With Gratitude

This is a very simple card. The background stamp is Woodgrain Pattern from Hero Arts. The sentiment is computer generated, cut out with a Classic Ovals Nestie, and edged with scattered straw & milled lavender Distress Ink (Ranger). The butterfly is a Cuttlebug Butterfly die, CB EF'd with Swiss Dots, mounted on black cardstock (I then cut around the butterfly to create a mat layer). 5 black pearls were attached to the butterfly's back. The leaves were cut using a Sizzix Sizzlits die. Three light purple Rhinestones (Basics) were attached to the upper right top.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a great day!

Merry Chris Moose

I made this card before Christmas, but so much going on, I didn't get it posted. I hope I can do better in 2011 - but no promises at this point.

The stamp used on this card is Chris Moose from Stampington. The holly punch is M.S. and the star is a Rusty Tin-Tiques Star.

Happy New Year. I hope you'll visit again soon.

Season's Greetings 2010!

I made this card a couple of weeks ago - but I'm just getting around to photographing it & uploading it today. I've promised myself that I will spend some time each day on this year's Christmas cards. I need to put on some of those great Christmas movies and some Christmas music and get in the mood. It just doesn't seem to be happening this year. This is my first attempt at paper piecing (Rodney). I'm sure I'll get better as I go along!

Stamps: Rodney Reindeer - Digi Stamp (Pink Gem Designs), Season's Greetings (Hero Arts)

Paper: DP: Christmas Reindeer, (Karen Folster Design), CS: white, red, brown
Ink:Green dye ink, (Memories), and computer-generated
Accessories: Glossy Accents, glitter glue, pop dots, circle punches and scalloped circle punch, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Fiskars Paper Cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - #1

Okay, I admit it, I'm hopeless! I can clear off my desk, and within a VERY short period of time, my desk is swamped with stash that I'm using and my clear area for working is down to the size of a postage stamp! I hold on to every little scrap of paper, string, ribbon - all that ephemera that is left over from a project. I'm trying to figure out a way to deal with that stuff. Any ideas?

I'm back to clearing this out-of-control surface so that I can get back to creating! Hopefully, I'll have an actual card to post before too long.

Gobble Gobble

I've had such a hard time getting my act together lately. So much to do, so little time. I finally created two cards to upload.

The first one is this cute turkey from Great Impressions. He looks so dapper & so happy (and unaware of what could be in store - unless the President gives him a last minute reprieve, eh?). He was fun to color - and I used lots of glitter.

Here's my second Fall card:

Preview of what's in store for us this winter. First snow fall here at the beach:

Thanks for visiting - please come back soon.

Asian Inspiration

Today's card uses another beautiful example of Yuzen-shi paper. Beneath the focal paper is a black cs layer over a gold cs layer, which is mounted on a white card base. I attached a round "woodsie" that I covered with black paint and stamped an image with gold pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The flower center dots were created with a gold Pilot marker. I added a black gem. The sentiment is computer generated.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please come again soon.

Tie a Knot

When using these beautiful silk-screened papers, I like to keep the design simple, making the speciality paper the star. I painted the wooden stick matte black and tightly wound some gold wire around it.  The Mizuhiki cord is tied into a Clamshell Knot (which I learned how to do from this book).

Here's a close-up photo of the Clamshell Knot:

Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you come back often.

Asian Speciality Paper Collage Card

These papers are all beautiful in their own right. I love trying to use even the smallest scraps, along with wire scraps, various beads and beads that I've made with Fimo clay to create a mini-collage.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll come back again.

Maple Leaves Asian Paper

I have a collection of beautiful Asian papers—mostly Yuzen-shi (Silk-Screened Paper)—that I've purchased over the past fourteen years. These papers speak to me ("buy me, buy me" - ha, ha). I'm going to be creating some cards over the next two weeks using these gorgeous papers that I've purchased from Washi Accents and Paper Zone. Here is the first:

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you'll stop by again.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!  It's a dark & spooky night. Hope you have lots of goblins & ghouls knocking at your door.

Witching You . . .

Here's another Mo's Digital stamp, Halloween Witch. I decided to go "purple" with her hat & witchy gown. I think the sparkle shows up in the photo. And I love the MS broken fence edge punch (pretty obvious since I think I used it on each & every Halloween card I made this year)!

And this is a photo of the inside:

A Spooktacular Halloween

My Fed-X package from JoAnn.com arrived today. I got some really fun stuff and EVERYTHING was on sale. I like! And so much fun to unpack and start playing with everything. This card uses my new Martha Stewart "goo" edge punch, my new "spooky" Robin's Nest Dew Drops, and (inside) my new Tim Holtz/Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folder, Cracked.

Here's the inside (Can't get too many MS edge punches going here, eh?)

Stamps: Toad (Craft Smart), Spooktacular Halloween (Great Impressions), happy Halloween (Hampton Art)
Paper: DP: Bo Bunny Press and Recollections, CS: white, orange, green, black and purple
Ink: Tsukineko Pigment Ink, Black Dye Ink, (Memories)
Accessories: Glossy Accents, Robin's Nest Dew Drops (Spooky), pop dots, edge distressing tool, circle punch and scalloped circle punch, Martha Stewart Goo, broken fence and spiderweb edge punches, Fiskars Paper Cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Kai's Fall Greetings

I love this little guy! Maurie Manning really captured the essence of innocence with this little boy. I feel the need to pinch a little rosy cheek!

