Hero Arts Kit Card

So I recently found out Hero Arts offers a Monthly Card Kit and was tickled as can be!  Was really bummed out when I missed the September Card kit because it was really nice.  I jumped on board with the October Card kit and here's the card I made.

It is my very first shaker card and I'll admit to watching a few youtube videos to find out the tips and techniques.  I'm thinking a few more videos might help!  When I make this card again, I'll put the snowdrift more forward and put foam tape to keep the sprinkles from falling down into the bottom.  I have loads and loads of the goodies left to make more!
Have a great day and keep on crafting.

Pretty Flowers and I Love You Card

Last month was Stamptember at Simon Says Stamps and they had exclusive stamps and dies.  I don't know about you but I love watching Youtube.  Watching videos on their new releases and how different artists use them is always interesting to me.  When I say these Hydranga Bloom Stamps and Dies, I knew they were for me! For the flowers I used Stampin' Up's Bashful Blue, Memento's Summer Sky and for the leaves, Stamps of Life Kiwi. 
 
Our 36th Wedding Anniversary was this week and I made this card for my sweet Hubby.


The Sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and is in Loads of Fun stamp set.  Gold Embossing really made this pop.  Sorry my pic isn't better, battery died in DSLR so I took this with my phone.  Wink of Stella clear was put all over the flowers and the centers were highlighted with a Gelly Roll Stardust Pen.  If you don't have one of these - YOU NEED ONE.  It goes with every color, even black.


Here's my card.

Hope you like it!  Have a crafty day!

Plaid Background Technique, my first try

One of the cool things about Stamp shows or Scrapbooking shows is watching all the vendors reveal their techniques.  Of course watching these are mesmerizing and some how, some way, money that I wasn't planning on spending willingly springs out of my wallet!  That ever happen to you?  Now I'm not lacking for supplies, although, she who dies with the most, wins - I bought a lot from the Stampland booth.  Darlene and William are two wonderful people who are in the process of moving and not traveling with these shows any longer.  They are, however, updating their blog with videos and shopping and links and everything stamp related.  Their site is supposed to be up sometime in October.  My best buddy Becky and I watched Darlene work her magic.  Here is my try:

I used a stamp and die from The Stamps of Life, bicycle2stamp.  First time I made a mask from this wonderful product, Art Masking Tape and once I used it, it went in the stamp packaging for the next time I need it.  Several colors of blue were brushed to get this effect.  Doodling, clear bling that I colored with copics and a touch of ribbon finish this one.


Have a great day and keep on crafting.

Congrats Cards

Here I am again using The Stamps of Life products.  Seems that's all I'm reaching for these days.  Anyways...I made two cards and embellished basically the same except... one I used ink to "chalk" inside the die to highlight the sentiment, and the other I used a micron pen and doodled inside the sentiment.  You be the judge, which one do you like better?

The papers were all scraps, mostly Recollection Cardstock from Michaels, scraps of ribbon and the Congrats Die from The Stamps of Life.


Hope you have a great day and keep on crafting!

You're the Apple of my eye

I'm a member of The Stamps of Life Die Hard Club which means every month I receive The Stamp and Die of the Month set before the public can buy it.  I really love this month's set apple2stamp.  Most months there are coordinating stamps to add patterns and additional sentiments.  Big Plus if you join one of the three available clubs you get an additional 15% off other products! AND if that's not enough to make you want to join, one the first of the month they release a new item and have a FLASH Sale for 40% off for 24 hours only - plus club members get the 15% off that also! 

Ok, enough about club stuff, todays card came together super fast using apple2stamp, dies and scraps!  It seems that most cards I make these days have stitched rectangles on them.  Kraft paper is the base and the rectangle is inked with Amaretto Powder Puff from Quick Quotes.  The white sentiment is not going anywhere because I used Sizzix Adhesive Sheets before die cutting.  A bit of The Ribbon Boutique sheer black dotted ribbon from Michaels and we're done.


Have a great day and keep crafting!

