Christmas in July

since we are having guests for the next few days, i had to go back to my Christmas stash of pictures, no time to dig out Christmas stamps etc !! I made these last year....i used the gingerbread man sizzix die and made shaker cards. tiny little shakers...only in the cut out heart buttons !

i also included my great gingerbread cookie recipe ! background papers were from Michaels open stock. I sure hope they get more paper this year as they havent changed the Christmas stock in a looooong time....i see papers there that i have had for a few years !!

goin' fishin'

i think this little guy is cute. cut the bowl with my round nestability die, fish are from the "just beachy" SU set, reeds from "pond life" from papertreyink.com.....glazed cat, and fish with crystal effects....used that to adhere the little beads on the bottom of the fish bowl as well.

background paper from a stack i got at Sams Club months ago, i stitched the inside papers to each other...had to use my new mini sewing machine from janome.....gives it a nice texture.

4x4 in notes

i used stazon ink and stamped the flowers on paint chips.....the background paper is from a stack from joanns. i also made the envelopes using my scorpal. the scorpal site has lots of tutorials and envelopes are fun to do !! and it uses paper you otherwise would not use.

fishy grid card

this is easy and fun to do....i used a 4x5 in top layer and made 1 inch grids in pencil. then stamped fish from "just beachy" (SU)...., colored with copics and went over the pencil lines with a fine point black marker. then i randomly colored squares to accent them

popped some fish out, glazed them with crystal accents/diamond dust.....the inside has multicolored "bubbles"....that was from a stack i got at Joanns awhile ago. i typed the sentiment on the computer....

summer theme

wearing flip flops and eating a dreamsicle ! does it get any better?

summer flip flops

another pair of flip flops. these are so easy to make, couldnt resist another pair. paper flowers attached to the toes with floral brads make me want to go to the beach now !

fourth of july challenge card

made this pair of patriotic flip flops for the southernbreezes.com fourth of july card challenge. soles made from corrugated navy cardstock, tops from a summer stack and red, white and blue ribbon from AC Moore. two sparkly blue stars give a bit of bling

explosion box cards

made this for a southernbreezes.com challenge....to make a gift box/bag. this has to be presented in person of course !!!
it's very easy to make, http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/explosion_box/, instructions by the talented beate johns

i put just the word Happy on the inside....i'm waiting for a specific occasion to complete it.

Janine made a fathers day shutter card !!

we had fun playing with paper...she made this super card for her hubby ! so easy, but soooo great

shutter cards (trifold shutter)

this one looks quite complicated but actually it is really simple to make. of course, i couldn't stop at one....

i found the directions here (craftiblog) when i googled shutter cards:
http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/2009-04-23-quad-fold-card-sample-tutorial/

a really nifty site....Bonnie does beautiful work.....thanks to Bonnie's sharing her artistic skills !!

gift card holder

i am still in love with the dimensional lady bug....so i made this gift card holder with another bug on it.

i used a regular A2 envie, sealed it and then cut off 1.5 inches from one side. then i ran the larger piece (the bottom) thru a crimper. this allows the top to fit over it.

for the gift card holder itself, i used the word window punch to make a slit, edged that with black dotted ribbon....i made a little card since i didnt have a gift card and it fits in the slot...of course, another ladybug had to show herself....stamped the image, colored with copics.

i'll be ready for the next time i give a gift card.....

ladybug....ladybug

made this one using the SU scalloped circle punch.....( 3 circles, folded each in half and glued them together to form a 3-D bug body), a 1 inch circle punch for the head....and 1/4 in hole punch for antennae...made the black dots on the card and ladybug body with a new pencil eraser and memento tuxedo black ink

a cute 3-D ladybug.....happy looking i think !!

another dad's day card

this one is for our son.....a great dad to his 3 beautiful children.....

made this with a wood embellie from Hobby Lobby...doesnt get easier than that !

fathers day

i just found out our son and his wife and 3 kids are coming from MD to visit us on fathers' day weekend ! it will be their first visit to our new NC home.

so....i made a fathers day card for DH and will do another for DS too.

this is a spinner card.....thought the owl was sort of wise....like a dad is. on the inside i stamped "happy fathers day"....

i find that you have to play with the spinners to make sure they work, so it will be neat to hand it to our son instead of risking it getting smooshed in the mail....maybe i'll make his a spinning froggie ! he used to collect frogs....not real ones....and his frat in college had frogs somewhere in their wacky charter.....i think they had to eat small ones during pledge week. how barbaric. thank goodness he survived college....in my day we just studied.....but my BSN is now 41 years old. times have changed !!

i'll post the froggie card when done.....

left over paper challenge

my goodness, i do have lots of leftover paper. i never seem to toss anything, ya never know when you might need a certain scrap...right? so most of this card is made of leftover pieces of paper.....

this dress from stamp looks "vintage to me".... so distress inks seemed to be perfect....

