Gifts for our Chinese Visitors

Each year at the beginning of October, the school I work at hosts a group of 15 - 20 Chinese school children and their teachers.  We do so many activities with them as a school...  cookouts, lake trips, a trip to the fair, classroom tours... etc.  

Last year I made a booklet for each of the students and teachers - this year the idea was bookmarks.

 Our school mascot is the Husky - Hoover Huskies, and the Team Spirit cartridge has such an awesome image... I made one for each of the tour group.

 This is a close-up of the 2 3/4 inch cut and all its layers - black, 3 shades of gray, and white.  It's approximately 15 pieces for each Husky cut.

This piece I cut larger - for me.... It's a 3 1/2 inch cut (It actually didn't fit on the bookmarks.) and turned out quite large!  I took a little extra time to ink the edges, added silver stickles, and a black glaze pen added dimension and shine to the eyes, nose, and some other areas.

We had them laminated, and I was told our visitors LOVED them!  :)

Easter Cards 2013

 This stamp set is called Everybunny, and the wheel is Every Egg.

Truthfully, I didn't really consider this set for quite awhile when the catalog came out, but after looking at it and thinking of possibilities, I jumped in and ordered both.

The technique is called a Stair Step Card, and uses a Martha Stewart grass punch, as well as my Spectrum Noir markers.  LOTS of Spectrum Noir markers, as you will see. :)

The two bunnies and hot air balloons weren't so daunting, but when I stamped and started on the egg border, I almost didn't finish it - it took me 3 1/2 days of work to get all the egg borders colored.  On top of that, I fussy cut each one.  Just a comment about that - I really do love how the alcohol markers blend!  They give such pretty effects.

Why so daunting?  I made 7 of these cards for family members.  They went out in the mail this past week, so they should have arrived by now.

 The sentiment, Happy Easter is actually on the back - it just didn't quite fit on the front of the card! :)

Every Egg border (including the two individual eggs-cut off to fit card front)
HB1,2,3; CT1,2,3; CR1,2,8; PP1,2,4; TB1,2; LG1,2,3,4; TN1,2; and BT1,2.

The boy bunny:  TB1,2,6; CT1,2 LY1,3; LG2,3,4; HB1,2,3; BT1; PP1,2; and IG1
The girl bunny:  TN2,3; LY1,3; PP1,2; LG2,3; and BP 1
Hot Air Balloon:  HB1,2,3; PP1,2; TN1,2; LG1,2; PP2,3; BT3,4.

Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - November/December

 The last two calendars of 2013

 I like this cut of the cornucopia on the November calendar more and more as I see it.  I didn't think it looked like much in person, but if you pay attention to the negative spaces, it is quite impressive.  I also saw this leaf with the filigree type cut and thought that would be a nice addition.  It's actually meant to be part of a place card!

 As always, my favorite - December.  Note to self:  No blue backgrounds for December.  I used red this year twice, and thought the blue would look like a background wall, and the vertical wheel would help it look like wallpaper.
Even though Stampin' Up retired the stocking punch and stocking sets after only a 3 month run in the holiday catalog, I still get an incredible amount of use out of them.

I feel this year there wasn't a 'Dud' in the bunch! 



Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - September/October

 The fall of the year begins with September where I grew up, and we used to go apple picking almost every year.  It might have been a lot of work, but it was awesome having fresh crispy apples to munch on the way home!

 I used Stampin' Up as well as Kitchen Sink Stamps on this page - fall leaves and apples just seem to go hand in hand.  We've used this leaf technique before, and it is so impressive in person!

I still can't quite figure out why the October calendar always turns out so cool.... must be Halloween.  There are so many different images and icons to pick from.... I especially had fun with the two ghosts in the graveyard.  It's a Cricut cut, with an orange circle on the back, and a 1/4 inch circle glittered to look like the moon in the distance.  Of course, I had to include a Halloween kitty!


Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - July/August

I think of the 12 calendars, these two are among my favorites.  This is again one of those things where you can't see all the details as well as in person...  especially July.  It's really sparkly!

 I spent quite a few months hunting for the vertical stars for the July calendar.  They were perfect, but a little hard to find.  Definitely worth the effort!

 My parents have been feeding birds at the house since I can remember, and finches happen to be one of their most prolific eaters.  I saw this idea on a Stampin' Up Demo's site, and with a few changes, it made its way here.  The butterflies come from a Stampin' Up die I actually use pretty often.



Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - May/June

 May and June are certainly fantastic for celebrating!
I hope you enjoy them.

I used one of my very favorite stamp sets, Stippled Blossoms to stamp the flower for Mother's Day in May.  I've gotten an incredible amount of use out of this stamp set, and know that I'll continue to use it for a very long time!

My dear friend Melissa loves the pineapple drink, so I make sure to include it every year.  Plus, I'm sure Dad is out there with a drink grilling for Father's Day anyway! :)
 

Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - March/April

 The next two months bring March and April.

This year, March is quite a busy month as Easter comes VERY early!  Easter this year is on the last day of March!

 The flowerpot is embossed with a wood grain folder, then inked.  The bleeding heart flowers probably grow all the same color on a plant, but I really liked the idea of the 3 colors.  They are cut from one of my oldest and most favorite Cricut Cartridge, Walk in My Garden.

Hello ladybug!  Do you see him there?  I know my friend Melissa will love it!

 April is traditionally where Easter falls, and I purchased this stamp while traveling over Spring Break.  Those bunnies are so adorable!  They are water-colored with my Stampin' Up Watercolor crayons, and I added some diamond Stickles to give the bunnies some sparkle. 




Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - January/February

 In a series of 6 posts are the 2013 calendars I make yearly with Mom.  It's a great bonding project as well as stretching my skills a little and always trying to come up with some new ideas.

I hope you enjoy them.

 Even if it doesn't snow in January, it sure seems cold enough that we should be able to enjoy the snow as well as dealing with the SUPER cold temperatures!

 I used a different heart design this year - the last 2 years I used the vertical hearts I like so much and decided to go with something different.  I hope you like it!



Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

Thank You card AND a Birthday Card

It's been so long since I posted... It's been a VERY busy summer!
I've been busy creating, even though I haven't taken the time to post... so here goes!

I made this card for a Stamping friend for whom we had a surprise birthday party! She really was very, VERY surprised! We had a great time, and she ooh'd and aaah'd at the card. :)

I really like the rose on the very bottom left of the picture. I think it turned out the best!


Inside view of the card...



Here's a card I was asked to make by our tempororary couselor... she needed a Thank You card, and was impressed with the work she'd seen on my blog and at work. Best thing was I'd just gotten my Lilac stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps in, and HAD to play with them!!!

If you stamp often, and LOVE clear stamps, you've got to take a look at Kitchen Sink Stamps. Each time I use one of my sets from this amazing company, I'm always impressed with the quality, and how they make the images look SO realistic! It's an amazing technology they've got to take apart an image so we can layer the stamps to get such impressive, 3D looking, and AMAZING!!!!!

Please enjoy!!

Your kind comments are always welcome.

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Get Well Cards

Here are 2 get well cards I made for a dear friend. My husband and I have a little tradition where we always get 2 cards... one a little silly, and one more sentimental. I did the same for my friend who's going through a rough time, and on top of that, had to have surgery!!!!!

SO, one of my absolute favorite images... the stained glass irises just work so perfectly with the purple paper. I emboss the outlines with lilac craft ink, and clear powder. After they're ready and cooled, I get out the watercolor crayons. It's a time consuming process, but I SO love how they look. This has to be one of my all-time favorite stamps.

For the silly card... Hello Kitty! She's so adorable, and a very sweet way to say I hope you're feeling better soon.

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Commissioned Card - Thinking of You

One of the girls I'm working with requested a card for a friend... after a few questions about this friend, this is what I came up with!

Gotta LOVE the Paper Doll Dress Up cart for its versatility! The guitar and name staff is from the Hannah Montana cart, Jasmine is the cart with the photo corners, and the Thinking of You came from Wild Card.

I think I need a Jukebox!! :) :)

The patterened paper is from Michelle Anderson's stacks - this one is called Americana. I also LOVE the Illusions stack she designed!

The detail on the envelope is from a new Stampin Up wheel I just bought off ebay. It came in the mail today... How perfect!

Thanks for looking!

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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Lime Light Design Team August Project -Cards for Soldiers!

Our Lime Light project for this month was to make Cards for Soldiers! I always love doing these projects!

There are a total of 25 cards, all ready for someone's birthday! How cool to get a card with your own birthday number on it! I was even able to make them all identical because the cards are so small, I could get all 5 out of one 12x12 sheet. That doesn't happen often!!