You're so Sweet

I just love those tiny hearts and the tiny sentiment of this card!  The stamped images are from The Stamps of Life hearts2love.  All of the dies are from The Stamps of Life also, Birdcage Club Die Set,  that teeny pink flower is from Sizzix Flowers and Fence Dies and Stamps and finally Stitched Rectangles.  A bit of ribbon and a black rivet finish this card.

Have a great day and keep on crafting!

Birdie Birthday Card

Expanding on my stamp and die collection...You know when you find an image or die that you fall in love with?  This post is about using the other stamps/dies that came with it.  There is that satisfaction of finishing your project that came into your mind, when you chose to make that purchase.  That's a great feeling!  But thinking outside of the box for those other dies/stamps, that's a pretty good feeling also!  So this one uses a zig zag die that came with Sizzix Birds & Trees dies and stamps.  Also used Triplits Spring Birds from The Stamps of Life.  Was excited to find this pattern paper in a paper stack called Nana's Nursery Baby Boy that I bought some time ago at Hobby Lobby.  The sentiment is from the birds and trees in the link above using Palette French Lilac.  Crystal Stickles adds a bit of bling.  Of course I added some doodles and pearls that I had on hand.  Cardstock is from Michaels Recollections Collection.

Have a great day and show some love to your unused stamps and dies!

Congrats/Flower Card

I wanted to make a simple card using lots of stamping and this is what I ended up with.  My base for this card is one I seem to be using quite a bit these days - Sizzix Circle Flip-its in red cardstock. Most of my card making cardstock is purchased at Michaels in one of their Recollections packs.


The two different sized flowers from The Stamps of Life thanks2you set along with the sentiment on the back of the circle were all stamped in Tim Holtz Festive Berries.  The Congrats Circle Die really stands out of this card.  This particular die doesn't come with an outer circle so I just cut a slightly smaller 3" circle before cutting with my Sizzix Big Shot.  A bit of sheer ribbon and a black rivet completes the card.  Oh and don't forget the doodling.

Have a great day and keep on crafting!

Box Birthday Card for my Bestie!

So for the first time, I believe, I had my best friends birthday card made up ahead of time!  Go me!  Did lots of stamping on this one. and tried out a new die as well.  I bought the Tim Holtz Celebration Words Thinlits Dies for both her and myself.  I had been on the lookout for these babies for a while but couldn't find them in the store.  Let's face it, purchasing items with a coupon is best, second best online.  Scrapbook.com had them.

The base of this card was made using The Stamps of Life Box Card Die and all the flowers were made with flowerpower2fill stamp set and Flower Power Dies.  It really go together fast with the stamps and matching dies.  My ink choices are from The Stamps of Life:  Guava, Tangerine, Sea Glass and Palette:  French Lilac, Raw Sienna and Cote D'Azure.  I really like a bold sentiment and the happy birthday was a tiny bit bigger than the card base, so I cut 2 of them, one with Sizzix Adhesive Sheet on the back.  When I placed it on the base I used the extra sentiment to cover the sticky on the back.  The tiny ladybug came from Gift Card Flip-its Set from The Stamps of Life.


I also find that when using this box card die, you really need to use a strong adhesive. 


Have a great day and keep on crafting!!

Baby Boy Shower Card

So this card is for a baby shower that I'm going to.  My best friends youngest daughter is having her first baby!  I'm sooooo excited!!!

The card base starts with Sizzix Cute As A Bug Step Up Framelits.  Then for the onesie I used Sizzix Oh Baby Triplits and popped up the teeny baby duck.  The metal embellies are from Making Memories charmed baby. Patterned paper is Deja Views Sharon Ann little ones collection.  Recollection card stock and Celebrate It 360 ribbon, both from Michaels finish this card off.


Have a great day!

Daddy's Day

I'm sure everyone out there is making Father's Day Cards for those special guys in our lives.  For those of you have Daddies in Heaven, my deepest sympathy!


Here's my Daddy's card. 

