwhile!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Two For The Guys

This card was created for our son-in-law Bradley, hubby of my stepdaughter Paige. I'd seen a card using a similar layout but done on the vertical. I wanted the card to fit into a business-sized envelope, which gave me a nice sized "palette" to work with. I cut my own template for the arrows, then scrounged through my scrap papers to find black & white designs that would work well with the red background paper. I added two black buttons and two white brads. The sentiment is computer-printed and the edges ink-distressed. I saw this sentiment somewhere and thought it would work perfectly for You're Special cards, which this one is, or for 'just because' cards when there is no specific occasion to send a card.

Hint: I've just started keeping a journal, one of those $1 kinds you find at Dollar Tree or JoAnn's, to write down the neat sentiments or sayings I come across, along with scriptures that work well on cards, so I don't have all these bits & pieces of scraps laying around with things written on them and can readily locate them when I'm making up a computer page of sayings to print out.

This birthday card was for our son-in-law Jordon, married to my daughter Megan. He loves to hunt and fish so the design seemed particularly appropriate. The Wilderness Campground image with the bear on it is from a digi set I bought from DAISIE Company. I mounted that square onto a torn, crumpled piece of kraft paper (used a paper grocery bag). The wilderness map & green pine tree papers came in a masculine set I bought at a Pamida a couple years back. The pinecone cutouts are from another piece of paper in that same set. The sentiment tag is a free digi I found online, touched up with Sharpie marker, and ink-distressed.

There you have it! Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Bird Watcher Swap Card

This is another of my favorite cards. I love the country look and I like chickens a lot. This image comes from PCCrafter.com, one of my favorite sites for clipart. Laurie Furnell has GREAT sets! This card was made for another Crazy Card Makers swap--Bird Watcher. A chicken IS a bird, right? The card begins with a cardstock base, then I layered brown cardstock and a dark blue scrap of a wallpaper sample. On top of that, I used a piece of maize-colored gingham wallpaper sample, edged with cardstocks that are edge-punched with my favorite Martha Stewart doily punch. I "borrowed" the sentiment and printed it out on my computer, inking the edges and adding three little brads. To complete the card, I added faux stitching by hand with a Sharpie marker.

There you have it. Next up are a couple of cards for family special days, but I'm saving those for another post. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Going Green Card

I like this card! Green is probably my second favorite color, after blue, and this card is so soothing to look at. I made it for a Going Green swap challenge in my Crazy Card Makers group. I began with a printed cardstock base. Then I cut a square of solid green and cut slots on all four sides to thread strips of green print through. I also cut squares of printed papers to put on top of the solid square, using pinking shears on the edges. The two papers on the right are prints of digital papers, while those on the left are from DCWV. I added brads, a 3-D floral sticker, and a stamped sentiment. The two little butterflies are brads, too.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Crazy Color Card

This crazy color card (well, what ELSE would you call it?) was created for a swap in the Crazy Card Makers group that I belong to. The swap was called the Letter C. For this card, I thought of C as "crazy" like in a crazy quilt and "color". I had this great quilted scrapbook paper that says 'Marrakech' on the bottom--sorry, I don't have the rest of the info--and wanted to use it. I also had this geometric image from Dover, which I did my best to color with Bic markers to match the colors in the quilted paper (it doesn't look like such a great match after I finished). The blue micro-dotted background paper is from a DCWV stack, as is the other dotted paper. I also used a scrap of a red striped paper from DCWV. The Dover image was covered with Glossy Accents and adhered with foam tape on top of the other papers. I added faux stitching that I did by hand, using a gel pen for the white stitches and a Sharpie marker for the zigzag stitches.

The card isn't in my usual color choices or style. I think it's quite gaudy, to be honest, but I also found that it "grew" on me, the longer I looked at it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries

This card began with the image, a motif from my stash of old giftwrap papers. I added a twig from our yard, silk blossoms, brads to imitate cherries, and layered all of that over a strip of gingham wallpaper sample, red & cream cardstocks with scissor-cut scallops and Martha Stewart doily punched edging, on top of a dark green wallpaper sample. I think I'll use this for a Thinking of You card.

One Last June Cards Post

This pocket card is one of my very favorites. I love the colors and the design. The background paper comes from a DCWV stack pack, their Flower Shower Spring Stack to be exact. The floral paper is giftwrap paper. I added a border punched strip of white cardstock to the top of the pocket, trimmed with ribbon and a ribbon bow.

