SLICE IS HERE!

My new Slice die cutter arrived, and I finally had some time to play with it today during the snow/sleet that kept us from getting to church. My first project was this Christmas card using the alphabet and a tag design that came with the machine.

After attaching the embroidery floss to what is now an "ornament," I turned it under the background paper, secured it on the back and taped the bg paper to the card. Next I popped out the letters and added a snowflake to the top of the "J" with dimensionals. For a little "bling" I placed a large pearl in the snowflake center and three tiny ones in the lower right corner. (...difficult to see on the scanner, but more noticeable if you click on the image...)

The Slice took a little getting used to, but it's fun!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Blessings to all my stamping friends. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Christmas Plaid

Here's a card made with a stamp set and some scraps left over from last year. First, I stamped the holly image on a piece of white cardstock, colored it and splattered it with a green "blow pen." Then I sponged the edges with dark green ink, glued on a bow of red metallic cord, placed dimensionals on the back and put it aside.

Next, I taped a piece of red and green plaid to the cardstock on the left side. After placing the image over the card, I added 3 red gems to the bottom right corner. The word "blessings" is stamped in black to the right of the image; but next time, I would use white or silver so it shows up more.

Finally, the sentiment inside is stamped in dark green on a piece of white paper.

Easy Cuttlebug Card

This couldn't have been easier! Just taped the cuttlebug Holly image to the card, added red "berries" and attached the tag with a piece of ribbon. I saved on ribbon by punching a hole through the card on the right side only. After stamping a sentiment inside, I was done!

Over 100 Christmas Cards...

...ready to go! With a wide variety of designs, I'm finally finished with my creations and all I have to do now is address the envelopes.

This one was done using a Stampin' Up stamp set, red and green markers, a black "gem" for the eye and a red button with green embroidery floss. The bottom leaves were stamped twice without reinking, then mounted on a green Hero Arts card. After coloring the cardinal and leaves, the image was cut out and mounted with foam mounting tape.

Now all I have to do is clean my house!

SAD NEWS

No time for stamping:

On Wed., November 5, my mom passed away after a stroke that left her unconscious for a week. She was 88. This Saturday will be her memorial service, so I will be at my sister's to help with the preparations.

Although it is a sad time, we are all grateful for her long life. She was always cheerful and ready to have fun, even through all her health problems over the past two or three years. It's a real blessing that my children and grandchildren got to know and love her, too.

She will be missed...

The Ups and Downs of Life

After an extended visit and having such a wonderful time at Disney World with our whole family, Laura and family returned to Prague. The very next morning, I got a call from my sister that my mom was in the hospital and would have to go to a nursing home from there. So without even having a chance to clean up or do the laundry, I had to repack warmer clothes and head out to Long Island to help. She had been hospitalized with uncontrollable coughing due to some fluid in her left lung. While we waited for her to recover, my sister and I started the Medicaid application process with a voluminous amount of xeroxing records to attach. We spent 3 1/2 hrs. using 2 copy machines at my sister's office to get it all done--what a job! Mom was recovering nicely and all set to enter the nursing home the next morning. Then things changed literally overnight. She had a stroke (as far as the drs. can tell) and as of today is still unconcious with a respirator and all sorts of tubes and wires attached. The drs. are optimistic that she will recover enough to go to the nursing home, but at 88 yrs. old nothing is certain.

Needless to say, I have done no stamping in the last month and a half. I just wanted to let my blogging friends know why I haven't posted for such a long time. It may still be awhile...

HAD A WONDERFUL TIME!

Disney World was great--we just got back yesterday! Unfortunately, one of my souvenirs is a full blown head cold (miserable) so it will be a few days before I get back to stamping. Check back again soon...

ON VACATION...

We'll soon be off to a much-needed vacation at Disney World. Meanwhile, I'm playing catch-up here and will post when I get the chance to stamp again!

SOCK MONKEY

This is the sock monkey I remember from my teen years! Did you have one too?

Anna Wight Does It Again!

This new "Give Thanks" set from Whipper Snapper Designs is just right for autumn and Thanksgiving cards that are simple to do. This one was done with Versamark and chalks for a soft, colorful look. Mounting the image on two sides of one sheet of designer paper from K and Company finishes it off.

Thank you Anna for yet another beautiful design!

(Looks better IRL--scanner made it look washed out.)

Another Thankyou Card

Using my Cuttlebug, some metallic paper and some crystals, I'm ready to respond to the many birthday cards I've been receiving. Whether you use the full folder image or just a partial piece, this CB design gives you a lot of options. One of the other cards I made uses the bottom half of the embossed piece on a horizontal card for a different effect. Either way, it makes for a look that is simple, yet elegant.

