Oldie Moldie Monday

Monday - time to show some love to your old supplies.

The focal point is an ATC I had made earlier in the year.  It was just laying around so I decided to make it into a card.  I have many friends who love their coffee so it will go to good use.

The paper is Basic Grey.  I do miss that company.  I could create for a couple years just using Basic Grey paper.  I even have it all together in several different holders.

Remember to show some love to your old supplies.

Oldie Moldie Monday

Yes I did miss last Monday posting an Oldie Moldie Card.  I have been cleaning my basement - OMG.  But I keep pushing through and try to get more stuff out of there.  I have taken a couple days off from cleaning/clearing because my body said it needed a break.

Here are a couple Thanksgiving cards I made and send out this year.  The paper is from a large 12 x 12 pad that is all fall paper.

Happy Thanksgiving - remember to show some love for your old papers.

Friends Are Like Snowflakes

I am continuing to play with my masks made from snowflake dies and my oxide inks.

I decided I wanted to do a portrait card with the opening on the left side.  I cut heavy card stock to make my own card base.

I added my mask to water color paper with some of the edges of the snowflake  being off the edges of the card front.  I painted over the top of the mask with oxide inks.  After the ink dried - with the mask still in place - I sprayed with a glitter spray to give the front some shine.  After this had dried I stamped the sentiment (from Penny Black) with silver embossing powder.  I then stamped additional snowflakes on the front of the card and used a white glitter embossing powder.  This adds a little contrast to the card front.  A small silver snowflake was die cut for the center of the large snowflakes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Snowflake Kisses

I am still playing with two different Snowflake Dies.  Yesterday I used a die to make a card using letterpress.

Today I cut masks from contact paper with my snowflake dies.  I learned many things as I made four of this particular card design.

I am sending these cards to my shut ins in January.  I made two of the pink card.  This is a sizzix die.

Here is the card with the lesson learned on it.  I wanted to add sparkle to my card so I sprayed with a silver glitter spray.  The lesson is to spray your card front before you remove the mask.  I had a little running of the ink.  This is a Penny Black Die.

Here is a different color.

The color is oxide ink which was brushed on across the card front with the mask on.  I tried to get an ombre look on each of the cards.  In the center of each card is a silver snowflake.  I made the paper for this snowflake by adding versamark ink to a piece of white cardstock and adding silver embossing powder. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas Snowflake

I took  the new Online Card Class - Clean and Simple Holiday Cards.  I learned lots of things and now need some some to try the methods that appealed to me.

I did a letterpress method for this card. 

I apologize for the poor lighting.  Winter in Wisconsin - ugh.

This is a Sizzix die and the sentiment from Gina K Designs is silver embossed.  The silver mat is very well aged paper.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Twofer Wreath Challenge

I recently stumbled across this challenge blog called Twofer.  It is a monthly challenge where you need to use the same stamp, die or stencil and make two different cards. 

The challenge this month is wreath.

I have this beautiful wreath stamp from Gina K Designs.  I decided this is the wreath I would use.  I had made a Christmas card out of it before so I knew it could be done.

I first stamped the wreath with distress oxide inks.  I used a little water to color the leaves that had an open area.  I stamped a sentiment inside each wreath - one to brighten someone's day and the other for a Christmas Card.

I decided to add colored die cuts to make the wreaths more dimensional.  For the Christmas wreath, I used pine bough die cuts and colored with different shades of oxide inks.  For the brighten your day card I used a leaf bough die I had and colored it with the same color that I had stamped the wreath in.  The die cuts were adhered to each of the wreaths.

I stamped a poinsettia for the Christmas wreath card.  The stamp is from Gina K Designs Also.  The little flowers on the other card are also a Gina K Designs.  The flowers were added to the card front with foam tape.

A set of nesting dies was used to cut all the mats and card base.  I went with a kraft card base for both cards.  A red mat was used for the Christmas card and a touch of burlap behind the pop dotted mat finished off the card.  A piece of patterned paper in the same shade of  the flowers was used as a mat on the other card.  A piece of green patterned paper finished the design.  To finish both cards, I sprayed a fine mist of gold shimmer mist over the top.  It adds just the right amount of glimmer.

Here is a close up of the Christmas card.

Here is a close up of the Brighten My Day card.

Thanks for stopping by.  I enjoy these type of challenges because it makes you think. 

