Blue Butterflies Fancy Fold Card

I made this card much more difficult than it had to be. I started out by cutting half of the inside of the gatefolds where the square tiles are so they would swing out when the card was opened. It was a bit of work to make sure they would line up exactly with each other. As it turns out, it didn't add anything to the card, and I would have been better off just to make a gatefold with flaps and add the tiles to half of them.

The top photo shows the card closed.

This photo shows it open. I really prefer the butterfly on the right, but the set it was in only contained one. Since I knew I couldn't put much dimension inside the card because I didn't make allowances for it to fold flat, I put that butterfly, which will fold flat inside, and the other one, which is dimensional on the outside.

This shows the card laid out flat.

The DP is from K&Co, and is outlined with my Krylon pen. The butterflies are also K&Co.

The light blue sparkly paper is from my stash, and is also outlined with the Krylon pen.

The frames on the tiles are cut with a Spellbinders Die, and I cut the centers out with a smaller square Spellbinders. I used Core'dinations Pearl for them.

The larger flowers are more of the ones I got at Michaels. They were off white, and I dabbed them with Brilliance Sky Blue, then added light blue Stickles to them. The small ones are from my stash, and I added Stickles to those as well.

There are Stickles in each empty corner of the card and on the die cuts as well. They will probably be lighter than this, but they were all still wet when I took the photograph.

Sending for Packages and Delivery Methods

Now I'm venting.

An update: I just checked again. As of now, two of my orders are being returned for incorrect address.
Another update. I made a bunch of irate calls and found out where two of the packages are. They are going to try to send them back to me. They hadn't left that particular PO yet. They are suggesting trying some kind of a code like POB instead of PO Box. Now there are only four more packages to worry about.

I still have about had it with the Post Office.

When I won the Amazon gift certificates a couple of weeks ago, I was really excited. Now, I'm wondering if I'm going to get anything except the Copic Maker refill.

I think I'm mostly writing this in the hopes that companies realize that there are huge problems with the post office in some rural areas. We NEED to have a choice of delivery methods if we can't use our PO Box address.

Here, because of the financial difficulties the PO is in, our mail isn't sorted on the island any more. We are lucky to have a PO at all. It is sorted somewhere else, in a place where they have no idea who we are, so if you don't let us put a correct address on our packages, they send them back. If you require a street address, then send it UPS. (Don't send it Fedex either, because that also goes to the PO, and gets sent back as no such address).

My purchases were sent in seven separate packages. They all said they couldn't ship to my correct address, they had to have a street address. Up until recently, a street address meant it was either coming UPS or FEDEX to your door. FEDEX never had good delivery here, because they only came when they had a lot of packages, so you always had to wait, sometimes for as long as two weeks. (I don't blame the drivers, they got paid nothing for coming all the way out here). Now they just bring it to the PO that sorts our packages, and then it disappears into a black hole.

My Copic refill came UPS. It got here in only two days, and came ground from a long ways away.

Another package which came FEDEX disappeared on Friday. It said it was scanned here, at the post office, and was out for delivery, but it never arrived at the Post Office here.

Two more packages shipped through the mail said the same thing on Saturday. They never arrived at our PO either.

All three of those packages still say they are delivered.

Two packages said they entered the system, but who knows where they are, because their status hasn't been updated in a week.

One package I can't get any info on at all. No tracking number or info, it just has said shipped for a week now.

I can't order from Scrapbook.com because my last package floated around in eternity for over three weeks after they sent it out, and it almost got sent back. The reason it floated around for so long was because it had an incorrect address because no combination I tried when I placed the order would let me specify a correct address and delivery method.

Two packages we sent for before Christmas as Christmas gifts from other companies were sent back and we are still trying to get our money.

If you have a company, and you require a street address, please let us know on your shipping information page if you only ship through the postal service. It will save those of us in rural areas a lot of headaches.

Trifold Inside a Gatefold Card

I decided to use some more of my Royal Garden paper from DCWV. (It's pink Jill)!

This paper has sort of an oriental look, and sort of persian look to it, and I love gatefold cards for both of those styles. I also thought that since this paper is very fancy, I would add a surprise element, so I put a trifold card inside.

This paper came with a sheet that could be cut into borders, and I thought the pretty pink and white border on the front would make great doors, so I used the pink and white theme, matted with gold all through the card.

For the front, I used a Spellbinders die to make the fancy door handle. I was so worried about getting it straight on the doors that I messed up the height, so it is a bit higher than it should be, but since the card was finished except for the door handle, and it was stuck down in good shape, it will have to stay that way. I added an identical die cut to the other side to add strength and make it look more finished when open.

I finished the front by adding a ton of pearls. I also made the front doors overlapping because it stays closed that way, and I also only wanted to use one solid die cut for the handle.

This is what you see when you open the front doors.

And this is the first part of the inside trifold open once.

Here it is fully open.

Pearly Peacock Card

All the pearls on this card are white, but it is a very reflective card. Some look blue, some look green, some look gold, and some barely show up at all. It's quite dark here, so it was really difficult to photograph this.

I love peacocks, and took tons of photos of them when I was at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in South Carolina last winter, so when my mother saw this Royal Garden CS by DCWV, she bought it for me for Christmas.

I was looking through the paper stack, and when I saw this peacock, it reminded me of a Zva Creative Pearl flourish I had been hording. The flourish was a gift when I sent an order to At Joan's Gardens. Joan is wonderful, and if you are looking to buy some of the more unusual dies, as well as lots of other things, check her site first. She's very fast, and you get to talk to a live person when ordering.

