Belated Birthday Wishes - Sister-in-Law #2!

I am trying to play catch-up with a few of the birthdays that I missed.  This one's for sister-in-law #2 of 8, who celebrated her birthday at the end of June.

Checking out possible Splitcoaststampers (SCS) challenges, reminded me of some MME papers I used on a friend's card last fall, and a card design from my sister several years ago using this same paper.  This, in turn, led me to two challenge possibilities, involving using recycled products and distressing.  It was time to get started and see where all these thoughts led.

I used a sheet of recycled cork from an accessory pack I won at a stamp gathering several years ago now.   I didn't really care for the flowers and symbols already printed on one side of the cork, so decided I could turn over the sheet and use dies to cut my own designs for my flowers.  My distressing would involve ink distressing, so I liberally inked the edges of all my layers:  mats, sentiment die-cuts, banners, flowers. doily and even the felt leaves (which doesn't show up well on the picture).  

See the finished card below (inside and out).  I think my sister-in-law will be pleased, but I do wish it was not a belated birthday wish!

Ingredients:  Papers:  Stampin' Up Cardstock: Old Olive, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla.  Patterned Papers:  MME-Miss Caroline--Dilly Dally/ Dolled Up/ Fiddlesticks, plus miscellaneous scraps.  SU Punches: Stampin' Up--Circles--1-1/4-inch, Scallop Circles--1-3/4-inch, 7/8-inch, Boho Blossoms (ret.-cork flowers), Itty Bitty Shapes (smallest scallop); WRMK Deco Corner Chomper.  Dies: Spellbinders--Nested Leaves (traced/ cut w-pinking shears); Sizzix Labels-Ornate #2 (sentiment).  Fishtail Flags: Hand-cut.  Wilton 3-1/2" Doily.  Ink Distressing: ColorBox: Chestnut Roan.  Pearls: Recollection (Copic RV-14 colored).  Stash: Dark Celery felt.  Recycle: Cork. Chatterbox sentiment/ inside verse.  Size: 4-1/2" x 5-5/8".  (Thank you Heidi Gonzales for your card design that I cased with some modification to the layering and sentiment.)

Numbers for Valentines!

I found an old piece of XOXO Valentine patterned paper by My Minds' Eye from the Love Me collection.  It seemed like a good masculine piece, so I thought it would work for my oldest son's Valentines card.  

I am still working on finishing Splitcoasterstampers Alphabet Challenge, Round 8.  I have Letter N, Letter P, and Letter X for which I thought this paper might work. . .N=Numbers, P=Punches, and X=XOXO (the paper pattern).  For Letter P, I was thinking that might work if I used all punches to make the card.  I could not make up my mind, so I work with all three letters being a possibility, and I thought I'd figure out which challenge to go for at the end, based on what other Valentines I had yet to make that might fit one or the other of these letters.  I also checked out the current Featured Stamper's gallery (Michelery) and found several possible layout ideas that I thought would work, especially with my Numbers idea.

I decided to use primarily red and kraft cardstocks.  The flip side of the Numbers Grid paper is a grid of calendar numbers with a 2 ♥14 showing up on every two or three rows.  I decided to make a circle focal point of the 2 ♥14 numbers to fit Letter N for numbers.  I add a kraft circular layer under my top 2 ♥14 layer.  These first two punched layers were easy because I have lots of sizes of plain circle punches, but I wanted a final decorative red mat to finish this focal area.  I did not have a large enough scallop circle or a circular heart edged punch, so I built my own using a Martha Stewart lacy heart punch in my stash.  I punched four of these and overlapping their tips in the center to form a circle.  I was pretty please with the final effect and it was the perfect size.  

I used some additional old punches to make a scalloped decorative band across the card and added a red strip for color.  The band would host my punched sentiment and its under layer that I positioned on the left side of this band.  I then popped three large red pearls on the right to finish off the band.  In my mind's eye, the card needed a bit more, so I punch curved corners all around on the patterned dsp.

This is one of those cards that starts with a simple design idea that grows as it is put together.  When I was finally satisfied with the front, I moved on to designing the inside and adding my personalized verse that I completed on the computer that I planned to use on most of my family Valentines.  I think son, David, will be very please with the end result.  Take a peek below at the finished look inside and out!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up cardstocks--Kraft, Real Red, and Very Vanilla.  Patterned paper: My Minds' Eye - Love Me/ Numbers Grid.  Stamps: P.S. I Love You.  Ink: Early Espresso.  Punches: Stampin' Up--1-1/4" Circle, 1-1/2," SU retired--Scallop Border, Modern Label, Word Window, Triple Corners (inside); Martha Stewart--Lace Scallop Heart LG; Zutter--Corner Rounder.  Recollections Pearl: LG - Copic colored.  Dovecraft Pearls--Christmas Basics--smaller pearls.  SCS Alphabet Challenge - Letter N!

