OWH BLOGHOP 2014

Hi Everyone,

Here are the best cards that I made this year. Although I made hundreds, I don't always post them because I just don't take the time to upload them. I should make more of an effort to post more often--maybe that could be one of my New Years resolutions--one of many!

Last Day of 2014

Hi Everyone,

Here is my Christmas card, which I didn't want to post until after Christmas and all the cards had been sent out and received. I can't take any credit for the design of this, as it was CASED from a YouTube video from Nichol Magouirk. She has the best ideas.

Enjoy!

Winter Cards

Hi Everyone,

Here are a few winter cards that I made using some Lawn Fawn stamps and dies. I CASED them from Nichol Magouirk by following her YouTube videos. I've already sent them off to OWH, as winter cards are due right after Christmas. Nichole has some great ideas on her videos. I've really enjoyed watching them.

Enjoy!

Fall Thanks and Thinking of You

Hi Everyone,

I made two thank you cards today. They are both the same colors, but the greeting is different. I used the Fabulous Flowers stamp set from Avery Elle. The great thing about this set, as usual, is the ability to die cut all the flowers and leaves. I used purple dotted paper from Papertrey Ink that I got in one of their yearly assortment packs. Actually, in real life the purples look great together.

Enjoy!

Stampin Up Christmas Tree

Hi Everyone,

This is the Stampin Up Christmas tree stamped in the center of the newest embossing folder from this year's holiday catalog. This is a great card to make multiples since it's so easy, very few steps to make a nice card.

Enjoy!

My Favorite Tree

Hi Everyone,

Happy Fall! Here is a picture of my favorite tree in the backyard. I had to capture a photo of it this week while it is so beautiful. As soon as we have some heavy rains, all the leaves will fall down. There was a large tree next to it that had to be chopped down this summer--what a bummer! In the meantime, enjoy the beauty of this one.

Enjoy!

Fall Daisies

Hi Everyone,

This is one of my favorite stamps. It's Hero Arts Daisies. I find myself reaching for it often, especially when I'm in the mood to color. I find that the colors balance nicely when you use the same colors for the top and bottom flowers, and the same colors for the middle flowers, just varying the shading a bit.

Enjoy!

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

Here is my card for the OWH blog hop this month. I used SU's Corner Garden stamp. It was designated in the catalog as a background stamp, but that seems to be a misnomer. It takes center stage on any card. I find it very relaxing to color this in, especially at times when I want to make cards, but don't want something that requires a lot of thought. This stamp is definitely a keeper.

This blog hop celebrates World Card Making Day.

I used all Copic markers on this card. I only have one set of the Blendabilities, and not really sure I'm going to buy any others. I don't see a lot of difference between the two different sets. At least the Copics can be refilled.

To return to the beginning of the blog hop, just click here.

Should you be interested in making cards for OWH, you can check out the needs and guidelines here.

Enjoy!

Christmas Tree

Hi Everyone,

I used the Papertrey Ink Christmas tree and the Stampin Up embossing folder to create this card. Although the embossing folder covers the entire front of an A2 card, I cut a sliver off each of the four sides in order to mount it to the Garden Green cardstock.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Colleen

Here is a card that I made for my daughter for her birthday today. Hope she likes it.

Enjoy!

Beautiful Brush Strokes

Hi Everyone,

This is a card that I CASed from Betsy Veldman when I was first playing around with this stamp set. I really like the color combinations I used. I wish there were more patterned paper that came with this kit. It goes great with the flowers.



Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sunflower Bouquet

Hi Everyone,

I love the pastel colors in this card. It's soft and feminine, which is a look I love in a card. The sunflower stamp and die are from PTI, and the other flowers are from Stampin Up. I bought the ribbon when I first started scrapbooking, so it has been around for quite a while. It has adhesive on the back, which is just perfect for laying on a card.



Enjoy!

Beautiful Brushstrokes Birthday Card

Hi Everyone,

Here is a card I made for a lady who is turning 88 this month. I'm sure she'll like it. The inside has an Irish Blessing--I don't know if she's Irish or not, but she will be on her birthday! I used the PTI Beautiful Brushstrokes stamp set. The main flower is created with SU Daffodil Delight and PTI Summer Sunrise. I then stamp the bottom layer last and use the Daffodil Delight stamped off one time. I have found that using the same color stamped once for layer #2 and the same color stamped off once for layer #1 ensures that both layers coordinate well with each other. In summary, here is the order that I stamp:

Layer #2, First generation Daffodil Delight
Layer #3, First generation Summer Sunrise
Layer #1, Second generation Daffodil Delight

I did the same order for the smaller rose, using Pure Poppy.

Enjoy!

