Frame for Mom

We'll be home to visit soon, and in addition to the many crafty things I've made recently, I made this for Mom.

The Happy Birthday in the center is from Stampin' Up!  It's a retired die I still use very often.  The rose sprays are from Crafter's Companion.

Here you can really see the dimension from the decoupage pieces.  I used some Tattered Angels glitter spray and sequins to fill in some blank spaces and add some sparkle.

2018 Calendars! January to March

This concludes the entire set!

 I love the vertical hearts cut on the Love Struck cartridge.  I just MUST use them.  Every year, we do change them up with decorations, and this year was no different. 

 I really love this tulip stamp set.  Happy Spring!

2018 Calendars! April to June

You'll find more information on my Stampin' Up! Blog with these calendars since the only thing about them that's Cricut is the Month.

Susan Vilar Stamps!

2018 Calendars! July to September

Adding to the calendars, here are the 3 months of July, August, and September.

July always turns out so well!  It's full of sparkle, just like the fireworks on the 4th. 

The August calendar has always been such a problem!  There isn't one holiday in the entire month, and it just HOT!  This stamp set was in the SU Occasions catalog a year ago.  I paired it with the Adirondack chair in the current catalog for this cool, beachy scene.
Special thanks to my friend Kathy O'Neal for lending me her background wheel stamp with the ferris wheel and carousel.  It is the perfect background.
I used Jane Davenport watercolors on white embossed watercolor paper. 

Most kids are back in school in September...the weather is cooling down and it's perfect for bike riding. 

2018 Calendars! October to December

Oh! It's been a long time since I've posted here.  I hope you are able to see everything I've put on my other Stampin' Up! blog.  I've been working with Stampin' Up! materials more lately than my Cricut.

Here is our annual Mom and me calendar project!
October to December.

 October features a new technique called the Eclipse Technique.  Stamp all the background images you wish, then use the Stampin' Up Large Letters to die cut BOO or any other saying you wish!  Cut 2 additional black letters to give some depth.  The black letters mounted behind the top letters will allow you to see your raised lettering much more easily.

For November, we used a Paper Pumpkin Stampin' Up! set that featured shaker cards.  I cut down the pieces for this calendar at Mom's request.  It turned out GREAT!  Fantastic idea, Mom!

 Here's a close-up view of the leaf pieces.  It takes quite a few steps to assemble these. 

 This December, notice we didn't use the regular tree with the needles and ornaments.  I found a great die online that happened to be the perfect size!  I then found the Merry Christmas die and after cutting them, cut it apart to make it fit.

 I used the Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds paper.

 After mounting the rhinestones, I got out my Sharpies and we colored the rhinestones to make Christmas tree lights.

More Christmas Cards - Snowman!

I have a NEW technique on today's cards.  I made each of the backgrounds from watercolor paper!

 Notice each one is different on the melting snowman.  My niece sent this card many years ago as a Christmas card with the melted snowman, and I LOVED it!!  I've made many since then. (Thanks, Alex!)

 I ordered something called Color Burst.  It's a product from Ken Oliver.  I saw a super, SUPER cool idea using it and had to try it.  Each design comes up different every time. 

 I also ran the watercolor paper through my die cutter with no dies after it dried to flatten it out and thin it so it wasn't so bulky on the card. I LOVE how these designs turned out!  It's the coolest technique!

HERE is a link to the first YouTube video I watched showing these amazing Color Burst paint pigments. 

Christmas Card - Away in a Manger

I made one very simple card in this design.  I found some wonderful Christmas greetings over at Papertrey Ink.  So many of them have fond memories of childhood for me. 

I embossed the figures in gold embossing powder, and stamped the greeting in Soft Suede.  I also used another bible verse for the inside of this card.

A very simple presentation today, but very meaningful to me personally. 

A Christmas Carol

This is one of my very old Stampin' Up! sets.  It just is one of my favorite Christmas movies - Scrooge from 1971 with Albert Finney. 

 I watercolored both images - the card front, and candle on the inside.  I love the look watercoloring gives.  It doesn't take a long time to do and gives wonderful gradients of color on the image.

The card base and mat are both Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler cardstock.
I also added Wink of Stella to give the light some sparkle.

Christmas in July - Holly Swag Merry Christmas

 I made six cards using this image.  I haven't used it before, but I thought it would be good with the Merry Christmas banners I needed to finish using up... and I knew it would look amazing with some watercolor pencils.

 I took this picture below because the pic above looks muted.  I thought this card needed some sparkle so I got out my pearl Shimmer Mists and sprayed each of the 6 images.  It's not shiny like Wink of Stella or sparkly like rhinestones or Stickles... it gives the paper a glow. 

On another post I talked about options for using this embossing folder.  Here I wanted the bulk of the snow towards the bottom, and little falling flakes towards the top.  How?  Turn the paper in the embossing folder.

I really like the watercoloring effect on this image.   I think next time...a purple ribbon!
Now all 12 banners are finished.  I have a set of circles to use - stay tuned!

Christmas in July - Merry Christmas, Santa!

 I really enjoy this Santa image.  I got out some country/woodsy DSP and cut different length banners to give Santa a background.

