quincenera card

(i'm guessing on how to spell that)

went to my first quincenera this week (when a girl turns 15 years old, there is a big ceremony and reception to celebrate), the food was great and it was neat to see another side of another culture.

i made this for her birthday card. CB is SU Bblue, then layered black onto white. stamped argyle background stamp (SU) in soft sky ink, used SU script stamp in soft sky (stamped off once) on top of that. used TAC swirl set in black (stamped off once) on bottom. flowers are from sizzix (large is white paper, stamped script in black ink; middle is from DCWV pad, black is stamped with swirl & heat embossed in white; center flower is a silk pink flower embellished w/ a pewter brad.), ink distressed the flowers & CS w/ both soft sky & black (on ink pad & w/ sponge). used "carte postal" SU set for bird in black ink, cut out and used dimensional to make it POP! tied around a piece of pink organza and called it good!

hope you all have a great week!

national people week cards

well, it's national people week! what are you doing for your people?

for my co-workers (managers) i made them each cards to let them
know that i appreciate them and all they do. for our crew, we are
doing something special for them every day this week.

the layout if pretty much the same for every card, with a few
different takes on it. card base is white, there are top folds & side
fold cards. i used my SU script background stamp in black for the
background. all circle papers are from my DCWV 8x8 stack. used
coordinating SU paper for layers under sentiments. sentiments
are from my $1 michaels clear stamps and my small alpha stamps in
black ink. used coordinating ribbon on each card. of course, almost every paper is ink distressed with either black or chocolate chip.

they turned out really cute, even did two more masculine cards for the boys! i'm definitely proud to give these away!

have a great week and don't forget to thank your people!

wedding card

we have friends who are getting married soon, and i have been working non stop (well, it feels like non stop)! i just love the SU set "carte postal" (winter mini '06-'07) and think it's just so elegant. my sister used that set for her wedding invites, and they turned out beautifully! so needless to say, this set
jumped out at me when sitting down to do a wedding card.

i cased this card from joyk on SCS, you can see her card here.

card is 5x7, all ink, paper, and stamps are SU. used last years in color "cranberry crisp" for CB. nuetral CS is VV. used script stamp for background in CC ink. for the added background, i wadded up some cardstock and put it into a plastic bag (like a sandwich bag, without the zip closure), then inked the bag and used it like a stamp. gives great texture! i ink distressed the edges of the VV cardstock using the CC ink & a sponge. i stamped the flowers & leaves about three times each (not re-inking after using, gives it that nice faded look). the ribbon is actually a great find from the local thrift store, the only thing that's not SU.

well, need to get this into an envelope and get ready for bed. thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

just because card

i liked the color scheme and paper that i used for the duck card (and had some left over) so i decided to do another card with it. there is no sentiment on this card (although when i go to use it, i'll stamp it in the bottom right corner). stamp is from great impressions. CB is SU Ppink; yellow is from the DCWV stack and i used my TAC flourishes for the background in SU Ppink ink (and once again, distressed the edges using ink & sponge); used coluzzle on patterned yellow paper (ink distressed also), and colored the chicks (great impressions) using blender pen & chalks. used sponge & ink (Ccelery & Ppink) to give the white some color behind the chicks. simple, fast, easy, still cute.

have a great week! i might actually get some more stuff done tomorrow! i have been working non stop without any "me" time! i have tomorrow off with both the girls in school. not sure if i want to sleep or stamp! =)

ducky birthday card

i made this card for my nieces first birthday. i am just horrible at mailing stuff and mailed it late (her birthday was on the 11th and i mailed it to her in hawaii on the 10th). well, i got it back in the mail saturday (yesterday) the 15th. now wayyy late. they put a sticker on it saying it was too fat to go through their machine. well, it may be fat, but at least it's cute too!
i got the duck from joanns, CB is SU Ppink, used my DCWV stack for yellow paper (stamped w/ TAC flourishes in SU Ppink ink & distressed the edges) and the squares (used my SU punch). used lots of dimensional adhesive for this card, it actually is pretty fat.

retired SU sets for sale

took me a bit, but i have figured out what i can now part with. the following sets are available, if you see something you would like, get ahold of me. i accept check, MO, or PP and order will ship upon receipt of payment. prices are at least 1/2 off regular SU price w/o shipping:

birthday best $6
fresh fillers $4
all i have seen $6
love ya bunches $8
a little love $8
happy thoughts $4
too terrific tags $8
doodle numbers $8
tags so much $8
itty bitty backgrounds $4

i am also posting this on SCS, so if you're interested, get ahold of me ASAP! if you have any questions regarding sets or conditions, let me know!

friend

i got this set (SU "that's nice" -retired) from my uplines garage sale and haven't gotten to use it yet. i love chocolate and tourquoise, so i figured my friends would too! =)
paper is from the depleting supply of "i have no idea where i got it" stash, CS used is SU Cchip & Wwhite. used SU Tw/teal ink, 1$ michaels ribbons, rounded the corners, and used white gel pen to add a lil' somethin' to the base.

well, i think i'm gonna have to call it a day! what an accomplished day off i've had!

have a great rest of the week!