This is a 7" card, so it's really large. The peacock CS is matted with teal CS, blue Core'dinations CS, and gold mirror card, and mounted onto a Core'dinations pearl card. All the Spellbinders cuts were done with more of the pearl and shaded with Brilliance Sky Blue and a gold Krylon pen.

The stamp is from JustRite, stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with gold EP. Besides the flourish, I also added a ton of tiny flat backed pearls.

PSX Grist Mill Card

I wanted to use another of my old PSX stamps to make a card. Since this stamp would work for a man, I decided to use a minimum of embellishments. I think this would work for either a man or a woman, and can be used for many different reasons.

It is stamped with Distress Peeled Paint, and is simply layered and matted with two different greens and an antique looking metallic gold from my stash.

The only embellishments are a few pearls which were white, but I colored them with my Krylon pen.

The first package from Amazon came really quickly, it only took two days! I got it today. It only had my colorless blender refiller, but I was really missing it since my Copic ran out of ink.

I wasn't sure how to refill, and my injector thing hasn't come yet, so I went over to the Copic site and found directions. It was really easy! For the Sketch markers, all you have to do is drip 15 or 20 drops onto the broad end of the marker. I didn't have to remove the nib at all, and it worked!

Roses, Roses

Over the holidays I got this Spellbinders die, and Brilliance Rocket Red Gold. Of course, I really wanted to try them both, so I cut and embossed all the dies once from white CS, and arranged the layers.

I decided I liked them when I reversed the direction of each one. Each layer was outlined with a gold pen, as well as going around the inside of the die while they were still in it.

Next, I used the red gold to shade them. The red gold isn't really red, it's pink with a faint gold sheen when you use it. It's actually quite pretty.

The largest motif is four inches, so I cut a piece of white CS to the same size and outlined it with gold, then shaded it. Next, I cut another piece of white and outlined that with gold too. Then came a piece of gold mirror card, then the card itself.

All the die cut layers were mounted dimensionally, giving the card a lot of dimension, then I cut foliage from the MS branch punch and added some mini roses.

The top motif was surrounded by four tiny butterflies from my new butterfly hand punch I got at Hobby Lobby, and a flower I made from punches was added to that. For the butterflies, I touched the outside of the wings to the stamp pad to give them a tiny bit of color before folding them to make their wings stand up.

It actually doesn't look as busy as this in person, because it is dimensional enough to really make each layer separate.

New Goodies Coming!

Last Friday I won a $100 gift certificate to Amazon. I couldn't believe it! I spent quite a few days making a wish list, and finally, last night I narrowed it down to what I wanted the most. (Well, what I wanted the most that I could order through them anyway). Then I placed the order.

I'm getting a Stampamajig,
Spellbinders Fancy Framed tags One,
Powdered Gum Arabic so I can use all the pearl Ex I've had for years,
A colorless Blender Refill for my Copic,
Another refill for my ATG,
Ocean Blue Stickles,
Spellbinders Decorative Labels One,
A Distress Antique Linen Reinker for my poor ink pad that ran out of ink the other day,
Spellbinders Marvelous Squares,
More Diamond Stickles, because mine is almost empty,
1/4" Scoretape,
Lindy's Stamp Gang Little Lindy's Try me Set Turquoise, which look really interesting,
And the Copic Refill Booster thing in a set of three.

A few places charged for postage, and I went a little over the $100, but I'm getting all that for $34!!!

I feel so lucky!

Pink Butterfly Card

I didn't get a card made today because I had to take my husband off the island to the eye doctor. He had shingles several years ago, and is still having eye problems because of them. Also, I had to try to get my license renewed. I only had a temporary one because it's difficult to prove who you are in Maine. (at least it's difficult in the Ellsworth office). After 42 years of having a license, both this time and the last time, I had temporary licenses for months. Two people got rejected before me today, even though they had lived in Maine all their lives, so I was nervous, but I finally got it. We have to go through more than the birth certificate thing, and this year I had to go all the way to Augusta just to get the temporary one. The last time, even my passport and birth certificate, weren't enough, I had to wait to go out of state to get my marriage certificate too. Now my passport is expired, so I can't use that. On top of that, you have to have something with your name and physical address on it, so it's difficult for renters and people who have PO boxes.

Anyway, I made this card way back when I first got my Spellbinders decorative Labels Eight, but I don't think I ever posted it. The background paper is pink Core'dinations pearl, and the top layers are White Pearl shaded with Brilliance ink. The butterfly is Cheery Lynn.

One of the reasons I chose this pink card to post today, is because I'm missing seeing my blog friend Jill online for a few days, and she loves pink. Jill, I hope you are feeling okay, but if you aren't, I put this one on to cheer you up. :-)

Birds and Roses Card ODBDSLC137

I made this card for the Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge ODBDSLC137 Something Old and Something New.

On my card, the new is my new Memento Tuxedo Black stamp pad, the largest roses, which I got in the bridal section of Michaels last week, and some of the Copics. All the rest is older.

This card was inspired by a card by Randi Thorsen. I have always planned on using strings of pearls to go around a card, but never did it until I saw her card today. I also liked the round stamp on her card, which is why I chose the Chickadee Ornament Set by ODBD. I also used the Stickles around the paper layers because I liked it on her card.