The new Stampin' Up! Pretty Label punch is perfect for my very favorite Merry Christmas stamp!  It also looks great backed by the Layering Ovals. 

Of course, Santa is watercolored.  I tried using the blender pen with  ink pads and I'm just not happy with the look so I stick with the watercolor pencils. 

Christmas in July - French Horn in Watercolor

I made 12 of these Merry Christmas banners.  If you've been following my posts all month, you'll see that I used them earlier - BUT they just didn't quite work.  I've been keeping them in a safe place until I found the perfect spot for them!

 Here we go.  I stamped and watercolored the ivy and ribbon then used gold Wink of Stella to color in the french horn.  SO sparkly!

In addition to using the Merry Christmas banner, the card just needed something.  I used my Softly Falling embossing folder and added some snow.

Please enjoy!  I have a few more cards that will pop up here. 

Stop by my Stampin' Up! blog to see a card each day. 
search for: Susan Vilar Stamps!

Follow me to see my daily creations in July, and my other creations during the year.

Christmas in July - Bouncing Here Today!

I really LOVE this Noel stamp.  It has a wood cut look that for some reason really speaks to me. 

I used a Cherry Cobbler base for this card, and some of the new Stampin' Up! DSP called Be Merry.

Click HERE to return to my Stampin' Up! Blog.  Check back tomorrow for the new Christmas Card.

Great Nephew's First Birthday!

So... Felix's First Birthday is today! 
This little guy is my great nephew and is just as cute as a bug! 

 My first and only creation was to be this card below.  Then, after I looked through the Cricut booklet, I saw the sign (shown above) and just had to make it for the party!

This shows just the sign I made, and the card...  we definitely will shower him with many gifts! 

Happy Birthday, Felix!  We love you!

Aunt's Birthday Card

I've posted cards made with this stamp and die cut set before.  I think this one has to be my favorite!  It's very possible that practice makes progress in this case. 

 I used thick white cardstock to die cut the oval piece.  It gives it more stability than regular white cardstock.

 This design gives lots of space on the back to add dimensionals to pop the design off the embossed design on the card base.

I used Stampin' Up ink colors:  Pool party and Daffodil Delight.  I used Stampin' Up! Watercolor pencils Bermuda Bay, and cardstock colors Pool Party, and Melon Mambo.  I also used two of my alcohol markers from Spectrum Noir to color in the balloons.

Wishing my Aunt a VERY Happy Birthday!

A Valentine Project with our 4th Graders

I've had a puzzle die for a VERY LONG time!

This year I thought of it in enough time to get the cardstock cut, and took my Cuttlebug to school.

 I used this sample to show the kids how it would look when they were finished, and what their task was to make this puzzle message as a gift.

I stamped the Happy Valentine's Day message in the center, and left the rest blank for the kids...  They wrote and colored the rest of the piece.  I cut each one and placed it in an envelope so they could present it to Mom, or Dad, or Grandparents, or Aunts/Uncles, etc.

Birthday Card for a Little Boy!

We have a little boy in the family turning 2 in January!  I sent him the Elmo with 1 a year ago for his first birthday - a trend has started...  I'll see how long these cards are popular, then I'll move to something a little more 'grown up' when he gets there.

I've always seen the edge doodling on crafter's cards.  This was my first attempt.  I'm pretty happy with it.  I'll have to keep playing with this technique.

Got to LOVE Cookie Monster!!!  COOKIE!

Happy Birthday to you, Michael!

2017 Annual Calendar Project January - March

Here they are!  I know - I posted them in descending order - BUT with a purpose!  In the past, I posted the calendar's in order, and when you scroll through, the months are out of order!  By posting October - December first, they actually end up in correct order when all the pages post!  Whew!

Here they are all now in proper order. 

 Last year I used this melted snowman on Christmas cards, and received my very first one the Christmas before it from my niece who also makes cards!  It's been a favorite every since.  I used the stamp set Invisible Snowman from Kitchen Sink Stamps.  They're fantastic...  GREAT quality stamps!

 The vertical hearts have appeared on many calendars, and will continue on every February as long as I make these calendars.  I really LOVE this vertical hearts cut!

March contains many different elements.  An Irish blessing stamp I picked up on our travels many years ago; a shamrock stamp I've had for many years, and the Cricut shamrocks border cut. 

2017 Annual Calendar Project April - June

I took some risks with each of the three calendar pages in this post. 

 The April calendar uses one of my very favorite Easter stamps.  The silhouette reminds me so much of a series I read called The Boxcar Children.  They were easy reads, but chapter books with only these silhouette pictures at the start of each chapter.  I still love them.  I stamped an image in white craft ink on the background to give it more interest.

 For May, I used a burnishing technique to color the grass and sky you see looking through the window.  It's difficult to see, but the Happy Mother's Day cut is there.

My Dad loves to bowl, and belongs (I believe) to two bowling leagues.  I used to go with him when we were out of school... and have tomato juice from the bar while I watched the men bowling.  I picked up bowling again in 2016 with my friend Rozella once a week until the bowling alley pushed us out because they were starting a new league when we could bowl. (BAD bowling alley!)