Cheers!

Here's to the New Year!  Wishing everyone a year of good health, happiness and all good things in 2020!  If you are going out to celebrate the New Year, be careful and enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Girl and Her Dog

Time to make cards for the next special day~~Valentine's Day.  The image on today's card is from MFT's You Have My Heart stamp set.  The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up set.  I stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink and then heated it with white embossing powder.  Once again, MFT has a cute image~~or should say "stamp set".  The card is quite simple, but it says a lot!  Have a great day!

Mark's Card

We had a most wonderful Christmas.  Jen, Mark, Syd and Matt were here on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas Day our friends, Mickey and Lenora, came over and we had our usual stuffed cabbage dinner and then played Mexican Train.

The week before Christmas, Mark had a birthday.  I used Lawn Fawn's You're Just My Type stamp set, cutting the stamped images on my Scan N Cut.   The "happy b-day" is from Lawn Fawn's Love Note stamp set.  WPlus 9's Bubble Talk stamp set includes the "Make A Wish" that fits perfectly on the piece of paper image.  And that cute little mouse finishes the card.  Have a great day!

Family

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Four Christmas Puppies

I cannot believe Christmas is already here!  The older I get, the quicker this time of the year rolls around!  Sydney was here for the weekend and we did our Christmas Cookies.  As always, Syd did a great job decorating! 

Using the same layout for today's card as on other cards I posted recently, I made this one for Matthew.  I used dog stamps from a variety of stamp sets by My Favorite Things.  I added a Christmas tree that was punched and decorated with gel pen garland.  Have a great day!

Christmas Heart Tags

I finally sent out my Christmas cards which meant it was time to clean up my scrap room island.  At the same time, Lawn Fawn's newly released Heart Shaker Gift Tag dies arrived.  As you know, when I receive a new item I have to try it out and I did this time, too.  I made these two tags, the green one a shaker tag.  They are cute and not the only thing I ordered from Lawn Fawn's new release.  I will get to those after Christmas!  Have a great weekend!

Elves on a Shelf

Today's card is from my friend, Dawn.  She makes some of the cutest cards and she does a great job coloring.  The stamp set used for this card is Neat & Tangled's Elfs and Their Shelf.  I don't usually think elves are cute.  Actually, most elves are scary.  But these little elves are very cute. I am not sure what dies she used but I will guess:  MFT Stamps' Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge for the white layer; and MFT's Blueprints 27 for the cute red frame.  When I talk to Dawn, I will have to ask her.  Thank you for the very adorable card, Dawn!  Love it.  Have a great day everyone!

More Christmas Bird

My neighbor girls from across the street will enjoy these happy little birds.  I saw these cards on Pinterest.  They were so cute, I had to make them.  Not only are they cute, they are easy to make.  Have a great day!

Christmas Bird

I completely forgot that Stampin' Up's Birds of A Feather stamp set had a cute little Christmas bird until I saw a card on pinterest.  I am done with all the cards I created using SU's tree punch and plaid paper.  I needed to make some cute, fun cards.  What better stamp set than Birds of a Feather?  I colored the little bird with a Stampin' Up Pool Party alcohol pen.  I then used a Cherry Cobbler card base with a white layer on which to perch the little bird.  The area behind the image was sponged lightly.  The sentiment  is from the same set with a minor change.  (I cut off the line that said "from our little flock".)  The card is ready to go!  Have a great day!
 

Christmas Box

Since I have been working on finishing up my Christmas cards, I only had time to create something quick for today's post.  So out came Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Box die, snowflake dies and red ribbon  Elegant and simple is what happened with those products and a couple more!  Nice box for presenting a gift card, check, candy and more. Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Yuletide Cheer

This very pretty card was created by my friend, Nancy.  I love everything about it.  The first thing that jumps out is that she used a non-traditional color~~purple.  Then she used Stampin' Up's Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper.  And finally, the Foliage Frames Dies are so much prettier in person than in the Holiday Catalog.  The sentiment is from the Frosted Foliage stamp set.  Stampin' Up offers a bundle price for the stamp set and dies.  Yesterday was free shipping at Stampin' Up.  I thought about ordering the DSP, stamps and dies after seeing Paula's and Nancy's cards.  I came close~~but, I stayed strong!  I will admire their cards and probably kick myself later for not ordering~~lol!!  Have a great day!