I didn't want it to look like a Christmas card, so I colored the Chickadees with yellow and brown, hoping they would look less like Christmas Chickadees, and more like warblers.

All the white paper is Core'dinations Pearl, the lighter green DP is from the Mariposa Stack by DCWV, and the darker green is from my stash. The die cuts are from Spellbinders, and both are layered dimensionally.

The fancy medallion was stenciled using Memento Bamboo Leaves, and the bird Medallion was outlined with Diamond Stickles. I also went around each layer of paper with the stickles.

The foliage is a combination of punches from Martha Stewart and McGill. The McGill ones are larger. The large roses were in the bridal section of Michaels, and the small ones are some I got locally a year or so ago.

The pearl strings were bought years ago when Wrights Factory Outlet was still in Sturbridge, Mass.

Butterflies and Flowers Cheery Lynn Challenge 62

I made this card for Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 62 Winter White. The challenge called for a card which is all white.

I still don't have too many Cheery Lynn dies, so I cut every one I have with Core'dinations Pearl, and kept arranging them until I found three sets which would work together. It's not my favorite card, but in person it's very sparkly and quite pretty.

It was difficult to photograph, so I did two. One with the phone's flash, which made the Stickles look pink, and one without flash, where the light bulbs made it look yellow.

For this card, I used CL's Victorian Romance Flourish to act as a planter, Cl's Exotic Butterflies Small #2, and CL's Pair of Ferns.

Everything was mounted onto some sheer paper I had in my stash, which had white sparkly vines all through it. The paper is mounted onto a card I made with the pearl paper, and stickles were added to the die cuts and around the DP.

The background looked kind of flat, so I punched a bunch of tiny flowers and added them to the flowers in the DP, then added Crystal Stickles to the centers of the flowers.

This is Your Day Gatefold Easel Card

I got another pretty paper stack called Antiquity at Hobby Lobby last week, and decided to use it to make a gatefold easel card.

All the die cuts are Spellbinders Labels Eight and Decorative Labels Eight. All the paper was shaded with either Distress Antique Linen, or Anna Griffin Cocoa, and the stamping was done with Anna Griffin Cocoa.

I finally got some new clear embossing powder. I had some of the very early powder, and it never really worked, but the new one is really nice. I used it to emboss all the sentiments, and they looked so shiny with it. With the old stuff, it just flattened out, and you couldn't tell I'd used it. I can't believe the difference in the new stamps, inks, and powders they make now, and the stuff from 15 or 20 years ago, when the only stamping stuff you could find was in kiosks at the malls. For years, I seldom stamped because I made so many duds. Now everything stamps so nicely!

The sentiments are all by Becca Feeken, and are made by JustRite for Becca's Kit Club. They were included in the November kit, and I thought they included a lot of nice sayings for anyone's special day.

I decided to do something different for the corners on this card. I cut and embossed the largest of the Decorative labels Eight, then I taped the second largest Plain Labels Eight in the center of the die cut, and cut the opening. The resulting frames were trimmed with scissors and added to the corners of the card.

Since the papers and the frames were so busy, I decided to use only a few pearls for embellishments. The pearls were white, but I colored them with a Krylon pen and let them dry before attaching them to the card.

Red and Gold Card

Sometimes when I make a card which is unlike any I have made before, it inspires me to do another.

Yesterday, when I made the black and gold card, I kept wondering how it would look in red, so I made a red one exactly like the black one.

The only differences are in the red papers. The bottom paper is from the Mariposa Stack by DCWV, and the top stamped and embossed layer is some pearlized red from my stash.

Black and Gold Birthday Card

This is the first time I have ever done a black and gold card. I decided to try one after I bought the paper stack below at Hobby Lobby. Many of the papers used foiled gold in the designs.

The background is one of the sheets, and the top layer is a piece of black CS I used an Anna Griffin background stamp to make. I stamped it with VersaMark, and embossed it in gold. While I was making that background, I used the same stamp to emboss other colors so I would have other backgrounds ready for other cards. Those backgrounds are at the bottom of this post.

Everything is matted with gold mirror card, and the Spellbinders accents were also cut from gold mirror card. The sentiment is from JustRite and is embossed, and the flowers in the center motif are some very old gold outline stickers in my stash. I used Brilliance Galaxy gold, and a Fantastix blending thing to shade around the stickers.

This is the paper stack I bought. I wish they had carried it in more sizes, because it is beautiful.

These are the other backgrounds I made at the same time with the same background stamp.

Cameo Filigree Card

I got the Spellbinders Damask Motifs die set when I was in New York last week because I thought one of the motifs would make a good filigree background. This is the way I used it.

First, I cut and embossed all the motifs except one four times, then I began playing with them. I decided to use one set of four to make the background, and one of the others to mount dimensionally in the center.

I wanted to use a cameo in the center, and all the ones I had were either pink or blue, so I used this purple linen textured CS matted with gold mirror card and pink CS. (The gold looks black in the photo, probably because it is so dark in here).

Last, I added pink Liquid Pearls to accent the filigree.

Wow, I just checked my email, and found out I won $100 in Amazon gift codes. I do surveys for OnStar, and that is how I won. Considering that I couldn't get the truck out of the driveway because of all the snow and had to walk four miles out and four miles in to get the paycheck today, and was in a very bad mood because of that, I feel very happy now.

Yippee, I'm going shopping!

