Big Hearted love

We've been cleaning out my Dad's apartment. He's been recouping from his major surgery this fall, but he realized he wasn't able to return to his place. He moved into nursing care a few weeks ago. Good for him, but left me to work on clearing out his place over this busy holiday time. Ho, ho, oh heck! Hence, why no New Year cards were made. Anyways, while cleaning I found a stash of cards I had given him and this was amoung them. I really enjoyed making this card. Clean, simple, and yet thought it worked well. The heart was cut from 12X12 printed paper and glued on the card. The circles were punched with Marvy round punches. The words are by Hero Arts and were embossed with white embossing powder.

Dragonfly Love

Really wanted to have some New Year cards done, but that hasn't happened. So, I'm moving on to the next holiday after that. This card uses a mulberry paper that has dragonflies printed on it. It actually came as a roll. It was cut and glued down on the navy paper. On the torn side, white glue was squeezed along the edge and tiny micro beads were poured over the glue. The glue dries clear. A Chinese coin was also glued in the corner. The word is a sticker that was placed on white paper, then the paper was placed on double sided sticker paper which was put on the mulberry paper. More micro beads were poured over the sticker paper. Gives a nice texture to the card without making it hard to mail.

Christmas Thank you Card

Well, it only took two weeks and a new computer, but here I am! Hope you all had a good holiday. Now it's tis the season of "Thank yous". Since I need numerous cards,I wanted to keep it simple. Using strips of Memory Box paper, all I needed to add was the words in black dye ink in the corner. Quick and easy.

Tis the season of .... computer problems. Will be back posting soon as we can get things fixed. Until then, happy holidays!

Polar Bear Wishes Card

It's finally gotten cold enough to post this card. The image is by Coranado stamps and was inked with black ink and then colored in with a white pencil. The light blue paper and printed paper were put through an Accucut frame to create the cut out and front frame. The words were embossed with white embossing powder.

Jesse's card

This was a great card to do for Christmas. Jesse embossed the background with a Cuttle Bug folder using metalic paper and mounted it onto the navy paper. Then she took one of the glittery snowflakes that comes in a set from Michaels, and mounted it onto the front of the card. Very nice.

Alice's card

Mail has brought a couple of nice hand made Christmas cards. Here's one by a friend who did a lovely job incorporating the stamp onto a printed vellum background. She said she did these back in August. A great way to think a head knowing this time of year is too busy for making the cards. Way to go, Alice.

Simple Christmas

Never underestimate the joys of a simple card. This is a card I sent out a few years back. Everything was stamped in black dye ink and a little more color was added to the tree and base, and red stickles was added to the ornament. Both images are by Amuse. I got more positive comments on this Christmas card than any other card I have sent. Simple is good!

Stampscapes Winter Church Card

Have you tried using Ampersand's stampboards? They have a partical board back with a white chalky surface perfect for stamping. On this card 1 inch squares are used. They were initally pushed together and the image was stamped on. A little gray was added to the church, and lots of blue the the corners. A scratch tool then takes off the color and the white shows through. The star was scratched over the church. All you do is add adhesive tape and adhere the squares to the card. Makes a special Christmas card that can be counted as a gift!

Hero Decorate Card

This was a fun card to create. It used a clear set by Hero Arts, a Momento red dye pad, a Versamagic pad, and irridesenct glue. Put it all together, and you get a nice quick card. The tag was mounted with foam tape to the card. I created this card for the "Make It Take It" at Angela's Happy Stamper last Thursday. It was a big hit. Feel free to join us for more fun this Thursday. It runs all day so come when it's convient for you.

Jingle Card

The bird and word stamps are by Impression Obsession. They were inked with a dye black onto the white paper. Then using a water color palette by Hero Arts, I added the blue with a brush and water. Using a reservoir pen, more color was added to the bird and the ribbon that is above the bell.

