Christmas In August, Part II

It may seem strange to be working on Christmas cards in mid-August, but pulling out all my Christmas stash (papers, stamps and embellishments) is actually a nice break. Of course, I'm making more of a mess in my craft room but it's worth it just to take an inventory of what I have - and what I don't have. I'm making my shopping list for this Christmas - it'll be here before we know it!

I had this paper left over from last Christmas and it was one of my favorites.

Stamps: On Visa (American Art Stamp)
Paper: DP: Peppermint Stick and Popcorn Balls (BasicGrey) CS: White and red
Ink: graphite black pigment ink (Brilliance)
Accessories: Swiss Dots e.f.; (Cuttlebug); Paper Bliss accent; Class A Peel Stickers (Stampendous); red, gold, green & white glitter; Fiskars paper cutter; Scor-pal; Glue Glider Pro.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Stamps: Warm & Cold (Penny Black), Merry Christmas (unknown)
Paper: DP: Peppermint Stick (BasicGrey) CS: White, lt green, lime green and red
Ink: graphite black pigment ink (Brilliance)
Accessories: Swiss Dots e.f.; (Cuttlebug); circle and scalloped circle paper punches; snowflake punch; brads; red, gold, green & white glitter; Fiskars paper cutter; Scor-pal; Glue Glider Pro.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

My Deer Lady Friends and Christmas in August

I'm starting out with a picture of two friends who were checking me out while I was checking them out as they walked down our street. This is a very common pasttime for us. Dick and I love to sit on the front porch and watch nature sharing our space. Dick's really great at keeping our bird feeders full - so we never lack in bird visitors.

Two of the stamping sites that I follow were doing "Christmas in July" projects so I'm posting these two Christmas cards. I know, I know, I'm a little behind . . .

Paper: DP: Kelly Panneci, CS: White, lt green, and red
Accessories: Swiss Dots e.f. (Cuttlebug), Spellbinders squares Nestabilities, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Stamps: Two Winter Trees (Magenta)
Paper: DP: Snowed in Trees (My Mind's Eye) CS: White, lt green, red, and lt blue
Ink: black dye ink (Memories)
Accessories: Swiss Dots e.f. (Cuttlebug), Spellbinders squares Nestabilities, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Great Impressions Butterfly

I have *several* butterfly stamps in my collection, but I think this one is so classy. I kept FUSSY to a minimum on this card. Often, I have a problem of knowing when to stop adding embellishments to my card. I keep these quotes on my b-board to remind me. Can you relate?:
Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. (Longfellow)
As a painting nears completion, I sometimes wonder when to stop... the best clue for me is when I start painting the next one in my head. (Kathryn Mullaney)
When you get a thing the way you want it, leave it alone. (Churchill)
The minute you finish a piece, get rid of it! If it's bad, it'll drag you down, if it's great, you'll just sit there looking at it. (Author unknown)

The designer paper was cut with the long classic Nestabilities and layered over dark brown card stock that was dye cut with the long scalloped Nestabilities (I cut the scallops off one side). The two butterflys were stamped with gold pigment ink, embossed with clear embossing powder and heat set. After cutting them out, I taped them onto scalloped circles and adhered them to the card. The third circle contains a computer-generated happy birthday sentiment. I added three gold gemstones, two punched flowers and two flourishes.
Stamps: butterfly (Great Impressions)
Paper: DP: Small Black Blooms (Kimberly Poloson) CS: white and dark brown cardstock (Bazzill Basics).
Ink: gold pigment ink (Color Box) and clear embossing powder
Accessories: Circle punches (Paper Shapers) & scalloped circle punches (Marvy), Flourish scroll (BossKut), long classic rectangle (Spellbinders), computer-generated greeting, punched flowers and bling, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

A crabby day at the beach

Impression Obsession's blog and Flower Soft's blog had a joint blog hop this past week so since I'm a big fan of both, I made this card using a couple of their products.

