My Very First Easel Card!

My Aunt Jackie has a birthday coming up and I wanted to do something bright and cheery. I also wanted to try my hand at an easel card and was thinking in terms of a circular card for the weekly challenge at the Anything But Cute group on Paper Craft Planet.

I cut my card base out of the bright yellow cardstock with orange polka-dots. I don't have any record of the company that produced this cardstock. I bought 4 different packs at Big Lots a couple years back; at the time, I wasn't thinking about keeping track of company names, so tossed the packaging without making a note of which company it was.

On a whim, I grabbed my tracing wheel from my sewing stuff and ran a line around the outer edge of the top circle that would become the front of my card. Then I took a corsage pin and pierced through each mark left by the tracing wheel. At that point, I decided the paper-piercing wasn't enough, so I pulled out my embroidery floss, a needle and some seed beads and proceeded to embroider a simple chain stitch through all those holes all around the card. I followed that up with an argyle strip from my scraps (DCWV) and two orange diagonal striped strips from my scraps (DCWV) which I punched with one of my Fiskars border punches. After taping those strips together to make the center background for my card front, I stuck the whole thing down with foam tape (had to get it over the top of my embroidery stitches). I cut three silk sunflowers off the floral bunches they came on and hot-glued them to the front of the card. To finish, I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment (Inkadinkadoo image) on some plain yellow cardstock using VersaColor bark pigment ink, sprinkled American Crafts Zing! chestnut embossing powder on and heat-embossed it. I trimmed the corners with my corner-shaper punch and gave it a bit of VersaColor orange pigment ink distressing. It is mounted to the bottom with foam tape. I used VersaColor marigold pigment ink to add edge-distressing on the round card front and bottom. And there you have it! I liked the way it turned out and will definitely make another easel card, although I may not make it in a circle.

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

Wolf Birthday Card

Our son-in-law Larry will be celebrating a birthday this weekend. I had gotten this image in an exchange with another cardmaker on Paper Craft Planet; as soon as I saw it, I thought of my son-in-law and the card I would make for him. My thanks to Terrie Woodford in Alberta, Canada for sending me this image & several others. Terrie said that this image comes from a 2003 release by Sugar Loaf.

I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to do justice to coloring the image, but I think I did okay. I used Crayola and RoseArt colored pencils to color in most of the image. I did use a black BIC Mark-it on the eyes, nose, and mouth, however. Once I had the image colored, putting down layers of colors, I went back over the image with a paper stub and odorless mineral spirits to blend the colors.

The image is mounted on a rectangle of black Best Occasions glitter paper from WalMart. The two different black background papers are by DCWV. The green striped strip is from my scraps. I used a Martha Stewart punch along the edges of the green strip. The sentiment is stamped with an Inkadinkadoo wood-mount stamp and adhered with foam tape.

I apologize for the skewed image. I should have scanned the card a second time, but I was too lazy to do so. 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!

Another Orange Birthday Card

My inspiration for this card began with that stamped floral scallop strip. I like the way that looks so much! I am going to have to try some of my other small stamps, though, to see what other effects I can come up with. Besides the stamped strip, I also wanted to do some freeform machine stitching on this card and use more of the raffia ribbon.

The gingham check background paper is from DCWV. The darker orange floral cardstock mat came from my scraps. I cut out the little stamped flowers, extras at the end of my stamped strip, and glued them in place. The vintage flower seed print is a digital image from Dover, which I colored with my BIC Mark-It's and gel pens. I also used a little distress ink on the image (may not do that again as I didn't really like it). The image was mounted on foam tape. 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!

Lighthouse Challenge Birthday

As a general rule, I don't make cards without having a person in mind to receive that card. This card was no exception. I needed to make a birthday card for our sister-in-law Ingrid who lives in Georgia, while at the same time over at Paper Craft Planet in the group Anything But Cute to which I belong, there's a challenge going on to make a card using lighthouse images. I don't own any stamps with lighthouses, so I had to turn to other options.

