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.

THREE OF A KIND--Part II

All three of these are die cut on glitter paper, and two are mounted on a plain piece of cs so that the word "JOY"  shows up better.  The inside reads, "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad." (Psalm 96:11)

These finish off my Christmas cards for this year--all 100 of them!  How did I do that you might ask?  Unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I've been housebound this week with a nasty cold and a car in the repair shop.  To keep from going stir crazy, I stamped and die cut for pure joy!



Die:  from Frantic Stamper
DSP:  SU!

ENCOURAGEMENT CARD

 This card was inspired by the SU dsp "Petals and Paisleys" with the copper ep and coordinating cardstock.  As a matter of fact, that's what I like about SU--how everything coordinates so beautifully.

Since I had some of the matching cs in my stash and a number of other stamps and die cuts that were compatible, I opted out of getting more than the dsp this time.  The die cut leaf is from LaLa Land Crafts.  To highlight the leaf and greeting, I added a strip of dsp which was on the opposite side and mounted them on that.  I also included a closeup of the copper embossed greeting below.

This card went right out to encourage someone in our Bible study group.