Thursday, January 7, 2016

A Celebratory Card

I retired from a very satisfying teaching career several years ago,
and with that I was blessed to begin a new chapter of my life that continues
to be rewarding and gratifying in so many ways.
I made this card with a retiring friend in mind--
a middle school English teacher, who now will have time
to pursue her passion of making and writing music. 
There's a lot of sequins on this card, and I'm going to add more to 
the envelope because I want her to have a
snail mail celebration!

I was inspired by Dawn McVey's Make It Monday #200 video,
Layering Cover Plate Die Cuts, which you can see here.


I used Papertrey cover plate Making Waves, cutting Hawaiian Shores
and Limeade Ice cardstock then flipping the layers over each other.
A built up Wet Paint die sentiment brushed with Wink of Stella, some stars from cut from
Star Scribbles dies on glitter paper, and an explosion of sequins
finished off this card.

I'll be playing along with the challenge at Papertrey this week,

Many thanks for stopping in!




Saturday, January 2, 2016

Inlaid Die Cuts


I love my little Cuttlebug.  She'll be 7 years old this month-- which has
to be going on 60 in die cutting years-- so
I'm letting her crank and plates take a bit of a rest.  She's on a
comfortable shelf, and she'll be able to watch and critique as sleek, new Ms. Big Shot
takes over most of the cutting and embossing chores.
We took on some serious cutting today, working on some inlaid cards, and 
Ms. Big Shot with her magnetic pad was up to the task and 
seemed to enjoy herself!

The first card uses the Waves die from Papertrey,
with a Paper Smooches sailboat and sentiment:


And the second card features a Memory Box heart
with a Papertrey sentiment:


Fun to have a new toy tool!



Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Thanks LiveLoveCards!

Every month sweet Darlene has a great challenge at her
wonderful subscription website, LiveLoveCards.
one of my favorite cards to make and write!

Here's my entry:


I gold embossed the leaf from Papertrey Ink's
Masculine Motifs set, painting the leaves in with 
Distress Inks and making a few splatters for fun.
The sentiment is a Wet Paint die from Papertrey, cut 3 times 
and layered for texture. The stamped panel is
popped up on the black card base with a
layer of thin black fun foam.

I hope your holidays have been filled
with love and warm memories, and I wish you the
very best in 2016!


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Pink Christmas

There's a great challenge going on at the Jingle Belles blog--
to make Pink Christmas cards - cards with at least a little pink in them.


Here's one from me



For every card uploaded between
now and October 21st, they will donate two dollars to the
Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Way to go, gals!

Friday, October 9, 2015

My Oldest Stamp Set

This card uses a little SU! set, called "Teeny Tinies"
 which was a gift from a mom of a sweet boy 
in my after-kindergarten group, some 10 years ago.  It was
the beginning of what has become an ever-expanding stash, 
taking up shelves and shelves and baskets and bins 
of all kinds of stamping goodies in a room of their own.
I'm entering this card in a couple of challenges--
 the "White Space" challenge over at LiveLoveCards and
the challenge to use something from our oldest birthday supplies,

  
Using Neenah Solar White, I marked off a grid of 1" squares with my sewing machine, 
 then I stamped the images in SU! Tempting Turquoise, Delicata Gold,
and Memento Ladybug and Tuxedo Black.  I layered the main panel
with some lightweight turquoise and red cardstock from Joann's, mounting it
all on a card base of Papertrey Ink True Black cardstock.
Finally, I added some assorted gold sequins and 
glazed the hearts with Glossy Accents.

I hadn't used this set in quite a while, so it was sweet to be captured
once again by its charm, with warm recollections of Susie and Zach.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Inspiration from Embroidery

There's yet another fun challenge over at Shopping Our Stash,
accompanied by a very clever Sandy Allnock video,
challenging us to show how we de-stress.

While working with paper, stamps, and ink is my current favorite
form of relaxation, I also really enjoy doing simple embroidery.  
My sister-in-law, who is an amazing seamstress and cloth artist,
asked me to make a square for a family quilt she's putting together
for my niece who's getting married with this summer in Wyoming.
With the Grand Tetons as a backdrop to the wedding. and
 thinking about that wild, beautiful country, here's my square for the quilt


and here's the card inspiration


Papertrey Ink and Avery Elle stamps,
with Hero Arts, Memento, and Papertrey inks,
in an outlined heart from an Ellen Hutson die.

I'm so happy you stopped by to look-- thanks!