A Couple of Cards

Hi Everyone!

I have a couple of cards to share with you today.  My sister Pam told me about a joke that she has been playing on our brother Bobby and suggested I play along.   Bobby is a nice guy, but isn't the least bit sentimental.  He'll look at a card, check to see if there's any cash in it, and toss it in the trash.  With that in mind I put this card for him together very quickly.  I stamped some eyeglasses from Lawn Fawn's "Clear to See" clear stamp set directly onto a blank card.  Then I stamped and cut the "I Love You Eye Chart" from Technique Tuesday and adhered it to the card.  Done!

I spent a little more time on the next card.  I admired the technique that Ellen Hutson used on her card at this link and decided to try it out for myself.  LOVE the results.  I've been using the limited number of colored pencils that I own a lot lately so last night I gave myself a "gift" and ordered some Prismacolor pencils online.  Then I promised myself that I won't spend any more money on papercrafting supplies for a while.  Here's my card.

And here's a close up of the clogs.

I can't believe how much fun it is to use a stylus to enhance an image. 

Susan, I am waiting impatiently for you to head North to create with me and my other crafty friends!

Okay, must get back to work now. 

Have a great day!
Carol

Red, White and Blue Cards

Hi Everyone!


It's kind of sad and funny how few of us leave comments on blogs.  I don't do it often enough myself.  Yet if I don't post for a few days in a row, I get about half a dozen e-mails checking in to see why I haven't posted!


I have 4 cards to share with you today.  I was inspired by Pier One's Sunday flyer.  Annie will be visiting us on Sunday and I plan to give her some cards.  Sunday will be too late to give her a set of 4th of July cards to send out, but she can use red, white and blue cards anytime.  Here are some of the cards I'll give her.

I paper pieced the balloons which were stamped with a Lockhart stamp.  Lockhart stamps are among my top five favorite stamp companies.

Those lanterns were stamped with a wooden stamp from Hero Arts.  The present is from The Stamps of Life. Love how easy it is to paper piece it.  Stamp the image on 2 patterned papers.  Fussy cut one entire gift.  Fussy cut just the ribbon and bow on second gift and adhere it to the first one.

 

These flowers were stamped and punched with a stamp and punch from Purple Daisy Designs.  They remind me of a pinwheel Jeanne bought the other day.

When I saw the border button die from Memory Box I knew I had to own it...and their other buttons die too.!

Which card do you like best?  Please post a comment.  You can do it.  It's easy and it will bring a smile to my face and yours too!


Have a nice night!
Carol

Thanks a Bunch!

Hi Everyone!

I am planning to make some sets of fruits and vegetables cards.  Here's one of the cards I made last night.

The "Perfect Peas" stamp is from Lockhart Stamps.  I LOVE their stamps.  The stamps are designed by Karen Lockhart.  She uses colored pencils to color her images and a stylus to add details to them.  You probably cannot see the details I added to my peas, but they look pretty good considering that's the first time I tried that technique. 

The peapod at the bottom was stamped with a stamp from PaperTrey Ink's "Baby Button Bits" clear stamp set.  I fussy cut it, and added some wire tendrils and button peas. 

Have a nice night!
Carol

Miss You

Hi Everyone!


I have so much to do today and just cannot settle down.  I decided to take a break and make what I thought would be a quick card.  Wrong.  I kept altering what I was doing, but I am finally happy with my work. 

The flowers and bee were created with stamps and dies from the Hero Arts/Sizzx

Garden Flowers stamp and die set.  I added some of Martha Stewart's "Chestnut Flocking Powder" to the middle of each sunflower.  The ribbon is from American Crafts.

Stay cool!

Carol

 

Life Is Beautiful

Hi Everyone!


Life has truly been beautiful for these past 2 weeks or so.  I was awarded some grant money to create 20 literacy kits.  This means I have been creating games and other activities that coordinate with specific picture books for preschoolers.  It's my favorite kind of work. 


When I haven't been working I've been playing with my stamps. I noticed that
The Alley Way Stamps is having a Be Inspired Challenge and decided to participate.  Here's their inspirational picture.

I was inspired by the colors in their picture and decided to use red, blue, teal, grey, coral and yellow colors on my card.  Those of you who know me personallly know how much I enjoy transforming something into something else.  Since I only recently learned about The Alley Way Stamps I only have a couple of their sets in my stamp collection.  I decided to turn the bee from Priceless Joy into a fish!  Here's the bee in the stamp set.

I used my Distress Inks to paint the bee/fish in the colors shown in the challenge photograph.  I cut off the bee's wings and turned them into fins.  Here's my card.

The sentiment and the air bubbles are from The Alley Way Stamp's "Talk to Me" clear stamp set.  The air bubbles were originally word bubbles in the set.  I created my own patterned paper and added some glitter to my waves.  For fun I also added some wiggly eyes to the fish. 

I'm pleased with my card and hope you like it too.  Would love some comments!

Have a nice night.
Carol

Happy Birthday!

Hi Everyone!


