A Birthday Walk Celebration!

My husband's birthday is in early February.  He is an avid walker, but has not been able to walk as often or as long since his last knee surgery in late June.  It was a difficult recovery, even down to falling and splitting the stitches three weeks after surgery.  This, of course, required an emergency trip to the hospital, another in-patient stay, debriding and re-stitching.  Fortunately, none of the kneecap and joint replacement area below was invaded, only the skin layers down to the knee cap (yes, they replace the knee cap after the joint replacement).

Celebrating his ability to now be out walking in our wooded country scenery, I have decided on a woodland embossed card with a cascade leaf "bouquet" for his card.  I really like the peek-a-boo sentiment area...my first time trying that idea, and I always love ink distressed embossed backgrounds, particular with the woodland embossing folder!  Take a peek below at the finished card inside and out:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up products: Cardstocks--Mossy Meadow, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla. Stamps/dies--Vintage Leaves/ Leaflets Framelits. Inks--Mossy, Meadow, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede. Punch--Washi Label. Embossing Folder--Woodland. 1/4" Cotton Ribbon--Island Indigo. Metallic Baker's Twine. Wink of Stella--Gold. Chatterbox Verse. Size--4-3/4" x 6".

Cute Skeleton Bones for Halloween

It's that time of year where I get to make Halloween cards.  I just really enjoy putting together interesting and offbeat cards, and my four adult children and their spouses enjoy receiving them.  For my DD#1 (darling daughter), I found two challenges at Splitcoasters that spurred along my imagination and my creative mojo began to rumble!

I wanted to use skeleton bones on my card, and I pulled out an old 2015 Stampin' Up set that I had not ever inked up.  Being that this card would be for my oldest daughter, I thought a few feminine touches might be nice, so my skeleton ends up being a wee girl skeleton but not so terribly scary.  I am really happy with the results that morphed as I put it together.  I completed the inside with my very own Chatterbox verse and added some embellishments to coordinate with the card front.  Take a peek below. . .I think DD#1 will be delight!

Ingredients:  Papers:  Stampin' Up Basic Black, Shimmer White, Whisper White, Happy Haunting dsp (stars); Darice Core'dinations Glitter Silk--Silver Mist. Stamp/Die set: Howl-O-Ween Treat/ Boo To You dies (2015 Holiday).  Dies:  Pierced Scallop Background.  SU Punch:  Ornate Tag Topper.  SU: Lucky Stars EF.  SU Embellishments:  3/8" Glitter Ribbon-White, Metallic Thread-Silver, Iced Rhinestone.  Chatterbox sentiment/ verse (handwritten/ computer printed).  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Halloween Glitz

Halloween is coming, and it is one of my favorite cardmaking holidays!  I've been eyeing the Splitcoaststampers Falliday Fall Challenges taking place during with the month of October.  In the back of my mind, I had been toying with the idea of making a card somehow with a big glitzy gold moon and a Halloween silhouette image.  When the Falliday challenge "From Trash to Treasure" came up several days ago to use something recycled on your card, I remembered this pretty black and gold shimmery striped gift paper that I had saved on one of my husband's Father's Day gifts.  I began to get excited and felt the itch to get to my craft table, because I was also remembering my Halloween card idea semi-formed in my mind.  Below is the Halloween card that evolved as I worked on it...

This is the inside design and verse that I created to coordinate with the outside.  I've decided this is the perfect card for my youngest daughter and husband.  I think they will be delighted. . .they are all about Halloween!

Ingredients:  Papers: SU Basic Black cs, Core'dinatins Black Tie Glitter, DCWV Glitzy Glitter Stack (gold), Recycled gold/black stripe gift paper (stablized w/cs).  Dies: My Favorite Things--Stitched Circle STAX, Savvy--Haunted House, Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations--Halloween Shadows (bats).   Busy Kids Flip Flop Rhinestones.  Ribbon/ Twines: Offray--7/8" Black Satin Ribbon, BoBunny--Sheer Dot ribbon, MayArts--Metallic Gold/ Black Twine.  Wink of Stella-Black.  Computer-made verse (inside).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

A Delicate Ornament Merry Christmas! (Totally Lovin' Christmas #9)

This will be Card #9 from the Thayer Totally Lovin' Christmas event early in the Fall.  I have to admit that I did a little doctoring on this one.  I wanted my ornament to be as though it were hanging from the tree, so I added a narrow silver ribbon to the top, plus I raised my ornament up toward the top of the card considerably, because I very much wanted to add a sentiment under my ornament.  Because of the sentiment that I wanted to use, I decided I needed my card to be larger so that all of the elements would all fit much better.  

Because I decided to make all of these changes, I need to re-emboss top white layer under the ornament.  I was stoked because, though I did not currently have the embossing folder needed, I had already ordered it and knew that it was on its way.  I prepared all the elements I could, and then put the pieces aside until the embossing folder arrived.   I was sad to see that it was the smaller A2 size folder and not the new 6-inch size that Stampin' Up is currently offering their folder in.  This required me to emboss once, and then change the location of the folder on the paper by re-positioning and matching it very carefully and ultimately, making a second pass through the Big Shot.  It did leave a bit of a mark where the new and old embossing met, but it was well hidden by the sentiment layers.

I took my silver foil layer and adhered my newly prepared embossed layer and popped this unit up onto the pre-prepared white and red layers.  I added my prepared ornament and sentiment and voila, it was done.  I was very please with my new version of this card, and I thank Liz Thayer for the original design to use as a jump-start to my card.  I am going to attached my card and then the original so perhaps you can better understand my ramblings!

Recipe:  All Stampin' Up products.  Cardstock--Whisper White, Real Red, Silver Foil, Red Foil, Silver Glimmer. Stamps: Greetings of the Season.  Ink:  Real Red.  Embossing folder: Elegant Dots.  Framelit dies:  Delicate Ornaments.  Silver Cording.  Iced Irridescent Rhinestone.  Size: 5-1/2-inch square.