A Sunny Hello for a Fast Recovery!

I wanted to participate in the SCS Teapot Tuesday Challenge--6/22/21 for the husband of SCS friend, Sharon Madson.  Larry broke his hip recently and is feeling rather housebound and in need of cheering up, and I have the perfect card that I started back in August last year but stopped almost immediately.  It is  from my very first Paper Pumpkin card kit, entitled A Box of Sunshine...une boîte de soleil.  I stopped because I knew I couldn't just follow the kit design...it needed more layers to satisfy me.  I didn't have the right supplies with me, because I was on a crafting trip with my Mom and sister in Oregon. 

 
I'm remembered this card that I never got back to finishing because of the challenge requirements...it is the perfect cheerful Hello card to put a smile on Larry's face. Though I remember the challenge requirements for a cheerful, thinking of you, hello, hugs, and etc. card, what I did not remember was that our challenge hostess wanted us to think French when making our cards as well.  Suggestions were to think Eiffel Tower, French flag...blue, white, and red, French wine/cheese, a French painter, a French singer or song, etc.  She even provided a French song/ video, La Tendresse by Bourvil that we might use as inspiration, but it didn't inspire a sun-themed card, and I was determined to use the sunshine/ hello card I had in mind. 

I had an idea that led me to search for a possible French song that would inspire a sun-themed card.  I found a lovely song that really enchanted me entitled, The French Song...When the Sun Says Good-day to the Mountains sung by Lucille Starr.  It a beautiful song, and I played and listened to the video/song several times while completing Larry's card.  The song has stuck with me (in the English version, but I actually prefer it in French ), and I find it replaying in my head at odd times of the day!

I've successfully added two more layers comprising a new black cardbase and a golden dot panel below the sun rays paper provided by the kit.  I really like how the black makes the sunshine and black dotted paper POP.  My only other change was to drop my horizontal band and sun a tad lower...I thought it balanced the card better.  Take a peek at Larry's card...I hope it lifts his spirits and he like it!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Basic Black, Whisper White.  Kit--June 2020 Paper Pumpkin/ Box of Sunshine--Gold metallic sun ray paper, stamps (Hello), sun diecut, black/white dotted strip, fishtail banner.  Artistry in Bloom sequins.  Other:  Patterned paper layer--Pebbles Basic 12x12 Paper Pad (dots).  Colorbox Ink--Chestnut Roam (ink distressing).  EK punch--Victorian Corners.  Chatterbox computer verse.  Size--4-3/4 x 6-inches.

No Cake for David?

My oldest of four will be celebrating his birthday in the first week of March.  He is on the KETO diet, so he wants to say, "NO," to cake...can you imagine?!  I found it is now possible to purchase KETO ice cream, so we will be making an ice cream cake for his birthday.  He won't have to say NO to cake and he can have candles!  Now, I just had to get busy on a birthday card.

When I was last visiting my Mom, pre-COVID, I saw a card she made at her Stampin' Up demonstrator workshop.  I remember its sentiment from the stamp set, Amazing Life, and thought it would be perfect for my dieting son's card.  It also used the very masculine papers, In Good Taste, which I have, and thought one of the patterns might work nicely as well.  I decided to add a little black and a some recycle coppery foil (saved from an envelope insert...just too pretty to throw away!), plus a cupcake all work together.  Take a peek below at how my project evolved into David's finished card inside and out:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Papers--Basic Black cs, Very Vanilla cs, In Good Taste dsp.  Copper Foil (saved from an envelope insert).  Stamps--Amazing Life (sentiment); Dies--Call Me Cupcake (framelits), Stitched Rectangles; Inks (sponging)--Bermuda Bay, Call Me Clover, Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mango; Clear Embossing Powder; 3/8" Black Shimmer ribbon; Metallic Brads.  Other:  Copic Markers.  Inside--Chatterbox verse.  EK Victorian Corner punch.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6."

Reaching Classic "Old" Age!

My brother's birthday is in early May and yet another card was needed, especially as this is a milestone birthday well into retirement!  I'm so far behind in cardmaking with the hand recovery that I'll never catch up, it seems! 

I had an unfinished card hidden away in my To Do Stash that I came across when looking for a previous unfinished card.  The initial basic design layout was by Liz Thayer on this one as well.  All the pieces were there to finish, except just a notation of the stamp set used.  I particularly liked the Acetate Foil gold patterned paper and gold foil included in the kit with the navy blue.  I used all the paper pieces provided, but I also decided to add a black cardstock layer as the cardbase and as another image mat layer. 

