Sympathy Cards

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over a week! I've been pretty busy, and just haven't taken the time this past week to post here. Sorry!

Today is our son's 13th Birthday, and our 15th Anniversary, and we are trying to decide what we really want to do today. So I thought I'd jump on here and post a couple cards before we go so no one thinks I've fallen off the planet!

I made these sympathy cards for the charity event I mentioned earlier. They are pretty simple and basic. I used the Close as a Memory stamp set from Stampin' Up. I think the rest is pretty self explanatory.

Bella Cards

Recently we had an image challenge at Paper Petal Memories. The hostess picks a stamp set and stamps the images and mails them to all the players. The players create a card (or whatever else they wish) using the images. We then email the finished product(s) to the hostess and she posts them all under her name in the gallery so no one knows whose is who's. Then everyone has a chance to vote on their favorite. This round was using some of the Bella images.

I had never had a chance to play with any of these before, but now they are definitely on my list of stamps I want! They are so much fun to work with. I created three cards. I am only posting 2 of them here, because I'm not at all happy with the way the 3rd one came out.


This is the first one I made. I am quite happy with the way it turned out. I really love the pink and black. I colored the image with SU! watercolor pencils. I used black SU! Stazon ink to make the brads black, as I didn't have any black ones on hand. The sentiment is from one of the $1 Studio G sets from Michael's.



And this is the second one.
First, I have to say that I was HEAVILY inspired by this card by Julie Buhler at Paper Pleasing Ideas. I am beyond pleased with how this turned out. AND even more pleased that this was the WINNING CARD!!! That's right - I won!! What does the winner get? All the other entries from the other participants. It's really just a fun little contest. Chip asked, so do you win money? And I had to disappoint him and tell him no, but I win the HONOR of knowing people liked something I made! Yeah - he was just as proud as I was - HA!
He's waiting for the day that I start making some money doing what I love. Cuz it sure does cost a lot!

Oh - again, I used a Studio G stamp, and that circle is raised up on foam tape. The blue ribbon came off a gift I received recently. It was the perfect color blue! And I colored the images with the watercolor pencils.

Wedding Gifts

I was so upset, I wasn't able to make it to Amber (Chip's cousin)and Matt's wedding. I imagine it was absolutely beautiful, and I wanted to be there so much! But my back has been out for over a week now, and even though the chiropractic adjustments are helping, I'm still in a good bit of pain. Since Chip had to work, I would have had to make the drive myself, and it was over an hour away. I just didn't feel I could do it and then have Ruthi hanging off me and keep a smile on my face. I just wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself and would have probably been in even more pain on the way home. I hate that I had to miss it, but I did have to do what was best for me. (Wow - that sounded kinda selfish - but you know what I mean!)

Anyway, I made their wedding gift, and didn't want to wait till who knows when to give it to them, so the cousin who lives down the road from me took it for me. (Thank you Cathy!!)

With limited funds for a gift, I decided to make something. Sure, I could have spent the little bit that it cost me to buy the frame and supplies (which wasn't much, because I had most of it on hand) and bought something from their registry, but it would have been such a small 'something', that it actually made me feel cheap! Of course there was Chip's argument that people register for things they want/need and probably look forward to getting those things. I know this is true (I loved getting things from my wedding and baby registries), but I also know how much I cherish the things that were hand made or personalized, and things that were unexpected. So, I am hoping that they will like and appreciate what I made. So here it is:

I made a name frame that they can put at their front door (or anywhere they like for that matter.)


I had checked out their registry, and from what I could tell, they had a lot of neutral colored things picked out. That is why I decided to go with the browns/neutrals. It doesn't show up well in the photo, but the little heart above the name has "The" written in it.
I didn't have any stamps large enough to stamp the letters, so I printed the letters onto cardstock from MSWord and cut them out with a craft knife to make a template, in which I chalked in the color. The little square underneath says "est. 2007" using rub-on letters from TLC. The metal charms I had on hand, and everything else came from Michael's.
I wish I had taken the photo without the glass so there wouldn't be a glare, but I didn't, so oh well! This is the first name frame I've made, and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I plan to make one for myself now! I really do hope they like it.

**(Edited to add: You can click to see the picture larger. When I did this, I noticed that the little rhinestones in the heart appear to be colored. They are not - that is just the way the light is reflecting off them. And goodness, you can see my hands and my computer screen in the glass - LOL!)

