Bring On the Happy!

Masculine cards can be sort of tough for this gal who likes flowers, butterflies and bling!  But I made this card this morning for someone special who is celebrating the big 6-0 in  a few weeks.  I saw a card on the Silhouette blog recently and decided to use it for inspiration (read: steal it).  Here's my version:

I love the way it turned out. 

I cut the white circle background with my Cameo from a shape purchased in the Silhouette store.  It cut so beautifully!  I took a one inch punch to cut some circles from the Authentique Genuine paper pad.  Those were easily adhered in a random fashion under the circle background and the whole thing was adhered to a 6x12 inch piece of Kraft cardstock.  I cut the banner with my Cameo, too, and heat embossed the sentiment which is from a Hero Arts stamp set I have.

I added a few Papertrey Ink buttons for a bit more interest and that was it....I just love this background and will use it again!

I entered this in the following challenges:
MilkCoffee Challenges: Round and Round We Go-Circles Challenge
Simon Says Stamp and Show: Challenge: No Rules
Tuesday Alchemy: Challenge #23: Button, Button, Whose Got a Button

And a big shout out to Melissa/Sunshine Honeybee for the heads up on the challenges. 


Happy Crafting!

The Impossible to Mail Card!

I love big fat things....like big fat chocolate chip cookies....or big fat pieces of chocolate....but big fat cards just do not mail well, do they?  But sometimes I just can't resist!

Here is an example of an impossible to mail card:

Actually, I could put it in a padded envelope and it would be fine....but I don't know that it would do well in a regular paper envie.  You know?
When I was at the new to me stamp store the other day I picked up this wonderful little scalloped edge Dienamics die which made the center flower on my card.  It's one of those where you roll it up to make a 3 dimensional flower...and it is so cute.  I couldn't resist cutting some Papertrey Ink wool felt out with it....and then the smaller flowers were cut with one of the Paper Trey Ink's Flower Fusion sets.  The sentiment is Papertrey Ink...stamped on a piece of cardstock with some Close to My Heart ink and then the ends were punched with a large scallop.  *Cute idea, if I say so myself! The frame is a Spellbinder.  I added a few Hero Arts pearls, tied a little cotton floss into a bow and secured it and that was it!  The card base is Papertrey Ink cardstock (LOVE THAT STUFF!...it's so wonderfully sturdy!)

Simple and "relatively" fast! :)

Treasured Friend

You know how one blog takes you to another which takes you to another which takes you to another?  Well, in my blog journeying I ended up on a new blog to me: Authentique Paper.  I just love the Authentique paper line...it's another favorite of mine.  I recently purchased some small 6x6 pads at Archiver's during a sale (of course!) and was eying the Genuine one to use.
I saw a sketch challenge on the Authentique blog that I decided to enter.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my very liberal interpretation of it:

I turned it on it's side and after trying some different shapes for those mats I decided to leave them off.  I used some Ranger Distress Ink (Faded Jeans) and also cut a rickrack strip with a Papertrey Ink die that is adhered to the chevron.  The lacy circle was cut with a Spellbinder and I used some Papertrey Ink twine to tie a generous bow.  The sentiment was done with a Close to My Heart stamp with Versamark embossed with some Adirondack powder.

This is quite a different card for me but I had fun doing it and enjoyed the result!

I entered this in the Authentique Sketch Challenge HERE.

Happy Monday and Happy Crafting!

"Card" ;)

I went to a crop yesterday and when people would come by and ask me what I was working on  I would reply "Card".  No typo there.....Nope....I didn't work on CARDS...I worked on CARD.  LOL!  I spent hours and hours fiddling through my stuff and shortly after lunch, despite cropping most of the morning, I had one card done!  That's my style, though....fiddle,fiddle with low output!  But I did have fun!!!

By the way, I did actually get a few cards done for Operation Write Home.

 The above butterfly cards were done with a Martha Stewart butterfly punch (punches out 3 little butterflies...too cute!) and were CASED from Vicky at Clips-N-Cuts.

The top cards were done with DCWV papers, Papertrey Ink stamps, dies and ribbon.  

I'm entering these in the following challenges:
Paper Crafting Journey: Challenge - Feeling Krafty? 
The Kraft Journal: Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet: Anything Goes Challenge

OK, back to the crop.  This crop was a benefit for a real American hero, Travis Mills.  

