The Frugal Cardmaker

Beginning 2012 With Cards

2012-01-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile--okay, a LONG while--since I've posted anything here so I thought I'd better take advantage of the time I have right now and post what I've been up to lately. My college classes have been going well, but they definitely keep me really busy during the semester. Last year I took summer classes, too. I still have one lovely week of winter break left, in which I hope to get lots of cards made because I've been told that this semester is the busiest in my teaching degree program, so just in case I don't have much of any time to make cards once things get rolling, I want to have some cards done in advance of the need.

I've been experimenting with some new folds and techniques as you can see in the following photos. I'm not going to spend a lot of time commenting on these pics so if you are following me and have any questions, you'll have to post them in the comments and I'll get back to you. So are you ready for some pics?

Those are my first tri-fold shutter cards and I'm rather pleased with how they turned out! I will definitely be using this technique more.

There you have it for this time, friends! Take care and happy cardmaking!

I'm Still Making Cards--Just Not So Many

2011-06-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

With my school schedule, I don't have a lot of time to make cards. I'm still in summer classes right now. The good news is that the end is in sight--only 4 more semesters to go before I graduate! I will have a bachelors degree (my 1st) in elementary education/special education-learning disabilities.

So here are pics of my most recent cards. I apologize for not posting all the details for each card. If you'd like to know something, post a comment and I'll reply.

This was the Mother's Day card I made for my mom. The little girl is a Pure Innocence image. She looks a lot like I did when I was little. My mom loved it!

I made this Thank You card for one of my college instructors. I had enjoyed her computer classes a lot, even though they were challenging. I had to learn lots of new tricks.

This card was for my son-in-law Brent, married to my eldest daughter Venetta.

My youngest daughter, Thea, just graduated from beautician school, so this was for her.

This card makes use of the new Big Shot die-cut machine that I got for my birthday this year. You'll probably recognize the die-cut shapes in the center and I embossed the white piece with the Swiss dots folder from Cuttlebug. The tulips in the center are a digital stamp, colored with Crayola and RoseArt colored pencils and blended with mineral spirits.

I have pics of all the cards I've made since my last post last year so as time allows, I will post more--as well as keeping up with my latest creations.

Til next time...happy cardmaking and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My Very First Easel Card!

2010-08-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Jackie has a birthday coming up and I wanted to do something bright and cheery. I also wanted to try my hand at an easel card and was thinking in terms of a circular card for the weekly challenge at the Anything But Cute group on Paper Craft Planet.

I cut my card base out of the bright yellow cardstock with orange polka-dots. I don't have any record of the company that produced this cardstock. I bought 4 different packs at Big Lots a couple years back; at the time, I wasn't thinking about keeping track of company names, so tossed the packaging without making a note of which company it was.

On a whim, I grabbed my tracing wheel from my sewing stuff and ran a line around the outer edge of the top circle that would become the front of my card. Then I took a corsage pin and pierced through each mark left by the tracing wheel. At that point, I decided the paper-piercing wasn't enough, so I pulled out my embroidery floss, a needle and some seed beads and proceeded to embroider a simple chain stitch through all those holes all around the card. I followed that up with an argyle strip from my scraps (DCWV) and two orange diagonal striped strips from my scraps (DCWV) which I punched with one of my Fiskars border punches. After taping those strips together to make the center background for my card front, I stuck the whole thing down with foam tape (had to get it over the top of my embroidery stitches). I cut three silk sunflowers off the floral bunches they came on and hot-glued them to the front of the card. To finish, I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment (Inkadinkadoo image) on some plain yellow cardstock using VersaColor bark pigment ink, sprinkled American Crafts Zing! chestnut embossing powder on and heat-embossed it. I trimmed the corners with my corner-shaper punch and gave it a bit of VersaColor orange pigment ink distressing. It is mounted to the bottom with foam tape. I used VersaColor marigold pigment ink to add edge-distressing on the round card front and bottom. And there you have it! I liked the way it turned out and will definitely make another easel card, although I may not make it in a circle.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Wolf Birthday Card

2010-08-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Our son-in-law Larry will be celebrating a birthday this weekend. I had gotten this image in an exchange with another cardmaker on Paper Craft Planet; as soon as I saw it, I thought of my son-in-law and the card I would make for him. My thanks to Terrie Woodford in Alberta, Canada for sending me this image & several others. Terrie said that this image comes from a 2003 release by Sugar Loaf.

I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to do justice to coloring the image, but I think I did okay. I used Crayola and RoseArt colored pencils to color in most of the image. I did use a black BIC Mark-it on the eyes, nose, and mouth, however. Once I had the image colored, putting down layers of colors, I went back over the image with a paper stub and odorless mineral spirits to blend the colors.

The image is mounted on a rectangle of black Best Occasions glitter paper from WalMart. The two different black background papers are by DCWV. The green striped strip is from my scraps. I used a Martha Stewart punch along the edges of the green strip. The sentiment is stamped with an Inkadinkadoo wood-mount stamp and adhered with foam tape.

I apologize for the skewed image. I should have scanned the card a second time, but I was too lazy to do so. And there you have it...

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Another Orange Birthday Card

2010-08-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

My inspiration for this card began with that stamped floral scallop strip. I like the way that looks so much! I am going to have to try some of my other small stamps, though, to see what other effects I can come up with. Besides the stamped strip, I also wanted to do some freeform machine stitching on this card and use more of the raffia ribbon.

The gingham check background paper is from DCWV. The darker orange floral cardstock mat came from my scraps. I cut out the little stamped flowers, extras at the end of my stamped strip, and glued them in place. The vintage flower seed print is a digital image from Dover, which I colored with my BIC Mark-It's and gel pens. I also used a little distress ink on the image (may not do that again as I didn't really like it). The image was mounted on foam tape. And there you have it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

A Get Well Card

2010-08-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

My dear daughter, Holly, was sick earlier this week. She caught a bug that was making the rounds of the assisted living home where she is a personal care worker. I thought a card might make her feel a little better. Her favorite color is blue, just like me, so I took another stamped scallop border and used yellow and blue to color it. The piece of floral paper at the bottom I think came from JoAnn's open stock. The patterned paper at the top is from DCWV. I cut a scallop along the edge of this paper so that it would look like the stamped border was cut with a scallop on both sides. The big oval was punched from white cardstock with my big Marvy punch--loving that thing!--then stamped with a Stampin' Up! image from an older wood-mount set I have. I colored the image with my BIC markers and gave it some background interest with a couple VersaColor ink pads. I think those are my favorite ink pads! I use them all the time to ink-distress edges. And there you have it! I thought it turned out nicely.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Two Bright & Cheery Cards

2010-08-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

This card started with the scalloped flower border. On someone's blog (really, I OUGHT to keep track of where I see these great ideas!), they stamped a design in the scallops of a border and I thought it was such a great idea that I took a look at my stamps to see what I had that was small enough to fit in the scallops cut with a Fiskars shape scissors. This is what I came up with. The two little flowers are part of a wood-mount stamp set I have, origin unknown. I wanted to do a sunflower theme on this card, at least that was the idea when I started out. The card base is the bright orange you see on the far left of the card. I stuck the border down first, then built the rest of the card around it. Okay, I'll tell on myself: the border was supposed to go on the right side but I didn't realize I had the card base turned the wrong way until I already had the border stuck down. Oops! But I've learned to turn those kind of oopses into pluses. I think this card actually turned out better BECAUSE of my oops.

I ink-distressed the edge of the border and added a row of faux stitching. Then I cut a piece of orange & yellow diagonal print paper, added a scallop border to that, and ink-distressed the scalloped edge. The shaped die-cut is my own pattern, hand-cut and ink-distressed, from a piece of glittery floral cardstock in colors that worked just right with my design. I stamped the focal image and colored it with BIC Mark-It! pens, giving the background a "wash" with a couple pastel Prang markers. I added a paper raffia ribbon, using two colors of orange twisted together, and tied into a bow. The stamped central image is mounted with foam tape.

The background paper and the glittery floral cardstock are from DCWV stacks. The inks are VersaColors. The stamped "hello friend" image is by Hero Arts, one of their individual acrylic images.

This card went to a gal named Bobbie who has a stamp/scrapbook store in Kenyon, MN called The Secret Window. This was for a card swap in the Yahoo group Crazy Card Makers. She said she was displaying my card in her store. How cool is that!?!

After the card for Bobbie, I was still on a roll with the orange theme. As a general rule, orange is not a color I am drawn to; it's probably the color I like the least in the general scheme of things. But for some reason, as autumn approaches, which is my favorite season of the year, orange becomes one of those colors I can't seem to get enough of. I have a 3rd card in progress on my work area that uses orange also.

For this card, I started with a sketch from the talented folks over at Card Positioning Systems, using the current sketch #179. I have loads of stuff in my sewing stash that I can use on cards and when I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to use some of my ric-rac on it. I had this lovely red-orange ric-rac and found the gold braid to go with it, which I machine-stitched to my paper background, more of that orange/yellow diagonal stripe from DCWV. The yellow argyle print is also a DCWV paper, from one of their big stacks. The flowers are stamped and colored with BIC Mark-it! markers, using two of the flowers in the acrylic set 'Flowers' from the Autumn Leaves folks. I cut the flowers out after I colored them, adding some Stickles accents to their centers, then mounted them with foam tape on scalloped circles punched from a yellow dotted cardstock. I ink-distressed the edges of things, as you can see. Two of the flowers are mounted with foam tape on the argyle background to give dimension to the design. This is a blank card to send as a note to someone so I didn't put a sentiment on the front.

And there you have it. Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

An Organizational Notebook

2010-08-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have reached the place in my cardmaking where I've accumulated enough supplies in certain areas that it is helpful to have a record of what I have so I don't purchase more of the same. Unfortunately, I didn't have this little notebook with me last night when we were at K-Mart and I bought a whole other set of Bic Mark-It markers identical to the ones I already have. Bummer! I thought I was getting some new colors. On the bright side, I have replacements ready to hand now if the ones I've been using run out.

So anyway, besides the stamp image index that I mentioned in my previous post, where I've stamped images of each stamp I have and sorted them into categories in a 3-ring binder, I decided it would be helpful to have a purse-sized notebook I could carry with me that would help me remember which inks, punches, etc I already own. I have a couple of these handy-dandy index card notebooks on hand and thought it would make a nice, sturdy notebook for my purposes. I had thought to decorate it and make it all pretty like you see on papercrafting blogs where people doll up boring journals, but I decided against that idea after considering what carrying it in my purse would do to all the things I might adhere to the cover. So it is going to stay boring.

Inside, I have sections for inks, punches, glitter glue, embossing powders, and markers, so far. Here are some samples of my pages...

First, a page showing some of my pigment inks by name and color swatch. I used cotton swabs to "stamp" the color swatches. I also put a dot of the ink color on the back of the VersaColor pads, so I can see easily what color the ink pad is. I store my ink pads upside down and even though the VersaColor pads have their color name printed on the bottom, it's nice to see what the color looks like, too.

Next up is a page from my punches section, showing samples from each punch, along with its name.

Here's a page from my glitter glue section, with the name of the glitter and a sample of it. I had to be VERY careful when I did this page.

Lastly, is a page from my new marker section, showing names and color swatches of my Bic Mark-It pens. Now, as long as I remember to carry this notebook with me, I won't be fooled into buying more Bics that I already own.

So there you have it...another organizational tool. As I think of other items to keep track of, I'll add a section for them to my little notebook. Oh yes, one other tip...the section tabs are made from labels that I rescued from the trash at my previous place of employment. I cut them in half to use them as tabs. They work really good for this! Thankfully, I have a nice stack of these labels saved. Sometime I might try stamping on them and using them on a card, especially the white ones. Just another frugal tip for how to make your own stickers or file tabs.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Sharing My Cardmaking Center With You

2010-08-08T18:53:00.000-07:00

In this photo, you can see my colored pencil storage--a repurposed silverware basket from a dishwasher, just one of those odds & ends I've accumulated from family. Under it in the striped box are all of my VersaColor pigment ink pads. The blue plastic box beneath that holds the rest of my pigment ink pads, my glue pad, and my vellum pigment markers.

Behind that stack, is my "new" pen/marker storage unit I made last night. I took a cardboard box that was saved from a book shipment, 11 empty Pringles cans from my stash (ALWAYS save things like that!), and a roll of yellow duct tape. I folded the bottom flap on the box into the box, adding a fold about 3/4" up, so that it would make a slanted base on the inside of the box for the Pringles cans to rest on. Duct tape holds everything in place. Then I folded the other 3 box flaps to the outside and duct taped those down tight. In my experience, doing this helps to reinforce the edges of the box, whether you are making a file box or a storage unit. After the box was prepared, I cut each of the cans off at 4 1/2", using the top half of each can for my storage unit. The bottoms & lids went back into my stash for another project some day (yes, I have a BIG house--full basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, & full attic that is finished--so I have room to store stuff and I don't mind clutter). The top two Pringles cans had to be squashed slightly to get them to fit into the space left, but no big deal. After that it was a simple matter of sorting my markers by color and type. The spaces between the Pringles cans & the box were also utilized to hold supplies that I use frequently. I HAVE to have the things I use most close to hand! As you can see, my new storage unit isn't the prettiest thing on the block, but it works slick and it cost me nothing (I ate all those Pringles a long time ago--potato chips are a weakness that I'm trying to avoid).

In the photo, you can also see the base of my lamp and part of my work area. Notice that even the lamp serves dual purpose as a place to post notes. It also holds a multi-purpose pedicure brush which I thought to use as a distressing tool for cards.

This is a closer view of my new pen/marker storage unit.

Now this pic is of my actual work area. First of all, the table is my grandmother's old kitchen table, an antique with a great deal of sentimental value to me. It is a drop leaf table that comes with 3 leaves so it can expand to seat quite a number of people. I don't have any of the leaves in it and one leaf is down.

All of my most-used tools and supplies are close to hand. The pencil boxes hold tools and other items. I bought these boxes at K-Mart, but I noticed this year that they aren't selling this design any more, which is too bad because they stack up so nice & neat. The pencil holder is a ceramic cup/vase/holder(?), another old item that I picked up somewhere. Behind it is a Nestles Tollhouse Cookies tin; I love tins! I keep my little hammer for setting eyelets in there. My roll of double-sided carpet tape is towards the left, near the base of the lamp--gotta have that stuff!

In this view, you can see the storage drawer units that fit into my work space. The small white drawer unit on the table holds stamps and embossing powders. There is a metal box on top of that drawer unit with my gel pens and on top of that is my Fiskars 12" sliding cutter. My Fiskars 9" guillotine cutter sits on top of the white drawer unit under the extended leaf of the table to my right. That top drawer holds more of my wooden stamps, along with my dye ink pads and acrylic blocks. The blue drawer unit has 4 storage boxes stacked on top of it that hold embellishments, as do the drawers of the unit, except for the bottom drawer which is full of punches. The pink drawer unit has adhesives & other supplies in the top drawer, paper embellishments in the middle drawer, and ribbon in the bottom drawer. My cardboard box file of cardstock scraps is sitting on the floor in front of the pink drawer unit. Behind the pink drawer unit are two chairs holding 2 big boxes, like banana boxes, (1) full of miscellaneous stuff to use on cards and (2) of wallpaper samples I've removed from their books. I should mention the indispensible red circular "file" sitting to the right of my chair--can't do without that!

Another view of my area, showing that it's only part of my study. Most of my cardmaking books are on the top shelf of that bookshelf you can see behind my cardmaking area. My desk/study area is back in the corner of the room, by the window. That's been my corner ever since we moved into this house back in April 1988. This room used to be our schoolroom during all the years we homeschooled, which is why you'll notice a black chalkboard on the wall in one of the pics and a few other things still sitting around. We also own a considerable game collection, which occupies a lot of space in this room.

Another view of my room, showing the things that sit behind my work space. Those are two old student school chairs (don't have any of the school desks any more, though) which hold a file box and my old suitcase full of my giftwrap paper stash. The wide drawer unit you see farther back holds more cardmaking supplies and my larger edge punches.