To start, I masked the image paper with the car outline, and watercolored the background around it with the idea of sky and landscape color tones and dried it with my heat tool.  I then stamped the image and sentiment from the Stampin' Up Guy Greetings stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, using my MISTI to line up the stamp images on my small piece of watercoloring.  Next, I colored the vintage car with my Copic markers.  Finally, I assembled all the paper layers and popped the acetate pattern off the gold foil.  I added some Glitter Enamel Dots, and voila, I was finished! 

As my brother has restored vintage and classic vehicles for many years, I am pretty sure he will like this card...even more so if it were a Chevy.  Take a peek below inside and out.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Basic Black, Night of Navy, Gold Foil, Shimmer White.  Patterned Paper--Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate (retired 2018).  Stamps:  Guy Greetings (retired 2018).  Glitter Enamel Dots (retired 2018).  Other:  Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  Copic Markers.  Artist Loft Watercolor Pan Set (Michaels).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

Showering Sienna's Coming!

Sorry that I have been AWOL from my blog due to a flair-up in my arthritic and tendon-deteriorated hands, which prevents me from crafting.  My hands had already been earmarked for surgery for several years prior to my knee replacements, but the knees took precedence.  Since my stop-gap cortisone shot wore off in October, I needed to make a hand specialist appointment to determine a surgery schedule, but I procrastinated with the holidays.  By mid-December, I could feel the handwriting on the wall.  I really hoped to put surgery off until late April or May because of a list of personal commitments and obligations that I felt needed to come first, but that really has become almost impossible.  A doctor appointment in a few week's will determine the plan.  Meanwhile, cardmaking has been almost impossible without severe pain, but despite this, I did get one done in the past few days.

My youngest daughter is expecting her first child in March. . .a second grandchild for my husband and me.  We are very excited for Sienna Rose to make her permanent home in our family.  As traditionally happens, the mother-to-be and baby were to be feted with a shower; therefore, I really needed and wanted to make a card!

I mulled over possibilities, letting some Splitcoaststamper challenges influence my final decision.  I decided on a vintage style after browsing through my baby papers and chose an old paper that I have loved for years and never had the occasion to use it...now was the time!  Because the paper was very pale, I colored the dress ruffles, collar, and cuffs to brighten it up.  I even colored the little fussy cut flowers that I used on the card face and inside decoration.  I was pleased with the results and Jackie was too!  See the finished card, inside and out, below:

Ingredients:  SU Papers: Cardstock, Gingham Gala (2019 Occ./ balmy blue).  Other: Patterned Paper.  Dies:  MFT Stitched Scalloped Edges; Eyelet Oval; Hero Arts: Thank You Messages Frame Cuts.  Punch: WRMK Corner: Deco.  Copic Coloring (paper dresses, flowers, gems).  Ribbon: 5/8" seam binding.  Pearl Gems (natural & colored).  Chatterbox verse.  Fussy-cutting.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6."

A Baby's Coming in the New Year?

My oldest son's girl friend asked me to make her a baby shower card for her son's first child and her first grandchild. . .a little baby girl!  She had some specifics for me to work with, in that she wanted lavender to be the predominate color, it to be very feminine, and to have a baby elephant for the focal image.  She also wanted the inside verse to contain the baby's name.  Other than those specifics, I could let my creative juices flow!

Of course, my first thought was to check out current challenges at Splitcoasterstampers and then older challenges that I missed to work on my personal "challenge catch-up" goal.  I wanted to finish more of the current Alphabet Challenges for Round 10, so decided to focus on Letter E for elephant/ theme: animals.  I also used some older challenges for layout and inspiration.  Here is my finished card and inside verse using the baby's name:

Ingredients:   Papers~  Cardstock: Recollections Essentials (Violet); SU Whisper White.  Patterns~ Recollections: Purple Ditsy Floral; K&Co.-Watercolor Bouquet-Purple.  Stamps~ Wild Rose Studio/ Bella (retired).  Ink~ Memento Tuxedo Black.  Dies:~Lifestyles Lacey Squares (retired); Sizzix/ SU: Layering Squares; Lifestyles Lacey Circles (retired); Spellbinders Classic Circles LG.  Punches~ SU: Curvy Corners (retired); Martha Stewart: Double Loops Edger; QuicKutz Scallop Photo Corners (retired).  Ribbon~ Offray 5/8" Sheer Violet.  Copic Marker coloring.  Chatterbox sentiment tag/ inside verse.  Card Size:  4-3/4 x 6-inches.

