Recovery Wishes

Puny Pun-Puns..........I'm a sucker for them..............

This stamp set (from PTI) has been languishing on my shelf for too long - since I needed to make a "Get Well" card for our up-coming card release, I finally had a good excuse to use this baby!!

Coupled with Basic Grey's Lily Kate B&T paper, WOW - the card just fell together. Oh and the ribbon - I love, Love, LOVE the two-tone ribbon.....no matter how it's tied, it always looks great!!

In just a little while Creepella and I will be meeting Heidi, my cousins and my cousin's daughters at the theater and we will be partaking in a "Twilight" marathon - we'll be watching Twilight, then New Moon and then finally (at midnight) we'll see be seeing the first showing of Eclipse.....and how cool is this.....popcorn, pretzels & Icees for dinner. Yumm-O!!

I know we'll have a blast and I also know that it takes me longer to bounce back after a movie marathon (especially if it involves a midnight movie) - I'll be taking a bit of break from blogging, I' be back on Sunday...........happy stamping!!

Stamps - Papertrey Ink
B&T paper - Basic Grey
Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks
Copics & Spicas
Liquid Glass - CTMH
Ribbon - May Art (??)

Seas The Day

Saw the punched borders in different cardstock colors in a new card magazine and really liked the look. Since I had this new Martha seashell border punch just about screaming to be used, well - really, I had no choice!!

I did all of the punching of the cardstock and then layered it as I liked, glued it all together and then cut it into 2-inch "strips" (I made 5 cards). The cardstock and B&T paper is from CTMH (it's a retired paper pack but since all CTMH paper packs coordinate, the possibilities are only limited to your punch selection). Since A Muse's "Seas The Day" sentiment was the starting point to the card (well, right after wanting to do the whole punched rows of course), I knew I wanted to do an ocean theme. How good of Martha to make available the seashell border and the sand dollar punch!!

Stamps - A Muse

CS, Textured CS and B&T paper - CTMH
Punches - Martha Stewart and Marvy

Scalloped Scissors - Fiskars

Ink - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks

Huffing & Puffing

Weird Confession: When I was little and would read The Three Little Pigs, I was absolutely terrified for them because that stupid wolf wouldn't leave them alone. I kept telling my parents we should live a brick house (they had no idea why I developed such a love for brickwork) - as we drove around, I would point out brick houses and expound on the virtues of the brick-ness of the house. No, we never did live in a brick house...and thankfully we never had a wolf huffing & puffing at our door.

Here's a "Tent Topper" card - from Splitcoasters. Isn't it funny how you can do the very same thing and never give it a name and find it later with an "official" title. That's how it is with this card - I've made several cards constructed like this through-out the years and now it has a name (go figure). The only problem with this card is you can't really put it into the protective sleeve AND have it open and close. I have to stamp the inside sentiment on printer paper and attach it to the back of the protective sleeve so our customers know what the heck the card says inside. It's worth the extra work since customers always like a little twist on the card construction.

I let the colors in B&T paper dictate how I colored Cuppie and the cake. A glaze pen made the frosting glisten and Spicas added shimmer to the fire and puff of air from Cuppie. I did a bit of sponging on the edges of the scalloped circle to add some definition. Popping out the scalloped circle with foam tape (cracked open my new roll that I received for mom's day.....it feels so luxurious to have a giant roll of foam tape next to you....) added a nice bit of dimension and the sheer ribbon made the card complete.

Stamps - Taylored Expressions & Hero Arts
Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Inks
Copics & Spicas & Sakura Glaze Pen
Marvy Corner Rounder
A Muse Sheer Ribbon
CS - PTI
B&T paper - ???

Cattails

There's a blog that I look at fairly regularly (I think it's called flowerbugs inkspot)- she does some really cool "punch art". She's a Stampin' Up demonstrator so naturally the punches she uses are from S.U. That's fine since I have quite a few of them too and I really enjoy it when you can use a punch in a multitude of ways.

