Easter Bunny Takes Tea!

On  a roll, here is card number two for my Easter Stash.  This cute little Easter vintage image several years ago and stashed her on my computer for future use.  Do you ever find you are surfacing the web and find freebie images and put them away for a rainy day?  Along with Pinterest, this is another of my favorite past times.  I, of course, at this stage have more images than I'll ever use, I'm sure!

I thought this little bunny would be very cute with pastel Easter paper to add color to my card as there weren't many colors depicted in the image itself.  What better way than to do a ray card with multiple design paper patterns.  My next step was to address my little teatime bunny.  I sprayed my little image with adhesive spray and then dipped it into iridescent crystal fine glitter to make an almost frosted look to its surface.  I don't think the photograph really shows that detail much, and I apologize.  I then cut a circle frame using my Spellbinders Eyelet Circle die.  I also decided I wanted to use colored tickets for the sentiment, so I stamped up several different colors of cardstock with Easter sentiments, die-cut them with my Tim Holtz Ticket Strip, inked decorative lines around the edges, and added ink distressing.  Voila. . .three tickets just perfect for my card.   I think someone will be please when they receive this little bunny card!

Again, the final touch to complete the card is to decide on the inside creative design and the verse.  When that is finished, I know the card is totally done.

Recipe: Papers:  Stampin' Up - Pretty in Pink cs (card base), Pear Pizzaz cs.  Ray papers:  Imaginesce-For Peep's Sake: Spring Fling & Hot Chicks; WRMK-Cottontails 6x6 pad; Angel Co.-Country Cottage/ yellow; Authentique-Promise/ Four.  Spellbinders die: Eyelet Circles.  Sizzix/Tim Holtz die: Ticket Strip.  PTI stamps fr tickets.  Recollections: pink pearls.  Elmer's Craft Adhesdive Spray.  JoAnn's Iridescent Fine Glitter.  Stash: Lace, Organdy Glitter ribbon, vintage bunny image.  (Size: 5-1/2" square).  

Mr. Mummy Returns!

Last year I made a punch art mummy card from the Stampin' Up Top Note Die.  He turned out pretty cute, and I named him Otzi the Mummy after the oldest European mumy found between Austria and Italy, dating back to 3,300 BCE.  I also learned how to make another mummy card without using one of the punch art methods from my Stampin' Up mentor, Liz Thayer.

For this year's mummy card, I decided to case this design and to re-created my own mummy card for my oldest son, David.  My mummy get a few more ragged bandages than the original design and several more base layers to add interest and more color.  The bandages are created by tearing paper to fit your rectangle card shape and leaving an opening between bandages for his eyes.  After the bandage strips are overlapped, randomly applied and adhered, the aged bandage look is created by using your Stampin' Up Basic Gray ink pad on its edges and corners and daubing the torn paper in a somewhat haphazard fashion until you achieve the look that you like.  I have to admit this made me a bit nervous because if you screw up at this point, you pretty much screw up the card, and have to start all over!  But all was well, and and I had cut and layer my mummy onto the bottom two layers, I was pretty happy with the way he turned out.  I think David will like him as well.

My final creative addition to Mr. Mummy was to find or create a verse to compliment the theme of the card and to embellishment the inside to coordinate with the outside design.  Below is my verse creation to fit this card:

Recipe:  SU cardstocks: Black, Basic Gray, Pumpkin, Whisper White, Naturals Ivory; DCWV 2011 Halloween & Fall Stack.  SU Ink: Basic Gray.  SU Stamp: That's the Ticket.  SU Punches:  1-3/8" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 3/4" Circle.  Other: SU Chalkmarker, SU Large Rhinestones.

Happy Birthday to Sister-in-Law #5

Of my eight sister-in-law birthday that fall between May and October, I am on #5 for the month of August.  This is one of my husband's sisters, and she is the third oldest of the eight brothers and sisters.  As mentioned before, John is the oldest of eight!  Joanie still lives in Kansas where the family was raised, but has retired away from Wichita and out in the "boonies!"  I think sometimes she find this very remote and wishes she was closer to her children and grandchildren, not to mentioned the many, many cousins and in-laws!  I like to send her one of my cards each year to let her know John and I are especially thinking about her on her birthday, along with other times throughout the year as well!  

