QUICK PASTOR CARD

All I had to do for this one was adhere the strip of scalloped cs to the bottom of a piece of dsp from my stash.  The bird design was already printed on the paper which I cut so that it would be on the lower right corner. 

Once the background was glued down to the card front, all I had to do was stamp the word "Blessings" on a scrap of white cs, punch it out and glue it to the scallop punched scrap.  After mounting it on on the card with dimensionals, the card was ready to use.

FLOWERY ENCOURAGEMENT CARD

This is a sunny card to send to anyone going through a difficult time.  The verse helps to remind us that we are not alone during our struggles here in this life.

SIMPLE PASTOR CARD

This card features a silver banner, although it looks like a print here.  The dsp I used was light enough to stamp the verse over it.

The strip across the bottom of the banner is a piece of scrap from my scrap bin.  After gluing it down, I popped the banner up with dimensionals.

Another easy card that will be put to good use!

BIRTHDAY LATCH CARD

This is always a fun card to make and to send!  It looks difficult to make (to the non-cardmaker) but really is quite simple.

First I chose some coordinating dsp for the different sections and cut them to size.  After adhering them in place, I stamped the saying and the greeting and attached them to the front pieces as shown.  The latch piece was taped down to the inside of the card before the dsp was glued over it.

To position the white piece on the inside, I first used temporary tape to hold it in place on the back of the front rectangle.  Then I added tape to the back and pressed it down onto the inside of the card so that it would be hidden from the front of the card.  Once secured to the inside, I separated it from the front piece and rubbed off  the temporary adhesive.

For a better idea of just how this was all done, check out one of the many videos on YouTube

Here's a peek at the card as it is opened.

MARCH 2016 PAPER PUMPKIN ALTERNATE

This card was so easy to make.  I didn't time it, but I'm sure it was under 10 minutes because everything is pre-cut and/or folded in the SU! Paper Pumpkin kits.

First I folded the envelope together for mailing.  Next, I used the card base provided for the card.  Instead of using it for a gift card, I stamped the flowers across the middle using the stamp set and ink spot included.

Next, I stamped the sentiment on the floral square, stapled the two fish tales to the corner and mounted it over the floral square.  After adding the sequins and bakers twine bow, it was ready to mail.  In fact, it already went out as a birthday card!

One-of-a-kind Hexagon Card

This card is for my son's MIL who shares the same birthday as our eldest grandson.  Since I'll be hand delivering it tomorrow, I was able to add the center flower knowing that it wouldn't be smushed in the mail.

This didn't take long to do.  I just chose 3 designs from the Bohemian dsp pack and punched out the hexagons.  After gluing them down on a piece of Blackberry Bliss cs, I mounted the panel on the cardfront and stamped the greeting below.

Done!

RUBBERNECKER STAMP SET

Last Saturday was the Allentown Stamp Show where I found this fun 3-step stamp set.  It took a little getting used to since it is not as precise an image like I would ordinarily use.

First I stamped the leaves in Distress ink, then the stems in a darker green, spritzing with water each time before stamping on the watercolor paper.  Then I stamped the flowers.  To get the darker colors on the blooms, I used Distress markers, stroking upward from the base of each blossom.  I think the trick is to not overdo it.

It was interesting to stamp a little out of my comfort zone.  I didn't like the look at first; but after adding the greetings and embellishments, and also the mats, I'm happy with it.

As for the stamp show itself, I found it disappointing.  For some unknown reason, they grouped all the booths in just a portion of the large room.  Had they spread the booths out into the unused space, it would have been a lot less crowded.  However, I probably spent a lot less!

Big sister to the little rose in the previous post from the SU! "Birthday Blooms" set.

I stamped this on watercolor paper with Versamark and clear embossed it.  Then I used my  Peerless set to color in the rose and leaves. When it came time to mount it to a card, I first added the dsp and white glitter ribbon for the backdrop.  Then I mounted the finished image to a slightly larger piece of black cs. 

For the final touches, I applied some Crystal Stickles to the flower center and a small embroidery floss bow.  The panel was then attached with dimensionals.

I can see why this is such a popular set!


TIP:  To add some new images to your collection, try swapping sets with a friend for a week at a time!

FEELING KINDA SAD

This little rose is often overlooked in favor of the larger rose blossom in the SU! :"Birthday Bloom" set.  It does make a nice card, however.

HAPPY EASTER

HE IS RISEN!

He is risen, indeed!

Just as I like to keep Christ in Christmas, I also like to keep His resurrection central to Easter when making cards.  We'll be celebrating with a family meal and an Easter egg hunt for the grand kids on Easter Eve, just before our daughter and her family leave for WDW the next morning.  This trip was their Christmas gift to their two boys and has been much anticipated.