This pic shows the little card that goes inside the pocket of the main card. The stamped image is part of a set from Stampin' Up, I believe (I got it second-hand as a gift). I colored it with my Bic markers, then inked the edges.

This is the inside of the main card, as you lift the front flap. You get two sentiments for the price of one with this card.

This card is another of my favorites. I've had a lot of those lately, haven't I? This card started with the image of the bird's nest, which I copied from a book of bird nest illustrations available on the Smithsonian Libraries Digital Libraries website. I apologize for not making note of the artist's name. I LOVE the vintage seed & nursery catalog covers you can find there as well. I haven't had time to explore all the digital stuff archived there, but it looks like a treasure trove. The background paper seemed to fit the image so well, that all I needed to add was the bundle of twigs, from one of our trees, wrapped with a hemp string tied in a bow.

I write to a serviceman in our Armed Forces, the Army to be precise, serving overseas. I got his name and address from this organization: Adopt A US Soldier.org. This year I thought it would be appropriate to make a special card to send to him for our nation's Independence Day. I've never made a card for that holiday before so this was a bit of a challenge. I found this cute digi stamp image offered on the Stars & Stripes Operation Write Home blog, shared by The Stamping Boutique. The image is colored with Bic markers and given some heat embossed accents. I had to ask my sweetheart what colors to use for the little man's uniform as I didn't know what branch of the military this uniform most closely resembled; my sweetheart, who was himself in the Marines and who comes from a military family (Army & Marines), said that it looked the most like the Marines dress blues, so that is how I tried to color it. I used another wooden stamp that I have to do the fireworks on the sentiment tag; I colored the stamp with Crayola markers to get this effect. The round red seal is another stamped image, this time with one of those $1 wooden stamps from JoAnn's or Michaels. The gold button came from my button stash in the sewing room--it looks a lot like the seal of our country, which was too perfect not to use, even though I still think I should have hot-glued the thing down flat instead of just sewing it on where the ribbon is attached. The red shaped mat under the image is cut by hand, using my own template. A couple of star-shaped brads added a nice touch. The diagonal striped paper in the background is from a DCWV stack pack.

My last card for June is a birthday card for my sweetheart's brother Terry. I used clipart from DAISIE Company, which I recently purchased. The papers are from the same graphics pack. I added a mat of brown textured cardstock behind the central image, distressing the edges. I also added a strip of cork on which I mounted the sentiment, edges inked, and 2 bronze dragonflies. The card edges and the smaller printed paper are inked for effect as well.

Well, that does it for my June cardmaking. July is just getting started and I have a card on the work table now. I signed up for 3 swaps in the Crazy Card Maker group for the first half of the month and have a LONG list of other cards for family that I need to make. It feels good to be creative and make cards, though. Those months when I was busy with schoolwork it was very hard to find time to make cards. Cardmaking, along with other creative pursuits, is stress-relieving for me so I'm going to have to find ways to keep it in my schedule, no matter how much other stuff I have to do. Hopefully, it works the same for you.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My June Cards Pt. 3

Yet one more with the wallpaper samples...this one used the rest of that pretty border on the big card, along with the background paper. I added a piece of textured light blue cardstock and half the other half of the paper doily I had left from one of the previous cards. Simple, but attractive, I think, and a nice Thinking of You card.

This was my attempt to recreate another card I saw on someone's blog. The flower is stamped with a big foam stamp that I inked with Crayola markers. I stamped it twice, then layered the two images, adding dry embossing to the petals on the top layer and curling the petals slightly. The center of the flower is Fun Flock, the first time I've used that. The stamped sentiment is one of those $1 stamps you can pick up at JoAnn's or Michaels and is heat-embossed. I added lines with my sparkly black gel pen after the stamped image. The two print papers are from DCWV stack packs. This card traveled to Jo in England for another Crazy Card Maker Anything Goes swap.

This cute little dog is a foam stamp, colored in with Bic markers, and given a puff paint scarf. He holds a birthday balloon on a card made for our grandson Connor, who is now 4 years old. The image on the balloon is from the Two You set from Stampendous; I just cut the balloon around the image. A bit of hemp string connects the dog and the balloon. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack. This card is one of my favorites.