My First Card using Twinkling H20s

I was really excited to use my Twinkling H20s, and also this Spellbinders die, which I've been trying to buy for a year now. Every time I saw the card for it in the stores, it was out of stock, and the same thing for every time I've tried to order it online. I finally got it at Michaels when I was in New York!

This is the stamp that seemed to fit the best of any that I have. It's the same Anna Griffin one I used on a card the other day.

It was stamped onto Core'dinations Pearl CS using VersaMark, and embossed with gold EP, then colored with the Sparkling H20s I had. I love them, they make the flowers look like they are enameled when you see the card in person. (The card looks kind of flat in the photo). Then I cut and embossed the stamping with the die.

Next, the card was shaded with Brilliance ink, while still in the die. After removing the die, I wasn't really happy with the shading on the outside edge. There weren't enough details, so I went around the edge with the brilliance ink.

I really wanted to mount it onto a larger oval, but don't have a larger oval die, so I mounted it onto a rectangle of pale yellow CS, then matted that with metallic green, and mounted everything onto a card I made with the pearl CS.

The leaves were made with a McGill punch, and the roses are some I bought a long time ago. I don't really like what I added to the other corners. I kept trying different things, then decided to just add pink pearls. After adding the pearls, I wasn't happy with them, but it was too late, since they were stuck down.

Then I punched a bunch of butterflies and tried different things with them. The larger ones are the smallest ones from the MS butterfly punch that has three butterflies in it, and the smaller ones are from a hand punch I got at Hobby Lobby last week. I colored those with more of the Twinkling H20s, and folded them up in the middle, then added them to the card. They aren't great, but it looks better than it did without them. Last, I added some gold Liquid Pearls to the die cut.

***

I hate to mention sad things again, but I wanted to extend my condolences to anyone in the Rochester, NY area.

We all know about the tragedy in Newtown, then the next day, here on the island, we lost two fishermen.

We went out to Rochester from Sturbridge, Mass, to see the kids on Christmas Eve. When we got to Rochester, we learned there had been another terrible thing which happened. A man started a fire in the town of Webster, not far east of where the kids live.

He started the fire just so he could shoot firemen. He shot three firemen and one police officer from the town of Greece, where the kids live, on Christmas Eve, and burned seven houses down. These men were killed and seriously wounded while responding to a fire. They were heroes who were helping people when they were shot.

The man had been released from prison eight years ago. The reason he had been in prison was because he had beaten his grandmother to death when he was sixteen.

The kid's baby sitter is from Webster, and that is where Hobby Lobby is, so we heard a lot about it first hand. One of the baby sitter's friends lives in a house next door to the houses which were burned. Both she and her friend had difficulty getting home because of the investigation.

Kids and firemen being killed, and just before Christmas. It's just so heart breaking. I don't even know what else to say.

New Toys for Christmas

I'm still in New York, typing this on my phone.
We are having a great time with the kids.

Got to Michael s and Hobby Lobby. I finally managed to get that fancy oval Spellbinders I've wanted for at least a year, but neither place had any of the others that I've wanted. HL doesn't have Graphic 45 anymore, so didn't get that this year. Neither place had Stampamajig either.

I finally found a set of 12 Twinkling H20s, which I've wanted foreverx and can't wait to try them! They also had the six pack of lighter colors that you use for shading and highlighting and stuff.

Got quite a few sheets of paper on sale, but neither place had glossy card stock. Also got more Copics and two of those plastic cases that hold 36 markers. I don't have 36 Copics yet, but I want to be ready for when I do!

Got a few cheap punches, and two MS stamp and punch ones. A flower and a butterfly. They look like you could do something interesting with them.

Also got the Stampendous mica flake set, and a set with glitters, and a brilliance ink pad. I forgot the color name, and everything is packed up, but I think it's white with gold shimmers.

I can't wait to play with my new toys!

We will probably leave Rochester tomorrow, spend the night in Sturbridge, MA, and get home on New Years evening. See you all then, or the next day!

Oh, if there are any strange words in this post, it's because I'm not great at typing on the phone.

Have a wonderful New year!

Noor! Dies and Gilded Roses Card

Finished this card by candle light while the power was out. Also took the photo by candle light. Will post details when we get back from our trip.

I wish you all the best holidays ever!!!

Now that I'm back, I'll add to the description of this card.

All layers are dimensional, and matted with gold mirror card. The paper on the bottom layer is from K&Co, and the paper on the middle layer is from my stash.

The rose is an old Anna Griffin stamp, and was stamped onto Core'dinations Pearl using VersaMark, and embossed with gold EP, then colored with Copics.

The corners on the bottom layer were cut and embossed using a Noor! die, and shaded with Brilliance ink. The corners on the middle layer are gold outline stickers.

To finish, I added gold and pink liquid pearls, and some very tiny metallic gold punchouts from the outline stickers.

Gilded Roses Card

Sorry about the photo. Our power went out the day before we left, and I took this by candle light.

Am posting early in the morning before we leave and scheduling this to go live while we are gone. I'll do better photos and details when we get back.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

We are back from our trip, so I thought I would add to this post.

The background paper is some I've had in my stash for a few years. I loved this paper, it has a pearl sheen to it and looks like victorian wall paper. The rest of the layers are Core'dinations pearl. They were cut with Spellbinders labels four and grand labels four. The center pink layer was colored by applying Brilliance ink with a sponge dauber, and I lightly sponged galaxy gold around the stamped image. All the layers were outlined with a metallic gold pen and mounted dimensionally.

