Madge - I'm Sorry!

I absolutely love the stamps by Art Impressions, and they didn't even pay me to say that!  Yesterday I found out that I forgot to send a check to someone and it gave me an opportunity to use my "Madge" stamp on the enclosure card I sent.  She's a little overly dramatic for my "oops" this time, and luckily I don't have many occasions to use her, but I'm secretly happy when it happens! 

Enjoy!  I appreciate your comments and thank you for looking!

Paper:  olive green by Bazzill, blue unknown, image watercolor

Stamp:  "Madge" by Art Impressions, sentiment by Stampin' Up!

Markers by Marvy (w/ water brush)

Corner Punch by Creative Memories

One-Layer Wednesday 76: Color in Winter

This week, Susan's One-Layer Wednesday (wintery) challenge is to use gray and white, with a pop of color.  I immediately thought of a bare tree holding a nest with tiny blue treasures.  The weather has been odd enough that, in this case, the birds got "busy" a little early in the year!  I made the card two ways, just for fun.  The cardstock is light gray, but it looks light blue here, for some reason.

I wonder which card you like better, the light gray with silver embossing, or the dark gray with white embossing?

Enjoy!

Paper: dark gray and light gray by Bazzill
Stamps: tree by "Stamps by Judith; nest by Stampin' Up!
Embossing powder: Detail white by Imprintz, Detail silver by Stampa Rosa
Blue eggs:  Sakura Gelly Roll

SU Love Impressions Valentines

I think I'm about a year late in making Valentine cards using these Stampin' Up! Love Impressions rub-ons, but they only recently caught my eye on the Clearance Rack at SU.  I made a whole stash of cards and especially love the little heart-air balloons!

These are uber clean and simple.  If you click on the image, I hope you can see the little pearl bling I used to cover the "o" in the little "xo."

And finally two cards using the big rub-on hearts and itty-bitty bits:

And one just using the sentiment from the Impressions set (the heart is a punch).



This was an inspired purchase, well worth it!  And I still have lots of rub-ons left to use in other ways this year, or next year!

Enjoy!

CFC 36 CAS-ual Fridays, Black and White

It's a happy rainy day here in Northern California.  We are celebrating the rain and the 49ers being in the playoff game.  I hope the rest of the country gets some much-needed moisture soon.  My plants are SO happy with the rain and the warmer temperatures. 

So, okay, I just became aware of CAS-usal Fridays 36 Challenges and thought I would particpate in this black-and-white-only challenge.  As you can tell, I really like black and white (with a little blue to pick up the veins of blue in the black granite).  This is my kitchen after a remodel a few years ago:

And this is my card, which couldn't be much simpler!  I used vellum embellishments only, which I think came from Stampin' Up!, but I'm not sure.  (Sorry; my system of organization is such that I take things out of their packages and put them in their assigned spots.)  It was nice to participate in this challenge and make a useful Valentine at the same time!  TFL!

Enjoy!

One Layer Wednesday 75

Susan's One Layer Wednesday (75) challenge today is to create a card for a man.  I tried to figure out a way to attach a piece of bacon, sausage, or hot dog, without success.  Now THAT would be a card Mister would notice!  Failing that, attaching my card to a package of links would have to do.

I think both men and women love lighthouses, so that's what I chose.  My photography skills are minimal, so I couldn't quite capture the sparkle I added to the waves with a Gelly Roll "clear star" pen.  You'll just have to imagine how frothy and sparkly the wave looks.  (BTW, the paper itself is a little shimmery.)  The stamps are both from the now defunct Mostly Animals Kristal Clear Impressions: Beacon of Safety and Wave Reverse.  I still miss Kris Hemler and hope she is stamping wherever she is.  She was way ahead of her time with her design of clear stamps a decade ago, at least in my world.  But I digress ... I finished off with a smidge of Distress Ink Stormy Sky all around.  The sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up! 

Here you go, easy-peasey.

Scanned:

 Photographed:

Close-up:

Enjoy!

Card Blogs and Contests and Whiskers on Mittens

Kraft paper cards tied up with twine,
Stamps with cute bunnies, even a swine!
Cream-colored cardstock and crisp linen strings,
These are a few of my favorite things!