Fortunately, with John's sibling family reunion in early July, we had a great time visiting with all these relations from five different states!  I made this gate-fold card about a year ago using a card designed by Misty Bradley in May 2013.  I modified a tickets from the paper line's embellishment page by scanning it and dropping it into PaintShop Pro to re-color its background from tan to a soft sage green.  After printing my new ticket, I added it to the front of the card as a closure for the gate-fold.   I re-sized my new ticket to smaller version to include on the inside of the card near the sentiment journaling card.  I also added petite pearls to the peach die-cut doily on the front.  The flavor of the original card design is retained, but I like the little additions and changes I made, as I think it made the final card even better.

I  knew when I added the "LOVE" ticket to the front design that this card would be reserved for a close family member.  It is definitely a feminine card with its soft hues of peaches and pale greens.  I think this little "LOVE" card will fit Joanie just right! 

Recipe: Georgia Pacific-white cs. Bazzill Moss, Justy Peachy cs. Authentique Grace patterns: Humble/ plaid, Delicate/roses/ Foundations/ LOVE Ticket (background changed to Moss)/ Floral journal tag (inside). Sizzix Sizzlits Vintage Doily die. Martha Stewart half-pearls.  LOVE ticket recolored beige background to sage green and added pearls).  (Inspiration thank you: Misty Bradley).

My Son-in-Law's Birthday!

My son-in-law's birthday was coming up in mid-July, and I was leaving for a few weeks on vacation...our first excursion out in the motor-home this year.  With our leave date coming up soon, I needed to be proactive and get Don's birthday card made early to leave as we would be gone on his actual birthday. Yikes, I was feeling the pressure to get busy very quickly.

Now, he is a big coffee drinker, so I decided to use my Perfect Blend Stampin' Up stamp set with his card. Then, I remembered a really cute card I had started at a class taught by Liz Thayer several months ago where she taught the masking and reverse masking techniques.  We used the Perfect Blend stamps with the reverse masking technique to make this card.  I had all the parts stamped, cut, and embossed, I just needed to assemble the card that was almost complete, but I decided I wanted to modified my card's design a bit to put a little more "me" into it.  I wanted to enlarge it and add more color for interest, so I added a black card base to make a fifth layer, which accomplished both things.  I also added the printed belly-bands to the two outside cups instead of just on the middle cup.  I decided to use red scrappers floss ties on my ribbon instead of twine and put it on the top as well as on the bottom.  I then added a larger dark brown glimmer ticket as a base layer to my ticket sentiment and a red star with his initial on the center cup.  I also added an inside pocket to place a Starbucks gift card inside, and made a birthday verse for the inside with decorations to coordinate with the front.  I think my additions enhanced Liz's original card creation yet preserved its original cute design.  I hope Don likes his card as much as I enjoyed make and modifying it.

Recipe:  SU Papers:  Cardstock-Basic Black, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Neutral Paper Stack; Red Glimmer.  DCWV Glittery Glitz: Dark Brown.  SU stamps: Perfect Blend.  SU Ink: Soft Suede.  Spellbinders die: 5-Point Star.  SU Punch: Ticket Corner (ret.).  SU Decorative Dots EF.  SU Chevron ribbon.  Making Memories Glitter letter (colored with Copics). Stash: Red Scrapper's Floss.  Technique: Reverse Masking.  (Size: 4-1/2" x 5-3/4").

Valentine Conversation Hearts for Sister!

I wanted to make a card for my sister to give her a hug and the Valentine holiday seemed the perfect time.  I had some Valentine conversation hearts in my stash of embellishments and so wanted to use them.  I also had a "Hugs" ticket that I thought would work in nicely.  I decided on using inchie squares to set the conversation hearts off, and the ideas took off from there. Here is how the card evolved, and it is now on its way to greet my sister with her hug from me.

