VALENTINE POPPIES

 When I opened up my poppy die set, out fell these pieces from last year.  So I sponged the petals with black ink and assembled them on a couple of strips of double stick tape.  After adding the gold and black stamens, I mounted the flower on the card.  Then I added the stem and leaf.  The verse is from the same $5 Papertrey Ink set used on the previous post, except that it is on the front instead of inside.

The stamp I used inside is "Happy Valentine's Day" from a SU! set of  "Wacky Wishes."  This is also a pop-up card with various sizes of hearts that pop up when the card is opened.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

   
 I've been working on pop-up cards for Valentines.  This is a very easy way to do it, and it gives the card an element of surprise.

I hope to move on to another kind of pop-up soon.  For this one, I used a half sheet of typing paper, folded it to make the mechanism, and mounted the butterfly and hearts on it.  You can find dozens of videos for this and many others on YouTube.

The inside greeting is from a new $5 set I ordered from Papertrey Ink, plus the matching die.

After posting this, I added some hearts on the front and inside.

A TROPICAL THEME

Some tropical frogs can be venomous, while they are disarmingly colorful.  These were fun to watercolor, as was the jungle foliage.  I used some Wink of Stella clear to add a little sparkle.

Not shown is the added piece of watercolored foliage on the lower left triangle of the inside.  This year, I plan to pay more attention to the inside of my cards, as well as the envelope.

Just a note that when I came back to my stamping table where I left this card overnight, a stink bug had the nerve to be sitting on it.  Needless to say, he is history!

WATERCOLOR BACKGROUND

I'm still not sure what I want to do with this card.  It most likely turn out to be a birthday card in February.  I don't know whether to leave it as is or add a sentiment somewhere.  What do you think???

BIRTHDAY CARD FOR A FLORIDA FRIEND

This tropical drink is from a coloring book.  After coloring with Distress inks, I cut it out and mounted it on fun foam.  I then added some Wink of Stella on the flower and some bubbles rising from the glass.

Inside, I hand wrote "Have a tropi-cool birthday!"

JANUARY BIRTHDAY

Winter has begun here with some light snow and ice, so I figured I'd get out some floral stamp sets for the winter months.  I have a birthday stamp that says, "Always maintain a kind of summer even in the middle of winter." by Henry David Thoreau.  This year, I'm taking that seriously!

This card was done with the Stampin'Up set, "Painted Petals."  After stamping the flowers and sentiment, I splattered some green ink on the panel and mounted it as shown.

One positive thought about winter:  now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, the sun shines through even brighter.  I truly enjoy spending afternoons by the window in my "tower" which is on the west side of the house.

ENCOURAGEMENT CARD

This is one of the most encouraging verses to send to someone going through difficult times, along with a personal note inside.  I think that's what card making is all about, don't you?

FIRST CARD OF THE NEW YEAR

Is it Spring yet?

Well, at least I can enjoy some flowers in the Stamping Tower, starting with these from an older Stampin' Up set.  After stamping the blooms and leaves with Distress inks, I brushed them with water to spread the color around.  Then I cut them out and mounted them as shown over an embossed oval.  For embellishment, I used some sequins and added yellow Stickles to the flower centers.

Once the Christmas tree and other decorations are put away, I'll start bringing home fresh cut flowers from the supermarket.  My favorite are the tulips!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's been a busy holiday season, shopping, decorating, leading my de-cluttering class and having some fun with friends.  I look forward to getting back to card making after taking the month of December off to do other things.

For starters, I just ordered a book on Amazon that has ideas and instructions for making all kinds of  simple to intricate pop-up cards.  There are also YouTube videos by the same author to help visualize the process.  It should be interesting and challenging.

 Meanwhile, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATE

Of all the organizing I've done here in the Tower, this system is the one that has continually worked the best.  Since I send out over 100 Christmas cards each year, I'd be lost without this ring binder.