Mothers Class

Mothers Class went very well today. Everyone loved making the cards and are looking forward to the next class. It's always fun when you get a chance to introduce the art of stamping to someone new, which was the case for a few of the moms. They were happy to hear that by the end of the semester, they'll have made a dozen Christmas cards!

(See Mothers Class Design post below.)

Technique Tuesday Thankyou Card

This card was made at Cyndy's Technique Tuesday class, which was actually held on Tuesday --imagine that!

Anyway, this one is very easy to make. Starting on the yellow cs, we stamped the trees, then masked them, randomly stamped the leaves and sponged white ink around them. Using the reverse mask, we sponged green and orange over the trees. After stamping "thanks", we used the ticket punch on the corners, mounted it on orange cs and then mounted it on green cs. For the button, we backed it with yellow cs, knotted a piece of twine through the holes, then mounted it on an orange circle. The edge of the circle was roughed with our fingers.

Since I've been getting a lot of birthday cards from my Silver Stamper friends, I'll be using this as a thankyou for one of them.

Thank You Card

Here's a simple card I made with Evelyn today, using her "Gratitude" stamp. After cutting it out with the scallop punch, it was mounted on a piece of metallic paper that I ran through the Cuttlebug. The "black" strip is actually a piece of shiny metallic purple paper that looks black only on the scanner. With a purple crystal gem added to the letter G, it was done...another easy card...

Mothers Class Design

Here's the first card for opening day of the Mothers Class at my church on Monday, the 15th. It's a top fold, with a scalloped edge on the bottom of the top flap. Although they look purplish here, the flowers are a soft pink to match the lighter color in the dp (looks better IRL.)

I plan to teach the class how to cover a slide frame, giving them the choice of which side of the dp to use. The flip side is used for the bottom and background of the white piece with the greeting. Embroidery floss is used around the white cardstock and just tied in a knot. The crystals are Hero Arts--one large for the center of the punched flower and two small as accents on the white.

Although there are several different steps (and skills) involved, this is really easy to do in a class setting. I hope the moms enjoy this one!

Tropical Storm Hannah

Rainy days make such good stamping weather! I was able to spend my whole day yesterday in the Tower getting ahead on my Christmas cards, thanks to TS Hannah.

This one was done with one of the clear sets I got from Hero Arts. I stamped it in dark green, then colored the pine cones with 2 shades of brown and added a speck of white ink on the tips of the cones. The inside is stamped with a nice bold "merry Christmas" that was included in the set.

As of this morning, I have 76 Christmas cards done--only 24 left to go! Then I can concentrate full time on the cards and kits I've designed for the Mothers Class this semester at our church. (See "Ready for Fall" below.)

Pocket Silhouette Thankyou

Here's another card using one of the 5 new sets I just got from Stampin' Up, "Pocket Silhouettes." I've made one card using each of the 4 main images in the set, all using this cardstock and dark green ink. Some have button embellishments, some with embroidery floss, etc. This one has twine and a ripped edge on the bottom, which I curled slightly with my fingers.

Three more new sets to play with as soon as I get caught up...

First Christmas Card Ready

Here's the first Christmas card I've made so far with one of the new SU sets for this year. The image is so simple, I didn't want to overwhelm it with a lot of color or embellishments. First it was stamped on off-white cardstock with Versafine Olympia Green ink. The light blue sky was dabbed on with a tissue, the church colored with markers, and a piece of torn white cardstock was added to the bottom for "snow."

The sheer ribbon has a little shimmer to it for a subtle bling.

Somehow, the steeple and treetops remind me of the spires of Prague (where my daughter and her family live.) Overall, the image has a serenity to it. For those of you in the Deep South or West, I hope you've had the opportunity to experience the hush of fresh-fallen snow, which I think this image captures...

Ready for Fall!

I've been busy getting all the designs ready for the Fall Semester at Bible Study. This year, I decided to try something new: an "After School Activity" for those who want to make holiday cards. As soon as Bible Study is over, I will demo that week's card for 15-20 minutes before offering kits to take home and make. The images will be pre-stamped for them to color and mount on the card. I've kept them as simple as possible, as seen in this first card for Sept. 16th. (The same cards will be done in the Mothers Class at church, except that they'll stamp and assemble them there.)

Each kit will contain all the pieces (and envies) for 2 cards, at a charge of only $1 to cover the cost of materials. There are 3 autumn designs, 1 Halloween, 1 Thanksgiving and 6 Christmas cards, for a total of 11 designs.