Peace on Earth

I have a pretty Christmas mat pack from K&CO, and I wanted to make a card that worked with this paper from it. Since the paper is kind of old fashioned, sort of like wallpaper, I decided I shouldn't make it too fancy.

I antiqued around the edges of the mat with Distress Antique Linen, then mounted it onto an ivory 5x7 card, then drew around the edges with a Pentouch gold pen.

I decided to use this older JustRite stamp for the focal point. After stamping the border and the center onto ivory CS, I cut them out with Spellbinders Labels Eighteen, and went around each piece with the Antique Linen and the Pentouch. The wreath is colored with Copics, and the verse is colored with chalks.

When I was in Rochester, I got something called Fantastix because I liked the fact that I would be able to use chalks in small spaces. When I got home, I read the reviews, and many people didn't like the fantastix. They had problems blending with them. I must say, that I really liked them. I used the finer point one to color and shade the chalk on this one, and it seemed quick and easy. (I thought I'd add that in case anyone else is wondering about them. Some people really hate them, but I liked them).

Anyway, when I got the centerpiece done, I held it onto the card, and it needed something. I decided to die cut all of the Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two, and tried them around my centerpiece, to see if any of them would look good around it. I liked this one, and went over it with the distress ink, then cut it up and put the pieces around my wreath. It added just enough to the design to fill out the empty space and look nice on the card. I attached the wreath and tag pieces, then mounted the verse dimensionally over that.

Then I added Queen & Co pearls to the corners. It still looked kind of blank, but I didn't want to get too fancy, so I tried a bow on it. That seemed to dress it up enough so it looked finished. (There isn't antiquing under the bow, it's a shadow from the flash on my camera). Anyway, it looks quite different from most of my Christmas cards, but I kind of liked it when it was done.

ODBDSLC122 Sparrow at Sunset

I made this card for my second week as guest designer on the Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge team.

This week's challenge: ODBDSLC122 Use a bird or birds on your creation.


To make the challenge even more fun, we will be giving out a prize, a $15 gift certificate to be used toward stamps at the Our Daily Bread Designs store!! Entries for the prize must be submitted by Sunday, September 16th at 8 p.m. EST. One random winner will be chosen and announced next Saturday.

While it is not required to use Our Daily Bread Designs images and sentiments on your creations, we would love to see them if you have them. As a way of recognizing those who do use Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we will again be choosing three or more of our participants for the Shining the Light Award . In order to qualify for this award or join the challenge, however, you must use Our Daily Bread stamps and have your submission added to Mr. Linky by Sunday, September 16th at 8 p.m. EST. If you upload your creations to Splitcoast Stampers or any other online gallery, please use the keyword ODBDSLC122. When creating your posts on blogs please include a link to the challenge.

To see all the creations in one place or join the challenge, click here.

For more inspiration for this challenge, please visit my dt sisters:

Jan Marie Ennenga, Chris Olsen, Jan Keen, Lori Ulrich, Kathy Roney, and Rosemary Dennis.

For my card, I used ODBD's He Watches Me for the sparrow and thistle. These were cut with ODBD's custom Sparrow Die, which made it so easy to layer the stamped image onto my sunset background. The sparrow was colored with Copics.

Inside the z-fold card, I used ODBD's Bird & Butterfly Labels, and a saying from ODBD's Faith Set. Both were stamped directly onto another sunset, and cut out with the matching Spellbinders Labels Eighteen. I colored the butterflies and bird in the label with a copper colored Jelly Roll pen to match the copper metallic paper I used to mat everything.

The patterned background paper is from the Mariposa stack, and the sunsets were my photographs, which I printed out to stamp on. I thought the beautiful sunsets were perfect for the saying "He makes everything beautiful in His time".

The top photo is the card closed, the middle one is how it looks while standing up, and the bottom one is the card fully open.

Angel Christmas Card

I made another Christmas card for my friend. This one has another of the tags from the same K&Co set as the chickadee card. These were actually designed as gift tags, but they are too pretty to be used and thrown away, so I mount them dimensionally onto cards.

Both colors of paper on this one were cut from backgrounds on the K&Co stacks which matched the tags and stickers. I diecut the paper with Spellbinders and used my sponge daubers to ink the middles while they were still in the die. Then I ran my gold Pentouch around the inside of each of them.

The DP was mounted onto gold mirror card before mounting that onto an ivory card, then I used gold Stickles, and a Christmas green glitter similar to Stickles as accents. I can't remember the brand name of the green, it's something new our AC Moore carries, and isn't anywhere near as nice as Stickles, but AC Moore doesn't have any Christmas green Stickles.

It's so disappointing to see AC Moore carrying more of the cheap stuff like Walmart, and less of the good stuff like Michael's and Hobby Lobby have, especially since we don't have any Michael's or Hobby Lobby anywhere near us. I've always tried to support the brick and mortar stores, but with no place but AC Moore and a bad JoAnn's, I can see a lot more mail order in my near future.

Anyway, I did try a bow on this one, and am still trying to decide whether or not to add it. It gives a very different feel to the card, and I can't decide which way I prefer it.

Chickadee Christmas Card

A friend who is only here in the summer was buying my cards and sending them to a friend who was in the hospital near her winter home. Her friend loved them so much that she asked my friend to commission me to make her some Christmas cards for her to send to her friends. I feel really honored! Anyway, my friend chose some that I had already made, and now I'm making more for her.

I had this pretty dimensional chickadee sticker from K&Co, and I decided to design a card around it. I chose some generic dark green, some mottled gold, which was part of the background from some K&Co paper, some gold mirror card, and some darker patterned gold which was in my stash of cut offs.

I used a scalloped Spellbinder oval under the chickadee, and two sizes of Labels Twenty Two for the other die cuts. The dark green is actually a frame over the mottled gold. The outlines were done with a PenTouch Gold pen.

