Happy Baath-day!

Well, hello, blogland!

Hope things are well with all of you!  I had a great day today...my tennis team took 5 out of 5 points and we played the second place team.  So woohoo!  Yay, us!  I did play with a new partner today which can always be a bit "iffy" but we played great together and prevailed against some very able opponents.  OK, Atlanta has a huge tennis league...tennis is big here and probably 90% of the people you play are nice and considerate opponents.  But every now and then you run into someone who is rude and obviously thinks this "social" tennis is way more than it is.  It's not like we win prize money or anything like that.  If you make it through your regular season in first place you get a freakin' plastic tag to put on your bag that says you are a division winner.  Probably a nickel's worth goes into that plastic.  I mean, c'mon!

Anyway, today we played a woman who was just so rude to us as well as her own partner.  Terrible.  Too bad for her...SHE LOST! LOL!!!  HAHA! She thought she was "all that" but SHE LOST!

OK, enough of my rantings but she was just such a good example of very poor sportsmanship!

On to birthdays.  Someone special to me is having a birthday later in the week and I made this cute little Paper Smooches card with a window for her:

 I used some My Mind's Eye papers.  The circle dies were cut from My Favorite Things Blueprint 16 as was the little mat for the sentiment.

I colored the little lamb with some Copic markers after stamping it with black Versafine ink and throwing some clear embossing powder on it and heat embossing it with my new Stampin' Up Heat tool.  Love that tool...paper warp is less than my old one, I think.  I added some googly eyes and some sheen with my Wink of Stella clear pen and slapped some foam tape on it to give it some dimension.

Here you can see the inside of the card:

And that's it for today!

Happy Crafting!!!

Happy Birthday to You!

Three friends have birthdays today...Debbie, Peggy and Susette!  A big shout out to you...and hope you are all having a fabulous day.  Interestingly I think all are on beachy vacations.  Lucky them!

I recently purchased the Sizzix Flip Its die set at Michaels.  I wasn't too sure about the shape but I loved the assortment of round dies...some with stitching and some scalloped...that came with it.  I am a sucker for round dies that have edges to them.  It's just something you can't cut by hand, you know? 

Anyway, I needed a birthday card for a little boy and thought I'd use these papers.  After it was done I decided it's too "old" for him but maybe I'll find someone else to send it to. 

I used My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers.I worked very hard to get the circles to line up when the card was closed.  LOL.  Ok, "worked hard" is a silly way to put it. 

BTW, the lighting in my photography studio kitchen was terrible this morning...it's dark and gray outside.  Oh well....

Anyway, this is the card and you can see the circle stuff.  I love the circle stuff.

Here is what it looks like all closed up.  My little fingers are holding it closed at the bottom but I cropped those babies out.  I'm telling you that because it looks like my little circles do not line up...but trust me...they do! LOL!

And here is the card opened up so you can see the flip side of the circle.

The problem with these flip cards is where do you WRITE?  I guess I can write on the white panel or maybe even on the backside of the card. 

Oh well...it was fun to do and I loved the circles.  OK, I'm repeating myself...

Simple to do...and very fast.  But now I need a child's birthday card!  LOL!!!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Happy Birthday to You!

I mentioned the other day I needed a few birthday cards (July seems to be a busy birthday month for me) so I sequestered myself in my room and made a few.  I still need more...

I made a card similar to this a few months back which was a CASE from a card by the fantastic Shari Carroll but loved it so much I couldn't part with it.  I have kept it in my stash and like great artwork (HAHA!) I enjoyed pulling it out and looking at it from time to time.  Well, I decided to make a couple more.  :) I'm so smart.

Here are two versions of the same card.  The circle was cut out and acetate put behind it...gives different look and I love it!

Here is a different view of the window.  Not sure why I didn't get reflection to show the acetate but of course, if I didn't WANT reflection and glare it would be there! LOL!  I used papers from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist and a piece of flair I had sitting around.  The 'happy birthday' die cut was made with  dies from Simon Says stamp.  The "Celebrate" sentiment is from a set by Paper Smooches.

And here is a second version of the same card with the sentiment done with heat embossing:

I also used an embossing folder to emboss the wood grain look on the white cardstock.  I think the white sentiment on the embossed cardstock looks nice.

That's it for today...the cards have been mailed and hopefully received today!

Happy Crafting, Keep Creating and Happy Birthday to you July babies!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I know that most people will be celebrating the long weekend with cookouts and parades but I hope that the reason for this "day off" will be remembered...and that is to honor those who died while serving in the US Armed Forces.  This should be a reminder that our freedoms came at a huge price.

My dad served 31 years in the United States Army.  A career veteran.  He passed away many years ago but I do remember his very profound sense of patriotism.  He (and my mother) are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

And now onto card making...not a very graceful segue.... :)

I made this as a congratulations card for a recent graduate.  I liked the fun paper from My Mind's Eye that said "Follow Your Dreams".  Appropriate for a young adult venturing out in to the world!