Joy Card

No embossing today! This is a variation of the card I sent for Christmas last year. Rubber Stamp Tapestry does this set. The word is one stamp, and then 3 other peg stamps are used to create the folage. It was all done with pigment and dye inks.

Embossed Coffee Card

Still embossing, but today it is dry embossing done with a folder on the Cuttle Bug. The image is by Hero Arts and was stamped with black dye ink onto a white card and cut out. A gray Copic added a little shading. The cup holder was stamped again on brown paper and pieced onto the coffee cup. The snowmen are on thin blue ribbon. The words by Amuse were stamped onto brown paper that was punched by a Marvy punch.

Celtic Snowflake

Well, since I'm on a roll, here is a snowflake embossed in silver. This is all one stamp. It was layered onto a silver paper. Self adhesive clear gems were added, as well as the ribbon.

Starry Night Stampscapes Card

More embossing! This time I started by taking the starry sky stamp and stamping it with a blue pad in the middle of the card. The edges of the card were sponged in with more blues. Then the branches were embossed with a twinkling white embossing powder. Then trees were then stamped again in blue to give some depth to the card. Some of the stars were enhanced with a glitter pen. This was all done on a white glossy card which was then adhered to a very dark blue paper.

Joy Bling

Tis the time for sending Christmas cards. I try to keep one card each year of the ones I send. This is one I did quite a while ago. It was two stamps. The words are all one stamp, and the holly is the other stamp. The holly was done with glittery green embossing powder, and the words were done with red embossing powder. Lots of bling! The one thing I've found with glittery embossing powder that you have to be careful of, is that it's hard to tell when it's done embossing. It doesn't change color as much as matte powders. So if you are using really glittery powder, be sure to check to make sure everything is cooked.

Sleeping cats

Love this little guy. The image is by Magenta and it was stamped in black onto different colored paper. It was then cut out and layered onto the card. It's another long card made around the images of the cats. When stamping on colored paper, I try to use black Versa Fine as often as possible. I find it gives the clearest and best image.

Cats lie card

No embossing today, but I'm back to cats. A small cat today with a funny -and you know it's true, statement about cats. The image was inked in Versa Fine black onto a white card and cut out. The base card was made with paper from Lasting Impressions. The word stamp is also stamped with a Versa Fine pad.

Embossed Christmas Card

An since I'm on an embossing kick, here is an embossed Christmas card. The image and words are by Paper Inspirations. This is one poinsetta stamp that was inked and stamp numerous times. Then glittery white embossing powder was poured over the image and heat set. The top of bottom edges of the card were also embossed. The words were stamped in blue Versa Fine ink on the white card.

Embossed Lion

Yesterday's card was of embossed leaves. Today we have a lion by Art Impressions that was embossed with black embossing powder. I go in spirts with embossing. It takes a tittle more time and effort to do, but it really gives a great look. The lion in layered onto a card that has strips of printed paper that was pieced to make the design you see. I used double sides sticker paper as the base. That makes for a quick way to put all the pieces in place. Fibers were used to tie off the top of the tag.

A long card

Many people start with the size of the card and work their design inside the dimensions of the card. Some of us tend to go with the image and build the card around the design. That's what happened with this card. It's rather long and narrow. The image is a Judikins stamp that has been embossed in brown on each color. The image was then cut out and glued onto the card.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are off for our double dose of Thanksgiving. Hope you all have a day full of gratefulness. I'm very thankful for all the folks in my life that give me joy and encouragement, which is why I love to send Thanksgiving cards to them all. And stamping during Dad's illness in October gave me a speck of joy in between all the drama. Yep. Lots to love about stamping. -And friends.

Happy Thanksgiving Card

Found this card at the store. It's one I did with a Hero Arts stamp. It was stamped with a Versa Mark pad repeatedly over the green card. Two pieces of mulberry paper were layered next. One cream, and one purple.Next came the weave, then the card with the words stamped with brown Versa Fine on a white confetti paper. The green ribbon was wrapped around the word paper and layered last. It's a quick card and mails easily.