Hope you had a nice weekend.  I'm back tonight to share a birthday card I made for a little boy who is turning 2 and loves airplanes.  I used an airplane stamp from the "Priceless Joy" clear set stamp from The Alley Way Stamps.  The sentiment was created with an online freebie from the Alley Way Stamps.

One airplane is taxiing down a ribbon runway.  I painted the sky and grass with some new Distress Inks, "Salty Ocean" and "Mowed Lawn".  The colors are very vibrant and so not the usual for Tim Holtz.  I also used Distress Inks to paint the airplanes.

Have a great night!
Carol

Sizzix Circle Flip-It Birthday Card

Hi Everyone!


Today I'd like to share a card that I created by using a Sizzix Circle Flip-It Die and stamps from The Stamps of Life's "Birthday4cookie" clear stamp set.  Flip-It dies are easy and fun to use, but it's hard to take a good picture of how they work.  Basically when you pick up the card you see the front of the card and when you open it the circle spins around and  you see the inside of the card. 

Here's the front of my card.

I stamped the cake on a variety of scraps, cut out the pieces, and paper pieced them to create a cake. 

Here's how the card looks when the circle is flipped.

I paper pieced the package.

Have a great night!
Carol

Birthday Card for Jeanne

Hi Everyone!

I've spent a great deal of time this week working on literacy kits.  Creating games and activities for each kit is a blast, but I took time off today to work on some cards.

I am going to share the card I am most excited about with you.  I started out by adhering Washi tape to some white tag to create a piece of patterned paper.  Then I attached the patterned paper to a blank card. 

I used some of the stamps from The Stamps of Life's "birthday4cookie" clear stamp set to create the images for the card.  I stamped the birthday gift onto scraps of green and pink patterned paper from a Creative Imaginations "Simply Sentiments Brights" 6" x 6" paper pad.  I fussy cut the green package and just the bow from the pink package and adhered the bow to the package.  Then I stamped "happy birthday" onto a scrap of gold patterned paper and trimmed the paper.  I stamped the image of the dog onto 2 scraps of white tag.  I fussy cut the lower part of the dog from one stamped image and the dog's head from the other one.  I stamped the dog's head onto a pink scrap, fussy cut just the bow, and glued it to the dog's head. 

I used foam tape to adhere the sentiment and package to the card.  I used Scor-tape to glue the lower part of the dog.  Now here's the part I am most excited about.  I used an
Action Wobbles spring to attach the dog's head to the card.  When you poke at the head it wobbles back and forth and is SO cute!

Now before I show you the card I need to show you a photograph of Jeanne's dog, Riley.

And now...here's the birthday card I made for Jeanne.  The instant I saw the dog in the Birthday4Cookie set I KNEW I had to buy that set. 

Isn't it adorable!  Jeanne's birthday isn't until July 16, but once I got the Action Wobble springs I HAD to make the card today!  Wish you could see the spring in action, but at least you get to see the adorable stamps that I used.  Be sure to check out The Stamps of Life's web site and watch Stephanie's videos.  They are a hoot!

I have some other adorable cards to share, but you'll have to come back tomorrow for a peek at them.

Have a great night!
Carol

Dallas

Hi Everyone!


No cards to share today, but I'd like to tell you about my day/night.  Tonight was the premiere of Dallas 2012.  My siblings on the west coast haven't seen it yet, but Jeanne and I watched it and I thought it was AWESOME.  So many twists and turns. 


I wanted to take a break today and decided to create a fun "Texas" dinner.  My chili recipe isn't for Texas chili, but everyone likes it so I decided it would make a great main dish.  Actually Robbie doesn't eat it because he's a vegetarian, but Jeanne, Marie and I love it.  So early this morning I put all of the ingredients for chili into my crockpot and had it cook slowly throughout the day.

Marie has been asking for cornbread and I decided to try a new recipe for it.  I found one called "Fiesta Corn Bread" in the Better Homes and Gardens One-Pan Recipes Special Interest Publication.  The recipe makes a 9" x 13" pan of cornbread that has shredded cheddar cheese and diced green chile peppers in it.  The cornbread was to die for...crispy, moist, and packed with flavor.

I folded some bandanas to create holders for the cutlery and added a die cut cactus to each bandana. 

Found some cactus salt and pepper shakers that Beth gave me in my hutch and put them on the table. 

For dessert I wanted to make something quick and easy and decided on cupcakes.  I made the frosting from scratch, but used a cake mix for the cupcakes.  Can't get any easier than that!   I used a cute little gadget called a Cupcake Corer to create a hole in the center of each cupcake.  Then I filled the holes with the homemade buttercream frosting we all love.

I piped frosting on each cupcake and sprinkled on some red sugar.  I used papers from the
DCWV "All About Boys" stack to create western theme cupcake flags. 

When Marie came home from work and saw what I had done she smiled and laughed and said I was crazy, but I could tell she liked it.  Jeanne was impressed too and devoured a huge bowl of chili, several pieces of cornbread, two cupcakes and some ice cream!