I love using my sizzix to make cards, especially those pop up ones.  This time I used Sizzix 657802 Card, Horizontal A2 w/Circle Label 3-D (pop-up) for the base.  Two colors of blue cardstock along with Recollections Turquoise Tiles PP help this one come together.  The Stamps of Life Stitched Rectangles and Stitched Circles are used both inside and out.  I also used Memory Box Mustache die.  For the DAD I used my Silhouette and chose the font Niagra Engraved.  For the inside sentiment JustRite All in the Family Large Sentiments using The Angel Company All American Blue ink.  A bit of ribbon and bling from Want2Scrap helps complete this card.

Trying Out More New Goodies from CKC - Art Impressions

Playing with Art Impressions Water color Stamps are a lot of fun.  The best part is there is loads of video's on You Tube showing just how easy it is!   The skinny on doing these super easy watercolors is using waterbased markers to color the stamp and beautifying it with a damp paint brush.  They recommend Marvy Markers but I have a rather large collection of Tombow Markers so I used those.  This is one of the stamp sets  I used along with this flower set and this foliage set.  Now I'm not going to tell you that this start up was cheap, but I definitely think it was worth the $$.  Watch the videos, scroll down on each product page.  You can also follow them on You Tube, and they have loads of samples on Pinterest.

I've been using The Stamps of Life Stitched Rectangle Dies on most of my cards these days.  Looooove them!


The inside was made using this 3D Drop In with Scallop and this 3D Drop In Thinking of You.  Doodling around the scallop with my Gelly Roll sparkle pen.


Hope you have a great day!

Using My New Stamps of Life Stamps and Dies

Still using my newly purchased stamps and dies from CKC and having a blast!


This card uses several sets, including bicycle2stamp, bicycle club die set, Sizzix Thinking of You 3D Drop Ins, Sizzix 3D Drop In Scallop, Stitched Rectangles and finally Mini Flower Dies.  Now, I already owned the 3D Scallop and Thinking of You Drop Ins.  Really love the Mini Flower Dies because there are just soooooo many and I do love using up scraps with tiny dies to have ready to go!


Here's the card,

 

You can't tell from the picture, but the white and lavender layers are raised with pop dots, including the sentiment.  The twine I used is pretty thick and this was the best way to keep it contained on the card.  Inside the card had a row of those Mini Flower Dies with a bit of Stickles in the center.  The bicycle has Glossy Accents on the frame and finally the flowers stamped on lavender was using Pixie Ink from The Stamps of Life. 

My First Lawn Fawn Stamp Set - Loads of Love

I've been checking out pinterest a lot lately and fell in love with this set.  The base is actually from Sizzix and is called Cute As A Bug Step Up.  I purchased both of these at CKC (including a whole lot more).  The images were colored with Copics and the sentiment was highlighted with a Quickie Glue pen and ultrafine crystal glitter.  I also added Glossy Accents to the knobs on the machine.The pattern paper is from Nana's Nursery Stack from Hobby Lobby.

I was surprised by the cost of this stamp set.  I don't buy anything without a coupon!  Only one booth at the CKC had Lawn Fawn products 20% off, believe me, I looked!  Once I played with them, I realized why.  They are very similar to Technique Tuesday stamps, very substantial, thick in depth and makes a detailed impression.  My selection of stamps is based purely on design but it's nice to appreciate the quality of different manufacturers.

Have a great day!

Creating Keepsakes Convention - Had a Blast!

My bestest buddy (Becky) and I have been going to the CKC for many years!  So many years that we drove to Nashville TN before they started coming to St Louis MO - Now that's devotion!


We have noticed that the number of Vendors has diminished over the years.  We were very sad when Embellish It and Technique Tuesday stopped because we always looked forward to their classes. Boooo 


This year we took 4 classes and all but one was new for us.  The Thursday night Technique Class always offers a "Head Start" on all the newest products/techniques offered.  It's a three hour class and this year we made 6 items.  One jewelry item from Craft Fantastic, one card from Queen and Company and the rest were layouts from: SEI, Lickety Split Scrapbooks, The Paper Loft, Kellers Creations and Creating Keepsakes.  Now we don't actually complete all those items, but we get the skinny on the technique/product and move on.  This one is by Likety Split Scrapbooks.