Here's a closer view of my cardstock and paper storage, located right behind where I sit to make cards. Yes, that is a real slate chalkboard on the wall. When the grandchildren are over, I have to move my stuff so they can stand on the chairs to draw on the chalkboard; it's a family favorite. I was fortunate to get it from an old school that was being dismantled.

Anyway, in this picture you can see my cardboard file box on one of the chairs and my old suitcase of giftwrap papers on the other chair. The large green binder sitting on the floor holds a collection of pics of all the cards I've made since 2007. The rolling wooden cart holds my cardstock and unused papers. More of my wood-mounted stamps are stacked on the cart, too. Notice that I make file boxes out of old cardboard boxes. I like having my cardstock and papers standing up whenever possible.

Behind the chairs, in front of the chalkboard, there's another repurposed box holding 8 1/2"x11" papers. Tip: empty diaper & baby wipes boxes make really great storage boxes for magazines and other 8 1/2"x11" papers. They're sturdy AND have hand openings! There are also a couple of binders here, one with an index of all my stamped images, the other holding card sketches. Next to those in the other stack is an old black plastic tackle box that holds miscellaneous things to use on cards, then the purple box holds wood-mount stamps and the black & yellow shoebox holds most of my acrylic stamp sets in file format. I have to say, it's a LOT easier to store acrylic stamps than it is to store wood-mount stamps, but I like both. And I'm NOT going to pull all of my rubber stamps off their wood mounts, like some have done.

Well, there you have it. This is what my space looks like right now. One advantage to the kind of storage I use is that it can be reorganized and rearranged as desired, whenever needed. I did take pics of the rest of my room, but decided NOT to let you see all the rest of my cluttered corners. One corner has like 33 wallpaper sample books stacked up in it; those things take up a lot of space! Needless to say, I file things into stacks. For the most part, I know what I have and where it is. And as you may be saying to yourself, I am definitely a "saver" and a "messy" or whatever other term you care to call all my colorful clutter. I find it motivating. I can't stand empty spaces or white walls! I think there's a saying in science about nature abhors a vacuum--so do I! LOL! Hopefully, my cardmaking space hasn't shocked you too badly. :o)

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

You're Special Card For A Grandson

2010-08-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Monday August 9th is our grandson Easton's You're Special day. This is my own family tradition, began about 6 years ago when Tim & I decided to no longer celebrate Christmas. You're Special days happen six months from a person's birthday, sort of like a half-birthday, but in our case, a day to say You Are Special to us. A few years back our oldest grandson Kyler decided would be nicer to spend the day with Grandma than to get another gift and since then that has been the plan on the grandchildren's You're Special days. I still make cards for our children and their spouses to honor their You're Special days. I regret to admit that I'd let my busy schedule, particularly when I was in school over the past year, interfere with making cards for my grandchildren on their You're Special days. I'm trying to rectify that situation, beginning with this card for Easton.

I began with the background I had initially intended to use with the lighthouse image in my previous post, but once I added the zigzag faux stitching, it just wasn't working, so I set it aside and started over with the background you see on that card. However, THIS background said to me that it would work just right with the leopard print I digitized from a calendar image. I mounted the image on a dark brown piece of cardstock. I also added straight faux stitching to the center strip of background paper (recognize the two prints from the lighthouse card? yep, it's the same paper), then adhered the leopard print to the center. I like it a lot! I hope Easton does, too. I think he will; he loves animals. And I know we are going to have fun together tomorrow!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Lighthouse Challenge Birthday

2010-08-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

As a general rule, I don't make cards without having a person in mind to receive that card. This card was no exception. I needed to make a birthday card for our sister-in-law Ingrid who lives in Georgia, while at the same time over at Paper Craft Planet in the group Anything But Cute to which I belong, there's a challenge going on to make a card using lighthouse images. I don't own any stamps with lighthouses, so I had to turn to other options.

For this card, I used a digitized adaptation of a wallpaper border from my stash of wallpaper samples (the border is too big to use on a card as is). I mounted the lighthouse image on a dark green piece of cardstock from my scrap bag, then onto a piece of medium blue cardstock, also from the scrap bag. I used a Bic marker to add faux stitching on the blue piece and cut a scalloped edge with shape scissors. The background paper is a digital print from a tile by Kitty Wompus. The three other pieces of circle print papers are from a ScrapbookScrapbook digital print. I ink-distressed the edges of those three papers with Baby Blue VersaColor ink. To complete the card, I added layered buttons, cream & shades of blue, tied with brown embroidery floss, and mounted the matted image with foam tape. I was really pleased with the way this card turned out and hope our sister-in-law likes it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Belated Birthday Turtle

2010-08-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a birthday card for a friend who moved away, but I didn't get around to it in time, so on her actual birthday I was busy making this card. The stamp is an Inkadinkadoo design. I colored it with Sharpie markers and colored pencil, also going over the stamped sentiment with Sharpie marker. The background paper is a digital print from DAISIE Company, (I'm liking their digital clipart a lot). I added ribbons and sequin "bubbles." I hope she likes it. I didn't do a lot with this card because the background paper is so pretty that I didn't want to detract from it.

And there you have it! Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

A Word Fitly Spoken

2010-08-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things pop up in our interpersonal relationships that catch us by surprise. That happened to me this week, when I received a heart-wrenching letter from one of my daughters. She shared years of emotional hurt and feelings of insignificance with me, feelings I had no idea she was struggling with. Though it was a painful letter to receive and I cried, I believe it will lead to better things in our relationship and for my daughter as a person. I made this quick card to send to her in reply to let her know how much I love her.

I started with the heart flower image, which is clipart from PCCrafter.com, then sorted through my scraps to find papers that would coordinate with the colors in the clipart. The center image of the clipart square is stacked, like a 3-D image, with foam tape. I colored the heart in with Sharpie marker and covered it with Clear Accent. There's a piece of lavender grosgrain ribbon under the top layer of the image. I added sequin butterflies, adhering them with Zots (a recent purchase on my oldest daughter's recommendation so thought I'd give them a try), and ink-distressed the edges of parts of the card. The sentiment is computer-printed.

I hope that the message in this card will minister to my daughter's feelings of insignificance and help to restore her sense of self-worth. Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Using A Favorite Template Again

2010-08-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is a birthday card which I made for the young man I have been supporting in the Philippines through the ministry of Compassion. John Mark is going to be 17 years old in late September. I thought it would be nice to use a realistic scene from our part of the world on his card. This photo came from the cover of an old Our Daily Bread devotional by the good folks at RBC Ministries; I've been reading their Our Daily Bread devotional since I was a teen. Too bad I didn't save all those cover photos!

Once I had the picture chosen, I looked for papers to go with it. The background paper I used was a single sheet of 12"x12" paper I had in my stash. I don't know who published it. Then I went to my stash of scraps to find pieces to cut the hinges (aka tags, arrows, or whatever you think they look like) from. This template, which I made, is turning out to be one of my favorites. I drew "brads" on the hinges with Sharpie marker and covered them with Clear Accent. I also ink-distressed the edges of the hinges to give them a little added definition.

There you have it! Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

The Big Fish

2010-07-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

This card is on its way to our son-in-law Levi, married to my daughter Holly. He likes to fish. I just bought this stamp, a wood-mounted rubber stamp, at a little store in our area that sells scrapbooking stuff. They had their stamps on sale, to make room for new stock, so I decided to take advantage of the sale. I am liking this stamp a lot! Since most of our son-in-laws are into hunting and fishing, this stamp is likely to get a lot of use.

So anyway, I stamped the fish twice on white cardstock, colored both images with colored pencils (Crayola and RoseArt--nothing fancy), then layered one over the other onto the "wood" mount, using foam tape to pop the top image. The "wood" mount is cut from textured brown cardstock, using my own shape template, and given a "beveled" edge with Sharpie markers. The green plaid paper behind is a wallpaper sample. I wanted this to look like a trophy fish mounted on a plaque and hung on the wall. I added gold triangle brads for an extra touch. Simple but effective, and definitely masculine!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

A Little Hoppy

2010-07-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

A while back I came across a cardmaking blog with a request for frog cards to be sent to her sister who was battling terminal cancer. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of which blog it was; I only copied down the sister's mailing address. I obtained this great freebie digitial stamp from Whimsy Stamps and couldn't resist using it on an encouragement card for this gal. I only hope I didn't take too long in getting the card into the mail, but the LORD knows and I trust that He will use it to bless in His perfect plan.

The frog was colored with Bic markers and cut out. I punched a circle from green paper using one of my Fiskars circle punches (I've got them, I might as well use them-right?) to put behind the frog. I cut rectangles out of three complementary pieces of scrap paper, added a strip from another piece of scrap paper (under the frog's footsies), then finished up with a strip of peel & stick paper ribbon purchased from PaperWishes and bling flowers from WalMart. I used foam tape under the frog's hand & the umbrella to add a bit of dimension to her form. Oh yes, I can't forget that I gave her sparkly eyebrows with a touch of Stickles. She's quite the diva, you see! LOL! I love this frog!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Swat's Up?

2010-07-31T12:23:00.001-07:00

I belong to this great cardmaking group on Yahoo groups called Crazy Card Makers (check it out!). We have swaps each month that you can participate in. I made this card for the Don't Bug Me themed-swap. I had been sorting my rubber stamps and saw this fly stamp (it's rubber on foam and I think it may be a Stampendous design--don't have that info any more). Thinking of flies led me to flyswatters and picnics. The background paper is from one of my DCWV stack packs and seemed to holler "picnic" all over it. I stamped the fly images, heat-embossed them, then used colored pencil to highlight their wings & bodies. I made the little flyswatter using a length of floral wire I had handy. I made the mesh portion with drywall tape, then hand-stitched around the frame of the swatter to anchor the tape and make it look more authentic. The swatter is hot-blued to the card front. The flies are attached with foam tape. The little sentiment tag is hand-lettered; the "brads" are red marker circles covered with Clear Accent. Again, I ink-distressed the edges of things, one of my favorite techniques to soften and blend edges.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Two In Brown

2010-07-31T11:49:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I happened to catch a Freecycle post from a gal in our area in which she offered to give away some rubber stamps and other things. I contacted her and was blessed to be her choice to receive those items. My eldest daughter Venetta and I divied out the goodies: Stampin' Up! stamps and 12"x12" papers and other odds & ends. What a blessing! I'm not sure which thrilled me more: the stamps or the papers.

So of course, I had to make a thank you card and this is what I came up with. I was thinking of a challenge over at PaperCraft Planet in the Anything But Cute group to make a card using brown & just one other color. These papers were in with those I received, as were the two stamps I've used on this card. I used my big Marvy punch to punch out the scalloped oval. To add the small punches inside the scallops, I used my small hole punch. The stamped writing in the background is the Thank You stamp, done with tan ink. Then I stamped the long-legged birds over the writing. Some ink-distressing and a border using my favorite Martha Stewart punch and there you have it!

This birthday card was made for my Sweetheart's cousin Sherry. I was on a roll here with the brown & turquoise. I'd wanted to use this felt border (purchased from the dollar bins at Michaels) on the previous card, but it didn't fit, so I made this card to feature that border. I added wooden beads and the chocolate bunny button. The sentiment is a stamped tag, highlighted with gel pen and Sharpie marker. I carried the card upstairs to my sewing room to add the sewn lines. A little ink-distressing on the edges of things and there you have it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

For My Sweetheart's Birthday

2010-07-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

My sweetheart Tim (yes, he's STILL my sweetheart after 14 1/2 yrs of marriage!) observed his 51st birthday on July 18. I wanted to make him a special card, but struggle to get my cards for him "just right." Maybe because he is so special to me, I find it harder to make cards for him that truly express how much I love him and am thankful to have him in my life.

At any rate, I tried a couple of things but they weren't working out. Then I came up with this sentiment and the card began to come together. It wasn't particularly hard. All of the scalloped circles were cut with a punch. I made a circle template for the plain circles behind the scalloped circles. I ink-distressed edges and layered everything. I was aiming for colors and a quilted look, both of which I think I achieved.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

You're Special Card for Daughter

2010-07-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use a paint chip card on this You're Special card for my daughter. As I pondered how to make this card, I happened to wonder if I could score & fold the paint chip card. When I did, it worked beautifully and made me think of the striped awnings that used to be over storefronts. So I cut a scallop template that fit the lines on the paint chip card, then cut the scalloped edge by hand. The lower part of the awning is popped up with foam tape. I turned to my stash of wonderful old Hallmark and American Greetings giftwrap papers I have to get the floral background paper. I also stamped the two vases & flowers that are in them, colored them with my Bic markers, cut them out and adhered them in the corner on top of the giftwrap paper background. The sentiment is computer-printed. I was quite pleased with the way the card turned out! And my daughter Venetta, my lovely eldest daughter (I have 5 of them), loved it also, which made it all worthwhile!

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Two For The Guys

2010-07-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

This card was created for our son-in-law Bradley, hubby of my stepdaughter Paige. I'd seen a card using a similar layout but done on the vertical. I wanted the card to fit into a business-sized envelope, which gave me a nice sized "palette" to work with. I cut my own template for the arrows, then scrounged through my scrap papers to find black & white designs that would work well with the red background paper. I added two black buttons and two white brads. The sentiment is computer-printed and the edges ink-distressed. I saw this sentiment somewhere and thought it would work perfectly for You're Special cards, which this one is, or for 'just because' cards when there is no specific occasion to send a card.

Hint: I've just started keeping a journal, one of those $1 kinds you find at Dollar Tree or JoAnn's, to write down the neat sentiments or sayings I come across, along with scriptures that work well on cards, so I don't have all these bits & pieces of scraps laying around with things written on them and can readily locate them when I'm making up a computer page of sayings to print out.

This birthday card was for our son-in-law Jordon, married to my daughter Megan. He loves to hunt and fish so the design seemed particularly appropriate. The Wilderness Campground image with the bear on it is from a digi set I bought from DAISIE Company. I mounted that square onto a torn, crumpled piece of kraft paper (used a paper grocery bag). The wilderness map & green pine tree papers came in a masculine set I bought at a Pamida a couple years back. The pinecone cutouts are from another piece of paper in that same set. The sentiment tag is a free digi I found online, touched up with Sharpie marker, and ink-distressed.

There you have it! Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Bird Watcher Swap Card

2010-07-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is another of my favorite cards. I love the country look and I like chickens a lot. This image comes from PCCrafter.com, one of my favorite sites for clipart. Laurie Furnell has GREAT sets! This card was made for another Crazy Card Makers swap--Bird Watcher. A chicken IS a bird, right? The card begins with a cardstock base, then I layered brown cardstock and a dark blue scrap of a wallpaper sample. On top of that, I used a piece of maize-colored gingham wallpaper sample, edged with cardstocks that are edge-punched with my favorite Martha Stewart doily punch. I "borrowed" the sentiment and printed it out on my computer, inking the edges and adding three little brads. To complete the card, I added faux stitching by hand with a Sharpie marker.

There you have it. Next up are a couple of cards for family special days, but I'm saving those for another post. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Going Green Card

2010-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

I like this card! Green is probably my second favorite color, after blue, and this card is so soothing to look at. I made it for a Going Green swap challenge in my Crazy Card Makers group. I began with a printed cardstock base. Then I cut a square of solid green and cut slots on all four sides to thread strips of green print through. I also cut squares of printed papers to put on top of the solid square, using pinking shears on the edges. The two papers on the right are prints of digital papers, while those on the left are from DCWV. I added brads, a 3-D floral sticker, and a stamped sentiment. The two little butterflies are brads, too.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Crazy Color Card

2010-07-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

This crazy color card (well, what ELSE would you call it?) was created for a swap in the Crazy Card Makers group that I belong to. The swap was called the Letter C. For this card, I thought of C as "crazy" like in a crazy quilt and "color". I had this great quilted scrapbook paper that says 'Marrakech' on the bottom--sorry, I don't have the rest of the info--and wanted to use it. I also had this geometric image from Dover, which I did my best to color with Bic markers to match the colors in the quilted paper (it doesn't look like such a great match after I finished). The blue micro-dotted background paper is from a DCWV stack, as is the other dotted paper. I also used a scrap of a red striped paper from DCWV. The Dover image was covered with Glossy Accents and adhered with foam tape on top of the other papers. I added faux stitching that I did by hand, using a gel pen for the white stitches and a Sharpie marker for the zigzag stitches.