Simple is Good

After all the fancy smanchy work of yesterday's card, thought it would be a good time to also remember that a simple card can be a great card. This card uses several leaf stamps which were inked with Memento's inks and each individually stamped on card one at a time. It's actaully a very quick card. Once the leaves were inked, some yellow was sponged into the corners, and the message was inked with black and stamped on the card. The black squares were a find at Hobby Lobby and come in strips. So I was able to cut and layer all at one time. The stamped image was then layered onto black cardstock, and then onto the Memory Box card.

Die Cut Rosette Card

Have you tried out one of these types of die cuts yet? I've been wanting to for some time. In fact, I ended up buying two die cuts from different companies to see how they worked. Both die cuts were the same price. The first die cut was Tim Holtz's die cut. The fan pieces fold beautifully. However, I used one sided printed paper, and since the cuts were perferated, the pieces started to give way which ruined the look. Memory Box's die cut didn't fold as tightly, but held together well. However, if done on double sided paper, make sure one side is a solid color to you can see the scoring. It is impossible to see the scoring on prints. Memory Box's circle was slightly bigger than Tim's. Tim's die cut comes with a great step by step picture directions, Memory Box does not. My conclusion-Both are good with advantages the other doesn't have, but also disadvantages the other didn't have. If I used Tim's again, I would want to try it on double sided printed paper. One happy discovery for those who can't choose, Dave's die cut is larger, so you could actually use Tim's and Dave's die cuts together in a double rosette design.

As for the rest of the card, the top of the paper bag paper was inked with an IO background stamp in brown dye ink. The bottom was embossed with a Cuttle bug folder and then brown ink was sponged over the raised part. A piece or velvet ribbon was layed over brown Bazzill paper where the two parts meet. The words are by Rubber Stamp Tapestry and were inked in brown.

Memory Box Leaves

This time I kept the Memory Box Leaves rather than the Paper Cut card and created a whole different lay out. The base of the card uses cards made from paper bag paper. Then printed paper was layered over the bottom part of the card. A strip of black paper was placed between the two layers. The a strip of red tape was placed on the black paper for the silk leaf ribbon. The ribbon had some extra colored added with a Copic marker. Black loose glitter was poured over the ribbon and bonded to the red tape in between the leaves. Some "bling" was added from an embellishment page I picked up at the scrap book store in Gettysburg. It came on a large sheet, and I just picked the parts I wanted and cut it away from the rest of the parts with a exacto knife and placed it on the card. The Memory Box stamp was glued to a piece of black cardstock and trimed down. Then it was adhered to the card with a piece of foam tape.

Variation of Paper Cut Card

Since I liked many elements to the Paper Cut card last posted, thought I'd try a variation of that card. This time another Memory Box stamp was used. It was inked in black and colored in with Copic Markers and cut out and applied over a cream paper that had inked with a Hero Arts print background. The paper was then colored with a sponge applicator using Color Box Creamy brown, and an Orange dye ink. On the green part, a Great Impressions leaf stamp was inked with a Color box green and stamped twice. "Fabulous Fall" is from a clear set.

Inky Antics Set

Angela's Happy Stamper store got in some new clear sets from Inky Antics. There of lots of them, a great price, and I absolutely love them! I think I picked up 3 or 4 without even blinking. This is from one of the sets. Makes a quick and easy card in no time. The image was stamped in dye brown on a cream card. A little extra color was added to the bird with a blender pen and orange dye pad. The corners were sponged with brown and orange ink. The words were also inked with brown dye ink. The words here are not from the set, but go perfectly with the words inside the card that are from the set.

Felt Leaves

Here is a variation to a card I posted a few days ago. Once again, this card turned out better than the first version-I think. The felt leaves are by Hero Arts and have a hole on the end of them perfect for a brad to hold them. The words at the bottom were inked with Vesa Fine brown so they would show up on the textured card.