ASB product challenge #64

this challenge was to get out your brass stencils and use them. so i did! you can see the challenge here.

started off w/ generic blue-something CS for CB. cut SU Wwhite to stamp on and cut out a scallop, double sided taped it to CS to use as "faux frame" (didn't work, tape wouldn't come off, ended up covering it up with another scallop punch out w/ sentiment). used some foam michaels flowers and 2 flowers from my SU set "mixed bouquet" (retired). all inks are SU, used Ppink, Llavender, Ssaffron, and versamark. stamped flowers, then used
flower brass template on top w/ dreamweaver translucent embossing paste. covered paste w/ lavender & pink glitters
then heat embossed to get paste to harden.

rounded bottom corners, used wide organza around card, layered same size scallop oval (under oval is Wwhite, distressed w/ Llavender, used pink stickles on edges) in the center. sentiment is from SU "love matters" (winter mini '06-'07).

this second pic. shows just how "puffy" the card turned out. i wasn't thrilled with it after the stamping, stenciling, pasting, and embossing, but i do have to say, it turned out ok.

great challenge, thanks ASB!

ASB technique challenge #24 (faux framing)

so here's my card using "faux frame" technique for challenge #24 over at ASB (check out the how to here).

simple, cute, and i just love it!

used coluzzle oval system to cut frame out and made CB our of Wwhite CS.

used my SU "trees three" (winter mini '06-'07) for inside the frame. all inks are SU (Cchip, Mmoss, Ccelery, Oolive, Rred, Ssaffron. sentiment is also SU from the "warm words" set.

thanks for looking, have a great day!

ASB challenge # 85

happy new baby

WOW!!
this card came out incredible! i think this is def. my new fav.! you can see the sketch and challenge on "a shade of blue" here.

i got this new paper at joannes the last time i was there ("k & company") and have been wanting to use it for something just fabulous. well, it lives up to my meaning of the word!

so i used 3 pieces of the designer K & co. paper for the CB and under layers, used circle punch to do that cool inverted corner rounder punch (what's the technical name for that punch?), and used pewter brads in all four corners. distressed the edges just a bit with "old paper" distress ink. used SU "fun & fast notes" set. stamped carriage in black stazon and colored with ink & watercolor brush; pastels & blender pens; added some spots w/ white gel pen. pierced the edges of the scallops. used some ivory & light pink narrow organza under the center piece. everything is popped up with dimensionals, dimensionals, dimensionals.

i don't think i'll want to send this to anyone, at least not for awhile. i hav to show it off for a bit first!
hope you have a great night!

new stamps

in our quest for new tires today, i just HAD to stop by the stamp stores, you know, just to look =)
i got this cute fish & flower vine from a local store, "the scrappy stamper". fish is by vicki schreiner and flower is from great impressions (and i'm kicking myself for this one! great impressions has an outlet store where everything is 1/2 off, right here in town! and i didn't even check it first!!). anywho, the brown & blue paper is from a scrap pack that i got from wal*mart i think (paperbilities?).
i stamped the flowers onto white CS with versamark and heat embossed with moss green powder. when it had cooled, i used both watercolor crayons & pencils to draw around the flowers and then took my watercolor brush to it for blending. edges of blue & white are torn and rolled in, and you can't really see it that well, but there are black brads in the left corners of the white CS.
fish are stamped in black stazon on ivory CS and punched out w/ SU scallop punch. i used "old paper" distress ink on the paper to age it, then pierced the edges of the scallops.
fish are adhered w/dimensionals, so they kinda pop.

this was an interesting card to make.... as far as techniques go. it's definitely not one of my favorites or anything i'm proud of, but it was interesting to make.

black & white

quick cute card, just love black & white with a splash of color!

all papers and inks are SU. CB is black, Wwhite is also used. stamped images (pulled out all sorts of misc. flower stamps. some are SU, some michaels, some foam, some TAC) with versamark and heat embossed with detail black embossing powder. sentiment is from SU set "love matters" (winter mini '06-'07). flower is part of the silk bouquet that i bought and tore apart, put a black buton in the middle "threaded" with shards of Ppink CS. used corner rounder on all corners. added some doodling with white gel pen.

hope you have a great day! we're off to get new tires (had a flat on the way to work yesterday, and come to find out the spare was a bad tire that DH hadn't replaced yet! UGH!)

hearing aid battery tag

d'Ete started school today, going into the third grade! where has time gone? she recently got her hearing aid (2 weeks ago) and the Dr. recommended that we give a spare battery tester w/ some batteries to her teacher just in case. well, having seen the inside of some other teachers desks (don't ask, LOL!), i knew it would have to be something that stood out and wouldn't get lost amidst the turmoil. so here's what i came up with!