The card isn't in my usual color choices or style. I think it's quite gaudy, to be honest, but I also found that it "grew" on me, the longer I looked at it.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries

2010-07-06T18:21:00.001-07:00

This card began with the image, a motif from my stash of old giftwrap papers. I added a twig from our yard, silk blossoms, brads to imitate cherries, and layered all of that over a strip of gingham wallpaper sample, red & cream cardstocks with scissor-cut scallops and Martha Stewart doily punched edging, on top of a dark green wallpaper sample. I think I'll use this for a Thinking of You card.

One Last June Cards Post

2010-07-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

This pocket card is one of my very favorites. I love the colors and the design. The background paper comes from a DCWV stack pack, their Flower Shower Spring Stack to be exact. The floral paper is giftwrap paper. I added a border punched strip of white cardstock to the top of the pocket, trimmed with ribbon and a ribbon bow.

This pic shows the little card that goes inside the pocket of the main card. The stamped image is part of a set from Stampin' Up, I believe (I got it second-hand as a gift). I colored it with my Bic markers, then inked the edges.

This is the inside of the main card, as you lift the front flap. You get two sentiments for the price of one with this card.

This card is another of my favorites. I've had a lot of those lately, haven't I? This card started with the image of the bird's nest, which I copied from a book of bird nest illustrations available on the Smithsonian Libraries Digital Libraries website. I apologize for not making note of the artist's name. I LOVE the vintage seed & nursery catalog covers you can find there as well. I haven't had time to explore all the digital stuff archived there, but it looks like a treasure trove. The background paper seemed to fit the image so well, that all I needed to add was the bundle of twigs, from one of our trees, wrapped with a hemp string tied in a bow.

I write to a serviceman in our Armed Forces, the Army to be precise, serving overseas. I got his name and address from this organization: Adopt A US Soldier.org. This year I thought it would be appropriate to make a special card to send to him for our nation's Independence Day. I've never made a card for that holiday before so this was a bit of a challenge. I found this cute digi stamp image offered on the Stars & Stripes Operation Write Home blog, shared by The Stamping Boutique. The image is colored with Bic markers and given some heat embossed accents. I had to ask my sweetheart what colors to use for the little man's uniform as I didn't know what branch of the military this uniform most closely resembled; my sweetheart, who was himself in the Marines and who comes from a military family (Army & Marines), said that it looked the most like the Marines dress blues, so that is how I tried to color it. I used another wooden stamp that I have to do the fireworks on the sentiment tag; I colored the stamp with Crayola markers to get this effect. The round red seal is another stamped image, this time with one of those $1 wooden stamps from JoAnn's or Michaels. The gold button came from my button stash in the sewing room--it looks a lot like the seal of our country, which was too perfect not to use, even though I still think I should have hot-glued the thing down flat instead of just sewing it on where the ribbon is attached. The red shaped mat under the image is cut by hand, using my own template. A couple of star-shaped brads added a nice touch. The diagonal striped paper in the background is from a DCWV stack pack.

My last card for June is a birthday card for my sweetheart's brother Terry. I used clipart from DAISIE Company, which I recently purchased. The papers are from the same graphics pack. I added a mat of brown textured cardstock behind the central image, distressing the edges. I also added a strip of cork on which I mounted the sentiment, edges inked, and 2 bronze dragonflies. The card edges and the smaller printed paper are inked for effect as well.

Well, that does it for my June cardmaking. July is just getting started and I have a card on the work table now. I signed up for 3 swaps in the Crazy Card Maker group for the first half of the month and have a LONG list of other cards for family that I need to make. It feels good to be creative and make cards, though. Those months when I was busy with schoolwork it was very hard to find time to make cards. Cardmaking, along with other creative pursuits, is stress-relieving for me so I'm going to have to find ways to keep it in my schedule, no matter how much other stuff I have to do. Hopefully, it works the same for you.

Til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My June Cards Pt. 3

2010-07-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yet one more with the wallpaper samples...this one used the rest of that pretty border on the big card, along with the background paper. I added a piece of textured light blue cardstock and half the other half of the paper doily I had left from one of the previous cards. Simple, but attractive, I think, and a nice Thinking of You card.

This was my attempt to recreate another card I saw on someone's blog. The flower is stamped with a big foam stamp that I inked with Crayola markers. I stamped it twice, then layered the two images, adding dry embossing to the petals on the top layer and curling the petals slightly. The center of the flower is Fun Flock, the first time I've used that. The stamped sentiment is one of those $1 stamps you can pick up at JoAnn's or Michaels and is heat-embossed. I added lines with my sparkly black gel pen after the stamped image. The two print papers are from DCWV stack packs. This card traveled to Jo in England for another Crazy Card Maker Anything Goes swap.

This cute little dog is a foam stamp, colored in with Bic markers, and given a puff paint scarf. He holds a birthday balloon on a card made for our grandson Connor, who is now 4 years old. The image on the balloon is from the Two You set from Stampendous; I just cut the balloon around the image. A bit of hemp string connects the dog and the balloon. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack. This card is one of my favorites.

My dear old friend Connie--old as in we've known each other for a long time, not old as in years, although she has a few on me but I'm not saying how many--loves pigs. She's been collecting pig stuff for as long as I can remember, even had quite a few of the real deal for many years. My oldest daughter Venetta is also a cardmaker and had this balloon pig stamp so I begged some images from her for this card for Connie. I love that little piggie! I colored each differently, using Bic markers and Crayola colored pencils. In case you don't know, real pigs come in many color variations and designs. I've always been a sucker for the little spotted ones. Using hemp, I tied the balloons to a digital printed tag that I colored with Bic markers and the Crayola pencils. The Happy Birthday background paper was purchased out of the open stock 12"x12" scrapbooking papers at JoAnn's. I used black cardstock on a white base card. Connie loved the card, which makes me a happy camper, although just looking at my pic of this card makes me a happy camper. I think that means I like this card, don't you?

One more in this post...this pretty black, white, and red card is a high school graduation congratulations card made for my niece Malinda. The image is a digi-freebie from the Digital Two For Tuesday blog. I colored her with Crayola colored pencils and some Bic marker touches. I used watercolor pencils for the background in the image. The image is matted on black and white cardstocks. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack. I printed the sentiment on the computer and inked the edges. I REALLY need to get more red pigment ink pads so I can do a better job of matching colors (note to self). Three red brads completed the card.

Well, that's it for this post. I only have one more post to go to finish showing you all my June cards. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My June Cards Pt. 2

2010-07-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

While sorting through my wallpaper samples, of which I have a great many, I found this beautiful wallpaper border. I could not resist using it on a card, but it was too big for the size of card I usually make (5"x6 5/8") so I had to go with a half-fold card. I don't usually make cards that big, but this one just called for it. The whole card uses wallpaper samples--the border, as well as the background paper. The sentiment is computer printed and inked.

A word about my wallpaper sample "collection"...I started collecting wallpaper sample books when my children were still young and being homeschooled. I would go to home improvement stores & places that I knew sold paint & stuff and ask them if they had any outdated books I could take off their hands. Most gave them away, though a couple stores doled them out a book or two per person to ensure that teachers could get their hands on them, too. We used papers out of those books for many art & craft projects. Eventually I got tired of the big stack of books so pulled them all apart and put the papers in a big box. When I started cardmaking, I pulled that box back out and started collecting more sample books. Most of the books I have now I purchased for $5 each at Menards; some I received from two area stores that carry wallpaper and give their outdated books away--but you have to get there & ask at just the right time, so mostly I buy books from Menards. Right now I have over 30 wallpaper sample books so I don't think I'll be picking any more up soon, since they do take up quite a lot of room. The papers are great, though! One word of advice: usual double-sided tape will not hold on vinyl wallpapers. You have to use Tacky glue or double-sided carpet tape. There may be other adhesives that work, but those are the two that I know personally work and which I use. I have not tried using prepasted wallpaper leftovers from papering jobs, so I don't know how that would work on cards, although I wouldn't let that stop me if it was a paper I really liked and wanted to use. You can only learn by trying.

This is another card made using wallpaper samples. Again, I was taken by this simple floral border, which being narrower I was able to use on my normal sized card. The gingham print is the coordinating wallpaper. I added half of a paper doily and a ribbon bow. The card is blank inside to use as a thinking of you notecard.

The last week of May I spent a week on a cultural immersion trip to the Lac Court Orielles Indian Reservation (Ojibwe People) in northern Wisconsin. The trip was sponsored and paid for by the Univ. of Wis.-Eau Claire where I am a fulltime student. One of the other students along on the trip was a pretty Hmong girl named Yia (pronounced like E-ya) who also likes to make cards. I told her I would send her one of my cards and this is what I made for her. The image is a digital image of vintage roses which made me think of Yia as soon as I saw it. The teal and rose pink cardstock and the background paper were chosen to coordinate with the colors in the image. I am liking that sentiment a lot and you'll see it used frequently on Thinking of You cards.

My daughter Lois celebrated her 31st birthday in June. Goodness, how quickly those children grow up! She's my second-oldest and mother of 4 of our grandchildren. Her favorite color is purple and she loves butterflies. I'd seen a card made up like this on someone's blog and loved it so thought I would try my hand at it. I cut my own butterfly template, then cut out 5 butterflies from different scraps of paper. I raided my button stash in the sewing room for the buttons, then threaded them with colored hemp, leaving the ends stick up like antennae--I love that effect! The sentiment is stamped and heat-embossed. The background paper is cardstock from a DCWV stack pack. Lois loved her card, which is what I was hoping for. I rather like it myself!

Again with the wallpaper samples to make another blank Thinking of You card. This used up the rest of the wallpaper border print and nearly all of the matching blue gingham print. I added two doily halves this time and a yellow ribbon bow.

Well, I'm about half way through the cards for June, so will bring this post to a close and keep going. Happy Cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

June Cards Pt. 1

2010-07-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Summer weather is settling in with the beginning of July. We are expecting temps in the 80's today & tomorrow, then up to 90 or so on Saturday, with high humidity. The weatherman said to expect heat & humidity for about the next week. I know the crops like it, but I tend to wilt in the sunshine, heat & humidity, so I am re-arranging my work schedule a little today. This afternoon I am staying indoors, working on the computer and at cardmaking. I will spend a while at my sewing machine, too. Then this evening I will head outdoors to do more weeding and planting in our garden spaces. Yes, I am very late with my planting this year, but didn't get started until June, then we've had lots of rainy days & other activities to keep us out of the garden. It is what it is. You make the best of it and keep going.

Enough about all that...on to the cards I made in June. There were quite a few so I am going to share them in a couple of posts. Here goes...

I bought this stamp at a little scrapbooking shop in Hayward, Wisconsin, the last week of May. It was in their clearance basket and I just couldn't resist it. It turned out to be rather difficult to use, as I had a hard time getting a completely clear impression, but I still like it a lot. I colored the image with Bic markers and watercolor pencils, adding Stickles glitter accents on the flowers. The image is matted on light green cardstock and outlined with a Sharpie marker. That is layered over a "diecut" shaped mat, which I cut by hand from a template I made, then drew in wood-grain lines with a Sharpie marker. I added flower brads and the bee brad. The floral background paper is a scrap from my stash, originally a 12"x12" sheet purchased at JoAnn's. The "crimped" strip with the border punching is a scrap of a digital print from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I wrote the sentiment by hand and inked the edges of the card, to complete it. The card has been mailed off to a friend for her birthday.

I belong to this cool cardmaking group, Crazy Card Makers, a Yahoo group (the link is in the sidebar). Every month there are swaps. A year or so ago I had received a card from Judith in Israel using this technique of stamping on tissue paper. I wanted to try it. While going through a box of papers & stuff, I came across this turquiose-colored tissue paper and thought it would work well for this. I stamped it with an acrylic stamp from a new set I'd gotten, Flower Sentiments by Inkadinkadoo. I mounted it behind a frame I made from cardstock, which is stamped and heat embossed. The other printed papers & cardstock used in the design are from DCWV stack packs. I used this card for the Anything Goes June swap in Crazy Card Makers.

This card was made for my stepdaughter Paige's birthday. Her favorite color is purple. I had seen a stamp with butterflies similar to my stamped image on this card and loved it, but wasn't able to buy it--and besides, I already had these individual butterfly stamps so decided to imitate the stamp with my own stamps. I colored them in with Bic markers, then used Glossy Accents on the butterflies' wings. Iused gel pens on the butterfly bodies. I drew lines on the edges of the cardstock to frame the image, then inked the cardstock. This was mounted on a scrap of plum colored cardstock, layered over a background comprised of three different paper scraps. To finish, I added two rows of trim and a pearl brad. Oh yes, I added lines to the background paper in the corner as it was just a little too plain otherwise. And the butterfly image is mounted with foam tape to pop it out.

This card makes me happy to look at it. I used two wallpaper samples for the background papers. The image is from PC Crafter.com. The sentiment is computer-printed and mounted on a cardstock tab, embellished with two brads. My favorite Martha Stewart border punch made the while doily trim.

I've been on a roll with wallpaper samples in June. This card uses two more wallpaper samples for the background papers. Again, there's the doily edging made with the Martha Stewart border punch. The blue wooden embellishment is a recycled popsicle stick (please tell me you don't throw those away!) colored with a Sharpie marker. It matched the blue wallpaper sample almost perfectly! The image is another from PC Crafter.com. The bee brads seemed to go with it quite well. All in all, this card went to Robyn in South Africa for the Crazy Card Makers June "letter B" swap. The B's in this card include blue, bees, bloom, and beautiful (in the sentiment).

Now on to the next set of cards from June...Happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

My May Cards

2010-06-27T15:26:00.001-07:00

I made this card for my mom for Mother's Day. Her favorite color is blue, too. The background paper is a print of a piece of fabric I scanned into my computer, then printed out. A paper print of fabric is easier to work with than the fabric itself and if you look closely, the individual threads are still visible so it looks like fabric, too. I used a corner punch on the corners, then added a small brad in one of the holes of the punched design. The floral image is stamped, heat embossed and colored with Bic markers, then cut out and adhered on top of part of a silver doily atop the background paper. The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed with Seafoam White embossing powder. I really liked how that turned out so I'm sure I'll do that again.

Here's another Thank You card, along the lines of the three that I made back in January. For my Curriculum & Instruction class I was assigned to work with Mrs. Wendi King in her 1st grade classroom. The children were so sweet and it was REALLY hard to say goodbye. Wendi is such a good teacher and I learned a thing or two watching her & helping in her class. The background paper for this card comes from a DCWV stack pack (probably my favorite papers and easily obtainable at JoAnn's). The apple comes from a DCWV cardstock pack and has glitter accents. The blossoms and hat pieces were cut from another piece of DCWV paper. I made the yellow shaped "diecut" myself. I don't own a diecutting machine; I make a paper template, trace it, and cut my own "diecuts" by hand. The blue scalloped circle is punched, then hand lettered. All the stitching is hand faux stitched. The blue hand cutout is a bulletin board shape purchased at Dollar Tree. The finishing touches were the star brads and the wooden bead circles.

My one and only son, Isaac, my youngest child, had his 24th birthday in May. This is the birthday card I made for him. It is a Z-fold. The lined background paper is the front of the card, then it folds back inside, and the back of the card had the polka-dotted paper on it. The sentiment is printed on a piece of paper shaped just like the matt under the image on the front, then adhered to the back of the card so it is right under the front image matt. The image on the front comes from a piece of giftwrap that is in my old suitcase stash. The giftwrap had all of these old tavern signs printed on it; they work really well on masculine cards. Brads added an extra touch.