Thank You for the Delightful Gift!

I received a fairly unique gift quite unexpectedly...a cedar, chainsaw-made Christmas tree.  We had a family gathering a few weeks ago to celebrate two birthdays, and my son-in-law's mother was in attendance.  She is a collector of chainsaw wood art, and she brought a gift for me and my two daughters plus my daughter-in-law.  They were "carved" Christmas trees using a chainsaw to cut and form them from cedar logs.  The tree's branches were painted green with a bit of white snow gracing their tips and the trunks were the natural bark from the small cedar logs from which they was cut.  She had decorated each with miniature Christmas lights that could be all white or multi-colored by changing the remote settings.  What delightful gifts!

I needed a thank you card desperately and immediately.  I scoured some of the Splitcoaststamper challenges to find some ideas.  I used the Inspiration Challenge for an autumn color inspiration and found a Featured Stamper Challenge with a pretty autumn leaf card.  My mind was made up to do an autumn leaf card of my own.  I found some other challenges that would fit as well, and if I added green, I could finish Color Letter Z in the Round 9 Alphabet challenge.  

At this point, I remember a card by Liz Thayer that also had a leaf design, so I "borrowed" elements from her card to add to my card as well.  This is my finished card, a bit of a modified Liz design than from the Featured Stamper with two more added layers.  I finished the card off with an interior design to fit the outside and added a Chatterbox verse printed by my computer.

Take a peek below at the finished card inside and out.  I think my friend will enjoy her thank you card and also know just how appreciative I am of her lovely gift!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Papers:  Cardstocks--Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss, Gold Foil, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, So Saffron;  Patterned--Color Me Autumn (2014 Holiday), Typeset (2014-5 Annual).  Stamps: Holiday Cheer, Project Life (sentiment/ 2014 Holiday).  Dies:  Autumn Accents BigZ.  SU Embossing Folder: Hardwood.  SU Other:  Gold Basic Metal buttons; Washi Tape (names unknown); Dazzling Diamonds Gold Glitz.  Ink: Soft Suede ink distressing.  Size: 4-3/4x6-inches.

Circa 1860's Vintage Christmas Tree!

I'm working on the Splitcoaststampers' Virtual Stamp Night Mini Challenge #2, whose theme is "Little Women."  The requirement is to make a vintage card in keeping with what their era of Christmas might look like.  I also went to several other SCS challenges for the layout and embellishment inspiration.

I started by looking through my stash of patterned papers for something with a vintage flair.  I found two perfect pieces that I was pretty excited about.  I checked my layout inspirations and with the paper in hand, my mojo began to simmer.  I jotted down a quick sketch of changes and additions I might want to add to the layout, so that I could gather all my tools and materials before I started the timer to begin making my actual card.

I opened up my stash of Christmas embellishments and re-acquainted myself with what I had, looking for something that would work with my chosen papers.  Right off, I spotted the lovely dimensional tree that I ended up using, but it certainly needed some background framing, which led me to the lovely, vintage-looking oval frame.  Of course, vintage means lace, pearls, ribbon, etc. to me, so I searched through my stash of these types of items for ones that might go well with my papers and my layout ideas.  I had to "build" my own lace panel as what I had was either too large or too small.  I cut out and cut down the center of the wider piece and added new edge lace to make it the perfect width.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.  All in all,  I am pretty happy with how my card evolved so quickly and how well it turned out.  Take a peek below:

Ingredients:  Papers: Stampin' Up cardstock--Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; American Crafts/ The Color of Memories--Vintage Christmas #320369/ Musical Score #341340.  Die: Cottage Cuts--Oval Doily.  Punch: EK--Scalloped Scallops border; Stampin' Up--Curvy Corners (retired).  Dimensional Chipboard:  K&Company/ EB Versions of Christmas Grand Adhesives--Christmas tree; Recollections Chipboard Accents--Christmas sentiment.  Lion Bonbons Jingle Bells (Christmas colors plain/ metallic).  Recollections--mini pearls.  Stash: Two laces/ modified; Fun Foam (pop up layering).  Size: 4-3/4x6 inches.

(This card became my daughter, Michele's Christmas card).

Three Trees & Two Colors in a Christmas Forest!

I thought I might dabble in the Virtual Stamp Night Challenge on Splitcoasterstampers.  They started a pre-mini challenge in early November. . .the actual event takes place December 2 & December 3.  The first pre-challenge was all about trees, even scraggly ones like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!

