What I've Been Up To Lately....

Hi there!  I've been busy lately doing some stuff for my husband.  I didn't explain correctly in the post below about that bird nest card being my first secretary card.  It was actually the first secretary set of cards for Administrative Assistant Day.  My husband has 3 secretaries and he asked me to make each secretary a set of cards.  He, the non crafty one, said to make them all the same!  Um, yeah.  SO not happening!  I just HAD to make 3 different ones.  The bird nest set was for one secretary who is elderly, so I wanted to make something subtle and soft.  I totally didn't even explain that in that other post!  Jeez!

Ok, before I get to the other two sets that I made, I wanted to show a wedding card that I made for my great aunt who I made all of those recipe boxes for!  I had no idea what the wedding colors were, so I just went w/ purple.  I think it's Lovely Lilac (SU!), but I could be wrong...  And I used the bride and groom from To Have And To Hold.  Seems like the only wedding-y type stamp I have!  Oh well!  I LOVE it, so it works!  I used flower soft for the flowers in her hair and her bouquet.  I used Heather since it had purple in its mixture.  Oh, and I used Labels Eight.  Ok, on to the next card!

So, here's the last set I made.  I was told that this secretary is like a soccer type mom.  She's always on the run taking her kids here, there and everywhere.  She's practical, and not frilly.  Ok, well now that she's narrowed down to what?!  Well, I just received my SU! order and I received these Awash W/ Flowers and thought I would try it out.  It was 1am and I got my first card done, so I went with it!

I only did the embossed lines on one side, I didn't do the criss cross.  I used Labels Eight again.

And here is my favorite out of all 3 sets!  This set was for one of the secretaries who is very into Americana and school type stuff.  So, this is what I created for her!

The stamp sets used are retired.  The library card is from Stamp of Authenticity.  The star is from In the Stars.  The apple and ruler are from Kitchen Sink Stamps School Days.  I used my small star punch for the 3 stars.  I used linen thread, a brown button, brown brads, and lace for the detail embellishments.

Ok, and that's it for now!  I'm HOPING to make some cards soon!  Having some neck and back issues, so we'll see how I feel!

Have a STAMPTASTIC day!!!

Elizabeth and the first secretary card

I just had to take pictures of Elizabeth last night!  She was just too cute!  So, I'm just sharing a picture of her!

And now on to my card!  Do you really even want to look?!  After looking at Elizabeth, why bother?!

Well, for anyone who wants to see:

Front

                                                                             Inside

This card started out very differently!  I stamped Kitchen Sink Stamps roses to put on the blue, but when I stamped them all, then cut them all out, I put them on the blue and they washed out (they were blue roses). So, I put them away and the next day, I looked through my stuff and spied my new SU! bird punch and decided to go w/ a bird theme.  I used hemp for the birds nest.  Isn't that a cute idea?!  I came up w/ it myself!  The blue is the top note die from SU!.  The small bird is actually the top part of the punch and I don't know what it's supposed to be used for.  I was punching out the big bird on a scrap of paper, and the little bird was punched out too, and when I looked at the shape, it looked like the perfect baby bird! 

For the inside, my friend Phyllis gave me the idea to use my scraps left behind from the top note.  So, I used them on the inside!  I punched out the big bird and placed it in there to tie in the front to the inside.

All right, off to finish my busy day! 

Raining MFT

Tonight I have a quick card to share w/ you!  I had some time this evening to create something, so instead of packing for my monthly stamp get together w/ my favorite buddies, I made this card!  Oh well!  I always like to participate in the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenges.  Of course, the first Wednesday of each month there's a sketch (my favorite), and every month, I MISS THE SKETCH!  What the heck is WRONG with me?!  Maybe next month!  So, since I missed last week, I really wanted to do this week's!  The theme is April Showers!  We had to do one of the following:  Create a custom embellishment, Use Kim's layout (from her card), or do anything w/ April showers.  Well, my cloud was made by me.  I can't find a cloud to save my life, so I make my own!  That scallop punch cloud just doesn't cut it.  It's too scallopy!  I like puffy clouds, not mechanical clouds!  So, I made my cloud for this.  I actually made two, but one got ink on it!  I think though, that that was a good thing.  Too much cloud cover for this girlie!
This girlie was paper pieced (I love to do that w/ MFT stamps!) from my newest favorite stack by My Mind's Eye HOME.  I think I picked this up at Michael's.  The pages have glitter!  :D

All right, on to the card already!!!!  Jeez!  It's 11:30pm and here I am yakking it up!  (eye roll).

Isn't she just the cutest?!  And her little frog too!

Ok, here are the details:

Stamp set: MFT Rainy Day Friends

Paper: My Mind's Eye Home Stack; Tempting Turquoise; Pink Passion, Green Galore, white

Ink: Onyx Black; Sepia (E57), Warm Gray #3, Skin White (E00), Green Galore marker

Accessories:  Top Note die, Layer Ease, Word Window punch

Challenge requirements:  Used Rainy Day friends (having to do w/ April Showers) and made my own cloud!

Have a STAMPTASTIC day!  Hope it doesn't SNOW where you are!!!!