My oldest daughter's husband, Brent, celebrated his birthday in May also. I wanted to try using little flags in a swag. I'd seen a card made with these on someone's blog and loved the effect. That person stamped the flags, then cut them out. I made a little template first, cut out the flags, then stamped each with the letters in Brent's name, using a little alphabet set I have. The flags were punched with my small hand punch, then strung on a piece of colored hemp, purchased at WalMart and intended for beading. I bought a bunch in different colors when it was on clearance. I'm glad I did because WalMart doesn't carry it in the stores by us any more and I like the stuff for cards. The sentiment is yet another example of the Two You acrylic set from Stampendous, heat embossed, colored with Bic markers, mounted on a circle of white cardstock, and jazzed up with a bit of ribbon. The background paper is a piece from a DCWV stack pack, matted on matching plain cardstocks. I liked how this card turned out! The little flags are definitely going to show up on another card in the future!

That is all of my May cards. It's going to take a couple of posts to get all of my June cards posted; I've been working on cards when it rains, which has been often this month, or when I haven't felt like working outside even if the sun was shining. So til my next post, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

April's Cards

2010-06-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

This card was made for our granddaughter McKayden's 5th birthday in April. I used a couple pieces of cardstock--one a print with glitter accents (the diamonds--from DCWV), the other a piece of textured cardstock. I cut the piece with the little princesses from a piece of scrapbooking paper. The edges were inked and the stamped sentiment was heat embossed.

My youngest daughter was married in February and this card went to her husband. I had missed his You're Special day--too much schoolwork & other things and I just plain forgot!--so when she & I were talking about it, she told me how his mom had said to tell me that a small bag of $20's would make it right. I couldn't resist making this card with that "small bag of $20's" inside of it. The next pic is of the inside of this card...

The small bag is an actual small plastic bag that I got when I still had a job. I have about a 1000 of them, I think, as the company I worked for was throwing them away, brand new, never been used, because they weren't the right size. I HATE waste like that so I ended up with a bunch of them. The $20's are photocopies on green copy paper of a child's play $20 bill. My daughter said my son-in-law got a good laugh out of it. That was the whole point, after all.

This is the wedding card I made for that same daughter and her new husband. As you can tell, since I said they were married in February, I was rather late with this one, too. Orange is my daughter's color and I had purchased the 2 big buttons (came in a set of 3 buttons) specifically for her wedding card, then picked papers and other embellishments to complement the two big buttons that I used.

Again with the orange: this card was for my youngest daughter's You're Special day. I stamped the image, heat embossed it, and colored it in with Bic markers. I added faux stitching, done by hand, and flower brads on the stamped image. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack.

By the time I made this card, I was starting to get caught up on the family birthdays and You're Special days. This pretty in purple birthday card was for my daughter-in-law Amber. I used a paint chip card for the background, cutting the edge with scalloped scissors and adding a white border-punched edging. The two potted hyacinth images are cut from a facial tissue box. They were too pretty to throw away! The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed.

My daughter Megan loves yellow roses so for her You're Special day I cut a picture of yellow roses out of an old rose catalog--save those flower catalogs!--and made the card around that image. The stylized flowers are cut from a sheet of printed, glittery DCWV cardstock. The yellow dotted background is cardstock also and again, I inked the edges. That's an effect I am liking a lot! The sentiment is stamped and (I think) heat embossed. It's hard to remember after the fact and I don't make notes on my pics.

One of the neighbors had a daughter graduating from high school this year. This card is for her. The two small stamps are from those dollar stamps you can get at JoAnn's or Michaels. The sentiment is another dollar stamp. All are heat-embossed. I really liked the way this card turned out! But then, blue is my favorite color. The papers are from a DCWV stack pack.

My daughter Holly's birthday was in April and this card was for her. She also loves the color blue. As you can see, I used more of the same paper prints I used on the graduation card above. I seldom cut into a new piece of paper until after I've looked through all of my scraps to see if I can make use of them first.

Our youngest grandchild, little Alan, turned a year old in March. I don't get to see him--a situation with my son which I won't go into--but I still made him a card, albeit a month late. Some day I hope that my son will let me deliver the cards I make for him, his wife, and their son. Again, the cardstocks are a piece from a DCWV stack pack. I added hand faux stitching. The sentiment is stamped, heat embossed, and colored with those Bic markers. The sentiment is from the Two You set by Stampendous. It's one of my favorite sets; you'll see it show up lots on my cards. The little number 1 square at the top right is from a 12x12" sheet of scrapbook paper.

When my youngest daughter married in February, we not only gained a son-in-law, we gained two more grandsons. We have 13 grandchildren now--5 girls and 8 boys. This card was for our grandson Ryan who celebrated his 12th birthday. I used the same DCWV cardstock on this card as I used on the previous card. This stamped sentiment is another image from that Stampendous Two You set, heat embossed and colored with the Bic markers. The letters spelling out Ryan's name are cut from another sheet of 12x12" scrapbooking paper.

Our "new" grandson, Larry Jr, received this card for his You're Special day. His favorite color is purple. I couldn't resist using the little hermit crab, another dollar stamp purchased at JoAnn's. The crab and the sentiment are heat embossed and the crab is colored with Bic markers. The background paper is a digital print that I made from a teabag tile. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of which website I found the teabag tile on.

That's all the cards from April. I only have May and June to go and then I will be all caught up! Hurrah! I should be back tomorrow with more. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Cards from Jan-Feb-March 2010

2010-06-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

This card was made for my sweet granddaughter Samantha who turned 8 years old in January. The background paper is a scan of a piece of fabric, then printed out onto paper. When I print out digital papers I use 24# paper, as it is heavier and gives a better result than regular 20# copy paper. It does cost a little more, but the extra price is worth it. The card also features a circle cut from embossed & glittery cardstock, punched butterflies with gel pen accents & their wings bent upwards, and a flower brad.

This card was made for my son-in-law Levi's birthday in January. As you can see, my printer was acting up when I printed out the balloon image and the "crimped" paper, but I thought the lines in the balloon image actually added to the effect so I used it anyway. I also liked the color variation in the "crimped" paper. The circle paper (sorry, I don't have the maker of the paper handy) mimics the hot-air balloons. The background paper is a digital print, I think from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, which I border punched. The sentiment is hand-written.

I made this card for my sister Annette's birthday in February. The image is a Thomas Kinkade print recycled from a page-a-day calendar. Those little page-a-day calendars are a wonderful source of images to use on cards--and a very frugal re-use! The other papers are digital prints from ScrapbookScrapbook.com (the "crimped" designs & the circles). The floral print is a purchased scrapbook paper whose maker I don't have handy. I added a bit of ribbon to accent the card and printed the sentiment by hand.

This card was made for my sweetheart's Aunt Grace. I used scraps of two different purchased patterned papers and inked the edges. I stamped the sentiment, twice actually unintentionally, then heat-embossed it. I punched the corners of the plaid paper, added a bit of trim, and flower & butterfly brads.

It's getting late and I need to head to bed so I'll have to post the rest of the cards I've made since April a bit later. Til then, happy cardmaking! Take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

I'm Still Alive!

2010-06-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hello again! In case you've checked my blog and noticed that it hadn't been updated since January, there's a good reason for that. As a fulltime college student, this past semester kept me pretty busy. I had 5 classes: Physics 100, Intro to Cult Anthropology, Math for Elem Teachers 2, American Lit since 1945, and a Curriculum & Instruction class. I had a ton of reading and Physics in particular was a real challenge! It was a rather stressful semester and I didn't have time for much else besides trying to keep up with my schoolwork. I finished the semester with 3 A's and 2 B's so I didn't do too bad. I was so thankful to see that B in Physics! I also was admitted to the Special Education program so am on track for my major in learning disabilities. I also was accepted in the Sigma Gamma Zetta II honor society, for nontraditional students who have at least a 3.50 GPA. My current cumulative GPA is 3.71. The semester was officially over on May 21st.

The following week I was gone on a cultural immersion trip to the Lac Court Orielles Indian Reservation (Ojibwe People) in northern Wisconsin. The trip was sponsored and paid for by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where I am a student. We left Monday morning and returned Friday afternoon. The UW system is very big on cultural diversity and this trip was part of that commitment. They put us up (all 8 of us students, plus 4 staff/faculty advisors) at a really nice hotel. Each day we drove out to the reservation where we toured their various educational facilities, met with native teachers, participated in different cultural activities on the reservation, and helped out at the Headstart program 2 of the mornings. It was all very interesting and well worth the time away from home. I especially loved the morning we spent with a tribal elder named Dennis White who shared with us his beadwork and fingerweaving. I was totally inspired to learn to do both. I've already started a beadwork project. This is the bead applique or embroidery work where you fill in the design on fabric with seed beads. I haven't started the fingerweaving yet, but I have collected some instructions and resources for learning the craft. So now I have two more things I want to do to add to my list of projects to spend time on--when I have the time! Ha! Ha!

Here's a picture of the front of Dennis White's vest:

It's beaded on black velveteen. The back is also beaded. He said it took him a total of 3 years to complete the beadwork on this vest. He wears it to special functions and powwows. It is heavy, too, as I picked it up and was surprised at how much it weighed. You wouldn't think that little seed beads could weigh so much. The project I have started on is a small bag, with a square design of 3 flowers on top of a quilt block. I hope it doesn't take me 3 years to finish it!

Anyway, this month I have been trying to get work done outside in our garden and flowerbeds. It's been a slow process. My stick-to-it-iveness isn't all that it ought to be; the body complains something fierce about the unusual activity I am putting my muscles to and I have to take breaks because the exercise & heat get me sweating so I need to rehydrate. June has been a rather wet month, too, which has made it difficult to work outdoors. There are always those little obstacles like appointments and needing to go to town, etc, that come up as well to keep me from accomplishing the weeding and planting that I am STILL laboring away at. I do have 5 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, a short row of peas, swiss chard, basil, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, and 4 ft of pole beans planted in the veggie department so far. The flowers are doing better but I still have a lot of transplants & seeds to get planted. Next week looks to be dry, at least at the beginning of the week, so I expect I'll be busy outdoors most of the time.

With the rainy days, I have managed to get some cards made and in my next post, I'll post what I've done since the last cards I posted. Til then, take care and may the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you!

Recent Birthday Cards

2010-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Three New Thank You Cards

2010-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

This card is one of my favorites. On a yellow cardstock base, I layered a piece of scrapbook paper from a DCWV Stack Pack. I stamped the cricle frame using a Martha Stewart stamp, then heat-embossed it. I punched the scalloped circle using the 2" Marvy punch and added the faux stitching & sentiment by hand. The hand comes from a pack of teacher bulletin board accents I picked up at Dollar Tree. The tape measure is part of a 60" tape measure I got in the mail with a survey questionaire. Then I added some small wooden beads that I think I picked up at Dollar Tree.

This card uses all the same items as the previous card, except that I started with a gold cardstock and the award ribbon is a different teacher accent from Dollar Tree.

This card is uses all the same things, too, except that it has a different teacher accent award ribbon and I added an award sticker to the center of the ribbon.

Where, Oh, Where Can She Be?

2010-01-20T16:43:00.000-08:00

I thought maybe I ought to post something here to let you know that I haven't died or anything. I'm still alive and kicking, just staying really busy! This past summer we were busy with our garden as much as possible, hoping to have a good veggie harvest to put away for the winter. It didn't work out quite like we had hoped, but we made considerable progress in reclaiming the garden from the quack grass.

Then in September I returned to college, to the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, where I have resumed my interrupted pursuit of a baccalaureate degree. Having become a displaced worker a year ago in Feb., joining the ranks of the unemployed in our country, it seemed that the time was right to pick up where I last left off with my college work in 1994. The LORD opened all the doors and has since confirmed to me more than once that I am on the right track. I am now officially a junior, with a GPA of 3.88, working towards a comprehensive major in elementary education & special education. I might still throw in a minor in library science, as well. Going back to school hasn't been that difficult as I've always loved school and have continued to study whether I was in school or not. What I was NOT expecting, though, was how busy I was! I had 5 classes, 17 full-time credits last semester, commuting 108 round-trip miles to college 5 days a week. It didn't leave me with much time or energy to make cards! That is something I HAVE to resolve with the spring semester that begins on Mon. Jan. 25th. I NEED the stress-relief of cardmaking (and sewing and knitting and writing letters and...).

I have managed to make cards, just not as many as I'd like, and often felt I was just throwing something together quick instead of taking my time to create what I really wanted to make. And I do plan to get pics of them uploaded here asap.

Meanwhile, I am working on 3 cards this evening that I have to have completed by tomorrow to deliver to the 3 women in our local public school elementary special education department to say Thank You for letting me hang out with them during my winterim class the past 3 weeks. I'm really going to miss being there, working with the children!

Since I need to make the most of the time that's left before bedtime, I'd better wrap this up and get moving, so til my next post--Happy Cardmaking!

2007 Cards Once Again

2009-07-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

For this card, I cut the front off an old card I'd received from someone and saved. I always save the cards I get. Old cards can be used for so many things! There are always art or craft projects with the children. They can be cut into gift tags or postcards or bookmarks. Or they can be recycled into new cards, as I did here. The three solid colored squares at the top of the card are cut from paint chips you get when deciding on new paint colors. Just as a FYI, at the Blain's Farm & Fleet store we shop at in Chippewa Falls, WI, they now carry paint chips that are about the size of a sheet of poster board. Each one costs about $3 but think of how many cards you could make with pieces from that! No, I haven't bought any, mostly because I have oodles of the freebie paint chip strips & cards saved already. You can punch paint chips or cut them into whatever shape & size you want. You can find some interesting projects using them at GoMakeSomething.com, which is a really cool website with a lot of neat projects and free printables.

This card also makes use of paint chips, in the small colored squares that frame the outside edges. The background paper is computer-printed, using an email background I had saved. The pumpkin is clipart from the good folks at pccrafter.com; I love their stuff and the prices are really good! I used my own calligraphy on the sentiment tag and colored the edges with crayon.

This card uses different shades of lavender cardstock, cut in diamond shapes. The floral design is cut from giftwrap paper. The sentiment tag was computer-printed and torn to size.

I hope you'll forgive me for not taking the time to edit this image. It's been a long day already and I'm tired. This card is another of my personal favorites. The background is a floral wallpaper sample. I machine-stitched the ric-rac to the card to simulate a stem, as well as using it as a frame around the flowers. The silk flowers are hand-stitched to the card, using embroidery floss, and button centers. I really should make another card like this!

A Few More From 2007

2009-07-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

This sympathy card used wallpaper samples for the background and center strip. The sentiment was computer-printed, then torn to size.

This birthday card is one of my favorites. I used sticker paper for the rock frame around the lighthouse; this paper comes in printed sheets, with a peel-off backing, like Con-Tac paper. I picked it up at a liquidator store and like it a lot. The lighthouse picture is the front off a small pocket calendar. The sentiment is computer-printed and torn to size.

Another one of my favorites, using wallpaper samples and a floral motif cut from giftwrap paper. Very simple, actually, but also pleasing to the eye, I think.

Looking Back At Some Older Cards

2009-07-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

This card uses wallpaper samples for the papers, a design cut from giftwrap paper (Holly Hobbie), and has a crocheted trim hot-glued around the design oval. I made this back in July 2007.

This card features a wallpaper background with a corner cut from a coordinating wallpaper. The design is cut from giftwrap paper. The sentiment tag is computer-printed. This card, also, was made in July 2007.

The Last Two To Date

2009-07-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

This card was for Tim's cousin, one of the daughters of his Aunt Rose who recently passed away. I know this is going to be a difficult birthday for her, having just lost her mom, so I didn't want to get too bright with this card. I started with a white cardstock base, covering the front with the rose-patterned paper and the digital faux-corrugated paper at the bottom. The bottom digital print comes from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I added a sticker ribbon strip across the card, added two little ribbon bows and a button, then stamped the sentiment in the lower corner. Then I inked the card edges--all rather simple, but still attractive, I think.

My daughter Holly's next-door neighbor generously offered to let me come dig up perennial flowers in her back yard. Pam is going to re-do her yard and wanted the extra perennials to go to someone who could use them. I never say no to free perennials, so I was more than happy to go dig up a bunch of them. I came home with daylilies, peonies, siberian iris, shasta daisies, and more. Now I just need to take the time to replant them in my yard! Guess what's on tomorrow's agenda?

