Simple sympathy card

My grandmother died last week. We are all saddened by the loss, but we cannot grieve too much. She was 94 years old, had relatively good health up until the end, and was surrounded by family. She had to move to a nursing home about 4 years ago, and I think we could count on one hand the number of days that went by that she didn't have a visit from someone in the family.
I made these cards to send to my dad, his brother, and his sisters, to express my sympathy and to thank them for all they did for Grandma, especially in the later years.
Pink was my Grandma's favourite colour, so I wanted to get pink in there somewhere, and she loved bird watching. We were lucky enough to get a private room on the ground floor of the nursing home for her, and bird feeders were set up outside her window so she could see them . She especially liked humming birds, so this image from Lyrical Letters seemed so appropriate.

Dino-Mite!

I made this card for my nephew - he's 4...I hope it wasn't too juvenile for him. I have a hard time figuring kids out today - they seem to grow up a lot faster than we did.

Right now, Bert and Ernie are NOT my friends

I will tell you that all those stripes were glued individually. I have had glasses in the past, but they have been for the fact that I have compromised 3D vision, nothing to do with the actual focus of things. Lately I find that I need things to just look at little bigger. I now go to the same optomitrist as my father in law - the Dollar Store. I have bought 3 pairs of the lowest grade magnifying glasses (and FYI, no one buys their glasses at the Dollar Store for their cutting edge fashion). Boy did those come in handy. This card is for my niece's birthday. Frustrating as all get out though... when I went to glue down one of Bert's eyes, the puff of air from the glue bottle sent it flying, so I was crawling on the floor looking for the tiniest little white circle (on the white-ish carpet). Oh well, she liked it, and that's what counts.

Hallowe'en Treats

I spoil my neice and nephew, I admit it. And I enjoy it. Deal with it. So how could I let Hallowe'en pass without a small token? Now, while wanting to be one of the most awesome aunts on the face of the earth (not wanting to take away from their other 3 aunts, or my own...) I did have to make it so my sister didn't curse my very existance by getting her kids (3 and 18 mo) completely hopped up on sugar. So in addition to a few candy treats, I put a package of Ritz crackers, a juice box, a tangerine, new crayons, a crazy straw, stickers and glow in the dark necklaces. The letters and images are from the "A Child's Year" cartridge. The best compliment came though when my other sister asked where I found bags with their names on them.

Classic car

I made this card for my husband's uncle. I thought a classic car just fit. The ribbon was an absolute find....I stumbled upon a new scrapbooking store, and went there on a whim (a dangerous path....) and happened to walk into their semi annual garage sale, where people (I think mainly the instructors there) sell off their excess supplies. I picked up this ribbon (brown with teal and cream paisley pattern) and what was easily $200 dollars worth of used rubber stamps for $40. And a few Copic markers (not part of the sale, full price....I swear a drug habit would be cheaper), signed up for a Copic marker class....Maybe I could sell the house and live in my car in their parking lot (just kidding honey). The image is from the Heritage cartridge.

A latte birthday wishes

I made this card for my brother in law's birthday, a coffee, uh, connoisseur. The coffee mug is from Gypsy Wanderings. The letters are from Lyrical Letters, and I wrote "birthday wishes" on the inside.

Challenge #8

This challenge was for a fancy fold card - I made this Thanksgiving card. The top picture is looking down from the top, then one with the card opened, and then closed. This really was quite easy, once I got my head around which way things were supposed to fold. It's a keeper.

WCMD Challenge # 5

Okay - I've gotten my challenge number mixed up. This challenge was to do glitter and glitz. So this is a glitzy Tinkerbell. This was the first time that I've used this cartridge. I don't know if I have the patience for the teeny tiny pieces!

WCMD Challenge #7

This challenge was to make a friendship card. The image is from Nifty Fifties.

WCMD Challnge #6

For this challenge, we had to follow a sketch that included a birdcage. I don't have a birdcage image or on my card. this is a tag that looked birdcagey enough for me....

WCMD Challenge #4

This challenge was to build a card around a stamped image. This is an elaborate paisley stamp that I have not had a chance to use yet. I embossed it in silver, and I think it matches the purple and black patterned paper behind.

WCMD Challenge #3

This challenge was to use Pink, White and Black. I think I will use this as an engagement congratulations card. The dark pink and white patterned paper is the card, the black background behind that is just my computer. The wine bottle and glass are from Summer in Paris.

WCMD Challenge #2

This was a birthday challenge. Glade enough - I've got lots of birthday cards that I need to get made. This was my first attempt with the Robotz cart - that cart has pieces that it cuts that you don't even use!! Honestly, I have several little tiny pieces that even with a magnifying glass I could not figure out where they were supposed to go! The gears down the side are from Paperlace 2.

World Card Making Day Challenge #1

Okay - this first challenge caught me off guard - I am not yet prepared to do Christmas challenges! So while this is a very simple card, it was actually the one that vexed me the most. The Angel is from "inspired heart" and I just wrote Merry Christmas at the bottom. It doesn't show well in the picture, but the background paper is deep blue. And of course, I went around the angel with my beloved glitter glue.

