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.

2012 Birthday for Nephew, Parker!

I bought a cute little turtle riding a bicycle from CC Designs several months ago to use for Parker's birthday.  With his little bike helmet, he reminded me of a Ninja turtle, so I colored him with Copics so that really did enhance the idea in your brain.  I'm always a little uneasy when coloring with Copics because I have not done a lot of it, and I'm always worried that it just isn't going to go well.  But, this little guy went very well, so I was stoked.  Then, the search was on for papers that would work with my coloring job.  I don't usually color first and then find paper.  I find it is usually easier to find the paper you want to use with the type of image and then color the image to coordinate with the paper, or at least that works best for me.  But, in this case, I knew I wanted him to be greens and almost on army camouflage idea for his shell.  I did wait to color his bicycle, basket, and pavement until after I had the papers chosen.  I think Parker will be really please with his little turtle.

A 2012 Birthday following Easter!

Our daughter, Jackie, was born on Easter Sunday, a number of years ago!  Her birthday sometimes falls within a few days of Easter, as this year--the day after, and sometimes it's several week before or after.   Research tells us that from the time of her birth until 2023, she will not celebrate another Easter Sunday birthday!  Wow that's amazing...over 40 years from her birth!

For daughter Jackie's birthday...the girl with the green thumb.  (Sprout:  Mo Manning digi...perfect for Jackie.  Original card design by Heidi Gonzales).

2012 Easter Whimsy!

My last four Easter cards will be for my kids and their spouses if married.  They get to have the whimsical Easter cards depicting baskets, bunnies, and chicks.  I have a card full of whimsical stickers from BoBunny that I think will be perfect to building on.

My first whimsical Easter card will be for the oldest of the children. . .David.  So, not too foofoo for sure, so I chose the Easter basket sticker.  I found a wonderful polka dot paper that had all the right colored dots to coordinate with the eggs in the basket.  I did pop off a bow on the basket, but in thinking about it after, I should probably have used a ribbon knot. . .oh well, maybe next time!

My second card will be for second sibling, Michele, and her husband, Don.  I decided this one would go to the feminine side and my next card for them will be toward the masculine style.  They will get the cute little golden chick sticker.  I used a doily to set the chick off and popped him up off the patterned circle.  I also added a little machine zigzag stitching and pinked the edges of my second mat layer.  I was really happy with they way he turned out and I think they will like their card, especially Michele.

The third in line is Jackie, and she will get the little pink bunny for sure!  I decided a pink scallop frame for the little bunny and a double floss twine bow for her ear.  She is just so cute with her little blue nose matching her bow!  I think Jackie will love it!

The fourth and last of my urchins is Mark, so this last card will be for him and his lovely wife, Ginger.  I had this little yellow chickie paper with had a shimmery look setting them off from the matte background.  One of my stickers was a puffy yellow chick that went perfect with this paper.  I thought yellow feathers tucked behind the popped up chick would add the final touch, and here is Mark and Ginger's Easter card:

2012 Easter Card for Hubby!

It's Easter, so what can I say. . .my husband will be getting a card that is not as masculine as I usually try for.  I had this Easter Wishes stickers that I really wanted to use.  I search for papers that would coordinate with the blues and deep violet frame on the sticker.  I decided to add a little dotted knot tie for a 3D effect on the sticker, plus some popped green leaves.  I also used netting instead of ribbon.  I've been wanting to try that, so this was a first.  It turned out pretty well, and by chance, I just the perfect color so how could I not!

Vintage 2012 Easter!

Next, I decided to make my Mom's Easter card.  As I do love to make vintage cards, I decided she would get my attempt at that style.  Again, I found a softly colored digital image that I loved and then found papers that would show it off without overwhelming it.  I loved the crackled pink cardstock I found that worked perfectly for the image frame made with Spellbinder dies.  I had the pink and green ribbon in my stash and it is almost a perfect match to the green and pink flower paper.  Next, a row of buttons on lace finished it off nicely.  I think Mom will love her card with it's lovely muted colors.

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!