Anyway, I wanted to send Pam a thank-you card. To make it, I started with a white cardstock base, covered the front with that green print I like so well (DCWV), then added an orange circle of cardstock, actually half of a circular card blank I got in one of those monthly cardmaking kits from the folks at Annie's Attic. On top of that is a white cardstock circle cut out with paper-edger scissors so I could get the scalloped effect. Then you have a floral print circle cut from giftwrap paper. I cut individual flowers out of that same giftwrap paper, mounted them on old index card and then adhered them along the edge of the circle, with the largest one having foam tape under it to "pop" it out. I stamped the sentiment down in the corner and just like that, there you have it...

Three-color Challenge

2009-07-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

In the cardmaking group I belong to, Crazy Card Makers, we had a challenge to use just 3 colors on a card. My youngest daughter, Thea, was here when I decided to make my card so I asked her to pick out three colors for me and I'd take it from there. She looked through my cardstock and picked out an orange, a red, and a bright blue. I knew she'd pick colors I'd never think to put together. She also offered ideas on how I should make the card, so this is the result of our joint effort.

I started with an orange cardstock base, adding a layer of a striped print scrapbooking paper that used all 3 of our colors. I cut a square from the red cardstock, mounted a square of the blue cardstock on top of it, then Thea punched the flower shapes in the reddish-orange print paper so that when I put it on top of the blue, we'd have blue flowers surrounding the little kitty in his flowerpot which is a stamped image I punched out with a 2" scallop punch and mounted on a red circle of cardstock in the center. Thea wanted orange brads in the corners of the square. I stamped the sentiment with blue pigment ink, sprinkled on holographic clear glitter and heat-embossed it. The stamped image was colored with markers, BIC Mark-It and Crayola (the flowerpot).

This black, white, and red card was my original idea for this challenge and I couldn't resist making it even though I really liked the card I made with my daughter's input. To make this, I started with a square of white cardstock, a size I don't often make, but I wanted to do something a little different. Then I covered the front with the patterned black & white print. From a coordinating print paper, I cut out the stripe with the medallions on it that I adhered across the card. From yet another coordinating print, I cut out the large flower and two smaller flowers, adhering them on top of the horizontal strip. The large flower is mounted with foam tape to make it pop out more. And there you have it...

With Sympathy

2009-07-26T19:57:00.001-07:00

My sweetheart's Aunt Rose passed away a little over a week ago. She was a much-loved mother figure in my husband's life. She was predeceased by her husband, Tim's Uncle Jim, and leaves behind 3 daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews who mourn her passing (my apologies to any other family members who may see this and who didn't get mentioned).

We weren't able to attend her funeral but we did send a card. I started with a piece of the light green parchment-looking cardstock for my base, added pieces of those blue/green prints I've been using a lot of lately (all this from scraps out of my scrap bag), and used a Dover clipart painting print in the center. The sentiment tag was printed on the computer and torn to size. All the edges were inked and I lightly sponged distress ink over the papers and print. And there you have it...

Two Birthdays & A Thinking of You

2009-07-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

This card pleases me very much! I'm just really liking this color combination lately for some reason. Anyway, this card started with a light green cardstock, actually a parchment-look, if I remember correctly. I used two prints from my DCWV paper stack for the background, tearing the one on top and inking the torn edge. The graphic comes from a clip-art set I bought from pccrafter.com; I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in the center. The graphic is mounted on pink cardstock, then on blue, and lastly green, tilting the bottom two layers. I added 3 buttons and 1 flower brads along the torn edge. And I inked the edges of the card, a technique I am liking a lot lately also. I find the small inkpads work really well for this, using a corner of the pad and drawing it across the edge I'm inking.

This card was another quick and easy card to make, winging its way to an online friend overseas. I started with a white cardstock base, covered the front with a piece of scrapbooking paper (another corner of the same paper I used on Venetta's You're Special card a couple posts back) from DCWV. Then I added 4 dimensional flower stickers and a blue sentiment tag. The sentiment is stamped. It just doesn't get any easier than that! And I finally used some of those lovely stickers I have in my sticker file box.

This birthday card was for my sweetheart Tim. Why is it that cards you make for the person you love the most never seem to turn out quite the way you wanted? He liked it, though, so I guess that's what matters most. Again, I used the blues and greens that have been a favorite lately, mounting them on a green cardstock base, over a layer of darker green cardstock. I tore the edge of the top paper and inked it. Then I stamped the Happy Birthday design on in brown and a second time with green. The two stampings didn't line up as closely as I had wanted, though, so it looks kind of blurry. I went over the Happy Birthday letters with a gel pen. I added some brads to the design and a small gold heart brad to the lower right-hand corner of the card, inking the edges of the card. And there you have it...

Three More July Cards

2009-07-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

This lovely card was made for my oldest daughter, Venetta. I had tried something a little different with this one. I started with a white cardstock base, then adhered a piece of scrapbook paper to cover the front. This paper comes from DCWV; the flourish and dragonfly are printed right on the paper. Then I cut out, very carefully with my X-Acto knife, a window around the flourish and dragonfly. Behind the window, I adhered a piece of floral giftwrap paper. To complete the front of the card, I stamped a sentiment in the lower right corner and added two mini-brads to the bottom of the flourish. On the inside, I adhered a liner of blue flecked paper. On the right side, I used a Martha Stewart edge punch to punch a border design. Under it, I adhered a strip of the floral giftwrap I used on the front. Usually I don't decorate the inside of my cards, as I print the sentiment right onto my cardstock base using the computer printer.

This card went to an online friend for her birthday. I started with a white cardstock base again, covering the front with a dark green cardstock. The background paper is a digital print I made on the computer using a background tile from KittyWompus.com. I added a strip of reddish print scrapbook paper from my scrap bag. Behind it I added a lattice-punched strip of white cardstock to mimic the gate in the painting. I used a print from a Thomas Kinkade page-a-day calendar (a gift from one of my daughters and you can be sure I saved every page!) for the design motif, matted on a reddish brown cardstock. To complete the card, I stamped the sentiment and added 3 white flower brads and a bronze dragonfly brad.

This bright, bold card went to an online friend who is laid up in the hospital, going through a rough time. I started with a white cardstock base, covering the front with the bright pinkish striped paper. Then I cut rectangles from two complimentary patterned prints--all 3 papers from DCWV, matting them on dark blue cardstock. I attached a strip of pink ribbon using staples and added a silk flower with a bright brad center to the ribbon. To finish, I stamped a sentiment in the bottom right corner.

And there you have it.

Two For The Guys

2009-07-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

This card was for my son-in-law Jordon. I think it rates as one of the quickest cards I've ever made. It started with a piece of tannish cardstock. Then I added a layer of scrapbooking paper by DCWV which already had those cool white designs printed over the stripes. I added a computer-printed sentiment with torn & inked edges. I inked the edges of the card and it was done. It looks pretty good, too, if I do say so myself!

This card went to our son-in-law Bradley. It didn't take too long to make, either. I started with the olive green cardstock, then added a piece of printed scrapbooking paper by DCWV. On top of that I added a piece of wallpaper sample. Then I took a stamp I had from the American Wildlife Fund from years gone by (I don't throw things like that away!), matted it on another piece of the olve green cardstock, adhered it on top of the wallpaper sample, then stuck on 4 gold foil stickers and added a stamped sentiment. Voila! and there you have it...

Catching Up On July's Cards

2009-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

It's amazing, isn't it, how quickly time can get away from us? July has been busy with gardening. In between planting and weeding (of which I still have more to do), I have managed to make some cards. So let me bring you up to date on the cards I've made...

This pretty card was made for an online friend. I used two different blue cardstocks. The dotted background paper and the plaid background paper are from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. I used my Martha Stewart border punch to make the white doily edging. The "hello Firiend" floral image is stamped and colored with markers; I'm liking the BIC Mark-It permanent markers a lot and just got a new set of 36 of them for less than $16 at Shopko. I rounded the corners of the layered stamped image and inked the edges. Floral brads add the finishing touch.

This card was also made for an online friend and is one of those cards that's a favorite of mine. I started with a light blue cardstock, added a layer of faux corrugated paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, then a layer of a digital paper I printed out using a background tile, with the edge torn and inked, a shaped layer of cardstock with edges inked, a shaped layer of scrapbooking paper from DCWV with edges inked, and in the center a butterfly print from a page of German decoupage designs. I added two square mini-brads set on point and a stamped sentiment in the lower right hand corner, then inked the card edges.

I like this card a lot, too, even though it was really quick and easy to make. I started with a brown cardstock, added a layer of scrapbooking paper, a Creating Keepsakes design from Sandy Lion, and a mauve shaped bit of cardstock matted behind a simple stamped sentiment plus the flower, both of which have inked edges. I rounded the corners with my corner-rounder punch and I colored the stamped flower with a colored pencil. I also lightly colored the sentiment piece with the side of a colored pencil to make it match the pink stripe in the background paper. This card went to another online friend.

And there you have it...

A Hello Card

2009-07-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

This cheery card for an online friend starts with blue cardstock. Then I added a layer of bright dotted paper from one of those Stacks by DCWV. The purple cardstock rectangle was punched with that lattice punch and a piece of flowered & dotted paper, another DCWV piece from that Stack, was inserted into the punched corners. I added yellow flower brads on 3 of the corners. There's a pink dotted strip attached diagonally, a scrap from my bag of paper scraps. Lastly there's another smaller rectangle of the blue cardstock with a white piece on top of that, stamped with the Hello sentiment (one of those dollar stamps from Michaels) and a flower from another stamp set, popped with foam tape. I colored the flower with Sharpie markers and I added two sparkly hair pins as an underliner. In fact, it was a challenge to myself to use the hair pins (aka bobby pins) that pulled this card together. I picked a bunch of hair pins up at a liquidator store by us, thinking they'd make a neat embellishment on cards, then stashed them away. It was time to challenge myself to use them on a card. I like the way they look, too, so expect to use them again; after all, I have quite a few of them, in two different sizes and in different colors. And there you have it....

Three Birthday Cards

2009-07-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

This card was made for Tim's Aunt Rose who lives in Pennsylvania. She's a very special lady; unfortunately, we live almost a thousand miles away so don't get to see her very often. In fact, the last time we saw her was about 3 years ago when Tim's dad passed away and we went out for his funeral. Miles do not stop affection, though.

To make this card, I used a background paper from one of those Stacks by DCWV I got recently. Then I added a silk flower sporting 3 layers and a brad center, as well as 4 chipboard embellishments and touches of ribbon. It didn't turn out quite like I had pictured it in my mind, but I hope Aunt Rose liked it all the same.

This pretty pink card went to an online friend, Tajuana. I did like the way this one turned out! I started with a pink cardstock base, then added a layer of Happy Birthday (Birthday Pink) paper by DCWV. I border-punched a strip of pink cardstock, on top of which is an oval cut from PL-267 by Me & My Big Ideas, then a shaped piece of light pink cardstock, a smaller pink oval, and in the center a stamped butterfly image which I colored with gel pens and colored pencils. I added faux stitching with a gel pen, inked edges, and brads. The stamped butterfly image is mounted with foam tape to "pop" it up above the oval under it.

That brings me to this birthday card made for Tim's brother Terry. I started here with a brown cardstock base, added pieces cut from a Paper Pizazz Vintage papers pack, as is the "ribbon" strip that runs down the center of the card. I also used brown and light blue cardstocks to cut the solid-colored pieces, rounding the corners of the two layers in the center. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment and heat-embossed it in copper. Then I added brads and inked the edges of the card and the one piece of brown shaped cardstock. (What DO you call that shape? I know there's a name for them!)

And just to let you know, I make my own stencils for these shapes. It's easy enough. I use a light piece of card, usually the reply cards that are stuck in all the magazines these days, fold it into quarters (that's why you want to use a LIGHT piece of card), then cut one-fourth of the shape you want, unfold it and see if it suits you; if not, refold and trim as desired or start over. Hey, the cards are free and just going in the trash anyway, right? Any symmetrical shape is easy to do this way, either cutting on the fold, as with a heart shape, or in quarters as with this shape. You can even do your own nesting shapes by cutting the smaller design first, then tracing one-fourth of it onto your next piece of folded card and cutting outside that line as close to the same distance away all the way around as you'd like to add. I did that to make the two nested shapes on this card. I save all the stencils I make and reuse them. And if you want them to be a little more permanent than the light card you used to make them out of, trace them onto a plastic lid, such as a whipped topping lid, and cut out with an old pair of scissors. I have oodles of stencils I made this way when my children were still small and we homeschooled. Greedy me, I still have them, too! I'm supposed to be copying them to make sets for the grandchildren--one of those rainy day projects I haven't gotten to yet, but I have plenty of plastic lids saved for when I do get around to it (ice cream pail lids, whipped topping, sour cream, yogurt, etc, but not the brittle plastic lids, only the softer, bendable plastic lids). Besides ovals and circles, hearts and shapes like I used on this card, you can trace cookie cutters, coloring book images, craft patterns, and other images to make stencils from. They won't be as intricate as your purchased brass stencils, but you can still do a lot of interesting things with them. And children love them!

Two Thinking of You Cards

2009-07-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

This pretty card was made for an online friend in my Yahoo group, The Potter's Garden. I started with white cardstock, added a layer of a pretty pastel stripe print called Wedding Stripes by SandyLion, then layers of colored cardstocks to match. I used a new punch I'd gotten at Jo-Ann's to punch the lattice corners on the light green cardstock. I rather like the look that punch gives. I also rounded the opposite corners with my corner-rounder punch. I added two pearlized mini-brads in the corners of the light green cardstock and a matted computer-printed sentiment tag, which I lightly colored with colored pencils to match the background paper. Not too difficult, but attractive, I thought.

This card was hard to part with, being made with my favorite color, blue. I started with a white cardstock base, but covered it completely with my other papers. The blue & green dotted paper at the bottom came from the big Summer Stack by DCWV that I got on sale recently at Jo-Ann's; I've picked up two different Stacks by DCWV now--love their papers! And sales help! (Right now Jo-Ann's has all the Stacks priced at 40% off through tomorrow, but I've determined to be good and NOT make the hour trip to town to pick up any more; my sweetheart thinks I already have WAY more than enough paper as it is, but those sales are really hard to resist and no one can ever have TOO much paper, can she?) The blue/green/white splattered print at the top is a digital background tile from EverydayIcons, another of my favorite prints. Then there's a strip of white cardstock border-punched with the Martha Stewart doily pattern punch and with blue gel pen dots. The solid blue layer is another digital print from ScrapbookScrapbook.com to which I added faux stitching with the gel pen. I stamped the "thinking of you" sentiment on a piece of matching blue cardstock (from my scrap bag), rounded off the two opposite corners with my corner-rounder punch and added some gel pen highlights to the image. And there you have it...

Playing Catch Up

2009-07-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Whoa! Where does the time go? I've been making cards, but with all the gardening that we've been attempting to accomplish, it seems that I haven't had time to post here. Today being the Sabbath, we've been resting and enjoying a quiet day at home--no Sabbath fellowship to attend today--and now I find myself with a bit of time to spend posting my latest cards. So to go back to the card I was making for my sweetheart, mentioned in my last post...

This is it! Done on brown cardstock, layered with wallpaper samples, black & brown cardstocks, and the oval cut from a pretty divider page out of one of my wallpaper sample books. I heat embossed the word Love in the senter, added gold heart brads, and there you have it. Oh yes, I lightly inked the edges of the brown shaped cardstock with copper pigment ink.

Tim really liked it and that's all that matters!

My Recent Cardmaking Results

2009-06-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hi again! It's hard to believe that it's been a week since I last posted! The time sure does go by fast! Where've I been and what have I been up to? Well, we're still busy planting stuff here, trying to get the rest of our big vegetable garden in and back in shape. We have 14 beds, most 4 ft x 16 ft, in the garden, plus perennial borders all the way around it and odd bits of open area outside the beds, all of which need a great deal of work. I have 5 of the beds planted so far and another is given over to strawberries, so a third of the beds are done. There's still SO much more to do, though. I also have all sorts of container plantings outside our main garden, in my "outdoor living room" and my "garden room." So between rains and other things that have demanded my attention, I've been trying to get my gardening done. But not forgetting my cardmaking...