Stamps: Kai (Mo's Digital Pencil Shop), Autumn Greetings (computer generated)

Paper: DP: (Keeping Memories Alive, CS: white, orange, green
Ink: HP Computer Printer
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, stump, Glossy Accents, glitter, brads, small leaf punches, ribbon, Fiskars Paper Cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Stamps: Kai (Mo's Digital Pencil Shop)

Paper: DP: Red Plaid (Deja Views), CS: white, orange, black
Ink: HP Computer Printer
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, stump, gel dots, corner rounder punch, Glossy Accents, glitter, brads, small leaf punches, ribbon, Fiskars Paper Cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Little Mummy

Stamps: Mummy (Recollections)
Paper: DP: (Bo Bunny Press and Recollections, CS: white, orange, black
Ink: Tsukineko Pigment Ink
Accessories: Glossy Accents, Stardust Gelly Roll pen (clear), buttons, gel dot, rafia, pop dots, scalloped circle punch, Martha Stewart EEK! punch and Spiderweb edge punch, Fiskars Paper Cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

This is a close up of the little mummy so you can see the Gelly Roll pen effects:

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Vase of Flowers

This card is completely stamp free. I used a square and vase punch as well as flower punches. The sentiment was computer generated.

Wonder-full

I was looking at a magazine and the colors of an ad were pink and moss green. I decided I wanted to make a card with that so here's the one I made:

Stamps: Sophie (Mo's Digital Pencil)

Paper:DP: Anna Griffin, CS: white and moss green
Ink: computer
Accessories: Spellbinders Oval, Scalloped Oval, and Labels 4 (Nestabilities), white picket fence, dimentional sticker, Tombo markers, Radiant Pearls, Fiskars paper cutter, Scor-Pal, Glue Glider Pro
Size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (A2)

Have a great evening. See you tomorrow!

I LOVE Halloween! 2010 Part 3

I spent yesterday putting out all my Halloween decorations. So many decorations - so little space!  Every year my husband walks around looking at the decorations after I set them out saying, "Is this new?  I don't remember this one." I gotta tell ya, my Halloween decorations and me are OLD friends. We go way back.  Well, a few of them I rescued from garage sales or second-hand stores. But I love them all the same. Anyway, here's my next Halloween card:

"Punch it . . . Broomzelda!" is by Sandi Gore Evans from Uptown Rubber Stamps. I stamped it using black pigment ink and clear embossing powder and painted the image with Radiant Pearls. I rounded the corners of the layering papers and the images, added a strip of Halloween Ribbon (Michaels) and some orange rhinestones. The sentiment stamp is from Northwoods Rubber Stamps and I popped it up on some pop dots. The flower is handmade (by me) using some double-sided, crinkled Gilded Papiers that I got on sale from Loose Ends. I love this paper. I sponged black dye ink on the edges of the main image and the sentiment. Additional tools:  Fiskars paper cutter; (Fiskars), Scor-pal; (Scor-Pal), Glue Glider Pro, (Glue Glider Pro).

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

I LOVE Halloween! 2010 Part 2

Crows are one of my favorite birds (blackbirds? ravens? - I'll have to Google them to see "witch is witch" Cackle, Cackle). This is one of my favorite "not so cute" Halloween stamps.

Stamps: (Inkadinkado)

Paper: DP: Superstition - Seven Years Bad Luck, (Dream Street Papers, LLC), CS: white, black
Ink: Black Dye Ink, (Memories)
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, stump, (Glossy Accents), Martha Stewart Punch, Spellbinders Ovals (Nestabilities), 3 red gemstones, Fiskars paper cutter; (Fiskars), Scor-pal; (Scor-Pal), Glue Glider Pro, (Glue Glider Pro)
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

And here's a close-up view of the stamped image:

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

I LOVE Halloween! 2010 Part 1

Well, I've finally got all of my Halloween boxes out and I'm busy trying to find a place for everything. Such fun! I LOVE HALLOWEEN (and not just because it gives me such a valid excuse to buy CANDY!). I love all the little characters and creepy-crawlies who look so cute. Fun, fun, fun. And I've started my 2010 Halloween cards. Here's the first one:

Stamps: Crows on a Branch (Inkadinkado, Halloween (Hampton Arts))
Paper: DP: (Basic Grey), CS: white, black, Moss Green
Ink: Black Dye Ink, (Memories), Distress Inks (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, stump, (Glossy Accents), Martha Stewart Spiderweb Edge Punch, Corner Punch, brads, corner punch, Fiskars paper cutter; (Fiskars), Scor-pal; (Scor-Pal), Glue Glider Pro, (Glue Glider Pro)
Size: 4-1/4 x 5 1/2 (A2)

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

I'mmmmm BACK!

Wow! That was a long absence. So much to do, so little time. I've really missed posting to my blog. Hopefully I can now get back on track.  My daughter turned 40 in September so I made a 40th Birthday Mini-Album. I sent an email to her friends (and posted a request on her Facebook) asking them to tell me how long they've known her, how they met, and to tell "a little story" as well as send her a birthday greeting. I created pockets in the mini-album and after printing out each response and decorating the page, I inserted them in the pockets. The final step will be including the pictures from her party. Here's the cover of the mini-album:

And here are a few pictures of the inside pages: