Thinking of You

 Who can ever have enough of these types of cards on hand.  Some friends from SCS decided we would all like to visit each others blogs at least once a month and also encourage us to get in there a craft a bit along with the daily chores.  We have a little Theme of the month thing going on for inspiration.  Rebekah started us out with Thinking of you Cards. 
I actually made quite a few this month.  But then this month has been a busy month for cards for sure.  Some of them I have already posted but here’s a couple more.  The craft one is self explanatory with the easy to use Washi tapes and pre made flowers. 

 The lily one, well, I was at Edith’s and saw her stamp like this one, which we both own, and I remembered a technique from way back when.  You stamp with versa mark on Vellum (remember that stuff?) then emboss with white EP.  Heat set it and then turn it over and color on the BACK of the image.  Then proceed with making your card.  I made one for her like this then came home and made one for me.  She didn’t have any green ribbon and I will take a piece along with me Sunday for her and she can complete her card.  I didn’t have any Green Pearl Pen and she loaned me hers.  I’m off to make another while I still have that Kiwi green Pearl Pen in my possession.   Well, my other one is completely different.  I cut the vellum the wrong size and then had to change my plan of attack.  Same stamp, different card. Just goes to show the versatility of stamping, right?

Various Challenges

Trying to get out of a rut and decided to look around for some challenges.  MFT had a sketch challenge and I took them up on it so this card is posted on SCS (I hope)  Also I saw a vintage challenge posted somewhere and that inspired my image but I can’t find where that one is now.    I did go and look at Our Daily Bread Designs they always have beautiful card designers there and I have to admit quite often I get intimidated by how gorgeously those ladies stamp.  But I threw my hat in there this time since their theme was love and pink was one of the colors. I think this also fits the Simon Says Challenge anything goes.  So here goes.

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February Birthdays

I have two of my February cards finished.  The pink one is a take off a a card I saw in Take Ten magazine.  What a great mag that is found it at Barnes and Nobles last spring.

The Bear guy with wood grain is for the challenge at TSG stamps.  I finally got to use those die cut leaves that I got on clearance a year or so ago.  Using stuff up and yep, it feels good!  The stamp came from a rummage and hadn’t seen ink from me yet but isn’t he cute.  This will be my birthday card for Gilbert this year, and oh yeah, there’s that raffia I’m still using up.  Click HERE to play along in the Wood Grain Challenge TSG #192

Yumi and Fumi Challenge

FaceBook is so great!  It’s viral and good news spreads.  I found the Yumi and Fumi page from someone who I don’t even know, a friend of a friend.  These images are SOOOOO cute and if you like to color with copics you will love coloring these adorable images.  Well, I don’t yet own any Yumi and Fumi cute stamps, however, they are gracious enough to allow us to use images from some of their sponsor companies.  I found a digi image from one of their partnering companies to play along in their inspiration challenge.  Isn’t she cute?   Wait ‘til you see the Yumi and Fumi images.  A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.   So here is my take on their inspiration challenge that you can find here.   There is still time to play.  It’s a month long challenge and goes until February 1st. 

Using copics to color the digi image from LaLa Land stamps I die cut around her with Spellbinders Lacey Circles and then used my Scor-buddy to score the lines to look like white wood paneling.  Cut the large circle die out of Stampin Up retired card stock.   A piece of Washi tape and some hearts punched from a part of a Christmas card I had saved.  I put a bit of Washi tape on her towel too to tie in the top and bottom of the card.  Isn’t she sweet?  And here was the photo we had for inspiration however we wanted to interpret it.    

Thanks for stopping by.

Simon Says Paper Piecing Challenge

I wanted to play in Simon Says challenge but I really would rather use stamps they sell.  I went looking through their site and saw SaraKay  stamps.  I love her cute images and I do have a couple but I could only find one and it was the perfect one for this challenge.  My inspiration came from Edith, my 95 year old stamping friend.  I visited her today and she had made several cards similar to this one.  She embossed a couple of pieces for me and I came home and wanted to create something with this right away.  I did as she had done and cut some of the triangles out with a craft knife.  Yep, she’s pretty amazing.  It’s kind of a take off from hers, I wish I had taken pictures of hers, you would be amazed.
Her little hat and halter top and patch are paper pieced.  I removed the garden scissors she had in her hand and replaced it with a heart. I stamped her twice, basic colored the bottom one, Copic colored the top image and sandwiched the two together with pop dot adhesives and then popped her up again on the card.  Lots of dimension.  Added a bit of bling to the bow on her hat and we have a cutie pie. 

