Hi, everyone!  I've been talking about a Sponge Bob card I made for my friend at work. And here it is.  This is for her grandson's 1st birthday.  He stops every time the show comes on. LOL

This is an accordion style card that you can find the instructions on Splitcoaststampers.  Really easy to make, but please make sure you cut the panel in the correct direction.  If you don't the pieces won't fit together.  Go ahead and ask me how I know!  LOL  Anyway, the characters are coloring pages I captured from the internet and colored with copics, the letters I cut with my Sizzix, and I used some clear dew drops to make it look like it was bubbles.

Here is the back.  I didn't take notice to the way the characters looked from the back until it was all put together.  So my recommendation is to back them with matching papers.  They sentiment was printed on my computer and I stamped the 2014 in the bottom corner. 

I had a lot of fun making this card.  Wasn't really sure how it would turn out until I was finished!  Thanks for taking a look.

I had a special request to make a Harry Potter card for a 21st birthday.  The style is simple, but they loved it!  I used photo paper to make the colors of the castle and owl pop, used a MS punch for the corners, a "happy birthday" sticker and some generic paper from my stash.  I made the scroll that Hegwig is carrying.  For the inside, I printed a picture of the Gryffindor insignia the labels and scarf I cut from my Slice.  I'm still muddling through trying to use my Slice every time I can, but it's giving me some grief, so I've ordered a new.  Got a great deal for 1/2 off.  I hope it works better.  The sentiment says "It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.  Albus Dumbledor". 

Thanks for looking!

My good friend's 70th birthday was in April.  I made this special pop-up box card for her.  The instructions can be found here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/popupboxcard/.  The pieces were cut from my Slice machine, and the "happy birthday" was cut using a die from my friend.  The paper is generic.  It was very easy to make.

I made this pop-up box card for my mom for Mother's Day.  The dies were different, some were SU, Tim Holtz, there were punches used for the flowers, labels, butterflies and dragonflies.  Again the paper was generic.  I'm trying to use up some of the old stuff I have.

This was a card I made for a friend to give to a woman who treats him like a son-in-law.  She loves birds and animals.  The flowers were a die from Provo, the stamp is Sweet Stamps and colored in with water
colored pencils.

 This was a special request card.  My co-worker's niece is turning 21 this week and she LOVES Harry Potter.  I found images on-line and printed them out.  The corner punch is MS, I fussy cut the owl and made my own scroll.












          

This was the inside of the card.  The saying is "It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.  Albus Dumbledore".  I hope she likes it!

Untraditional Valentines Day Card

This is very untraditional for Valentine's Day.  I have a very good friend that doesn't like cute and mushy, but he does like American Indian art.  So I sat down and thought and thought.  I knew I wanted to do something with feathers and the below it what I came up with.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  Please let me know what you think.  Thanks.

The inside of the card is simple, but works with the outside. 

Hope you like it.  I'm sure he will.

Baby Shower Card

One of my oldest friend's daughter is having a baby girl in March.  So I made this card for her.  This was made in 1 afternoon.  I dry embossed the base with Swiss Dots.  I think they always work for baby cards.  The dies are Spellbinders Decorative Labels 27, the "bundle of joy", shoes, vines and baby bottle were cut using my Slice.  I am so pleased to be able to use it again.  Had some difficulty that some great ladies talked me through on Splitcoaststampers in the forum.  The papers were generic.  I was so happy it came together quickly. 

Thanks for stopping by and as always, your comments are always welcomed.

Catching Up With Posts

This post is a couple of months late, but at least it isn't a year late!  This was the Christmas card I made and sent out for the holidays.  I had fun making it, but was constantly hitting brick walls with it.  The 1st one was that I ran out of some of the paper.  I had to make an unscheduled trip to one of my favorite craft shops in Ephrata, PA, L & L Rubber Stamps.  I'll take any excuse to go there.  LOL  Then when I was doing the sewing on the background piece, my sewing machine jammed up.  My personal sewing machine repair lady (my mom LOL) looked at it and at some point I put the bobbin in backwards, so the thread wound around the gears.  Opps!  Then I was going to sew around the tag with the pointsettia on it and again the machine froze.  This time I bent something and had to give it up!  Oh well, it still turned out pretty.  The last wall I hit was that I ran out of the ribbon and thought I would have to make another trip to L & L Rubber Stamps, but my good friend, Jill, was going, so she offered to get me some.  After all that, I was actually able to get these cards out by the middle of December!  Whew!