The stamping was done with VersaMark and embossed with gold, then colored with Copics. The stamp is a very old one from Anna Griffin.

The foliage was cut from a pearlized green paper using the MS branch punch, and the roses were some I bought a long time ago.

The bow is one I made from sheer pink ribbon.

Embossed Background Lace Card

Hopefully as you see this, I will be on my way to Mass and NY to visit with family for the holidays. I am scheduling a few posts to appear while I'm gone. Since I probably won't get much chance to visit you all until I get back, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

This card was made with one of the backgrounds I made a couple of days ago. The matting was made by using the Brilliance Sky Blue and Gold inks I used for the embossing, and a gold pen was run around the outside of the embossed layer. The EF is from Darice.

After mounting the background layers onto the card, I cut a bunch of Spellbinders that I thought would make a snowflake like design from Core'dinations white pearl CS. One motif was cut into quarters for the corners.

The same inks were added to the die cuts with a sponge dauber, then everything was mounted dimensionally onto the card.

Last, I added pearls and Liquid pearls to the die cuts. I thought this would make a good winter card.

Bird Christmas Ornament ODBDSLC135

I made this ornament for Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge Snowflake or Snow.

For the ornament I used the ODBD sets Cardinal Ornament and Chickadee Ornament. These were stamped onto Core'dinations white pearl CS using VersaMark, and embossed with gold EP.

I cut the stampings out with a larger Spellbinders circle than usual, then cut 10 circular frames out of heavy CS (it was the backing sheet of several paper packs). I mounted the two stampings back to back with a piece of butcher's twine inside for a hanger, then glued five of the frames to each side of the stampings. I used silicone glue to ensure that there wouldn't be any leaks. This seemed easier and less expensive than using foam tape.

After that, I cut two pieces of acetate for the windows, and put glitter for snow in before adding the windows. After that, more silicone glue was spread around the outside edges of the ornament, and narrow gold ribbon was put around the ornament to cover the layers.

Then I cut out two more circular frames using Spellbinders dies, and added those to the ornaments using more silicone glue. Gold glitter was poured onto the lacy part of the frame and pushed into the glue which was exposed by the holes in the frames, and the excess was poured off. A paint brush was used to brush off any remaining glitter.

Last, a gold bow, white foliage, crystal snowflake, and diamond Stickles were added to both sides of the ornament.

Embossed Background Butterfly Card and Playing with Embossing Folders

Today I was going to try the Faux Patina Technique, but got sidetracked and played with embossing folders instead. My results are below.

The background on this card is one of the backgrounds I made while playing. It was done with a Darice EF, and uses Brilliance Sky Blue and Cosmic Gold, and Memento Bamboo Leaves.

I made matching mats for the cards by going around white CS with the same ink pads and my daubers.

The backing for the sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs Eternity Set, and the sentiment is from JustRite's Botanical Medallions and Banners Set. They were stamped on Core'dinations White Pearl CS using VersaMark, and Embossed with gold EP, then cut and embossed using ODBD's Elegant Ovals custom dies by Spellbinders. Then I edged them with a gold pen and mounted both layers dimensionally.

To finish the card, I punched some MS Monarch Butterflies, and used my daubers to add some blue to each. Last, I did the bodies and the edges with the gold pen. (It's shiny in real life). Then, I added some roses and foliage from the MS Branch Punch, and added a few pearls.

These are the embossed papers I made. They are prettier in real life. They didn't photograph as well in the group as they do singly. The one in the top right corner is the one I used in my card above, and you can see it looks a lot better on the card than it does in this group photo.

All the ink was either Brilliance or Memento, except for a few, which used Distress Antique Linen as well.

I began by using the Antique Linen on the embossing folder, and it looked so nice, that I left it as is, to use on a card later. It's the first time I've had any luck doing the letterpress technique. Then I began layering other colors on cards, but I didn't finish them off with the VersaMark and Embossing Powders because I liked them the way they were.

After I did a few like that, I began wondering how they would look with only two colors, so I made a green one and added gold to the embossing. Then I tried pink and gold, then blue and gold.

It was really fun, and now I have a bunch of backgrounds to make cards from!

This morning our hearts are heavy with grief here on the island. Two fishermen from here were lost while scalloping off Cape Cod. They have been missing since about noon time on Saturday. This morning the coast Guard called off the search.

It's very common for the men from the island to fish off shore. My husband fished in that area for years.

White Congratulations Card

This one was really difficult to photograph. In person, it is much prettier. The sparkles are very sparkly, and the edges of the ribbon are white with a touch of iridescence, not pink.

I used Brilliance Platinum for all the stamping, and wanted to use clear embossing powder, but my clear powder is very old, and in those days, the EP didn't work as nicely as what we have now, so I used a different sparkly one I had. I made the card several days ago, and tried quite a few different kinds until I found one which didn't change the color of the ink. I think I used Pink Champagne. (Senior moment here, I have a lot of them)! :-)

The lattice background stamp is an old one from Anna Griffin, and so is the congratulations one. The paper is Core'dinations Pearl. The sparkly layer near the bottom is the same Core'dinations paper, but I went around it with the platinum ink and embossed it with the same EP as the lattice and motif.

The center motif was cut and embossed with two different Spellbinders dies, and both were mounted dimensionally. After I finished the card, I used diamond Stickles to add dots to the lattice and other areas of the card.

