it's that time of the year

Graduations. From high school. From college. Tons of them in my circles this year.

Here's a very personalized card for my cousin's son who is incredibly intelligent. As in, got a top notch job with Microsoft right out of college. Which he completed with a BA and MBA in less than four years. Just sayin'. (Must have been genes from his dad's side of the family ;)

Now I doubt that my handmade cards mean much to him, but this one just may evoke a smile.

Easy peasy. Google the Microsoft logo, grab the MFT Graduation Accents and PTI Congrats dies and voila!

Easy peasy. Hook up to Little Red Wagon's To Die For challenge and Curtain Call's

Thanks for looking.

frohe ostern

Happy Easter Saturday to those of you celebrating! We are enjoying time with Oma as well as a few days at the North Sea.

I have two projects to share with you today.

The first is a project inspired by the opulent photo for the April Challenge at Altenew.

Ori Kami immediately came into my mind. And a piece of CS I had used to mop up some royal blue spray ink leftovers. This is what evolved.

I stamped the fish onto recycled acetate with StazOn and dripped orange and purple alcohol inks onto the reverse. Then I dripped one drop of yellow onto the orange and one drop of pink onto the purple and moved the acetate to make inks spread where I wanted them.

I inked the Super Script sentiment stamp with Versamark and blue pigment ink and stamped it before heat embossing it with white and clear powders for a two-tone sentiment. The secondary sentiment I stamped with Versafine. Added “kelp” and stitched the acetate to the panel before adhering it to the base.

Can you see how the fish kinda "swim" thanks to the acetate just being attached by that stitching up top? I love the depth this creates.

Cuz it's blue (I don't use blue often, do I?) I'm joining Tenia and Veronica's Light it up for Autism Awareness blog hop. I'm learning a lot about autism from those two ladies.

And my second project was for Oma's gift bag. This was also inspired by something laying around on my desk - an old baby wipe that had been used for clean up!

I used a glue stick to cover a manila tag and then laid the baby wipe down onto it and brayered it. Then I stamped this wonderful bunny from Joy Crafts. Added some Easter grass, a kraft die cut bloom behind the hole and some raffia.

Revisited a sentiment technique that I love but often forget - tiny alphas stitched onto a project. Like on this card. These alphas are old but loved product from KI Memories.

I am hooking the bunny up at

AAA Cards #36

Curtain Call Beginnings

Dazzling Diva #69

Hope you have a wonderful weekend with family. Thanks for stopping by.

bunny's bottom's cold...

... so he decided to plant it in a cozy nest up in a tree this Easter!

Don't know about in your neck of the woods, but my folks in MI woke up to four inches of the white stuff two days ago. We have wind and precipitation comin' at ya from all directions. And we are going to hit the North Sea coast for a couple days R&R where there will likely be sand mixed in the whipping wind.  So yep. Happy Spring!

Couldn't resist revisiting this card. Some Ellen Hutson woodgrain CS. A Memory Box branch. An Impression Obsession bunny colored with just a touch of pink. And an embroidery floss nest.

Makes me happy. Hope you have a blessed Easter!

So many sweet challenges out there.
Addicted to CAS #60

CASology

AAA Cards Game #36

Curtain Call - Beginnings

winnie and walter mojo overload #2

You saw one sparkly gold "baby" card in this post. Here's the one that actually came first. Hang letters on a line? Don't have to ask me twice ;)

I got the "baby" vibe from the upper left photo in the collage from Lea's Mood Board. The rest followed :) My favorite detail is that teensy group of dots from the Big Bang Confetti set which I stamped a few times in gold. See em? Kinda look like little galaxies of stars, don't they?

And then I tackled Gayatri's CAS freestyle collage challenge. 

I love the look but find it difficult to pull off. I think the "less is more" maxim rings true for freestyle collage. The items have to work together well. And in this case, remain CAS.