Christmas Under The Sea

Last week I posted a card I created using Lawn Fawn's Christmas Fishes stamp set.  It was pretty cute so I decided to use the same stamp set to create a shaker card.  For the shaker, I used a scallop circle stitched die with a smaller circle inside to make the red frame.  I also used a circle die to create the circle in the white layer.  After adhering the acetate to the underside of the white card layer, I outlined both the underside of the acetate circle and the remainder of that white layer with foam strips.  The cute little images were colored with alcohol markers and adhered to a sponged layer.  Sequins were added and the card was assembled.  Have a great day!

Dear Santa

Today's creativity is from my friend, Nikki.  Aren't these the cutest placemats?  Nikki is putting her Cricut machine and her heat press to work.  She purchased the SVG file, iron-on vinyl and the cute placemats.  She got to work cutting and these are two of her finished products.  I don't know how she does it.  Nikki works full time, has a new baby and just had gall bladder surgery!  Thanks for sharing, Nikki.  Have a great day!

Winter Scene

Yesterday, Jen and my friend, Paula, came over for a little play time. Today's card is one that Paula made using Stampin' Up's Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper.  Paula layered the DSP paper on two colors of cardstock adhering that to the card base.  The sentiment is from SU's Frosted Foliage stamp set.  The Frosted DSP is very pretty, as is Paula's card.  A silver snowflake was added to complete the card.  Paula gave me some of her paper so for sure I will be making a few cards using the paper and a sentiment~~definitely clean and simple cards!  Have a great day.

Santa Claws

Instead of making all these cute cards, I should be working on the Christmas cards that the majority of my family and friends will receive.  Today's card was created using Lawn Fawn's Christmas Fishes stamp set.  The stamped images were cut on my Scan N Cut, colored with alcohol markers and adhered to a scallop stitched circle.  The circle was sponged with Distress Oxide Ink before adhering the underwater scene.    Isn't this too cute?  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Cute Little Penguin

Another card using MFT's Toasty Greetings, a fun winter stamp set..  For this card, I used Stampin' Up's Marina Mist retired cardstock and paper.  This could be a Christmas card or a birthday card, depending on what you write inside.  Either way, very cute.  Have a great day!

AZ Christmas Card

Today's card is quite simple.  It is a perfect card for one of our families in Arizona.  While looking for a specific stamp, I came across the Southwest Christmas stamp set by Art Impressions.  I forgot I even purchased the set!  I quickly decided to make a card using Southwest Christmas and I will look for the other stamp later today.  I was able to cut this image on the Scan N Cut.  A couple of the other images from the set would not cut correctly.  So after awhile, I put that aside and worked on one of the images that cut perfectly!  The sentiment is the same one I used on yesterday's card.  The little Red Rhinestone embellishments from Stampin' Up are more rounded than faceted.  They are more "cute" than "pretty".  I prefer the "pretty" rhinestones from SU than these red "cute" ones!  Have a great day!

Toasty Greetings

Today's card was created using My Favorite Things' Toasty Greetings stamp set and MFT's pattern paper.  After stamping and coloring the images using alcohol markers, the images were cut out on my Scan N Cut.  The snow hills were made using dies from MFT, Stitched Snow Drifts, with a little sponging along the tops.   I added Stickles on the "fur" of the snowgirl and the penguin.  Toasty Greetings is an adorable set and it does have matching dies.   Have a great day!

Christmas Cards for Germany

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  Sydney came over for our annual "toast the bread for stuffing and watch TV in bed"  day before Thanksgiving.  For a change to the usual pancakes that John makes when Sydney comes over, he made waffles.  After an enjoyable Thanksgiving breakfast, the kitchen became quite busy (and messy for a while)! I enjoy having our family and friends here every year for Thanksgiving.  I see them all sitting at different tables and hear the laughter and see the joy in their faces and actions and my heart is full of thankfulness.  I truly am blessed.

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I had been working on cards for our German "family".  Since my Cricut was out, I used it to make and cut out a snowflake.  I chose the snowflake image I wanted to use and cut it out on Whisper White cardstock.  I then adhered the white snowflake to a blue shimmery paper layer on a white card base.  Since I had the white layer with the negative space, I layered that onto a shimmery blue layer. It looked like I had cut out a shimmery blue snowflake, too.  The sentiment was stamped with Versamark Ink and then embossed with silver embossing powder.  The finishing touch was a little rhinestone in the center of each snowflake.  Have a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving

 To all of my family and friends, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Thankful For Friends

A couple of weeks ago I received the cute Thanksgiving card on the left made by Kathy Z.  And yesterday I received the adorable card on the right made by Nancy.  I appreciate the cards and the friendships.  Thank you Kathy and Nancy   Both are special!

Today will be a busy day at my house.  My favorite helper will be here this afternoon so that means I will get busy this morning so Sydney and I can play a little later today.  Have a great day and don't get blown away today!

Christmas Night

Today's card is a simple but meaningful Christmas card.  I liked WPlus 9's Little Drummer Boy stamp set when it first came out a few years ago but I refrained from purchasing it as I have so many Christmas sets. Earlier this year the stamp set and coordinating dies were on clearance for $5.  I did purchase them and this is the first card of many I will be making.  Have a great day!

Christmas Dragon

Over the weekend I went down to clean my scrap room and needless to say, that did not go well.  But I was able to make a few Christmas cards.  Today's post is a card I made for a cute 2 -1/2 year old boy.  His dad is into playing Dungeons and Dragons, so he will appreciate it for sure! The dragon is from MFT Stamps' set, Magical Dragons.  The hat is worn by one of the little sea creatures in Lawn Fawn's Christmas Fishes.  It was the right size so I stamped the image and fussy cut the hat for the Dragon.  The tree and present are from MFT's Happy Pawlidays set.  The sentiment was created combining words from two different MFT stamp sets.  Fun card to make and the glitter adhesive dots from Stampin' Up are great little tree decorations.  Have a great day!

DIY Signs

A couple of weeks ago Matt invited me to join him and a couple of his friends for a DIY sign painting evening.  Of course, I said I would join them,  The place I went to with Dawn a few weeks ago, Board and Brush, was a brick and mortar business.  The tables and everything were made for the purpose of painting.  There were samples of projects hanging all around.  There were sample boards of stain and paint colors.

The event I went to with Matt was a "travel class".  We picked the sign we wanted to paint and last night we went to the class.  This was held in a room located in the Crystal Lake Brewing building and was put on by Creative Expressions Galena.  Since it was a "travel" event, they sanded, stained and distressed the wood. There were no hanging samples of different projects or paint samples.  When we arrived the sign and stencils were on the tables. We then went to work.  I am pleased with our projects and projects made by Matt's friends.  They all turned out really cute. 

This place offers "travel classes" all around the area.  For example, there is an event at a business in Elgin on December 1st.  There are private parties, too.  Both businesses charged the same amount for a project.  The Creative Expression is a more low cost business.  That being said, both were fun and learning experiences.  Can you figure out which sign is mine and which is Matt's?  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Sew Suite

The shadow box in today's post was created by my friend, Nancy.  She used a combination of Stampin' Up retired products for this gift for her sister.  The majority of stamped images are from SU's Sew Suite stamp set from a couple of years ago.  The dress and dress form were die cut using SU's retired Dress Up framelits.  Not sure about the scissors or the sentiment, but they are perfect for Nancy's shadow box.  The buttons on the "button card" are adorable.  Thanks for sharing, Nancy.  If I knew a seamstress or someone who likes to sew, I would be borrowing your idea, stamps and framelits!  Have a great day!

Peacock Colors

My friend, Nancy, has a birthday coming up.  I needed a pretty card for her.  As I liked the card I posted a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would use the same layout but different colors.  I used Elegant Eggplant, Mossy Meadow and Island Indigo.  The leaves are from Lawn Fawn's Stitched Leaves die set and the off white layer was cut with a die from Stampin' Up's  Stitched Seasons die set.  As it turns out, I had SU's Noble Peacock Rhinestones and they were perfect for the colors on Nancy's card.  Have a great day!

Copper Foil

When my friend, Paula, was here a couple of weeks ago, she brought Stampin' Up's Copper Foil and the Tin Tile embossing folder.  I embossed a piece of the Copper Foil with the folder and it has been sitting on my counter waiting for the right card.  While looking at cards on Pinterest, I found the right card on which the embossed foil would be perfect.  I also found some SU copper cardstock from many years ago in my stash. The image is from Basket of Wishes colored with alcohol markers.  The sentiment is from an old Amuse stamp set.  (When I purchased the set years ago, I knew I would use it.  I didn't know how much!)  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Acetate Box Liners

Last week I watched a video that my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Kim, created using her Scan N Cut to make liners for SU's 2x2 acetate boxes.  (Kim has many videos using her Scan N Cut on her blog at www.thepaperedchef.com).  The one minus to the SNC for me is that instead of a score line, it cuts dashes.  When you fold it works fine.  I prefer an actual scored line.  So I decided to use my Cricut.  Using Kim's measurements, I was able to create the liners on my pretty light pink Cricut Explore.  I even decided to see if I could make liners for the 1-1/2" acetate boxes I purchased from Clear Bags.  After a number of adjustments, I was successful.  The acetate boxes shown today were my test boxes and they turned out pretty good.  Have a great day!

