Aunt Carole's Card

Aunt Carole is married to my Dad's youngest brother.  I got a wonderful Thank-You note from her recently for the Christmas gifts I sent.

I feel I'm a little ahead on projects right now, and have been playing with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set - and thought I'd play with some colors, as well as send a return card.  I am notoriously bad at sending letters even though I make so many cards! 

 Bermuda Bay (I REALLY love that color!) Melon Mambo, and Crushed Curry are the main colors, with the die cut piece and 2 of the butterflies in Pool Party.  I cut the butterflies from cardstock, and just used one of the paint splatter stamps to give them some detail.  As always, I need rhinestone bodies for the butterflies! 

Here it comes - "No naked envelopes!"  I blocked out the center, because I wrote the address already - and had some fun with the paint splats and the colors.

LOVE that Gorgeous Grunge stamp set!  Not finished playing with it yet.... ideas, ideas, ideas!

January 2014 First Stamp Club Meeting of the Year!

It was so good to see the members of our Stamp Club again!  I call it "Card Club" at work, and sometimes I think my co-workers think I go play Poker, Blackjack, or Sheephead.  That doesn't happen - just card making!

 This is a nice card for Valentine's coming up VERY soon!  Lots of details - embossing, a rhinestone, and lots of hearts.

  We used the hexagon embossing folder for this card - it was actually really quick!  You'll see in just a moment why.  Love the Gray and Strawberry Slush together!

Did you say WOW! ?  We had 2 samples of this card - Going Gray, and Basic Black.  The black card was really something to see!  Our group made the Gray, and I'm not upset with that at all... it really is so elegant in person!  I made the flowers dimensional, and when I got home, I added glass glitter to the centers.  We used the cut-out hexagon pieces to do the card just above.  It's a great way to use all our materials with very little waste.

What a fantastic way to start 2014's Stamp Club! 

February, 2014 Christmas Cards

Here is the next installment of 2014's Christmas cards.

We finally got our Christmas tree taken down, and I'm always a little sad when that happens - even though I have Christmas trees around the house all year - ceramic mostly. :)

 I saw some cards made with the stamp set Gorgeous Grunge and started playing around with color combinations.  I really love how this works with Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green.  They didn't take too long to put together, but the vertical lines were all lined up with the Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Broken lines, paint splats, dots, and paint flicks....  my very favorite Christmas stamp, and a Christmas ornament.  I just had to add the bow to make the grouping of 3.  Have to follow those rules, you know!

Here you can see the inside of the card.  I used the dots stamp, and of course, you know the quote, "No naked envelopes!"

After hearing that the cards get torn because of embellishments, I'm adding an extra piece of cardstock to protect the card and keep it from bulging because of the ribbon and rhinestones.

Pinterest WIN! No Solicitors Sign

This is the original sign of the very MANY "No Soliciting" signs I saw on Pinterest...  I thought it was hilarious, and decided I just had to make one of my own!  We don't have many solicitors in our neighborhood, but around election time, and people trying to sell us windows, it gets annoying.

This is my version.  I found "Outdoor" Mod Podge, and tried it here.  Should last through wind, and rain, and dark of night... I hope!  Ice and snow here as well!

I used larger sized letters than the original, so I stopped by Hobby Lobby one afternoon for just a small piece of wood for the last 2 words.  I decided they didn't need a "Please".

I still think it's hilarious!  Now I just need to call my neighbor and tell her it's really OK to stop by for flour, or sugar, or milk!  :D

Pinterest WIN! Chandelier Wreath for Valentine's Day

I saw this on Pinterest -liked it a lot, and decided I could make one and probably do a pretty good job of it!

This is my creation!  Once I started making it, I found a few differences.  The original Pinterest pinner must have used a selection of precut packaged hearts because they were all the same size.  They also had all the same cut outs, and were just presented in different colors.

 I used a metal wreath base, and red ribbon with white lace over the top.  I also used a large wired polka dotted ribbon for the top to disguise the S hook I bought to hang it.  Works pretty well, actually!   I do feel I could add more ribbon to the wire wreath base, and will do that next year before I hang it again.

Here you can see a better close-up of the hearts I cut..... 3 each to make it look fuller, and different sized down the red/white twine hanging pieces.  I then used the bow maker my dad made, double bows tied to the very ends of the twine for 2 reasons.  1.  to weigh down the twine so it would hang better.  2.  to give it a more finished look, using the same ribbon for the bows as I did for the ties around the top of the wreath.

Stampin' Up Design Series Papers, Hobby Lobby paper, Paper stacks from my stash.  All ribbon from Hobby Lobby, and the twine is from Stampin' Up.

As I said, I believe it's a Pinterest WIN! :)