She showcased the above idea in a different way.....she used a stamp for the cattail grass and she had a bird from one of the new S.U. diecuts instead of the butterfly. The two things that caught my eye: the use of the small slot punch for the fuzzy cattail and the softly sponged background. I added a bit of ribbon and changed out the sentiment (her card was a Sympathy card).

My card has the sponged background (wipe the sponge, don't do the daubing motion), since I didn't have a big grass stamp (the largest stamp was not big enough), I just used a Memento marker (brush tip) to make the grass. I punched the beige Stardream CS for the cattail fuzzies (had a deep bronze-brown too but that was too dark).

I made this card for a friend who's father has recently died (instead of a sympathy card - she's not wild about sympathy cards). I like the calmness of the card, the soft colors and it seems as if those cattails will start swaying at any time.

This card makes me think of my mom and even though she's gone, I think she would have liked this card (she would have told me how clever I was....) - today is her birthday....I miss her a lot.

Stamps - CTMH
Ink & Marker - Memento
Punches - Stampin' Up and Marvy
Ribbon - ???

BBQ Breeze

Another Dad's Day card that could be used for other celebrations as well. I was digging around in my "Nature" and "Furniture" stamps and this is what I came up with. I think the grass border really makes the card.

Quick and easy card......try it, you'll like it!!

Stamps - A Muse, Hero Arts, Savvy
B&T paper - CTMH
Ink - Memento
Copics & Spicas
Cardbase - Memory Box

Caped Hero

Today and tomorrow I'll be showing a couple of the Father's Day cards I came up....of course I didn't get them posted BEFORE Father's Day but as you'll see, these cards can be used for other occasions too.

I think something very similar to this card may have been on the A Muse website at one time, I really don't remember. But I was having such a hard time coming up with card ideas for Father's Day cards this year, I started to "browse" through my stamps. I have them in different categories for several reasons - one of them is for browsing ease. There are lots of different ways I come up with card ideas. Yep, one of them is just looking at stamps. Sometimes the finished card pops into my head and all I need to do is pull stamps, ink, cardstock, B&T paper, punches and off I go. That's pretty much what happened with this card. I was looking through some of my "people" stamps and this super hero just LEAPED out at me.......a couple minutes later, I was working on the card.

Very cool when the idea in my head works itself into a decent card.

Stamps - A Muse & CTMH (alphabet for "my hero")

Inks - Memento

Copics & Spicas

Cloud template - CTMH

Cardbase - Memory Box

B-Day Cheers for Debbie

Another spinner card.....they're so much fun to make and since it was Debbie's b-day, well there you go. The B&T paper is ancient - have had it for years but it works well with the cake sticker. I used a QuicKutz candle die and did a bit of stamping and there's the card.

Love it when everything falls into place!!

Stamps - CTMH
CS - PTI
Punch - Marvy corner rounder, Martha Stewart loopy border punch, EK Success 3/4 circle punch
QuicKutz die cuts
B&T paper - ????
Stickles

Skully's Back

Creepella's Thank You for her graduation cards and gifts. I asked her what she wanted design-wise, here's her response: "A skull, red and black and 'Thank You'". When I prompted her with the idea of the Graduation Cap on the skull and a bit of ribbon to soften it, she said sure......as long as it was BLACK ribbon. Well, I guess she knows what she likes, right???

I was so pleased with how well the skull stamped & embossed up (and grunged up with some chalk ink sponging) for the Spinner Card, I decided to use it again.......34 cards later, I'm about done with this stamp for a good long while - whew!!

Stamps - Inkadinkadoo, CTMH
Inks - Memento, Versamark, Colorbox Chalk inks
CS - CTMH & Stardream
Die Cuts - Grad Cap from QuicKutz
Ribbon - A Muse
Stickles
Corner Rounder

Made Her Cry

Believe me when I say this photo does NOT do justice to the card. It's made from Stardream so there's a constant shimmer, the butterfly is actually a brown (not that blah grey) color and I've used Spicas to add MORE bits of shimmer. Sponged the clouds because I wanted the butterfly to be in flight (to go along with the sentiment) and I used Creepella's FAVORITE type of swirly ribbon to finish it off.

