Eastern Blooms

This one is a remake of the one below it.

I think I made this one two years ago for a class, and had some leftovers still sitting around.....


No more leftovers from that card :)

Thank you inexpensively

These cards are FAST and economical. On a 4 x 5 1/4 layer of whisper white cardstock, I sponged a faux layer using a punch as a template, then stamped the image directly on it. I then adhered the layer to the card and viola, a quick, cute and inexpensive thank you appears before your very eyes. They cost 26.5 cents a piece and take about two minutes to make . If you eliminate the layer on top of the card you can lower your cost to 21.25 cents each (but I think it adds a nice touch). Very economical if you have 250 thank you cards to make!! You could even do this with Christmas cards to cut the cost; that way you can send more cards!

On to another project.....

Two things

The first item is a sign that a friend asked me to make for her wedding. It will be in a 5x7 picture frame and will be set up on a table which I believe is a "candy bar." I made the butterflies from vellum and put them on a transparency that can be adhered to the outside of the picture frame. The background DSP is from MDS and is one of the first ones they came out with on MDS called My Sweet Pea, which is, coincidentally her e-mail user name. The letters are cut with my electronic cutting device. Now that it's done, I wish I would have moved the "by you" part a little to the left. Oh well hindsight is 20-20. Her colors are aqua and red, which I had a hard time visualizing looking good together, but I think they really do look great.

This is a card that I had misplaced and just found this morning as I was cleaning out my old baskets of unfinished projects (or should I say rearranging the unfinished projects). It was actually finished, but in the unfinished basket. I really like this set called Fabulous Florets. It will be easy to make my own DSP with this (of course after I use up all my Beyond the Garden DSP). I used my re-inkers to dye the paper flowers to match.

That's all for today.

Bummed about my summer beauty

These things are huge!

I've waited all summer for these flowers to bloom. This year they had more buds on them than they ever had; which was obviously too much for this one!

Here's a close-up. I had been watching them and every day they looked closer to "bloom day." Finally, on Saturday it looked like one more day and I'd have flowers. Then Sunday they arrived! Sunday night however, the weight was too much and it bent over!

The only thing left to do was cut it off and put it in a vase. The vase must stay outside, though. They are quite aromatic. So much in fact, that the entire lower floor of the house smelled like them. So.... outside is where they must stay.

I can't believe how tall they are! This is the other one. It is nearly 5 feet tall!! I weaved a twig in between the lattice on the deck, to give this one support; just in case.....

My Peeps

I've been working on this cute little 6x6 album for my neice. I forgot to take a picture of the cover. It has die cut letters that say, "MY PEEPS" and an elastic closure that has one of those cutle little scallop circle flowes that looks like a carnation. I was finally able to get it done and delivered it to her yesterday. Here she is on the first page, and a peek at the other pages inside. The last page is blank because I did not have a picture of the other family members. Also, I left the scalled punch outs blank so my sister-in-law can write the names of the people on them in the language that my neice uses for them.

It's pretty plain and simple, but I'm glad it's done and delivered :)

Teacher Card

This was inspired by Kelly Lunceford. Even though mine is "plain" compared to hers, I like it just the same. Not sure where she got her stamp from, or if it is one, but I just printed the focal point from the computer. As you can see I've been enjoying my Webster's DSP.

MINE:

KELLY'S:

Another quickie

I saved a picture of a very similar card a long time ago and have no idea who to give credit to. Sorry who ever you are, and thanks! I thought I'd use some of my latest Webster's DSP (an old dictionary) and a very old stamp, I think it was a hostess set called Garden Collage. I loved it then, and still do. I just don't use it enough! The thing that took me the longest on this card was finding the stamp!

Christmas is coming....

.... faster than we realize. It's only 5 months and 4 days away, so I'd better get busy on the cards! Here's my start:

This one is not an SU! stamp, but I love it. I bought it when I missed out on the City of David stamp set. It was REALLY quick.

