Good Friends

Clearly I'm loving me some Papertrey Ink these days. You know how, when you get a new stamp set, you just want to make a bunch of cards with it? Yeah, well ...

I made this card for a coworker who is going through a really rough time right now. Hopefully it gave her spirits a little lift. The design was based on this card by Nikie Estes.



Cardstock/Paper: SU - Patterns Pack DSP III (hostess)
Ink: VF - onyx; SU - creamy caramel, real red; CB - kraft; VM
Stamps: PTI - On My Couch, On My Couch Additions, Chair-ished
Misc: SU - eyelet border punch, close to cocoa polkadot satin ribbon, white embossing powder, white gel pen; pop dots; ScorTape; PTI - On My Couch dies

Valentine

'Tis the time of year to make a little something for your Valentine. I whipped this one up using a technique called Emboss Resist. Several stampers have demonstrated this technique recently (check out this one). In fact, Nichole Heady over at Papertrey issued a challenge using this technique. While I didn't get my card done in time to participate in the challenge, it was fun to learn & use a new technique with such great results.

Cardstock: SU - riding hood red, very vanilla, Candy Lane
Ink: SU - creamy caramel, pink pirouette, riding hood red; VM
Stamps: SU - Happy Hearts; PTI - Text Style
Misc: SU - clear embossing powder, pink pirouette grossgrain; PTI - rustic twine; ScorTape; Magic Scraps - red glitter; Stampendous - white ultra fine glitter; misc. buttons; Zots

20+ Days of Cards: Day 20

Today wraps up the holiday cards I made as gifts. This last card is literally a gift in itself. Again, I used Jennifer McGuire's tutorial for incorporating money into the design. Who said money doesn't grow on trees?? *wink*

Cardstock/Paper: SU - not quite navy, baja breeze, sage shadow, chocolate chip
Ink: VM; SU - handsome hunter, always artichoke
Stamps: Luxe - swirls; PTI - 2009 Holiday Tags
Misc: SU - heat & stick powder; Stampendous - crystal snow; Reflections - pearls, stars; Michaels - velvet ribbon

Close in Love and Prayer

In the last week, I've had need for several sympathy cards. I designed this simple card using one of my favorite sets from Papertrey.

Cardstock: SU - pink pirouette, whisper white
Stamps: PTI - With Sympathy
Ink: SU - artichoke, pink pirouette; VM
Misc: Black embossing powder; Reflections - pearls; MM - pink ribbon; Zips; pop dots

Good Luck

This week my most favorite bus driver is leaving. It's an unfortunate part of riding the bus. We only get to keep our drivers for six months before they move on to other routes. I've been riding the bus for six years, and I cannot recall a driver I have liked more. Michael is courteous, polite, and takes a genuine interest in his riders. He notices when we don't ride. He holds the bus a few minutes when we're running late. He takes pride in his job. And it shows: he was selected as Driver of the Year for 2008. In short, Michael is a real gem. I made this card to wish him farewell and good luck as he moves on.

Cardstock/Paper: TLC - black, cream underground; SU - real red, very vanilla

Stamps: Luxe - Swirls; SU - Figures of Speech

Ink: Versamark; SU - real red

Misc: Stampendous - midnight black embossing powder; MM - red star brads; white satin ribbon; red velvet ribbon; Zots; Zips; pop dots; Sizzix - top notez; circle cutters; star punch

Inspiration layout

Sweet One

I was hired to make this card for a baby shower. The mom-to-be is having a boy, but I didn't want to make the card too masculine so I pulled the softer, more neutral colors. I wanted it to look like a wall with beadboard (though that is really difficult to see in this photo...sorry!), chair rail, textured wall on top with a baby-themed wall hanging. It turned out even better than I'd hoped.