I posted about him earlier in the week but in a nutshell, Travis was serving in Afghanistan and critically injured in April.  He lost both arms and legs.  He is currently in the Maryland area at Walter Reed Army Hospital going through rehab and is doing remarkably well....he has a very positive attitude and I know this will serve him well.  He's actually already up and walking.  Travis has a beautiful wife and baby daughter and they all could use your positive thoughts and prayers.

If you'd like to "meet" Travis you can go HERE to this incredible website.  If you click on updates there is some awesome video of Travis's progress including some of him walking.  Amazing.

During our crop Travis was "skyped" in and was so humble and then so grateful for all the support and assistance he has been given.  He says no thanks are necessary for "doing his job"  but I have always thought it was important to show our gratefulness to the servicemen and their families for the sacrifices they have made for our freedoms.  My father was a 31 year US Army soldier who served during WWII and the Viet Nam conflict.  Yes....I was an Army brat and still proud of it!

I hope you'll check Travis out...his story is very inspiring.

Happy Sunday and happy crafting!

Independence Day!

I decided to make an Independence Day card for a friend of mine...I saw a sketch at Clean&Simple Stamping that just spoke to me and said..."I would make a great patriotic card!".  Here is the original sketch:

Of course, this was just a sketch and the stars could be anything but I decided to do something different and use...uh, yeah....the stars as STARS!

I actually have this wonderful Creative Memories star punch that also embosses that my friend, Cyndi, gave me a while back.  I love it.  It does a regular 5 pointed star and then it does a cut out star that is embossed.

Here is my take on the sketch:

I used some very old red and white Making Memories paper I had, white cardstock from who knows where and a piece of blue Bazzill.  The little blue stars on top of the white stars were done from Pink Paislee paper and punched with a little Fiskars thumb punch I have. The sentiment was done with various stamps I had around...the happy was from a Stampendous set...and the 4, t, h, and ! were from some teensy wood mounted stamps from Hero Arts that I've had for nearly 10 years.  I cut the sentiment out with an EK Success punch.

Below you can just about make out the bit of embossing...even though it's a bit blurry.

I've always loved red, white and blue together....they just make you want to stand at attention with your hand over your heart.
I'm entering this in the following Challenges:
Little Scrap Pieces: Use a Star
More than Favors: Wacky Wednesday #73 4th of July Theme
Paper Crafting Journey: Challenge - Feeling Krafty 
By the way, my friend Donna sent me the following video the other day.  It's of 2 girls and a boy (all siblings) singing The Star Spangled Banner a capella.  It is amazing....I hope you enjoy it. It gave me goosebumps and brought a tear or two to my eye....

Happy Crafting!

Flash! 4 Cards in 30 Minutes!

My hands worked faster than the speed of sound on these cards.  OK, not really but I did make 4 cards in 30 minutes.  Of course they were the same card but still....that is a good time for moi!  I totally CASEd this....for those of you who don't know what CASE means...well, it means that you find something to steal inspire you and use it.  I was totally inspired by this and decided to steal use it.  (Oh and CASE means "Copy and Steal Everything")  Here is the original:

and is from Danielle Walls at Neat and Tangled.  She has a really great blog with all kinds of wonderful ideas! I loved the simplicity of this card made with Lawn Fawn's Flying By set.
Here is my take on it:

I added another splash of color with some Washi tape because...well, ya know....I now have 427 rolls of it and need to start using it!  (slight exaggeration on the number of rolls....)

I stamped and cut the plane out of some Doodlebug scraps I had and added it with foam tape to the punched circle which was mounted with foam tape, as well.

And I made 4 of them in 30 minutes:

I am going to a benefit crop tomorrow for a real American Hero...Travis Mills who was critically injured in Afghanistan in April.  He lost both arms and legs but is doing really well and is actually walking again with prostheses.  If you'd like to read his story (and it is an amazing one and if you're American will fill your heart with patriotic pride) you can find it HERE.  He has an amazing wife and adorable child and the positive outlook Travis and his wife have is amazing.

I've made these cards for servicemen to use for Operation Write Home.  My father was career Army...I remember the year he spent in Viet Nam in the mid '60s...there was no Skype, internet, cell phones, etc. back then.  We went a full year without hearing his voice.  He wrote letters to my mother daily...but of course, it took a minimum of 7-10 days for them to be received so when the news was received it was old news.  How technology has certainly improved a terrible situation when our loved ones are deployed far away for long periods of time. 

As we approach Independence Day I want to express my appreciation to all the servicemen out there as well as to their wives at home.  I always said wives of servicemen were the unsung heroes....

