Elegant Birthdays

I was going for a different look with these cards. It seems that most of my cards are more on the "cute" side, other than elegant. And of course with all the flower sets of stamps I have, I thought I should be able to muster up something more along the this line. The Daisy card is just made from a pattern paper (remember this Stephanie?) found at Joann Fabrics in one of those "grab" bag kits with a little of everything (they are trying to get rid of!). I just loved this sparkle glitter paper. I thought it had enough on it already, so I just added a sentiment and a little ribbon. The other card is made using the set Easy Elegance from Stampin' Up. I thought with a name like that, it should be easy! It was, I just made some simple flowers on this card, along with some Basic Grey cardstock. A little glitter in the flower and middles and again some ribbon.

Monkey Business!

Wow, it has been a few days since I last posted anything. I don't know what I have been up to (being lazy I suppose). The weather has been hot and humid and quite cloudy. Not really good for much other than staying in the air conditioning (and making cards!) I really have been busy restocking my cards and paper crafts for an upcoming craft show. Here are some darling stamps I found at Eclectic Paperie. These monkey stamps are made by Stampendous and you can find them under the name Changito. I have been making birthday cards lately, so I added a birthday sentiment to these. Watch for a few more monkey cards coming up soon!

Paint Chip Ribbon Holders

I have been meaning to post this picture (and I kept forgetting)! I made these a few months ago. I have been saving these paint chips to craft with and thought I better get to it! I first glued the paint chip to a piece of cardboard to make it more like chipboard. After they dried, I hand cut little grooves, or half circles along the edges to wrap the ribbon around. I distressed the edges and found some coordinating ribbon and fibers. I added a little tag at the top of one held by a clip. The other two have eyelets at the top with ribbon through them. I thought these would be a good gift for a friend or a great hostess gift. It is also a good way to use up some of that left over ribbon or fiber. Thanks for looking!

Life's a Picnic!

These cards were made with the set Ladybug Picnic from Stampin' Up. The watermelon card sentiment is from Fruity Phrases (also, Stampin' Up). I just love all the polka dots on the first card, but looking back at these now, I wish I would have added something to the watermelon card on the top. The scallop seems a little empty. Back to the drawing board!

Friends, Shopping and Stamping

What more do you need to make a perfect weekend away with the girls? Good friends, good weather,lots of shopping and a trip to my friend Connie's Stamp-a-stack made a for a wonderful weekend in Ludington. We started our weekend by shopping our way up to the trailer. Of course, one of our stops was Joann Fabrics! Look at the back of the Tahoe! Where are we going to put our shopping treasures? We're only going for a weekend! Saturday, our plan was to spend some time with Connie. Connie has the most wonderful set up for stamping. There are boxes and boxes or cards to choose from. Something for everyone and everyone loved it! Thanks Connie for having us- you are a hit! We will be back again in the fall. Here we are at Connie's - Stephanie, me, Robbin, Teresa and Connie! Here are a few cards I made at Connie's. I love seeing all her ideas. And there is such variety. I made some birthday cards, thinking of you cards, and thank you cards. I love this tractor card. I might just have to get this set now! This flower card was made with using the paisley background stamp using the "kissing" technique. I don't have that background stamp, but again, I just might need to get it. I love the colors in this butterfly card. Look how perfect the white embossing looks on the chocolate chip cardstock. The elephant card was made with the set Wild About You. I love the dazzling diamonds on this card. Everything is better with sparkles!! Cute, cute, cute!

Watermelons!

This card was made using the Doodle Charms cartridge (Cricut). The seeds are made using Fun with Shapes (Stampin' Up). The edges are sponged with Walnut distressing ink. This watermelon tag card was an idea I saw on Splitcoast from roo613. I thought this was a darling tag card. Again, this set was made using Fun with Shapes (Stampin' Up). The sentiment is from Fruity Phrases (Stampin' Up). And don't forget about that paper crimper! I hadn't used mine in forever!!! (Remember when we first got these paper crimpers, Stephanie? We crimped everything we could squeeze in!!)