Friday we took a Creating Keepsakes Class called the Newest and Coolest for 2016.  This is a lecture class along with a bag full of product - $130 worth, and the cost of the class was in the low $50 range.  Seems like 52, 54?   Here are some of the goodies.

Now we always choose more classes on Saturday because we shop on Friday.  This year we took The Stamps of Life Class on Cards.  I highly recommend this class and or any class by Stephanie Barnard.  She's a great teacher, her products are awesome and below is one of the cards.  We also made a Box Card and Pop Up Card.  For some reason my computer is being stubborn because the edits I did in Microsoft Office are not working properly and I hate to turn my head sideways to see the silly picture.

Next we took Stamplistic Class, Stacked and Gorgeous.  These were very beautiful, expensive and time comsuming cards that have real Swarovski Crystals on them.  And here are the two cards we made.

So, my advise:  If you have an opportunity to attend a Creating Keepsakes Convention, plan ahead, go online and select and purchase classes.  If you pick three classes you gain free admission both days of the Vendor Fair and gain early access pass.  Take your best buddy and have a ball!!!

Pop Up Birthday Card - Surprise!

I just love playing with Scrappy Stuff!  A while ago I was at Michaels and they had bags of merchandise for $2.00.  Full bags!  I bought three of them and they were loaded with all kinds of goodies: flowers, scrappy stuff, doilies, stamps, cardboard albums (to decorate).  Now, why am I telling you about this now?  The doily is from one of those bags.


The background paper is from Nana's Nursery Baby Boy Stack that I purchased at Hobby Lobby a long time ago.  I made a bow using seam binding and the sentiment is one I printed off and cut to have handy.  A little washi tape, button and little Scrapper Spools twine made this card come together.  Now for the inside... I used The Stamps of Life 3D Drop Ins Scallop Gifts, and their sizzix adhesive before I cut the sentiment again in white.  Made it super easy to adhere.  Love that stuff!

Have a great day and keep on creating!



Happy Birthday Dominic!

This bright eyed 8 year old guy is my oldest Grandson Dominic!

Right now this fellow is into Lego's, especially Lego's designed for Major League Hockey, video games and all things sports related.

Here's his birthday card made just for him!

First of all, the colors were chosen because of his new team.  The background was made with my silhouette.  I used wordmark.it to view my fonts and select several 8's and attached with Tombow Multi liquid glue.  The candle die is from The Stamps of Life and was attached with pop dots, after I wound twine around it.  I like all my cards to have a bit of bling so a little crystal stickles on the flame and done.

I also used a leftover 8 inside the card when writing the sentiment.

Why Not Make 4 Cards Instead Of One?

It is my opinion that once you cut into a piece of cardstock or pattern paper, why not use most of it up?  These days, I'm selecting the papers I'm going to use and if I'm not using scraps, then I'm making four cards.  Yes, four of the same card. 


I selected 3 patterned papers all 12x12 and then 2 pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock for the card shown below.  I used some black scraps and attached Sizzix adhesive sheets to the back to die cut my sentiment.  Dies are from The Stamps of Life.  These pattern papers were from The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby and a textured piece from a clearance pad at Michaels.  I cut all my pieces, inked those puppies up and adhered them.  Every card needs a bit of bling and some ribbon so I grabbed some from my stash.  My hand is reaching for the ATG runner, the Herma Dotto Runner and Zots for adhesive.  I have to figure out how to label my Zots (outside the box) to easily find the right size - oh the troubles of having too many.  lol

Have a great day!