I started with the "blessings" stamp from The Big, Bold and Blessings in amuse Lemon Whip (which you can barely see in photos) on my cardbase. Then I used the ink to stamp a rose from The Big, Bold and Extras which I fussy cut. I've decided the outlined leaves are my favorite stamp from this set ;) You'll see them again soon.

Some Heidi Swapp gold splatters, a snippet of a black/white ribbon as a frame and a sentiment banner finished off my "blessings on your birthday" card.

I'm taking the baby card to the "New" challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge blog. My new die from Little B is from SSS.

And to Curtain Call's "Winter Wonder".

Since both stamp sets on the second card are new schtuff, I'm going to Darnell's playhouse again.

And I think the second card also works well for Virginia's View #11.

Check out the birthday bash here. There is so much inspiration to be found. CU tomorrow.

krafty Christmas part 2

Finally got my package off to Vera Y. for the Caring Hearts card drive. Do you know about it? Handmade cards to be distributed to people in nursing homes. I spent a lot of time in one when I was a kid, visiting my Grandma. Lotsa residents don't get many visitors. It must be rough at the holidays. If you live in the US or Canada you can probably still get your cards in before the deadline on November 28!

I played along with the Curtain Call challenge.

Here is one card.

Here is the whole family. So easy using the SSS Layered Tree which I die cut from five PPs, then assembled mixing and matching. Added a sentiment from STAMPlorations (sponsoring the Curtain Call challenge) Joyful and some twine.

I'm in trouble if the recipients can read German. The old book page is from some ten cent book about why women want to get married and men don't!

These krafty cards with tags are going to The Card Concept #23

curtain's still up (Curtain Call, SSS)

Finally got around to turning an idea into reality. Completely inspired by this photo over at Curtain Call's huge anniversary bash

and knowing DS needed a few thank you notes after receiving birthday gifts, and seeing the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Emboss it! and remembering this set of tags I made a while ago... Ta da!

Made four of these mini cards from one A4 sheet of white CS. Heat embossed the lines white, then watercolored a few random squares. Added an initial to one square and a piece of washi to another, then topped with a sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies for danke:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: line Neat and Tangled, Klartext, alpha Hampton Art

Ink : Versacolor

Tools: 

Other: washi

you've got this (Curtain Call, KIS)

Happy first anniversary to Curtain Call! Do you play over there? They always have the most beautiful inspiration photos and great design work from the team. And this time the theme is Anything Goes AND  there are lots of prizes to celebrate. I'm in :)

How can you not love all that white space? (How can you not love all that storage space? I'll keep dreamin') I picked up on the touches of pink and made a card of encouragement.

Stamped trees onto panel of CS using Distress Inks spritzed with water.  Stamped sentiments. Die cut ampersand from cereal box and used it to dry emboss the panel. Highlighted ampersand with Wink of Stella for a bit of glimmer. Punched a hole and threaded the ribbon. Made a pocket of vellum by stitching it to the card. Even added a bit of PP to the inside a la Kelly G.

I'm also joining the fun at Keep it Simple #44 where it's about bows!

We've got wonderful (read: hot) summer weather at the moment. Out to enjoy it. Happy weekend all.

Supplies for you've got this:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, vellum, PP Pink Petticoat

Stamps: CASual Fridays

Ink : Distress, Versafine

Tools: corner rounder, sewing machine, die Kelly Purkey

Other: ribbon

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: cupcake (SSS, Curtain Call)

Back with day 2 of my exploration of STAMPlorations latest release. I chose this stamp:

SKETCHED: Cupcake

Can't you just taste that glob of chocolate frosting? Can you say craving? OK, change the subject. I did, cuz I also chose to create a card for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Shake it
Curtain Call - Birthday Bash

Those great crepe paper balls. Those colors! How 'bout a birthday bash with cupcakes? And sequins. 