The outline stickers in the corner were in my stash, and the pearls were white ones I colored with Copics.

I finally got to AC Moore again today, and was very disappointed to find out that they are discontinuing any new Spellbinders. They are only going to carry a few older ones. I did get two of the older ones I didn't have, one was the Grand 12" Rose Border, and the other was The Renaissance Hearts Border. They were only $10 each. I guess this means we won't be able to buy Spellbinders products locally.

I also got a Darice Damask embossing folder for $3.99. They actually had the Grand Calibur Raspberry plate, so I got one of those as well, and I finally got the Ranger non stick craft mat. I needed that.

I also bought a bunch of discontinued paper for .20 per sheet and since they don't sell Copics, I decided to try a set of Spectrum Noir markers. I've read on the internet that they work with Copics. I got the essentials colors, since my colorless blender was getting low, and I didn't have black or grey. Hopefully the browns are different from my browns, and the yellow looks paler than my yellows. They don't have a brush tip, and the chisel doesn't look as sharp as Copics, but I was curious about them, so now I will be able to try them out.

It was kind of a disappointment because the scrapbook department was one or two aisles shorter than it used to be, but it was fun getting new things.

Doily Santa Card

I used two different Marianne Creatables for this card. First, I cut out the doily using green and metallic gold card stock. Then I cut out the corners six times using the same metallic gold. After that, I just embossed the same corners two times with green card stock, and cut around them with scissors to frame two of the corners. I kept cutting and fitting everything together for the front of the card so it would look like two of the corners were part of the doily, and the other four would look like a large square doily in the background.

After that, I cut another large doily and mounted it on the bottom part of the easel. I stamped the sentiment from ODBD's Blessed Christmas Set onto the center of the doily with VersaMark, and embossed it with SuperFine Detail Gold.

All gold outlining was done with Pentouch Gold. The pearls were some small white ones which I colored with a Copic to match the green in the card. The Santa is one of those embossed German die cut ones from a sheet I've had for years.

Seagull Popup Card

I made this card quite a few years ago. I got the image from one of those free sites, but I have no idea where I got it from now.

I have a beautiful book on making pop ups. I wanted to do this seagull from the book inside a card, but since I had done mostly book making before I made this card, at the time I didn't have very much for card making. Anyhow, the front of the card didn't match the inside very well. I am mostly showing it here because I just found the photos of it and I have never shown any of my pop ups before. Now that I've done more card making, I can see lots of ways I could have done it better.

The Sea

This card is made by mounting a K&Co background onto an off white 5x7 card. I used a stamp from JustRite, cut it with Spellbinders Labels Twenty Two, and layered it onto more pieces of paper cut with the same die set.

Each element was outlined with PenTouch Gold, and distressed with Antique Linen before mounting them. The space just above and to the right of the ship needed something, so I cut a seagull out of the paper and added it. I have sets of those papers in various sizes, as well as matching stickers, but unfortunately the seagulls in this size were only printed flying in on direction. I know it's never good to have everything moving off the page, but I didn't have any choice with this one. I wish he was flying toward the ship instead.

I added Queen and Co pearls to the corner to finish the card.

ODBDSLC121 You Leave Me in Stitches

ODBDSLC121 You Leave Me in Stitches

Due to the holiday weekend, Our Daily Bread Designs is extending the You Leave Me in Stitches challenge giving our players another week to participate. The team, however, has another set of samples to share with you.

To make the challenge even more fun, we will be giving out a prize, a $15 gift certificate to be used toward stamps at the Our Daily Bread Designs store!! Entries for the prize must be submitted by Sunday, September 9th at 8 p.m. EST. One random winner will be chosen and announced next Tuesday.


While it is not required to use Our Daily Bread Designs images and sentiments on your creations, we would love to see them if you have them. As a way of recognizing those who do use Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, we will again be choosing three or more of our participants for the Shining the Light Award . In order to qualify for this award or join the challenge, however, you must use Our Daily Bread stamps and have your submission added to Mr. Linky by Sunday, September 9th at 8 p.m. EST. If you upload your creations to Splitcoast Stampers or any other online gallery, please use the keyword is ODBDSLC121. When creating your posts on blogs please include a link to the challenge.


To see all the creations in one place or join the challenge, click here.


For more inspiration for this challenge, please visit my dt sisters:

Jan Marie Ennenga, Chris Olsen, Jan Keen, Lori Ulrich,
Kathy Roney, and Rosemary Dennis.

For my card, I used ODBD's beautiful Worship the Lord Set.

This is my first stitched card, and I decided to make an elegant card using real stitching. First, I cut a 5 inch square from Core'dinations pearl paper, and used a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set to shape the panel and make the holes for stitching. Then, I used some metallic embroidery floss to stitch in every other hole in the center square, and every hole in the outside border.

Next, I stamped the church twice, and the "Merry Christmas" once on another sheet of paper using VersaMark. After embossing with Superfine Detail Gold, I cut around the whole church scene, and around only the trees on the other church scene I had stamped. I mounted everything dimensionally onto the sewn card, then cut around the sentiment and mounted that dimensionally as well.

I wanted to stitch a Christmas star, but was afraid I'd make a mess of things, so I colored a crystal Christmas button with a Krylon 18 K pen, and used that for the star instead. The background looked kind of blank, so I added some Stickles stars. The Stickles don't look as good in the photo as they do in person. On the card, they really sparkle, and look much lighter.

Lastly, I mounted the card onto a 5 inch square card I made from the same pearl paper and traced around it with the Krylon pen.

PSX Lupine Card

I tried another of my older stamps today.

This one is Lupine by PSX. During June, our island is blanketed in these lovely flowers. They grow wild all over the island, and just about everyone has them in their yards. We have so many that we have an annual Lupine Festival, so I thought I should make a card with them.