I entered this in the following challenges (again, thanks to Sunshine Honeybee for letting me know about challenges...if it weren't for her I'd never enter!):
Craft Your Passion: Things with Wings (this counts as having wings, don't you think?)
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner: Anything Goes

Happy Crafting.

Hello to You!

Happy Thursday to you from Georgia!

Here is the last card made in my recent card class.

I used green cardstock as our base and then stamped it with some flower stamps randomly with green Hero Arts ink.  The flowers were stamped with the "hello" stamp on white paper with slightly different orangey ink colors and then die cut.  I added green satin ribbon for stems and I see the one on the left is slightly off center....sort of like nature in reality! LOL!  A tip for adhering really skinny ribbon....run it through you Xyron Sticker Maker (put through a few pieces at the same time to save on adhesive).  That works very well and easily.  I added a bit of bling to the center of the flowers because, as you know, a girl MUST have bling!
This stamp set used for the sentiment is an all around great one to have...and at about $6 retail...well, you just can't go wrong....!

I have entered this in the That Craft Place Challenge: It's All Green.  (Thanks to Melissa the Challenge Queen, for the heads up!)

That's it for today....off to a tennis match shortly.  I'm feeling all achey and painy....not a good sign! LOL!!!  My tennis partner is going to be so happy with me, I'm sure! (I can hear her now..."Susan, can you NOT keep the ball in the court???")  LOL!

But for now...maybe another cup of coffee will help....

Happy Crafting!

Cards, Cards, Cards!

It is a beautiful day here in Georgia today....not too hot, sunny, blue sky.  What am I going to do?  I think I am going to hole myself up in my "studio" (I love the way that sounds but you could call it a basement craft room if you want) and scrapbook.  I have been making tons of cards that sit here and stare at me because I don't want to part with them....it's time to get back to some scrapbooking!

But for today...another card.  This is the 3rd one we made at Archiver's.

And of course, this card is made with more beloved Hero Arts products!  We cut the flower from two different sets (have I said what a fan I am of these Framelits???!):

We made a little flap with Kraft cardstock which was stamped with some white ink and that was adhered to the front of the regular A2 sized card.  Sort of a card on a card, you know?

...and stamped a little sentiment inside.  This is a great little sentiment set that I picked up at Archiver's...

We added just a touch of bling....a little button and some baker's twine and said "Voila!...Cute card!"

Now, I saved the best for last....my daughter and her family have been on a little vacation and they sent me this picture yesterday of my little granddaughter, Taylor, enjoying a view of the lake.  (Personally, I bet she was sitting there oblivious to the lake and eating the grass because that girl PUTS EVERYTHING IN THAT CUTE LITTLE MOUTH...but it is such a cute photo!)

Happy Summer Day and Happy Crafting!

Flutterby, Flutterby....

I can't tell you how many kids I worked with as a speech therapist who said "Flutterby" for Butterfly.  It was so darned cute it was almost one of those errors you didn't want to correct, you know?  (sort of like when a kid says Pasketti or Basketti for spaghetti!....cute as a kid....not so cute when an adult says it.)

What is it about butterflies we love?  Color, movement?  Everything?  I just love 'em...don't need to analyze it...but they are such beautiful creatures.  I only recently learned, though, that from the time a butterfly comes out of its cocoon it only lives about 2 weeks.  Egads!  Awful....I think they need to evolve a bit more and hang around!

But we immortalize them with our crafting...lots of butterfly crafts out there, aren't there?

Here's another card done with all Hero Arts products....did this one at Archiver's in the card class recently.  I loved this card....the techniques will be so useful on other cards, as well.

 We used a Hero Arts Frame Cut...you can see it here:

and used it to cut a window in the card.  We stamped  a piece of white cardstock for the mat on the inside of the card.
We stamped and cut out the butterflies and watercolored them with some Tombow pens and added some pretty Stickles (turquoise).

 Then using the "open" flower we stamped the outside of the card with Versamark, applied opaque embossing powder and heat set it.
I love that look....really love it.
We used a simple sentiment on a banner, added a button and I finished it with some baker's twine and we were done!
Here's what the card looks like sort of closed up....

Such pretty "FLUTTERBIES!"

I'm entering this in the Speedy TV Challenge on Embossing HERE  and the Made Especially for You Challenge on Embossing.



Happy Crafting.