Vintage Flowers

Well, I couldn't stop at one vintage card.  I had to make another one!  This one didn't take at all to make!  And I still think it turned out ok?

The base is Very Vanilla, w/ a Ruby Red overlay embossed w/ Stylized Flowers folder.  I chose Ruby Red because I felt it matched the flowers from the Crafty Secret's Creative Scrap.  The little butterfly, tag and clip on the tag all came from Making Memories Vintage collection (found at Michael's).  I think I have every one of those envelopes full of vintage goodness!  So, I just picked a few things and put them together.  I added lace (how can you not?!) and some hemp twine to complete the look!  The sentiment on the tag is from Crafty Secrets Mini Memories.

That's it!  Have a STAMPTASTIC day!!!

I'm so excited, Olivia and I are going out for the afternoon, just us girls!  Well, Elizabeth has to come along too.  Olivia wants her to come w/ us because she's her "bestest baby ever"!  LOL!  We are going out to lunch, to the mall (which was what Olivia wanted to do most of all!), and a milkshake treat at Starbucks!

Can't wait!

Vintage Challenge!

Can you believe it?  Two posts in ONE day!!!  WOW!  I'm surprising myself!  LOL!  Today marked the monthly release for the Dirty Dozen Fan Club and challenges.  I do have to give a shout out to my MFT friend Lisa Henke as she was chosen as the latest Dirty Dozen Design Team member!!!!  Whoo hoo!!!!!

Ok, so back to my card.  I created this for the sketch challenge.  My sewing is getting better!  I keep working at it!  Maybe someday it will be completely straight!  Let's hope!  :D

Here are the details:

Paper: Core'dinations Black Magic collection - Jenni Bowlin series; sheet music; Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps; Very Vanilla

Ink: Choc. Chip, Regal Rose, So Saffron

Stamps: Kitchen Sink Stamps Hearts & Roses; Crafty Secrets French Mail

Accessories: twill ribbon sponged w/ Choc. Chip; lace, vintage button from my stash, large oval punch (SU!); Word Window punch (SU!), Kaiser pearls

Ok, I really have to go to bed now!  It's after midnight AGAIN! 

Have a STAMPTASTIC night!  Hahahaha!

Birthday and Recipe Boxes

Hi there!  It's been crazy at my house (I sound like a broken record!  When ISN'T it crazy?!), and haven't had a lot of time to stamp.  But, I HAD to make a card for my sister, who celebrated her 27th birthday on Monday!  Happy Birthday Thera!!!!!  Glad we got to spend Saturday together!  Have you been working on your caligraphy?  ;)  Anyway, so here's her card:

I used Cottage Wall dsp from SU!  The girl w/ the cake is from Who's That Birthday Girl set by My Favorite Things.  PS: They have a Bubble Bin back up and running!  Go HERE to check it out!  (I was not asked to say that!).  My sister loved her card, so it was a hit here!

Now for the recipe boxes!

My great Aunt asked me back in February to make her and her friend some recipe boxes.  Well, here it is, the middle of April and I FINALLY finished them!  I'll just blame it on my husband's new job!  I have had to take on added responsibilities around the house, so that leaves less time for stamping.  :(  Anyway, so, I finally finished them, and I do have to say that I love how they turned out!!!!  Is that vain?! 

Here's the first one.  I guess my mood was dots and circles, as this one is FULL of them! 

I used Bo Bunny dotted paper (I don't remember what it's called).  The polka dots are from one of my DCWV stacks.  One of them is vintage, and I think it's from there.  The swirls are chipboard glittered swirls found at Michael's.  Same w/ the ribbon.  Brown polka dot ribbon found at Michael's.  The letters are Gemstones by Inkadinkado.  I chose this font because it's polka dotted!  DUH!  I used my 1 3/8", 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches, as well as my scallop circle punch.

The second box I actually made in 1 day (just yesterday in fact), and the fun thing about this one is that the vegetables and the front panel are from wallpaper samples!  A local lumber place donated wallpaper books to my children's school, and my son's teacher told me to take a couple.  She knows I'm crafty!  Hahaha!  So, I took one w/ kitchen stuff, vegetables and things, and some manly books, because men cards are SO hard to create!  I have so many ideas for men cards now that I have looked through those books!  Anyway, sorry, back on topic!  So, I was looking through the kitchen book, and as I went through each theme, an idea started to formulate, and before I knew it, my little exacto knife was cutting away!

The tomatoes and garlic on the front, as well as the ivy background are wallpaper.  The green trellis all around is Garden Green c/s w/ a Martha punch.  For the top flap, that's all handmade.  I drew the fence and cut it all out.  I highlighted each fence post w/ copic gray no. 3 to make it look a little more realistic.  The carrots coming out of the dirt are just knots of Old Olive ribbon, and I cut the ends so it looks like the ends of carrots.  Whatever that's called.  The dirt is a piece of Choc. Chip c/s that I ran through my xyron and adhered chocolate flocking.

