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

Western/Feminine Birthday Card

I made this card for a friend that wanted something a little western but feminine for his sister's birthday.  I tried to do a Zindorf technique.  This is the link of the card I cased http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1769614?&perpage=96&thumbsonly=0&si=zindorf .  I did the image sooooo long ago that I'm not sure what colors I used, but I know they are all SU and I think they are Black, So Saffron, Apricot Appeal, Rose Red, Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, and Night of Navy.  I sponged the sky first then stamped the horse image which is Inkadinkado filled in with Black, the trees are SU Lovely as a Tree and the ground is sponged with black.  The papers are generic, the brown was run through the Cuttlebug Moroccan folder, the yellow was punched with an EK punch.  The bolo tie is a piece of rawhide folded over.  I used a piece of jewelry wire to tie it tight together.  The lace bow was white, but I used Tim Holtz's Antique Linen Distress Ink to color it and an SU brad in the center.  The flower charm was made with Shrink It.  It's the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet, which is where his sister lives.  The label is SB covered in copper colored embossing powder and an SU Happy Birthday stamp in the center.  Thanks for stopping by to take a look.

Kathi's Birthday Card

My friend Kathi's birthday was this week and I had a really difficult time deciding what I wanted to do for the main image.  She has sooooo many likes.  But I chose this carousel horse from Flourishes that I colored with copics.  The teal is her favorite color.  The paper is from DCWV, the impressed paper is Core'dinations and I used an SB Impressability plate, some silver line stickers, SU flowers with pearls in the centers and Diamond Stickles to make them shine.  The stick pin is also SU.  Thanks for stopping by!

OWH Card

On August 25, 2012, 2 of my friends and I went to an Operation Write Home get-together where we met up with others from our area and met new friends, too.  This was the first time the group got together.  There were 14 of us and the goal was to make at least 500 cards to send to soldiers so they can write home.  We accomplished our goal and then some.  We actually at 755 cards done in 5 1/2 hours!  It was great fun and we met new people to craft with.

My friends that went along and I decided to make a card once a week to donate to OWH.  This is mine.  It's called the Triple Time Technique.  Very easy to do.  First you layer the white card stock the way you want it to lay out.  Then stamp your image(s).  In this case, I used a very old SU set called Up In the Air.  When you're done stamping, take them apart and layer your colored card stock behind the white card stock and glue it down, lining up the stamped images.  Before I took my pieces apart, I ran it through the Big Kick with a Sizzix embossing folder.  On this card, I used black Versafine for the images and Rose Red SU marker for the medallion.  I did finish the inside with a piece of white card stock that has scallops in the corners to look like clouds.  Thanks for taking a look!

Cherie

Here are a couple of pics showing my friends at the OWH gathering.

House Mouse Challenge

This challenge is to represent the Olympics.  This is the only House Mouse stamp I have, but I thought it would work.  The image was stamped on white paper with black Memento ink and colored in with Copics.  The sky color is sponged on with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I used Diamond Stickles to give the image a sparkle.  The paper is generic scrap paper, the green was run through a Craft EF.  The label is SB on an ivory colored paper and I used Antiqued Linen Distress Ink on it.  I printed the label in my printer and Stickled the rings.  The ribbon was laying around at a friends house and the gold border rings is peel-off outline stickers.  Really fun challenge.  You too can join the challenge at  http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-al-about-olympics-for-challenge.html Thanks for looking!

Dreamweaver Challenge

My good friend, JD, told me that there is a wonderful challenge at Dreamweaver Stencils and I should enter it.  This month you can win a new Christmas stencil if you are voted best usage of Dreamweaver products or you could win for best interpretation of the challenge.  Christmas!!  There are a lot of possibilities.   This is my interpretation.  Wish me luck!  The link can be found here:  http://www.dreamweaverstencils.blogspot.com/2012/08/christmas-in-august-next-challenge.html  I used clear, warm ultra-fine glitter while the stencil was down and colored it with my copics.  Then when I lifted the stencil, I used Mustard glitter from Dreamweaver to fill in with gold.  The holly branch is from Cherry Lynn and I cut it apart so it didn't hide too much of the image.  The gold pearls are from Reflections, the gold paper is from SU and the red paper is generic from my stash.  Thanks for taking the time to take a look.

Tea Anyone?

A friend of mine was having a difficult time and I said I would send her some tea that helps soothe me.  I created this card for her to help cheer her up.  The red layer, tea cup and teapot is SU's Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper.  The stamp set is from Waltzing Mouse.  I couldn't find a background paper that matched the teapot, so I created one.  The gingham is actually a stamp that I borrowed from a friend.  I don't remember the name of the company it came from (the mind is a terrible thing to waist).  The color ink I used for it was Ice Blue Chalk.  It was the only thing I could find that matched the blue flower in the teapot.  The ribbon, lace and tag paper were from SU.  I did use Diamond Stickles on the steam, but it's difficult to see.  The inside sentiment is

"I wish we could sit down together
And have a cup of tea
But since we can't
When you have this one
I hope you'll think of me.
~unknown~

I'm hoping my friend relaxes and enjoys the tea I sent.  Thanks for stopping by.

Cherie