I have to admit this wasn't my original idea.  I did case the following: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2271860?&si=wt397%20Christmas%20Postcard

I admired Cathymac's  card so much, that I had to try something like it.  I'm not a pink person, so I did purple instead.  I really like that it's a non-traditional color for Christmas.

The card form I got from Michaels in the packs of card forms and envelopes.  The papers are from L & L Rubber Stamps shop.  Not sure what brand of paper it is.  I used a lot of borrowed items from my friend Kathi.  Thank you, Kathi!  The background was stamped with Inkadinkado "post card" stamped in Memento Gray Flannel then dry embossed with a writing folder by The Paper Studio.  The strip of holy paper was gray cardstock and I used an  IO stamp in Marvy ink of Green Bottle.  The dots on that same paper was done with the stamp from Hero Arts in Marvy ink of Violet.  The poinsettia stamp is Northwoods and I did the Candy Wash technique found here:  http://www.porchswingcreations.com/2013/03/candy-washed-spring-flower-tutorial.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PorchSwingCreations+%28Porch+Swing+Creations%29
The Merry Christmas stamp was a Sweet N Sassy stamp and cut with a CM oval cutter.  On the inside, I used a sentiment that I found on line and I used corner dies to add interest.

There were lots of details, but it was fun.  Thanks for taking the time to look. 

Antique Birthday Card

I'm finally finished with this card!  My friend's 50th b-day was on 1/23 and I had a difficult time sitting down to work on the card.  He's nostalgic, so I wanted something that had some fun toys we had back when we were kids.  I used my friend, Kathi's, TH Picture Wheel die.  I took some old 35mm negatives and put them behind the wheel.  If you hold it up to the light, you actually see the pictures on the negatives!  And, yes, that is more 35mm negative on top of the reel.  Then I used my Slice to make a stand TV and put a picture of a Slinky ad on the screen.  I also have a pocket watch charm that my friend, Jill, gave me.  It was silver, but I antiqued it with my copic markers to tone it down in color, and I used an old necklace chain for it.  Lastly, I used a "Happy Birthday" Cuttlebug folder on Co'ordination paper and sanded. Then dressed the card up with some teal ribbon that I found this past October at a shop hop.

On the inside of the card I used my friend, Kathi's, TH Vintage Telephone die and attached a black cord to it.  The word bubble was on my Slice and I cut one in black a little larger than the one in white.  The stamped "Hello" was Inkadinkado stamped in Bermuda Bay SU ink.  The sentiment was printed on my computer and cut with SB dies.

Thanks for taking a look at my creation.  I hope my friend enjoys the card as much as I do.

Mom's Birthday, 2013

This is a little late being posted, but at least it's getting here.  My mom's birthday was at the end of October.  I've been very busy with life in general and kinda forgot to post.  So here it is.

This was very easy to do.  I used the faux letterpress technique found at Splitcoaststampers  http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/fauxletterpressmbossabilities/
I used the Moroccan embossing folder and brayered SU Bermuda Bay on it, then pressed it on my Big Kicks and wala!  Quick and easy!  The frame is a Spellbinders double cut, the leaves are a Cottage Cutz die, the flowers actually have a pearl look to them and pick up colors surrounding it.  They were made using the Cheery Lynn Lace Corner B164.  The happy birthday stamp is SU Elementary Elegance.  I used 2 pearl topped straight pins and the little white flower was cut using an old Provo Craft flower die with a pearl in the center.  The paper was Staples white and inked with Bermuda Bay, the frame, leaves and flowers used Metallic Mix from Stamponit.com. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Cherie

John Wayne Birthday Card

Soon it will be my friend, George's birthday.  I find it difficult to make masculine cards, but this one wasn't too difficult.  I imagined it in my head with the stamp in brown and I wanted to do some faux leather, but that didn't work out.   I just kept putting pieces together until I felt it was finished.  I almost didn't put the cacti on it, but it was very bland and monotone.  I think they finished it off nicely. 