My dear old friend Connie--old as in we've known each other for a long time, not old as in years, although she has a few on me but I'm not saying how many--loves pigs. She's been collecting pig stuff for as long as I can remember, even had quite a few of the real deal for many years. My oldest daughter Venetta is also a cardmaker and had this balloon pig stamp so I begged some images from her for this card for Connie. I love that little piggie! I colored each differently, using Bic markers and Crayola colored pencils. In case you don't know, real pigs come in many color variations and designs. I've always been a sucker for the little spotted ones. Using hemp, I tied the balloons to a digital printed tag that I colored with Bic markers and the Crayola pencils. The Happy Birthday background paper was purchased out of the open stock 12"x12" scrapbooking papers at JoAnn's. I used black cardstock on a white base card. Connie loved the card, which makes me a happy camper, although just looking at my pic of this card makes me a happy camper. I think that means I like this card, don't you?

One more in this post...this pretty black, white, and red card is a high school graduation congratulations card made for my niece Malinda. The image is a digi-freebie from the Digital Two For Tuesday blog. I colored her with Crayola colored pencils and some Bic marker touches. I used watercolor pencils for the background in the image. The image is matted on black and white cardstocks. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack. I printed the sentiment on the computer and inked the edges. I REALLY need to get more red pigment ink pads so I can do a better job of matching colors (note to self). Three red brads completed the card.

Well, that's it for this post. I only have one more post to go to finish showing you all my June cards. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My June Cards Pt. 2

While sorting through my wallpaper samples, of which I have a great many, I found this beautiful wallpaper border. I could not resist using it on a card, but it was too big for the size of card I usually make (5"x6 5/8") so I had to go with a half-fold card. I don't usually make cards that big, but this one just called for it. The whole card uses wallpaper samples--the border, as well as the background paper. The sentiment is computer printed and inked.

A word about my wallpaper sample "collection"...I started collecting wallpaper sample books when my children were still young and being homeschooled. I would go to home improvement stores & places that I knew sold paint & stuff and ask them if they had any outdated books I could take off their hands. Most gave them away, though a couple stores doled them out a book or two per person to ensure that teachers could get their hands on them, too. We used papers out of those books for many art & craft projects. Eventually I got tired of the big stack of books so pulled them all apart and put the papers in a big box. When I started cardmaking, I pulled that box back out and started collecting more sample books. Most of the books I have now I purchased for $5 each at Menards; some I received from two area stores that carry wallpaper and give their outdated books away--but you have to get there & ask at just the right time, so mostly I buy books from Menards. Right now I have over 30 wallpaper sample books so I don't think I'll be picking any more up soon, since they do take up quite a lot of room. The papers are great, though! One word of advice: usual double-sided tape will not hold on vinyl wallpapers. You have to use Tacky glue or double-sided carpet tape. There may be other adhesives that work, but those are the two that I know personally work and which I use. I have not tried using prepasted wallpaper leftovers from papering jobs, so I don't know how that would work on cards, although I wouldn't let that stop me if it was a paper I really liked and wanted to use. You can only learn by trying.

This is another card made using wallpaper samples. Again, I was taken by this simple floral border, which being narrower I was able to use on my normal sized card. The gingham print is the coordinating wallpaper. I added half of a paper doily and a ribbon bow. The card is blank inside to use as a thinking of you notecard.

The last week of May I spent a week on a cultural immersion trip to the Lac Court Orielles Indian Reservation (Ojibwe People) in northern Wisconsin. The trip was sponsored and paid for by the Univ. of Wis.-Eau Claire where I am a fulltime student. One of the other students along on the trip was a pretty Hmong girl named Yia (pronounced like E-ya) who also likes to make cards. I told her I would send her one of my cards and this is what I made for her. The image is a digital image of vintage roses which made me think of Yia as soon as I saw it. The teal and rose pink cardstock and the background paper were chosen to coordinate with the colors in the image. I am liking that sentiment a lot and you'll see it used frequently on Thinking of You cards.

My daughter Lois celebrated her 31st birthday in June. Goodness, how quickly those children grow up! She's my second-oldest and mother of 4 of our grandchildren. Her favorite color is purple and she loves butterflies. I'd seen a card made up like this on someone's blog and loved it so thought I would try my hand at it. I cut my own butterfly template, then cut out 5 butterflies from different scraps of paper. I raided my button stash in the sewing room for the buttons, then threaded them with colored hemp, leaving the ends stick up like antennae--I love that effect! The sentiment is stamped and heat-embossed. The background paper is cardstock from a DCWV stack pack. Lois loved her card, which is what I was hoping for. I rather like it myself!