Simple Sympathy

i just had to post this.  I love how it turned out.  I had no idea what i wanted to do for this sympathy card for our friend whose dad just passed except I knew I wanted to use the tag with ribbon.  I should make some more of these, however I only had a bit of the CS left that covers the chipboard tag I cut.  I love this beautiful linen finish paper i got at a garage sale.  it was perfect for this card creating a bit of a tapestry effect IRL.   I rarely use my Stamp Scapes stamps but every once in a while they are just the perfect answer.

Sweet and Sassy Digi Challenge

I thought I had forgotten how to stamp anything but the basics.  I just needed a little push.  I did some blog hopping and some challenge sketches and voila’ I’m back in the stamping world.  Here’s that Sweet and Sassy digi image in it’s full length.  It’s being entered into their digi challenge which is very popular.  It already has 78 entries.  I really like digis, just kind of forget about them.  I should set my own challenge up and just do digis for one full week.  hmmmm….Thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoy this cuteness. 

Sweet N Sassy Sketch Challenge with a twist

I went looking for challenges on the SCS site and saw the forum where the manufacturers post their blogs.  I was so excited to find Sweet N Sassy cuz I had seen that cute little Cocoa Mouse Munchkin with the big ears on other peoples cards but I didn’t know he belonged to Sweet N Sassy.  And now I know where to find him.  They have digis of him too.

Here is a digi stamp from Sweet N Sassy.  You can check out the sketch they have here.  The twist to the sketch was it had to  have a snowman on it.  Well, this cute little guy was my first purchase from Sweet N Sassy.  I’m sure there will be more, I will have to own a Cocoa Mouse image, he’s just tooooo cute. But for now….my take on the sketch

Simon Says Challenge~What are you known for

What a great challenge: Make a card/project about what you are known for;  and it really got me thinking.  I know I haven’t yet figured out my style of stamping, I do like kind of plain not a lot of embellishments.  I’m trying to grab onto more techniques and try other things but I always go back to “kind of plain” or CAS clean and simple as it’s called.  But what I am really known for is my Bread Baking abilities.  I bake artisan breads at home and they always get rave reviews.  I don’t have a stone oven but I do use an oven stone.  This very old retired stamp from Stampin Up came to my mind and I bought this set years ago because I liked to bake bread ever since I can remember.  Here is my entry, a slightly interactive card.  You can open the oven door and see the bread.  I did a bit of Tole on it to give the bread a puffy look. Everything is colored with copics.  And I had to use bakers twine as when I gift or sell my bread I wrap it in parchment paper and tie it up with bakers twine.

Lots of cards

This year I decided to keep track of the cards I make and mail out.  A friend of mine does this and then at the end of the year she reflects on her hobby.  I was surprised already when I look back at January.  As of this moment I have made 25 cards and mailed out 20, with tomorrow’s mail.  That’s pretty amazing.  I always think I don’t get enough stamping in but in reality, I guess I DO.  Here is one I made for our elderly friends who haven’t gotten out to meeting for six weeks.  They had pneumonia and it really knocked the stuffing out of them.  The cold really makes them cough and I think they are really looking to warmer weather and feeling better.  Now this green striped piece is the last of the scraps I had on my desk.  I pleated it to kind of give it an awning feel like sitting at an outdoor restaurant at the lake and looking out at the regatta! I used a roller, another thing I have in my stash that rarely gets remembered.  It was simple.  I rolled it with clear embossing ink and embossed with a moss green powder.  the little tag is spell binders of course. I used two separate strips here and pieced them together (more scrap stash)

Sometimes we scratch our heads

Because I am a use it up person, I cannot stand to throw away a perfectly good piece of cardstock.  I had this coral piece lying on my desk for weeks, like maybe two months or more, just couldn’t figure out what to do with it.  I punched the edge and then got stuck.  Now I love Stampin Up’s old Cameo Coral, it’s the perfect coral color but this was something in a pack from another company and the texture and the color were just “stopping” me.  Today I told myself THIS piece is going to get used.  Looking for contrast colors to use with it I dug into my brown and blue scrap envelopes and I had this cute little image that came off from a calendar.  You know those bitty peeks they give you on the back of a calendar when you purchase them?  Well Sarah gave me the 12 months bitties a couple of years ago.  This was the last one left and IT was still on my table too.  I am getting a lot accomplished with all these bits and pieces.  I don’t suppose a person ever really catches up with all the scraps and things, but I just like to take care of the scraps from the last projects I made sometime.  Sentiment stamps are from GinaK Designs stamptv.  Background stamp is from Mark’s Finest Papers and is the first set I ever won and I have used it and used it and used it.  I don’t think there is a piece of that set that I haven’t used.  It was called Frames and Flourishes but it is retired now.