I also made a set of 10 monogrammed note cards. I was going to make them Thank You cards, but decided against that so they can be used for other reasons as well. I used the same papers/colors as I did for the wedding card, pulling from the colors of their wedding. I know that she was going to have lavender, and I'm not sure if this is the shade, but since it doesn't have to match the wedding, I figured it didn't matter that much.



The 'N' and the little flourish in the corner are embossed with silver Super Fine Detail embossing powder by Ranger. (I love this stuff!) And though I didn't take a picture, I dressed the envelopes up just a little by stamping the same flourish on the front in the bottom left corner, and stamped an "N" on the back flap. I made a band from the black cardstock and layered a thinner band in the purple on top of that, and wrapped it around the set. Then I tied it with the same ribbon. And of course, I didn't get a picture of that either! But I hope they like these as well.

I think I've already set my all-time high for making cards this month, as I've already made over 40, and I still need to make a few more! Phew! Maybe in June I'll get to sleep again! (Yes, late at night is when I work best and get most of this stuff done - with no interruptions!)

Mother's Day Cards

This is the card I ended making for my Mom for Mother's day. I was inspired by many I've seen using the flower for the "O".


I wouldn't typically pick greens for this kind of card, but I started with this flower, and that's just how it turned out. I stamped the background with one of the stamps from the Looks Like Spring set by Stampin Up, using a clear embossing pad, and then embossed it with transparent powder. I used my Fiskars shape cutter for the m's and matted them with white. The ribbon came from Michael's.
I decided to do a long card, because with the size of the flower, it was too crowded to do a smaller one. My Mom really liked it. And, both Mom's really liked their gifts!

I also made for each of them a set of cards and a tote to hold them. I used the "one sheet wonder" (OSW) method, where I used a sheet of patterned paper cut up in different sizes/shapes and used it in different ways on the cards. I kept them all pretty simple.

For the first set I found instructions with measurements for a OSW and used it as a guide. You can see the original here, and the instructions and measurements for the tote and the cards here.



I was also inspired by another SCS'er for this set, but I can't find the link. I thought I had saved it, but apparently I didn't. If I can find it, I will come back and add it.


This second set actually ended up with 10 cards in it, but somehow, one of them didn't make it into the picture. (You can click the pictures to view larger.)

Magnet Frames and Tissue Boxes

I can finally post the things I made for Mother's Day since both of our Mom's will be receiving them today. (And I don't think my Mom will look here before I see her!) I didn't get to go see my Mom on Mother's Day because I was in too much pain with my back. And Chip had to work, so we knew we wouldn't get to see his either, so we are seeing them both today...finally!

First up, I made these little magnet frames. They are little wooden frames I picked up at Michaels. I painted the edges and then adhered patterned paper. I added a little ribbon and a flower to the one for my MIL, and just some ribbon to my Mom's - I didn't think it needed anything else with that pattern. My mom's kitchen is in an Italian theme, so I thought that paper would be perfect. And I printed the picture in black and white so it wouldn't clash with the paper. I added some magnet tape to the backs of these so they can go on the refrigerator. I actually like these so much that I plan to make one for myself.




I picked up wooden tissue box holders at Michaels too. I covered two sides with patterned paper, and two sides with a solid color. I then attached a picture of the kids on one of the solid sides. I painted the tops to match. Then I sealed the whole thing with a spray sealer. I think these turned out pretty cute and will probably end up making one of these for myself too!

I also made each of them a set of cards, but I will post them later.

More Cards for May

I finished up some more cards for the busy month of May. With the completion of these, I only have one more that I HAVE to get done, and I guess I really should make one for my son who turns 13 this month, and one for our anniversary. I also did three more in addition to these, but I can't post them yet, as they are for a contest at Paper Petal Memories that will be posted tomorrow. Once it is over, I'll post them here. And one of the gals at PPM is a nurse in a Pediatric Trauma Center and a bunch of us are making cards to send to her that they will be able to give to the parent's who have lost children, and for families who spend an extended amount of time with them do to the severity of their child's injuries. And even some for the kids who are there for a long time. I'd really like to try to get as many as I can done for that. So, I hopefully I'll actually end up with quite a few more cards made this month. Now, for the ones I've done:

I didn't have the stamp I really wanted to do this wedding card with, and though I'm trying to see if I can borrow it from someone, I went ahead and made this just in case. The wedding colors are black, white and lavender, so I wanted to use those colors for the card. The words are silver embossed. I think everything else is pretty straightforward on this card.

