Scrappy Girls Birthday Cards

I'm challenging myself and trying something out of my comfort zone. I joined a group called Scrappy Girls and they have a Birthday Club. Each month you send cards to the birthday gals and then they reciprocate when it's your turn. There's also a RAK list that is totally optional and you can send cards for anniversaries and other occasions. I thought this would be very inspirational since it gives you the chance to see the designs of others. 

The card above I sent to Stephanie in Illinois. I like using a mix of patterns and this one has a lot! I stamped the image onto patterned cardstock with versamark and then covered it in white embossing powder and then used my heat gun. 

For this card I used the same technique with a different stamp. This card went to Yolanda in Washington. 

I'm not sure who the manufacturer is for the patterned paper used in the first card. I used paper from my scrap pile for both. For the second card I believe the paper is from My Mind's Eye.

Birthday cards are just not ones I make very often. My favorite type to create are Christmas, Thank You,  Sympathy and Friendship. I think I need to buy more birthday stamp sets and maybe that will help fuel the creative process. 

I think another reason that holds me back from participating in this type of thing is commitment. I usually take my time and I'm not a very fast scrapbooker or cardmaker by any stretch of the imagination. With that being said I think that this will be a good project for me. 

Below are some of the products used in the creation of these cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Hero Arts Clings Stamp CG270	Hero Arts Cling Stamp CG102	Zing! Embossing Powder	Versamark Ink Pad
Stickles in Diamond	PaperTreyInk Kraft Cardstock	PaperTreyInk Vintage Cream Cardstock	Hero Arts Birthday Wishes CL139

InLinkz.com

Wedding Cards

 

Today I'm going to share two cards I've created for an order I'm working on. The third one I made about a month ago for another order for the same customer. I decided I better take a photo and blog after I make a few. Otherwise I get behind and end up having to do everything all at once.

 

I popped up the sentiment on this one. I love this silver paper from TPC Studio. On the flowers I used some stickles to give them a little sparkle. Below is the sentiment I used on the inside.

 

To give this card a little pop I added the red jute and liquid pearls to the center of the flower.

On the inside I used a stamp from Verses Rubber Stamps called Warm Congratulations.

I added a little color with the red bling on this one. 

I thought I'd share some of my favorite adhesives. Clockwise below I have my Scotch Advanced Tape Glider, Zip Dry Wet Paper Glue and foam mounting tape.

I'm so happy I decided to break down and buy the Scotch Tape Glider! After years of using inferior tape runners that don't adhere the cardstock to my projects I needed something new. I kept seeing people using them in videos I watch on YouTube. Thanks to my friend Susie over at Creative Cafe, I decided to purchase one. I asked her opinion and she emailed me a 40% off coupon for Michael's. It's a very aggressive adhesive which I love. When I use it, I know that nothing is going to fall off a project. I don't use it alot, but I would never go back to other tape runners that I once used.

My next absolute favorite is Zip Dry. I have other wet glues that I use for various projects, but this is my number one adhesive that I use exclusively. I use it for everything. I use this more than the tape glider.

The foam mounting tape shown in the photo above is something that I buy at the Dollar Store. I saw a video (I can't remember who did the video - sorry!) and the woman said that's what she used instead of buying foam pop up dots. What a fantastic tip! It's so much less expensive and all you have to do is cut it to size. I found it in the hardware section. I will never spend money on the other stuff again!

I was telling my husband I need more table space! The problem is I don't have room. I have one table to work on. The mess above is another table I use to the right of my work table. I like to pull everything out and have it at my fingertips while working. The only thing is, I fill it up so much I can't find anything! I really miss having a six-foot and a four-foot table to use like I did in our house in Minnesota. Now I'm down to two four-foot ones. My only option is to take the sofa out of my room. I can't do that because my furry friends use it. I wouldn't want them to have to lay on the floor!

Products used for these cards include: Cardstock by PTI, Stamps from Inkadinkado, Fiskars, Verses Rubber Stamps and Studio G, Sizzix and Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Jute, Sheer Ribbon, Memento Black Ink, EK Success Edge Punch, Corner Punch from Creative Memories, Patterned Paper from TPC Studio, Stampendous! Dot Sparklers, Metallic Decor from Hero Arts.

I still have quite a few more cards that I'll be sharing as I finish them. Thanks for stopping by!