We are on a roll this evening-Marks Finest Papers Challenge 143 2nd entry

Waiting for Gilbert to get home.  Nervous when the roads are so bad so stamping takes my mind off it til I hear that garage door open.  My niece fell and broke a big bone in her hip and maybe this will help cheer her.  I think she likes purple, when I think about the kinds of clothes she likes.  Another MFP sentiment is the Fall word which was really in an autumn set, but hey, we are to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!.   On the inside of this I will hand write the words, Hope you are walking again soon….in reference to the over dressed munchkin on the front here who looks like she can’t move!

Pinks and reds

Still working on those scraps.  Goodness, a gal can get a lot of cards made just using up little bits of this and that.  Hey that’s the name of my blog.  This one uses Labels Dies from Spellbinder's and a touch of Pearl Inks on the hearts.  More stamps that have never seen ink before. The lace back ground stamp, now that came from Stampin Up and I think that one sees ink more than any other stamp I own.  It’s great for all kinds of cards.  Now don’t think I have purchased all these stamps.  A lot of them have come to me as parts of being on Design Teams and quite a few of them I have won by entering challenges.  Then there are a lot of garage sale purchases too.  You know, the stamps that are just to reasonable to NOT buy them.  Well, I am enjoying the challenge of Use em up.   The red under the ribbon,  well….let’s just say all old rub- ons do not transfer very well and once they were on there, well that’s how genius is born, what can you do to fix a mistake?  Hmmm…cover it with sheer ribbon and make it look like it belongs there.

Speedy Fox and Friends 143 Challenge

Use some twine they said.  I had visions of wrapping my card with twine, Instead I ended up with just a bitty bit on the button of this card.  I was using up my scraps and since Valentines day is coming up I used my heart punch.  I read somewhere a long time ago to update your old button supplies use rub-ons on them and that turned out great!  I have been wanting to do that for so long but never remember to use my buttons. The sentiment is from a retire MFP set called Butterflies and Wisteria.  I love the way all of my MFP stamps are so clear when they stamp.  Especially the sentiments they are so crisp. I used a Cuttlebug folder with hearts on it lightly sponged with Red Lipstick Distress ink from Tim Holtz. The little scrap tag is the reverse of the colored heart punch out.  The little navy blue heart is the rub on.  I have several of those to use up.  Thanks for taking a peek. 

Getting a late start

I wanted to get into the stamping room this a.m. but the phone rings, the dishes were calling, laundry wanted doing, then I had to run my car up to Wausau and that took the full afternoon.  After supper I hit the stamp room but first I had to clean it up from the last projects.  So fifteen minutes later I was ready to go.  While cleaning things up I had several scraps that I just couldn’t throw away and set them in a pile to make my next projects with.  I do love the challenge of doing that.  Here’s my finished projects all from scraps, even the bases were already pre-cut.  A sympathy card and a get well card.  There is so much flu going around.  Used four never been inked stamps also.  We are making progress.  The inside of the sympathy card simply says What a beautiful difference one single life made.   

Mark’s Finest Papers HC Challenge 142

Well I missed the cutoff time for the challenge but I am going to post my card anyhow.  I had done a post several days ago and for some reason it just wouldn’t post.  Here are a couple of cards I made for my mom and her sister.  They are similar but the one for mom I made with the wobble card technique.  That was fun and I am sure mom will like it.  Here’s how to do it. 

Thanks to my friend Angie, who makes the most wonderful cards.  You can check out her blog HERE.

 They look good enough to eat, well better than good enough, cuz I tried making cupcakes last Saturday and they were a HUGE FLOP. 

My uncle Marvin has a birthday and my cousin Sharon.  These last three cards are all going to the same household.  It’s really been fun using up my supplies.