I'll show you my latest cards but am not going to go into detail about what I used to make them this time. If you have a question about something, I'll be happy to answer it however.

So picking up where I left off last time, here's the purple birthday card I made for my daughter Lois...

Next in line was a Thinking of You card for an online friend...

Then I redid the Purple Birthday card which I made for Valerie...I just didn't like that smudged sentiment and taking the advice of the ladies in the Crazy Card Makers group, I decided to restamp the sentiment, incorporating it in an overlay. I think the re-do looks MUCH better now...

Then I made another Thinking of You card for an online friend....

Then it was this simple birthday card for our stepgrandson Connor who turns 3 on Friday...

Next up is a birthday card I made for my friend Connie. I really like this one; the colors are my favorites.

And last but by no means least is this encouragement card I made for a young woman named Elisabeth, daughter of my online friend Kathy...

And there you have it...Next up will be my sweetheart's Father's Day card which is still laying on the cutting table, so til then, Happy Cardmaking!

Floral Card for Friend

2009-06-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

This lovely floral card was made for a friend and went out in today's mail. To make this card, I started with a base of Medium Spring Green ColorMates cardstock from World Win, topped with a layer of Dark Spring Green Colormates cardstock. The printed layer is a pattern that I got in a 12" x 12" scrapbooking pack at Dollar Tree a while back,; I only have a small piece of it left now. Then I used the Dark Spring Green cardstock to matte the floral motifs. Those are from another giftwrap paper that I've had for a really long time. Under each of the floral squares, I ran a strip of ribbon and then attached bronze butterfly brads on each ribbon strip. The card measures 4" x 6 7/8", not my usual size, but I had some envelopes this size so decided to do something a little different. This is one of those cards I was tempted to keep because I liked it so much.

And there you have it....

Thinking of You card for Friend

2009-06-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a busy cardmaking day. I got 4 cards finished! This is the first one.

To make this card, I started with a 12" x 6 5/8" strip of light blue textured cardstock from Colorbok, purchased at WalMart. This is a tri-fold card, with the right flap being folded at 4" and the left flap being folded at 3", leaving a card width of 5". I cut half of an oval out of the left flap, to make a "frame" for the oval motif I put on the right flap. The solid blue on both flaps is cardstock from one of those value paks you can buy at Michaels or Jo-Anns. The colored stripe is another bit of the sheet from DCWV; there's not much left of it now. The floral design with the bluebirds is from giftwrap paper that I've had in my stash for over 20 years. To complete the look, I added three floral eyelets on the left flap. Unfortunately, the paint chipped off on the purple one, which I tried to fill in with a Sharpie marker, but it didn't quite cover.

And there you have it....

Wedding Congratulations Card for Nephew

2009-06-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

My nephew Everett, my brother's youngest, is getting married to Tasha on Saturday. Their wedding colors are black & white, so I challenged myself to make a black & white card for them. I'd found the silvery striped paper at Amy's Cheese Emporium in Stanley, WI and thought it would be perfect so picked that up awhile ago. Then it was a matter of pulling together all the other bits and pieces.

To make their card, I started with a 12" x 12" sheet of textured cardstock from a Colorbok pack I picked up at WalMart. I cut the cardstock 12" x 6 5/8", then made three folds in it, so that I had a card 5" x 6 5/8", with a 2" flap on the inside in which to tuck the money gift we are giving them. To complete the inside of the card, I used Microsoft Word to type up my sentiment and then printed it out on a mottled black/white sheet of paper, which I hand-tore to size and adhered to the inside. I then used a sparkly silver gel pen to sign the card.

On the front of the card, I added a layer of gray cardstock which I corner-punched with my Fiskars Heritage corner punch. The next layer is a lovely white vinyl wallpaper sample with the corners rounded off. The "ribbon" strip is cut from a piece of wallpaper border and threaded through a sentiment tag which I picked up in an embellishment pack at Dollar Tree. On the left side of the card, the black triangular piece is cut from a divider page from one of my wallpaper sample books. It was just too elegant to resist! To that, I added a piece of that silvery striped paper I'd picked up some time ago, Wedding Stripes by www.pebblesinc.com. Along the top edge of the silvery paper, I attached white silk flowers (cut off a flower pik I found somewhere) and attached with silver mini-brads. To complete the card, I stuck two "diamond" gems on the right-side corners.

I'm quite pleased with this card. I like the elegant look of it. I did have to use a little Gorilla Glue to make sure the black triangular piece stayed stuck down to the white vinyl wallpaper, though. That black piece is glossy cardstock on both sides and the double-sided carpet tape just wasn't holding like I wanted it to. It's stuck tight now, though. And there you have it....

One More Birthday Card From Last Week

2009-06-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

I made this card for a gal in one of the online groups I belong to whose favorite color is purple and favorite flowers are roses of any color. Unfortunately, she hasn't received this card because I couldn't confirm her mailing address, so I still have it and will send it to someone else.

I started with a speckled white cardstock for this card, one of those sheets that I got at Office Depot's store closing clearance sale. I added a layer of purple scrapbooking paper, designer unknown. Then I made a rectangle from a scrap of the same digital purple crimped paper I used on Paige's card, topped with a rectangle of that lovely floral giftwrap paper that I used on my 2nd hinged card. I tied a piece of raffia ribbon around this. The ribbon had arrived on a giftbag at some time and ended up in my stash of stuff. To complete, I stamped Happy Birthday along the side, using a clear stamp from the Happy Birthday set made by So Close To My Heart. Sentiment stamps are a great value! Unfortunately, I didn't do the greatest job of stamping and got too much ink on the B in Birthday, but it'll pass. It's a good thing I've learned to live with imperfection.

And there you have it....

Purple Birthday Card For Stepdaughter Paige

2009-06-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

My stepdaughter Paige loves the color purple. So does my daughter Lois. It's always a challenge to make purple-themed cards for them. I liked the way this one turned out and hope Paige liked it at well. Her birthday is today.

To make Paige's card, I started with a purple cardstock base, just a generic piece of cardstock. Then I added a layer of digital paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com (kind of like that crimped look a lot). The rectangular focal point has three different scrapbooking papers on it. The light lavendar floral is Forget-Me-Not Daisies from Doodlebug Designs. I only have scraps left of the other two prints, the paisley and the stripe, so I can't tell you whose designs they are. I added a bit of dotted ribbon to the lower portion of the rectangle, trimmed the corners with a corner punch, added two purple silk flowers with a white brad center, and stamped Happy Birthday along the edge of the card with white ink. I had to go over it with a silver gel pen, though, as the ink didn't show up as nice as I wanted it to.

And there you have it...

A Bright Birthday Card

2009-06-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

I made this birthday card for a gal in one of the online groups I belong to. Her favorite colors are bright green, orange and bright pink. I enjoy challenges like that!

To make her card, I started with a base of orange cardstock, just a generic sheet. I attached a piece of Citrus Squeeze paper from Doodlebug Designs. Then I cut out circles from bright cardstock sheets that I had, all generic. I punched the middle circles using my new Marvy punch. I added bright green brads to the centers of two of the circle groups and an orange brad to the third. Then I stamped "Celebrate" on the front, using a clear stamp from the Happy Birthday set from So Close To My Heart.

And there you have it...

My Trip Today to JoAnn's

2009-06-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today I got to take my 3 yr old granddaughter Kaylina shopping with me. Our first stop was JoAnn's Fabrics & Crafts. In an email from them, I knew that they had all of their punches on sale this week at 30% off, as well as sales on papers and lots of other papercrafting fun stuff. I got an unemployment check yesterday, my first one, so had a little extra money and decided to GO FOR IT. I picked up three Fiskars punches, their circle Vine & Dandy punch, their Heritage 3-in-1 corner punch, and their 2" scalloped square squeeze punch. The only thing that I've come to realize about square punches is that no one measures them from side to side, like I think a square should be measured. They basically measure them from corner to corner, as they fit inside of a circle. I was quite disappointed on my last shopping trip to find out that the Martha Stewart 1" scalloped square punch I bought results in a square that is only 7/8" from side to side. Today I measured the die on the punch to make sure of what I was getting, regardless of how the manufacturer measures the square opening. I don't know about you, but when I was learning math in school, circles were always measured in diameter, but squares were measured by the length of the sides. Just one of those little annoyances that I guess I have to live with. Sort of like the way they measure the size of your television or computer screen, from corner to corner; it doesn't make any sense to me at all to do it that way when you're talking about squares or rectangles. Enough about that, huh?

Besides the punches, I picked up a Fun In The Sun Summer Stack of 180 sheets of 12" x 12" cardstock for $9.99; what a deal! I got some single 12" x 12" sheets of scrapbooking paper, two packs of the 8 1/2" x 11" colored value packs of cardstock (50 sheets for $3.99), a black pigment ink pad (hope this one is nice & juicy), and a bunch of stuff out of their $1 bins: glitter pens, ribbons, chalks, and pigment ink pads.

Later, after my sweetheart and I dropped off our granddaughter at her home, we stopped at a little cheese emporium near her home where there's a corner of scrapbooking stuff. I got three new packs of brads and a 12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper there.

All in all, it was a profitable day where adding to my cardmaking supplies go. It's probably a good thing, though, that I can't afford to do this frequently. And now to get back to cardmaking...

Birthday Card for Friend Kim

2009-06-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

This bright and cheerful card went to a dear sister in the LORD, Kim, for her birthday. I hope she liked it. I know it made me feel good when I looked at it.

I started with a basically white cardstock. I got it on clearance at the Office Depot store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when they were supposed to be closing that store. Since then, they've changed their minds about closing the store entirely and have it open as an outlet store. This cardstock has little flecks of colors in it, which I love. I haven't seen it anywhere else, though, and have used most of it up, as I used it for the digital Passover cards I made this year.

Anyway, on top of the white, I adhered a piece of this great blue patterned cardstock. This came in one of those co-ordinated cardstock packs for scrapbooking. I think I bought the pack at Big Lots for $7; it's a big pack and will take me awhile to use up the cardstock that came in it. I have 4 different patterned packs like this. Then there's another strip of that striped scrapbooking paper that I used on the hinged cards. Under the edges I added border punched white cardstock; I used a Fiskars border punch for this border. The focal design consists of a bright pink circle of cardstock, topped by another circle of orange patterned cardstock (from the same pack as the blue) which I cut into "petal" edges, with a pretty circular sticker from a K & Company embellishment pack in the very center.

And there you have it....

Another Hinged Card

2009-06-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

This is my second hinged card. I made this for the birthday of one of the gals in the cardmaking group I belong to, Crazy Card Makers. Red isn't one of my favorite colors, but I wanted to use the floral paper on the bottom so it seemed to come together that way; actually, it's more of a deep red orange than a true red. I wanted the card to be bright, bold, and cheerful; I think I succeeded.

I started with a white cardstock base. The paper on the bottom section is giftwrap paper that I bought at a local discount store; you might be able to find this design at Dollar Tree, too, I can't remember. I know I paid no more than $1.49 for a whole big roll of this paper, so it'll probably show up on a lot more cards. Unfortunately, it isn't a very heavy-weight paper so it needs to be backed with something to give it "body." On the top edge of this paper, I attached a strip of white cardstock that I border punched with my Martha Stewart lattice punch. I ran a strip of 1/4" silk ribbon across this white strip. The top section uses the same striped scrapbooking paper that I used on my first hinged card. It's a DCWV design. I don't have much of the original 12" x 12" sheet left now, so hope I run across it again. I didn't see it at JoAnn's Fabrics & Crafts when I was there today (more about that in another post). I may have picked it up at Michael's or at the florist shop in the town near us that has a small scrapbooking department. I like the colors in that striped design so will definitely want to get more of it. For my focal point on the top, I cut a circle from Deep Graceful Geranium ColorMates cardstock from World Win. To that, I adhered a stamped and heat-embossed scalloped circle; the stamp comes from Inkadinkado's Round Frames clear stamp set. I colored in the center of the design with a Crayola pencil color. The flower is a stamped design from the Autumn Leaves clear stamp set Mindy's Flowers by Mindy Terasawa. I colored it with Crayola pencil colors and attached it with foam tape to the center of the stamped circle. I added a red silk ribbon bow to the front and used a silver brad. On the inside, I used a stamp from the Stampendous clear set, Two You, again colored in with Crayola pencil colors.

And there you have it...Now to make another--and another--and another...I like this design!

My First Hinged Card

2009-06-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

In the cardmaking group that I belong to, Crazy Card Makers (see link section), a couple of the ladies have been making these cool hinged cards. I thought it was a neat idea so had to try my hand at it. I know there are directions out there, but on dial-up I don't watch online videos because it's just too slow and takes too long, so I figured it out on my own. I may not be doing it exactly the same way that the originators of the technique are, but it works and I liked the final results.

I started with a base of white cardstock. On the top section, I used a scrap of background paper I had made using a digital background tile from Everyday Icons. The bottom striped paper is cut from a purchased piece of 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper. I also used some light blue cardstock and an olive green cardstock. The floral stamped image on the front is colored with Sharpie markers and Crayola pencil colors, then inked with light blue and a green, and jazzed up with Stickles Waterfall glitter glue. The image is from the Autumn Leaves Flowers (by Rhonna Farrer) clear stamp set. The Happy Birthday stamped image on the inside is from the Stampendous clear stamp set, Two You. The punched lattice border is made using a Martha Stewart border punch. The striped paper was cut using a scalloped-edge scissors. The light blue cardstock was a scrap generic cardstock. The green was World Win's Colormates Dark Spring Green.

And there you have it...I have a couple more cards made in the past few days that I will be posting as soon as I have time. Gardening tasks are claiming most of my time and attention right now. Tomorrow I'll be enjoying some quality time with my 3 yr old granddaughter, Kaylina, and then Saturday is Shabbat which will be a quiet, restful day here at home this week. I'll be back with more of my cards as soon as I can, though, you can count on it!

Birthday Card for Son-in-Law Brent

2009-06-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

This card went to my son-in-law Brent, married to my oldest daughter, Venetta. He's a committed Christian, a very hard-working man, a good provider and a good husband.

To make his card, I started with a white cardstock base, then covered the front with Dark Creamy Cocoa ColorMates cardstock from World Win. The circle pattern background paper is from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The rectangular feature on the left is a stamped scripture, done on white cardstock, then sponged with distress ink, and layered with Dark Creamy Cocoa and Deep Creamy Cocoa ColorMates cardstock. To the right, I stamped two flourishes using a stamp from the Autumn Leaves Flourishes v2 clear acrylic stamp set. I used a sparkly gel pen to go over the stamped flourishes. To complete the card, I added three dark brown eyelets in the top right corner.

Thinking of You card (RAK)

2009-05-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

This simple card is a Thinking of You card, done in gate-fold style. I started with a base of this lovely light teal textured cardstock, cut to 12" X 6 5/8", purchased in a multi-pack tablet from WalMart. I folded the two front sections so that the card would still be 5" wide. Then I stamped a floral design from the Inkadinkado set Doodle Flowers onto a left-over piece of white cardstock. (Keep ALL those scraps! I keep mine sorted into gallon size zipper bags by color families. They come in VERY handy when you only need a small piece.) I colored the design with Sharpie markers and RoseArt pencil colors. Then I heat embossed the center of the design, using a Versamark pen and Holographic embossing powder, to add a little sparkly interest. I mounted the floral design on a scrap of Deep Terrific Teal ColorMates cardstock from World Win. I adhered this to the left front of the card in an off-kilter manner. I stamped a simple sentiment inside the card, using a Thinking of You wood-mounted rubber stamp that I have. This was a really quick card to make, simple, but still attractive, I think.

Birthday card for Lin F

2009-05-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

This lovely card is winging its way to an online friend, Lin. One of her favorite colors is turquoise. I hope she likes this card; I know I do.

