Religious - Easter 2012!

Easter Cards can vary a great deal in their style. . .from whimsical to vintage to religious.  As my first card will be for my mother-in-law, I knew religious was the right choice.  I had this beautiful chipboard cross that I recently bought with Easter in mind, so I went searching for just the right papers to show it off.  Though the picture does not show it off, I embossed the white background mat, and it really looks great with the flocked aqua patterned paper I used to mat the cross and the sentiment.  I know Alice will love her card.

Grandma Alice's Easter card

2012 Birthday for Son, David!

YAY!  I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!My birthday card for son, David, was chosen as a SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF THE WEEK for theWEED ENDING JULY 15, 2012

David loves to go to the movies. . .it's almost like a hobby to keep up on the very latest releases.  He even likes to go to the midnight sneak previews!  Also, his favorite snack is popcorn and his favorite drink is Coke Zero, so of course, they are a must whenever he goes to the movies.  

I found a stamp/ die set from My Favorite Things that depicts those things. . .movies and popcorn. . .so I had to buy it to make David's card.  But, they did not have a drink cup, so I came up with a great idea to find a Coke Zero colored image and size and cut it out to use on my card.  I was pretty pleased with myself.  Then, I even found popcorn paper at Joann's in their open stock scrapbooking papers.  The popped corn kernels were gigantic, so I decided to photo scan the paper and drop it into WORD so I could reduce the image size. . .that worked pretty well and I was much happier with my corn kernel size!  Here is how the card turned out. . .I was very happy with it and I know David will get a chuckle out of it.

A 2012 Valentine for Sibling #3 and #4!

Now to the final two of my four children.  My third-born child is Jackie, so I started thinking about a card for her and decided another of my sister's Valentine kits would be perfect for Jackie, so I dug it out.  (Credit to my sister: Heidi Gonzales: My Lil' Scrap Corner).  

Again, I decided it needed to be larger and square, so I cut a new cardbase and found a pretty red flowered print as the next mat layer.  I Copic colored little Tilda and fussy-cut her out.  The original card had a Spellbinder Label die behind the little stamped Magnolia Tilda, but I thought a heart would be more to my liking and make it much more Valentine oriented.  I was really happy with the paper and die changes I made, yet it the card retains the original flavor of the card design.  I know Jackie will like her.

My last 2012 Valentine card will be for child #4, Mark, and his wife Ginger.  I had purchased a card kit while visiting California at my favorite vintage scrapbook store, Paradise Scrapbook Boutique in Chico, CA.  For some reason, though it has a little boy on it, its hearts reminded me of love birds, which then made me think of Mark and Ginger as they have three Cockatiel, which look like "love birds" to me.  So, I decided to buy the kit and use it for them for an anniversary card, but it also seems like a good match for Valentine's Day.  I sent to my vintage image stash on my computer and found the little love birds I used on the card, and matted them with two mat layers and zigzag stitched around the bird image.  I was pretty please with the outcome and think Mark and Ginger will like it as well.

A 2012 Valentine for Siblings #1 & #2

Now, I turn my creative thoughts to cards for my children.  My first two will be for the first and second born.  First, is David, which this means a card with a masculine orientation.  I had a Valentine card kit that I got from my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner).  Thanks Heidi for allowing me to do my own tweaking to make your card designs have a little of "me" in them.

I wanted to be able to use the kit parts, but I also wanted to enlarged the original card a bit.  I cut a new cardbase, brown mat layer, and found a new patterned paper.  I then Copic colored the little Mo Manning image and assembled the card, which retains the flavor of the original design!

Michele, my second-born, and her husband will get a card from an original design by Heidi also.  I made this card at a card class given by my sister.  I thought it would be just right for them because Don is in the Coast Guard, so this Magnolia stamp of Edwin the Sailor is perfect.  I changed out the ticket to a sentiment that fit Valentine's Day and added the red heart border at the bottom.  I actually think this little border enhances the original card design.