Congrats was stamped with a Lawn Fawn stamp in Versafine Smokey Gray onto vellum and then embossed with some clear embossing powder. 

A simple card...mostly flat and easy to mail! 

Happy Crafting and Happy Memorial Day!

Simons Says Stamp September Card Kit: Part 2

I posted a couple of cards I made the other day with the Simon Says Stamp Card for September.  As I mentioned the enclosed printed chalkboard papers were a bit difficult for me to decide how to use them so I did what any self respecting card maker would do and stole ideas used inspiration I found around the the great big ol' WWW.

Here are two more cards I did:

The first one is a direct ripoff is done with a really cute Studio Calico wood veneer as the focal point.  The original card I was "inspired by" used a bicycle on the card but I just decided to put my own spin on it and after much thinking I came up with the idea of "why not use a car which came in the same pack as the bicycle and then it will look like I am just inspired and not totally stealing".  Yeah, right! LOL!!!

Oh and I did add the "Life is" stamp at the top.  Another huge change to make this card my own was to use the circle printed paper with the stripes going vertically rather than horizontally as was on the  stolen card.  Brilliant!  LOL!!!

And here I am complaining about the chalkboard papers and I didn't  even use them! 

Here's a closeup:

I know you'll want to be inspired by this fabulous card! ;)

The second one is my attempt at a chalkboard look:

I heat embossed the sentiment and then just used some white pigment ink which I stamped off before putting on the paper.  I added a little pen stitching and that was it.  A flat card.  I tried to add some bling and/or sequins but it just didn't do it for me so I left them off.

And that's it for today!

Still no baby...

Happy Crafting!!!

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit-September

I am behind on all my crafting....I'm 2 weeks behind on Project Life...I am a month or two behind with my Simon Says Stamp monthly card kits...and there is no reason except a bit of laziness! LOL!!!  But life is grand and there are not complaints here.

We are still on baby watch....My daughter is due with my new little grand-pumpkin in a week.  But she usually goes early so you know what that means...  It would be sort of ironic if she goes over her due date, you know?  A friend of hers in about 9 days post due date but unless it is medically indicated will not induce.  I admire that.  I would be shrieking "Get this watermelon out"!

I did make a few cards with the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for September the other night.  Here is the kit:

To be honest (my husband hates that saying...he says it implies you are usually NOT honest) it was not my favorite.  I liked the stamp set and I loved the papers and the wood veneers but I found the chalkboard printed papers just a bit difficult to work with.  Sort of a challenge, you know....  The papers included were from My Mind's Eye.  They had some great printed words on them but they didn't always cut well for standard cards.  Wah, wah, wah.

But I did have a great time trying...and here are two I came up with...both inspired by cards I saw posted elsewhere.  If you inspired me...well, thanks!

The first one was made with the Simon Says Stamp exclusive Expressions for You die and stamp set. 
I cut the "you" out with some coordinating paper and then used the stamp that said "make me smile" which I heat embossed with some white embossing powder.  I just masked off the "smile" since the printed paper already had "smile" on it.  Would make sense to say "You make me smile smile" now, would it?  ;)

 I added a few little blingy things and that was it for this card.  Simple and easy (once I figured out how to use that paper!).
The second card was made with a full printed sentiment....I just trimmed it and colored it with some Copics and Wink of Stella Glitter ink and added an inked wood veneer bird to the top of it.  I also used a little Wink of Stella glitter ink to the little bird for a little sheen.  I love the Wink of Stella brush tip glitter pens....they give the sheen of glitter without the mess!

Here you can (maybe) see the glittery sheen a little bit.

I'm entering the first card in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge HERE and the Simon Says Stamp Using a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Product HERE

Happy Crafting!

You're the Best!

I wanted to make a quick card for my nephew, Scott, who took care of us so well while we were in NYC last weekend.  We were only there 2 full days but he jam-packed those days for us and we had a fabulous time.  On Friday my Fitbit Flex showed we did over 18,000 steps and over 7 miles WALKING!  Woohoo...and I love, love, love city walking.  My grandmother lived in a city in Germany and I have very fond memories of city walking.  Love the smell of that exhaust! LOL!!!

Have you read the book The Lovely Bones?  I love that book.  Anyway, when the main character died (no spoiler alert needed as she dies in the first few pages!) and goes to heaven she learns that every person's heaven is slightly different.  Her heaven smells a little like skunk because she always loved the smell of skunk.  My heaven will smell like diesel!

Anyway, Scott was so sweet to spend his weekend with his mom and his aunt and I wanted to send him a little thank you to let him know how much I appreciated him.