Butterfly Fancy Fold Card

It's been quite a few years since I've made one of these cards. For this card, I used the Mariposa Stack by DCWV. All the ink is Brilliance Cosmic Copper, and the EP is Tsukineko Sparkle.

For the card base, I used one sheet of DP folded so the design is on the inside. Then I used another sheet for the inside window part. Next I used the same green print on the front of the card as I used inside the window, and cut a matching border from the same yellow DP, and punched it with a MS edge punch and added it to the front of the card.

For the sentiment, I used Our Daily Bread Designs Eternity stamp set, and their matching Elegant Ovals custom die by Spellbinders. Those were mounted dimensionally to the front of the card, and green Stickles were added to the scalloped border on the DP.

On the inside, I punched a bunch of tiny MS butterflies and added them to the green DP inside the window.

The large 3-D butterfly is from the Spellbinders Wonderful Wings set, and was cut from the same yellow DP. First, I ran a sheet through my Xyron, then cut and embossed the butterfly four times. I removed the backing sheet from half of two butterflies and stuck them together. Then, I kept adding butterflies until I came to the last set of wings. I put a bamboo skewer into the center, and adhered the last two wings.

Now, I'm glad I used my Xyron, because it kept everything lined up nicely, but unfortunately this new refill of permanent Xyron stuff doesn't stick too well for some reason, so I slid the butterfly down the stick a ways, and put some silicone glue on the skewer, and slid the butterfly back up so the glue would hold it.

Then I added glue to the inside edges of each of the wings, since they also didn't want to stick together very well.

Last, I added green Stickles to the butterfly's bodies, and diamond Stickles to the edges of the wings, then mounted him to the fold using silicone glue.

The silicone glue seems to hold really well, and he's in there firmly. It's the kind of glue that you buy in a large tube at the hardware store, and is good for gluing all kinds of things. I used to use it a lot in my dollhouses, and love using it to glue flowers and things on cards. If you've been wondering what to use to stick odd embellishments on with, try it, it dries clear, and really sticks!

Grow with Love Fancy Fold Card

I decided to try making another card using a fold by Thea Wildeman. The first one I made was here.

The background of this card was made using some DP by Anna Griffin that I've had in my stash for a number of years. The three tags are all from two different sets by K&Co. The scalloped borders in the card's window were made with a MS edge punch.

The top photo is of the card closed, and the bottom two are different views of it open.

Thea has made a diagram for this card on her blog. I changed my measurements into inches, and for this card, I used a piece of CS which is 6" x 12".

My card is scored at 4' and 8".

Where Thea has 3cm, I made mine 1".

Where she has 2cm, I have 1.5".

Where she has 3.5cm I have 1.25".

The measurements I used on this card make it look nicer when closed than it looked in my first card.

Cardinal Ornament Card ODBDSLC134

N= Nestabilities (Ornament was cut and embossed with a circle Nestie) O= ODBD and Ornament E= Embossing L= Layers

I received my Our Daily Bread Designs Cardinal Ornament stamp set a few day ago, and couldn't wait to make a card from it. Since this one also fits the Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge ODBDSLC134 Noel word challenge, I decided to enter it.

I took two photos of it, one shows the detail better, and the other shows the shine from the Gelly Roll pens.

The ornament was stamped with Memento Cottage Ivy, then colored with Copics. Then I used Gelly Roll pens to go over a lot of the details and add shine and dimension to the stamping and a metallic gold pen to go around the edge of the ornament.

The background is K&Co DP matted with gold mirror card and mounted onto a white 5x7 card, then a bow was added. After that, I mounted the ornament dimensionally over the tails of the bow.

Next, I punched a bunch of McGill foliage and cut and embossed a bunch of Marianne Designs Creatables Poinsettias. The veins on the poinsettias were outlined with another Gelly Roll pen. When the light isn't shining on them, they are darker than the poinsettias, but when the light hits them, they shine. Those were stuck down with a combination of Glossy Accents and silicone glue.

After that, I added gold pearls.

Happy Anniversary Easel Card PSX Stamp

I was going through my older stamps, and realized I hadn't used this Happy Anniversary stamp from PSX in years.

I decided to do an easel card, and I wanted it to be warm and romantic looking, so I chose this paper from K&Co, and used VersaMagic Perfect Plumaria to do the stamping and shading.

The tags were made with two Spellbinders dies. I shaded the scalloped one, and used a blending stump to outline the inside of the top one with the Plumaria ink. Then I ran the stamp pad around the outside edges. The blending stump didn't make as sharp an outline as I would have liked, so I went over it with a matching Gelly Roll pen.

The tags are mounted dimensionally on their rectangular backgrounds, and those are mounted dimensionally onto the card.

For the foliage, I used the McGill punch because I wanted the branches to be a little larger than the MS ones. It's nice to have both punches because they are virtually identical except for the size. Sometimes I use both on one project, and at other times I only use one.

The roses are a little brighter than I would have liked, but not as bright as in this photo. They are a deeper red in real life, and the ribbon exactly matches the red paper I used for matting, even though it looks purple in this photo.

I finished the card by adding deep red pearls.

Filigree Chickadee Card ODBDSLC134

N= Navy, Nestabilities O= ornament E= Embossing L= Layers

I was so inspired by the navy blue colors of the cards made by Chris Olsen and Jan Keen as examples for this challenge that I had to make my own navy and white card for Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge ODBDSLC134 Noel word challenge.