Take a cupcake stamp. Take some Simon Says Stamp Sea Glass CS (NBUS - love this color) and some pink and yellow alcohol inks on acetate. Add lotsa sequins and confetti. Add an HB2U (from the VIGNETTE: It's Your Day set) cuz I happened to have it handy and happened to somehow get smidgens of black ink all over the front of this card after I was done with it - UGH. Thus the escaped sequins on the outside too. But it was just what the card needed since the sentiment in Sea Glass along the bottom gets a  little lost.

This is the first shaker card I'm actually thrilled about. Amy T. has a good approach to shakers - use glassine bags. But on normal shaker cards I've had an issue with sequins getting stuck on the exposed edges of the foam adhesive behind the acetate. You too?

TIP: Die cut two layers of craft foam (on this card I cut two pink square frames (gotta get me some white craft foam) and stacked them)) and use them in place of foam adhesive. No sticky edges for the sequins to stick to!

I also stamped the cupcake in yellow onto the white shaker backing, a tiny bit offset from the black stamped image. You can see it if you look closely. The depth achieved by the height of the doubled craft foam is phenomenal. TIP: Glue two or three sequins onto the shaker backing so the shaker window looks filled even when standing.

Tomorrow I'm casing one of the sweetest CAS cardmakers out there. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

shapes and stamps and sequins oh my! (Curtain Call, PC, Stamplorations)

Fat and happy, that's me.  Fat cuz I ate too much of our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.  And I might have just snitched the last of the chocolate mousse while writing this post... And happy cuz it went well.  And cuz it's over...

Anyhoo, where's the card, you ask?

Started out as an idea to create a blue star card.  Cuz that's what I got from the Curtain Call inspiration photo.  See 'em on the tree?

Well I knew I wanted to play at a new challenge I discovered from my pal Shirley B., Stamplorations.  I'm diggin' those stamps.  So the challenge calls for stamping and sequins.

Only problem was I got sidetracked by this nifty October Afternoon Holiday Style - great retro feel to this line.  Love the blue tone so decided to go with it.  Made a shaker star-shaped card, trapping sequins between the card and the layer of recycled packaging I stitched on.  Stamping was then limited to the embellies - the candy cane and sentiment up top - both embossed to keep up with the shiny-ness of the project ;)

Also placing this into the Paper Crafts November gallery challenge where it's all about sequins!

Happy (real) Thanksgiving week to ya'll.

Supplies for merry and bright:

Paper:  cardbase Bringmann, PP October Afternoon, recycled packaging

Stamps: sentiment WMS

Ink : Versamark

Tools: star die Sizzix, holly die MFT

Other: sequins

welcome home christmas (Curtain Call, Stampin Royalty, CFC)

I've made another card for the Curtain Call - Welcome Home challenge.  I just love that blue tone of the weathered wood door in the photo.

Well what started out as Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, a brayer and  glossy cardstock became this...

It kinda took a retro turn.  A Tim Holtz Christmas Memories sentiment heat embossed in red. Some stitching.  Some flat sequins in green and gold - cuz that's how they wouldda done it in the 50s my brain said.  Sometimes I wonder where I come up with this stuff!

I'm going over to the CFC #119 Embossing and the Anything Goes, challenge #200 over at Stampin Royalty too.

Thanks for looking.

Supplies for Merry Christmas:

Paper:  cardbase The Paper Studio, glossy paper Aldi

Stamps: Tim Holtz

Ink : Distress, Versamark

Tools: 

Other: sequins, sewing machine

peace (PTI, SSS, Curtain Call)

Here's a card with inlaid die cuts for you, inspired by Betsy V. at Papertrey's Make it Monday #138.

A slightly different take on the original concept (who me? no...).  I didn't actually die cut the card front.  But you may recall this "sugared" card.  Of course when I made the die cut I saved the negative.  It had all that precious double-sided tape on it!

Enter today's card.  I die cut the "peace" again, this time from some lovely DCWV blue metallic CS. After attaching the negative die cut with the sticky tape to the card front, I glued down the blue piece and then peeled off the tape and burnished glitter into the sticky tape.  This really is such fun to do.  And so much sparkle is wonderful for Christmas cards, don't ya think?