Feelin’ for friends of furries

Already this year three of my friends are saying good-bye to their pets.  It’s hard when those furries have become so much a part of the family and they up and die.  Melissa has lost her longtime friend, Mama Cat, she was such a good mouser and would bring Melissa three mice at a time. 

Filene is a doggie that Sarah has taken many pictures of with the two little kiddos that she photographs regularly.  Filene was the prettiest, gentle boxer dog and she had a heart attack and is no more.

Angie is going to have to put her Tiger guy cat to sleep, he’s just old and suffering.  She has loved and cared for him and the other cats are taking advantage of him now that he is weaker.

I made a simple card for Kerry and the kiddos, Jonathon calls Sarah,  Auntie,  and he has called me”auntie-gramma”  I hope I conveyed the sad feeling I feel for them in the loss of their beloved furry friend. 

flu bug

acck! Gilbert and I rarely get sick so when a flu bug hits it seems like a major illness.  I crawled in back to bed to warm up yesterday at 10:00 A.M. and got up this a.m. at 8:00, weak, tired, woozy and the high temperature was gone but now it’s well below normal.  I dressed for warmth and not fashion.  

There is just something comforting about wearing hubby’s shirts.  Snuggly like.  I have on silk underwear under the leggings and my Smart Wool socks along with Haflinger slipper shoes.  Glad I didn’t get rid of ALL my turtlenecks.  Naps were pretty much the routine of the day.

I have improved enough to know tomorrow will be a MUCH better day.  Had to sit in the craft room and create a bit.  Here’s my tonight’s card and will post a couple of the others I made that have likely made it to the recipients that might have read this before. 

I’m trying to make myself use Kraft a bit more in my projects, always a challenge for me.  Still keeping with the theme of Use it Up, the tag came from a Creative Memories mini scrapbook album.  I have almost emptied that pack now.  A couple of more pieces.    makes me very happy to see things getting used up.  I can actually see the tiniest dent in the pile of designer paper. (my weakness) but I buy it and then can’t remember how I wanted to use it.  The snowflake brad is another Use it Up piece.  Slowly but surely there is a bit more space in the drawers.

Now here is one in which I used stickers.  And I have a whole book full of those to play with. Used some more

of that designer paper, and where would I be without my Cuttle Bug?

Here’s a couple of similar ones again using Kraft.

My hands haven’t been idle but now I think it is time for bed again.  What?? it’s only 8:30, oh well.

Winter IS….

A great time to organize things.  After all the rush and hustle and hurry and just throwing things into a space, it feels good to purge, de-clutter and toss.  Thought I would make a scrapbook page to reflect some of the “behind closed doors” changes.  You know, once it’s done, even with the doors closed it just feels more organized. What have you been de-cluttering?

It was fun to use digi Washi tape on this page. You can make it as transparent as you like.  Have you tried Washi tape yet?  Sooooo much fun.

HAPPY 2013

It’s New Years Day eve..does that make sense.  Oh well, it’s me so I guess it does.  Happy New Year to you all.  Lots of goals being set, lots of thoughts about the year just past, lots of realizing life moves way too fast.  We have been grateful for a couple of just “chillin” days here at home.  Today was really lazy with waffles for breakfast, no lunch and an early supper of Baked Parmesan Chicken Breasts.  I would add a bit of salt to the recipe.  It just needs a bit.
Just had to get into the stamping room today.  I had it in my head to make a gatefold card. Something I rarely think of doing.  It’s just nice to make something different than the traditional sometimes.  I hope to better about keeping up with bloggin’ this year.  I guess that means less FB time.  I do enjoy FB though and connecting with so many friends and family. Thanks to the guy who every put all that together.
This cute snowman stamp comes from Door County Rubber Stamps.   My friend Oscar designs THE CUTEST stamps.

I sure do like my Scor-Buddy.  These are some of my favorite go to tools when I stamp.  Especially if I am just getting my mojo back.  That Encore Metallic is the BEST.  I use the little Scor-it all to make faux stitching.  I finally broke down and purchased some acrylic blocks with finger holds.  What a difference that makes.  Some of my favorite sentiments are Hero Arts Clear acrylic stamps.  You can bend them to make your sentiment curvy if it’s a long enough one. That’s a fun little take.
Thanks for looking and all comments are translated into a hug, so hug away.