Christmas Bookmarks or Gift Tags

Last week the children from across the street came over to make cards.  Connor held up something he was working on and said, "This could be a bookmark."  So I decided to make a few that they could create the next time they come over.  The bookmarks with the plaid and checked ribbons were created using retired SU Designer Series Paper.  I cut out all of the images on my Scan N Cut and adhered them to the bookmarks.  The green bookmark was made with  DSP paper that is in Stampin' Up's Holiday catalog.  The little bird is from the Birds of A Feather stamp set.  As you can see, the bookmarks are of various lengths.  The Scallop Tag punch makes it quite easy to do so~~as long as the cardstock/paper is no wider than 2 inches, they can be any length.  These would be cute little surprises for anyone any age.  They would be really cute in Christmas stockings or as gift tags.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Nature's Beauty

The monochromatic color scheme on this card was inspired from a card I saw on Pinterest posted by Samira's Kreative Welt.  Actually, it wasn't only the color scheme that caught my attention!  I also liked the layout on the card for which Stampin' Up's Nature's Beauty stamp set was used.  So I just about copied the card.  I used Early Espresso cardstock and ink and sponged the edges of both the white top layer and the sentiment.  What did we do before Pinterest?  Went to the Splitcoast Stampers Gallery for ideas.  Have a great day!

Thanksgiving Favors

I have almost finished our Thanksgiving favors for the adults.  I have a few more to make and the favors for the children.  Sydney is 15 now, so she is pretty much beyond kids' favors, but she will get one anyway.  That is because I am sure one of the adults will give her theirs!  I used Lawn Fawn's Fancy Box die for the box.  The sentiment was stamped and then die cut with a die from the same set.  The leaves are from Lawn Fawn's Stitched Leaves die sets.  Inside are Hershey Nuggets, each wrapped in Fall paper.  These favors are pretty easy to make and can be used as name place cards if you wanted to write names instead of stamp a word.  Have a great day!

Santa Bird

Over the weekend I worked on a little bit of many things.  I had stamped and cut the bird and turkey images from Stampin' Up's Birds of A Feather stamp set and then started coloring.  I now have some images ready
for cards I need to make for both Christmas and Thanksgiving.  Today's card includes a pretty little Santa Bird.  I used retired SU paper, a retired set for the sentiment and their Layering Ovals framelits.  It is very non-traditional in colors. But it is perfect for a young girl I know.  Nipper approves, too!  I was going to take a picture of the card, when Nipper waddled over to check it out!  One card down 60 to go!  Have a great day!

Veteran's Day

. . .to all those who served and serve now in the United States military.  Also to all of their families that gave much during their loved one's time in the Service.

Poppy Parade

Poppy Parade is a fun shade of red and when SU reintroduced it, I pulled out my saved Poppy Parade Designer Series Paper and cardstock.  While going through scrapes of red, I decided to use Poppy Parade for a quick card.  The checked paper and the black and white polka dot paper are both retired DSP.  The sentiment was written on my Cricut and both oval layers were cut using oval framelits from Stampin' Up.  Have a great weekend and keep warm! 

Autumn Yellows

Today's card was created using Gina K's Always Autumn stamp set.  The leaves were stamped directly on the white cardstock layer.  The flowers were cut on my Scan N Cut.  All stamped images  were stamped in Versamark ink and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  Spectrum Noir markers brought the stamped images to life.  I purchased the pretty gold thread at Joann's.  It is very glittery compared to SU's gold thread.  The flower/leaf layout needed a little something more so I added two Early Espresso cardstock leaves.  Keep warm and have a great day!

New Cricut

Over the weekend I purchased a Cricut Explore Air 2.  At the same time, I gave away my Original, Expression and Explore Cricuts.  After linking all of my cartridges to Cricut Access, I gave those away, too.  So now I have a pretty light pink Cricut sitting on my counter.  I have been playing with it a lot.  A couple of days ago, I found a tropical split design SVG.  I downloaded it to my computer, added our last name and yesterday I cut and weeded it.  For a trial project, it turned out really good, so it is hanging in my kitchen.  Now what will I create next?  Have a great day!