For this card, I used a digitized adaptation of a wallpaper border from my stash of wallpaper samples (the border is too big to use on a card as is). I mounted the lighthouse image on a dark green piece of cardstock from my scrap bag, then onto a piece of medium blue cardstock, also from the scrap bag. I used a Bic marker to add faux stitching on the blue piece and cut a scalloped edge with shape scissors. The background paper is a digital print from a tile by Kitty Wompus. The three other pieces of circle print papers are from a ScrapbookScrapbook digital print. I ink-distressed the edges of those three papers with Baby Blue VersaColor ink. To complete the card, I added layered buttons, cream & shades of blue, tied with brown embroidery floss, and mounted the matted image with foam tape. I was really pleased with the way this card turned out and hope our sister-in-law likes it.

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

Belated Birthday Turtle

I wanted to make a birthday card for a friend who moved away, but I didn't get around to it in time, so on her actual birthday I was busy making this card. The stamp is an Inkadinkadoo design. I colored it with Sharpie markers and colored pencil, also going over the stamped sentiment with Sharpie marker. The background paper is a digital print from DAISIE Company, (I'm liking their digital clipart a lot). I added ribbons and sequin "bubbles." I hope she likes it. I didn't do a lot with this card because the background paper is so pretty that I didn't want to detract from it.

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!

Using A Favorite Template Again

This is a birthday card which I made for the young man I have been supporting in the Philippines through the ministry of Compassion. John Mark is going to be 17 years old in late September. I thought it would be nice to use a realistic scene from our part of the world on his card. This photo came from the cover of an old Our Daily Bread devotional by the good folks at RBC Ministries; I've been reading their Our Daily Bread devotional since I was a teen. Too bad I didn't save all those cover photos!

Once I had the picture chosen, I looked for papers to go with it. The background paper I used was a single sheet of 12"x12" paper I had in my stash. I don't know who published it. Then I went to my stash of scraps to find pieces to cut the hinges (aka tags, arrows, or whatever you think they look like) from. This template, which I made, is turning out to be one of my favorites. I drew "brads" on the hinges with Sharpie marker and covered them with Clear Accent. I also ink-distressed the edges of the hinges to give them a little added definition.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

April's Cards

This card was made for our granddaughter McKayden's 5th birthday in April. I used a couple pieces of cardstock--one a print with glitter accents (the diamonds--from DCWV), the other a piece of textured cardstock. I cut the piece with the little princesses from a piece of scrapbooking paper. The edges were inked and the stamped sentiment was heat embossed.

My youngest daughter was married in February and this card went to her husband. I had missed his You're Special day--too much schoolwork & other things and I just plain forgot!--so when she & I were talking about it, she told me how his mom had said to tell me that a small bag of $20's would make it right. I couldn't resist making this card with that "small bag of $20's" inside of it. The next pic is of the inside of this card...

The small bag is an actual small plastic bag that I got when I still had a job. I have about a 1000 of them, I think, as the company I worked for was throwing them away, brand new, never been used, because they weren't the right size. I HATE waste like that so I ended up with a bunch of them. The $20's are photocopies on green copy paper of a child's play $20 bill. My daughter said my son-in-law got a good laugh out of it. That was the whole point, after all.

This is the wedding card I made for that same daughter and her new husband. As you can tell, since I said they were married in February, I was rather late with this one, too. Orange is my daughter's color and I had purchased the 2 big buttons (came in a set of 3 buttons) specifically for her wedding card, then picked papers and other embellishments to complement the two big buttons that I used.

Again with the orange: this card was for my youngest daughter's You're Special day. I stamped the image, heat embossed it, and colored it in with Bic markers. I added faux stitching, done by hand, and flower brads on the stamped image. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack.

By the time I made this card, I was starting to get caught up on the family birthdays and You're Special days. This pretty in purple birthday card was for my daughter-in-law Amber. I used a paint chip card for the background, cutting the edge with scalloped scissors and adding a white border-punched edging. The two potted hyacinth images are cut from a facial tissue box. They were too pretty to throw away! The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed.