But blogs are so many, contests are more.
There's no time for seeing all I adore!
These talented women surely have wings -
Their "hives" and their cards are my favorite things!

I'm lamenting today about "so many crafters, so little time!"  I started my website/blog because I had already uploaded years of my cards onto Smugmug and I wanted a way to simply showcase my work there by a link from this venue.  Okay, that was good, that worked, but since then I have become hooked on this whole community I've found of card-makers who blog to showcase their creations, or who otherwise showcase them through other means.  There's a ton of fabulous blogs and beautiful stuff out there, people! 

Do most of you have secretaries?  Seriously.  I am amazed at how you are able to run a home, often have jobs outside of the home, have blogs, create challenges and sketches, design stamps, and still have time to make cards to share and enter into contests.  Phew! 

I am begining to feel inadequate trying to write a blog and make cards and enter contests - and, yes, I understand that if there are whiskers on the mittens, it's time to put them in the wash.  I'm writing this note as a stern talking-to, to myself.  I must not become obsessed with all this computer stuff related to cards.  I must not sit here for so many hours that I no longer have any time to make cards of my own.  I may enter contests, but I may not become overly competitive, as such.  I may admire someone else's creativity, but I must not be envious. 

Okay, good.  I feel better.  I'm in control now.  I'm going to unbuckle my computer chair belt, step away from the abundant, enchanting, and encouraging stamping community, make my way to my Playhouse, and create something that makes me smile.  But wait, where do I start?  I now have hundreds of design inspirations to choose from!  One step at a time, pick one, and create.

And then, tongue-in-cheek, I'll blog about it, post it, enter it into a contest or two, see if anyone looked at it, better yet commented about it, then wonder if ...

Hooked on the intertube,

"Less Is More" Week 50 One Layer - Birds

As you can see from my cards, I definitely believe "Less is More!"  This is my first time participating in one of the challenges, but I hope to be a regular in the future.  Here is my one-layer card featuring "Gunther" a delightful bird stamp from Mostly Animals.  (Sadly, Mostly Animals closed a few years ago.) 

Gunther is embossed with black ink and colored with Marvy markers.  The card is all white; the background blue is simply a piece of paper behind the card so the card would be visible on the white blog screen.

That was a fun break - now back to Valentine cards ...

Enjoy!

Talk About CAS Valentines!

These two cards couldn't be cleaner or more simple.  This first one is just red cardstock with rounded corners and two heart-shaped rhinestones. 

Close-up of the heart rhinestones:

This one is made using hearts-all-over cardstock by either K & Company or DCWV. I simply stamped a "For You" sentiment (by Stampin' Up!) in the tiny clear space available near the bottom, and tied on a red bow. Voila!

Enjoy!

Hearts Two Ways

This is from my archives; a timeless design.  The stamp is by Stampin' Up!.

And this one with the same stamp using cardstock from my stash of handmade papers (from India, not handmade by me) and pieces of torn colored vellum.  The little heart is wrapped in thin gold wire.



Enjoy!

One Layer Wednesday 74 ~ Beary Pink

Susan's One Layer Wednesday Challenge (74) today is to use only red and pink and shades thereof.  I colored him with red colored pencils, honest, but he looks a bit orange inside this computer.  He still looks contented though, doesn't he?  Like someone just fed him a big bottle of warm milk!

Addendum:  my original card is below this one.  I really didn't like how orange my little bear looked in my OLW posting, so I made another one and colored him pink.  I think he looks better with his pink mesh background stamp.  I don't know if it's permissable to change my entry in Susan's challenge, so I'll just leave that as is, but here in my blogland, we now have a pink bear with red bits.  Bits.

Enjoy!

stamps: mesh backgroud stamp by Stampin' Up!, bear by Rubber Stampede

Frosting on the Cake

Happy Monday!  Here are a couple of cheerful birthday cards for inspiration.  There are so many fun ways to decorate and "present" this multi-layered whimsical cake stamp by Stampin' Up!

Enjoy!

Hedgehog Hello

Here's a clean and simple card using a very old, but still loved hedgehog stamp.  These cute little critters never fail to bring a smile and you will see them on this site every now and then.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve with the grandsons, but some of you may have partied like this!  I hope so!

Best wishes to all for a bright new year!