Laundry Item Becomes Art Tool

The challenge at Just Us Girls this week is to use bleach on your creation.

I first colored a piece of Bristol smooth card stock with many different colors of distress oxide ink.  I then stamped my image in Black Onyx Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then removed the color within each design with bleach.  I colored another piece of card stock with a light shade of lavender (I have a problem with white white paper).  I die cut the design and lightly colored card stock with dies.  It was mounted onto a dark purple card base.  The thank you was heat embossed on a piece of colored card stock left from the design sheet.

Here is the design sheet before I cut it.

Here is a second card I made but on this one I removed the color in the design with just water.  I imagine if I had left the water on longer I might have gotten a lighter look.

Here is the design sheet before I die cut it.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Floral Thank You

I am working on some thank you notes for the founder of a non profit I work with.  Things are starting to progress and she will need thank you notes to acknowledge the people and groups helping her along the way.  Since I am not in the area and able to help at activities, this is one way I can add a special touch to our organization.

I am using the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch for my inspiration for this card.  My floral images represent the oval in the sketch. 

The florals are from Altenew.  They were stamped in VersaFine Black Onyx ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then cut them out with my Scan N Cut.  There is light color on the background from distress oxide inks.  I also colored a mat with the same color as the florals.
I felt it just needed a little more of that color to make the card cohesive.

If you wish to read about the non profit I support, it is called Hope Her Way.  The goal of this organization is to help young parents start their journey into higher education.  Please click on these words HOPE HER WAY to be taken to the home page.  If you know anyone in the Raleigh,Durham, North Carolina area who would qualify for the first cohort, please have them contact Hope Her Way.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Little Stampers November ATC Challenge

It is time for the November ATC challenge at Happy Little Stampers.  It is time to do a little sewing - real or faux. 

I did not want to dig out my sewing machine so I decided to do some hand sewing/stitching.    I first colored a piece of 2.5 x 3.5 piece of canvas with distress oxide inks.  (I had the prettiest blue fingers.)

I then found another piece of fabric I had that had little images on them that looked like faux stitching.  I adhered the heart to the canvas with Wonder Under Lite Iron On Adhesive.  I then stitched around the heart with a blanket stitch.  I did a little back stitch around the circle with some french knots in the middle.  I added stitched X's in two of the corners.

Some small snippets finished the ATC.

Please come play along with us at Happy Little Stampers with our November ATC Challenge.

Did I tell you there are prizes to be won? 

November Anything Goes With Dies Challenge

It is time for a new die challenge at Happy Little Stampers for the month of November. It is the best challenge because it is "anything goes."

I was cleaning and discovered all my Sizzix BIGZ Dies.  I had some beautiful snowflake dies in this group of dies.  Since Christmas is fast approaching, I thought I would make another Christmas card.

I cut the snowflake four times.  Three of the layers are just white card stock and the top layer is silver glitter paper.  I glued all the layers together.

The background is done with distress oxide inks.  One layer is oxide ink and water and smooshing your background in the mixture.  The mat is done by adding the ink with a blender.  This is the best way to get a perfect color match.

The sentiment was heat embossed with silver embossing powder.

I got out the silver thread to add another layer of silver underneath the sentiment.  I also sprayed the background with a silver spray.

Here is a close up of the center of the card.

Please come join us at Happy Little Stampers for our November Anything Goes With Dies Challenge.  

Did I tell you there were prizes?

Floral Christmas Card

I am slowly working on my Christmas cards and also trying to improve some of my skills.  Watercoloring is not one of my strong skills so I keep trying to improve.

This month the challenge at CAS Watercolor is Christmas Florals and Greenery.

The challenge this week at Addicted to Stamps is Make Your Mark - use some type of coloring medium.  I attempted watercoloring.

While I was out cruising the world of card making blogs, I found a new monthly challenge.  This challenge blog is called 613 Avenue Create.  Their challenge this month is Anything Goes with the Optional Twist of Christmas or Winter.  I made a Christmas card.

This is a stamp I have had in my collection from Avery Elle.  I think I have attempted to color it before with not so good luck so once again I tried.  It came out OK.  I used Zigs.  I used a Jane Davenport water color pallet.  I stamped and heat embossed the image with gold before I started coloring.  Supposedly the embossed edges keep the color inside the lines.  Of  course it is always red that goes outside the lines.  I added some blue to the background to ground the image.  