The lupine on this card appears darker in the photograph than it is in person. It is actually a closer shade of pink to the background, but as usual, my phone's camera picked up the red pigments in the ink.

It is stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Superfine Detail Gold. The paper is my favorite Core'dinations pearl paper in white and pink. The flowers are colored with Copics and look shimmery because of the paper.

The lacy background was cut with a Spellbinders die. I had to die cut two frames and put them together to fit the stamp. The stamp is on a separate sheet and mounted onto the lacy piece to hide the seam, then outlined with PenTouch Gold.

I outlined the whole outside of the card with gold and added Liquid Pearls to finish it.

Tomorrow morning we are headed off for the weekend, I hope everyone who has a long weekend has a great time!

Rose Card

I was looking over some of my older stamps, and decided to try this one from Stampendous. I really like coloring with Copics on Core'dinations Pearl papers, so I stamped it with VersaMark, and embossed it with Superfine Detail Gold, then colored it. The pearl paper gives the Copics a shimmer that I really like.

I used Spellbinders Grand Labels Four, and cut the design out, then outlined it with PenTouch Gold, and mounted it onto a brighter pink, and cut out around that. Next, I used gold mirror card, (although the mirror card doesn't look like gold in the photo), and cut around that. Next, I used a larger die and cut some pink Core'dinations Gemstones out to form the card itself, and mounted everything on that. I used Queen & Co half pearls, but added more than I should have, but it looked too blank before I added them. I think I should have tried something different, instead of the pearls, but once they're on, it's too late to change them. I tried adding a bow, and that drew some attention away from all of those pearls and made it look better. The outside of the card was also outlined with PenTouch Gold.

I wish the gold mirror card showed up in the photo. I took it outdoors in bright sun, and I think the gold must have reflected the clear blue sky above.

Flower Soft Bouquet Card

Today I wanted to try making one of those floral bouquets with Flower Soft. I had originally planned on it looking different than it does. Instead, it ended up looking very much like one of the examples in the Flower Soft instructions. I guess they knew better than me, what looks good on a card! :-)

I'm still not really happy with this card, it looks kind of plain, but at least I've finally made a bouquet.

The paper is Core'dinations Pearl, in pink and white, and the diecut is a Marianne Creatables. The cone is from one of the sheets in Flower Soft's Floral Card Making Starter Kit. The kit is great because it contains a lot of examples from their other kits, and gives you an idea of what is in each kit, as well as three colors of Flower Soft. The color I used for the flowers is from the Flower Soft - Bouquet Colour Selection Box on the same page.

The "pearls" are Liquid Pearls.

My Exciting News

I haven't posted as much since I got back from Vacation partly because my internet connection has been either terribly slow, or non existent since I got back, partly because I am trying to catch up with all of your blogs on this bad connection, and partly because I have been working on projects for Our Daily Bread Designs.

I was so excited when the sweet and talented Challenge Team Coordinator Chris Olsen, asked me to be guest designer for the challenges for the month of September!

I have always loved ODBD's stamps, with their beautiful designs and wonderful messages, and began getting their stamps and entering their challenges last spring. Not only are their stamps wonderful, but Kelley and the design team members are so nice. (As well as very talented)!

Anyway, I've wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to make my examples, and try to do as good a job as Sherry Kushibab and Linda Lucas who preceded me, so I've mainly been working on examples for the September challenges early. That way, if I mess up, I've still got plenty of time to make a new example. :-)

I feel very honored to have been asked to be a guest designer for such a wonderful company. Thank you so much to Chris, Kelley, and the others who chose me!

Blue Iris Card

This card was made using JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners, and cut with their Nested Oval Medallion Labels and Nested Medallion Labels custom Dies. I stamped the designs with white ink, and embossed them also in white.

I cut the blue background using Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles, and mounted that onto white CS. Then I traced the inside of the die with a white Jellyroll pen, and went around the edges of the white card with a blue stamp pad, and blended the blue in as far as the outside edges of the blue die cut. The card actually is wedgewood blue, and all the blue matches. My phone's camera picks up the ink pigments differently than the paper pigments, and makes them look different. Also, it is pure white inside the lacy part of the die cut, even though it looks blue in the photo.

The stamped motifs were mounted dimensionally, then I added white pearls to the corners and a bow to the iris.

Still Catching up from Vacation

I'm still catching up from vacation. If I haven't visited your blogs yet, it's because my internet is barely working, so it's taking me a long time to catch up.

I have been working on some cards, but I can't show the ones I've been doing yet. Next week I'll be able to tell you why. :-) Instead, I'll talk about some of my new goodies I got at Michael's last week.

I got one of those multi colored 10 drawer rolling carts so I would have more storage. They were on sale. I'm glad I didn't pay full price, because there were a few screws missing even though everything was sealed. Since the kit would have been over $60 at regular price, I would have thought they would have had a few extra screws in there rather than too few. Also, the drawers don't fit very tightly and come out of their tracks easily. I don't hate it, it's very useful and I'm glad I bought it, but it wouldn't be worth $60. If you get one, don't expect to store anything like punches or large amounts of paper in the drawers, because it won't support them. It's great for things like stamp pads and bottles of Stickles and other light things though.

I also got one of those plastic storage boxes that have all the little containers for 4x6 photos. That was on sale too. I bought it to sort and hold all those beautiful K&Co dimensional stickers, as well as to sort some of my scraps in.

I also got one of the five piece sets of distress markers. I got the small set because I'm still building my collection of Copics, (I got some more of those too), and I wasn't sure I needed to start a collection of another brand of marker.

I finally found the Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles in stock, so I got those. Spellbinders has really been making some beautiful dies lately, and my wish list is getting too long!

I also got some of those plastic tubes you put ink into and a nib onto to make your own marker. I forgot what they are called, as well as some blending stump things. I can't remember what those are called either. (All my stuff is at my shop, so I can't look at the names of them).