I decided to use my Sizzix tree dies that I bought last year and did not get to use due to some hand issues that cut my crafting time down to zip!  I checked out the Christmas Central website for the Inspiration challenge to see if it could give some ideas of what to do with a tree or trees.  I spotted some pretty black and white items, which got my creative mojo going, and I decided a night scene with snowy forest trees would be really pretty.

I had to be clever about this as the Virtual Stamp Night requires you to spend only one hour putting your card together.  Your planning, designing, gather papers, and tools don't count against you, plus you may have pre-fold card bases available, and even some mat layers stashed.  It took me 35 minutes to die-cut and assemble my card parts.  I used a timer, and was able to pause and "punch out" when  my brain went into a re-designing mode with changes to my original thoughts, which required more tool gathering time.  I "punched" back in and went to work with more die-cutting and assembling.  I am pretty happy with the end result; take a peek below:

Ingredients:  Paper:  Stampin' Up--Whisper White (cardbase); Recollections Signature Glitter Paper/ white; Core'dinations--Black Tie; DCWV--Silver Stag Star dsp.  Dies:  Spellbinders--Tear Drop Circles; My Favorite Things--Stitched Circle STAX, Stitched Snow Drifts; Sizzix TH-Alternations--Woodlands; Cottage Cutz Expressions--Merry Christmas.  Stampin' Up: Metallic Stars (retired).  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Halloween Peeking Out All Over!

As mentioned in my previous post, it's that time of year when I get to make Halloween cards...ones I truly enjoy so I can let my imagination run away!  My next card is for DD#2, my youngest daughter, and her husband.  Since there is a man involved, I had to stay away from anything too feminine!

My son-in-law is a Halloween and theme park enthusiast!  The two of them just returned from a five-day Halloween adventure vacation to the Los Angeles area, visiting Halloween horror events and Halloween themed parks and thrill rides.  Warner Bros. Halloween Horror Nights was their primary attraction visited.

I actually started their card well over a month ago after I checking out several Splitcoaststamper challenges before I finally settled on the card layout I wanted to use, but I was unhappy with where it was going so I stopped and only recently got back to it.  I revisited the SCS challenges and finally felt like I knew where I was headed!  I incorporated four common Halloween images usually seen on the Day of the Dead and ones that I was fairly sure they saw in many different versions while on their vacation.  I ended up pretty happy with the results and was pretty sure they would enjoy it as well.  Take a peek below at the finished card:

I found a verse that was perfect for the card, with a few modification, but ended up having to hand-write it because my printer was on the fritz!

Ingredients:  Papers: Stampin' Up cs--Basic Black, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla; Bazzill cs--Yam; American Crafts POW Glitter Paper--Caramel; Best Creations Glitter paper--Lime; Pattern Paper--Doodlebug Designs/Ghost & Ghouls--Spookie Sprinkles (confetti), Host of Ghosts (stripe).  Dies:  Impression Obsession: Halloween Cutout Circles; Stampin' Up--Layering Circles; Little B--Halloween Phrases.  Punches: Martha Stewart edger--Cathedral Lace; Stampin' Up--Curvy Corners (inside-retired).  Embellishments: Offray Sheer Stripe--Yellow-Green; Recollections--purple mini rhinestones.  Verse/ modified by Chatterbox.  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches. 

Traveling Teapot Challenge...Sympathy Card #2!

Splitcoaststamper's Teapot Challenge for May 15, 2018 is for the mother and grandmother of our SCS friend's great niece, who has left us and gone to her final resting place with God.  I wanted to participate in this challenge and send my card on the way to this family, who are so grief stricken.  I am praying that all of our SCS cards will help bring solace to their wounded hearts.  It is always difficult to deal with losing loved ones, but when they are young as well, it makes it doubly difficult.  Take a peek at my card below, which is bright and cheerful, and I hope it bring a small smile to their faces.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Bermuda Bay, Lemon-Lime Twist, Whisper White.  Pattern Paper--Eastern Palace DSP.  Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Christmas Quilt (stamped bg).  Ink--Bermuda Bay, Lemon-Lime Twist.  Dies--Quilt Builder Framelits, Layering Ovals Framelits (plain/ scallop), Stitched Shapes Framelits.  Pearls.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

Hugs & Prayers for SCS Friend. . .