Again with the wallpaper samples to make another blank Thinking of You card. This used up the rest of the wallpaper border print and nearly all of the matching blue gingham print. I added two doily halves this time and a yellow ribbon bow.

Well, I'm about half way through the cards for June, so will bring this post to a close and keep going. Happy Cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

June Cards Pt. 1

Summer weather is settling in with the beginning of July. We are expecting temps in the 80's today & tomorrow, then up to 90 or so on Saturday, with high humidity. The weatherman said to expect heat & humidity for about the next week. I know the crops like it, but I tend to wilt in the sunshine, heat & humidity, so I am re-arranging my work schedule a little today. This afternoon I am staying indoors, working on the computer and at cardmaking. I will spend a while at my sewing machine, too. Then this evening I will head outdoors to do more weeding and planting in our garden spaces. Yes, I am very late with my planting this year, but didn't get started until June, then we've had lots of rainy days & other activities to keep us out of the garden. It is what it is. You make the best of it and keep going.

Enough about all that...on to the cards I made in June. There were quite a few so I am going to share them in a couple of posts. Here goes...

I bought this stamp at a little scrapbooking shop in Hayward, Wisconsin, the last week of May. It was in their clearance basket and I just couldn't resist it. It turned out to be rather difficult to use, as I had a hard time getting a completely clear impression, but I still like it a lot. I colored the image with Bic markers and watercolor pencils, adding Stickles glitter accents on the flowers. The image is matted on light green cardstock and outlined with a Sharpie marker. That is layered over a "diecut" shaped mat, which I cut by hand from a template I made, then drew in wood-grain lines with a Sharpie marker. I added flower brads and the bee brad. The floral background paper is a scrap from my stash, originally a 12"x12" sheet purchased at JoAnn's. The "crimped" strip with the border punching is a scrap of a digital print from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I wrote the sentiment by hand and inked the edges of the card, to complete it. The card has been mailed off to a friend for her birthday.

I belong to this cool cardmaking group, Crazy Card Makers, a Yahoo group (the link is in the sidebar). Every month there are swaps. A year or so ago I had received a card from Judith in Israel using this technique of stamping on tissue paper. I wanted to try it. While going through a box of papers & stuff, I came across this turquiose-colored tissue paper and thought it would work well for this. I stamped it with an acrylic stamp from a new set I'd gotten, Flower Sentiments by Inkadinkadoo. I mounted it behind a frame I made from cardstock, which is stamped and heat embossed. The other printed papers & cardstock used in the design are from DCWV stack packs. I used this card for the Anything Goes June swap in Crazy Card Makers.

This card was made for my stepdaughter Paige's birthday. Her favorite color is purple. I had seen a stamp with butterflies similar to my stamped image on this card and loved it, but wasn't able to buy it--and besides, I already had these individual butterfly stamps so decided to imitate the stamp with my own stamps. I colored them in with Bic markers, then used Glossy Accents on the butterflies' wings. Iused gel pens on the butterfly bodies. I drew lines on the edges of the cardstock to frame the image, then inked the cardstock. This was mounted on a scrap of plum colored cardstock, layered over a background comprised of three different paper scraps. To finish, I added two rows of trim and a pearl brad. Oh yes, I added lines to the background paper in the corner as it was just a little too plain otherwise. And the butterfly image is mounted with foam tape to pop it out.

This card makes me happy to look at it. I used two wallpaper samples for the background papers. The image is from PC Crafter.com. The sentiment is computer-printed and mounted on a cardstock tab, embellished with two brads. My favorite Martha Stewart border punch made the while doily trim.

I've been on a roll with wallpaper samples in June. This card uses two more wallpaper samples for the background papers. Again, there's the doily edging made with the Martha Stewart border punch. The blue wooden embellishment is a recycled popsicle stick (please tell me you don't throw those away!) colored with a Sharpie marker. It matched the blue wallpaper sample almost perfectly! The image is another from PC Crafter.com. The bee brads seemed to go with it quite well. All in all, this card went to Robyn in South Africa for the Crazy Card Makers June "letter B" swap. The B's in this card include blue, bees, bloom, and beautiful (in the sentiment).

Now on to the next set of cards from June...Happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!