Another Winter Thank You

Silver and Juniper are the cute little birds on today's card.  I have used Stacey Yacula's little birds on other cards as they are so adorable.  The background was brushed with Distress Ink on white cardstock and then both the blue layer and white layer were cut using Lawn Fawn's Fancy Scallop Rectangles dies.  The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Scrumptious Script stamp set.  After adhering the layers to a Bashful Blue card base, I used Jane Davenport's paint pen to add snowflakes.  Have a great weekend and a fun Super Bowl Sunday!

Hello Friend

Today's cards were originally seen on Pinterest.  For the two white cards, I cut the word hello using a die from Stampin' Up's Hello You thinlet set.  The little birds were stamped and die cut using Sunny Studio Stamp's A Bird's Life.  After layering the pattern papers on white card bases, the die cut white layers were adhered to the pattern paper.  I did add the word friend which is from Penny Black's Word Express stamp set.  I then filled in the negative spaces with the white sections to complete the word.  For the purple card I added the hello which had been previously die cut from the white layers, adhering that to pattern paper on a white card base.  A decorative edge and a little strip of white cardstock finished off that card.  These cards didn't take a lot of time and I ended up with three cute cards.   Have a great day!

Off To The Post Office

My valentine cards for the children at LaRabida Children's Hospital are ready to go.  It is rewarding to know that cards I make  are going to be enjoyed by children and their families.

Since Operation Write Home closed, I have been looking for an organization that is in need of greeting cards.  Cards For Little Hearts is in need of cards throughout the year.  They do not want cards that say things like get well or feel better.  They prefer cards that are general with sentiments such as hello or thinking of you, etc.  If you have time to make a few cards, go to www.cardsforlittlehearts.com for guidelines.  Another organizations that collects cards for sick children is Cards For Hospitalized Children.  Their information can be found at www.cardsforhospitalizedchildren.com. 

Since I make many "adult" cards, I will be looking up organizations that handle cards for seniors/ adults.  In the meantime, I will continue making cards for others.  Have a great day!

Bluebirds of Happiness

A few weeks ago I posted photos of the bluebirds in my front yard.  I was delighted to see them, but then the water froze and they were nowhere to be seen. I woke up yesterday morning, had my coffee, posted to my blog and then got ready for the gloomy looking day.  When I walked into the kitchen, John said, "The bluebirds are on the knee wall around the patio!"  I saw those pretty little birds and went right for my camera.  The birds were feasting on the fruit of the crab apple tree.  They would bring the fruit to the wall and the water hose container to eat.  I was so excited to not only see the little birds but then to get some nice photos of them, too.  I wish I knew where they were nesting.  But I will just be thankful that these little creatures like our yard enough to stay around in the winter, too.  Once I saw them, the gloomy weather wasn't even evident any longer!  Have a great day!

Cricut Sunday Favors

When I saw these little notebooks in a sneak peek on Lawn Fawn before they were released, I knew I needed them.  They would be the perfect favor for my girlfriends on our Cricut Sunday get-together before Valentine's Day.  Everything about the little notebooks spoke to me~~the color (close to SU's Flirty Flamingo), the cute insides with little hearts on the lined pages and the size.  They were just so adorable.  And they are even cuter with the ribbon and the little heart tag created using Lawn Fawn's Heart Shaker Tag dies.  The girls were here yesterday and they, too, thought the mini notebooks are adorable. Have a great day!

Hedgehog Valentines

The hedgehog images on today's cards are from Penny Black's Load of Love stamp set.  The card on the left is about scallops.  The scallop white layer was created using the Sunshine Layer dies by WPlus 9.  The circles were created using SU's Layering Circles.

The card on the right used an image from the same Penny Black stamp set.  The image was stamped on the white cardstock and then the cardstock was die cut using Avery Elle's Wonky Stitches die.  So far I have made 11 Valentines for LaRabida.  I will see how many I make over the weekend and then mail them all out on Monday.   Have a great weekend!

Winter Thank You

In between making Valentines, I have been working on thank you cards for the Christmas presents we received.  The background on today's card was created using Distress Oxide ink which was brushed on Whisper White cardstock, starting off the cardstock and brushing towards the center.  As you can see, I left the center nearly white.  And that is where I adhered the image of Rory and Noelle.  By the way, this is an image that I first colored and then cut on my Scan N Cut.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have problems cutting out Stacy Yacula images due to the animal fur lines when using my SNC.  I finally decided to color first and see if that would make a difference on the SNC.  It did!  So I now color then cut on most of my images, all the while thinking positively that the SNC won't make a mistake!  After putting the card together, I added little snowflakes using a white Jane Davenport Paint Pen.  Have a great day!

From My Heart

Today's Valentine was created using paper from SU's From My Heart Specialty collection.  I teamed it up with Crumb Cake, white and a little Flirty Flamingo.  One of the heart doilies was the central focus of the card on which layers were added.  The Crumb Cake pattern heart was stamped and since there was not a die that matched the stamped image, I cut it on my Scan N Cut.  Both this heart and the sentiment are from the Heartfelt stamp set.  Some retired Crumb Cake ribbon, red cardstock and a Flirty Flamingo circle were layered over the doily.  Miscellaneous hearts were added to the white space.  Have a great day!