Here's how I made it:

This is a center step card which I found the directions on the internet.  Very easy to do.  These are the measurements I used:

The paper used was a mixture.  The base is SU natural which is what I used for the stamped image, wagon wheel and label.  And the brown is from a packet of handmade mulberry paper I've had for years.  The cacti were done in a green vellum paper that has "star bursts" printed on it.  It makes them look like they have needles. The John Wayne stamp I used I've had since April.  It's a Deep Red brand.  They make wonderful realistic stamps.  It's the 1st time using it and it stamped crisp and clean.  When I saw it in the store, I just knew I had to have it for a card like this.  The Happy Birthday stamp is a Stamps by Impression.  Both were inked with Memento Rich Cocoa.  The main image and frame were cut using Spellbinders dies, the brown side panels were run through an embossing folder for snake like texture, then distressed with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, the main image, wagon wheel and label were distressed using Distress Inks Antique Linen and Walnut Stain.  The cacti, wagon wheel and label were cut using my Slice Happy Trails cartridge. There's a gun brad which I just had to incorporate into this card.  Not sure I like it where it is placed, but it's there now.  I haven't finished the inside yet, but I have an extra cacti cut out that I'm going to try to incorporate.  LOL 

It was fun making this card.  Thanks for taking the time to look!

Cherie

Pink, Girly Card

A friend of mine asked me to make a pink or purple girly-frilly card for a his daughter's MIL.  I had about a week to come up with it.  So I started thinking right away.  These kind of cards are difficult for me because I don't have a lot of frilly Spellbinders and I don't do pink very well.  So during my Saturday ritual of doing things around the house, I came up with an idea and around 9pm I finally sat down to create.  Hope you like it.  I think it turned out good.

This is using the Asian Spellbinders.  The butterfly is an SU stamp that was just the right size.  I did chalk all the layers with a pink and orange chalk to go well with the DP.  Also the "happy birthday" stamp was chalked in the same colors.  And, of course, the bow was made with the Bow Easy.  I think everyone will be pleased with this card.

Jill & Jim's 50th Anniversary

On August 31 it my was good friend's 50th wedding anniversary.  Our friend Kathi and I planned a nice dinner for them and made an explosion box.  Designing it was a little difficult because we wanted it to have some pink roses, but not too frilly since it was a gift for both husband and wife.  The following pics shows what we made.

Outside with Lid

All the layers and pockets.

A better view of all the layers and pockets.

This view shows the trellis we made.

The trellis was made with paper.  The ends are glued to a piece of acetate bent upwards. The flowers were ribbon roses cut off the stems.  The greens are some punches and Cheery Lynn dies and there are beads on a string like you would find in a bouquet.  On top of the trellis are 2 rosettes fanned out and glued back to back with dove brads.

The bells were from a ribbon we tied and glued under the rosettes.  The heart shaped 50 was punched and strung on fishing line so it looks like it is floating.  I forget the name brand of the floor of the trellis.  It's little tiny stones in clear glue.  You spread it on with a knife and let it dry over night.  Really neat effect.

Six Months of Work

Christmas Ornament, 2012

I made this lantern for an ornament exchange in Dec. 2012. The black is just a generic black paper. I used the Heartfelt Creations Decorative Lace Border Die and turned it upside down. I folded it into 4's and that created the lantern shape. The white or opaque color is velum. I made my own box to fit inside the die. Then I decorated them with a Spellbinders Poinsettia Die and MS punch for the branches. The cardinal was stamped and then die cut using Spellbinders dies and stamps with MS punched branches and Cheery Lyn Mini Fanciful Flourish die. And then some bling added. I added a battery operated tea light inside so when it hangs on the tree, it glows. TFL

Sympathy Cards, 2013

In February or March my good friend Jill announced that her sister-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer. This is a very terrible and sad thing to be told. So when the day finally happened, I didn't know what else to do but to make some cards for the family. I sent one to Jill and her hubby, one to the brother and one to the other sister.

The technique of Acrylic Block Background is very simple. I didn't think I would be able to do it, but once I got the hang of it, I couldn't stop! LOL I really like this technique and will have to do it for some really jovial cards.

I used Distress Inks on all of them. The gray and teal I used the SU Fine Feathers stamp and made a tag. The purple and green one I used my friend's butterfly stamps and dies (not sure the brand, sorry). And the tan and blue one I used SU stamps. TFS

 

A Thank You Card for Sue, 2013

My friend George asked me to make a card for his friend's mother, Sue.  She is like a mother to him and does a lot of things a mother would do.  She recently GAVE him a computer that she couldn't use, so for Mother's Day, George asked me to make up a Thank You card and he would combine it with Mother's Day.

