valentine

these were done with the PTI Everyday Button Bits set. i love that set !

instead of buttons, i punched out hearts using a variety of cuttlebug and sizzix dies, and the circles were made using a hand held 1/4 in hole punch !

i am hoping these will not require extra postage....buttons make the cards so thick and inflexible....foam may be the trick. and the glittery fun foam is self adhesive....that is a time saver for sure.

valentine cards

this is a matchbook type of card....a little slit on the right holds the front down. front of card is 1 inch smaller than the back. hearts were cut using my sizzix original die from different papers. background of card is embossed with a large dot sizzix embossing folder

the sparkley hearts are self adhesive fun foam that sparkles like crazy. how easy is this?

more NY cards

i am into the 4 inch square cards lately....i make my own envelopes for them too.

here are some made from the same cardstock 12x12 piece as the first NY card on my blog. that 12x12 surely goes a long way

i embossed champagne flutes (anna griffith) and stamped "happy newyear" with a SU sentiment stamp.

new year cards 2010

since i am card making withdrawal....i decided to pop out a few new year cards. this one is done for this week's challenge on southerbreezes.com.

using a calendar......our local insurance agency sends us a little desk calendar each year.....wish i had a ton of them. perhaps i can create my own .... will investigate further.

i used gold and silver cord, cardstock from PTI and a christmas stack purchased at Michaels this year.....a star button and a homemade envie with a belly band.

the 4 1/4 envies are very easy to make using my scorpal....lets me use some of the stack papers that just arent fancy enough for cards, but work fine as envies. when i mail the small square cards, i put them in a regular A2 envie to save postage costs....that way it is only a regular stamp, square cards cost a bit more....and tiny ones can get lost easily. this envie is made from same cardstock used on the card....but regular scrapbook paper works just fine too.

this one will be hand delivered, so the fat button wont cause problems.

cruise is over

we had a delightful time on the Crown Princess.....we went to Cozumel, Mexico....Roatan, Honduras....Grand Cayman.....and Princess's own island...Princess Cay. we snorkeled at each destination.....many pretty fish and beautiful blue water.

the weather was fabulous....but getting home on Saturday was tricky ! we flew into Raleigh and had no problem, but our daughter had a cancelled flight since they were to connect in Baltimore. no way...Baltimore got snowed in ! they were able to get a plane to Orlando and then on to NH....late, but at least they got home. some folks are still stuck in Fort Lauderdale. that's tough, right before Christmas.

laundry today and NO ONE making the bed, cooking the food or entertaining us.....takes getting used to for sure.

button tree

the PTI christmas button bits set is as much fun as their everyday button bits.

i love using buttons on cards.....hopefully these are slim enough to not need extra postage !!

one more today...looking through a window

this is supposed to mimic a view from inside through a window. the wintery trees are stamped on a blue background made by rubbing brillance blue ink on cardstock. embossed the trees and glittered with some diamond dust. the moon was added using a mask and white briliiance ink.....

to make it look like you are seeing the trees through a window, i cut the image into 4 equal parts....making sure to show the "window trim".....pretty cool

even more christmas

this is Dasher...from SU. embossed in gold ....framed in glitter paper using nestibility dies....elegant little guy !

more christmas

love this snowman (penny black)......and i do love non-traditional colors.

i made the snow by rubbing pieces of styrofoam together....diamond dust always sparkles things up too. JOY is from PTI signature christmas set....

last one for today

this is a house mouse stamp....colored with copics and cut apart....i put the popped up branches on top, squirted a bit of red squiggle pain for the berries and placed the bears and mice below. i popped up one little mouse and used crystal effects on all the eyes and other bits to add some dimension.

another christmas card....snow globe effect

for this card i used a SU treat cup. mounted the little snowman on blue snowy paper. i made the snow inside using a styrofoam ball cut in half and rubbed together....saw that tip on splitcoast stampers awhile back. the white background is glitter paper embossed with a CB snowflake folder. a bit of sheer and sparkly ribbon completes the frosty look

more christmas cards.....

used a stamp from stampendous ...love that kitty hanging on to the pine bough. the ornies are colored with markers and glazed with crystal effects to give dimension. a bit of diamond dust on the bough, a sheer red bow.....pretty nifty. the background paper is holly imposed on a sheet of christmas music. the rectangle nestie makes a nice place for the kitty to rest....double matted in red and green

saturday challenge

this one was hard ! make a card using 2 papers, 2 stamps, one punch, ribbon and glitter

the glitter on this tree is subtle, hope you can spot it....i used two round punches for the sentiment (both round, hope that counts as one !!). the background is folded and run through a crimper for that unusual texture. learned that from my fav SU demo a few weeks ago. this would make a neat "masculine" card.....those are always tough for me.

cream and chocolate chip cardstock are the papers.....a bit of chocolate ribbon....done.

ornament challenge

i made this gingie boy for a southernbreezes weekly challenge. i used my sizzix gingerbread boy die with a suede cardstock....so there is a nice fuzzy texture on his body. the frosting is made with white squiggle paint glittered just a tad.

he's OK....but not spectacular, so he is my one and only for this year !!

another christmas card

i used a nestability die cut of an ornament....foil sheets gave some sparkle to the ornaments. backed them with glitter paper...a bit of ribbon and some gold cord finished the front.

inside i used a sentiment from PTI stamped on vellum cardstock also from PTI....set that on a nestability pinked circle and popped it off the page with pop dots.

split negative

saw this nifty technique on gina k's stamp tv. i dont have many chunky stamps (which are perfect for this technique)...but i did find this one. the sentiment is a SU definition set that i cut down to size.....

tricky.....try and figure out how i did this !!