Fall Wreath

The leaves have fallen off the colorful trees in my front yard.  But as I walked down the driveway the color on the ground was still pretty.  When I went to my scrap room to make a card for today, those colors inspired me.  For the leaves and flowers I used various cardstock scraps together with my Stampin' Up smaller daisy punch and Lawn Fawn's Stitched Leaves framelits.  The wreath was created using SU's Braided Linen Trim which I adhered to the cardstock with double-sided tape.  The leaves, flowers and sentiment covered those areas.  Speaking of sentiment, I do like SU's Timeless Label Punch.  It fits a variety of sentiments.  I will be using it often and I need to see about making a layer for the punched shape on my Scan N Cut.  Have a great day!

Pumpkin Pie

A few weeks ago I wanted to make favors that looked like pumpkin pie.  What I found in Cricut Access looked more like cake than pie.  It was cute but not what I was wanting.  Yesterday I purchased a slice of pie design that is in Cricut Access for $1.99 and when it was cut and assembled, it did look like pie.  But I still wasn't happy with it.  So I added  a little white scalloped edge as whip cream on top of the pie and added a piece on the back that I cut with a Lawn Fawn framelit for the crust.  Now it looked like pumpkin pie!   Have a great day!

Happy Thoughts

I woke up this morning with my Mom on my mind.  It has been five years since she died and I still miss her.

I know she wants us all to be happy today instead of sad.  So today's card is a pretty card with a happy sentiment.  I used Stampin' Up's Ornamental Frames dies and their retired Friendly Phrases stamp set.  The Pink Pirouette cardstock was embossed with a Darice embossing folder.  Have a great weekend and keep warm!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Brilliant Color

On Saturday morning, I walked out my garage to this brilliant and beautiful tree.  The day before it was very pretty but with the sun hitting it on Sunday, I had to go back in for my camera.  And actually I took photos of a few trees and they were all gorgeous.  But this tree seemed perfect.

Today's card is not perfect, but it too, is very pretty~~if I say so myself!  I used a variety of leaf and pumpkin framelits  and the die cuts were then sponged on the edges.  They were then arranged on a stitched die cut from Stampin' Up together with gold thread, Mossy Meadow ribbon, a few adhesive dots and completed with a sentiment from Teeny, Tiny Wishes.  Have a great day!

Witch Hat & Spider

Another Halloween card today.  The hat was cut on my Cricut Explore.  It is one of many very cute images for Halloween in Cricut Access.  The foil polka dot cardstock, spider web embossed layer and sparkly ribbon used on this card are retired Stampin' Up products.  Have a great day!

Halloween Shaker Cards

Aren't these shaker card adorable?  My friend, Nancy, created these cards for her grandchildren.  They were made using items from Queen & Co.  This company has a variety of shaker card kits.  The kits include paper, plastic shakers, shaker fillers and a stamp set and dies.  In addition to shaker card kits, Queen & Co. also sells individual items in a variety of colors and themes.  Nancy's grandchildren are going to enjoy their cards.  Have a great day!

Witch Hat & Spider

There are a variety of cute Halloween images on Cricut Access and this hat is just one.  There are more than a few layers to this hat, maybe five or six.  Once the layers were cut, it was easy to put together and use on this card.  The scalloped white layer was created with Lawn Fawn's Fancy Scallop Rectangle Stackables.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Teeny, Tiny Wishes. Have a great weekend and find yourself a little Stampin' Time!

Autumn Birthday

My Seasonal Layers framelits from Stampin' Up are well used.  I pretty much copied today's card from a Pinterest card posted by an Australian demonstrator last year.  The pattern paper is one of the papers included in the retired Wood Textures 6x6 paper collection.   Images of wood in the lower left corner were cut from  another pattern in the same paper pack.  The chair and a leaf or two were cut from the Seasonal Layers framelits while the other leaves were cut from either Lawn Fawn dies or an SU punch.  There are so many pretty Fall cards using leaves that I could make a card a day for the next month and still not make them all!  Have a great day!

Boo To You

Today's card was made by my friend, Kathy Z.  Her extra adorable card was created with all Stampin' Up products. She used Granny Apple Green cardstock, ribbon and Stampin' Blends.  The spider web paper is from the Monster Bash Designer Series pack.  The silly creature is from the Boo To You stamp set.  And as much as I love ribbon, I have to say that the best part of Kathy's card are the green googly eyes from SU's assorted pack in the Holiday catalog.  Have a great day!