My May Cards

I made this card for my mom for Mother's Day. Her favorite color is blue, too. The background paper is a print of a piece of fabric I scanned into my computer, then printed out. A paper print of fabric is easier to work with than the fabric itself and if you look closely, the individual threads are still visible so it looks like fabric, too. I used a corner punch on the corners, then added a small brad in one of the holes of the punched design. The floral image is stamped, heat embossed and colored with Bic markers, then cut out and adhered on top of part of a silver doily atop the background paper. The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed with Seafoam White embossing powder. I really liked how that turned out so I'm sure I'll do that again.

Here's another Thank You card, along the lines of the three that I made back in January. For my Curriculum & Instruction class I was assigned to work with Mrs. Wendi King in her 1st grade classroom. The children were so sweet and it was REALLY hard to say goodbye. Wendi is such a good teacher and I learned a thing or two watching her & helping in her class. The background paper for this card comes from a DCWV stack pack (probably my favorite papers and easily obtainable at JoAnn's). The apple comes from a DCWV cardstock pack and has glitter accents. The blossoms and hat pieces were cut from another piece of DCWV paper. I made the yellow shaped "diecut" myself. I don't own a diecutting machine; I make a paper template, trace it, and cut my own "diecuts" by hand. The blue scalloped circle is punched, then hand lettered. All the stitching is hand faux stitched. The blue hand cutout is a bulletin board shape purchased at Dollar Tree. The finishing touches were the star brads and the wooden bead circles.

My one and only son, Isaac, my youngest child, had his 24th birthday in May. This is the birthday card I made for him. It is a Z-fold. The lined background paper is the front of the card, then it folds back inside, and the back of the card had the polka-dotted paper on it. The sentiment is printed on a piece of paper shaped just like the matt under the image on the front, then adhered to the back of the card so it is right under the front image matt. The image on the front comes from a piece of giftwrap that is in my old suitcase stash. The giftwrap had all of these old tavern signs printed on it; they work really well on masculine cards. Brads added an extra touch.

My oldest daughter's husband, Brent, celebrated his birthday in May also. I wanted to try using little flags in a swag. I'd seen a card made with these on someone's blog and loved the effect. That person stamped the flags, then cut them out. I made a little template first, cut out the flags, then stamped each with the letters in Brent's name, using a little alphabet set I have. The flags were punched with my small hand punch, then strung on a piece of colored hemp, purchased at WalMart and intended for beading. I bought a bunch in different colors when it was on clearance. I'm glad I did because WalMart doesn't carry it in the stores by us any more and I like the stuff for cards. The sentiment is yet another example of the Two You acrylic set from Stampendous, heat embossed, colored with Bic markers, mounted on a circle of white cardstock, and jazzed up with a bit of ribbon. The background paper is a piece from a DCWV stack pack, matted on matching plain cardstocks. I liked how this card turned out! The little flags are definitely going to show up on another card in the future!

That is all of my May cards. It's going to take a couple of posts to get all of my June cards posted; I've been working on cards when it rains, which has been often this month, or when I haven't felt like working outside even if the sun was shining. So til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

One Last Mother's Day Card

I made this card for my daughter-in-law, Amber. She's just 19 and a first-time mom. She gave birth to my grandson, Alan James, on March 24th. Amber is married to my son, Isaac. They'll be celebrating their 2nd anniversary next month. They don't live real close to us so I don't see much of them. Isaac is my only son and the youngest of my 6 children. He'll be 23 years old next week.

To make Amber's card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Medium Pretty Pink cardstock for the base. I added a layer of Deep Pretty Pink cardstock on top of that. The pretty striped layer comes from a 12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper called "Love Lines" by Reminisce; up close it looks pearlized and is just gorgeous! For my central feature, I cut ovals from the previous three papers, layering them also, and adding a left-over piece of light pink doily from Wilton along one edge. The floral motif is a Dover clipart design that I printed out. I added a touch of ribbon, leftover from some that I bought at Dollar Tree. The edges of the card are cut with a scalloped-edge scissors. On the inside edge I added a bit of red foil to jazz things up; the foil comes from a roll of self-sticking book cover that I got for $1 at an outlet store. I have about 6 colors of the foil book covers; the material works really well on cards, though it is a little tricky to work with. The inside is stamped with the following sentiment: Thinking of You with Love on Mother's Day. The stamps are clear vinyl, from a set I bought recently, but neglected to keep the packaging so can't remember who the company is that made the set. I know I bought the set at Creative Hideaway, a cool papercrafting store in Medford, Wisconsin, but that's all I can tell you.