He works at the Standard Hotel at the Highline in lower Manhattan so if you're in the area look him up!  He's in charge of special events.  The stories he could tell! :)

Here is the card made with Sizzix dies and stamps and My Minds Eye papers.

It says "Thanks so much" on the inside.
I used Hero Arts ink.
I also decided to spiff up the envelope a bit.  I lined it with some yellow print from the pad although I didn't take a picture of it.  Trust me...it matches...

And then I used some Simon Says stamps to dress up the front a bit:

and there is a stamp on the back that says "Open me ASAP".  Too cute.

And that's it for today...it was good to get back in my room and MAKE SOMETHING!!!

Right now though I'm addicted to watching tennis.  The women's final is today...Serena Williams vs. Victoria Azarenka...both are huge grunters...should be a fun match!  Go, USA!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 27

I am now "officially" into the second half of the year.  Can you imagine?!  It's hard to believe half a year is gone.

I met up with my friend, Kim of Basement Stamper yesterday and we spent a day at Archiver's working on our Project Lifes...or is it Project Lives or could it be Projects Life?  :)  She got several pages done.  I got one 2 page layout in about 4 hours but I had so much fun!

Here we are....2 scrapbooking cuties.

And I shopped...

LOL!

Here is the left side:

In honor of Independence Day I used papers from a "free" vintage USA paper kit I had (probably had to spend $38,700.00 to get it for "free") from My Mind's Eye.  Interestingly they aren't papers I'd ordinarily choose but they worked great for PL and I'm happy with the result!

Here is my week card and I used some cork letter stickers I had in my stash.

I made the journaling card below with a Becky Higgins card and just some stuff from the kit as well as a Hero Arts arrow stamp and some Distress Ink.

And here is the right side:

Nothing much ado about the journaling cards....just cut and pasted and glued stuff. 

Happy Crafting!

Shall We UnWINEd?

I was at Archiver's the other day...had professed to use some restraint as I was just going to meet up with a friend and NOT shop...yeah, right...but I had a COUPON (read: MUST USE TO SAVE MONEY!) that was for 10 sheets of 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock with the purchase of an exclusive card kit.  Well....duh...that was a no brainer.  Everyone knows that cardstock costs money so if you can get it for free...well, you just gotta do it!
;)
Heheheh....I like the way I think sometimes....
Anyway, this particular card kit had a really cute little set of Unity Stamps in it and here is one of the cards I've made with it.  I have lots of girly friends that I could send this to....let me tell you!
The kit included a paper stack from My Mind's Eye and I just chose some papers from it...stamped the wine bottle and cut it out.  The Unity Stamps are cling and stamp a really nice crisp image.
A simple card but I sure love this sentiment!
A little Pearl Accents for the hearts finished it off!

Hope you all have a great weekend with some time for unWINEding....

I am entering this in the following Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes


Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 4

....or as we Project Lifers say..."PL".  I'm such a part of a club, you know...  So, I finished Week 4 last night.  I really have been trying to do my pages on Sundays BUT I was busy this past Sunday afternoon/evening and just never got the mojo going. I got down to business last night.  I had used my worksheet that I posted a few days ago....you can see it here if you are using Design A of the Becky Higgins Project Life template or page insert. It save me a bit of time because I knew what photo was to go where and where I needed journaling blocks.
This week I failed in my quest to use things I already had as I bought this really cute journaling sheet from My Mind's Eye called Collectable.  It just worked perfectly for this week I thought.  It was a big week for us...my son turned 26 on Monday so I wanted to journal my memory of the day and night he was born.  We had a huge snowstorm in Atlanta (ok, for you northeners....less than 4 inches doesn't look like much but for Atlanta it is a city stopper)....and in the hospital I was in with him we had over 7 inches!  It was just so beautiful and so magical and I really didn't worry much about the chaos outside the hospital created by the storm because we were warm and safe inside.
Here are my layouts and a few closeups:

I am still doing a lot of cutting with my Silhouette Cameo....like here...this journaling box and the #4 which I created with my own little brain:

And this cute little stick figure tennis player which I bought in the Silhouette Online Store:

I also used a little stamp set from Hero Arts for this little journaling box:

And check out this tiny camera cut out with a Memory Box die:

There is another one on one of the layouts which is a slightly different camera....can you find it? ;)
And that's Project Life for Week 4.  Week 5 is beginning with some excitement for me....I'll post it next week! :)

Happy Crafting!

Joy

I am just loving my Silhouette more and more and wonder why it took me so long to get one.  Still love the Cricut, too....but I find I get perfect cuts the FIRST time with the Silhouette.  I'm not always so lucky with the Cricut and often had to do recuts especially for small pieces.

Here is an ornament (and card) I cut out on my Silhouette...it just cut like butter on this metallic shiny paper.
No ragged edges....just nice pretty cuts.