A Vintage 2012 Valentine for Mom!

It looks like Mom has been voted to get a vintage card for Valentine's Day.  I don't know that she prefers the vintage style, but for some reason when I think about making her a card, I think vintage.  This one will be a little more frivolous, as I plan to incorporate a little Copic-colored mouse as well.
I had this lovely piece of saffron embossed paper with scalloped outer edges.  I think these papers are really meant to be used in scrapbooking because then you could use the piece as a whole.  But I decided to fussy cut out the left corner and layer it onto a card.  I chose pinks, saffron, and browns as my paper colors to work with.  So, I began to color my little mouse to fit with these papers.  I've decided coloring animal fur is challenging, but I final got him to where I was satisfied.  I then fussy-cut him out, because I didn't want him to hide most of the saffron embossed paper, which would be directly behind him.  I worked long and hard with the saffron paper and little mouse to get them positioned so I like the way they sat, and then decided a little machine stitching might add.  Out came the machine to stitch before assembly began.  Mom's little mouse card will go out in the mail immediately so she gets it before Valentine's Day.

Celebrating My Hubby on Valentine's Day 2012!

We begin with Valentine's Day cardmaking.  My daughter, Michele, decided she wanted to make her husband a Valentine card, and so, she came over to craft with me!  What a super, delightful treat.  I showed her samples of cards in my cardmaking magazines to give her some ideas, and she went from there.  While she was working on Don's card, I worked on her Dad's card.  I didn't want it to get to girlie, so I didn't add any pearls and ribbon, but rather used Baker's twine, which I thought was a bit more masculine.  Here is John's card:

2012 Birthday for Hubby!

My husband will be celebrating his birthday in a few days on Groundhog's Day.  I bought Papertrey Inks die/ stamp set with airplanes specifically for my husband, who used to fly in his younger years, and we even owned a small plane. . .this, of course, was before children and before John's company was transferring him all over the country for his job and we had to sell the plane.  I just love the little whimsical bi-plane I chose to use for his card. 

For my husband to remind him of his flying days! 

(used Papertrey Ink stamp/die set).

And My Journey Continues...!

I have been making cards for two full years now, and I still feel like I have not found my own personal style.  I think this because I like a lot of styles from whimsical to vintage, but maybe, it is a forever evolving process, and eventually I will find myself sticking to one style only.  I wonder though, as I like variety and doing something different all the time; otherwise, one can tend to become bored.

I still feel very much the novice, especially when I visit other blogs and see what wonderful things others are creating!  This is a very stressful thing, creating a blog to share my work!  I am definitely a little shy about doing that...it's taken me over two years to even contemplate such a thing!  But, as you can see, if I'm going to do, I do it thoroughly...that's for sure my style!

This post brings an end to my blog journey of my cardmaking history 2009 to present, and...I am ALL up to-date!  This journey of making my blog has caused me to revisit my cardmaking memories and realize not only what a fun and interesting a process it has been, but how much I have learned and how much more I have to learn!  It isn't only the cardmaking that's been fun and interesting, but the wonderful people and friends I have met and made along the way.  So many have been willing to take time to share and teach me things I didn't know.  Thank you everyone, and a special thanks to my sister, Heidi (My Lil' Scrap Corner), who will always be my mentor, my sister, and my friend...Love you, Sis!

Christmas 2011. . .Snowflake Cheer

This is another card whose original design was by Angela Kelley.  Once again, I have enlarged this card by adding two more layers to the base:  the light blue cardbase and the soft moss green snowflake pattern.  Again, I think the two new color layers enhances the card, but certainly does not take away from the original design.  This is such a restful card, soothing in its quiet presentation.  I hope that my good friend and her husband enjoy it and know that it was made and sent with thoughts of our long-time friendship in mind.

Christmas 2011: Love those Mittens!