This was her graduation card and the mushy stuff I wrote inside did indeed make her cry. I'm usually not a mushy-gooey person IN person or in speech but give me a pen and a piece of paper (or a keyboard) and I can go to town. I guess it's easier (you have more time to think) and it's safer (at least until you actually turn over the written sentiment to the recipient). Unfortunately, no matter how I tried I couldn't find the words to describe the depth of love, pride and awe my daughter inspires...but I guess I got close enough.........

Stamps - CTMH, A Muse & Papertrey Ink
Cloud Template - CTMH
Inks - Memento
Copics & Spicas
Corner Rounder
Ribbon - May Arts (?)

Chuckle Head

My first Spinner Card (from a Splitcoaster tutorial) - and I am IN LOVE (again). These cards are mesmerizing....and it's just not me, everyone who fiddled with this card nearly started drooling......spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin, spin.

Oh and the spinner subject? Well what can I say, my creepy girl does love her skulls..........

Stamps - Inkadinkadoo, Just Johanna, Hero Arts

CS - Papertrey Ink & CTMH

Inks - Memento, Versafine & Colorbox Chalks

White Detail Embossing Powder

A BIG Celebration!

Do you remember turning 18?? I do....and a week after I graduated from high school I had moved out and had gotten a full-time job. NOT the future I want for my daughter by any stretch of the imagination. Her dad and I have gone to great (and expensive) pains hoping to keep her at home and in school. Currently she doesn't have the mindset to traipse off to college, she's pretty nestled down here at home and is happy (and more importantly EAGER) to attend a local college. That's more than ok with me - I shudder to think at how much I'd miss her.

When I found this stair-step card tutorial (yes, it's another one from Splitcoasters), I made one for a b-day celebration. As soon as Creepella saw this (in March), she said, "Mom, I'd BETTER get one of these cards for my birthday week!!" Ahhhh - I've raised a spoiled brat - I'm so proud!!

Here's a quiz - do you see any stamping??? Well there's a wee bit on the card but mostly, MOSTLY it's an entire package of 3-D stickers strategically placed through-out the steps. Bright pink for my baby girl and ta-dahhhh, we're done!!

Stamps - CTMH

Ink - Memento

CS - Papertrey Ink

Punches - Martha's loopy border & Marvy's scalloped circle

3D Stickers - Michael's $1-bin

Pocket Posies

Pocket card intact....

Weird sideways photo (making up for that pesky thing called gravity) of the pocket mostly slid out....

Back again this week for a few more cards. Love pocket cards, they're so fun and easy and....... I very rarely remember to make them. What's up with that?? I find a new card and blaze through several designs until I find the next NEW card and the cycle starts again.

This card was quick and easy to make since I use some flower "left-overs", the only thing I had to do was a bit of stamping, a few quick punches with Martha's grass border punch and toss in a bit of ribbon and some gemstones. It was nearly as quick to make as it was to describe.

Power to the Pocket Card!!!

Stamps - CTMH & A Muse

Pattern CS - A Muse

Punches - Martha Stewart grass border & butterfly; Marvy & EK Success florals; corner rounder

Ink - Memento

Ribbon - A Muse

Gemstone - Hero Arts & Michael's Dollar Bins

Little Card - BIG Cheer

Here's my only 3 x 3 card......took about 5 minutes since I had the penguin stamped, colored and cut out!! Used a scrap piece of CS and added some ribbon, stamped the sentiment in black and Ta Dahhhhhh - it's done!