For the top of the box, the carrots are handmade.  I drew each one.  The letters are from Crafty Secrets Adore Alphabet.  I wanted to make those letters stand out, so I just etched lines in the carrots w/ pencil to make them look more real.  I used a wider size Old Olive ribbon for the tops of these carrots.  I did the same thing for the dirt that I did for the front flap.  To adhere the carrots on top, I sticky stripped them to brads, and adhered the brads through the dirt.  If not, the carrots would just come off like it was never on there.  Flocking has no holding value.  It just looks pretty!  The corn cobs on top, as well as the garlic are wallpaper!  I put all the vegetables both on front and on top up w/ pop up dots so they aren't flat looking, like wallpaper!  LOL!

Ok, that's it for me!

Have a spectacularly STAMPTASTIC day!!!

LOTS of new cards to share!

Hello strangers!  I've been away and now I'm back!  Easter just killed me.  I had SO much to do, and of course, I'm still trying to get myself into a routine.  It's just not happening!  Well, anyway, on to the more important subject, my cards!  LOL! 

Our cousin celebrated his 60th birthday this past March.  He and his wife always have an Easter family gathering at their home and have a HUGE egg hunt for all the kids.  Well, this year was no different, however, his wife asked us all to bring a birthday card to acknowledge his birthday!  His profession is contracting.  So, my grandmother asked me to make a card to give him and make it about his job.  Well, this is what I created.  What do you think?

This card was fun to make!  Once I figured out in my head what I wanted to do, it was easy to put together!  The houses are from Right at Home from Stampin' Up!  The crane is a clip art image from Word.  I cut a piece of metal to make a hook.  It's the kind that is shaped like a triangle, like a triangle ring off of a key chain?  Anyway, I put the crane on top of a pile of dirt which I ran through my xyron and dumped brown flocking on to.  The "boards" are the sentiment, saying: Building your life each birthday at a time.  The background paper is from a sheet of 12x12 that I have had for a while, wondering what the heck I'm going to do with it?!  Well, here you go!  LOL!  And I have the rest of this sheet plus a whole piece of 12x12, so if you need it, I'll gladly send it to you!  Or make you a card w/ it! 

Next up is a sympathy card for my husband's boss, the superintendent of schools.  She lost her father last week, and since my husband isn't able to attend the viewing or funeral, I made him a card to send to her. 

This card features the new bird and branch punch from Stampin' Up!  You can find it in the Occasions Mini which is still good til April 30th.  It's the Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch for $15.95.  What a great punch this is!!!  And for that price!  You can do SO much with that bird!  Just wait and see!  I've become bird crazy!  I'm having a Stampin' Up! party at my house on Friday, and I want all this bird stuff!  But, the funny thing is, that if you know me, you know that I HATE birds!  They are loud, and I just have never liked them!  Even when I was a baby, my grandmother told me that when my window was open and I could hear the birds singing in the tree outside my window, I would start to fuss!  LOL!  Funny how things just stay with us as we grow up!  Anyway, so, the layout is kind of a copy from my friend Mandy who used this punch to make baby shower announcements.  I couldn't remember exactly how she had it, but her cards were so gorgeous, this just doesn't compare!  For the background, I did the criss cross w/ my Scor-Pal, and then in between the score lines, I pierced lines to make it more of a plaid background, for lack of a better word!  I thought it turned out cool!  The sentiment is from Kitchen Sink Stamps Hearts and Roses.

Here are two Easter cards that I made for my uncle and grandmother (two cross cards, only one shown) and then one for my parents. 

These cards use the lily from Kitchen Sink Stamps Multi Step Lilies.  The cross on the top card is from Sweet N' Sassy stamps Elegant Blessings.  I bought this stamp set purely for the cross.  The sentiments are wonderful as well! 

And last but not least, my card for both a MFT Rak birthday card and for the patchwork challenge for MFT.  As it is, this card is late, so I apologize for that in advance.  But, it worked perfectly to tie it in w/ the WSC challenge this week!  Can I just tell you how much I LOVE the Origins paper from Basic Grey?!  LOVE IT!!!!!  And, you can find it in 6x6 form on the MFT store website.  Just an FYI!

Although, looking at this card now, I should have used a white background.  All I thought about at the time was taking a picture of this card in natural light.  Which, to me, is outside.  So, I took it outside and perched it on top of my rock wall, and where we have mulch on the other side of the wall.  And shrubs.  Can you see them?  The card melts right into the background!  DUH!  Talk about photo taking 101!  Oh well!  Look hard!  Maybe play I Spy and you can find the card among the mulch!  LOL!

This card uses MFT's Who's That Birthday Girl and the sentiment from the same set.  All patterned paper is from the Origins line.  I also used Choc. Chip, Yo Yo Yellow and white cardstock.  Sheer brown polka dot ribbon and my stencil swirl were my detail items.  I sewed all over this card!  Front AND inside!  I'm getting the hang of it!!!!  The saying, "Practice makes perfect" is SO true!!!

That's all folks!  So, I've been a busy little bee!  Now, my husband, who doesn't really like this hobby of mine, wants me to make 3 sets of cards for his 3 secretaries for Administrative Asst. day.  Hmmmm, maybe I'll charge him!  And buy more stamps!  Hahahahaha! ;)

Have a STAMPTASTIC day!  Thanks for visiting!