Papertrey Ink Beautiful Brushstrokes

Hi Everyone,

Here are the cards I made using the new Beautiful Brushstrokes. I made a few of these cards using the dies and pinks and yellows, but then I decided to get daring with some bold fall colors. After I finished the fall card, I decided these smaller stamps might look nice surrounding a pumpkin for the fall. Anyway, once you figure out how the stamps go together, using them becomes fun. I haven't ventured too far out of my comfort zone yet. One of the reasons is that whenever I put lots of time and effort into a card, invariably at the very end something happens to obliterate my card. So I choose the safe route. BTW, these cards are knock offs from Betsy Veldman's cards, which, of course, are way more exciting than mine. But I'll get there.....

Enjoy!

Avery Elle Flowers

Hi Everyone,

I have been in the mood to make cards in fall colors, probably because by the time I fill a box for OWH, it will be close to the end of summer. So here is a card I made with the Avery Elle stamp, Petals and Stems. Love this set because they come with matching dies.

Enjoy!

Two New Cards

Hi Everyone,

Here are two cards I made today and took pictures of. The orange card uses Verve Stamps Be Blessed. I love the way these stamp and are easy to color. I colored the orange card with Copics. The other card I used pattern paper, and glued it onto the white die cut. This card is made using Flower Friends from Simon Says Stamp. I used patterned paper for the flower and glued it to a white die cut. Love the way that turned out. The background was created with the Quilted Stitched Pattern Die from Lil Inker Designs. Love this background!

Enjoy!

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop 2014

Hi Everyone,

Today is the day--the OWH Blog Hop. Here is my card. The floral design is from Gina K Designs. It's called One in a Million, since one of the sentiments is "Friends like you are one in a Million." There are some additional sentiments with this set that I use often when making cards for OWH. The "Hugs" sentiment is from Denami Design.

Enjoy!

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,


As soon as I saw the Embellished Elegance stamp set, I knew it would work out perfectly for making Christmas cards. Since I make cards for OWH, it's great to make a card that can be reproduced easily. I used the flower from the Bells and Boughs stamp set and the sentiment is from the Think Big Favorites #20 Mini stamp set.

Enjoy!

Embellished Elegance

Hi Everyone,

I decided to CASE a few of the cards that the PTI team made last week with the Embellished Elegance stamp set, so I chose Melissa Phillips' card.



Enjoy!

Folk Filigree Card

Hi Everyone,

I saw a card on the Gina K Web site using the new Folk Filigree stamp set by Becky Oehlers and knew right away I wanted to make it. So here is my rendition of this card:

I figured out a few tricks to make this card. One is to line up the two halves of the wreath perfectly on a large acrylic block prior to stamping. That way, you are not guessing where the wreath parts should be stamped. The other trick is to stamp off everything first. This is what Becky explained on her Web site. It makes the card soft and feminine. I also made masks of the little flowers to stamp the leaves and berries around the flowers.

Enjoy!

Just Because

Hi Everyone,

This is a very simple card that I made. I love its simplicity. The leaves are from the Turning a New Leaf stamp set from Papertrey Ink. You could use any flower in the middle. I purposely stamped off the flower first to give it a softer look.

Enjoy!

Dream Card

Hi Everyone,

Here is a card that I made for the fun of it today. I don't know who this would go to--it doesn't have a specific event tied to it. One of the things I figured out to do on this card is to line up the two bottom leaves on either side of the flower, then use a long acrylic block and stamp them at the same time. That way, I'm not trying to line up the leaves just randomly. After that, the flowers and additional leaves were pretty easy to line up.

Enjoy!

Make It Monday #154

Hi Everyone,

This card is for the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday #154. This week the challenge is to make a one-layer card with some texture. The way I added texture was to stamp flowers with layers.

I also used one of Papertrey's background stamps for the lower section of the card. After ruining a few cards, I decided to try taking a sheet of cardstock cut at 5.5 x 8.5. I lightly noted the exact middle of the card with tick marks, then stamped the stamp having one half of the design above and one half below the exact middle. Then I cut the card at the 4.25 mark, making two perfect A2 cards. There are about 10 lines on this particular background stamp, and I only wanted about half the lines on each card, so this worked out and kept the lines straight. In my next life, I am NOT going to be a Virgo!!

These are both the same card, but each has a different sentiment. Since I make cards for OWH, I try to make cards that are appropriate for the military.

Enjoy!

PTI February Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

Here is a card for Papertrey Ink's blog hop this month. I woke up to snow this morning, so this card is certainly a sign of hope that spring will really hurry up and get here. As much as I love the snow--in a "good book and cup of hot chocolate" sort of way, I'm anxious to get back into a regimen of walking several miles a day. But I have to admit, snow has a certain beauty.

Here is another card using the same layout. I just can't resist doing duplicate cards.

Enjoy!