Then I got more Liquid Pearls, more distress stamp pads, more memento dewdrops, more ribbon, more tape for my ATG, and some K&Co Christmas dimensional stickers.

I also finally found the MS Punch with three hydrangeas, and the one with three small butterflies, and the sand dollar and starfish one.

It was a really fun shopping trip!

Back from Vacation

We got back last night. Had a great time with the kids, and took a side trip to Thousand Islands (Wellesley Island) on the way home. Got to catch a glimpse of my Uncle's house while there. I loved that house while he was still alive, but it has been sold to some rich dude and is surrounded by a fence and a lot of trees, so I couldn't see it very well. Also, it is surrounded by a new development.

We used to have to go up a long driveway with canals and poplar trees on either side of the driveway, and no houses near it. It was beautiful in those days. I suppose after 40 years, things were bound to change. It was really good to see it anyway.

We also got to see Boldt Castle. They are doing an amazing job restoring it.

Got to Michael's but not Hobby Lobby while in Rochester, and picked up some really nice stuff. :-)

Spent today catching up on everything that needed to be done, and started a card project.

I will be gone for a week or so

Our nephew is getting married in Rochester, NY on Sunday, so we are leaving tomorrow. Since our son and his family also live there, we will be staying with them for the week.

Anyway, if I don't post to your blogs, that is why. I'll be back to visit you all on the 19th or 20th!

Morning Glory and Psalm ODBDSLC118 Scripture

I made this card for the challenge ODBDSLC118 Scripture at Our Daily Bread Designs. For the central motif, I used ODBD's Flower Border, cut with Spellbinders Labels Eighteen and colored it with sparkly Jellyroll pens, then outlined it with Krylon 18K gold. I mounted that onto some sparkly light blue paper which I cut around with scissors and also outline that in gold. Then I stamped a Psalm from ODBD's Faith Set using Brilliance Sky Blue, and cut that with a die two sizes smaller. I went around that with gold as well, and traced inside the die with a Jellyroll pen. I mounted that onto the sparkly blue paper, then mounted it dimensionally onto the frame.

The background paper is from K&Co. It is outlined and mounted onto the same sparkly blue, which is layered onto a white card. I made the bow, and added the ribbon before mounting the background to the card.

I decided the background paper needed a bit of sparkle so I used a gold Jellyroll on the flower stamens, then added some blue Stickles to everything, and some gold Stickles to the ribbon.

Lighthouse at Sunset

This card isn't as bright as this in person, but both my camera and my phone really like to enhance reds.

For this card I used a photo I had taken of a sunset printed out to 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Then I stamped Our Daily Bread Designs Keep My Lamp Burning using VersaFine Onyx Black onto the photo once, and onto a piece of ivory CS twice. I trimmed around the stamped image on the photo, and cut out the lighthouse and compass from one of the stampings on the ivory, and just the compass from the other.

I shaded the lighthouse and compass with a mix of Distress antique linen, and several shades of chalk, trying to get just a tint of the colors in the sunset. Then I added copics to the lantern room of the lighthouse to reflect the sunset, and to the compass.

The lighthouse is mounted dimensionally over the lighthouse in the photo, then the compass is mounted dimensionally on top of that. I layered the completed design onto some yellow CS, and two shades of antique copper CS, and then onto an ivory card. The brads in the corner are from Recollections.

I have 26 different sky images sized to 5.5 x 4.25 that I have zipped up to put on Etsy, but so far, even zipped, the file size is huge. Too big to upload. I really don't want to lower the quality too much, so I've got to figure out how to make them smaller. Sooner or later, I hope to get this background and the other 25 uploaded for anyone who is interested in downloading them to stamp on.

Creatables Front Pop Out Card

When I was making my front pop out cards, I kept wanting to try this Marianne Creatables die, but since it is only one size, I used Spellbinders instead. I really liked the depth I could create by using several sizes. Today I gave in and tried one with this die. I'm thinking now that I wish I had made the center part wider, but it really is quite pretty in person.

The blue paper is pearlescent and is from a stack I bought quite a few years ago. I think it was probably from DCWV. The white is Core'dinations pearl.

The flowers are some old Prima ones, and the ribbon is very old from Wright's Trim. The Stickles are Crystal.

Whale Birthday Card

My mother had a birthday a few days ago, and she likes nautical cards. She also likes the simple ones without a lot of bling, so I made this one for her a few days before her birthday.

It uses ivory CS, antique copper metallic CS, and a whale from a sheet of K&Co CS. I antiqued the edges of the K&Co CS, and added a JustRite birthday banner to it so it framed the whale's spout. Lastly, I added Bisque Liquid Pearls, and colored over them with a brown Copic. It made them sort of resemble rusty studs.

It was a very quick and easy card.

Very Cool Carousel Exploding Box

I just found the neatest exploding box made into a carousel on one of the blogs in my sidebar and had to share it with you. It is on the blog Hand made by Wisnia. I hope you enjoy seeing it!

Iris Pop Out Front Card

I decided to make another card I call a front pop out card. This was made from a tutorial by Marianne Skjelstad.

For this card, I used some peach pearlescent CS mounted onto a textured white CS. All the cutting on the DP was done with Spellbinder Labels Four, and Grand Labels Four, and with scissors on the white CS, so I could cut a narrow border. All parts were outlined with Krylon 18K gold.

The stamping was done using JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners-Clear. It was stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with Superfine Detail Gold.

I stamped the background, and cut it with Labels Four rather than the custom die which was made for these stamps, so it would match the card. The iris was colored with copics, and is stamped on Core'dinations pearl paper, to match the pearlescent background paper. The darker red in the irises isn't really dark in person, I think it just reflected differently when I took the photograph. I used shades of pink and yellow to make the peachy color, which matches the DP. To add the irises, I traced the inside of the frame stamp, and cut the oval with scissors. The irises, frame, and layer beneath it are all mounted dimensionally, which gives a lot of depth to the card.