On the right, you can see the cards I designed for this year which I copied on my scanner.  On the left, which I removed from the rings for this photo, is the list of names:  50 friends and family on the left and 50 Silver Stampers on the right.  In the lower right there is a "key" used to record who got what card.  (Click on photo for a closer look.)

This list is stored in my computer so that next year, I can reprint it (with any changes and additions) and repeat the process. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to keep track of what cards you've made in the past and who got which one.  It's also like a trip down memory lane whenever I look at the cards I've made over the past ten years!

SWEET 16 BIRTHDAY CARD

Since our grand daughter hates pink as much as I do (I wonder if that's hereditary???) it was a challenge to make a card with bolder colors that would still be feminine.

I can't believe she's now sweet 16--where do those years go?

Anyway, since I couldn't fit 16 candles on this card, I  tilted the flame on this one as though it were being blown out.  The "sweet" was hand printed on the leaf, after which I discovered a small stamp in one of my other sets with that word...duh...

The final touch was the strip of  "lace" on the top of the white panel where I thought there was a little too much empty space.  Once I was satisfied that it was done, I mounted the white panel over the striped dsp.

ONE LAST CHRISTMAS CARD (AGAIN)

I made a dozen of these for our pastor.  It took about an hour for all 12 since they were so simple.

Using the Christmas star die really helped it to go fast.  I attached it with a SU dimensional after silver embossing the message.  Doing cards "assembly line" style is what works best!

CHRISTMAS TAG CHALLENGE #3

This tag started with a piece of plaid dsp from a SU pad I rediscovered in my stash.  Next I used die cutting and paper piecing for the quilt square.  After stamping the greeting in red, I added a gold sequin and large pearl for embellishment.

Click HERE for a look at other tag entries.

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS TAG

For the 12 Tags of Christmas challenge, I created this one using stamping, embossing and water coloring with Distress inks. 

I hope you can see the shine on this one--I used Wink of Stella over the leaves and berries.

It truly is challenging to use 2 other media in addition to stamping.  However, on some of the other tags I made (to use on Christmas gifts) I've enjoyed being able to use larger embellishments that wouldn't go through the mail on a card.

To see the other entries, click HERE.

CASEing the iPad

I liked Kim Singdahlsen's card so much, I just HAD to CASE it! 

I started with the leaf ef and the scalloped frame as my base.  Instead of flowers, I used a few leaves and acorns for a Fall theme.  Although I also liked her larger verse, I chose a small oval one instead.

Thanks for such a lovely card, Kim!

LOLL'S 12 TAGS OF CHRISTMAS

For this challenge, we were to stamp and choose two other mixed media elements.  I chose to heat emboss and sponge on the color.  I made 30 of these to use as nametags at our Bible Study Christmas brunch.

Here is the link to the challenge:  CLICK HERE

SUNFLOWER THANK YOU

This sunflower was clear embossed and water colored to make a simple thank you note for a friend.

The little SU greeting was attached with a glue dot.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of water coloring.
...took me long enough!

ONE LAST CHRISTMAS CARD

I made this card for a friend who loves to display angels at Christmas time; so I send her an angel card every year.

Since I love the colors used in the dsp, that's what I started with.  I also wanted to use the copper embossing powder I just added to my collection.  So I layered all the various pieces as shown:  copper foil cs, coordinating dsp, Rich Razzleberry cs and copper embossed angel.  The only embellishment  I used are the tiny pearls.

I love using non-traditional colors and patterns.

CAS(E) THIS SKETCH #197

This would make a good masculine card.  The only embellishment is the gold cord between the two pieces of dsp and the gold-embossed greeting.  The bold geometrics and font help make it more masculine also.


Check out the original sketch and other entries HERE..

A HAPPY AUTUMN HELLO

This is my first try with the zig-zag die I recently acquired (sorry, I don't remember where I got it.)  Continuing with the autumn leaves theme, I used a strip of dsp for the colored leaves behind the bare tree.  I used some black foam tape on the tree trunk to pop it up off the card front.