To make Lin's card, I started with a white cardstock base, with rounded corners and inked edges. The background paper with the circles is from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, a printed digital paper. The "corrugated" paper on the left side of the card is from there also. I added a punched white border using my newest Martha Steward border punch. On the corrugated paper, I stamped a design from one of my new stamp sets, Inkadinkados' Ornate Flourish/Arabesque Fine, and then I heat embossed it with the embossing iron my oldest daughter gave me for my birthday back in February. I still haven't perfected the heat embossing technique; try as hard as I can, even using a little paintbrush to sweep away the excess embossing powder, I still get "crumbs" here and there. This one didn't turn out too bad, though, so I went ahead and used it anyway. On top of the circle background, I layered a rectangle of Deep Terrific Teal ColorMates cardstock from World Win and on top of that is a rectangle of a printed digital background paper. Again, I rounded the corners. The flower is made from vellum flower parts, a kit from Cloud 9 Design by Fiskars, another gift from my oldest daughter (this time for Mother's Day). I used white brads to finish off the card.

And there you have it...

Some General Info About My Card-making

2009-05-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share some general information with you about my cardmaking.

First, I rarely make cards just for the pleasure of making cards or trying out a technique. Almost every card I make is made with a specific recipient and occasion in mind. The only exception to this is the monthly card swaps I participate in within the cardmaking group, Crazy Card Makers, which I belong to. This is a Yahoo group made up of a bunch of wonderful, talented ladies from all over the globe.

Also, I do NOT make cards for sale. I know that many cardmakers do and more power to them. My own preference is to make cards to give to specific people for a specific reason. I have made cards for someone else to give to someone when requested, but do not do this very often either.

Along with this idea of a handmade card for a specific recipient, I rarely make more than one copy of the same card. I have made doubles of a particular card for the aforementioned swaps, but that's usually the only time that I make duplicates. I have liked a particular layout so much that I repeated it with variations, but each card was still a little different. When I need to make multiples of a card for a holiday, such as for Passover or Hanukkah, I do computer-printed cards for those. Digital designs can be a fun challenge, but are not something I want to do all the time, though I do incorporate a lot of digital elements into my cardmaking.

Almost all the cards I make have the inside sentiment printed on the computer. My computer is an indispensible tool in my cardmaking endeavors. I like having all the different fonts at my fingertips and the formatting. I do have a few stamps with sentiments, but those are mostly the kinds of sentiments you'd put on the front of a card. I like my "inside" sentiments to look more like the cards you pick out at the store. I use Microsoft Greetings 2001 for my digital cardmaking, for making computer-printed cards and for printing the inside sentiments for my handmade cards. I also have ULead Photo Express 5 SE, which I use to make background tiles and teabag tiles into background papers for my cardmaking--works slick! When I want to edit a photo I've put on my computer, I use Microsoft Picture It! Photo 2002. I do have a couple of other print programs for making cards, posters, and the like, but seldom use them.

For printing, I am using a little HP Deskjet 3910 which I bought over 3 years ago at Christmas-time for $25 at WalMart. It's a little workhorse. Mostly I print in the Fast & Economical mode (black only) or the General Purpose mode for colors. I refill my ink cartridges as long as I can so that I don't have to buy as many name-brand cartridges. I get my refill ink from Mr Inkjet. I don't have photo paper and don't print onto that, just regular cardstock and paper. For my background papers, I've started using 24 lb paper to give it more "body." I also use that paper to make my own envelopes. I also have 22 lb paper and the usual 20 lb paper, which can be used for background papers or envelopes, but the 20 lb papers show more through the paper than I like when I am layering things. So far, I've found that the most inexpensive papers are purchased at WalMart and the quality seems fine to me. I did pick up a ream of pastel 8 1/2" x 11" 24 lb paper at Office Depot last week, though, for making envelopes from--pricey, but it'll be nice to have colored envelopes. I also prefer the 8 1/2" X 11" paper and cardstock over the 12" X 12" stuff. The letter-sized papers and cardstocks go through the printer nicely and are easier to store, in my opinion.

A note about storage: I've been having my daughter Lois, who does daycare in her home, save me the cardboard boxes that she gets baby wipes containers in, the kind that hold about 6 containers of baby wipes. These boxes are mostly just the right size to use for magazines or letter-sized paper and cardstock, standing on end. I like to have things visible. These boxes are quite sturdy, too, though I do reinforce them with duct tape around the top, after folding the top flaps down over the outside of the box. Just wrap the tape around the flaps, going all the way around the box, to keep them folded tightly to the box and to reinforce the box.

Almost all of my cards are 5" X 6 5/8" in size. I find that this size gives me a nice area for design. I made my own envelope template and make my own envelopes. I do have different size envelope templates for a couple different sized cards. Even if I were making quarter-fold cards, A-4 I think they call them, I'd still make my own envelopes. I've been doing so for years already.
Well, that's about all I can think of for now. If you have any comments or questions, I'd enjoy hearing them and will do my best to respond. Happy frugal cardmaking!

Birthday Card For My Son

2009-05-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my son Isaac, who turned 23 last week. Isaac lives about an hour's drive away from us, with his wife Amber, and their baby son, Alan, who's now 2 months old. We haven't seen them since the baby was born. Isaac decided last month to sever his ties to me because of my faith in Yeshua the Messiah and the fact that I cannot help but mention God, Yeshua, the Bible or something connected to those topics, whether in words or actions. Even though Isaac wants no contact with me in any way, shape or form, he is still my son--in fact, my only son, as well as my youngest child and I will not be forgetting about him any time soon. So I decided that I would set aside a pretty tin and keep all the cards I would otherwise give to him & his family in that tin, for the day when Isaac either changes his mind and returns to fellowship with me or I die and he inherits the tin. I've made sure that at least a couple of his sisters are aware of the tin and know what it contains, so that Isaac will be sure to get it if I am not here to give it to him personally. And just a word of encouragement to anyone who may be facing difficult and heart-breaking circumstances in their life--life is hard, but God is good. I know that the LORD hears my prayers for my son & his family, that He is working in their hears & lives, and that I can trust Him with their welfare.

On to how I made this card...I started with a cardstock base of Light Creamy Cocoa ColorMates by World Win. To the base, I adhered a piece of blue checked wallpaper sample over the entire front. I used my corner-rounder punch to round the corners of the card. Then following a card sketch from the book CardMaker's SketchBook, I cut a larger rectangle from the same Light Creamy Cocoa, topped with a pattern of circles which is a computer-printed scrapbook paper design from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The long rectangle uses Deep Creamy Cocoa and Dark Creamy Cocoa cardstocks. I rounded all corners. To this rectangle, I added three brown buttons, sewn on with brown embroidery floss. I got the floss at a local liquidator store for about 10 cents a skein; it works great on cards! The buttons came out of my sewing supplies. A hint: save all the buttons off your old clothes that are heading for the rag bin or garbage can. And save them in an empty candle jar (put it in the freezer for a few hours and getting out any leftover wax will be pretty easy). The other rectangle uses a computer-printed tile paper, topped with a giftwrap paper motif.

And there you have it...

Shopping Trip Yesterday--I Could Be In Trouble!

2009-05-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

My sweetheart and I went to Eau Claire shopping yesterday, about 55 miles away, the largest shopping center near us. I had some $$$ burning a hole in my pocket so we made the rounds of our usual haunts: Big Lots, Dollar Tree, WalMart, along with Menards (gotta have my carpet tape!). My sweetheart also patiently allowed me to check out the 50/50 Factory Outlet store--got a couple pretty giftwrap papers there, as well as confetti (want to make a shaker card one of these days), some silver doilies, stickers, and some silk flower leis. While there, I overheard someone mention a new scrapbooking store not too far away, and since it was located near the Kia dealership which my sweetheart wanted to check out, he agreed to drop me off while he went to look at cars. The store is called Picture This and is located off of Hwy 93 south of Eau Claire, in case you're ever in the area. They sure have the stuff! I picked up some acrylic stamps, 3 punches, some sheets of the World Win ColorMates cardstock that I like so much (was glad to find a 2nd outlet for it within driving distance!), a Distressed Ink pad, and a sheet of cool 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper. We also checked out another new scrapbooking store in Eau Claire, Down Memory Lane, again full of all sorts of wonderful stamps, papers, etc! It would've taken me HOURS to properly look at everything available in both stores! I picked up some ribbons, a wood-mounted Hanukkah stamp, a sheet of scrapbook paper and some chipboard embellishments that were on clearance, as well as some acrylic stamps and 2 other sheets of scrapbooking paper that weren't on sale. Then my sweetheart let me spend about 45 minutes in Michaels where I picked up a bunch of ribbon, cardstock, brads, a bunch of acrylic stamps-mostly the $1 stamps, and 2 Martha Stewart punches (all MS was 25% off).

I spent more than I probably should have, mostly on stuff that cost $2 or less though, so it looked like I spent more than I had. My sweetheart did have to ask if I didn't think I already had a great plenty of supplies at home and did I really need MORE? He's right, you know. I really don't NEED any more supplies, except when I run out of cardstock, but there's always something that catches the eye that I don't already have that would be SO nice to add to my stash of supplies.

And that's why I could be in big trouble this fall. I am going to be attending the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire starting in September, working towards an elementary education teaching degree with a focus on learning disabilities. The university is just minutes away from all these wonderful stores! How will I ever resist the temptation! There's Michaels, Joanns, these two new scrapbooking stores, Hancock Fabrics, WalMart, Big Lots, Dollar Tree, the 50/50 store, and more! Maybe the fact that we will be living on a very tight budget will help me resist the temptations; I can only hope so and strive to keep my mind on the scriptures that counsel against covetousness and being content with what we have. I think I'd better get those verses out NOW and commit them to memory so that I'm prepared--and to help me right now. Temptation can come at any time from many places, after all.

A Couple More of My Old Cards

2009-05-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

This was a get well card for a male friend of ours who had a heart attack a couple years ago, made in June 07. I started with a cream cardstock base, then added two pieces of wallpaper samples from the same family, and cut the cross piece out of the matching wallpaper border sample. Simple, but attractive.

This card went to an online friend who had a baby boy, made in June 07. The base is a medium blue cardstock. There are two layers of blue striped wallpaper samples, topped with a cute bear giftwrap cut-out.

This birthday card is one of my favorites, made in June 07, for an online friend. The base is a light blue cardstock. The background is a plaid wallpaper sample. I used another giftwrap cutout motif here, a cute little girl with flowers. I cut the sentiment tag out of the same cardstock as the card base using edger scissors, then drew the stitching with pen and added the sentiment.

Sharing Some of My Older Cards

2009-05-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

This pretty in purple card was a birthday card for my stepdaughter Paige, made in June 07. I used purple cardstock for the base, then layered with two different wallpaper samples. I used a Crayola marker to highlight the card edge with a darker purple. The floral motif in the center is cut from giftwrap paper, one of my favorite designs--love those violets! I glued on buttons & bows and attached a tag with the sentiment. I had used the same Crayola marker to "paint" the tag purple; it started out white. It's one of those garage sale price tags you can buy in a quantity pack. I've had them sitting here for a long time and never used them, til now.

I made this card for one of my many nephews when he graduated in June 07. I started with a tan cardstock, then added layers of complimentary wallpaper samples. The center picture is a motif cut from giftwrap paper, another of my favorites, particularly for guys.

This sympathy card was made for a young couple who are in-laws to my daughter Holly. They tragically lost their first-born son to SIDS two years ago. The card was made in May 07. I began with a light green cardstock base, added layers of complimentary wallpaper samples, and put a floral motif cut from giftwrap paper in the center. The sentiment tag is cut from a purchased card we'd received when we had a death in our family. To finish, I glued on a pastel blue bow.

Today's Frugal Finds

2009-05-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

This morning my sweetheart and I had to run into town (25 miles away) to pick up milk for next week. We like to buy our milk in 1/2 gallon plastic bags at the Kwik Trip store and that's the closest one. I used to work in that town so would pick it up after my workday ended, but my job bit the dust in mid-February (one of the economy's casualties) so now we have to make a special trip into town to buy milk or gas or anything else. That's just one of the down-sides to living out in the country--but I wouldn't change where I live for anything, so we live with the few inconveniences.

Anyway, when we got to town, hubby said he wanted to stop at K-Mart to check on slippers. He didn't find what he was looking for so said we should also stop at WalMart. He did find an acceptable pair of slippers there (he has big feet, which go with his 6 ft 1 in frame). I found a few things, too! WalMart has a section of summer party stuff, with a Hawaiian theme, and these pretty silk flower leis were there for $1 each. I don't know about you, but I like using silk flowers on my cards. The ones that are sold specifically for papercrafting are just a bit pricey most of the time, so when I find a deal like this I grab it. As you can see in the photo, I picked up pink, blue, and yellow leis. I'll take them apart and have lots of silk flowers to use on cards. The flowers are put together in two layers, a bigger one and a smaller one, so when I use them on cards, I'll use the two layers, too. I also like to buy silk flower spikes with small flowers that I can cut off and put on cards.

My other purchase this morning was a 12 ct pack of gold foil 4" doilies by Wilton, the cake decorating people. These packs were on clearance for $2. I love those clearance items! These doilies should be just the thing on wedding cards or anniversary cards--especially 50 wedding anniversaries; I'm thinking ahead here, folks!

And now to get back to work...I'm supposed to be cleaning and getting ready for the Sabbath. We are hosting our Sabbath fellowship here tomorrow and will be babysitting two of our grandchildren, Samuel (5) and Rose (2), so it's going to be an interesting day. Til later...

One Last Mother's Day Card

2009-05-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

I made this card for my daughter-in-law, Amber. She's just 19 and a first-time mom. She gave birth to my grandson, Alan James, on March 24th. Amber is married to my son, Isaac. They'll be celebrating their 2nd anniversary next month. They don't live real close to us so I don't see much of them. Isaac is my only son and the youngest of my 6 children. He'll be 23 years old next week.

To make Amber's card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Medium Pretty Pink cardstock for the base. I added a layer of Deep Pretty Pink cardstock on top of that. The pretty striped layer comes from a 12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper called "Love Lines" by Reminisce; up close it looks pearlized and is just gorgeous! For my central feature, I cut ovals from the previous three papers, layering them also, and adding a left-over piece of light pink doily from Wilton along one edge. The floral motif is a Dover clipart design that I printed out. I added a touch of ribbon, leftover from some that I bought at Dollar Tree. The edges of the card are cut with a scalloped-edge scissors. On the inside edge I added a bit of red foil to jazz things up; the foil comes from a roll of self-sticking book cover that I got for $1 at an outlet store. I have about 6 colors of the foil book covers; the material works really well on cards, though it is a little tricky to work with. The inside is stamped with the following sentiment: Thinking of You with Love on Mother's Day. The stamps are clear vinyl, from a set I bought recently, but neglected to keep the packaging so can't remember who the company is that made the set. I know I bought the set at Creative Hideaway, a cool papercrafting store in Medford, Wisconsin, but that's all I can tell you.

That's also where I buy the World Win's Color Mates cardstock. This cardstock is sold in color-coordinated packs. I buy the 8 1/2" x 11" sheets in packs of 48 sheets for $5; they also have the same color packs in the 12" x 12" size, only 24 sheets to a pack, for the same price. I haven't seen this cardstock anywhere else. It's really nice stuff and the colors are great! I don't know what I'll do if Creative Hideaway goes out of business and I can't buy this cardstock there any more. You can check out their website here: WorldWin Papers. They have projects and free templates--well worth the time to check it out.

So there you have it...

Mother's Day Card for My Mom

2009-05-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

This card went to my mom, a very special woman in my life. She started out at 17, pregnant with me, and suddenly married. Two years after me, my brother arrived on the scene, and two years after that, my sister was born. I did have a baby brother who was born 3 years after my sister, but he only lived 3 days and died in my mother's arms. My mother persevered through many challenges as we grew up. There wasn't much money, but somehow we always had the things we needed and most of the things we wanted. Dad worked long & hard so Mom was the one who had to deal with most of the day-to-day concerns. She taught me many things--things like how to cook and sew, but also things like caring for those who were less fortunate than us and learning how to do things for myself. No, she isn't perfect and she didn't do everything right, yet somehow all three of us turned out alright. And despite the odds against teenage marriages, especially where the couple is expecting a baby when they marry and both dropped out of high school, my mom loved my dad with all her heart, caring for him right up to the moment of his death 4 years ago from melanoma in his brain. She's definitely been an inspiration to me in many ways. I called her this morning and she loved her card. Of course, blue is her favorite color.