The stamp I used is one from SU! that I've had for years.  I like to add a black dot for the eye and some green gel pen on the olive leaves.  With the dsp I used and the die cut blossoms, this card was a quick one to make.

I wish you all a Happy Easter!

PASTOR CARD FOR TEEN BOY

I thought this verse would be encouraging for a young man  heading off to college or out to the working world.  We could all use this reminder from the Psalms, don't you think?

The only embellishment here are the three color-coordinated sequins and the matching embroidery floss at the bottom.

FOR MY BLOG FRIENDS

(Click to enlarge.)

MASCULINE PASTOR CARDS, PART II

Using blocks of color or patterns helps in making a card more masculine--as long as there are no flowers.

I saw a version of the card on the left with the punched square, but I can't remember where I saw it.  My apologies to the designer.  The card on the right was a pretty standard design.  It really is easy when you use a pad of coordinated dsp since all the colors will match.

MASCULINE PASTOR CARDS

Our pastor recently requested some masculine cards, so this is one of the images I used.  Black and white certainly works for more manly cards.  Notice the absence of flowers.

To add just a hint of color, I added some beige and brown chalks on the geese.

These were simple to make once I came up with the design!

FLOWERY BIRTHDAY CARD

I must say, Stampin' Up was gotten better than ever lately.  This English Garden dsp is just perfect for Spring and early summer.  I also enjoy the bundles they've started offering in their catalogs.  (Not a sales pitch here, just praise for a job well done from a happy customer!)

Inside the card  reads "the best."  This set from Our Daily Bread Designs has a bunch of other greetings to follow "Wishing,"  which makes the set quite versatile.

SUPER SIMPLE EASTER CARD!

This is one of my favorite Easter cards this year.  All it took was a panel of the beautiful English Garden dsp from SU!

After stamping the verse on the dsp and mounting the panel to the cardfront, I added the embroidery floss on the side.  For embellishment, I kept it simple with crystals in the center of the blue flowers and some tiny black "seeds" in the Hollyhock blossoms.

EASY EASTER CARD!

This dsp makes the perfect backdrop for these daffodils.  All I had to do was stamp the image twice, once for the main image and another to pop out the blossoms with dimensionals.

A little Wink of Stella and some gray pencil to ground the flowers, and it was done!

SPRING IS ALMOST HERE!

This card was inspired by a tri-panel painting in my husband's eye doctor office.  This is a simplified version, but what inspired me was the colors used against the foreground of the white bare trees.

The inside stamp shown here is one I use often in winter cards as encouragement that Spring will always follow Winter, which is never too soon for me!

ALL PURPOSE BOTANICAL BLOOMS

I still need a few more Easter cards, so that's what I'll most likely use this one for.

These Botanicals and matching dies are amazingly versatile!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #43

I enjoyed a whole day of stamping

in the tower on Saturday, but never got to post this

because I came down with the flu bug

that's been going around.

After 36 hours of symptoms, I finally

started feeling better this afternoon and managed to

get some of the warm sunshine and mild temps.

Hope to have my energy back soon!

PAPER PLAYERS #284

Paper Players this week is a sketch, and I also plan to give this card  to our pastor for his use..

I got the color scheme from a SU! pad of dsp I bought at a garage sale last summer.  I like the brightness of the colors, tempered with the gray.

As you can see, I'm still thrilled to use the Botanical Blooms dies.  The flower sequins have been in my stash for ages, and there were some purple ones that matched--amazing!

Check out the other entries HERE.

HELLO, FRIEND

I thought it best to show the inside as well as the outside for this card.  To start, I covered the front with a piece of dsp.  Next, I added a strip of the coordinating dsp from the Boho collection.  Then I punched out the middle square and three dsp squares with the 1 1/4" punch.  Two dsp squares were glued to the purple strip, and the third was mounted on the inside of the card so that it shows through the punched square.





After adding the embellishments and the white embroidery floss  on the front, I stamped the inside and added some sequins. 

SCHOOL COLORS

Our granddaughter, a Freshman at the same school as her brother, also made High Honors this year.  Her card is done in school colors using some SU! dsp for the gold and cardstock for the blue.

The pattern is taken from the same book used in yesterday's post.  In addition to the die cut Botanical Blooms, I added some gems and gold thread for embellishment.  Flower petals were also enhanced with some clear Wink of Stella.

We are so proud of all four of our grandchildren--can you tell?.  They are all  doing well academically and in their sports and/or music interests.  Must be genetic! *wink*

MASCULINE CONGRATS CARD

This is the card I made for my grandson who made high honors and will be going to the awards banquet next month.

The rabbit is the basis of some private jokes between him and my husband, so I included it here.  I'm sure he'll get a chuckle out of it!