21 Days Of Christmas Cards - Day 17 - Rejoice

This is my second to last card to share that used Stickeroos from  Penny Black. I'm really happy with how they've all turned out. Each sheet gives you several options. You can make multiple cards from each one. I did pick up some non-holiday sheets that I'll probably use for birthday's etc. The patterned paper is the Wonder Collection from Authentique.

Supplies Used: PTI in New Leaf and Pure Poppy, Wonder Collection from Authentique, Stickeroos by Penny Black - Joy To The World, Jute, Stampendous! Dot Sparklers, Stickles in Stardust.

Thanks for stopping by!

21 Days Of Christmas Cards - Day 16 - Poinsettias

This card is so simple yet I'm very happy with how it turned out. This is another Stickeroo from Penny Plack and the patterned paper is from the Wonder Collection from Authentique. In one of my previous posts I lied....! I said I was done using the Authentique Wonder Collection. As I write my post I realized how untrue that was because I still had several more cards that I used it on.

Supplies used for this card: PTI in True Black, Pure Poppy, Viva Pearl Pen in Red, Wonder Collection from Authentique, Stickeroos from Penny Black - Joy To The World, Stickles in Stardust, Stampendous! Dot Sparklers.

Thanks for stopping by!

21 Days Of Christmas Cards - Day 13 - Merry Christmas

Whoops! I forgot to post my card yesterday! I should probably take advantage of automatic posting, but I prefer to manually do it myself. I have my posts ready to go, I just have to remember to post them!

I really love how this card turned out and it's one of my favorites! I did use Stickles on Santa's hat, cuffs and the bottom of his coat. I'm not sure if that shows through on the photo very well. The patterned paper for this card is from the Authentique Wonder Collection. It's such a wonderful collection. If haven't seen or used their paper, I highly recommend checking it out.

Supplies used for this card: PTI in Ripe Avocado, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Felt Flower, We R Memory Keepers Glitter Brad, EK Success Open Scallop Edge Punch, Bazzill in Red, Authentique Wonder Collection, Stickles in Stardust, Stamp from TPC Studio - Christmas Greetings.

Thanks for looking!

This post is linked to these parties:  Tip Me Tuesday, Get Your Craft On! Tuesday, Tuesday Confessional.

21 Cards Of Christmas Cards - Day 1 - Christmas Greetings

This year I'm calling my card blog posts "The 21 Cards Of Christmas". This will be my first post with card #1. I'll be posting all of them throughout the month of December.

I was actually going to streamline my cardmaking this year by only creating a few designs and making multiples of each. The last few years I've made way more designs than I needed to. I also found that I was still sending cards out the week before Christmas. Well, my husband told me he wanted 15 different cards for his employees so that upset my whole system this year! I'm happy to report that everything worked out. I started earlier and didn't let myself work on anything else but cards. I wanted to get them all finished, get photos of them and start getting them in the mail by the Monday after Thanksgiving and I accomplished that! Now I can start on some other projects I've had on the back burner.

For today's card I used something I've never used before: Penny Black Stickeroos. What an easy way to create cards! I'm not sure I'd use them for every card since I like stamping my own images, but the ones I chose worked beautifully. They're perfect for people that are just starting out and don't have alot of cardmaking supplies.

This Stickeroo is called Together In Christmas - #10-186. I did apply stickles on the poinsettia, but it's hard to see in the photo.

Other supplies used for this card: PTI Cardstock in Pure Poppy and New Leaf, Baker's Twine, Bracket Punch from EK Success, Star Dust Stickles, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black, Stamp from TPC Studio - Christmas Greetings.

This post is linked to these parties: Show Off Your Stuff: Sewing and Crafts, Delightfully Inspiring Thursday.

Thanks for stopping!

One Stamp, Three Cards

I took a technique card class last week and I really enjoyed it! I generally don't gravitate toward alot of new techniques when it comes to stamping. I know this sounds terrible, but I like the way I create my cards. I would prefer just to admire other cardmaker's work. I do emboss but it makes me uncomfortable. It doesn't always turn out how I would like it to. Taking this class took me out of my comfort zone just a little.

I used scraps from my stash for all three cards. What a fantastic way to recycle them. Of course if you could see my stash, I'd be here for years creating hundreds of cards!

For this card, I stamped the image on a piece of cardstock that had small squares. I don't have the name of the manufacturer for this paper. I used my new found love.....Inkssentials Enamel Accents from Ranger. I adore this stuff! I bought the two pack of black and white. It's so much more economical to use this rather than gemstones. Especially for mailing. I'll never quit using gems, but I like having the option of another product.