To make her card, I started with a base of World Win's Color Mates Dark Tempting Tanzanite cardstock. I used Deep Tempting Tanzanite to make the triangular pieces. The top triangle has a patterned paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com--love that paisley! The lower triangle has two patterns: the light print is from ScrapbookScrapbook.com; the darker floral print is a fabric scan that I printed out. For the center focal point, I used a floral tag from GoMakeSomething.com, which I cut in an oval, backed with a scalloped oval cut from Dark Tempting Tanzanite, and mounted on a light green doily by Wilton. To finish, I added two silver spiral brads that I bought from Oriental Trading.

And there you have it...

Four More Mother's Day Cards

2009-05-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

This lovely pink & purple card is heading to my second daughter, Lois, who's the mother of 4 of my precious grandchildren: Kyler (9), Alana (7), Easton (5), and Kaylina (3). She's a wonderful mother, as well as a daycare provider. Like my eldest daughter, Lois has been caring for children most of her life.

To make this card, I used World Win's Color Mates Medium & Dark Perfect Plum cardstocks, the medium for the card base and the dark for the smaller rectangles. Layered on top of the dark plum rectangles are two layers of pinks. The solid pink on the bottom is from the digital papers at ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The top patterned layer is made from a background tile. The rectangles are topped by a pink Wilton doily and finally by another of those floral prints from Germany.

This card is on its way to my third daughter Holly, mom to Samuel (5) and Rose (2). Holly has a big heart and would "mother" every needy person she comes across. She & her husband, Levi, have been working their way through the state's foster parent/adoption approval process.

To make Holly's card, I started with a medium blue cardstock base, then layered a darker blue on top of that. The medium blue came in one of those $5 multi-packs at JoAnn Fabric & Crafts or Michaels; the darker blue is from an 8" x 8" multi-pack from WalMart. That pretty blue plaid paper is another of ScrapbookScrapbook.com's digital designs; I love this print! The center strip uses both of the blue cardstocks again and a strip of "corrugated" digital paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com. The strip is edged with white cardstock that's been punched with my favorite Martha Stewart border punch. The focal point is, again, a floral cut-out from Germany. The last touch is two pink heart brads.

Now this lovely card is going to my fourth daughter, Megan, mother to Derick (8) and Samantha (7). Megan works really hard to provide for her children and just got to buy her first home. She's a good mom and has not had a lot of help from the father of her children.

To make Megan's card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Medium Meri-Gold cardstock, rounding the one corner. The dark green layer is World Win's Color Mates Deep Spring Green. The patterned paper is another design I made using a background tile. The torn layer is a wallpaper sample. The two yellow ovals are World Win's Color Mates Medium and Light Meri-Gold. Again, I used a floral cut-out from Germany. To finish, I added a bow from a piece of ribbon I picked up in an embellishment set from Dollar Tree and a gold heart brad.

This pretty card is for my fifth and youngest daughter, Thea. She's not technically a mother, but is engaged to a man who has two young sons, Ryan (10) and Larry Jr (8). She's determined to be a good stepmom.

To make this card, I started with World Win's Color Mates Light Mostly Mauve as my card base, topped with Dark Mostly Mauve. I rounded the corners of the base card, then punched the lower edge of the next layer with the same Martha Stewart border punch I used on Holly's card. The floral print layer is a wallpaper sample. The green oval is another wallpaper sample, the same one I used on Megan's card. I cut a pink Wilton doily to add the trim behind the green oval. This time I used a butterfly with roses cut-out, another of those pretty cut-outs printed in Germany, that I picked up at the Mennonite bulk food store. I added a gold heart brad and two pink flower brads to complete Thea's card.

Thea happened to stop at our home today so I gave her card to her then. She was very surprised to get a Mother's Day card; she said it was the first one she'd ever gotten. Well, she's only 24 so she still has time. The others went out in today's mail, as I made it to our post office a minute before closing time. Thankfully, I live in a very small community so the post master isn't as particular about locking the door exactly at the stroke of the clock.

I have one more card to share, the one I made for my mom. And I still have one more card to make for my daughter-in-law. I'll share those is separate posts.

Third Mother's Day Card

2009-05-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day card is for my eldest daughter, Venetta, a lovely 32 yr old who is not a mother, but who has been taking care of children almost all of her life. I used to leave her younger siblings in her charge. Then when she grew up, she began babysitting other people's children, going on to doing daycare in her home, and lately being nanny to two little boys that she lost her heart to. Things have changed in the boys' family and Venetta is no longer caring for the boys, a loss that she is grieving. She may not have a child of her own, but she has a mother's heart.

To make this card, I started with a white cardstock base. I covered the whole front of the card with a dark green cardstock (World Win's Color Mates Deep Glorious Green). I used the same piece to make the shaped layer. The multi-colored striped layer is another printed digital paper from the good folks at ScrapbookScrapbook.com. Then we have a dark green print that I made from a background tile and printed it out; I apologize for not remembering which website I got the background tile from. Do a search for "free background tiles" and you'll get a whole ton of sites with some wonderful tiles to choose from; the same goes for "free teabag tiles", which also can be made into lovely papers to print out. The red floral print is a scanned & printed fabric. I used a textured yellow cardstock from a 12" x 12" Colorbok pad purchased at WalMart to make the bottom shaped layer; actually I used a scrap from my scrap stash. I keep all my scraps, as long as they're at least big enough to use with the little punches I have. Sort them by color into large zippered storage bags (like gallon size Ziploc bags) and store; they come in mighty handy when you only need a small piece for a card design. I've already mentioned the dark green shaped layer. The cream-colored oval was cut from a scrap of cardstock. The scalloped light green is actually a digital mulberry paper from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, which I cut with edge-shaped scissors. The floral print which is the card focal point is, again, a cut-out from a sheet of such designs printed in Germany and purchased at our local Mennonite bulk food store. I also added two gold heart brads and two gold square brads set on point.

There you have it and now I am going to get busy on those other cards.

Today's Shopping Trip & Frugal Tips

2009-05-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

My sweetheart had an eye doctor appointment this morning, a follow-up to the two cataract surgeries he had at the beginning of March & April (one eye each time). All is well with that, thankfully, but while we were already that far from home, we decided to continue on to the next larger shopping center to pick up some things we needed. Since this town is over 45 miles from our home, we don't go unless we have enough money in the budget to make it worthwhile, with things we need to pick up. When we got there, Tim asked if I wanted to stop at Dollar Tree. Of course, I said Yes! I love looking for cardmaking supplies at Dollar Tree, where everything costs just $1. I found 4 sheets of scrapbooking stickers: a sheet of pink baby girl stickers, a sheet of blue baby boy stickers, and 2 sheets of different flower stickers. They're in the photo above, though you can't see them very well. I also picked up a pair of decorative-edge scissors that I didn't already have. You could say the price was right! I didn't need any of these things immediately, but I like to add to my stash of cardmaking possibilities whenever I come across something I know I would use.

We also stopped at WalMart, where I picked up two 1/2 yd pieces of 100% cotton to make into new scarves for myself, showing in the photo above. I will also scan each piece and possibly print them out on paper to use on a card. Fabric scans print out really cool! You can even see the threads! One of these days I want to make a card with a quilt design, using printed fabric scans. I've already used printed fabric scans on some of my cards, either as a background paper or to make an embellishment, such as the prairie points which I put on this card:

Before we left the town where Tim saw the eye doctor, we stopped at the liquidator store that is there. I picked up another pair of the scissors I like to use. They are a good, sturdy metal 6" pair of scissors made by Eberle. They cost $1.99. You can see them in the first photo. I didn't really need them, either, but wanted to pick up another pair while they still have them just in case I need to replace the pair I'm using. I also picked up a skein of this beautiful fluffy multi-colored blue yarn, Red Heart Kiss, for 69 cents, also in the photo. I know it will look cool on a card! And a skein will last forever!

I know you can buy special fiber collections to use in cardmaking, but I prefer to add to my own fiber stash with deals like this. I have lots of different yarns now, as well as colored & natural hemp cord purchased on clearance at WalMart, ribbons purchased at Hancock Fabrics, JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts & at WalMart, and all the laces, trims, ric-rac, fabrics, & other stuff in my sewing stash. I have the advantage of a sewing room full of stuff that I can now use in cardmaking, as well as lots of embroidery floss from cross-stitch projects, acrylic craft paints from other craft projects, and on goes the list.

I know everyone doesn't have a stash of sewing supplies to snitch from or supplies sitting around from other crafts, but anyone can take advantage of clearance sales and all those stores like Dollar Tree or liquidator stores. I've picked up some great cardmaking supplies at Big Lots, for instance. One of these days I'm going to check out the 50/50 store that sells party supplies; I just know I'll find SOMETHING in there that will be a great addition to my stash of cardmaking stuff.

Another store where I pick up cardmaking supplies is Menards, a home improvement/supply store, similar to Home Depot and Lowes. Menards sells their discontinued wallpaper sample books for $5 each--and that's a LOT of paper for cardmaking for not much money! They also have small cut samples of their in-stock wallpaper rolls that I've taken advantage of, as well as paint chip cards.

But the thing I can't do without, which I buy at Menards, is double-sided carpet tape, shown in the first photo. They sell Duck brand carpet tape for light traffic, 1.88 in x 75 ft, for about $3.49. (Check in the carpet/floor covering area.) Do you know how far that roll of double-sided tape goes? AND it sticks everything, at least paper-wise! Since I love to use wallpaper samples on my cards, this is important. Not all tapes will hold on vinyl wallpaper. The only caution I must give is that it is NOT re-positionable, so be sure you have things lined up right the first time or be prepared to work with whatever way it lines up once you have things stuck together. This light traffic carpet tape is not thick, not much thicker than other double-sided tapes, and doesn't add a lot to the total weight of your card, unless you totally cover all surfaces with it--which I am learning I don't have to do. Besides using it almost exclusively to stick my cards together, I also like to make my own stickers with it. This is something I started doing years ago when my children were still young and we were homeschooling. You can cut designs out of giftwrap paper or use computer-printed graphics that are no wider than your tape; unroll the carpet tape a small section at a time and lay your design on the sticky side, smoothing it out & adhering it to that side. Then cut it out. It works better if you leave some excess paper around your design when you stick it down, then cut it out after it's stuck to the carpet tape. Voila! You've made your own sticker. Just peel off the other side of the double-sided tape to adhere it to whatever surface you like. Here's a card I made using butterfly stickers I made with this method:

This card also uses a paint chip card, a strip of torn cardstock and ribbon.

Well, I think I'll wrap up this post and get my 3rd Mother's Day card posted, then go work on the rest that I need to get done. This shopping trip today messed up my plans for the day, so now I have a time crunch. What is that old saying about the best-laid plans?

My Second Mother's Day Card

2009-05-06T13:55:00.001-07:00

I managed to get this card made this morning; it didn't take as long as the first one. This one is on its way to my stepdaughter Paige. She's stepmomma to two special little people, McKayden and Connor. Now I just have to get cards made for my 5 daughters and my mom; fortunately, they all live fairly close by so I don't have to have them in the mail til Friday.

So here's what I did to put this card together: The card base is a medium purple cardstock, some of that cheap unnamed stuff I have. The multi-colored background paper is a computer printed design based on a free background tile I found on a website offering free background tiles--sorry that I can't remember which website I got it from. Then I cut a rectangle from a dark purple cardstock scrap I had in my stash. On top of that rectangle is another rectangle from a light purple print that I found at PaperCraft Inspirations Magazine (they offer quite a few different free paper designs). I put two gold brads in the corners of the rectangle. I tore squares from a burgundy and a white piece of mulberry paper, layered them in an offset manner, and topped them with another rectangle of the dark purple cardstock. The focal point of the card is a floral bouquet I copied from a Dover Design Sampler and printed out on white cardstock.

There you have it! Now I should get busy with those other 6 cards...

My First Mother's Day Card 2009

2009-05-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is--my first Mother's Day card for 2009. I like it! It took me long enough to make, though. I had to change direction a couple of times. I started out with some stamped inchie images but just couldn't get the look I wanted so I set them aside and pulled out this floral cutout. From there things started to come together nicely.

Here's what I used: the base is a medium blue cardstock, from one of those budget packs you can buy at Michael's, I think. I don't keep track of the unmarked cardstocks, sorry. I used another piece of the same color for the rectangular layer with the faux stitching. The background paper is from a purchased 12" piece by Bo-Bunny Press copyright 2004 Jan Lanoy called Backyard Flower. Then there's a layer of light blue cardstock, WorldWin Color Mates Light Ocean Blue. The yellow paper doily is next; it's a Wilton doily which I picked up in a pack of 3 colors (yellow, green & pink) off the clearance aisle at WalMart. The packs were really cheap so I took all they had; they're 4" doilies and useful for so many cardmaking projects. The next layer, the shaped dark blue with the sanded edges, started out as an 8" square from a Best Occasions color pack from WalMart. My mom gave me that pack as part of my Christmas gift from her, which contained all sorts of terrific things for cardmaking. I used a nail file purchased at Dollar Tree in a multi-pack to do the edge sanding. Dollar Tree is one of my favorite stores to shop at! They have lots of stuff you can use on cards and the price is definitely right! The light floral print layer is from the digital papers at ScrapbookScrapbook.com; I love their digital papers! They print up really nice and the colors & patterns are great! Just a quick note about printing out papers, I use a little HP Deskjet 3910 that I bought at WalMart for $25 a couple years ago and I refill my own ink cartridges, so I don't spend a fortune on printer ink. Okay, on from there, the oval is the dark blue cardstock again. I use my own stencils, that I cut myself from recycled cardstock. I do not have a die-cut machine, just my trusty scissors and a steady hand. No, my cuts aren't perfect, but that's okay; I'm not trying to make cards that look like they were factory-produced. The cream-colored oval was cut from an old index card that I just found today stick between the pages of an old scrapbook of my grandmother's which is full of cards she'd received--even one that my mom had made for her long before I was born! How cool is that? And the focal point of the whole card, that lovely floral cut-out, is from a cheet of such cut-outs that I picked up at the Mennonite bulk food store near us. These sheets come in a variety of designs and are printed in Germany; sorry, there's no name on the sheets that I can identify to pass along and I have no idea where you can find them. I believe these are intended for decoupage. The oval is "popped" with double-sided foam tape. I buy mine as cheaply as possible; I have a roll of Scotch brand (pricey), a couple rolls of Duck brand (cheaper) and stocked up on several rolls from our local surplus store that cost $1.29 for a 1" x 100" roll (really cheap!). And last but not least, I used two different sized gold heart brads that I bought from CreativeImpressions.com. So there you have it--my first Mother's Day card this year. This one will be going out in tomorrow morning's mail to my online friend who lost her son and is dreading this Mother's Day. Now to make cards for my Mom and my daughters...

Work in Progress

2009-05-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today I am working on Mother's Day cards. I need to make one for my own mother, of course, but am also working on one for an online sister whose only child passed away nearly 6 yrs ago so Mother's Day is especially difficult for her. I thought a card might make the holiday a little easier for her. I'm also hoping to make cards for each of my daughters, as three of them are moms, my oldest has a mother's heart & is grieving the loss of the two little boys she'd been a nanny to for the past couple years (the family has moved on & her services are no longer needed) and my youngest is a sort-of stepmom as her significant other is a dad with two young sons. With that said, I am going to keep this short and get to work!

Birthday Card For A Friend

2009-05-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

This is my most recent card. I started with a pink cardstock base, then added a layer of dark green cardstock (WorldWin ColorMates Deep Gorious Green), a multi-colored striped paper which is a digital scrapbooking design from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, then a smaller rectangle of the dark green cardstock, a piece of green gingham print which is another design from ScrapbookScrapbook.com, a corner punched layer of pink cardstock, a piece of red floral which is a scanned fabric that I've printed onto paper, and lastly, a lovely floral tag from GoMakeSomething.com which I've trimmed. To finish, I added a pink flower brad that I added a center to with Sharpie markers and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment. The stamp is part of a Happy Birthday set that I bought from So Close To My Heart.