That's also where I buy the World Win's Color Mates cardstock. This cardstock is sold in color-coordinated packs. I buy the 8 1/2" x 11" sheets in packs of 48 sheets for $5; they also have the same color packs in the 12" x 12" size, only 24 sheets to a pack, for the same price. I haven't seen this cardstock anywhere else. It's really nice stuff and the colors are great! I don't know what I'll do if Creative Hideaway goes out of business and I can't buy this cardstock there any more. You can check out their website here: WorldWin Papers. They have projects and free templates--well worth the time to check it out.

So there you have it...

Mother's Day Card for My Mom

This card went to my mom, a very special woman in my life. She started out at 17, pregnant with me, and suddenly married. Two years after me, my brother arrived on the scene, and two years after that, my sister was born. I did have a baby brother who was born 3 years after my sister, but he only lived 3 days and died in my mother's arms. My mother persevered through many challenges as we grew up. There wasn't much money, but somehow we always had the things we needed and most of the things we wanted. Dad worked long & hard so Mom was the one who had to deal with most of the day-to-day concerns. She taught me many things--things like how to cook and sew, but also things like caring for those who were less fortunate than us and learning how to do things for myself. No, she isn't perfect and she didn't do everything right, yet somehow all three of us turned out alright. And despite the odds against teenage marriages, especially where the couple is expecting a baby when they marry and both dropped out of high school, my mom loved my dad with all her heart, caring for him right up to the moment of his death 4 years ago from melanoma in his brain. She's definitely been an inspiration to me in many ways. I called her this morning and she loved her card. Of course, blue is her favorite color.

To make her card, I started with a base of World Win's Color Mates Dark Tempting Tanzanite cardstock. I used Deep Tempting Tanzanite to make the triangular pieces. The top triangle has a patterned paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com--love that paisley! The lower triangle has two patterns: the light print is from ScrapbookScrapbook.com; the darker floral print is a fabric scan that I printed out. For the center focal point, I used a floral tag from GoMakeSomething.com, which I cut in an oval, backed with a scalloped oval cut from Dark Tempting Tanzanite, and mounted on a light green doily by Wilton. To finish, I added two silver spiral brads that I bought from Oriental Trading.

And there you have it...

Four More Mother's Day Cards

This lovely pink & purple card is heading to my second daughter, Lois, who's the mother of 4 of my precious grandchildren: Kyler (9), Alana (7), Easton (5), and Kaylina (3). She's a wonderful mother, as well as a daycare provider. Like my eldest daughter, Lois has been caring for children most of her life.

To make this card, I used World Win's Color Mates Medium & Dark Perfect Plum cardstocks, the medium for the card base and the dark for the smaller rectangles. Layered on top of the dark plum rectangles are two layers of pinks. The solid pink on the bottom is from the digital papers at ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The top patterned layer is made from a background tile. The rectangles are topped by a pink Wilton doily and finally by another of those floral prints from Germany.




This card is on its way to my third daughter Holly, mom to Samuel (5) and Rose (2). Holly has a big heart and would "mother" every needy person she comes across. She & her husband, Levi, have been working their way through the state's foster parent/adoption approval process.

To make Holly's card, I started with a medium blue cardstock base, then layered a darker blue on top of that. The medium blue came in one of those $5 multi-packs at JoAnn Fabric & Crafts or Michaels; the darker blue is from an 8" x 8" multi-pack from WalMart. That pretty blue plaid paper is another of ScrapbookScrapbook.com's digital designs; I love this print! The center strip uses both of the blue cardstocks again and a strip of "corrugated" digital paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The strip is edged with white cardstock that's been punched with my favorite Martha Stewart border punch. The focal point is, again, a floral cut-out from Germany. The last touch is two pink heart brads.