Valentine's Day is Imminent!

Valentine's Day has been creeping ever closer, and here it is now in the imminent category!  I few weeks ago, I decided I should try to use up some of my old Valentine paper and embellishment stashes.  Then again, I also wanted to use some of the new products in the 2016 Stampin' Up Occasions mini catalog, so now I knew I was going to be pulled in both direction.  I decided to start with my stash so I wouldn't feel so guilty if I ended up using more new than old.

The first stash idea that popped into my mind was My Mind's Eye's original Lost & Found Union Square papers that I have had for six LONG years now!  It was first published in 2010 and I bought my first pieces then.  Over the next several years, I stocked up on a more and more each year if I saw them on sale, as they were a little pricey because most pieces had glitter on them.  Now, I even have the 6"x 6" paper pad that came out a few years after the original 12" x 12" collection was published.

The piece of paper from this collection that came to mind was what I called the red glitter LOVE paper.  Now, this 12" x 12" paper, of course, is made with scrapbooking in mind, so it has rather large patterns to deal with.  I measured the lower right-hand corner of this paper where the glittery red LOVE word was imprinted, and decided a horizontal card with the big LOVE word in the center would work really well.  My mind evidentally chewed around on this idea subconsciously for several days, and one day in the middle of the night, I woke with an image of the LOVE word fussy-cut out and popped up in the center with some layers involved, of course.

After several days of completing my errand lists, doctor appointments, and celebrating my husband's birthday were finally over and done with, I was able to get to my craft table around noon today.  By this time, I had actually pulled out the paper I was thinking of and had decided to use SU's Early Espresso as my cardstock base.  Today, I actually began working on this LOVE word card that had been fermenting for going on two weeks.  In the meantime, I had received my most current Stampin' Up order, and there were some of the things I had ordered that had also been popping in and out of my mind to use as well!  

My first step was to fussy-cut the LOVE word and its surrounding design.  I decided to underlayer it with Early Espresso cardstock, so I traced its shape onto the cardstock and fussy-cut it about 1/8" out from my trace line.  I wanted use my new corner punch from Stampin' Up; thus, I ended up using both the eyelet corner and the 2-scallop corner as well.  I was really please with this effect.  I adhered a layer of the pattern paper to my espresso cardbase, and I popped up the set of red glimmer and the top patterned paper from this base set of papers.  I then adhered my espresso, fussy-cut underlayer to my LOVE word and popped this set up as well.  I added some small and mini red gumdrop glitter gems to the front, and I was done! Below is the final version of my LOVE word card, which I think I am well satisfied with!

As is my tradition in cardmaking, my finishing job is to create an inside that coordinates and compliments the outside design that I have created, so I turned my focus to accomplishing just that.  I had the idea to use my new SU stamp set, Bloomin' Love as I liked the flourishing My Valentine stamp in this set.  I built a verse around using this very stamp, and voilá here is my completed inside:

Recipe:  Papers:  SU cardstock: Early Espresso, Red Glimmer, Very Vanilla (inside); MME patterned: Lost & Found--Union Square: Home Sweet Home-LOVE; Darice Kraft cs (inside).  Stamps: SU-Bloomin' Love (inside).  Ink: SU-Cherry Cobbler.  Punch:  SU-Curvy Corner Trio; EK-Scroll & Hearts Edger.  MultiCraft: Gumdrop Glitter Gems.  Computer-made verse (w/stamped My Valentine). Size: 4-1/2" x 6".

Feel Better Soon!

A good friend is under the weather and needs a little card to perk her up.  I decided to pull an old, but very well liked paper collection to use: Stella Rose by My Mind's Eye.  I like the blues and yellows, which makes it just the right combination for this time of year in the Northwest.  Sometimes, its a bit gloomy and rainy and sometimes the sun is shining with a 75-degree day.  Each day tells a new weather story, and I'm sure, from past history, there's still some wintery weather left for Mother Nature to bring, but today we'll throw in a little spring to remind us of what's coming!

I decided to case a little card made several years ago by my sister, Heidi Gonzales, (My Lil' Scrap Corner), but change it up a bit by enlarging it and adding a navy mat layer for a bit more color.  Enlarging the card allowed the card elements to be spaced apart more, becoming more visible.  I also wanted to make sure my flowered paper layer presented lots of the yellow flowers to coordinate with the golden-yellow polka dot paper.  My handmade paper flower is a bit different, as I added blue-green felt as an under layer, making the blues in my hand-dyed crochet lace pop.  (The lace was colored with Copic markers).

A number of Stampin' Up demonstrators and cardmakers are going on a little Girls' Get-Away Cardmaking retreat, and my friend (and my Stampin' Up upline) is busy preparing all kinds of yummy foods and crafting ideas for us to take part in, but is also feeling a bit under the weather.  I chose a Here For You sentiment to let my friend know that if she needs any help preparing before we go, or whatever, I am ready to pitch in, as we want her to spend time recuperating and not wearing herself out.  I think she will enjoy her little card from me.