Inspiration Card

Ok, here's a card I like. The foundation of the card is the black, white on the inside, and the green. It all came in a set from Paper Cut. Paper Cut provides tons of great precut cards in a multiude of color combinations. It really cuts down on assembly time when card creating. The image is by Memory Box and was stamped in black, then colored in with Copic Markers. It was then cut out and placed on the orange paper which was glued to the inside white piece. The words are hard to read. It says, "Today's mighty oak is just yesteday's nut that held its ground." Love that quote and think it paired up well with the image.

Questionable card #2

Ok, here is the other card I'm asking for input on. Does it seem done? What should I add or change? I'll respond back to any who care to comment.

Questionable Card

For the next two days I'll be posting cards that I'm asking for input on. When I did this card, it seemed ... not quite done. But I couldn't think of what else it needed. So I'm open to suggestions. Would appreciate your input. Thanks.

Christmas Pull Up Card

As promised, here is another one of the Fold Up Cards by TooMuchFun. The image was inked in black and then colored in with Copic markers. Think how much fun it would be to add a gift card to the inside of this?


























































As promised, here is the other Pull Up card by TooMuchFun. Just stamp and color. Copic markers were used to color these in. Now imagine adding a gift card under Santa. You'd be all set!

Pull Up Card

TooMuchFun is a stamp company that was at the York show. They had these unbelievably cute cards. So easy to do! Just fold your card and stamp along the fold. Color, and glue closed. The stamp includes the second image which you stamp, cut, and color. Then just slide it into the card. Seriously, how great is that? Come see another one of the pull up cards next post.

Buttons and Thanksgiving Card

Cards with buttons are best hand delivered. But, if you are mailing,it's best to use a padded envelope. The brown paper was punched with a Fisker's punch. The yellow piece was cut with a die cut.

Wheat Sheaves

The wheat image was stamped in a light brown and then filled in with a light orange Copic marker. It didn't seem dark enough, so with a regular pencil, a little shading was added with a regular #2 pencil. This was mounted onto some Memory Box paper, and then onto a card made from paper bag paper. A little bit of ribbon and a few gems finish off the card. The word at the bottom is by Stampn'UP! and inked with a brown dye.

Embossing and Blessing Card

A quick easy card today. Took some of the embossed orange paper and laid it over the word paper on a brown piece of cardstock. Leaf ribbon was placed across where the two papers meet. The words at the bottom are by Hero Arts and are stamped with a brown dye on cream paper and attached with double foam tape. The grossgrain ribbon is by Stampn'UP! and attached with white glue. A couple of self adhesive gems are at the top of the card.

Embossed Fall Flower

Got a new embossing folder from Stampn' UP!. Thought I'd try it out as a fall card. It was embossed using the Cuttle Bug and then sanded so the white shows up. The flowers were then enhanced with a Copic marker. Along the edge of the flowers, a Memory Box die cut was also created with the Cuttle Bug. The words are by Outline stamped with dye black ink on the paper and cut out. A white pen was added to some of the design around the words. A piece of the Memory Box die cut was added behind the words.

Give Thanks Quilt Card

Had another week in PA while Dad slowly recovers from his surgery. Thank goodness for stamping! It made a hard week much easier to get through and I am making progress on my Thanksgiving Day cards. Win, win. For this card, a white paper was run through the die cut. Then using a 1 inch punch, the paper squares were punched out and applied. (I had already laid down double stick tape across the die cut.) Once all the squares were on, I turned over the paper and cut along the die cut outline to trim off the squares. On the brown card an Impression Obsession background was stamped in a dark brown. The squares were sponged with the same brown around the edges and then the quilt part was glued to the card. "Give Thanks" was stamped with the same brown ink onto the brown paper. More brown ink was sponged around the message. Then a brad and ribbon were attached before the message was applied to the card. The cards are made from paper bag paper that I got at the York stamp convention. Am really liking the look it has.