Recipe:  Paper: Georgia Pacific white cs base, Bazzill-In the Pink cs, DCWV Carte Postale stack,  Me & My Big Ideas-Hearts, EK border punch, Jolee's Conversation Hearts; Pink sparkle net (Joanns); K&Co. Hugs Ticket; Pinking Shears.

Tickets to Christmas #2!

I wanted to try out the Glitter Window technique again...I just love its effect!  This time I decided to try using a patterned paper behind the window instead of washi tape for the ornament's decoration.  I also wanted to use one of my other ornament punches to see how that would look.  I love Stampin' Up's Winter Frost  designer paper in the Holiday booklet and their Silver Glimmer paper and those were my choices for this card.  I was pretty happy with it when it was finished, reminding me of a cold and crisp winter day with a bit of snow on the ground!

Recipe:  Stampin Up products:  Papers: Island Indigo (base), Smoky Slate, Pool Party cardstocks; Winter Frost dsp; Silver Glimmer. Ink: Island Indigo. Stamp: That's the Ticket. Punches: Ornament (retired), Boho Blossoms. Embossing Folder: Snowburst (retired). Rhinestones. Dimensionals. Stash:  Satin-Sheer ribbons - white and seafoam.

Tickets to Merry Christmas #1!

I went to a Christmas card-making event sponsored by my friend, Liz Thayer.  She shared several techniques that I really enjoyed.  One was the glitter window (like a snow globe shaken), the second was double embossing, and the third was techniques and ways to use washi tape.  My card was inspired by one that Liz had us make during this event.  

The double embossing was done with Stampin' Up's Stripe Embossing Folder, which is a diagonal multi-stripe. By rotating the paper 180 degrees and embossing it a second time, it made a diamond-shape embossed plaid.  On this card, the glitter window is created by punching out the ornament shape and putting clear 2-inch wide packing tape over the hole on the back side with the sticky surface showing through the ornament window and then sprinkling with white fine glitter and tapping off excess glitter.  On this card, three patterns of washi tape are diagonally placed on the second paper surface beneath the window, creating a pattern to show through as the ornament's pattern and through the glitter window.  The washi tape was also used diagonally on one of the tickets.  Just love the way this card turned out.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products: Old Olive (base), Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede cardstocks.  Authentique: Festive-Glistening (plaid); Stamps: That's the Ticket; Ink: Old Olive; Punch: Ticket Duo, Christmas Ornament; Stripe Embossing Folder; Washi tape set: Season of Style; Soft Suede seam binding ribbon.  Scotch 3M 2" Clear Packing tape. Martha Stewart white fine glitter.

A Sweet Niece's Birthday in Early October!

One of my sister's girls is an Army wife and is far removed from home while her husband is stationed in Georgia.  I know how difficult it is to be so far from home, so I wanted to send her a homemade card to let her know that her Auntie was thinking of her and remember her birthday.

I have always loved the Authentique Grace papers that I bought last spring.  I went to a card class hosted by Misty Bradley (Rock, Paper, Scissors) while visiting my mother and made several of her cards during the class.  One, in particular, was a favorite of mine, and gave me inspiration for my card.  I decided to case the layout and the patterned papers as I was running late getting Shauna's card made.  But, as those of you who know me well, I can't just copy something; I have to add my own twist and creativity to most things I do.

I changed the cardstock matting to browns instead of grays, made the "word" mat a bit smaller, and the card size a bit bigger. I re-positioned some of the layout elements just a tad to accommodate the slight paper size changes made. I made my bow a double loop and re-positioned it a bit and added some pearl embellishments.   Though the original card used a "ticket" sentiment, I wanted a different sentiment word and color.  I scanned some of the tickets on my Authentique sticker page and dropped the gray-green Sweet ticket into PaintShop Pro, re-coloring it to a soft golden background to bring out the gold in the paper.  Now, I was much happier, plus Sweet fit a birthday card for a sweet niece much better.  I decorated the inside of my card with similar paper layers and home-made corner embellishments and I was done!  I hope Shauna likes my take on this card.