I went to a class in Lancaster, PA in March to learn how to color with Copics using the outline stickers as the base.  I colored this tulip at the class and wasn't sure what to do with until George asked me to make a card.  Since Sue is in her 80's, I thought this would make a very nice card and I made a stick pin in the bow that she can actually wear.  The background is a Cuttlebug EF and the the label is a SB.  The edge is punched with an MS punch.  TFS

My Mother's Day Card for My Mom, 2013

My inspiration for this card is found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2367950

I thought the flowers were so beautiful, I just had to try it myself. While my flowers didn't turn out like hers, I still like the way it turned out.

It took me a while to figure out how to cut the front piece without cutting all the way through. The paper is Bazzilla and scraps I had. The roses were an orange DP, but I distressed them to tone the color down. They are actually punched from a 5 petal punch using 3 different sizes. The little yellow flowers are the hydrangia punch and then I used the large Fanciful Floral Die and some leaf dies. The corners inside are Sizzix. My mom proudly displays this card in her dinning room. TFS

 

 

My Mother's Day Card for my Step Mom, 2013

 This is my 2nd attempt at making my own flowers. I really like the way this one turned out. I used the SU EF and SU butterfly punches. TFL

My Father's Day Card, 2013

This was my inspiration for this card: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2373162

The paper is SU and a little bit of generic DP. The base is Crumb Cake, then Early Expresso, Baja Breeze and Perfect Peach. The light house was a stamp I borrowed from my friend and stamped on natural paper and distressed around the edges. The 2 blue papera are Baja Breeze with Perfect Peach that I hand stamped. Twine and a button were added. The inside of the card has an anchor and the greeting. I forgot to get a picture of that. TFS

My Christmas Ornaments for Dec, 2013

 I worked real hard on getting this ornament done this weekend. I actually had planned that I would have this done by Memorial Day, but all that was done were the pieces cut out. My inspiration for this project is here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1546570

This is my version. I used the SU pillow box die and a generic EF and smeared Sarah Sand ink on it then ran the Natural paper through the Big Kicks machine. It left the ink in the impressions and highlighted the wooden area. The red "wings" on the sides are actually blades that I hand cut and from a side view you can what they are. The red rounded piece on the front was also hand drawn and cut. I slit the pillow box at the perforation to stick in inside and taped it so it wouldn't come out. Then the wreath is made from an MS holly punch. I 1st ran the green through another EF then punched out the holly. The bow is made from red glitter paper and another MS punch used with a pearl in the center. The bar on the top was a label shape from my Slice that I cut in half. And a piece of twine tied to pull the sled. I made 22 of these to give away for my ornament party coming up in December. I'm hoping I'll have some left to give as gifts, too.

Now I need to concentrate on my Christmas Cards. What a project! Thanks for taking the time to look. Have a great week, everyone!

Christmas Carousel

I was going to do this design for all of my Christmas cards this year.  I started in June and was only able to complete 10.  This was fun doing, but very tedious.  The stamp is from Stamplistic called Carde-Deer and it actually has a fall theme to it.  I covered up the acorns and leaves with punched out poinsettias and holly.  I used Copics to color the image and unfortunately lost my recipe for it.  I hope when I clean up my craft area I will find it.  The holly vine is a Cheery Lynn Die and I punched it out 2x, once in Early Espresso and once in Garden Green then glued the green over top of the brown.  Some of the holly leaves I colored with a Copic marker to give it depth.  The background is Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green and run through EB folders.  The image is stamped on Whisper White with an edging of Brushed Gold from SU.  Then I antiqued the image with Distress Inks.  The lace is from Joanne's Fabrics.  To finish it up I glued Swarovski Crystals and generic gems to add a sparkle and the pole is embossed with Jeweled Gold powder.

This was a really fun card to do, but I'm starting in January for next year's cards!  LOL

This is how I completed the inside.  The label is SB stamped with an SU stamp, the poinsettia is from Michael's, the greens are MS punch.  The sentiment is on a SB die and printed off on my computer.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and look.

I've added this to the Cheery Lynn Blog challenge.  Please follow here:   http://cheerylynndesignschallenge.blogspot.com/


To my amazement, I have won the Cheery Lynn Design Challenge 57!  Thank you all.

Masculine Birthdays

I have 2 guy birthdays this month.  The 1st is for my friend Rob whose birthday was on 12/6.  I wasn't sure what kind of card to make him, so I did a silhouette.  He loved it. 

The 2nd card is for my friend George whose birthday is today.  He is rebuilding a 1970 Ford Fastback Mustang in his "spare" time and I thought this would be appropriate. The inside says "Wishing all your birthday dreams come true."  He had hoped to have it done for this birthday.  Maybe next year, George!

