Happy Valentine's Day

Here is a little sneak peak at the Valentine cards I intend to send to a select group of people. Winter is dreary and seems to drag on forever. I fight the winter doldrums with cheery Valentine cards. These are really straight forward so I won't bore you with the details. If you like them just CASE them. (Copy And Share Everything).

A little birdie told me.

Just a little bit of vintage stamping.

Fun with punches.

A variation with the punches.

Thinking of You

There have been a lot of people on my mind recently and I would like to brighten their days with a thoughtful card, so this evening I got crafty and made a few up!

Many of these cards should have been sent a while ago but life gets busy and you forget. You know how at goes. But when my pastor recently gave a message about a tactical pen highlighting the importance of encouraging one another through cards and the like I was re-energized to get these cards out. How do you encourage your friends and loved ones?

Girlfriend Birthday

Hello, and happy spring!

I recently wanted to give a small token of appreciation to a girlfriend for her birthday. I thought of all sorts of options. I realized that what I had at home already, could become a thoughtful and beautiful gift. A handmade gift would let her know just how much I treasure her. She is a very sunny type person, so I got crafty with stamps and paper to make a batch of greeting cards for her.

I found paper colors that I found pleasing together and seemed "sunny". I fell back on a card layout that I use when ever I don't want to think up something new. The stamp set is Sew Suite, a Stampin Up set from a while back. I am really happy with the end product. Happy Birthday Girlfriend.

 

Crafting for a Cause

This weekend my mother and I had a wonderful time "Crafting for a Cause" at a local church. Each crafted was welcome to stamp, scrapbook, bead, etc. We were asked to bring a passing dish and a gift for the church's Christmas project. It was a wonderful way to give back to our community and fellowship with other women. Check out the cards my mother and I made!

Father's Day Tag

Dogwood Tag

We wanted to give Mark a pink Dogwood tree for Father's Day, but it is too late in the season for planting now. The tree will do a lot better if we wait till closer to the time that it will be dormant before we plant it. We decided to give him a gift certificate for a dogwood tree for his gift. I started the tag by adding a layer of blue Kaleidacolor ink onto photo paper with a brayer. Just load the brayer really well with the ink and apply to the photo paper with multiple back and forth motions. This technique can leave fairly sharp edges to the color or they can be blended to a very subtle variation. I used very sharp edges to the color here. Next comes the dogwood bloom. I punched four heart punches from pink paper (because Mark wants a pink tree) I punched into the center of the heart with a label punch to mimic the shape of a real dogwood bloom. I sponged a little with pink ink at the edge of the bloom to give it some texture. I punched a small bloom from a scrap of yellow paper for the center, then  I punched two more hearts from green paper and cut them in half to create the leaves. I adhered the flower to the edge of the tag and added the loop at the top of the tag that I created from the curvy label punch. added an islet to attach it to the tag.  I used sticker letters in some crazy font that I had on hand. I liked the little touch of whimsy that they added. Mark is looking forward to planting the tree in the fall.

Happy Father's Day

 Here are two of the cards that I made for Father's Day. We are blessed to have both of our fathers still alive. They have been important influences in our childrens lives as well as wonderful fathers to Mark and I. Thanks Dad!

Both cards are created with a single layer of a blue paper, layered onto a white A2 card.  The white stars are punched out and glued to the blue paper before it was run through the Big Shot with Stampin Up Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder. That process really adhears the papers together. The red star is a relief punch in the blue with the red paper peeking through the punch. The tags were simple layers of red and white paper. This is a "go-to" card layout for me. Changing the colors and punches makes a completely different card.
I have one other card to share with you soon.

Ceramic Stamping

Happy June! For Paul and I June means A LOT of weddings. Being newly-weds ourselves we appreciated all of the thoughtful gifts we were given and want to give equally as nice gifts, on a budget. I especially liked our "Mr. & Mrs." mugs from the Family Christian Store and wanted to learn how to replicate them for gifts.

For this inexpensive wedding gift you will need:

• White coffee mugs,which can be purchased almost anywhere
• Jet Black Staz On
• Heat Setter
• "Together Forever" Stampin' Up stamp set.

Literally ALL I did for this craft was stamp the phrase onto the mug and set it with a craft heat setter. Don't worry if your stamp smudges a little, you can wipe the mug clean with a damp paper towel until you set it!

Wedding Wishes !

Our family has quite a few weddings to attend this spring and summer. I thought that I should get started with the cards. I got my trusty Stampin Up catalog out and some of the pretty paper that I bought somewhere and can't begin to remember where. I also got my "go to" stamp set Baroque Motif out. I cut a standard A2 card, one half of a piece of 8.5 x 11 inch paper folded in half. Then I layered a beautiful glittery piece of velum on top.

I added a piece of silver ribbon across the center section and topped that with a layer of silver metallic paper and a sentiment on Whisper White card stock. It was a great time for me to try out those vellum photo splits. I was quite pleased with how invisible they were.

The inside greeting was the last detail.

I made two of these cards because I really liked the way they turned out. ( Don't forget to add the little hand stamped emblem on the back)

I hope both of these marriages will be life long treasures.

Wedding Cards

I just got my first of MULTIPLE wedding invitations in the mail today and was talking to my mother about inexpensive wedding gift options. She is a wonderful stamper and offered to make a "card kit" for me like the sample card below.

Sample card.

I enjoy stamping but find it a little overwhelming so I was very excited that she was willing to make a kit for me. Once I got home I eagerly started stamping with the pre-cut paper below.

Contence of "card kit."

I started by folding the 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of white paper in half. This served as the card base that I built the card front on.

Card base.

Next I added a purple layer and glued it in place.

Purple background layer.

I don't have the textured presses that my mother has, so these came pre-pressed in my kit. (I'm spoiled, I know!) For this step I punched slots at the top and bottom of the purple textured section.

Hole punch textureed layer.

Then I threaded ribbon through the slots and tied it off to make a cute accent for the front of the card.

Add textured layer to top of purple background.

I used Stampin' Up! Together Forever stamp set and made a floral background.

Floral background.

Next I layered the floral piece on a purple background.

Layer floral ground on purple.

I also stamped a phrase for the front of the card and layered it a purple paper as well.

Sentiment for card front.

Finally I layered the floral piece and phrase on top of textured card front and glued everything down. Voila! I love my version of my mother's wedding card. Stay tuned for wedding gift crafts!

Finished card!