The top photo shows the card closed, and the bottom photo shows it open.

PSX Fish Shack

I made this card using one of my old PSX stamps. I colored it mostly with Copics, but since I have so few of them, I also used some colored pencils. I wish I had colored the boat red, because it isn't colorful enough to suit me. The colors are so vintage looking that it reminds me of an old engraving I have from the 1800's though, so I don't mind it. The netting on this card is more of the 100 year old seining twine from the weir that used to be in the cove where my shop is.

The image is stamped onto ivory CS with VersaFine Onyx Black and cut with a Spellbinders Grand Calibur die. I mounted that onto green CS and cut around it to mat the image.

The card is also cut with the same die set. I cut the mottled blue CS with a larger die, then cut the ivory card larger than the background paper. The ivory card and center motif were distressed with Antique Linen.

The stamped motif and netting are mounted dimensionally onto the card.

More flowers I made from Prima flower parts

A few months ago, I showed some flowers I made from those containers of inexpensive flower parts from Prima.You can see that post here.

I mentioned then, that sometimes I like to take the time to make a bunch of flowers, so they will be ready for cards. I also mentioned that some of the flower parts weren't exactly beautiful, but when added to other parts, or having a stamp pad rubbed over them, I could make some really interesting flowers.

If you have some of these parts that you don't know what to do with, try playing with them. It's really fun!

Violet Floral Card odbdslc117

I made another card for the Our Daily Bread Designs ODBDSLC117 Sketch Challenge. For this card, I layered violet paper, gold mirror card and an Anna Griffin DP from my stash onto a white card. Before adding the DP, I ran a piece of wide ribbon down the center, and adhered it to the back of the DP, then I mounted that onto the mirror card.

All the center motifs were done on Core'dinations Pearl paper and mounted dimensionally. They were all also outlined with a Krylon 18K pen.

The bottom layer of the center motif is stamped with ODBD's Flower Border using VersaMark and Superfine Detail Gold EP. I cut it out with Spellbinders Labels Eighteen, and colored it with Copics.

The top layer was stamped using VersaMark and the same EP, for the frame, and Distress Peeled Paint for the sentiment. This layer is from the ODBD Eternity Set. It was cut with the ODBD Custom Die - Elegant Ovals. Last, I added a bow made from a narrower version of the same ribbon as the piece on the DP, and added Queen & Co pearls to the corners.

Creatables and JustRite Musical Christmas JRC_078

I made this card for the JustRite Friday Challenge #078 - Christmas In July.

I decided to make a 5x7 gatefold card using ivory CS and this Oriental Trading Co poinsettia paper. The poinsettia paper had borders at the top and bottom, so I cut them to fit the outside of the doors, and used the green between the borders inside. I also cut the green with the background die from this Marianne Creatables set, and outlined it with an 18K gold Krylon pen. Then I cut the fancy part of the die with Core'dinations gold pearl paper, and mounted it onto the green paper.

The Spellbinders 2010 Heirloom Ornaments was cut with more of the green and also outlined with the gold pen. I added pieces of Dresden Trim to the ornament as well. The ivory oval was stamped using the JustRite Original Peace On Earth Borders & Centers - Interlocking, which is one of my favorite stamps. I stamped it with VersaMark, and used Superfune Detail Gold EP, then outlined the inside border of the stamp with a red Copic. The ivory oval and card were distressed using Antique linen.

The oval is mounted dimensionally onto the ornament, which is mounted dimensionally onto the doily. Then the whole thing was mounted dimensionally onto half of the card, leaving the other side unmounted so the door can be opened. The inside has a larger ornament using the same gold pearl paper, with a distressed smaller oval inside it as a space for writing, and gold holly dresden trim in the corners of the card. The berries on the Dresden trim were colored with a red Copic.

I added strips of another Oriental Trading Co paper to the inside of the door, and added more Dresden trim and red Stickles to the ornament inside. After finishing the inside, I added gold and pearl Liquid Pearls to the front of the card.

Creatables White Card

I made this card by using only one Marianne Creatables Die Set. This one was also bought from Joan's Gardens. I used Core'dinations Pearl and made a card, then die cut each piece in this set with the same paper and layered them onto the card. After that, I added Liquid Pearls and regular half pearls, and I was done. It was a quick and easy card with lots of lacy layers, and only one die. I thought it would make a beautiful wedding card if you need one in a hurry.

It could also be pretty just by changing the colors of some of the layers, or by adding color to the raised embossing. You could also add flowers, butterflies or ribbon to this card and change it's look that way, or add a stamp or photo instead of one or two of the inner layers. I love this die set for it's ability to make a quick and beautiful card for any occasion!

Creatables Anja Edges Gatefold Card

I made this with another of the beautiful dies I got from Joan's Gardens. To make the card, I started with a 12" long piece of CS, and cut the width to the length of the die, and scored it at 2" 4" 8" and 10". Then I die cut both edges, one with the wide part at the top, and the other with it at the bottom. Then I cut pieces of Anna Griffin DP to fit the parts of the card which weren't die cut, and applied those.

Next, I outlined the embossing on the die cuts with a Copic marker and used Pebbles Cream Chalk to color the parts of those sections which were closest to the fold. Next, I cut a Spellbinders die for the inside, and used the cream chalk while it was still inside the die. After I applied that to the inside of the card, I added three pearls to look like door knobs, and my card was finished. I may still add some flowers, but I'm not sure. The bottom photo was taken before I added the "doorknobs", but I didn't realize it until just now when I looked at it. That's what I get for deciding to add things after I think I'm done. :-)

Creatables and JustRite Card

Sorry for the two pink cards in a row, but I know Jill will be happy! :-). I made this card using one of my new Marianne Creatables dies from Joan's Gardens, and the Spring Rose Medallions from JustRite.