The card pattern is from a book called "Originals" by Jeanette R. Lynton.  I bought it several years ago, and it's been sitting on the shelf in the Tower ever since. It has lots of ideas and layouts which I plan to try in the weeks ahead.  Then I plan to send it to one of my followers, so stay tuned!

PAPER PUMPKIN FEBRUARY 2016--Alternate Idea

After cutting down one of the card fronts, I mounted it on a piece of light blue cardstock.  I stamped Hello and "birthday girl" and added some of the flowers from the stamp set included in the paper pumpkin.

Using a white card base, I glued the floral dsp from Botanical Blooms to it and mounted the stamped piece to the front of the card. Then I stamped the party hat on a scrap of white cs, fussy cut it and mounted it over the "o" with a dimensional..

Finally, I used some Wink of Stella on the party hat and added some of the sequins from the kit.to give it some shine.

PAPER TREY INK CHALLENGE

This was a fun alphabet challenge where you used the letters in your name to make a new card.  Here's what my name required:
S for stitching
M for mixing of 2 stamp sets, one of which must be PTI
I for impression plate (Embossing folder)
T for twine
H for heat emboss

My card started out with a fern from the PTI Meadow Greens stamp and die set where I turned a fern into a fir tree!  How?  By using the negative space created by the fern die and then using the space as a stencil.  I sponged the "tree" with dark green ink, then clear embossed it.  The background was sponged with two shades of green ink and some blue for the sky.    After adding "snow" on the branches with a white gel pen, I used a stitched rectangle die.  Then I enhanced the stitched border with a black ink pen.

Next, I chose a pale green cardstock for the base and a dark green cs for the dry embossed border, even though the border shows only a tiny bit.  I wrapped some twine across the bottom of the rectangle and mounted it in the center of the frame with foam mounting tape.  Finally, I added the greeting from a SU! set.

Click HERE for the other entries.

VALENTINE FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL

...EXTRA SPECIAL, THAT IS!

This one is going to my husband.  Since the name of our property is "Fox Mountain" this image is very appropriate.

When my then boyfriend came to take me out on our first date, my dad told me "Don't let this one get away."  Egads! That was a half century ago!

My dad gave me good advice.

TROPICAL BLOOMS IN MID-WINTER!

I just spent a pleasant afternoon in the Tower where I decided to combine two sets which really go together nicely:  the bird from "A Happy Thing" and the new Botanical Blooms bundle.

The birds were stamped with Distress Pumice Stone and colored with markers.  The bottom left was fussy cut and placed on a more subdued pattern.  For the others were, I die cut them with an oval die so they'd show up more on the dsp.  After choosing cardstock that fit the colors used, I had fun embellishing with flowers, gems and sequins.

Can you tell that I enjoy this Botanical set?

NOT SO SIMPLE SATURDAY #42

 ...but not difficult--just time consuming.  Here is a tip for using numerous dies:

TIP:  Before starting to put together on the cards. first run multiple dies through the Big Shot at once to save time.  Just lay the small pieces of cardstock with the dies on top of the cutting plate and run all of them through at once.  Do it again with other colors as desired.  Be sure to put all the pieces in a small container so they don't get lost in the shuffle.


I had a pleasant day here in the tower with the sun streaming through the windows and all these beautiful Botanical Blooms to play with!

BTW, these two cards were made to fit #6 3/4 envelopes, which are cheaper than the usual invitation size.  The dimensions are 5 1/2 x 7", folded in half to form a card front that is 5 1/2 x 3 3/4.  You still get 2 cards per sheet of cardstock.  Since I send out 500 or so cards a year, the savings are quite a bit for me.

ANOTHER GOLD SOIREE VALENTINE

The metallic gold-lined dsp made the perfect backdrop for the two banners, two medium sized hearts, three smaller hearts and the sequins.  There are three more hearts inside with "Celebrate"  from the SU set, "Send a Celebration."  How appropriate!

HAPPY GROUND HOG DAY!

Let's hope Phil won't be bearing the bad news of.six more weeks of winter.  So far, we've had it easy here in NW New Jersey.  I, for one, would like to keep it that way!

PAPER PLAYERS TIC-TAC-TOE #PP280

As soon as I saw Flowers, Die Cuts and Yellow in the same row, I knew just what I wanted to do, thanks to the Botanical Blooms set!

TIP:  To keep the inner parts of the petals from flattening in the mail, I prop them up with tiny pieces of clear foam tape.


HERE is the link to the Paper Players web site.

PAPER PUMPKIN ALTERNATES

These are two of the alternate Valentines that our demonstrator, Cyndy, had for us to make on Thursday.  She found these, and a few others, online somewhere; and they were very easy to make.  I came home inspired to come up with more on my own, so check back later in the week!