I stamped the main image with dye ink and used colored pencils to color it. I added Flower Soft sand around the crab and highlighted the crab's shell, conch shell, water and lighthouse with a clear Gelly Roll pen. I distressed the edges of the image layer and backed it with a black layer. I layered that to a blue CS layer that I had Cuttled with a Tiny Bubbles ef. All were adhered to a black layer over a white card base. I threaded hemp through three yellow buttons and backed them with pop dots.
Stamps: Crab (Impression Obsession), Inside: My Heart is at Home (Great Impressions )
Paper: CS: White, black and blue
Ink: black dye ink (Memories)
Accessories: Tiny Bubbles e.f. (Cuttlebug), sand (Flower Soft), edge distressing tool, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, clear Gelly Roll pen, buttons, pop dots, jute, Fiskars waves border punch (inside), Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Fishy Friends Hello

Ahhh. Sunday. My cup is half full. Saturday is gone and Monday (back to work!) is just around the corner. But today is Sunday all day and I get to play - with my art supplies!

Over 15 years ago, the wife of a co-worker started selling Stampin' Up! products. I bought a couple of stamps from her before she moved away. That's how my infatuation (obsession!) with rubber stamping and card making began. I don't have many Stampin' Up! stamps in my collection - but I bought these guys on e-bay.

and here's the inside:

I started by running some med-blue CS through my Cuttlebug with the Tiny Bubbles ef. I stamped the star fish, seahorse, crab and fish (inside) with dye ink, colored with Prismacolor pencils, and cut them out. I cut 4 circles from the blue cuttled cs and 4 scalloped circles from black cs using Nestabilities. I layered the circles and then adhered the fishy friends to the circles. I cut a rectangle out of the blue cuttled paper and another from the DP and layered them with a black layer over a white card base. The sentiment is computer generated, cut with a Nestabilities and layered over black cs.

Stamps: Fishy Friends (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: DP: Surf's Up (Best Creations, Inc.) CS: White, black and blue
Ink: black dye ink (Memories)
Accessories: Tiny Bubbles e.f. (Cuttlebug), Spellbinders circle, scalloped circle and dbl ended tags Nestabilities, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, clear Gelly Roll pen, brads, Fiskars waves border punch (inside), Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

A little bug told me . . .

What a fabulous day!  The sun came out early and stayed all day. It doesn't get more beautiful than a sunny day at the beach. Of course, with the sun comes all the tourists so then there's no room at the beach. I just consider myself so lucky that when Monday comes, I get to stay.  In the meantime, there were so many colorful kites flying. I love watching them - so many different shapes, colors & sizes. It's hard to pick just one as my favorite - try as I might.

The card that I'm posting today was one that I made about a year ago. This guy is one of my favorite stamps. Such an attitude! Frog was painted using Radiant Pearls, and I applied loud yellow glitter (Magik Glitter) to his eyes & Royal Coat dimensional magic over that to give his eyes a "pop." I used Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots on the tan background layer and paper pierced the tan scalloped layer behind the frog.

Inside:

Stamps: Thinking Frog and A Little Bug (Diamonds), Happy Birthday (Hero Arts )
Paper: DP: Burgundy Collage (Paper Pizazz), LaCreme Matstack Glittered & Textured DP (DCWV), CS: White, Red, Olive Green, Tan
Ink: Black pigment ink (ColorBox), black dye ink (Memories)
Accessories: Radiant Pearls, loud yellow glitter (Magik Glitter), Royal Coat dimensional magic, Circle punches (Paper Shapers) and scalloped circle punch (Marvy), flourish scroll (BossKut), Spellbinders classic and scalloped rectangle Nestabilities, Swiss Dots e.f. (Cuttlebug), edge distressing tool, paper piercer, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-pal.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Thinking of You Alicia!

Today I decided I was ready to go "public" with my blog so I listed it on my Facebook and sent the link to my daughter. She of the million friends told me she "shared" my blog link so now my knees are knocking big time. It was too early! But my sweetheart daughter-in-law, Alicia, became a "follower" of my blog - so now my blog has a friend who cares! How cool. Thanks, Alicia. You're always there for me! And Happy Birthday girl. Even though the birthday card we're giving Alicia this year is "store bought" (really lovely though, isn't it Alicia?) I'm dedicating this next card to her (since I can't be there with her as the family celebrates) But I'll be . . .