this is some heavy duty chipboard (when you gets packs of paper, you all save the "chipboard" from the back of the stack, right?) that i cut to size. i used some "unknown" paper w/ rubber cement to cover the board and clamped together until dry. when it was dry, i sanded the edges then ink distressed w/ SU Cchip ink. "d" is from SU set "big deal alphabet", i stamped it in Cchip & clear embossed. you can't really see it in the photo, but there is a pocket on the front. right under the hole (crop-o-dile) i notched out (circle punch) a spot for easy access to the tag that will go inside, adhered pocket w/ tacky tape.



here's the inside tag. used textured ivory CS and ink distressed w/ SU Cchip around the edges. wrote on tag w/ SU Cchip marker (back has contact info on it). i gathered up a bit of ribbons that were either pink or brown (or both) and using tacky tape across the back top, put layer after layer of different ribbons. when i had it the way i liked it, i stapled it on the front twice.







finished product! tag fit nicely into pocket, looks great! the hole in the chipboard was used to "hang", "thread" whatever you'd like to call it, the battery tester through.






so DH looks at it and says, "it's a little fancy, don't you think?"
boy did i love hearing the teachers & their aids compliment me on it when we dropped her off with it this morning! and the deep sighs and the look on his face..... ahhh, priceless!

cased card

well, i cased this card from ash @ ashleyscreativecorner (see her card here) and just love how it came out. i got the new SU set "fun & fast notes" when the new catty came out and couldn't wait to use them. i think they've been out of their drawer once, and that was just to sit on my desk for awhile so i could contemplate using them (only used once, i think).
card base is SU Bblue, background papers are from the "unknown" stack. used $1 michaels ribbon around card (both blue & brown). stamped image in stazon black onto SU Vvanilla and colored w/ SU watercolor pencils & blender pens. punched out w/ marvy scalloped ovals and decorated the edges of the vanilla oval w/ sakura gelly pen, and the edges of the Bblue w/ white gel pen.
thanks ash for the inspiration, hope you all have a wonderful day!
i'm off to work!

WOW!!

i have realized that some of us have it, others really have to try to half-way get it (i would fall into the second category). i have recently come across two ladies who have it, i mean SERIOUSLY have it! and they make it look so easy, too! these women have the most beautiful cards, they are so creative and ...well, i am just in awe of their work. a huge thanks to both of them for sharing with all of us the beauty of paper and creativity!

you have to check out these ladies blogs, you won't be sorry!

stampin with markies mom

ashleys creative corner

iris birthday

this is another stamp that came in that great box from my aunt. such character in it!
i stamped it in black stazon onto textured ivory cardstock and colored with my SU water color pencils. used blender pens to blend colors (this is a technique that i have never tried before and REALLY enjoyed! the colors really pop and look so good! they blend really well!). when it was all colored, i tore out the image and crumpled it all up. used SU Cchip to distress the edges w/ a sponge then adhered to card base (SU Mmoss). used silver hodgepodge w/ "happy" (SU retured hostess set), put "birthday" (same stamp) on bottom, ink used was SU Chip.

it is missing something..... what do you recommend?

my take on a "chunky" card

this card has been sitting on my craft table for at least 4 days. i have moved stuff around, held different ribbon up, got out several sheets of papers, then today it just clicked.
card base is black (SU), paper is from whimsy collection (TAC). ribbon & lace are both cheap-o finds from misc. thrift stores. leaves are from fake flower bouquets that i also got at the thrift store (great find! take apart all of the flowers in the bouquet and use on your cards!). i made the flowers (also using TAC papers) with my brand new sizzix die, "flower layers #3". ---that's definately the best thing about the cuttlebug, you can use different machines dies with it! both dies & brass dry embossing templates! for more info on using the cuttlebug with non-cuttlebug stuff, click here.
ANYWHO... i used my SU corner rounder punch (take off the base) for the scalloped edges, then ink distressed the edges with black ink & a sponge.
hope you like, have a great day!

home tweet home

my aunt came up from portland this week with some gifts for me. my other aunt used to be a demo for stampin' up! (back in '88) and gave all of her stamps away when she quit. well, my aunt still has a HUGE box of stamps and decided to give them to me.
this stamp is from '85 bu SU. i stamped it in black stazon and colored it several different ways. i used water color pencils w/ water color brushes and with my SU aquapainters; used pastels w/ blender pens; used water color brush w/ ink pads. after it was colored, i tore out the image and ink distressed w/ SU Cchip and sponge.
background is from my "i have no idea where it came from" stack and i used my script embossing folder w/ my cuttlebug, then sanded and adhered to card base.
it needed something else so i used hemp twine on the side and silk flowers w/ sanded pewter brad in the center. this is not usually what i'm into, but i really like the way it turned out.
enjoy and have a super day!