I love dasher, but didn't purchase him last year. I'm sure many of my Christmas cards this year will feature him. I also used the doily set for the background on the green, but since it's so dark it's tough to notice. I embossed him with craft ink, then used a clear embossing powder with glitter in it. I like how it turned out, but wish I would have added a sheer ribbon down the strip of red.

Thanks for looking :)

A real oldie

The flower on this one was stamped with one of my first Stampin Up! stamp sets; Delight in Life. It was free, well not really...... here I am thousands of dollars later; sucked in by the "free" sale-a-bration stamp set! Am I sorry I did it? NO WAY! And I'm looking forward to more "free" sets in the future :)

Boy was that tough....

This was CASEd from Marisa of Rosemary Reflections, who may also be known as whiterockmama on SCS. It took me FOREVER to get the scalloped trim border done. this was the first time I had used the scalloped trim corner punch in tandem with the border. What a task that was!! Now I think I have it figured out, so next time it shouldn't take me an hour to do the mat. I changed things up from marisa's card a tiny bit. I like the brighter pink that she used (in addition to her brighter and much more clear photo). Also, I'm so NOT good at bows, so mine got a knot.

This is Marisa's card. I was having a tough time with the scalloped edge, so decided to use the scalloped trim. I don't know which one is more difficult. This will be a tough one to do with my pals on Monday.

Thanks Marisa!

Celebrate you....

....from Party Hearty will sure be missed around here.

Another card kit. Simple and the images are already colored to ccordinate with the DSP. These are not glued down; I guess that's what makes it the "kit" part. I've included a myriad of sentiments for each one so when there is an occasion all that needs to be done is choose the appropriate saying. And, again- the DSP is two sided so there are many options.

I'm working on a lengthy project I'll share when I finish. Ta-ta for now.

Shower card

Thank you Patty Bennett! I found this lovely gift card holder shower card on her website and CASE'd everything but the colors (which are close) and the sentiment. She does beautiful work; almost as nice as Lynn Weiss.

I had to put the sentiment on the top half of the inside, but it still works :)

I also did something I've not seen anyone else do; emboss the envelope. It turned out great!

It was a little tricky opening the envelope at first, but once it was open there were no problems.

Yay me and a card

Don't know if you can tell or not, but the frosting is popped up with dimensionals.

Now for the yay me part. I got a couple new cabinets for my craft room. Before I had book shelves and everything was exposed. It looked messy. I thought I had a picture from before, but I can't seem to locate it. Now that I have the cabinets (almost) everything is out of sight and organized. My desk area looks the same. The drawers on the right pull out to a three and a half foot long work station. I just wish the desk was white instead of the whitewashed wood so that it would match. The safe is for my most prized stamps. Just kidding, my husband had to have a spot for his gun safe.

This corner is where I keep everything I use regularly. The drawers on the left are my punches, the square cabinets are the dies for the big shot, cartridges for the cricut and embossing folders. And, of course the inks are right there as well.

The two large cabinets in the middle are the new ones. It looks like it's only one cabinet, because I had my husband put the openings together, but it's really two separate cabinets. I keep my paper in one (yes, bad me... it's nearly full). In the other one, I keep the embellishments, ribbon, pictures to be scrapped, project boxes with layouts in progress and other crafting tools. The one on the end with the white handles, I've had for a while. That's where the beloved stamps are kept.

I'm so happy to have these cabinets. Having everything behind closed doors makes it feel so much neater and organized. It's kind of like having a new room! And, to top it off I have room for the scrapbooks on top of the cabinets now :)

Cupcake Birthday

Not much for today.....

...but I'm working on more.

A few cards

This first card is a thank-you for a friend that always throws an awesome 4th of July party; fireworks and all. It was CASE'd from SCS mamamostamps.


I made a few of these just because I love that flower and leaf stem from the Apple Blossoms hostess set.



So sad to see the Party Hearty set go. The celebrate you sentiment was perfect for graduations as well as birthdays. Darn, it was one of my favorites!



These are all going to be in a "card kit." With DSP being two sided, there are so many choices....

That's all for now. Maybe later I'll have another post of some more cards for a "kit."

The star of the show

My adorable little neice. Two years old, I can't believe it!