For this card, I used the ODBD Chickadee Ornament set.

The ornament was stamped with Distress Faded Jeans, and embossed with clear embossing powder. At first, I just used the blue ink to shade around the ornament, but then decided to also go around the edge with a metallic silver Gelly Roll pen.

The snowflake around the ornament was made using two Spellbinders Pendants. The corners were made using a Spellbinders limited edition die designed by Becca Feeken, which came with her November Kit Club. All shading was done with the same ink.

The navy paper is mounted onto a mat of silver mirror card, which unfortunately looks black in every photo I took. This is mounted onto a white card. The corners were mounted flat onto the card, and the center snowflake was mounted dimensionally. The ornament was mounted dimensionally on top of the snowflake, and blue and white pearls were added.

Turtle Dove Ornament Card ODBDSLC134

I took two photos of this card because I couldn't get a good photo straight on because of the reflection. The sideways one shows a little of the dimension and how the card looks without the reflection.

I hadn't used my ODBD Turtle Dove Ornament stamp yet, so I decided to use it to make a card for this week's Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge ODBDSLC134 Noel word challenge- Use the letters in Noel to create a card.

In My card I used N=Nestabilities (for the ornament and sentiment, O=Ornament and Oval, E=Embossing, L=Layers.

The die I used is a Lea'bilities Die. I cut and embossed it a bunch of times from gold mirror card and layered the die cuts, cutting some of them and using them to fill in until I had a kaleidoscope shape on Core'dinations Pearl CS. Then I cut around the kaleidoscope with scissors and mounted it dimensionally onto another piece of pearl card. Next, I added more pieces from the die cuts and mounted them onto the bottom piece pf pearl CS, pushing the ends under the top layer. That gave the design more dimension.

Next, I stamped the ornament and a sentiment onto pearl CS using VersaMark, embossed them in gold, and cut them out with some Spellbinders dies. I outlined the ornament with a gold pen, then mounted the sentiment dimensionally onto the ornament.

Next, the ornament was mounted dimensionally onto the kaleidoscope, and everything was mounted onto a gold mirror card mat, and the card itself.

I filled in some of the empty spaces by punching tiny gold mirror card flowers and accenting them and the other shapes with Liquid Pearls.

Iris and Lace Card

This is the Darice Embossing folder I bought on Sunday. Originally I tried to do the letterpress thing where you brayer ink onto your embossing folder and then emboss it. I had planned on having a powder blue background with white lace, but unfortunately my letterpress things never look the way I envision them. So far, most of mine turn out blotchy and messy looking, so I revised my plan.

This time, I embossed a light aqua card and went over it lightly a couple of times with white ink and a sponge dauber. I wanted the white to contrast more than it did, but wasn't too bad, and I sort of liked the way a bit of the ink smudged onto the background so it wasn't just a solid color.

Then I kept playing with colors to mat the card with until I came up with these colors, which reminded me of some of the iris and hydrangea dimensional stickers I had from K&CO.

After I matted everything, I cut a white rectangle for the center and went around the outside of it with a Brilliance ink pad. Then I tried combinations of the iris and hydrangea stickers until I decided I liked this simple one. I added some fancy paper with glittered swirls from my stash to the rectangle as a background for the iris, cutting it just a hair smaller than the white rectangle. It was quite easy using my newest Fiskars trimmer with the wire thingy to show where your cut line is! Then I mounted the center dimensionally and added the sticker and a bow.

I was trying to decide whether or not to add a lot of flowers and things, or to keep it simple and let the glittery lace background, the embossing and the iris and bow be the stars of the show. In the end, I decided just to add four rhinestone to the corners to mirror the glitter in the center.

Ribbon and Tree Card

I made this card last week and forgot to upload it. For this card, I was playing with my ribbon, and combining them to see how they looked together. I liked this combination, and cut a piece of white CS to the width of the three strips together. Next, I used my ATG to apply them to the card.

I matted that with gold mirror card and added it to a 5x7 card.

Then I went through my Christmas die cuts, and held them on the card until I found the one I liked the best. This one is German Scrap from my stash.

I was going to use one of the Spellbinders tags to add a saying under the tree, but decided I really wanted the tag to match the card better, so I cut a strip of CS and mounted a piece of the green ribbon onto it. The best size die for the width of the ribbon was this small one from a discontinued JustRite Spellbinders set, so I chose the best fitting JustRite Christmas sentiment I had that would fit inside of it. Then I stamped it with VersaMark, and embossed it with gold EP.

After that, I cut the piece of ribbon and CS to the length I wanted it and notched the sides, then mounted everything dimensionally onto my card. Last, I added some gold outline stickers to the green borders.

Bird ornament Card with Noor! Dies and Creatables

This is my favorite die at the moment, and I wanted to use it again. I made a card using it with the same Marianne Creatables dies a while back and liked the way they went together. I also like the way the Our Daily Bread Designs Bird Ornaments fit in this die. A week or so ago, I made a box in yellow and purple, using another Our Daily Bread Design Stamp, and liked the colors on the box, so I decided to incorporate all of these things into one card.

It actually didn't come out looking as good as I had hoped it would, but it isn't that bad. I'm not sure I like the yellowy gold I shaded the Noor! Die with. It was brighter before, then I tried to tone it down with a duller shade, and it kind of smudged. Oh well, some times thing work better than we expect, and sometimes they don't. :-)

The papers are white Core'dinations Pearl, and a pearlized purple CS from my stash. The outside two layers are Marianne Creatables, the next layer is from Noor!, the scalloped circle is another Creatable, and the bird layer is cut with a Spellbinders die.