I created the background for the form using the "distress ink smeared on craft mat" technique....a technical term. i ran the tattered rose distress ink pad over the craft mat (non stick) and then spritzed it with a fine mist of water. placed the leftover white cardstock piece on the beaded ink and pressed gently. each one turns out differently....the background is sort of striaed and the from itself more aged.

the sentiment (from a Micahels $1 set) is popped up on a grograin ribbon.....
i used crystal effects on the dress form stand to give it some dimension too

ballerina

i do love the house mouse stamps.....and i DO love this little ballerina. sparkled her tutu and used a nestie for her to dance on.....

i made a blue one for a cyber friend's granddaughter's friend who was a victim of a horrible shooting recently. hope the little mouse puts a smile on her face.....

another grid

these grid cards are very addicting....i popped a few bees up for interest.....

a grid card

saw this on

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stamping_thoughts/2009/05/faux-grid-technique-video-.html

and had to try it. i used the "unfrogettable" set....snail and dragon fly, colored with copics and sprinkled with diamond dust. it has a nice crisp feel to it.....sort of a happy card. no sentiment yet, have to wait and see what card is needed next

flower for a special friend

stampin'up daisy is popped up and glittered with some diamond dust.

i made the background paper using several distress inks smeared on a craft mat, misted with water and shimmery mist. then just put the cardstock over the mess and tada....a glistening background paper

pretty cool. i did have to iron the cardstock as it curled up though

shaped card

for this little butterfly i used my butterfly nestability set. largest is the card and the smallest the popped up butterfly. antennae made from colored wire.....Dream is a clear sticker. how easy is that

one more re-purposed card for southern breezes challenge

this one was made by attaching many many pieces of tan masking tape to a piece of cardstock in a random fashion.......i remember doing that in the 70's with empty chianti bottles....

pouncing several inks right onto the masking tape...(mustard, red, green, brown)...

then inking the whole surface with versamark embossing ink and covering that with clear embossing powder....heated it placed it on a chocolate brown card base....

looks like leather and is very shiny.

the printed image is from a used notecard that i cut into thirds, popped the bird out and i think it makes a fine masculine card...those are tough for me.

no sentiment....will save that for whatever occasion comes up.

alaska, the "great land"

the pictures do not do justice to the scenery....but it is at least a glimpse into the beauty of the area.

glaciers are blue !! and the little chunks of ice near them are called bergie bits. good thing they dont run the movie Titanic while cruising !

the large mountain is Mt Edgcombe, an inactive volcano in Sitka

we were on the Holland America ship, Zaandam, it was small enough to be able to get into smaller ports and close to the glaciers in Glacier Bay.

everyone should see this beautiful place at least once.....unfortunately, pictures do not capture the majesty

re-purpose challenge

now this one was easy for me. i have two to enter in this weeks challenge and maybe by the end of the week i will have another. (saw a new technique using wax paper...)

for this southern breezes challenge i needed to use something from around the house and give it a new purpose in life...


the first is made using a little snack baggie....i cut out 2 nestability labels for the base of the purse and made the handles using two oval nestabilities. the sentiment....CB embossing folder.....attached the sides of the purse to the baggie (cut down to fit)...makes a neat gift bag

the second is a pop top can....it is for my DD's birthday...inside are some nifty ribbons....i cut the bottom of the can off using a safe can opener....then i put ribbons inside and decorated the outside using my CB birthday embossing folder....glued the bottom back on to the can so the pop top still works ! she has seen this before, but anyone new to it is amazed. and it is sooooo easy to do !!