TIC-TAC-TOE CHALLENGE

For Stamp Ink Paper's challenge #32 I chose a diagonal row on the Tic-Tac-Toe board.  The card needs to have a heart, "Love" and Patterned Paper.

This was easy to put together.  For a look at the other submissions -- great way to gather new card ideas-- click HERE.

SIMPLE SATURDAY #41

BOTANICAL HELLOS

I'm really enjoying these Botanical stamps and papers, especially in the middle of winter.  This first one looks bright and cheery, and I may just use it as an unconventional Valentine card...or maybe an encouragement card.  The raised petals are held up with clear foam tape.

This second card is on a Cajun Craze background which, unfortunately,  looks brighter here.  I stamped the veins and centers on the dsp and added some sequins for embellishment.  The "hello" is a die cut of black cardstock.



I hope the recipients of these cards find them as cheerful as I have while making them!

BOTANICAL BLOSSOMS

Well, all I can say is that it sure pays to host a Stampin'Up party!  I put together a catalog order with my friends to take advantage of the Sale-a-bration event (ongoing to March 31st) and used my Hostess credits and free stamp set rewards for the Botanical Blooms Bundle and matching cardstock, dsp and embellishments.  This is the first card I've made since UPS delivered everything yesterday afternoon.

I saw this card on a Frenchie Stamps video and couldn't wait to try it, so I asked my demonstrator, Cyndy, it she would teach us how at our next Technique class.  That was last week, so as soon as I got out my new supplies, I came up with this one.  I can't wait to make some more.

The "My friend" stamp is from the Sale-a-bration stamp set "Hello" (free with a $50 order).  I just love the tropical leaves and flowers, and it will go with a stamp I have that says, "Always maintain a kind of summer, even in the middle of winter."  Good advice, and this stamp set will help me do that!

STILL SNOWING AND BLOWING...

...and I'm STILL STAMPING!

First I made two Valentine goodie bags for my two youngest grandsons, using the January Paper Pumpkin kit.  Then I tried piecing this quilt pattern with another of the new dies.

Gluing the tiny pieces of this design was tedious and took forever, although I do like the look now that it's done.  I used the same paper for the "hello" below so that it would match.

All the cards I made today will serve as Valentines, along with several other more traditional designs.  It has been a great day to stamp, and (so far) we still have power!


(Be sure to scroll down for the other 2 posts for today.)

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL,

...BUT THE STAMPING IS DELIGHTFUL!




A package of three new quilt dies arrived yesterday, and I used one of them for these two cards.  I'm off now to try another one.




TIP:  When I die cut and glued the greeting on the front of each card, there were shiny spots from the glue around some of the letters.  So I dabbed the spots with my anti-static brush.  The powder stuck to the glue and eliminated the shine!

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

 Snow is blowing horizontally across the yard,

 outside the stamping tower window.

 The front porch through a snow-covered window.

...and a lonely little birdie trying to find

some bird seed.

No way to measure how much snow we got due to high winds and heavy drifting,

but it's a LOT!  There's more coming, too.  Thankfully, we still have power.

This is definitely GOOD STAMPING WEATHER!

FLORAL VALENTINE

This card came together really quickly.  Starting with a light green card base, I added a panel of metallic gold lacy flowers from SU!.  The oval, laying on my table from a previous project, was ready to use so I stamped the leaves on it and added the flowers.  To finish it off, I sponged the oval with olive green ink and added sequins to the flower centers.

Finally, I die cut the word "love" from a scrap of metallic purple. Scraps really do come in handy!

CASEing the iPad--Simon Says Stamp

For the Critter Challenge on SSS, Lois made the most adorable goodie bags.  I decided to mimic that look in a card.

For the "handle" I used the word window punch and tied the white twine around just the front so it could be opened.  I then rounded the bottom corners to make it look a little bit like a bag.

Using the stamps and dies from the "Hello Foxy" set by Papertrey Ink, I created a gray fox for my critter and popped him up on a punched pink heart.  The love die, from Winnie and Walter, cuts/releases perfectly.

This card will go to my granddaughter!

FIRST VALENTINE THIS YEAR

Since all my friends know I avoid the "dreaded pink" whenever possible, it's not surprising that I would use red roses on this card.  I keep coming back to this SU! set, even though the flowers have to be fussy cut, which really doesn't take long.  The image is from a hostess set called "So Very Grateful" and is popped up with dimensionals.
 
I stamped the image with Versafine Black and then painted the flowers with Twinkling H2O's to make them shine.  The greeting is from another SU! hostess set, "Wacky Wishes."  I'll probably make a few more of this design since it was so easy to do.