A wonderful Splitcoaststamper friend has lost her young, great niece, and I wanted to join the Teapot Party to let her know we are so sorry for her family's loss.  To lose someone is always difficult, but that much more so when they are very young!  I am sending our friend hugs and prayers in a card, sealed with a kiss.

I have had this fantastic stamp set that I know it has flooded Splitcoasterstampers and Pinterest with oodles of card, but I have never inked it up myself.  I thought this lovely tree and scenery would be just right for a sympathy card.  I'm hoping it bring comfort to our SCS friend.  Time will eventually help heal and allow her and her family to remember wonderful memories of this sweet little girl who has gone too early to a peaceful and loving place.  Take a peek below at my finished card inside and out.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Products:  Cardstocks--Blushing Bride, Lucky Limeaide (ret.), Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla; Stamps--Sheltering Tree; Inks--Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzaz, Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette, Memento Tuxedo Black, Burnt Brown Sugar (ink edge distressing); Embossing Folder--Petal Pair (2018 Occ); 1/2" Pink Pirouette seam binding ribbon (ret.).  Other:  Stash--Metal Leaf; Chatterbox sentiment/ verse (computer printed); Size--4-3/4" x 6".

Sorrow for Our Alpha Sister!

It is with sadness that I must make another sympathy card for a dear friend that I've gotten to know through Splitcoaststampers.  She is a fellow Alpha Challenge sister, Art Deco Diva, and after a long struggle, she has lost her mother to the battle.  We are all so saddened to hear this, but want our friend to know how much we are thinking of her and praying for her and her family.

The Splitcoaststampers Traveling Teapot Challenge, which chooses someone each week that we want to honor in some manner and for different reasons.  Unfortunately, some of those reasons involving losing someone near and dear to us.  Art Deco Diva's SCS galley is filled with lovely cards that can only be described as eclectic.  We are choosing to honor Art Deco Diva with cards that feature the shabby chic style and are challenge hostess wants us to include lots of detail.

I love shabby chic, one of my favorite styles, but I prefer it not to be too over the top, but for sure it must include ribbon, lace, flowers, and definitely be feminine.  I am using all of those things, plus some layering and dry embossing to add texture.  Of course, it has to have some sparkle, so I added a flower rhinestone medallion for the center of my flowers.  Take a peek below at my finished card inside and out.  I'm hoping it will bring solace to ADD's sorrowful heart and let her know that we are thinking of her and keeping her and her family in our prayers during this trying time.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Sahara Sand, Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla.  Stamp--Petal Potpourri (2015 Occ).  Markers--Lost Lagoon, Sahara Sand.  Dies--Stitched Shape Framelits/ Ovals.  Punch--Flower Medallion (ret.).  Embellishment--Something Borrowed (Occ-2015).  Ribbon--3/8" Stitched Satin-Lost Lagoon (ret.).  Lace--7/8" Lace Trim-Sahara Sand (ret.).  Other:  Cuttlebug EF-Summer Set/ Floral.  Dies--Spellbinder Petite Scallop Oval SM.  Chatterbox sentiment/ verse (computer printed).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

Mother's Day for Grandbaby's Mom!

My daughter-in-law is celebrating her second mother's day, with grandbaby, Callie being 14 months old.  I, of course, wanted to make her a card, and after waiting for my mojo to kick in, I finally had a great idea.  

Ginger loves ice cream and Cold Stone Creamery, so I planned to give her a Cold Stone gift card, and a greeting card with ice cream cones would be perfect.  I thought of a Stampin' Up DSP collection called Tasty Treats, and I found the perfect piece.  See the story below on how my mojo began to jell so that I arrived at my great idea!

After finishing the card front, my next step was to design an inside that continued the card front's theme.  I composed and typed an inside verse appropriate for a Mother's Day card and finished the verse off with a bit of embellishing.    I'm pretty happy with my stash scraps added to make Ginger's card and color ideas borrowed from several SCS challenges, and I think she will be pleased. Take a peek below at the finishing inside and out!  If you are interested in "The Mojo Development and Construction Story," it is located at the bottom, below the Ingredients list.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe (ret.), Whisper White; Paper--Best Ever dsp (2015 SAB); Tasty Treats dsp (2015 Occ); Stamps--Crazy About You; Ink--Crisp Cantaloupe (ret.); Punch--1-3/4" Scallop Circle, Banner Triple, Scallop border (ret.); Dies--Hello You Thinlits; Solid Twine--Crisp Cantaloupe (ret.).  Punches: Zutter Corner Rounder, EK Med. Scallop Photo Corners, WRMK Corner Chomper: Scallop. Wink of Stella-Clear; Copic marker.  Chatterbox verse (computer printed).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

"The MOJO Development and Construction Story"

I have bits and pieces in my stash of cards I started and didn't finish or from cards designs from classes that I attended that I wasn't totally sold on the original design and took the pieces home to add to it to make it more fitting to my card style.  Last week, I was browsing and found a scalloped punched flower, a button, a two-layer square mat with "CELEBRATING" already stamped and a cursive "you" die-cut.  I had several birthdays coming up and another Mother's Day card needed, so I set these pieces aside, thinking I might be able to do something with them.