Using the challenge from My Pink Stamper, I got out the Pomegranate ink (I really LOVE that color!) and used my star wheel behind Elmo, Cookie, and Big Bird! It was a WHEELIE great challenge! One I'll use often, for sure.

Again, I used one of my shortcuts to make the face pieces. I cut all the eyes, noses, all of Big Bird's face pieces in white, and used my Stampin' Up markers to color in the pieces. Saves SO much aggravation with cutting those teeny tiny things!! I used: Elmo's nose: Only Orange, for Big Bird: Pink Passion for his eyelids and tongue, and Real Red for his mouth. Cookie's cookie is colored in Close to Cocoa.

Though we can't use glitter, I used my black glaze pens to make the eyes shiny, and the white to mark the highlight, and Brilliance Blue ink so the Happy Birthday was nice and shimmery.

I'll apologize for the glare, I already had each card individually wrapped before I took the pictures. They're in a protective covering to make sure they make the journey safely!!

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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Post 9 of New "Old" Things - Get Well Card

October, 2008

One of my husband's colleagues fell at home, and hurt himself, so DH requested a get well card. This guy has quite a sense of humor, so I used the PDDU cart twice - once for the boy in pajamas, and then cut out the mummy. I trimmed off the leg, and used it as a cast!

I used my clear stamps to double-stamp and emboss the Get Well Soon image, and popped it with some 3m dots. I also used my Stampin'Up Baroque wheel and the Fiskars ribbon punch to thread the ribbon through.

The colors here on the computer don't look that great, but IRL, it worked GREAT.


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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Birthday Card for Our Niece

These are the front and first inside folds of the card,

and here is the inside of the card

I think this card has taken me longer than any card I've made to date. I used lots of my Stampin' Up supplies, as well as many of my other craft tools. This was a 4 hour card, minus the time for making and having lunch in between.

I cut the cardstock to 7 x 11, and scored the folds at 3.5 and 7 inches. I used the label punch to make the window, and the thank you stamp inked to use only the border. Then the sentiment from one of the hostess sets was stamped inside the border. I used my Versamark ink and some clear cupcake stamps to stamp all over the front and first fold inside the card, heat embossing it with clear powder.

Then I used my cupcake Stampin' Around Wheel twice, once on pink cardstock, and once one white cardstock. I colored the cupcakes with Glaze gel pens, and popped them over the top of the pink cardstock. I then used some Star Dust stickles to make the confetti very sparkly, as confetti should be.

The Birthday Wishes background, Birthday stamped background, and flower border all come from the DCWV Glitter stack. Those are just the cutest papers!!! I used the Jasmine cart to cut the photo corners, and a white opaque pen for the doodly-do's. I used the Brilliance opalescent inks for all the inked edges so they're a little shiny... and I'll borrow a friend's slit punch until I get one of my own to keep the card closed.

Thanks so much for looking... this card took so MUCH time, but I really loved making it!!!

I hope the background pink doesn't show to garishly online, it's really a nice background pink for the entire card.


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Tracy's Christmas Challenge - January!

As per Tracy's rules on her site, here are my 5 cards for January. (I started a bit late with this, but will be current the rest of the year.)

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Spinner Card for Design Team

I saw a tutorial on YouTube (Dawn5377) for these spinner cards quite awhile ago... and instead of using a punch, I decided to try using my Nestabilities. They sure work GREAT!

This card has just a little of everything. I used my Stampin' Around wheel "Watercolor Joy" and my white stamp pad and kaleidoscope embossing powder for the Thank You's. The Swiss Dots always make a nice addition.

I even went right out and ordered that Tart 'n' Tangy Set... What fun!!!

Cards for Soldiers Challenge 12/8 -1/5 Valentine

It's been so crazy busy here with making Christmas gifts and all my other projects, not to mention WORK... But since school was cancelled these past 2 days, I knocked out these Hello Kitty Valentine Cards. Aren't they just the cutest things?? Yes, I know I'm biased.

The Hello Kitty's were made with Stampin' Up Wheel Stamp - Hearts as a border around the bottom and some side edges. I used DCWV paper from the Spring Stack as a background. HK was cut at 4 inches, and since some of the pieces were SO small, I just used Christmas Red stickles in her bow for some pieces, and Baby Pink stickles on her nose. Her eyes are sparkly from the Black Diamond stickles, and I again used the Christmas Red stickles on the I Love You sign. It was cut at 2 inches. Since I had some space above the I Love You wording, I used some of my Studio G month stamps - the heart and circle are from the February set.

Enjoy!