A few more of those recovery therapy cards

The Stamps of Life has monthly club memberships to get the stamp of the month, the stamp and die of the month or the card kit of the month.  I just upgraded to the Die Hard Club - stamps and dies because I've been wanting the dies for the past few months.  They send out the stamps and dies on the first of the month.  If you only have the stamps, you have to wait until the 20th before you can order the matching dies.  Twenty days is too long!  Here's a few cards using the Bandage2stamp set.  PS...All of these cards were made without the matching dies....Yes, I ordered them but didn't have them for "therapy" time.

The Simple Things Card

I really love the sentiment on this card, it's from Our Daily Bread Designs, Little Things,Item D298.  They are rubber stamps and as long as I use a ruled block, I have no problem getting them aligned.

Papers are from Hobby Lobby's The Paper Studio, Tattered and Worn pad.  I love their pads, especially when they are half off!  The dies used are Spellbinders Labels 5 and Fleur De Lis Accents.  Bling is from Want to Scrap,  Ribbon is American Crafts and the flower, button and floss was from my stash.

Have a great day!

Made my first Exploding Box Card



I have thought these cards are just adorable, I've seen so many on pintrest and the possibilities are unlimited.  But I'm not one to sit and measure and fold etc.  That's why I was super excited when The Stamps of Life came out with their Box Card Die Set.  Just run that sucker through my Big Shot on the extended platform and walaaa!  All the side panels are included and a whole host of flowers, leaves and such. 

Now, I like to mix and match and I have quite the collection of dies.  While I was recovering from surgery I took several of those dies and used up scraps with Sizzix Adhesive Sheets on the back and cut oodles of tiny bits.  So this card has dies from Happy Birthday Step Ups, Mail Box Dies and stamps happymail2stamp.  All from The Stamps of Life.  Stephanie Bernard had lots of videos showing how to use her products.


I did use the Kuretake Gansi Tambi 36 Set Watercolors to color the mailbox and Tombow Brush Markers to color the bird.


Here's the other view.



Surgery Recovery Happiness Therapy!!

Most of you know, I've had some medical issues.  Ha Ha. That's an understatement!  Anyways after 2 Heart Transplants and 23 years of immunosuppressive drugs, my hip rebelled.  I had a total hip replacement right after Christmas and did awesome.  Seriously, if any of you need to have this done, just go with it.  Had surgery at 7:30 am and by 3:00 pm I walked to the bathroom and was released to go home the next day.

The downside....my scrap room is downstairs.

So I commandeered a part of the kitchen table and had my loving family bring up goodies for me to play with.  Not a big selection.  I thought of it as a challenge!  So here's some of the cards I made.



I know, I only showed a few.  I'll be showing some more in the next day or two.  Good news is I finally got all my scraps organized by color in a hanging file system!  Score!


Hope you all have a Wonderful Valentines Day!!


Bubblicious Birthday

One of my bad habits is to procrastinate. I did that today...We have a birthday party tomorrow and I bought the gift today and made the card tonite.  I do have a stash of birthday cards all ready to go, but none for a special little guy who just turned one.

Silhouette to the rescue.  Whipped this one out pretty fast.  Just used a file I already purchased.  Sized it to all fit on an A2 card and cut.  All the small pieces were scraps (yay)!  Used some pop dots to raise the silver bubble.  My 23 year old asked what that was.  Guess she doesn't remember the magic bubbles she used to love.  Since I used a lot of letters for the sentiment, I chose to use the reverse cut and just glue in the bits for the a, o and such. 

I'm excited for the party tomorrow and enjoy some family time.  It's gonna be COLD one so everyone stay warm!  Enjoy your weekend.

I Love You More Than Cupcakes

Got to love Silhouette!  If you don't have one, you really need to think about getting one.  This image was from the Silhouette Store.  It was super easy to download and cut.  More of my cards these days have doodling on them.  The Cupcakes are actually die cuts from The Stamps Of Life Happy Birthday Step Ups. 


My stash of saved scraps were starting to take over my craft area.  So I started with my pile of scraps and my pile of dies and started using some of them up.  Once I have a bunch together, I sit, glue, doodle all while sitting in front of the tv.  Then when I need an embellishment, I have a stash.


Hope  you have a great day!