I matted the image in some very old gold paper I had and then red card stock before adding it to a white card base.  I had to take my picture at this weird angle so that the gold would show.

I do have another one of these images stamped and embossed - do you think I should attempt coloring it again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday on Tuesday

The cards were made for Oldie Moldie Monday on Sunday but someone was lazy yesterday and never got them posted.  Do not ask me what I was doing but I did not get it posted.

An online friend requested that her fellow card makers send a birthday card to her granddaughter so I was more than happy to honor this request.

The paper is some old Basic Grey.  I have several containers of Basic Grey along with many 6 x 6 pads.  I must get busy and use some of this paper.

The stamp I used is only a year old so not much mold on it.

Since I had some scraps of the paper left and since with the help of my misti I had stamped 32 pandas and cut them out with my Scan N Cut, I made an additional card.  This card will start my next group of cards I will send to the Collins Home for the children.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.  They still make beautiful cards.

Happy Little Stampers November Mixed Media Challenge

How did it become November?  The Mixed Media Challenge at Happy Little Stampers for November is Birds.

I am still working on getting all my birthday cards done for the remainder of 2018 and this will be a birthday card for my sister.

This bird image (stamped and colored) has been floating around my design table for a couple years so I decided to finally make it into a card.  Thank you HLS for motivating me to use this image.  The base for the image is several layers of book pages glued together and then a layer of gesso on top.  The image was stamped in black and heat embossed.  I believe it was colored with inktense pencils.
I then fussy cut out the stamped image.

The background for my card is another sheet of book paper, layer of gesso and then pink paint scraped over the top.  I had cleaned up the paint on my work surface with a baby wipe.  I dried it, tore it into strips and added it to the pink background so it added a little texture to the background.  I added some texture paste through a circle stencil in several parts of the card.  This piece of black acetate in upper right corner floated to the surface also so I used it on my card.  I added some glitter washi tape, some black polka dot fabric and thread to finish the card design.  The sentiment was stamped on another piece of pink book page.  The sentiment and bird image were pop dotted.

Here is a close up of the top of the card.

Here is a close up of the bottom of the card.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for our November Mixed Media Challenge. 

Did I tell you there is a prize for one lucky entrant?

So Very Thankful

The month of November is upon us and it is time to think about how thankful we are for different things.

I am thankful for so many things:  my two wonderful daughters, their husbands, the rest of my family, all my wonderful friends, being warm, having food to eat, being able to help people through my ministry of cards. 

Each month I try to send cards to some special women who have touched my life in different ways.  Several are in their 90's and very special women.  One is a young woman who I knew as a student and is battling cancer.  I hope that my cards bring a smile to their face.

My card this month is made with some beautiful paper from Bo Bunny.  I just bought two sheets of it.  I wanted the blue for the mat and I loved the paper with the multi colored foliage on it.

The sentiment stamp is from Concord & 9th and the die for the sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink.  All the papers were edged with Brushed Corduroy Oxide Ink.

My card works for the weekly challenge at The Paper Players where the challenge is to "Give Thanks."

I love the colors in this paper.  I hope it brings a smile to my special ladies.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Little Stampers November Christmas Challenge

It is November - time for a new Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

The challenge is anything goes with an optional twist CAS.  I find CAS so hard to do but I try.

My images on my card are from a card kit from Gina K Designs from 2017. 

The ornament image was stamped with distress oxide ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The shadow for the die cut was colored with the same color of distress oxide ink and then when complete dry the shadow was cut.  The other sentiment was cut from white.  It was glued to the crd front.  Everything was added to a mat which had been colored with the same color of distress oxide ink.  (I don't remember the color and I am too lazy to walk upstairs and look - sorry.)  Sequins (with no holes in them) were added to the card front to add some bling to the card.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for the November Christmas Challenge.

Did I tell you there were prizes? 

Snowflake Christmas Card

It is time to get busy and get those Christmas cards made so I take advantage of any challenges where I can use it to make a Christmas card.

The new challenge at CAS Mix Up Challenge is  to use an embossing folder, stamping and your choice. 

I dug out one of my snowflake embossing folders, some light teal card stock and last year's Christmas kit from Gina K Designs.  The snowflakes and sentiments are from this kit.  I stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by.