Some like it HOT!

I got this set at a used stamp sale we did last summer and never used it (and if you know me, if I buy it - I better use it!) The set is a retired Stampin' Up set called Southwest. The alphabet letters are from My Sentiments Exactly. I saw the idea for this card in a Paper Crafts magazine a couple years ago(and of course - you should never throw away Paper Crafts!) I loved how they used the ribbon to dangle down - a great way to use up those small scap pieces. I have no idea what I would use this card for other than a cook out (or maybe anniversary - do you think that is too "spicey"?!!) I thought it might be fun! Here is another sample using the same card layout. The flower stamp used in this card is from Stampotique Originals. The background is Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up). I machine stitched the brown cardstock. Assorted ribbon on both cards is from Michaels.

Dragonfly

I haven't had my dragonfly stamps out in a while, so I thought I would play around with them. This stamp is from Rubber Stampede. It is embossed in copper on Pumpkin cardstock (Stampin' Up), matted on Chocolate Chip cardstock (Stampin' Up). I added clear glitter glue to the wings. The card base is Carribean Blue (Stampin' Up), the ribbon is American Crafts and the sentiment is Stampin' Up. A bit on the simple side, but I kind of like the colors together.

Jumbo Scissors

********** I get a lot of questions asking about the jumbo scissors I use (all the time!). I happened to find these scissors at Michaels. They are called Paper Shapers and are made by Provo Craft. They came in a package of three.

Kid cards

I wanted to package up some "kid" birthday cards. Here are a few more samples. The birthday kids stamp is from Imaginations. This just seemed to need to be done in primary colors today! The pirate card is from Stampin' Up (Ahoy Matey).

Cowboy Kids

Here are a few kid birthday cards. I used the Cowboy Kid set from Stampin' Up. The red one is pattern paper I found at a local scrapbook store and I machine stitched around the denim paper. I colored this one with markers. The green card is stamped background. I printed the senitment on my computer and added some hemp cord. This one I colored with watercolor pencils.

Just a Note

I was just playing around (again with some scraps). The flower is made with the Cuddlebug embossing folder (then cut out the flower). The center is a bottle cap (Sherry - remember these??? - We each bought a whole bag of these a few years back at the Auntie Amy's Stamping Convention!) Oh well, it's still a bag full of memories! The bottom of the card is cut with jumbo scallop scissors. (I love them!) They can be used on just about every card!! Thanks for looking!

Cutest Little Baby Face

These cards are the perfect size for a gift card (or just write a message). The purse stamp is from Too Much Fun Rubberstamping, the baby face is from Sizzix (Baby Set). I added a little fiber and ribbon at the handle.

No More Shopping!! (I promise!)

Yeah, right (says my husband!) Why can't I stop?? I have way too much stuff, I need to start creating and use it up. I just can't resist a sale! (or a coupon!) Well, a local scrapbook store was having a 45% off sale, now would you be able to resist that?? I went twice this weekend (and once a few weeks ago with a friend). I just happened to be passing by it on the way up to Ludington (and on the way back home!) Oh, and of course, Joann Fabrics was not too far away and I had a coupon! So here are a few of my favorite deals... The blue and pink pet kits are from Bo Bunny (and had the cutest papers and matching stickers ever!) These were actually paperbag album kits (which I already know how to do, but at 45% off, it was a deal with everything included), plus look at the cute zipper storage bag they came in. The brown pet kit is from ki Memories. (Stephanie, these are the ones we saw at Joann's for 19.99, now on sale for 9.99.) This kit had 80 pieces of paper, 4 sets of letter stickers, 2 sets of epoxy stickers, and patterned chip board letters - too cute! These kits are also from ki Memories. I never would have paid full price for these, but again, at 45% off, I could splurge! The paper in these kits are pearlized - beautiful! And each kit came with 2 sheets of epoxy stickers (they call gel candy!) One kit is for winter, the other fall. (Now I can't decide if I want to use these for scrapping or card making!) Here are a few other odds and ends from the scrapbook store. If you live anywhere close to West Michigan - it's not too late. The sale ends today! (PS, they are not closing -just down sizing!) And then I went to Walmart! Did you know they have Cricut supplies and cartridges? Well, they had a clearance on cartridges - again with the sales!!!! I picked up two new cartridges and of course some textured paper, also on clearance (my hubby doesn't understand this clearance stuff!) Well, if you understand the "clearance stuff" you can understand my addiction! Off to create - thanks for stopping by!