Stamps: Sophie (Mo's Digital Pencil) and computer generated sentiment

Paper:DP ?, CS: white and purple
Ink: computer
Accessories: Spellbinders Oval & Circle Nestabilities, edge distresser, ink dauber, flowers, brads, Tombo markers, Radiant Pearls, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-Pal
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Old Friends

Since we moved to the beach, we've been so fortunate to have our good friends Carol & Phil spend time with us. They own a time-share condo just up the beach so they spend a week every two months. Carol and Phil were with us when we bought our lot here twenty-some years ago. Here's a picture that Carol had the waitress take of the four of us during their last visit.

Whooo Loves Ya Baby?

With owls being so popular this year, I purchased this guy so that I would have more stamps to use on cards that required a more masculine feel. He was fun to paint. I made this one for my youngest son's birthday.

Stamps: Artsy Owl ((Memory Box), computer generated sentiment
Paper: DP: The Green Stack (DCWV), CS: white, chocolate brown, kraft, olive green
Ink: Black Pigment Ink (Colorbox) with clear embossing powder, green distress ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Rectangle and Tags Nestabilities, corner punch, branch die (Quickutz), edge distresser, sponge dauber, Radiant Pearls paint (Angel Wings Enterprises), fine point paint brush, heat gun, paper cutter (Fiskars), Scor-Pal & Scor-Pal pad, twine, pop-dots, Glue Glider Pro, Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug embossing folder
Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Happy Birthday Cathy!

For many, many years I've been exchanging birthday cards with one of my best friends from childhood. Cathy and I sang duets at our church when we were in grade school, played the violin together in the school orchestras, sang in a trio with another friend at the "Highland Dairy Fun Gang" Saturday Matinee and kids' talent show/contest (I think that's what they called it in our hometown). We used to walk home from school and stop on the path by the lake and try to make each other laugh - often to the point where we ended up laughing so hard we peed our pants!  She is a fantastic person and I treasure the memories of our shared times.  Here's the card I made for her this year:

Here's the inside:

Stamps: Wonderful Birthday (Hero Arts ), Yvette ( Inky Antics)
Paper: LaCreme Tan Floral Black Flock DP (DCWV), LaCreme Matstack Glittered & Textured DP (DCWV), and black & ivory CS
Ink: Black pigment ink (ColorBox), Ultimate Metallic Gold (Encore!)
Accessories: Computer-generated sentiment, bling, ivory Flower Soft, Spellbinders Labels Six, Classic and Scalloped Ovals (Nestabilities), fabric flowers (KaiserCraft), edge distresser, ink dauber, Summer Sun (Radient Pearls)
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

My First Post

This is my first post!  I can't believe we're almost halfway through August. Soon it will be fall and I haven't made that many summer cards yet. I'm so behind in my schedule!

Working with paper is my passion and my plan is to use this blog to inspire me to make more cards using all my art stash. I know hoarding art supplies is a major problem for other card designers, so I'm not alone. This card is one that I made for my friend, Carol, who was leaving on a trip to Greece.  I ended up making two (not identical) and I sent the other one to her before I got a photo taken. The flower was my first attempt at making a tissue paper flower similar to the one in Daniela Dobson's tutorial here.  I have a long way to go before I'll be satisfied with mine.  The main image is colored with Prismas and bIended with baby oil and a stump. I cut the dark brown layer on the main image down to make it fit better and then paper pierced around it. The sentiment is edged with stormy sky distressed ink and then edge distressed:

Stamps: Lounging Around (Sassy Studio Designs digital stamp), Relax & Enjoy Yourself (Impression Obsession)
Paper: DP: Granola (BasicGrey), CS: blue and dark brown
Ink: Black, Soft Baby Blue (Memories), Broken China, Stormy Sky Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Prismacolor colored pencils, odorless mineral spirits, stump, foam adhesive, Spellbinders Labels Six and Small Petite Circles Nestabilities, edge distresser, ink dauber, ribbon, tissue paper flower, brad.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

This is a card that I made for one of my grandsons for his birthday:

Here's the inside:

Stamps: Simon (Mo's Digital Pencil digital stamp), Computer Generated
Paper: DP: Ambrosia (BasicGrey), CS: white and dark brown
Ink: Black (Memories) Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Prismacolor colored pencils, baby oil, stump, foam adhesive, Spellbinders Labels, Small Petite Circles and Oval Nestabilities, edge distresser, ink dauber, Sakura GellyRoll pen, brads.
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)