By the way, the challenges were put out by Kassidy at www.inkingitupcrazy.blogspot.com

Happy 40th

My husband's cousin turned 4o in August, but was not around for his birthday. Wanting to do something exciting for the event, he went to Africa for a month - 3 weeks with a volunteer organization, and one week touring on his own. So this card was mean to slighty obscure the 40 in the middle, with the African animals around it. On the inside I wrote that even in deepest, darkest Africa 40 will find you.

Anniversary card

I do like how this turned out. The background paper is embossed with the cuttlebug folder that looks like writing, then I put ink on a cotten ball and lightly went over the raised areas (this took 3 tries before I got it right), but I finally got it.

The Rosh Hashanah collection 2011

I'm glad that holidays don't come too often...though I think i might be done trying to give everyone a different card....it was getting to be a bit much. There are a lot of cards that need to be made right now...But I do enjoy it.

With a special guest star....

I made this card just to send to a friend of mine. The image is from Reminisce Accents cartridge...it was a little more finicky than I thought, but it's pretty. The special guest star in the background is one of my cats, Dexter, who jumped into the shot...

Canadian Past time

A co-worker mentioned that her mother's birthday is coming up, and that she likes curling...so I managed to come up with this...pretty creative, I think.

Figure is from Paperdolls, the broom is from Paperdoll Dressup, it's from the Hallowe'en witch. The end (aka the circles) are from Storybook, as are the gray and yellow ovals I cut out in order to fashion the rock. The rock turned out pretty well for something I had to craft myseld. I'm not that artistic when it comes to my own hand.

The inside of the card says "Hope your birthday hits the button" (the curling equivalent to a bullseye).

Tick-tock

Both my brothers in law got married in September...that, on top of my parent's wedding anniversary at the end of August...oh and my sister's anniversary in October...that is too many wedding anniversary cards at one time...The clock is from the Nifty Fifties cartridge. I liked the paper that I found for the background....it strikes me as the kind of wall paper that would have been on the wall behind such a clock. I got to use my glitter glue (yay!) by just going over some of the lines on the background paper with the clear glitter glue, I think it just adds a nice dimension. On the inside I wrote that time flies when you are having fun....that's how I tied a clock into a wedding anniversary card. I think the card suits them well.

Brother in Law Birthday

Another challenge - a birthday card for a guy...I find the masculine ones a challenge, so I seem to be going simple, but I think they are still effective. The tag and the letters are from the Storybook cartridge, and then I just added some brads to the ends - for decoration, for I guess a masculine touch - it's like hardware. It's not fancy, but the sentiment is there.

Anniversary Card

I am finding anniversary cards challenging. But it is through challenges that you find inspiration, I guess. I like how this turned out. This is for my brother in law's wedding anniversary. The birds holding the banner are from the Rock Princess cartridge. I coudn't figure out where I could use my beloved glitter glue - so for some bling I put rhinestones beside their names. The background is embossed with the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder.

My first commissioned card :)

I made this card for my parents' anniversary. The fish, bowl, etc are from Create a Critter. The lettering is from Lyrical Letters. I must admit that Ihave fallen in love with all things glitter. I used glitter paper for the fins and tail - it was a pretty thick paper, I think it did a number on the blade though... I took the card to work (because I was going to my parents right after work), and I did show it to my boss. She liked it, and asked if I could make her one...her anniversary was coming up, and both she and her husband are Pisces.

Abby for Abby

So this, I understand, is Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. This is a card I made for my cousin's daughter's first birthday, The little girl's name is also Abby. I am really happy with how the figure came out. I think I'm getting the hang of layers. Also, using a better quality paper really helps. Originally, it was just the character and the number 1, but the card just looked so empty and missing something. I couldn"t find a stamp (that I own) that said "happy birthday" and was appropriate for the card. I had already glued it down, or I would have cut something out....but I did find a "You did it" stamp. that might seem strange, but I had already written inside "and suddenly, like magic, you've turned 1" so the "you did it" sort of fits.

Happy Birthday Mum

Okay, now I'm just getting fancy :) This time I did a birthday card with a matching gift bag. The flower is from Reminicence, and I think the sentiment is from the new paperlace 2 cart.

Happy Bday Dad

I wish that I could indeed take more credit for this card, but I got most of the idea from a youtube video. I would post the link if I could find it again....Actually, that was just for the sunset background. The rest of it I did figure out on my own. I made this for my dad's birthday, and this time of year my parents are spending a lot of their time up at the cottage - so that was the look I was trying to go for. The pine trees were cut from the Disney Classics cartridge. I don't think I did too badly in the end.

40th Birthday

As I stated, I have not been too busy on the card front for a myriad of reasons...We are going to a 40th birthday party for my husband's friend and his wife. I was shocked to hear a little voice in the back of my head toying with the idea of buying a card....I have been trying to stay away from Michael's...but am learning that maybe it is better to go and buy the paper you need for a specific project, rather than collecting reams of paper that are never quite right when you go to make something. I was good....only the paper needed for this card, and a few things from the sales bins....I am getting better....

Thanks!

Well, between work (I had been off work for a year and a half...yes this work schedule thing is throwing me off!!) and the Canada Post strike....I have not been too busy with the cards....This was actually a thank you card that I made for the woman who placed me in my job.