 I used My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas papers and a sentiment stamp from Hero Arts.  I also used a teensy bit of tinsel twine that Stampin' Up used to sell years ago.  I loved that stuff and wish they'd bring it back.  This was my last piece of the gold! :(  I had this roll for probably about 7 or 8 years and now it's all gone! I'm sad.

But really....I'm joyous.  No time to be sad, right?  And this card and cut made me happy.

Now to work on my photo Christmas card!

Happy Crafting!

Family and Friends

Times with family and friends are the best, right?  I'm happy to be crafting alone a good bit of the time but I do look forward to the time with family and if friends are also there...well, that's even better.
We went to a marriage celebration recently and there was a lot of family present and a few friends, too.  We had a fun visit and the little ones had a great time with their cousins.
I did a couple of layouts of the event using my Silhouette Cameo once again.  Go, Cameo, Go!

That's my cute son in the top right picture with his oh so cute girlfriend.  The papers are My Mind's Eye papers.  I cut the title out with the Black Jack font which is a great cursive font (you can download it for free HERE) and welds so well on the Cameo (or the Cricut with SCAL).    Sorry about the blue tape on the left of the layout....that was my reminder for which album this page was to go in! LOL!  It is gone, now!
Here  is the backside of that layout:

The wildflower was a design from the Hero Arts portfolio in the Silhouette Store.

Hope you all have a wonderful day...it's a bit cooler in Georgia today!  Fall has officially arrived.  I do hope those of you in the path of the huge storm stay safe!

Happy Crafting!

Another 5 Minute-er

I've talked about it before but I am always challenging myself to reduce the time I spend on a card.  Sure I love technique and I'm just as happy as the next person to spend hours creating something that I just love!  But sometimes it's just fun to whip something out without spending a ton of time.  I saw a card on the Hero Arts blog this morning where Joy Taylor made a confetti inspired card that I just thought was the coolest...gotta be able to do it in less than three minutes....kind of card!
You can see hers HERE.  Cute, fun and simple, huh?

So I thought...I can do this very quickly and create a couple of cards for my participation in the Operation Write Home project.  Cards for submission there need to have little dimension, no glitter, etc.  I thought this would be perfect.

Here are my versions:

 One was done with Basic Grey papers....the other with My Mind's Eye.

I used random circle punches and just adhered them to the cardstock...some were mounted on foam tape or dimensionals.  I used a Hero Arts sentiment, as well....stamped directly to the card base.

Easy peasy...2 cards...less than 10 minutes FLAT!

I entered this in the following challenges:
Hero Arts Blog challenge: Clean and  Simple 
Clearly iStamp: Clearly Inspired Challenge #58: Circles

Happy Crafting!

Oooo la la!

I spent a little (well, a lot) of time yesterday playing with my Copics.  It was a lot of fun and without further ado here is the card I made using Penny Black's Mimi in Paris set.

I used some My Mind's Eye printed paper for the mat.  I cut the frame out with a Spellbinder's die and inked it with some Distress Ink and cut the little banner with a Die-Namics die.  The little butterflies were done with a Martha Stewart punch.

I added a little glossy accents here and there.  And my favorite thing other than my very impressive coloring (LOL!) is that I used some Liquid Applique for the little poodle's fur!  I've had that bottle for probably 7 or 8 years and it still worked and flowed!

 I pieced little Mimi together and just glued her flat to the frame but then decided to cut another frame and mount use some foam tape to lift it off the page a bit.

And that is it.  I think Mimi turned out so cute and I love this cheerful card.  But my blending has a long way to go! :)  Off to buy more markers!!!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Digi Doodles: Challenge 120 Things with Wings 

Simple Salutations Challenge 6 Butterfly

Crafting for all Seasons Challenge #33: Bright Colours 

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Challenge: Favorite Technique (my new favorite technique for the moment is coloring and shading with Copics)  

That Craft Place Challenge Blog: Things With Wings

Happy Crafting!

Cutest Photos Ever!

My daughter made me an 8x10 collage of photos (mostly taken with her iPhone) of my adorable grandson, David.  They are some of our favorite photos....and all were taken before he turned 2.  I just can't believe he will be 3 in just a couple of months!  That boy is growing like a weed.

The collage was on my refrigerator door for a long time but then I went through a "get everything off the refrigerator" moment and took it down.  And then...what to do with it?  Why slap it on some scrapbook paper, of course.

Here's my layout.  Made with My Mind's Eye products:

I would call it Clean and Simple...not much adornment on it...letting the pictures speak for themselves since there are so many of them!
I added a couple of glitter brads from We R Memory Keepers for the hubcaps of the vintage surfin' car!

 The little glitter button is from American Crafts and the bakers twin is We R Memory Keepers.

Wow...1st day of August!

Happy Crafting!