I love this next design made by Angela Kelley.  I have enlarged the card by adding to more layers and with the added bonus of more color:  a new soft lime green cardbase with a red mat layer next, and then the front of the card.  I really like these new layers, I think it adds a lot more color to the card and brings out the green and reds in the mittens better.  The mittens were cut from a patterned piece of paper with mittens all over using a Spellbinder circle die.  Such a great card, and I thank Angela for her original design.

Christmas 2011: Snow Flakes Falling

This next card was also a design by my sister Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner).  Again, I needed to make the card larger, and it came a 5-/4 inch square.  I added the BoBunny Double Dot layer and enlarged the snowflake paper by cutting it in half and spreading it open under the center belly band.  I also added the Scalloped die cut under the snowflake circular sentiment, offsetting it just a bit.  I think my changes added to the card's design, but yet it retains the flavor of the original design.

Christmas 2011: A Card for Son & Wife

Mark & Ginger's card evolved and original design kit by my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner.  Once again, I enlarged my card and made it square. I added a new card rose red base, added the teal snowflake layer and added the doily lace border.  The rest of their card is composed of the pieces in the card kit.  Isn't that just the cutest idea of clipping the winter clothing to a knotted clothesline.  The winter clothing was fussy-cut from a pieces of scrapbook paper.  

A Son's Birthday in October, 2011

My youngest son, Mark, birthday is in October.  I like to make cards that focus on who the person is. . . .by depicting their job, their hobbies, their travels, etc.  Mark is a builder of homes, and takes after his Dad in being able to repair anything.  One difference from his Dad is that he builds homes from scratch, and that is something that his father has never done, though he can do some pretty major home repairs as needed.  

This was my second birthday card ever for Mark, and I had found these cute little metal tool embellishments during my travels in California and I had to buy them for future use.  They, of course, were perfect for Mark.  I loved the colors on Mark's card and the way it turned out.  One thing that may not be clear by the picture is that the aqua patterned paper just below the tool rectangle mats actually has raised and embossed tools, which is pretty cool-looking on the real card.

Anniversary #7 in September 2011

September brought Don & Michele's anniversary...this was #7!  I think since I could not spend a lot of time on Mark & Ginger's card in July, my psyche told me to go overboard for Don & Michele. . .LOL!

I was definitely thinking vintage as well.  I made the crossword puzzle in Microsoft Word, using a table with many tiny squares colored and not.  The word sheet behind the crossword is actually all the questions by number that relate to the actual crossword, which I made up and printed in Word as well.  I also placed the crossword, questions, and answer key (upside down) on a sheet of cream paper and enclosed in an envelope attached inside the card for them to complete on their anniversary...a tad easier than trying to figure anything out on the card front's crossword!  I found the vintage circus tickets online; they happened to be for a Sunday, their actual anniversary day ~ I was stoked!  But, they were the wrong color for my card color scheme...so I put them in PaintShop Pro and changed the color to peach!  Lots of computer challenges...but lots of fun to do!  I love combining computer skills with cardmaking though I don't like make digital cards!  Somehow they don't have enough 3-dimensional layers to them.  I use the computer for the sentiments most of the time instead of stamps, for typing my poems and verses for the inside the cards, and for making my own script paper, things like the crossword, papers with words, etc.

(original inspiration from a card in a cardmaking magazine.  I should have written the information down at the time I thought I might make something like it to give the original author credit. . .I apologize for that lapse.)

September 2011: A Birthday Follows Mine

It was time to make a birthday card for my sister-in-law whose birthday follows mine by just one day.  And yes, again, she would get a Copic-colored card.  I found this little Magnolia stamp that looked like Tilda was lounging back, low-key on a summer afternoon.  June lives in California territory where the sun still shines warmly and brightly in early September, so I thought she was perfect.  I colored Tilda's clothes to match the My Mind's Eye belly band that my little image looked like she was sitting on.  Love those corals, browns, tans, and greens.  I was pretty sure June would like her card very much.

(Heidi Gonzales: My Lil' Scrap Corner design: enlarged, modified and add-on to make it more me.)