I made this anniversary card for my hubby's cousin. They are the parents of the cousin I made the wedding card for. The paper is from the Flavia collection by Colorbok. For some reason, I've been finding these papers a bit difficult to work with, maybe because they aren't the colors/style I typically work with. But I was determined to do something with them, and I think I'm quite happy with the way this turned out. I sanded the edges of the paper, and of the square accent paper. The stamps are the Studio G acrylic $1 stamps from Michael's. Ribbons are from Michael's and I believe the metal plaque is by Making Memories.

This is a very simple card, but I really like the way it turned out. I used a sketch from our sketch challenges at Paper Petal Memories. (And I still need to post my card there!!) This was a quick one to make. Again, used the Studio G stamp for the sentiment.

I think this one turned out so cute! This is for one of my little cousins who is having a birthday. I got the idea here, and she even had a link for printing out the maze. Mine is a little different, but the idea was definitely hers! This used more of the Studio G stamps, and the frog is from Stampin Up's Very Punny set. I really like the monochromatic look here.

And last for today is one more birthday card. I actually didn't do this one from scratch. I already had the card made, but it was all on the blue, and I wasn't happy with it because it was a little flimsy. So I cut off the front and trimmed it and adhered it to a white (sturdier) base. And I added the brads because I felt it just needed a little something else.

A Few Cards

May is a big card month. Lots of birthdays, Mother's Day, and this year a wedding as well. On top of all that, it's our anniversary. So May has lots going on. I have 3 of the many cards I need for this month made. But I have quite a few to go, so I'll be busy!

The first is for my Grandad's birthday. I used a sketch that was posted at Paper Petal Memories this week. I used the Studio G clear stamps from Michael's. After coloring them in, I used Sparkle Glaze to add some dimension and sparkle. The images are raised with foam tape.

This one is for my Mother-in-law's birthday. For this one I used a sketch from Split Coast Stampers. I browse their gallery frequently, and get lots of ideas, but this is the first time I've even looked at their sketches, and I really liked this one. The image stamp is from the Dollar Tree (Miss Elizabeth's) and I added some little jewels to the centers of the flowers. The Birthday stamp is from Stampin Up.

And this last one is a Mother's Day card for my Mother-in-law. I won't be posting My Mom's until after Mother's Day, because she might read this! I used the Looks Like Spring set from Stampin Up for the background and the flower. The smaller stamp is a Studio G, and I printed the words from my computer.

Now to get busy making more cards!

Paper Bag Album

I made this cute little album out of lunch bags. I really like the way it turned out. I need to find a couple more pictures to go on the inserts, and I plan to journal on at least one of them too. I used a variety of products on it.

This is the front cover.

Pages 1 & 2


Pages 3 & 4 - the team picture and his individual shot. He ended up being the only boy on the team, and all the girls are taller than him! The upper grades didn't have that many kids playing, so the teams are small.

Pages 5 & 6 - I know this picture is the same as the previous page, but this was one of the trading cards, and I wanted to include it. I wanted to be able to see the front and the back, so I cut the stats from the back of one to include it.

Pages 7 & 8 - just some action shots.

Pages 9 & 10 - these pictures were taken on awards night. Unfortunately, the kids walked across the stage so quickly, I could not get a good shot. So here he is with his coach. And then the trophy he got.

The back cover.

A couple of the inserts. These slide into the places where the bag is open (the 'tops' of the bags). I plan to journal on at least one of the backs.

And this is the other insert. I really need to look for one more picture for this page!

CJ's been sitting here looking the actual book while I am posting, and he seems to like it a lot. He keeps saying, "Cool!" This is why I do this! It makes me so proud when my family looks at what I make and they actually like and appreciate it!!!

My Sweet Valentines

Yes, I realize it's Officially May, and Valentine's Day was in February, but I think the fact that I have already scrapped these pictures is a big accomplishment. Especially considering I have hundreds from before February that are patiently waiting to be scrapped.
I had a little time on Saturday and decided I needed to play. So these are the pictures I worked with. I made a 2 of these 8x8 layouts for the kids' books. (They are exactly the same, so I'm just showing one) My favorite picture is the enlarged one, and the smaller pictures are all the "outtakes" of my little photo shoot.

I then created a 2-page 12x12 layout for my book. On this page, I stamped the title with my foam stamps from Paper Studio. It's a little uneven (I never can line these things up right), but I don't mind. I created the saying in the heart using parts of various stamps and my handwriting.

And here is the companion page. I kept these layouts pretty simple, as I wanted the focus to be on the pictures.