My daughter Megan loves yellow roses so for her You're Special day I cut a picture of yellow roses out of an old rose catalog--save those flower catalogs!--and made the card around that image. The stylized flowers are cut from a sheet of printed, glittery DCWV cardstock. The yellow dotted background is cardstock also and again, I inked the edges. That's an effect I am liking a lot! The sentiment is stamped and (I think) heat embossed. It's hard to remember after the fact and I don't make notes on my pics.

One of the neighbors had a daughter graduating from high school this year. This card is for her. The two small stamps are from those dollar stamps you can get at JoAnn's or Michaels. The sentiment is another dollar stamp. All are heat-embossed. I really liked the way this card turned out! But then, blue is my favorite color. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack.

My daughter Holly's birthday was in April and this card was for her. She also loves the color blue. As you can see, I used more of the same paper prints I used on the graduation card above. I seldom cut into a new piece of paper until after I've looked through all of my scraps to see if I can make use of them first.

Our youngest grandchild, little Alan, turned a year old in March. I don't get to see him--a situation with my son which I won't go into--but I still made him a card, albeit a month late. Some day I hope that my son will let me deliver the cards I make for him, his wife, and their son. Again, the cardstocks are a piece from a DCWV stack pack. I added hand faux stitching. The sentiment is stamped, heat embossed, and colored with those Bic markers. The sentiment is from the Two You set by Stampendous. It's one of my favorite sets; you'll see it show up lots on my cards. The little number 1 square at the top right is from a 12x12" sheet of scrapbook paper.

When my youngest daughter married in February, we not only gained a son-in-law, we gained two more grandsons. We have 13 grandchildren now--5 girls and 8 boys. This card was for our grandson Ryan who celebrated his 12th birthday. I used the same DCWV cardstock on this card as I used on the previous card. This stamped sentiment is another image from that Stampendous Two You set, heat embossed and colored with the Bic markers. The letters spelling out Ryan's name are cut from another sheet of 12x12" scrapbooking paper.

Our "new" grandson, Larry Jr, received this card for his You're Special day. His favorite color is purple. I couldn't resist using the little hermit crab, another dollar stamp purchased at JoAnn's. The crab and the sentiment are heat embossed and the crab is colored with Bic markers. The background paper is a digital print that I made from a teabag tile. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of which website I found the teabag tile on.

That's all the cards from April. I only have May and June to go and then I will be all caught up! Hurrah! I should be back tomorrow with more. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Cards from Jan-Feb-March 2010

This card was made for my sweet granddaughter Samantha who turned 8 years old in January. The background paper is a scan of a piece of fabric, then printed out onto paper. When I print out digital papers I use 24# paper, as it is heavier and gives a better result than regular 20# copy paper. It does cost a little more, but the extra price is worth it. The card also features a circle cut from embossed & glittery cardstock, punched butterflies with gel pen accents & their wings bent upwards, and a flower brad.

This card was made for my son-in-law Levi's birthday in January. As you can see, my printer was acting up when I printed out the balloon image and the "crimped" paper, but I thought the lines in the balloon image actually added to the effect so I used it anyway. I also liked the color variation in the "crimped" paper. The circle paper (sorry, I don't have the maker of the paper handy) mimics the hot-air balloons. The background paper is a digital print, I think from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, which I border punched. The sentiment is hand-written.

I made this card for my sister Annette's birthday in February. The image is a Thomas Kinkade print recycled from a page-a-day calendar. Those little page-a-day calendars are a wonderful source of images to use on cards--and a very frugal re-use! The other papers are digital prints from ScrapbookScrapbook.com (the "crimped" designs & the circles). The floral print is a purchased scrapbook paper whose maker I don't have handy. I added a bit of ribbon to accent the card and printed the sentiment by hand.

This card was made for my sweetheart's Aunt Grace. I used scraps of two different purchased patterned papers and inked the edges. I stamped the sentiment, twice actually unintentionally, then heat-embossed it. I punched the corners of the plaid paper, added a bit of trim, and flower & butterfly brads.

It's getting late and I need to head to bed so I'll have to post the rest of the cards I've made since April a bit later. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!