Happy Birthday Guys!

Dad's Birthday Card

Hi everyone!  This is my newest creation.  I cased it after Cecile Ortiz's "ship in a bottle" card, here http://lezardsdecilou.canalblog.com/archives/2012/10/p10-0.html.  My version used the stamp set from Stampin' Up called The Open Sea.  I used Prisma colored pencils to do the ship and water, Memento Inks for the worlds and Distress Ink for the ledgers.  The compass is also colored in with Prisma pencils with a Swarvorski crystal in the middle.  The label is Spellbinder and the happy birthday is a sticker.  Then there's Baker's Twine and some snaps to finish it off.  Oh, yeah!  The blue background was run through a Darcie EF.  The paper is all generic (stuff I had in my stash).  The bottle was stamped on a piece of acetate with black Memento Ink.  Once the ship was cut to my satisfaction, I popped it up with Dimensionals and placed it on a white background with some clouds sponged in.  The bottle I squeezed to make it bow and used red sticky tape to hold it fast.  Thanks for taking the time to look.

Prisma Colored Pencils -
     The ship & water -
          Dark Umber, Light Umber, Burnt Ochre, Ginger Root, Golden Rod, Yellow Ochre, Sienna Brown,
          Pale Vermilion, Peacock Blue, True Blue, Light Cerulean Blue

(I just kept adding colors to the sails until I got the shade I wanted.)

      The Worlds -
           Memento Danube Blue & Summer Sky

      The Ledgers -
           Distress Ink  Antique Linen

Birthdays

Hi!  I know I'm a little behind in posting.  I've been VERY busy since about Sept. 23rd with making cards, having a birthday myself and going to a shop hop for 2 days, plus working full-time!  So here I am to post what I have been doing in the last 3 weeks.

This card is for a friend whose birthday was on the 25th.  The stamp is a Sweet N Sassy stamp I've had for a while and didn't use yet.  Now I've used it on this card and another birthday card which I'll show you next.  I colored the butterflies in with Grape Jelly Memento ink and Bamboo Leaves Memento for the vines.  The paper is generic, the sentiment is on a SB die and is a SU stamp, and the ribbon is something that my mother gave me from her stash of goodies.

The next card is for another friend who is a pen pal in England.  We've been writing to each other since about 1976.  It started out as an assignment in English class.  I had picked a girl from Ireland, a boy from India and Loren from England.  I've lost touch with the others, but Loren and I try to call at least once a year.  Her birthday is also on the 25th.

Here is the same stamp from SNS, also done in the same colors.  I cut it out with my Creative Memories oval cutter and did a frame the same way.  The layout is a sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers.  Here are other samples of the challenges -

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=SC374&what=keywords 

I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, the happy birthday is a sticker and the flowers are gems I picked up at a craft show this year.  The leaves, I guess, are called sequins that I've had for years.  I just love using up old stashes!  LOL 

Next was my a challenge for Teapot Tuesday at Splitcoaststampers for a woman fighting breast cancer.  Her birthday was on the 26th and her daughter wanted some wonderful birthday cards sent to cheer her up.  It just so happens that is also my birthday, so I felt compelled to do the challenge.  You can see all the beautiful cards done for Dorothea here: 

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=MMTPT217&what=keywords 

This was another sketch challenge -

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=SC403&what=keywords

The flower is from the SU stamp set called Bloomin' Beautiful and I colored it in with SU watercolored pencils.  Again the paper is generic, the background is the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder (one of my favorites) and the happy birthday stamp is from Stamps by Impression.  It's actually more centered than it looks.  I also used a SB scallop to go behind the flower.  It's all very soft pastels, so it's difficult to see the way the colors blend together.  The picture does it no justice.

This card was made for me by my dear friend, Jill.  Her blog can be found here -

http://ribbonchallenged.blogspot.com/

Her husband colored the image and she made the card.  I have 3 cats and one is gray.  She loves to sit at the window and watch the birdies.  Thank you Jim and Jill for the beautiful card.

This card is from a new friend, Kathleen.  She is the daughter of Dorothea, whom I made the special birthday card for above.  This technique is call Borgello.  You take strips of paper, glue them down in alternating sequences, then cut them the opposite way into strips.  Now you glue them back down in a pattern you like, staggering the colors.  It's very easy, but a big wow factor.  Thank you Kathleen.  Great job!


Lots more to come later.  TFL