Jar Of Love Hearts

I had good intentions of cleaning my scrap room for the past week, but that never happened.  That being said,  I have been making some cute cards for kids.  And then yesterday I saw a card on Pinterest and thought it would be a nice sympathy card.  I used Stampin' Up's Jar of Love stamp set and the coordinating dies together with the long-ago retired Almost Amethyst ink and cardstock.  Timeless Textures has some of the best accent images for adding small backgrounds or as used here between the little hearts on the left edge of the card. The heart is cut using a die from Sunshine Wishes.  This could also be a Valentine or an anniversary card or just an "I love you" card. Have a great day!

On To The Next

This morning I am going to mail the Cards for Little Hearts.  I made eleven which means I will be brightening the day of 11 children during the month of February.  That makes me happy and smile!

So, I started on the Valentines for LaRabida Childrens Hospital.  This is the first one I made.  I used a heart framelit from Stampin' Up's Be Mine Stitched Dies.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Love Letters stamp set. The pretty heart pattern paper is one of the patterns in Stampin' Up's From My Heart specialty pack.  The red and white twine and little heart rhinestone complete the card.  Have a great weekend and be careful when  you are out and about later today and this weekend.

Valentines Card & Collection at LaRabida Children's Hospital

I received my order from Stampin' Up and as always, I had to make something with some of the products as soon as the order arrived.  The colors in the From My Heart specialty paper are Real Red, Flirty Flamingo and White.  The striped paper is from that pack of paper.  I used retired ribbon, scalloped edge punches and the heart outline framelit from Sunshine Wishes thinlits.  My favorite parts of the card (and of my SU order) are the heart punches that coordinate with Heartfelt stamp set.

I read that Chicago Radio Station SHE 100.3 is teaming up with CD One Price Cleaners in the Chicago area to collect homemade Valentines for LaRabida Children's Hospital in Chicago. I will be finished with the cards for children in Ohio on Friday.   So over the next 10 days I can make Valentines for children right here.   If anyone is looking for a good reason to make Valentines, go to www.wshechicago.com and click on the top advertisements to get to Valentines For Kids to read all about it.  Have a great day!

Big Hugs On The Way

Oftentimes I make a card and say to myself, "This is the cutest card ever!"  Well, this card is just about the cutest card ever!  The stamp is from Stacey Yacula and Nora and Butter are at the mailbox.   The sentiment is a die from Simon Says Stamp, Scripty Hugs.  And the scallop heart is from Stampin' Up.  I purchased this stamp to make Valentines and now I am using it to make cards for Heart Month for Cards For Little Hearts.  They want heart cards but not to say Valentine or Valentin's Day.  Using Lost Lagoon as the main color of the card makes it not so Valentine-ish!

I usually first stamp my images and then cut them on my Scan N Cut before coloring.  Well, after using these stamps from Stacey Yacula, I decided to try coloring first and then cutting.  Well guess what?  It has been working!  Have a great day!

Pecan The Squirrel

Here is a cute card that I made for Cards For Little Hearts.  The little squirrel is holding a heart that I colored to match the pink hearts and card base.  Pecan the squirrel, a Stacey Yakula image, was centered over a heart collage cut from  a Stampin' Up die as was the tiny scallop along the bottom of the car.  Some of the remaining hearts were scattered on the card.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's On The Mend stamp set.

Making a card a day to bring a smile to the face of a child dealing with heart disease has been very enjoyable.  I am glad I happened upon this need for cards. Have a great day!

Snow Birds

I was making this card as I wondered what the weather was going to bring on Saturday.  And sure enough, we did get some snow.  So this was a perfect card to be working on! The stamps used on this card are by Stacey Yakula for Purple Onion Designs.  The little bird on the fence is Silver and the flying bird is Juniper.  Love the winter ear muffs and hat they are wearing.  The scene on this card was easy to create.  I first stamped the fence and trees.  Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig I was able to place Silver sitting right on the fence.  After stamping Juniper I drew a snow line and lightly edged the snow area using a pale gray alcohol marker.  Once everything was colored in, I used a clear Wink of Stella brush to add sparkle to the snow.  The card is cute but I have a lot to learn about trying to make a "landscape"!  Have a great day!

Chicken Valentine

Anyone who knows me knows who is getting this Valentine!  The reason I purchased Stampin' Up's Birds of a Feather stamp set is because of this chicken and the Christmas bird.  When we were at Matt's on Sunday, I was watching his chickens.  He does have a rooster and the rooster was like the Pied Piper.  Eight or nine of the chickens followed the rooster wherever he went!