Meanwhile, I had been browsing SCS challenges to see if anything inspired me, and I saw a card by Jennifer (aka picard76), the current Featured Stamper, that I really liked, including the lovely colors.  Here was possibly another idea for my next card.  

Another day or so went by, and I revisited my pieces thinking I definitely might use them for my daughter-in-law's Mother's Day card, because the "celebrating" her would fit in.  Now, I had already purchased a Cold Stone Creamery gift card, because she loves ice cream and Cold Stone.  

My mojo began to work and thoughts began to jell as the colors in Jennifer's card brought to mind the Stampin' Up Tasty Treats DSP paper collection from several years ago that featured these same colors in the form of ice cream sundaes and cones.  An "aha moment" arrived, and I knew just what I wanted to do!

I wanted the flat stamped and punch flower to have more dimension as it was just too flat.  I though of stamping more flowers and layering them, but then I decided to cut the individual petals so that I could lift them and thus give the card more depth and dimension.  I also rounded two of the square corner on the layered square where the flower would rest.  The "you" sentiment die-cut was already cut out from Crisp cantaloupe cardstock, and I colored it with Copic markers to the color of the Calypso Coral cardstock as I decided to use both shades in my layers.  I threaded my button flower center with a criss-cross solid cantaloupe cord, and I tied a knot and frayed the ends.  I decided to make the fishtail banner shorter and centered it under the flower's square, but keep its tails loose.  This allowed the "you" die-cut space to reside on the ice cream dsp close just a teeny bit under loose banner ends. 

On the inside design, I punched a little scallop edging at top and bottom of the verse cardstock, and I added double-layered, scalloped photo corners around the verse.   I also added a pocket on the right flap of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock covered with a smaller panel of the ice cream patterned paper.  I added a scalloped edge at the top of the pocket to dress it up a bit.  The pocket was now ready to have the Cold Stone gift card inserted.

A 2018 Valentine for Mom!

It's time to make a Valentine card for my Mom!  I sure miss her...with all my knee and hand issues starting over two years ago, I've missed three of my traditional semi-annual trips to visit her.  I will not be able to go until this coming fall due to my second knee replacement in March!  Mom will be a spry 93-years old in August, 2018.  We always spend lots of time cardmaking together on my visits, along with my sister who lives in the same town in California!  We usually schedule a week-long girls' get-away to Mt. Shasta...what wonderful memories!

I pulled out some of my old unfinished Liz Thayer card kits and their pictures to see what I might use and get them out of my too full "To Do" box.  I found this little gem that I never put together during my knees "hiatus."  I love the paper colors and Liz's design, so my plan was to keep it quite similar, but add a little here or there to put a little "me" into it.  Then, I would design a complimentary inside and verse to finish it off.

I re-cut and enlarged the white cardbase and added a Crisp Cantaloupe layer between the base and the black layer to add more color.  (I saved the old cardbase to cut and use for the inside card verse).  I added rhinestone gems to the four corners, the banner points, hearts, and sentiment circle, but the bones of the design still shine through.

Now that Mom's card is finished, it really reminded me how much I loved the Valentine Stampin' Up products I bought in 2015 and 2016 but never had the opportunity to use.  I will check out some Splitcoaststamper challenges to see if any of them fit, as I already had the colors, papers, and design ideas before beginning my card.  Take a look below at the finished card inside and out.  I think Mom will be pleased!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up papers:  Cardstock--Whisper White, Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe (retired); Patterned dsp--Stacked with Love.  SU stamps: Hello Life (2016-retired).  SU: Happy Heart EF.  SU punches: Itty Bitty Accents Pack (2016-retired); 1/2" Circle; 2" Circle; 2-1/4" Scallop Circle.  SU-Rhinestones.  Wink of Stella-Clear.  Computer-composed verse.  Size: 4-1/2' x 5-5/8".