Now this lovely card is going to my fourth daughter, Megan, mother to Derick (8) and Samantha (7). Megan works really hard to provide for her children and just got to buy her first home. She's a good mom and has not had a lot of help from the father of her children.


To make Megan's card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Medium Meri-Gold cardstock, rounding the one corner. The dark green layer is World Win's Color Mates Deep Spring Green. The patterned paper is another design I made using a background tile. The torn layer is a wallpaper sample. The two yellow ovals are World Win's Color Mates Medium and Light Meri-Gold. Again, I used a floral cut-out from Germany. To finish, I added a bow from a piece of ribbon I picked up in an embellishment set from Dollar Tree and a gold heart brad.



This pretty card is for my fifth and youngest daughter, Thea. She's not technically a mother, but is engaged to a man who has two young sons, Ryan (10) and Larry Jr (8). She's determined to be a good stepmom.

To make this card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Light Mostly Mauve as my card base, topped with Dark Mostly Mauve. I rounded the corners of the base card, then punched the lower edge of the next layer with the same Martha Stewart border punch I used on Holly's card. The floral print layer is a wallpaper sample. The green oval is another wallpaper sample, the same one I used on Megan's card. I cut a pink Wilton doily to add the trim behind the green oval. This time I used a butterfly with roses cut-out, another of those pretty cut-outs printed in Germany, that I picked up at the Mennonite bulk food store. I added a gold heart brad and two pink flower brads to complete Thea's card.

Thea happened to stop at our home today so I gave her card to her then. She was very surprised to get a Mother's Day card; she said it was the first one she'd ever gotten. Well, she's only 24 so she still has time. The others went out in today's mail, as I made it to our post office a minute before closing time. Thankfully, I live in a very small community so the post master isn't as particular about locking the door exactly at the stroke of the clock.

I have one more card to share, the one I made for my mom. And I still have one more card to make for my daughter-in-law. I'll share those is separate posts.

Third Mother's Day Card

This Mother's Day card is for my eldest daughter, Venetta, a lovely 32 yr old who is not a mother, but who has been taking care of children almost all of her life. I used to leave her younger siblings in her charge. Then when she grew up, she began babysitting other people's children, going on to doing daycare in her home, and lately being nanny to two little boys that she lost her heart to. Things have changed in the boys' family and Venetta is no longer caring for the boys, a loss that she is grieving. She may not have a child of her own, but she has a mother's heart.

To make this card, I started with a white cardstock base. I covered the whole front of the card with a dark green cardstock (World Win's Color Mates Deep Glorious Green). I used the same piece to make the shaped layer. The multi-colored striped layer is another printed digital paper from the good folks at ScrapbookScrapbook.com. Then we have a dark green print that I made from a background tile and printed it out; I apologize for not remembering which website I got the background tile from. Do a search for "free background tiles" and you'll get a whole ton of sites with some wonderful tiles to choose from; the same goes for "free teabag tiles", which also can be made into lovely papers to print out. The red floral print is a scanned & printed fabric. I used a textured yellow cardstock from a 12" x 12" Colorbok pad purchased at WalMart to make the bottom shaped layer; actually I used a scrap from my scrap stash. I keep all my scraps, as long as they're at least big enough to use with the little punches I have. Sort them by color into large zippered storage bags (like gallon size Ziploc bags) and store; they come in mighty handy when you only need a small piece for a card design. I've already mentioned the dark green shaped layer. The cream-colored oval was cut from a scrap of cardstock. The scalloped light green is actually a digital mulberry paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, which I cut with edge-shaped scissors. The floral print which is the card focal point is, again, a cut-out from a sheet of such designs printed in Germany and purchased at our local Mennonite bulk food store. I also added two gold heart brads and two gold square brads set on point.

There you have it and now I am going to get busy on those other cards.