Mugsy

we had to put our beloved Mugsy down yesterday. he had a virulent cancer that recurred after a major surgery last year. it was a very hard decision.....the timing not the decision itself.... i know he is in a better place, but it is very hard regardless. here he is as a kitten, rescued from a SC humane society shelter and as the curious boy he was. he was funny, smart and loving. we will miss him terribly....many of my screen names were Mugsy, so he will live on in that way. and of course, always in our hearts.

christmas cards 09

these are "step cards".....intended for a photo, but i think the snow men are perfect for it.

christmas cards 09

never too early to start....i have made a few.....i guess folks will get multiple cards again this year !

the first card uses the SU reindeer from this years catty....embossed with gold, sentiment PTI Christmas signatures....

second is a snowman, glittered with diamond dust on a background embossed with a CB snowflake flowers embossing folder...bling makes him special....i made fake snow by rubbing two styrofoam balls together to get "snow dust" and then gluing it on to the card. now that's an inexpensive way to make snow. his scarf is stamped again and then popdotted on to give some dimension

the third is a cute little owl sitting on two branches (judith stamps)...the berries are puff paint dots....a bit of diamond dust for the frost coverings finishes him

christmas gift card holder

southernbreezes.com's challenge this week was to make a gift card holder. i got this idea from Dawn's stamping studio website.....it is easy and cute. the gift card will fit in the middle envie....you could also put cash or a check or a little note inside as well.

the round sentiment stamp is from papertreyink...christmas tags. ooooh, i love their stamps

interactive cards

i made these two interactive cards for this week's southernbreezes.com challenge.

the owl is a spinner card.....and the tag is a baby boy shaker card. both are fun to play with and usually get a smile from the recipient.

unfortunately i am having computer "issues" and could only scan them. i think that loses something in the presentation.

my >5 yo dell died unexpectedly and the new one is running vista....with a win 7 upgrade (free) on the way. i cant see downloading software for the camera and then having to do it again when i install win7. i must be one of the only ones who didnt realize win 7 was coming a week after i ordered the computer. a duh moment for sure.

dimensional card for challenge

just got home after spending a week in Hilton Head, SC....

this is another card made with "everyday button bits" from papertreyink.com, it has been my favorite set for the last few weeks. instead of using buttons for the balloons, i cut different sized circles from patterned paper scraps....3 of each.....glued them together to make dimensional balloons.

this technique would also be cool for christmas ornaments hanging from stamped branches.....

simple cards for southernbreezes.com weekly challenge

for a southernbreezes challenge....had to make a "no fuss" card. yikes. that is always hard for me !! both of these are pretty simple....as simple as i can get i think!

the first uses two nestability bird dies... the wing is actually a smaller bird, attached with a button to cover the beak. the chipboard flourish is inked with blue and green brilliance inks to match the bird and background. background cardstock is from the far east stack. birdie's eye is a dew drop colored blue...i buy clear dew drops and then color them with copic markers to get the right color

the second is cardstock covered in aluminum foil, run through the cuttlebug using a quickcutz embossing folder and then inked with blue and green alcohol inks. the background is made with the swiss dot cuttlebug embossing folder and inked. the martha stewart line has such wonderful punches....this little butterfly sparkles...it's cut from a light blue glitter cardstock.....

first christmas cards

saw this on a blog and had to try to make this little guy.....

used CB folder...divine swirls, and a sizzix one with three dots in clusters....glitter cardstock and shiny cardstock to give the allusion of snow. one penguin is made with oval punches and the other with oval nestabilities.....sentiment from PTI mailboxes set

a little early....but if i dont try a techinque or idea out i forget about it fast !

card from the halloween tag

looks better on a card ...inside was fun as well. i love martha's bat punch

Halloween tag for a challenge

hard to do a tag ! i think i put way too much on it, but....hey....i have a hard time simplifying.......

will have to mount it on a card though.....what would i do with a tag??? hmmmmm.....

broom rides and 50 cents is from a napkin . i used a glue stick to attach the napkin to the cardstock and then ran it thru the spiderweb CB embossing folder.....the tag itself is made using a sizzix die...had to use two of course, one purple and the other orange.....always over the top for me .... witch is a dimensional sticker sent by a friend on her Halloween card last year. recycle, recycle !! the bats are Martha Stewart punches....

halloweenie cards 2009

i have been having fun making halloween cards this year.

some are made with punches...some with sizzix dies, some with clear window inserts....halloween has the neatest colors and themes.....i hope those that receive them enjoy them as much as i have had making them !

thanksgiving card

this is for the southern breezes weekly challenge....called for a sketch using the elements on the card front

for the background, i used a piece of cardstock, covered with aluminum foil (reg old household foil) embossed with the floral fantasy CB embossing folder and inked with yellow. gives a bit of sparkle

the sentiment is embossed with "fall splendor" embossing powder....checked ribbon from Hobby Lobby....and a large gold grommet.

cant stop making button cards

well, i have to put this set out of sight....i keep going back to it. here's three i made today.