For paper, I used two of Core'dinations pearl colors, and an Anna Griffin patterned paper. The image was stamped with Stazon and colored with Copics. The metallic gold is a Jellyroll pen. The pearls are Liquid Pearls, and the flowers are from Recollections. The greenery is the MS branch punch.

I didn't straighten my bow before the picture was taken because the silicone glue wasn't dry yet, and neither were the Liquid Pearls. The design really is straight on the card, I just took the picture crooked. :-)

Lacy Celebrate Card Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 38 - Celebration

I made this card for Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 38 - Celebration. The Cheery Lynn dies I used for this card are the Kiwi Spirit Doily and the Exotic Butterflies Small #2.

Both stamps are from Anna Griffin, and are stamped with Tsukineko Brilliance so they would have a lot of shine to match the pearlescent papers I used.

I mounted lace paper I had in my stash over the card so it would echo the lacy look of the stamps and dies, then mounted the kiwi doily onto pink pearl paper and cut around it with scissors, and mounted them onto the card. Then I mounted the cake dimensionally on the doily. I did the same thing with the saying. The pink on the butterfly actually matches the paper, but it looks different in the photograph. The roses are from our local craft store, and the greenery is the MS branch punch. The "pearls" are Liquid pearls, and the candle flames are a glittery stuff like Stickles.

Poinsettia Card ODBDSLC117

I made this card for the Our Daily Bread Designs ODBDSLC117 Sketch Challenge. For my card, I made the two contrasting paper patterns and ribbon go horizontally, rather than vertically, but I still placed the bow at the top.

I made the card using a stamp and die set I hadn't used yet. I was really anxious to use this stamp, but it didn't work with the vertical pattern, so I turned it sideways. The stamp is ODBD's Blessed Christmas, and I used the matching Poinsettia Die to cut it out. The Blessed Christmas set has some really gorgeous sentiments to go with it, but they weren't the right shape for this challenge. I have a lot of ODBD sentiments, but the only one I have which was the right size and shape was this one from the Faith Set. I love this one, but I really wanted to use a Christmas one.

I stamped everything with VersaMark, embossed with Superfine detail gold, and colored the poinsettia with Copics. The sentiment was outlined with a Jellyroll pen, and mounted onto Gold mirror card. Both stamped designs were mounted dimensionally onto the Anna Griffin background papers. The background was also mounted onto gold mirror card, and all the white paper is Core'dinations Pearl. The gold cord is from Wrights Trim. I added Liquid Pearls to the corners, and Stickles to the center of the flower.

For those who are following the story about the family of minks, I posted a few photos today.

Is there a mink in the house? A story about cute furry creatures.

I'm sorry there are no pictures to accompany this story, but when you have a family of minks living in your shop, you never know when they are going to appear, and they disappear just as fast. There is no time to get a camera.

Update, One of the reasons I never took pictures is because Minks don't really want me noticing them. They tolerate me only because I don't follow them around, and other than talking to them if they are watching me, I don't move when I see them. When they are walking over, or around me, I don't move a muscle, and they don't feel threatened.

Today I tried to take pictures. It really shook them up, because I was following them, and the flash kept going off. These were taken with my cell phone. The inside ones came out terrible because they were moving too fast and trying to get away from me, so most of them are either very blurry, or just a tail disappearing under something. The best ones were when they decided to escape out the door to get away from me. I will probably never try to photograph them again.

Mink are very common where I live, and most people have seen them a lot, but for two years, I have had one sharing my shop with me. The one in my shop is very tiny, smaller than a ferret, but so far, she seems very healthy, and has had a litter each year.

Minks are related to ferrets, but rather than being social, they are solitary. My little friend tolerates me, but I think she would rather I left the building all to her. She isn't at all afraid, and if I am in the way, (minks seem to be always in a hurry when they aren't sleeping), she will run right over the top of me to get where she is going.

My shop is in a huge building like a barn, which used to be a Clam Factory. It is built on rock pilings over the ocean, with land on only one side. In part of it, there is an upstairs, and there is insulation tacked loosely up on the ceiling in one place. Apparently the mink decided the insulation was warm and cozy, and safe from predators. There are also lots of places where she can easily slip in and out, and dive for crabs to eat right under the building. (She is very cute when she is diving, we can watch her through the windows).

Well, last year was the first year she had babies in the shop, and she picked a place where two pieces of insulation come together. Luckily, it is over a very thick rug, because every once in a while, a baby would fall through and land on the rug. If I was there, I would pick it up with a towel and lay it, and the towel on the floor upstairs, and I would hear her run across the floor and carry it back to the nest.

One couple who knew about her used to come a lot hoping to see her. One day, I told them she was out catching crabs for the babies. They looked at me like I was nuts, like how did I know she was catching crabs???!!! It was so funny when a few minutes later, the woman said "Oh, look"! And there she was standing there, a little tiny animal, with a great big crab hanging out of her mouth! She stood there and looked at us for a while, as if to say "what are you doing here", and then trotted by us toward the stairs, with the crab in her mouth.

She moved the babies out in early August last year, and I would see her outside occasionally.

This year, she had the babies somewhere else, but something must have threatened her den, (we have a lot of foxes, fishers, one bear, and now a coyote in the neighborhood), because yesterday, she was back with three babies as big as her.

I pretty much stayed out of her way yesterday because I didn't want to shake her, or the babies up. This morning, I could hear them running around upstairs, and she was in and out a lot.

This afternoon, I heard scuffling and ferret noises coming from around the corner, so I went and looked. All three babies were running around, playing and rolling around "attacking" each other. They were rolling around under my feet where I was standing, and using me for a hiding place. Once in a while, they would stop and sniff my feet and put their tiny paws up on my legs and sniff and look at me. The mother just stood there and looked at me, probably wishing I would leave. Finally the babies and mother went upstairs for a nap.