Ludington Fireworks

Well, the fireworks in Ludington were rained out on the 4th and they were rescheduled for last night, so we headed up to the trailer for the night. (Having teenagers, one night is all they wanted to squeeze into their friend-schedule!) It was a beautiful night on Lake Michigan. Actually it was a little chilly, but we had blankets to keep warm (and Max!) Yes, we had to sneak Max on the beach! (Well, actually, we weren't on the beach, it was very close to the road, we were on the dunes, so maybe that wasn't quite as bad). He was a good dog and hardly barked! Plus I figured if anyone was going to get a ticket, it would be the people that had a campfire on the beach!

Craft Show Success

Well, the weather was beautiful for the craft show (can you believe it - because they were calling for rain!) As a matter of fact by the afternoon it was sunny and hot! Lots of people! My biggest selling item this time was the birthday calendars. Here is a sample of one of the birthday book calendars. Each book has a different cover. I just made the inside part (the lines) on my computer. The variety pack cards did very well, also. I almost sold out of those (a variety pack is 10 different cards for $10.00). I have seen a lot of forums asking about selling cards (like on Split Coast) like how much to ask for each card, but the key for me is not the money - I love the fact that people like my cards and I just want to share them with others! (Other people selling their cards seem to do it more for the money; like $3.00 up to $5.00 a card). Well, the money is nice, but I just stick it back into stamping!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Here is a fun bookmark card idea. I used Stars and Swirls from Stampin' Up, embossed in white for the background. One card I just made slits for the bookmark to slide through. The other card, I attached a piece of vellum paper with eyelets. The bookmark is also embossed in white (I don't know the name of that stamp). These pictures show a some gifts I made for some special friends that helped me out. One friend helped me to move my classroom at the end of the school year (on a very, very hot day!) She is a true friend to come back after school got out just to help me haul all my junk from one classroom to another. The other friend came to a craft show (my first one of the season) to sit with me. She knew if would be difficult for me, since I just lost my mother (and she was always there at my craft shows to help and keep me company). Both of these wonderful friends have sons in the military and I thought these little tokens of my appreciation were a good choice for today. I included in their gifts a set of pocket cards (made with Old Glory from Stampin' Up), a post-it note and a small photo album. I hope this helps show them how much their friendship means to me! Hope your holiday has been safe and relaxing! PS My craft show was a success! More on that tomorrow - J. just made me dinner!

Baby Bear Set

I have no idea what inspired me to make this baby set. I think it started out using up some extra paper scraps! Do you ever go through those cleaning "fits" where you can't stand all the mess!! I have been on a mission to use up all my extra pieces (and not to cut extras on my Cricut!) I just told a friend this - we must be on different wave lengths - she is cutting out all these pieces for later projects and I am trying to use up stuff! I used the new set Bundle of Joy (Stampin' Up). The bear is watercolored with Close to Cocoa ink. The stamp "You're Invited" is from Birthday Invitation (Close to My Heart) and the "thank you" is from Savvy Stamps. The backgound of dots is made with Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up). Paper from these cards is Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up). This is where the "left-overs" came in. I didn't have enough pieces for another set of cards, so I made some post-it notes and a matching notebook. A little fiber, ribbon and a circle paperclip finished these off! What do you think?