My Continued Love Affair with Hero Arts

There is a new blog out there in Blog Universe called A Blog Named Hero which I've been following lately.  It is perfect for me....a true fan of Hero Arts!  I love seeing all the projects with stamps that I need want.
The latest challenge there is to create a project with the Kissing technique where you basically touch one stamp image to another before you press it onto your paper.  You can add an ink color or you can kiss and remove some ink.  I first learned about kissing in a CKU class several years back (more than 5!) taught by the fabulous Jennifer McGuire.  I loved the technique then and still love it now.
I played around yesterday with some different images I have and decided on this one:

I also used a messy swirl woodblock stamp that unfortunately is no longer available.  I've had this stamp for years...thought about selling it in a consignment sale but something said to me...Keep your Hero Arts Stamps...they are classic!

 I just love, love, love the movement it gave to this stamp!  So happy with that result.  I did it in green, I did it in orange...and then I decided to use blue to simulate a lovely summery day.  I used some Colorbok pigment ink and kissed with the swirl stamp to remove some of the color being careful to wipe of the stamp each time.  And then I used some Zing clear embossing powder to heat set it.

 I added a little white crochet thread to just give it a bit more {oomph}!  (I get tired of saying DIMENSION! HAHA!)

 I really just love the way this turned out!  I may have to keep this one! ;)....my love affair knows no limit....

I'm entering this in the Hero Arts Challenge #6 KISSING as well as the Speedy TV Challenge on Embossing and Made Especially for You.

ADDED 7/1/12:  I also liked this technique for STRETCHING YOUR STAMPS....this allows you to take two stamps and make an entirely new image!

I've added this to Yes, Virginia...How I Stretch My Stamps.

Happy Crafting!

Hero Arts Card Class at Archiver's

I don't know if I could say I have a very favorite stamp line but I do know that if I did Hero Arts stamps and products would certainly be vying for the top of the list!  I am just drawn to the stamps this company produces.  Haven't purchased a bad one yet!
I went to Archiver's yesterday and took a card class that featured Hero Arts products.  It was a lot of fun...I don't know that I learned anything new but I did like each card and find that they will be easy to duplicate or expand on.
Here is one card we made....I love blue and green together.  What was fun about this card is that we used a die to create the little mini card on the front.  We just positioned it so that it would give us a flap at the top.  It would be nice to put an additional sentiment here...or to even put a gift card in.  Cute!
We did some heat embossing with clear embossing powder on the front of the small tag which gave a nice sheen.
Otherwise it was just some simple stamping.  But I love the way it looked!  We tied some teensy ribbon around the bottom and that was it!

 Here you can see the little card on the card!

 We also used some foam tape for some dimension.  I like dimension....who would have ever thought foam tape or dimensionals would have had such staying power! LOL! I remember the days when everything was FLAT!  Stickers, paper, stamps and ink....all flat! ;)

I entered this in the embossing challenge at Speedy TV and Made Especially for You.
Happy Sunday and Happy Crafting!

Another Father's Day Card

A quick card to share with you today.  I picked up a free Silhouette file HERE at Scrap Your Story (the file is also available as an SVG).  I cut it out on my Cameo (fast and easy)...glued the pieces down after inking them and added a few buttons for a "button down look".  I used a Paper Trey Ink stamp for the sentiment.  It worked up really quickly and I thought turned out so cute! I used the same paper stack as yesterday...the very cute This and That by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park.

Easy Peasy Bo Beasy, Banana Fanna Fo Feasy, Fee Fie Fo Feasy...Peasy!  Remember that song?  LOL!

Entered in the following challenges (Thanks for the heads up, Sunshine Honeybee!):
Catch the Bug Anything Goes 
DLART Thankful Thursday Challenge 
LEJ Designs Ch5 Button It 
Papertake Weekly Anything Goes Challenge
Pile it On 23 Put a Button on It
Speedy Fox & Friends Ch110 Use Buttons
Scrappy Moms Stamps Terrific Tuesday - Father's Day





Happy Crafting!

Father's Day is Nearly Here!

I lost my father shortly after I turned 20 but a day does not go by that I don't think of him.  Thankfully I still am around some awesome fathers.  My son in law, for example....he has stepped into the roll of fatherhood very nicely and is a wonderful daddy to his little ones.

Here is a simple card I made for him...he's an avid golfer...and I thought he would get a little bit of a kick out of this.