Secretly this one is my favorite, but I really like all of them. This technique was doubly hard for me because it was embossing and coloring! I'm not good at the coloring part which is why I never use markers. I was so apprehensive learning this one. Since Tim Holtz Distress Inks are used in combination with a waterbrush it was fun and easy. I'm not one to have alot of ink colors so creating this one at home was a bit of a stretch. I'm going to keep practicing with different stamps until I get better at it. For the flowers, I used Tim Holtz Trimmings and cut three of them apart. I inked them with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and add a Hero Arts Pearl Gemstone in the middle.

This one really has a piece of my heart, because I used black embossing powder. Black is one of my favorite colors and paired with this paper from Making Memories called Love Struck, it really stands out. I used black Fiskars Raindots around the bottom.

I'll be adding these cards to my Etsy shop in the next few days. If you're interested in them, check back to see when they're listed.

This post is linked to these parties:
All Things Fee
Creating Success Around the World
Inspire Me Monday
Inspiring Creativity
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party - 26
Turning The Table Thursday

Thanks for stopping by!

Tree-Mendous Christmas

This is a very simple card, but I like how it turned out. I really enjoy using the Tim Holtz On The Edge Dies. This is one of my favorites. I think I've purchased either three or four and can't wait to use them with chipboard for a mini-book.

I'm hooked on the Viva Pearl Pen! The patterned paper is called "Under The Tree" from Reminisce.

Other Products Used For This Card:
Bazzill
Reminisce - "Under The Tree" Patterned Paper
Tim Holtz Alterations On The Edge Brackets Die
Hero Arts Clears Stamps - Tree-Mendous - CL465
Versamark
Stickles
Viva Pearl Pen

It's December 18th and I still have four cards to create and get in the mail. Am I the only this pokey!?

Merry & Bright

Whenever I look at this card I laugh. I think the chubby little reindeer is so darn cute! I had some mini pom-poms to use for the nose, but they made his head look so out of proportion. I was sooo disappointed because I wanted to use them!

Products Used For This Card:

Patterned Paper is Santa's Friends from Reminisce
Bazzill
Santa's Helper Stamps - White Christmas - We R Memory Keepers
Hero Arts Clear Stamps - Joy To All - CL460
May Arts Ribbon
Stickles - Turquoise, Black Diamond, Cinnamon
Versamark
Stampendous! Dot Sparklers

Hope your having a fantastic day!

Mojo Monday Sketch #162

Is it possible to fall in love with a paper collection? I did when I saw this Merry January collection from We R Memory Keepers. I also knew that I had to have every single piece of patterned paper from this line.

I chose to use it with this card for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week.

Here's my card called "Warm Wishes" as my interpretation on the sketch.....

....and here's the sketch.

Products Used For This Card:
Bazzill Cardstock
DoubleMates Cardstock
Patterned Paper by We R Memory Keepers Merry January Collection
- Twig
- Mitten
- Scarf
Tim Holtz Alterations On The Edge Ornate Die
Nestabilities Labels Two
We R Memory Keepers Clear Stamps
- Family
- Snowman
Versamark
Gold Embossing Powder
May Arts Ribbon
Stickles in Turquoise
Mojo Monday Sketch #162

This card will be on display at The Baker's Wife where you can find this whole paper line plus embellishments to go with it.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Love A Challenge!

A few days ago I dropped off a layout at The Baker's Wife. While I was there, Phyllis asked me if I could make a card out of a few items. I said "sure!"

She gave me patterned paper from BoBunny's Back to Backs called Flower Child Aquarius, two buttons and some Christmas stamps. This is what I came up with:

The products I used to create this card include: BoBunny's Patterned Paper, May Arts Snowflake Ribbon & Burlap Twine, Memento Ink in Lady Bug, Stampendous! Dot Sparklers in Red, Buttons, Stickles in Diamond, Xmas Red, & Lime Green, Bazzill Cardstock, Making Memories Edge Distressor,  Hero Arts Clear Stamps "Holiday Sayings" CL343 & "Tree-Mendous" CL465

This card is on display at The Baker's Wife.

Clean & Simple Sketch Challenge FTL110

I know I'm not the only one that does this, and that is to over embellish cards. I start out with good intentions, but many changes take place while working on my card. So, to keep myself in check, I always hop over to the Clean & Simple Stamping Blog to see the sketches that are posted. I'm always amazed at how a simple, less is more card can look so fantastic.