My Second Mother's Day Card

I managed to get this card made this morning; it didn't take as long as the first one. This one is on its way to my stepdaughter Paige. She's stepmomma to two special little people, McKayden and Connor. Now I just have to get cards made for my 5 daughters and my mom; fortunately, they all live fairly close by so I don't have to have them in the mail til Friday.

So here's what I did to put this card together: The card base is a medium purple cardstock, some of that cheap unnamed stuff I have. The multi-colored background paper is a computer printed design based on a free background tile I found on a website offering free background tiles--sorry that I can't remember which website I got it from. Then I cut a rectangle from a dark purple cardstock scrap I had in my stash. On top of that rectangle is another rectangle from a light purple print that I found at PaperCraft Inspirations Magazine (they offer quite a few different free paper designs). I put two gold brads in the corners of the rectangle. I tore squares from a burgundy and a white piece of mulberry paper, layered them in an offset manner, and topped them with another rectangle of the dark purple cardstock. The focal point of the card is a floral bouquet I copied from a Dover Design Sampler and printed out on white cardstock.

There you have it! Now I should get busy with those other 6 cards...

My First Mother's Day Card 2009

Well, here it is--my first Mother's Day card for 2009. I like it! It took me long enough to make, though. I had to change direction a couple of times. I started out with some stamped inchie images but just couldn't get the look I wanted so I set them aside and pulled out this floral cutout. From there things started to come together nicely.

Here's what I used: the base is a medium blue cardstock, from one of those budget packs you can buy at Michael's, I think. I don't keep track of the unmarked cardstocks, sorry. I used another piece of the same color for the rectangular layer with the faux stitching. The background paper is from a purchased 12" piece by Bo-Bunny Press copyright 2004 Jan Lanoy called Backyard Flower. Then there's a layer of light blue cardstock, WorldWin Color Mates Light Ocean Blue. The yellow paper doily is next; it's a Wilton doily which I picked up in a pack of 3 colors (yellow, green & pink) off the clearance aisle at WalMart. The packs were really cheap so I took all they had; they're 4" doilies and useful for so many cardmaking projects. The next layer, the shaped dark blue with the sanded edges, started out as an 8" square from a Best Occasions color pack from WalMart. My mom gave me that pack as part of my Christmas gift from her, which contained all sorts of terrific things for cardmaking. I used a nail file purchased at Dollar Tree in a multi-pack to do the edge sanding. Dollar Tree is one of my favorite stores to shop at! They have lots of stuff you can use on cards and the price is definitely right! The light floral print layer is from the digital papers at ScrapbookScrapbook.com; I love their digital papers! They print up really nice and the colors & patterns are great! Just a quick note about printing out papers, I use a little HP Deskjet 3910 that I bought at WalMart for $25 a couple years ago and I refill my own ink cartridges, so I don't spend a fortune on printer ink. Okay, on from there, the oval is the dark blue cardstock again. I use my own stencils, that I cut myself from recycled cardstock. I do not have a die-cut machine, just my trusty scissors and a steady hand. No, my cuts aren't perfect, but that's okay; I'm not trying to make cards that look like they were factory-produced. The cream-colored oval was cut from an old index card that I just found today stick between the pages of an old scrapbook of my grandmother's which is full of cards she'd received--even one that my mom had made for her long before I was born! How cool is that? And the focal point of the whole card, that lovely floral cut-out, is from a cheet of such cut-outs that I picked up at the Mennonite bulk food store near us. These sheets come in a variety of designs and are printed in Germany; sorry, there's no name on the sheets that I can identify to pass along and I have no idea where you can find them. I believe these are intended for decoupage. The oval is "popped" with double-sided foam tape. I buy mine as cheaply as possible; I have a roll of Scotch brand (pricey), a couple rolls of Duck brand (cheaper) and stocked up on several rolls from our local surplus store that cost $1.29 for a 1" x 100" roll (really cheap!). And last but not least, I used two different sized gold heart brads that I bought from CreativeImpressions.com. So there you have it--my first Mother's Day card this year. This one will be going out in tomorrow morning's mail to my online friend who lost her son and is dreading this Mother's Day. Now to make cards for my Mom and my daughters...