Stamps: Memory Box Gift Penguin; sentiment - G-Rated Rubber stamps
Ribbon - A Muse
Cardstock - PTI
Ink - Memento
Copics & Spicas

Fluttering By

While this is actually a 4-bar sized card, it took quite a bit of time to create due to the experimentation (punched one edge of the green Stardream CS, flipped it over and keeping the punch going in the same leaf "direction" and staggering the starting area, punched the CS again to create a "vine") with the Martha Stewart's new branch border punch. When I finally got the the right spacing it came together really quickly. Just a bit of stamping on the card, but it makes a nice finish.

Punches: Martha Stewart Branches border; Hydrangea; Butterflies
Stickers: Martha Stewart
Stardream CS
Stamps: Sentiment - CTMH; butterfly trail - PTI
Ink - Memento
Spicas

3 Feline Cheers

Two sweet girly kitties (aka Lily & Iris)

And then there's Bob!!

This is a "Wiper" card - found it on the Splitcoast Stampers site. There are TONS of excellent ideas and tutorials on that website. I am horrid at following written directions but if a few photos are added, then I'm good to go. I have a large binder completely devoted to various tutorials/ideas that I've found on Splitcoasters. If you ever have "stampers block" - go to that website and your head will be absolutely spinning with ideas!!

How's that for a card intro?? Ironic that I had planned on making cute, small and simple cards for Creepella's b-day week and ended up making several interactive cards (this wiper card being the first one). Don't you just love how the wiper part just pops up as a fun surprise?? I was so enamored with these cards I made one for Chef Bo-Bo Head (a baking-inspired b-day card) and then I made 20 party invitations for Creepella's b-day/grad party (the wiper pop-up was a skull with a graduation cap.....really turned out well). For this card, I thought the kitters would be a great theme and not surprisingly, I had just the right kitty B&T handy. The little orange butterfly hanging out with "Bob" started making an appearance in several of the b-day card week cards.......she likes butterflies, I like orange - it was perfect!!

Stamps - sentiment by The Cottage Stamper, Inc.

Various feline-themed B&T papers

Stardream CS

Heart Brad - Making Memories

Heart gemstone - A Muse

Versamark Ink Pad

Detailed White Embossing Power

Martha Steward butterfly punch

Deckle-edged scissors

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles...

Had these little penguins stamped, colored and cut out for ages.......and I've had this "bubbly birthday wishes" for quite a long time too. What finally prompted me to use these items? Needing 6 new cards in 6 days was a great nudger.....

Used a few circle punches and punched some additional bubbles out of Stardream CS and then of course globbed on so much Stickles that you can't tell about the Stardream.....oh well. Can you see the bubbles that I stamped oh-so subtly on the cardbase??? It's VERY subtle....probably too subtle....... But I liked how it turned out and I think I'll make a few to put into the "For Sale" basket and see how they do.

Stamps - Memory Box Blowing Bubbles Penguin; Sentiment - The Cottage Stamper, Inc; Background "bubbles" - Savvy
Inks - Memento
Stickles
Various Circle punches - EK Success
Stardream CS

Blowing By

Wow, been busy and sick and busy and POOF, like the above blow fish, there goes your month!!

Card 1 of the B-day Week for Creepella. It's such a cute stamp and one of those really CHEAP stamps at Michael's.......on a trip there in early May, I found 8 adorable designs (all mostly an "oceany" theme) that I had to add to my collection - at this point this one is the only one that I've used. Creepella liked it so much I ended up getting one for her for her b-day week (how convenient). The trickiest part of Mr. Blow fish? Cutting out all of his spinney-goodness....but it was definitely worth the effort. The wavy B&T paper was a perfect fit and luckily I had a piece just the perfect size after I trimmed the top off of the waves. I popped out the fins with foam tape to make the fish "hold" the balloon strings........pretty clever, eh??

Well, it's good to be back and whew, what a relief to have a few cards to share over the next couple of weeks. Hope some of them will inspire you (or at least make you giggle!!).

Stamps - Snag 'em Blow fish; CTMH Sentiments
QuicKutz balloon die cuts
B&T - Waves paper (?? can't remember the designer)
Ink - Memento & Colorbox Chalk
Copics & Stickles