The inside says "You're an awesome DAD!" 
I used Echo Park This and That papers on a Paper Trey Ink card base with s piece of Paper Trey Ink ribbon.  You can't see it here but I used some Glossy Accents on the golf ball. 

And that was it.   Clean and Simple and FAST!

Happy Crafting!

Flat and Little!

I don't usually do flat and I don't usually do little.  I like buttons and ribbons and lace...and all those things that make sending a card by mail virtually impossible!  Is that why I make cards but keep them?  I probably have a card sitting here for you I never mailed! LOL!

I don't do little either.  I don't like when cards don't fit into envelopes perfectly.  And square cards cost more to send than A2 or more standard sized things.  I'm frugal....why should I pay more to send a square envelope?  Wah, wah, wah.....

It must be the rain here in Atlanta today .... we need it but it makes me cranky!!!

Anyway, here is a little 4x4 card I did with some various stamps....I used a Hero Arts stamp to make the background....inked a piece of paper with some Broken China Distress Ink and then stamped it with the same color ink.  The cute little images are by Penny Black.  I colored with Copics and added a little Glossy Accents to her glass of Lemonade.

I cut the images out and then put them on some foam tape to add a little dimension.

We celebrated Taylor's birthday with a party yesterday and it was also her mother's birthday who happens to be my daughter (are you following that?).
Here are some photos from the day...first the cake and table that my friend Kelly made for us (to match the one from Saturday when we did her photoshoot)...It was absolutely gorgeous....and the inside was four layers and the bottom layer started with a darker pink...and each layer got lighter.  So gorgeous!

And the table:

And a photo of the 2 birthday girls:

 Happy Crafting!

Birthday Card

This will be a quick post today...why?  Because I am leaving shortly to help my daughter out with the little kiddos.

Her husband's nephew is celebrating a birthday soon (he'll be 13) and she asked me if I had a card.  No problem...it gave me an excuse to get out this set of Unity stamps that are well loved in this household (well, by me....my husband probably doesn't know they exist!)...but he loves that I have a hobby that keeps me happy and so indirectly he loves these Unity stamps, too.

I used Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride which is a very boyish line of papers....and very cute if I say so myself!  I used a Kraft paper as the card base.  The ribbon is from Paper Trey Ink.  Edges were distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and I also used Memento Tuxedo Black.

I love all the combinations of colors and prints.  So much fun for me to mix like this! 

I just finished the card and used some Glossy Accents which haven't dried so the stars and birthday candle look a bit cloudy but they should clear up in no time AS LONG AS I DON'T TOUCH IT!  :)

and a bit of a closeup....

On the run!

Happy Crafting!!!

No Favorites for Me/CFC Challenge0422

I don't really have many favorites.  Ask me my favorite color and I'll name at least three...blue, red...and black (black is slimming you know)....I might even throw in green on some days!  Ask me my favorite thing to do and I'll name paper crafting, tennis and reading.  Ask me my favorite food and I'll say "It depends...".  I don't have a favorite animal (like 'em all)...don't have a favorite cartoon character although I do seem to be watching a lot of Thomas and Friends these days and if you ask my grandson what my favorite train is he will say "Skarlooey".  I always tell him Skarlooey is Omie's favorite.
In case you are not up on your Thomas...here is Omie's favorite Skarlooey:

I certainly don't have a favorite bug.  Mostly I don't like bugs. Bugs give me the heebie jeebies.  I'd rather touch a snake than a bug any day!  I do like butterflies, though...and I can put up with a dragonfly.  Dragonflies are pretty neat to watch....I just don't think they need to land on me.

Anyway, I am participating in my first challenge at the very cool site The Outlaws.  This is the Creative Freebie Challenge CFC Challenge0422 where you are given 2 digital images to use in a project...and if you complete the project you get two more.  The image I selected to use was Sandi Huggett's dragonfly.  And it did not give me the heebie jeebies, thankfully.

Here is the card I made:

I colored with Copics (yay)...and just had a fun time making a sort of op art dragonfly....I made a card base with some Spellbinder dies and used a Hero Arts sentiment stamped with some SU ink.  I also versamarked the entire dragonfly and embossed it with some SU sparkly embossing powder.  Added a little pearl gem to the flower, some pearl cotton around the mat and that was it!

And a closeup:

Not bad for a bug, huh?

And by the way, the cookies I made yesterday that I named the "Have It All" cookie were a big hit.  Scrumptious, wonderful, delicious...and perhaps a FAVORITE!

Happy Crafting!