Later in the afternoon, I was working on a card, and I saw something fall right near me, and heard a plop. We have a leak, and I had a bucket under it, and it had about an inch of water in it. I looked in the bucket, and there was a little mink, scrambling to get out. I scooped it out, and it stood there for a second, getting it's bearings, then ran back up the stairs. Now mink have scent glands, and they sure are ripe when they are scared. My hands really stunk!!!

Well, now the bucket is empty and not under the leak anymore, so I hope it doesn't rain, but I really don't want to drown one of those cute little guys either. I wonder what kind of trouble they will get into tomorrow???!!!

I just keep wondering how anyone can buy a fur coat. It would take hundreds of them to make one full length coat. We have had a number of ferrets, and they are unbelievably similar as far as actions, noises and intelligence go. It's just that they are solitary wild animals, while ferrets are social and can be domesticated. I feel so lucky to have had this experience!

Lighthouse tag and card JustRite Friday Challenge #077 - "Tag! You're It!"

I made this card for the JustRite Friday Challenge #077 - "Tag! You're It!"

For this tag and card I used JustRite's Oceanside Oval Medallion - Cling, and cut it with the JustRite Nested Oval Medallion Labels Dies. For the tag, I cut a rectangle 3 x 5 1/2 inches, and cut the corners diagonally at 1", and punched a hole in the top center. Both the card and the die are ivory CS covered with K&Co paper, and distressed with Antique Linen. The netting on the tag is over a hundred years old, and was used on a weir. The tag is attached inside the card, and can be removed for hanging. The lighthouse is colored with Copics, and the twine and medallion are mounted dimensionally onto the tag.

The netting is actually called twine by fishermen, and this twine was handmade for seining. Seining here in those days consisted of building a fence, usually heart shaped, out of small trees, and lining it with twine. As the fish went into the top of the heart shape, they would swim to the point, then keep circling around. As they reached the top, since the heart shape pointed back toward the point, they would go back in that direction and not find their way out. The twine was attached to a rope at the top, and had real corks to make the top part float.

This twine was stored in the building where my shop is, and has sat in one corner since it was last used.

If you came earlier, and saw this post before I was finished, I mentioned a story about the little mink family which lives in my shop. The post about the minks is here. Yeah, by mink, I mean the cute, very intelligent little animals that some people kill and make coats out of.

Creatables and Spellbinders Lacy Card

Here is another card made using the Marianne Creatables I got from Joan's Gardens. I started this card by die cutting and embossing all four corners of a 5 1/2" square of white cs.

I have seen a lot of sites which say you need more than one corner die to do more than one corner on a card, but this isn't strictly true. First, you cut and emboss your first corner as usual, then, when you do each successive corner, try to die cut and emboss each one with the corner facing up like a triangle, rather than parallel to the sides of the cutting board. Only cut and emboss a little more the length of the die, so you will flatten the previous corners as little as possible. When you have all of your corners cut and embossed, carefully place each one back into the die over a light box, and use your stylus to trace the embossed lines again. This only takes a few minutes, because you won't have to cut your lines with a craft knife like you would with stencils. When done, you can't tell that they were partially flattened!

When you look at my card, you can see that mine isn't completely straight, so I carefully aligned and traced the four corners onto a piece of white CS and cut around it with scissors to use as a template next time. If that doesn't work, I'll try cutting all four corners separately and paste them onto card stock to use as a template. Maybe they will be straighter next time!

I mounted the cut doily onto a 5 3/4" square piece of Core'dinations Gemstones paper, and mounted that onto a 6" card. The sections between the corners looked very unintersting to me, so I cut a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis pendant, and trimmed off some of the points so the corners would cover the blank parts of the Creatables doily, but the other points wouldn't cover the rest of the creatables die cut. I was going to make that part pink, but I didn't have enough of the matching Core'dinations paper, so I cut it in white, and cut a smaller motif from the Spellbinders die in pink and mounted it in the center. The Spellbinders motifs are mounted dimensionally.

Then I added a bunch of pink and white Liquid Pearls and it was done. I hope my tips for cutting more than one corner with only one die helps someone!

Rose Bouquet Doily Card

I was playing with my new Creatables from Joan's Gardens today, and this is one of the cards I made.

The card base is Core'dinations white pearl CS with a layer of gold mirror card, and a K&Co floral CS layered onto it. I cut a piece of white CS with the doily die, then a piece of linen textured aqua CS with the border die to mount the doily onto, and a smaller piece of the aqua with the little insert die to mount in the center of the doily.

Then I added three little roses from a craft store, tied the stems with a piece of old Wright's Trim, and trimmed the stems to the right length. After that, I added opal white Liquid Pearls to the doily, and teal colored Liquid Pearls to the corners of the card. I didn't arrange the ribbon very well yet, because I wanted to wait for the Liquid Pearls to dry. I'm usually too impatient to wait for them to dry and frequently end up with them all over the card! Anyway, this time I restrained myself, and I'll arrange the bow tomorrow when it's safe!

New Goodies from Joan's Gardens

For a long time, I have been lusting after all the wonderful Goodies at Joan's Gardens, but have hesitated about ordering from her because you had to call or email. There were also four Marianne Creatables Dies that I have wanted really badly. Well, last week I made a wish list, and bit the bullet and called. I knew Joan was at CHA, but that she had a friend there manning the shop. The lady I talked to was really nice. It was also nice to have the personal connection when placing an order!

Anyway, the items arrived in excellent condition a few days later, and included a surprise, the pearl flourish! I had always wanted one of those, but just figured they were probably too expensive, so I hadn't even priced them. Now that I actually have one, I think I want more! :-) The postage was extremely low as well. Joan only charges for the envelope and exactly what it costs her!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that if you are on the fence about ordering, try it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

Disclaimer: no one asked me to write this, I am writing it because I had such a great experience that I wanted to tell everyone about it.