The card I created below uses the Clean & Simple Sketch FTL110.

This is the sketch I used:

If you're local and want a peak at this card, I'll be dropping it off at The Baker's Wife.

Products used for this card:
Jillibean Soup Christmas Chestnut Soup Collection Turkish Bay Leaf Patterned Paper
We R Memory Keepers "Happy Holidays" Clear Stamps
Memento Ink in Rhubarb Stalk
Gelly Roll Stardust Clear Glitter Pen
Stickles in Xmas Red & Lime Green
Reminisce Glitter Factory Shimmering Rubies
Clean & Simple FTL110 Sketch

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #131

Here's a card I created for the Taylored Expressions Challenge. I hope you stop by and check out all the beautiful cards the Design Team made.

Here's the sketch I worked from:

This was a fun sketch to work with. I used some new Jillibean Soup patterned paper called Christmas Chestnut Soup Sprig of Parsley. This paper is so cute and I have more patterns to work with, so look for more cards from this collection.

Thank goodness my stickles were dry. I sat my card on the counter and I have a very naughty cat who decided to sit on the card and untie the bow. If the stickles would have been wet, he would have had a glittery butt. I guess it would have served him right! Anyone want a cat???

Supplies used for this card: Doublemates Berry Red Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Jillibean Soup Christmas Chestnut Soup Sprig of Parsley Patterned Paper, Reminisce Glitter Factory Precious Jade Paper, Twine, Ric Rac, Memento Ink in Rhubarb Stalk, We Re Memory Keepers "Happy Holiday" & "St. Nick" Clear Stamps, Stickles in Xmas Red, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Hero Arts Olive Green Gemstones, Gelly Roll Clear Stardust Pen.

I'll be dropping this card off at The Baker's Wife where it will be on display. I'd like to thank Phyllis, the owner for giving me the opportunity to create items at my leisure with her supplies.

Thanks for looking!

Falala

I bought this Hero Arts stamp set last year with the intention of using it for my Christmas cards, but I never got around to it. It worked perfectly for this card! I stamped the image and sentiment, outlined with a Quickie Glue pen and sprinkled silver glitter over them. The dots on all four corners are silver Stickles.

This card is now on display at The Baker's Wife if you're local and want to take a look at it.

Products used for this card: DoubleMates Cardstock, Best Creations Patterned Paper in FaLaLa Christmas, Nestablilites Classic Scalloped Circles, Quickie Glue Pen, Silver Glitter, Silver Stickles, May Arts Ribbon, Hero Arts Stamps - Let The Angels Sing - CL354.

Thanks for stopping by!

1st Christmas Layout

My cousin's daughter so graciously let me use a photo of her family for this layout. Crystal and her husband, Brian, had triplets in July 2009. Technically, they are my first cousins, three times removed, and that information came from here. Crystal's mother Bonnie and I are first cousins because our mothers were sisters. The "cousin relationships" are so confusing to me, that I'm just going to call them my third cousins even if it isn't correct and leave it at that. The triplets, Gabriel, Lyla and Isabella are almost 15 months old and are just adorable! I'm hoping to do more projects with photos of them. I haven't actually met them yet, since we don't live near each other. Hopefully one day.....

I created this layout using one of the laser-cut paper doilies from BasicGrey. This one is the Jovial Doilies Poinsettia Bouquet. I think that it's just gorgeous!

I did add stickles to the doily

and also to the poinsettia and leaves.

This layout will be on display at The Baker's Wife on Friday.

Products used for this layout: Moxxie Joys of the Season Elements Cardstock Sticker, BasicGrey Laser-Cut Paper Doilies - Jovial Poinsettia Bouquet, Dreamstreet Papers Alphabet, Bazzill Paper Poinsettia and Holly Leaves, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Stickles in Gold, Lime Green, Crystal, Xmas Red and Green, Amuse Creative Candy Black Twinkle Stickers, BasicGrey Painted Brads and May Arts Ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hi!

Just wanted to share a card I designed at Paper Studio for a Flower Soft class I held yesterday. I love that it's so "Springy" looking!

Products Used For This Card: Bazzill Cardstock in Sunbeam and Hillary, White Cover Cardstock from Paper By The Piece, We R Memory Keepers Venetian Tiles Blush, Flower Soft Ultra Fine in Raspberry Fizz, Citrus Crush and Sage, Melissa Francis Pearl Embellishments, Copper Embossing Powder, Memento Ink in Rich Cocoa and Bamboo Leaves, Nestabilities, Stickles in Fruit Punch and Lime Green, Hero Arts Stamps - Cherish.