I love my new job, it is exactly the kind of job that I wanted, even though I couldn't really pinpoint what it was that I wanted to do. I thought she deserved a card.

Happy Father's Day!

This is the card I made for my dad for Father's Day. A man of high brow tastes, one of his favourite foods is hot dogs :) I have to admit, I'm the same, I think top 3 meals would be seafood, a full roast dinner, and hot dogs (not all at the same time). I already had the green glitter glue (which doesn't show up too well in the photo, but it's above the mustard), and when I saw this image on the Simply Charmed cart, the card just started to come together in my mind. I did the edge of the bun with chalk and a blender pen...one of my first attempts with it, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Father's day

I'm going to have to come up with more ideas for more masculine cards...I couldn't think of anything for a father's day card for my father in law. So, two sided paper, with a stripe pattern on the one side, pinned back with brass brads, and a simple messge in the middle (though really think I need to start printing them on the computer).
Funny think about this? I chose the paper based on the stripe pattern, and the brown tones being more masculine...the name of the paper - Kitchen Spice!

Would you guess this is a napkin?

I got (stole) this idea from Terri at www.ramblingsofatexascraftroom.blogspot.com . It really is hard to believe that this is a napkin!
You take a napkin, remove any additional layers of paper so you only have the one sheet, the one with image on it. Take a piece of Saran wrap (plastic wrap, cling wrap, whatever you might call it...) and cut it just a little bigger than the image. Place the wrap under the napkin, and place both between 2 pieces of cardstock. Put a towel over the cardstock, and iron - the heat will make the wrap both shrink and become and adhesive, glueing the napkin to the bottom cardstock. Terri has a video with the steps on her blog.
That's it! You can't tell, but I went around the flowers, over the leaves, and around the chickadee in glitter glue. I didn't know when I would use the black glitter glue when I bought it...so glad that I did! I used Opal around the flowers, green for the leaves, black around the bird, and on his eye, beak and legs)
I made his as a birthday card from my grandmother. One of her pasttimes is watching th birds that come to the feeder outside her window. She has been on bed rest a lot lately, and I (my whole family too) have been thankful that she has that window, and that simple joy is accessible.

So thanks to Terri...only thing is that that there were 10 napkins, and 4 images of chickadees on each....that's a lot of chickadee cards :)

Birthday card

A birthday card, from Paperlace. The round card was from a pack I picked up at Michael's. Yes, it was a pain in the butt to poke out all the little pieces of paper, and frustrating trying to figure out which cuts were to stay in the image, and which were to be removed. But the end result is pretty.

Just a note...

I made my sister a set of notecards for her birthday. They are pretty simple, but my mom always said "you can never have too many blank notecards". That was always one of the gifts we gave teachers as end of year gifts, either blank notecards, or a pretty set of paper plates with matching napkins. The note is from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge, and the cut outs down the side is from a punch (I can't remember what brand...). Simple but effective.

Cupcake Birthday Card

This cupcake card is from the Wildcard cartridge. I was a little disappointed that this card didn't have a liner, but that was easily fixed by just gluing a piece of paper (the blue polkadot paper) to the inside of the card, and then trimming the edges. I coloured the flame in with a red glitter glue, and used clear glitter glue to go over some of the patter on the "icing" portion. I hadn't looked at the Wildcard cartridge much before, but I think it might become a "go to " cartridge!

Blue and Grey - variations on a theme

At my new job, I work with the Sales team. One of our sales staff wanted to send out congratulation cards to local business leaders who had received recognition (she needs 50 in total). Before I knew it, I opened my mouth "I make my own cards!". I said that I would make a sample over the weekend, and she could let me know. Since these are going to some highfalutin' peeps, I wanted to keep the card somewhat conservative. So I picked the grey paper, but also picked the blue up, just in case. I liked the blue better in the end, but gave the choice to the rep. She picked the blue card too. Now, I just have to get them made...I know what I'm doing tomorrow!!

It's all about the b-bling b-bling

I didn't think I would get another challenge in, but here it is. The challenge from www.mypinkstamper.com was glitz, glamour, and glitter. A dragonfly might not be all that glamourous, but I couldn't do much more for glitz and glitter. This card will be for a baby naming ceremony we have this weekend, so it is a kid friendly card. The dragonfly was made with blue shimmer paper (shadow), blue glitter paper (body), and vellow glitter paper (wings). The ribbon has shiny metal circles, and while it doesn't show up in the picture, the writing on the bottom was written with a purple glitter gel pen.

Summer Theme Challenge

Another NSD challenge from www.mypinkstamper.com. The challenge was for a summer theme. I've done fireflies (from Stretch your Imagination). I used a yellow gel pen to highlight their rear ends, do dots around the edges of the card, and I wrote "simple joys" ate the top. The yellow didn't show up too well when it dried, so I had to go over it a few times, which changed the look a little bit.

Fireflies were one of my favourite things about spring/summer. I can't even remember the last time I saw one now. Do you think our kids/grandkids will believe us when we tell them that there used to be bugs whose rear ends lit up?