Rob arrived home later and wolfed down the cornbread and 2 cupcakes with his veggie burgers. 

Nothing I did was a lot of work or was out of the ordinary, but it made for a fun night for all of us.  It's really true that sometimes the little things in life really are the big things. 

Will hopefully share some cards tomorrow.

Good night!
Carol

Sock Monkey birthday card

Hi Everyone!


I thought I'd share one quick card with you before I head to bed.  I have a set of clear stamps that are labeled "Boys and Their Toys".  I've had them for years and am not sure who manufactured them, but I am guessing they have been discontinued.  I've used the car stamp in the set many times, but haven't used many of the other stamps.  I was looking through my stamp collection last night, spotted the monkey in the "Boys and Their Toys" set  and decided to use it on a card.

My grandmother, Nana Riley, had a red-heeled sock monkey sitting on her couch.  I've been thinking about that monkey lately because there's a sock monkey in a current Pier One commercial on television.  I decided to pretend that the monkey on my stamp was a sock monkey so I stamped it onto a piece of paper from  Lawn Fawn's "Bright Side" collection that reminds me of fabric.  I fussy cut it and adhered it to a piece of layering paper along with some balloons that I stamped and fussy cut from the Hero Arts "Wonderful Birthday" clear stamp set. 

Ironically, I realized a short time ago that tomorrow, June 12, would have been Nana's birthday!

Sleep well. 
Carol

Denami Design's Cards for Guys Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!


Welcome to Denami Design's Cards for Guys Blog Hop.  Here are the details for today's hop.

When: The blog hop starts on June 10th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until June 11, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!
Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

If you started at the beginning of the hop you have arrived here from Wendy Elliot's blog.  If you get lost along the way you can start at the beginning at the Denami Design blog. 

I used 7 different Denami Design stamps on my card for today.  The stamps I used areChickie
Cheerleader Chickie
Cartwheeling Chickies
the "Football Chickie" from the "All Star Chickies" setHappy Father's Day
"Rah!  Rah!" and "You're a Star" from the "All Star Greetings" set

I used a Sizzix Circle Flip-Its Die to create my card.  Flip-Its cards are fun to create, but hard to photograph.  Here's the front of my card.

When you flip the circle in the center of the card, here's how it looks.

Here's another view of the front of the card.

I stamped the Football Chickie and 2 Chickies onto the football field.  Then I stamped the Football Chickie onto a scrap of white tag, colored him, and fussy cut him before I adhered him to the image I had stamped on the card.

Next I used a "stamp kissing technique" to reverse 2 Football Chickie images.  I colored them and fussy cut just their helmets and faces before I adhered them to the chickies on the football field. 

Now it's time for you to visit Tenia Nelson's blog.  Before you hop along please be sure to leave a message on my blog and possibly become a follower so that you can see other cards I create. 

Have a wonderful time hopping along the blog.
Carol

Happy Summer

Hi Everyone!


I'm taking a little break from cleaning to post the card I made last night.  

The beach ball is paper pieced.  I found the pattern for it on the Scrapbooks, Etc. web site at this link.  You can find all sorts of wonderful paper piecing patterns on their site. 


I tore up some sandpaper to create the sand.  Word of warning, do NOT use your paper trimmer to cut sandpaper. 


Tomorrow morning I will be posting my Father's Day card for Denami Design's Cards for Guys blog hop.  Be sure to stop by to see what everyone has created!


Have a nice night.
Carol

Happy 4th of July

Hi Everyone!

I am not sure why, but I associate watermelon with the 4th of July.  You've seen some of my other 4th of July/Watermelon cards.  Here's today's card.

The monkey was created with a stamp from Dandelion Designs. The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. 

Have a great night!
Carol

Painted Cards

Hi Everyone!


I cannot believe that it is already after 10 PM.  I don't know where this day went.  I had a nice visit with Peggy tonight.  We had some yummy cranberry crisp with our tea.  Robbie and Marie wolfed down what was left of it and now there's an empty pan in the sink. 


For the past few days I have been using distress ink pads to paint the images I stamped.  I tap the ink pad onto a clear block, use a mini mister to sprinkle some water on the ink, and paint.  I love the vivid colors the inks produce. 

Here are a few of the cards I've made using that technique.

Enjoy what's left of this night!  I am heading to bed!


Carol

4th of July Cards

Hi Everyone!

In 2010 I made my very first 4th of July cards.  At that time I blogged that I had never before created, seen, or sent any 4th of July cards.  Now it's 2012 and some of my friends have placed orders for 4th of July cards and I plan to send a few to my elderly friends who love getting mail. 

Add some red and blue coloring to the A Muse Artstamps "Circle Tote" and it's perfect for a 4th of July day at the beach.

The sentiment was created with a Northwoods wooden stamp.

Substitute a wooden red and white beach ball cutout for the tote.  Add some red and white striped paper for a patriotic look.

The "Patriotic Chickie" stamp from Denami Designs is perfect for a 4th of July card.

Love these patriotic pinwheels that I created with A Country Welcome wooden stamp.

Have a great day!
Carol