Birthday Card

I make a zillion cards, but I'm never good at sending them out. And, when I do they're usually late. I'm making an exception and finished this card today for a family member, that shall remain unnamed, even though they probably won't be checking out my blog.

The past week wasn't a good one for me. I didn't participate in any challenges and I would have liked to. I have been having issues with my back for the last month or so and in the past two weeks it has gotten progressively worse. Bad to the point that I am in constant pain and can barely sit, stand or walk and don't sleep well. I did get some new medication, but I am totally loopy when I take it and don't really feel like I'm with the program. I can only hope it gets better from here on out. I'll be starting therapy next week, so we'll see what happens.

For this card I used a kraft cardstock for the card base and a silver metallic cardstock for the bumper and windows. It's hard to tell that in the picture. I also used pop dots for the Birthday Wishes and the bumper to add more dimension to the card. For the black background, I just scored the white cardstock and inked it. This is such a fun stamp!

I love my new card frog! Thanks goes to Micaela, the owner of Paper Studio, the local scrapbook store where I work, because she picked it up for me when she bought some for the store. I always see cards displayed on these and had no idea where people found them, let alone what they were previously used for.

Products Used For This Card: Bazzill Cardstock in Kraft, White and Red, Dress It Up Glitter Dots in Ruby Slipper, Dad's Truck Stamp by Printworks, Cork Paper, Black Sparkle Embossing Powder, Eyelets, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black, Black Diamond Stickles, May Arts Ribbon, Hero Arts Stamps "Birthday Messages" CL139.

The Sweet Stop Sketch SSS39

If there was ever a challenge designed for me, this was it. This week over at The Sweet Stop the sketch challenge is to make the sentiment the focal point of your card. Since I can't stamp large images because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, this was perfect!

Below is the sketch I worked from. I tried to make the photo as dark as I could to make the colors pop, but everything is so light it's still hard to see. I took ink and went around all the edges of the cardstock and added stickles to the flower centers. I also took my Bahama Blue Memento Ink and inked the edges of the fabric eyelet that I used for my borders.

Products Used For This Card: The Sweet Shop Sketch SSS39, Bazzill Cardstock in Parakeet, (not sure of the other since it was a scrap), Bo Bunny's "Alissa Twirls" Patterned Paper, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black & Bahama Blue, TPC Studio "Playful Expressions" Clear Stamps, Eyelet Fabric, Stickles in Lime Green & Turquoise.

Valentine Card

Here's another Valentine card I designed at Paper Studio. It's a pretty simple design, but gets the point across. I used the large Valentine original die from Sizzix called Hearts, Tandem.

The center hearts are popped up using foam dots to give the card some dimension. I stamped the word "Love" and then outlined it using silver Stickles. I thought the card needed a little shimmer.

Products used for this card: Duplex Cardstock in Red/White, Sizzix Large Valentine Original Die - Heart, Tandem, Stickles in Silver, Sizzix Clear Stamps "Valentine Wishes" by ScrappyCat, Magenta Paper by The Piece, Bazzill Dotted Swiss in Salt, Patterned Paper by Heidi Grace called Valentine's Day Decor Stripe.

Trees, Trees Everywhere...

I've made so many cards with trees in the last couple of days, that I feel like I'm lost in a virtual forest. When the hubby came home today and walked into my scrapbook room (which gives him anxiety), he looked at me and said "You look...stressed". Of course I am! If I've said it once, I'll say it again...it's my own fault. I do know one thing, I'm definitely having a drink tomorrow night, or maybe two! I want a Decadent, so we'll have to pick up some Choco-Vine while we are out and about. I think I deserve it after putting myself through a marathon of cardmaking.

I just love these cards! I've made a ton of them and if I can find some more paper in my stash that has the "right" look, I may make some more.

They look kind of 60's retro - especially the pink and green ones.

The supplies I used for these cards are: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper from Oriental Trading called Nostalgic Christmas, Clear Stamps from We R Memory Keepers - Merry & Bright, Hero Arts Stamps CL343 Holiday Sayings, Stickles, Corner Rounder to make the scallops and various ribbons.

I do know one thing. When I'm done with this year's cards, I better start on next year's so I'm not down to the wire again!