Happy Sailing

I've mentioned before that in the summer, my mother and I run a very tiny shop. Since we live on an island, nautical cards go very quickly, so I've been making a lot of them lately. (Most of them haven't been on my blog. I've decided to save a few so when I don't have a card made there will still be something to upload. Most of them are simpler cards which are fast to make).

This card took a little longer. The ship is from Our Daily Bread Designs Surging Sea Set, and the saying is from their Smooth Sailing set.

The ship is stamped onto ivory CS using VersaFine Onyx Black. Snce I don't have a light blue stamp pad, I used Distress Broken China Stain on an ink dauber to color the water and make a shaded sky. The rest is colored with Copics.

The central motif is mounted onto antique gold metallic cs, blue Core'dinations foundations, and ivory cs, then mounted dimensionally onto the card. The card is a hand made dragon paper which I bought at an art supply store. The blue background and gold dragon colors went well with the ship, and the pattern fits, because so many of the ships in the old days went to China.

I mounted the handmade paper onto more metallic antique gold, and mounted that onto an ivory card. Then, I decided to use some of my old Sizzix dies to cut Chinese style corners, and stamped "Happy Sailing" onto more of the gold CS. I originally cut and embossed the saying with a Spellbinders Fancy Tags One, but it was larger than I liked, so I cut around the embossing inside the tag, and mounted it to resemble a brass tag. I added a Copic dot to either side of the saying to represent screws, and added a few pearls.

ODBD Eternity Card

I probably won't get a card made today, so I decided to upload one I made a few days ago. It is made with Our Daily Bread Designs Stamps and dies, and I kept it simple to showcase the beautiful shape of their custom die, and the saying.

Wow, I just clicked onto the ODBD blog so I could link my stamps, and they are showcasing CAS!

The stamps and dies I used are Eternity stamp set, and the matching ODBD Custom Die - Elegant Ovals .

I stamped them with VersaMark, and embossed them with Superfine Detail Gold. I first stamped, embossed and die cut the largest shape on Core'dinations Pearl, then stamped and embossed the saying and cut that with a smaller die. Then I ran a Krylon 18K pen around the edges of both die cuts, and traced the inside of the smaller die using a gold Jellyroll pen.

The motif is mounted dimensionally onto a shimmery wallpaper designed CS from my stash, then mounted onto a pearl CS card I made from the Core'dinations paper. I added a simple gold bow I made with some old Wright's Trim, and put some Queen & Co Pearls in the corners.

Birds and Butterflies in the Clouds ODBDSLC116

I was going to do a sunny card for ODBDSLC116 Clouds or Sunshine over at Our Daily Bread Designs, but ended up making this card instead. I have never made my own clouds until today, and none of my blue inks are light enough for a sunny sky. I also didn't want to make another challenge card with "The Mighty Sea" because I've entered it into so many challenges, everyone is probably tired of seeing me use it! :-) So I decided to play with two of my newest stamps instead.

For this card, I used Bird Border & Corners again, partly because so many people have told me they didn't know what to use it with, and I wanted to give another example, and partly because it is so pretty, and The Faith Set and it's matching Butterfly Branch Die, because I love using those ODBD custom dies so much!

I cut out a cloud shape from CS, and daubed VersaMagic Aegean Blue over it until I got something that resembled funny looking clouds. (I had to do it twice, because the first time, it was even funnier looking)! Then I added the bottom border with VersaFine Onyx Black. I then stamped and cut out the Butterfly Branch from the Faith set, die cut it, and laid it on my card to try to figure out the best arrangement for the bird corners. To help with that, I stamped them all on white CS and cut around them so I could try them on the paper before I stamped them onto the card. I could be happier with the arrangement, but my mother likes the card. :-) Anyway, I stamped them onto the card, and decided the die cut would look best if I kept it monochromatic, so I colored just the stems and leaves with a matching Copic, and left the butterflies white. Then I mounted it dimensionally on the page.

Iris and Rose Card

I've wanted the Sizzix Loving Thoughts Set for a long time, and finally ordered it a few weeks ago. Finally today, I got around to using it. I embossed the design on white CS, then fussy cut around the embossed frame and mounted it onto a a piece of pearlized CS from my stash. The CS reminded me of victorian wallpaper, and the embossed frame also looked victorian. I wanted the card to look like a victorian floral picture on the wall, so I chose this iris from JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners-Clear.

I stamped the image onto Core'dinations white pearl paper with VersaMark, and embossed it with Superfine Detail Gold EP, then colored it with Copics. I wish you could see the irises in person, because it's the first floral I've ever colored that I've been really happy with. I only have a few Copics, and none of them matched my DP, which is actually a peachy shade of pink. My Copics weren't peachy, so I used two lighter shades of pink and added the only yellow I have which is a golden color. (Sorry, all my stuff is in my shop, and I am at home, and I didn't write down the color numbers). I blended with the two pinks, the yellow, and the colorless blender, and my irises came out the same peachy shade as the DP, and the irises are shaded from peach to yellow, just like those fancy irises I've seen at the garden centers. The shading really doesn't show up in my photograph. Sorry if I sound like I'm bragging, but it's really exciting when you've created so many duds to have something come out just the way you wanted it to for the first time. :-) It may have been the pearlized paper, I'm really loving coloring on it with my markers!

Then I die cut around the irises with a Spellbinders oval, and ran my Krylon around the edge of it. When I tried the oval on the frame, it needed something, so I daubed metallic gold on the raised parts with a sponge dauber. This gave the frame a vintage look that I liked, and also accentuated the design.

I mounted the oval dimensionally, added fern leaves from the MS fern punch, some roses my craft store sells, some Queen & Co. pearls, and a bow made from some Anna Griffin peach ribbon I've had forever.