Those sparkling sequins just begged to join the sparkly party.

And I'm joining the parties at:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Curtain Call - Welcome Home cuz the blue tone in the inspiration photo spoke to me (blue is not my go to color) and I think this PP has a soft and simple country feel to it like that wispy wreath

Question to you... I'm having an issue with my cheapo clear/white glitter which has significant pink hues to it.  Any recommendations for a nice clean colored one with a fine grain?

Thanks for visiting today.

Supplies for peace:

Paper:  cardbase The Paper Studio, PP KI Memories, metallic CS DCWV

Stamps: 

Ink : 

Tools: die PTI

Other: Score Tape, sequins, glitter

50 + 50 + a pup (Curtain Call)

Well we've not got a wee one (species:  Havanese) around the house.  DD is doing a fabulous job with her (that was DD and DP (dear pup) first hour of bonding yesterday) but when I have duty I get absolutely nothing done.  Sit on the floor playing with her or follow her around the house trying to decide if she's looking for a place to do her business or just doing normal sniffing. Then whisking her out to the yard.  I'm not very good at this.  DD had night duty last night but I'm on for school nights so wish me (us) luck!

I did take a few minutes yesterday to make a card for our friends who had a 50 + 50 = 100 party last night.  Here it is.

The sentiment reads "what a beautiful day".  Thought it appropriate since neither of their birthdays was actually yesterday!

These are smaller number stamps so I decided to "stretch" them for my design by stamping them on the black CS and PP and after splitting them, covering the split with the sentiment strip.  This required more spatial thinking than my brain can handle. Card's outta da house so I can't go have a look, but those zeros look pretty darn wonky in this photo?!?!?  I think it may be more proof that I need to get me a Stamp-a-ma-jig... 

I'm playing at Curtain Call this week, not that my card has anything to do with "Back to School" but check out this inspiration photo and I think you'll know why:

May be awhile before I create a card again.  DP's not allowed in the basement so that's gonna keep ME out of my laundry room.  At least for crafting purposes!  For those of you following the story of the rabbits I have good news.  With DP's arrival we had no choice but to move them out of the house and into the yard in their stall and they're doing fine.  Even saw them laying quietly TOGETHER in one of their little houses today! Yippie!

Supplies for was für ein schöner tag:

Paper: CS and PP Bringmann

Stamps:  numbers WeRMemory, sentiment Inkystamp

Ink : Versamark, Versaine

Tools: 

Other: embossing powder, bling

bon voyage... or not (Curtain Call)

If you wanna see my card you better scroll.  If you wanna know why I've gone missing...  I've been at my observation post at the top of the stairs to keep an eye on our rabbits - the one left after this and the new guy we got at the humane society to keep her company.  With leather gloves in hand in case I need to intercede...

This is them.  We picked up the little guy in the lower corner on the weekend.  See the clump of fur on the floor.  That's what they do all day.  Are they gonna kill each other or eventually get along? S.T.R.E.S.S. That's what we've been dealing with.  Talk about taking years off your life.

Well, it should make the issue of potty training this cutie who will join our family in a few weeks C.A.K.E.

So, "bon voyage" you wonder?  Well, I'm certainly hoping we won't be bon-voyaging Mr. Rabbit.  If Miss Rabbit knows what's good for her she will accept him.  I'm certainly not going through this "socializing rabbits" stuff again.   But a friend's daughter is off for a year of volunteering in Ghana so I snuck into my laundry room to create this.

 Don't know if you can see it but I was inspired by this Curtain Call Carnival Challenge:

Vintage image, black and white plus tent stripes.  Anywhoo, a new-to-me challenge so glad I got to play.

Whew.  I'm done.  Hope you're havin' a good one.

Supplies for bon voyage:

Paper: cardbase Papermania, PP Echo Park

Stamps: Paper Artsy

Ink :Memento 

Tools: die Memory Box

Other: enamel dots