Pieced Paper Card

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Ever have a card that turned out even better than you expcected? That is how I'm feeling about this card. Even the husband took note of it. The base of the card is brown cardstock. Then the orange piece was run through the Cuttle bug to emboss it with a Stampn'UP! embossing folder. Strips of printed paper by Memory Box were laid down and then lace and the leaf ribbon were run around the card. The lace was a bit too white, so brown dye ink was sponged over it to soften the look. Three brads with brown pearls were added at the top. The message was stamped with brown dye ink. It is from Rubbermoon.

My lovely lady by Rubber Moon is one I really enjoy doing in the fall. She was colored in with Copic markers. The corners were sponged with a Momento Orange. Under the image is a ribbon that says "Thankful and grateful". Unfortunately, the words didn't show well with the flash. She also was mounted onto a paper bag card.

Leaves falling

Have you looked at the other blog sites listed on the side of this blog? One of them is called "Simplicity". She makes clean and simple cards usually with a white cardstock. I got the idea for this card from one of her posts. However, I changed it up by adding color cardstock and layers.
Then I took some dewdrop Momento pads and stamped the leaves one at a time on this card. First applied the red, then the brown before stamping. The acorns are actually buttons without the shanks and were glued on with a white glue.

First Thanksgiving Card

Most of October was spent away from home. I was called away due to dad having emergency surgery. It's been hard to be away so much, but life got a little better when my helpful hubby brought up some of my stamping supplies. I've been working on doing Thanksgiving day cards. This one uses a Stampn'Up! image first inked in red, and then brown dye ink. It was then stamped on light brown paper and cut in half. The halves were layered over by the word stamp which is by PSX. The words were stamped in brown and colored in with Copic markers.

Here is another card with more pumpkins I free hand drew and then Zentangled. Once done, I then colored them in with a Copic marker. Each pumpkin was done sepreately and then cut out and placed together on this card. The words are by Rubber Moon. I had one of the Zentangle books with me from which I got the patterns from. I just drew them into the pumkins where I thought they'd look good.

Zentangle pumpkin card

To help reduce my stress, I've been zentangling. Here's a pumpkin I did for Halloween. I use a permenant black ink for drawing the image. On this card, a Copic pen was also used to color in parts of the image. The image was free hand drawn on to the paper.

If you Dare Card

This card used an embossing folder to emboss a white card. Using a sponge applicator, orange dye ink was applied all over the card. Next, black was sponged onto the card. Then the black pad was directly run over the raised surface. Another die cut from Memory Box was cut using the Cuttle bug and placed over the embossed paper. The words were stamped with a black dye ink onto the orange paper. This was layered onto black cardstock before being placed over the die cut. The black piece was punched using an EK success punch. Then the ribbon was run around it. A Memory Box card was used as the base card.

October Card

Various printed papers were mounted on black and layered under the two ticket stamps by Memory Box. These were stamped with black and stamped on to brown card stock. The words are stickers. The jack-o-lantern is attached to a small clothes pin. The ribbon is a new one that came in the store and is perfect for Halloween cards.

Cat for Halloween

It's been a pretty stressful month for me, but one happy spot this month was getting to attend the Stamp Convention that was held in York, PA . Got some great ideas, and enjoyed a company that was new to me. The images are simple, mostly retro, and completely adorable. Here is one image from them. Isn't it great? Will post more in the future. It was inked in black and colored in with Copics. The printed paper is by Canvas Corp.

Eye for You

Doesn't this card make you chuckle? I love the Bo Bunny paper and it matched perfectly with the Coranado stamp saying. The ribbon was stretched across a piece of double stick tape to hold it in place. Midst the mire of miseries that have been occuring, it's been lots of fun to go to my craft area and whip out a few Halloween cards. Hope you are having some fun do them, too.