Below is the finished inside of the card, designed to coordinate with the outside, with a little feel better soon verse made from me.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up (SU) cardstocks: Very Vanilla (base), Night of Navy.  Patterned: My Mind's Eye: Stella Rose - Hattie Boy Tapestry, Hattie Happy Bouquet, Hattie Buddies Argyle Dots.  SU stamps: And Many More (sentiment).  My Favorite Things dies: Poinsettia (blue-green felt), Photo Corners (inside).  Papertrey Ink die: Delightful Dahlia (leaf).  SU die: Flower Fold BigZ (newsprint - 2 sizes), Windows Frames (modified).  SU punch: 7/8" Scallop punch (flower center).  SU ribbon: Very Vanilla seam binding.  May Arts: twine.  Stash: 3/4" Crochet lace (Copic-colored), buttons.  Computer verse.  Size: 5" square.

Valentine for Hubby!

I completed this card in a card class offered by Misty Bradley about two years ago, and I have not used it.  Because of the sentiment, I love the "u" in us, it is a perfect card for a couple, and thus, my husband got this one.  I love all the geometrical layering that Misty used, and I had the chance to use Perfect Pearls, which was all the rage at that time.  I'm not sure how I got those little red dotted pearls so perfectly round...I've never accomplished it again on another card, and so, alas,  I've resorted to just using regular half-pearls.

Recipe:  Paper-Georgia Pacific white cs base; Bazzill cs-Blossom/ Kisses; My Mind's Eye: Love Struck.  Stampin' Up stamps: P.S. I Love You.  Stampin' Up Ink: Real Red.  Stampin' Up Punches: 1-3/4" Scallop circle,  1-3/8" circle, Modern Label, Word Window.  Lifestyles Die: Nesting Hearts.

Fun Hospitality!

During my stay in California, I traveled south, making two separate visits to my sister-in-law, who lives in Carmichael.  She graciously provides a comfortable place to stay while there, and I must tell you, she is an excellent cook!  Because she is always so welcoming, I want to let her know how much I enjoy her company, and I always look forward to seeing her.  A little side attraction is that I get to spend time with her grandsons who are often in her company.  As I have no grandchildren of my own but worked around young elementary-age children until I retired, I find them delightful and full of fun.  Each has their own personality and sense of humor, bringing laughter and smiles to me.  I hope she enjoys this card I made for her:

It is fitting that I give my sister, Heidi Gonzales, credit (www.mylilscrapcorner.blogspot.com), as I lifted her idea from a card class she taught back in January 2011.  I used the same papers plus an additional pattern, enlarged my card, and made it square.  I added sewing stitches to several layers, and also popped on a bright turquoise pearlized button to liven up the flower.  I think it turned out very appealing!

My Kansas sister-in-law has a Birthday in 2012!

As you might expect, I have a sister-in-law with a birthday in August.  With eight sister-in-laws, there's got to be one almost every month of the year, though I do think I miss a few.  But, if I start making cards for brother-in-laws, I know I will certainly hit every month for sure!  I am trying to get better at sending birthday cards since I am now retired...my work has become cardmaking, LOL!  Do you ever think, "This is crazy, I'm stressing myself out because I have too many cards to make!  It's supposed to be fun...not work."  I find it kind of funny at times!  So, here is Joanie's card adapted and inspired by a card design by my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner).

Happy Birthday Joanie...have a great one!

Thank You for the Visit!

It is not often that both my husband and I are in California at the same time, but we did manager to do that this spring.  We were also able to make the jaunt to visit John's brother and his wife who live away from the Sacramento area, heading toward San Francisco.  We had a wonderful catch up visit and were able to stay to have lunch out at their favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was so nice for me to be able to spend time with them and get to know my newest sister-in-law better.  She is a very friendly, gracious, and outgoing lady, and I find her delightful company.  I decided to send them a little card after returning home to let them know just how much we enjoyed our visit.

Recipe:  MME papers, SU Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Papertrey stamps.  Decorative Brad (stash).  5/8" White Satin Ribbon (stash).  Papertrey Tag punch.  (Original design by Heidi Gonzales - My Lil' Scrap Corner.  My card is enlarged, layout rearranged, striped paper added.)

2012 Birthday for Danielle. . .

While visiting in California this April, my niece (in-law) celebrated her birthday.  It gave me the excuse to make another card.  I've been toying around with the vintage look, so I decided to try it out on a birthday card.  I found a colored digital image of chocolate ad depicting a lovely little girl in a big brimmed hat.  She was so cute, I was sold, and went to work.  I didn't have the right colored button, so I colored some pearl white ones with Copics.  I was surprised how well that worked, and I could get the color just right to match the papers.  Here is my finished vintage feminine birthday card.

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.)