Matt has a few brown chickens so I colored the one on his Valentine with brown alcohol markers.  The hearts are from SU's Be Mine Stitched Framelits which were in last year's Occasions catalog.  A Cuttlebug embossing folder was used on the Crumb Cake cardstock layer.  The "love you" is from a Lawn Fawn stamp set.  For some reason, I remembered that I had little red heart rhinestones.  Sure enough, they were right where they should have been.  I laughed because I purchased those rhinestones when Archivers was on Randall Road.  And how long ago did they close?  Have a great weekend and be careful!

A Butterfly

Yesterday I watched a Jennifer McGuire video in which she demonstrated how to enhance simple diecuts.  I did not have a butterfly like the one Jennifer used, but I had to try this technique using a butterfly from Memory Box that I have.  Jennifer used white pigment ink and a sponge along the edge of the butterfly.  She then sponged a darker color on the middle of her butterfly.  Finally, she edged the lines inside of the butterfly with a Sakura Stardust Gel Pen.  Her butterfly was very pretty; mine not so much!  But I will try it again.  If it turns out better than the one on today's card, I will just cover this one up.  Have a great day!

Rory and Noelle

The image on today's card is another from Stacey Yakula for Purple Onion Designs.  The name of the stamp is Rory and Noelle.  All of Stacey's stamps are cute, but they do not cut well on the Scan N Cut and my fussy cutting skills leave a lot to be desired!  Purple Onion Designs does not sell coordinating dies, so it is either fussy cut or stamp the image on a shape.  I did spend more time cutting the image than making the entire card!  I used Lawn Fawn dies to cut the snowflakes.  After die cutting them, I sponged some Tempting Turquiose ink on the snowflakes and then brushed each with Wink of Stella.    The sentiment is one I had typed on the computer the other day.  Have a great day and keep warm!

Wags w/Balloons

Here is another card for the Cards For Little Hearts organization.  I used the same balloons as were on yesterday's card.  For this card, Wags, Stacey Yakula's dog stamp, is holding the balloons. I stamped the dog first and put a mask  over Wags and then stamped the balloons.  Once the balloons were stamped, I took off the mask and little Wags is happily standing with his balloons.  I used my Copic markers to color the images.  Real Red and Bermuda Bay cardstock were used for layers and the card base.  Another cute card for a special child with heart issues.  My plan is to make one heart card a day for two weeks.  Have a great day!

Sending Hugs

Over the weekend I read that someone on Facebook was making cards for an organization, Cards for Little Hearts.   I looked up the organization on the Internet and decided I would participate in this month's heart-themed cards collection . Handmade cards are donated and distributed to two hospitals in Ohio:  Nationwide Children's Heart Hospital in Columbus and The University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.  February is heart month.  During that month, children (ages 1-college age) who are living with congenital heart disease are showered with cards to uplift them.  They do not accept Valentine's Day card, but the cards are heart-themed.

Today's card was created using a stamp set by Stacey Yakula, Heart Balloons.  This card was quite simple to make.  I used a framelit for the "hugs" and the"sending" is from another stamp set.  I stamped directly on the white cardstock, so there was no need to use a die or a machine to cut out the image.  I like Stacey Yakula's stamp sets and I found a website, Purple Onion Designs, that has a number of her stamps.  The Heart Balloons stamp  is one of a few that I purchased.  Isn't it cute?  You can read about the organization at www.cardsforlittlehearts.com  Have a great day!

Kids' Cards

A little later this morning my favorite neighbor children are coming over to make a few cards.  These are the three they will be working on.

The hot cocoa card was made using the Hot Chocolate die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  I embossed the white background layer using an older Cuttlebug folder.  I didn't have a set that had a long hot chocolate sentiment so I typed  one on my computer and used a die from one of my sets downstairs to cut it out.

The Valentine card was created using Lawn Fawn's Chirpy Chirp stamp set.  The sentiment is from another Lawn Fawn set.

The warm wishes card was created using Lawn Fawn's Critters In The Snow and their snowflake dies.  Have a great day!

XO XO

I am making a list of a few things I need from Stampin' Up's Occasions catalog when it goes live on January 3rd.  On that list is a package of the new From My Heart Specialty DSP.  And then I am down in my craft room and what do I find?  The Valentine paper from a few years ago.  I used some of it on today's card.  It was cute when I bought it and it is still cute paper.  But I am pretty sure I still need the new DSP in the Occasions catalog!

The little girl is from MFT Stamps' You Have My Heart stamp set.  For the little girl's dress I stamped her on the DSP and fussy cut the dress and added it to the stamped and colored image on the card.  The little heart and the xo are from Lawn Fawn's Heart Shaker Gift Tag dies.  Another cute Valentine or a card for someone special for no reason.

I have to change the subject here, but I was sitting in my office last Friday when I saw a bluebird!  And then I saw two bluebirds! The blinds were down, but open, when I took a picture, but it was too blurry.  I called for John so he could see them, too.  If he didn't see them, he would say something like, "Are you sure they were bluebirds?"  He was as surprised as I was to see them here at the end of December.   Now we are wondering where they are staying?  I am keeping an eye out for them when I am in my office!  Have a great day!