Recipe: Georgia Pacific-white cs. Core’dinations-Coffee cs. Authentique Grace patterns: Beauty/ flowers, Sweetness/ Words, Foundations/ Sweet Ticket (background changed to Gold). Hug Snug/ Brique seam binding ribbon. Sizzix Sizzlits Vintage Doily die. Recollections half-pearls/ Copic E74. 

A BIG Thank You!

I went to a lovely, fun day of Stampin' & Sharing with Liz Thayer, a 14-year Stampin' Up veteran demonstrator.  Liz is a font of cardmaking knowledge, especially using Stampin' Up products, and when attending any of her classes or special events, it is always stupendous learning experience and a jolly good time!  As expected, Liz did not disappoint!  She just returned from convention, and it was a day full of sharing new ideas and tips to make cardmaking easier and a how-to discussion of the Faux Patina technique.  This is a technique that I am familiar with and have tried once on a card about a year ago, but still feel basically an amateur!  I loved Liz' color combination to achieve her rich patina.  We also got to make three cards using products in the new catalog.  

At the close of the day, when I went to pay for the class, what did find. . . I came with an empty wallet, and I never carry my checkbook!  But, blessings to Liz, who glossed over my mistake with her warm and fun-loving personality, making me feel less of an idiot.  As Liz did not allow this wonderful day to be ruined for me in embarrassment, I wanted to send her a card and a refreshing Starbucks gift card in thanks (along with her payment, of course)!  It was time to get out my cardmaking tools and get busy.  I decided to color the Magnolia stamp, "Traveling Tilda," and send her on her way with trunk loads full of thanks.  Here is my finished card, I hope Liz likes little Tilda's visit!  (Credit is given to my sister, Heidi Gonzales---my lil' scrap corner---for her original card design). 

Recipe: Magnolia stamp: Traveling Tilda, Stacked Luggage. Copic markers.  Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Chocolate Chip. MFT "At the Movies" Ticket stamp/die. Computer-made Sentiment. Papers: MME So Sophie-Charming; Bazzill-Intense Teal; Paper Arts Kraft. Ribbon: stash.

2012 Christmas Card for #4

I chose this little vintage snowman card for my son, Mark and his wife, Ginger.  I started this card also while in California at the Christmas Card Palooza.  Our instruction and original card design was Sara Moreno.  As I began to make this card, I decided it needed a bit more in embellishments and color, so I waited until we cropped at Mom's before finished it.  I decided to add a red mat between the kraft cardbase and the green damask.  I added the little snowman dimensional and gave him a popped snowflake on his hat and pearl buttons, as well as the two tickets. 

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.

Moving on to Copic Coloring. . .the Slippery Slope. . .

Using woodless-colored pencils was a great way to learn coloring (shading, sun angle, etc.) and not very expensive.  But now, I wanted to learn to use Copics because I wanted to make a birthday card for my daughter Jackie using these markers, so I asked Heidi to teach me how.  So, I took classes with the help of my talented sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner).

Oh my...sigh...my pocketbook (or my husband's) will never be the same!  I have since moved on to use Copics exclusively, and it was good-bye to pencils...probably forever!  LOL  (You've, no doubt, heard of the slippery slope as an issue if you start using Copic markers. . .well, I met that slope head on!)  Here are some coloring card kits designed by my sister, Heidi, that I that we used to begin my learning curve with Copics!  Now, I was ready to do Jackie's card!

CC Designs digital image crafted/ colored by me (a Heidi Gonzales design)

Mo Manning digital image crafted/ colored by me  (Heidi Gonzales design)

Magnolia stamp crafted/ colored by me (Heidi Gonzales design)

Magnolia stamp crafted/ colored by me (Heidi Gonzales design)