Sheila's challenge

finished unpacking and doing laundry...so i made time to complete Sheila's challenge. and what a challenge it was for me !

ingredients: 3 buttons, ribbon, NO STAMPS, flower soft or flocking and a sentiment.

well, this was really difficult for me......used my CB to make the flowers and leaves....sentiment from a small CB embossing folder on the flower pot....used the ribbon for flower stems and flower soft for the centers of the flowers....finally threw in the buttons on the lower right. whew !

back from Alaska

we had a fabulous time on our Alaskan cruise aboard the Zaandam. we visited Juneua, Sitka, Ketchikan and Glacier Bay. WOW. what scenery. our weather was perfect, sunny skies for the most part...Juneau was our only cloudy day but we made up for it by seeing a ton (no pun) of whales.

we glided by two glaciers in Glacier Bay.....watched calving (ice falling from glacier....accompanied by what they call white thunder...a loud cracking noise) spotted many whales, dahll porpoises, seals, otters, eagles.....it truly is a majestic area. everyone should see it at least one time !!

have lots to do today as we got home around 1am last night....it was a long day on a cramped flight ! but at least we HAD flights....lots of folks were cancelled when we got to Atlanta last evening....so we consider ourselves very fortunate....the drive from airport only took 1 hour....! almost a record for us.

i will get back to making things soon.....and will post one or two majestic pix as soon as i download them and figure out which are the best respresentatives of Alaskan beauty. i fear that the pix wont do the area justice though !

it is nice to be home again.

arrived in Seattle

got here without major problmes....will board the Zaandam early this afternoon. the ship leaves port around 5pm Alaska bound. first day will be at sea....then we arrive in Juneau on sunday. hope to see some whales on our whale watch excursion there.

then we will visit Ketchican, Sitka, sail through Glacier Bay arriving at our last port, Victoria, BC on thursday. back in Seattle friday and off to the airport and home.

hope eveyone has a great week.....ahoy now, mateys !!

stuck on flower pot cards !

here's another...this is for a challenge on southerbreezes.com. the inspiration was from a tropical tablecloth, with lots of vibrants colors. we were to use that color scheme...i ran the flower pot thru a CB embossing folder to give it some texture....

teensy wreath card

i used my nestie circle die and cut the hole in a that i attached to the card front after it was embellished........punched many flowers out of scraps and adhered them around the opening...popping some up. some of the flowers are cut from a top of a peanut container that i ran thru the CB with an embossing folder and colored with alcohol inks.

i water colored the background using brilliance inks and an aqua pen. in the opening i put a piece of acetate with names of flowers i ran thru my printer and then quickly embossed with clear embossing powder so they wouldnt smudge. stuck this to the back of the wreath and then mounted on the card front.

the whole card is only about 3 1/2 inches square....lot of work for a little card !

flower pot card

a flower pot card.....small but i think it packs a punch . made the flowers with my nestie flower die....found the directions on dawns site...a treasure trove of ideas

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stampin_studio/2009/05/flower-pot-card-video-.html

recipe card challenge

well, now i know what a recipe card is ! i have seen the term and thought it was for cooking recipes. duh.

anyway, this is a challenge from southernbreezes.com.
ingredients include:
one button
one flower
three papers
one metal embellie
two stamps

sounded easy, but i find that i use way more buttons or flowers or brads or papers !!

this is a faux quilt technique. i made six 1.5 inch squares out of scraps from three papers and glued them to a piece of cardstock and then cut the shape with a nestability label die. edged it with a gold paint pen and stamped a crackle background stamp over it. the background paper (one of the three) was run through my CB script embossing folder and highlighted with white brilliance ink. the paper has writing on it and i thought this would be an interesting addition for the background

the flower is made from one of the papers cut with a nestability die, button in the middle and popped up

the SU stamp "sparkle" is on the faux ribbon made from a bit of one of the papers and a tiny butterfly brad was heated and dipped into EP and reheated to make it stand out. you have to look closely but it is on the right above the word sparkle.

i also edged the paper (one of the three mind you) with gold embossing powder to make it stand out a bit. another challenge, albeit self imposed, was using scraps....so i had to make do with the bits i had

whew! this was tougher than i thought it would be.....obviously i have a hard time making things simple

using something from around the house challenge

this was hard for me.....but i finally came up with something. wrapped aluminum foil around a piece of CS, ran it through my CB with the floral fantasy embossing folder. then inked it with alcohol inks. the strip of candles is another CB embossing folder....with some diamond dust in the flames for some zip