Cardstock: white; SU - barely banana, bashful blue (banner), brocade blue (frame), so saffron (moon)

Stamps: SU - So Many Scallops

Ink: Versamark

Misc: Stampendous - midnight black e.p.; Sizzix - Texturez Tween Stripes; MM - FA Trims (Sidney), silver star brad, thin black wire; Zips; tacky tape; CM - circle cutters; Xyron

I Frogot

After making a card for a friend's husband, I realized I had forgotten to send her a card for her birthday (which was almost a month ago!). So I pulled out my favorite stamp set - yep, the frogs. They're just so darned cute & the sentiment was perfect. I "fixed" a big booboo - I totally mucked up the sky in the background - by cutting the frog out & mounting dimensionally on top of blue cardstock. Voila - the sky returns all pretty! Whew!

Cardstock: not quite navy, white, hunter green
Stamps: Unfrogettable
Ink: onyx
Misc: pop dots, black stitched ribbon, ribbon slide, tacky tape, burnished brads, rub-on stitching, pearl embossing powder, versamark, watercolor pencils, blending pen

Birthdays Galore

Wow. This is a busy month for birthdays. Here's another variation of Sunday's card. Same basic color scheme but a few tweaks.

Background: DCWV card
Cardstock: not quite navy
Stamps: So Many Scallops, Fresh Fillers
Ink: not quite navy
Misc: brown ribbon, tacky tape, pop dots, Happy Birthday curling tag, pop dots, pearl embossing powder, versamark, scallop punch

Superstar

Cardstock: navy, cream
Stamps: Stars & Swirls
Ink: Versamark
Misc: metal tag, gems, tacky tape, Zots, pearl embossing powder, pearl glaze, navy grossgrain ribbon

This card is based on a design in the 04-05 SU catalog. Because this encouragement card is for a man, I made it more masculine with a different color scheme. I softened the metal curling tag by coating it with pearl glaze, which also ties in with the embossed stars that run along the side. The gems just punch it up a little (and cover up my whoopses with the embossing).

Sweet One

Background: DCWV-pale yellow
Cardstock: celery, brocade blue, white
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Versamark
Stamps: So Many Scallops
Misc: star punch, pop dots, clear embossing powder, white pearls embossing powder, artichoke stitched ribbon, tacky tape, Sizzix embossing folder-Galaxy, Creative Memories circle cutter

Close-up on card for better details












I love my new SU set that goes with my scallop punch! I was itching to use it & had the perfect opportunity with this baby card for a co-worker. I used the Sale-a-Bration catalog as inspiration for the card & couldn't be happier with the result.

Welcome Baby

Background: white card
Cardstock: smoke, cream
Stamps: Framed Greetings
Ink: Versamark, chocolate chip
Misc: lt. aqua grossgrain, orange & aqua harlequin satin ribbon, aqua brad, tacky tape

Original design found here
And wouldn't you know, the credit belongs to Stampin' Kub - go figure! Seriously, that was not on purpose.

Celebrate

Background: DCWV-salmon
Cardstock: aqua, white
Stamps: Birthday Best, Big Celebrations
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Misc: watercolor pencils, blender pen, black glitter pen, square gems, TLC-Tressie ribbon, Stickles-lime green, waterfall, & Xmas red, Sizzix-scalloped tag, clear embossing powder

Still Here

Yowsa! It's been a looooooooong time since I've posted anything. And it's not for lack of being busy in the craft room. I simply haven't taken the time to post. After the holidays, I'll have oodles of things to put up. I may post a card a day for a while. A slideshow just seems too anticlimactic after all of the hard work.

Here's a little teaser or two.

Cardstock: misc. red, green, white
Paper: TLC Hot Fudge Kit - Christmas stripe & circle pattern
Stamps: SU - Figures of Speech, Tag Time, & Crazy for Christmas
Ink: Versamark
Misc: SU - embossing powder

Cardstock: misc. pink, dk. pink, cream,
Treehouse Memories - Queen's dinner
Stamps: SU - Figures of Speech & Tag Time
Ink: SU - Cameo Coral