The ornament is stamped with VersaMark and gold embossed, and everything is outlined with a gold pen.

The birds are actually supposed to be chickadees, but since I wanted yellow and purple, I decided to turn them into spring warblers. I love warblers, and I found out when trying to identify some of them that there are named varieties, and others that are called hybrids, and don't really have a name. Apparently warblers don't always choose the same kind of warbler for their mate, and their off spring are what is known as hybrids. So I figured it was okay to consider this a hybrid warbler, since it probably doesn't look like any named variety! :-D

I didn't have the shade of yellow I wanted for the birds in my Copic collection, so I used Staedtler Mars Graphic pens for all the coloring except the green. The green is a Copic marker.

The two center circles are both mounted dimensionally, and the pearls are actually purple, although it's difficult to see the color in the photo.

I made this card yesterday. Today, we went off the island so I could do some Christmas shopping. One of the things it is difficult to get anywhere here, is refills for my ATG, and I'm almost out of tape. I always try at AC Moore and Joann's, but they never have them.

I ran into AC Moore again today, but of course they still don't have them. AC Moore is much worse than last time I was there. The scrapbooking shelves are getting pretty empty.

The girl who used to manage it and tried so hard to get the things we needed apparently got fed up and left a few weeks ago. A new manager came in and got fed up and left after only a few days. Apparently there hasn't been anyone ordering for a couple of weeks there. You'd think that AC Moore would let their managers order what the customers want instead of always telling them that Bangor, Maine is out of district for all the good stuff. I didn't even bother to try Joann's, because that seems to be as bad as AC Moore.

Anyway, there was another Fiskars trimmer on sale for a good price, and the markings are easier to see than the one I bought a couple of weeks ago, so I bought it. This one doesn't have any metric markings on it, but at least I can see the lines more easily, and it has a wire thingy to make it easier to see where you are actually going to be cutting, instead of a slot. I have seen people using Fiskars trimmers to score with, but so far none of the four I have do that. I have no idea which ones have a scoring tool, because I can't find any that do. I do like my last trimmer, it actually cuts straight lines, and makes it easy to cut thin strips. My big paper cutter doesn't cut anything thinner than around two inches. After that, the numbers are under the thing that holds the paper down.

They also had a few Sizzix and Spellbinders dies left. I've wanted to try the Bitty Blossoms for a while, but that is one of the many they never had in our area. They did have Bauble blossoms One and Two on clearance, so I bought them both. It will be fun to see what kind of flowers I can make with those!

I also found a lacy Darice Embossing Folder and bought that. Everything was on clearance, so I left with a paper trimmer, two Spellbinders and an Embossing Folder for under $30! Gosh, I remember the old days, when it was almost impossible to get out of AC Moore for under $100. I miss those days. Now they are getting so bad I have a hard time spending $50 in there.

White Embossed Christmas

I always like all white Christmas cards, so I decided to make one with touches of gold.

I started by embossing this Sizzix EF and trimming around it. Then I matted it with two more layers of white, each cut 1/8" larger, rather than the 1/4" I usually use.

I cut another sheet of white 1/4" larger, and matted that with a sheet 1/8" larger, then cut a card 1/4" larger and mounted the two new plain sheets on that. Then I mounted the first three layers I dimensionally onto the three bottom sheets.

The layers look flat in the photo, but the added dimension with the top three layers floating above the bottom three look nice in real life.

Also, all layers are the same shade of white, but it's so dark here that even by using white balance, some of the layers look like cream because of the lights.

The JustRite ornament was stamped with Versamark, then embossed with gold and mounted dimensionally onto the embossed layer. I finished by making a Marrianne Creatables poinsettia out of white CS and Gold Mirror card, and added that to the bottom, then added crystal snowflakes and a white and gold bow.

Pink Flowers and Butterfly Card

I took two photos of this card, one without the flash, and one with it. The one without the flash shows how well the butterfly matches, but is blurry and flat looking, and the one with the flash shows some of the shine on the card, but the butterfly is in the shadows.

For this card, I used a Marianne Creatables die. All the DP and paper embellishments are K&Co, the white paper is Core'dinations Pearl, the ribbon is Offray, the gold is three different pens, the shading is Brilliance Perfect Plumaria and the pearls are Liquid Pearls.

All the layers are outlined with a gold pen, and all the die cuts are mounted dimensionally.

I wish I had outlined the flower and butterfly with gold, but didn't decide that until after they were mounted onto the card. I'm also not happy with the white between the flower stems. It would be very difficult to fussy cut them because of the way the dimensional sticker was made, but I may add a bit of pink shading to match the background.

Noor! and Spellbinders Lacy Card

I decided to try making a card from this Noor! die without mounting it. Both the back and the front were cut together, leaving a bit at the top to use for the fold.

The center was made with Spellbinders Renaissance Hearts Pendant. All layers were mounted dimensionally, and the shading was done with Brilliance Sky Blue, and Brilliance Platinum.

The dies were outlined with a metallic gold pen, which is very pretty in person, but the metallic of the pen, and the pearl sheen on the inks don't show up in the photo.

The pearls are Liquid Pearls.

Wow, I am so excited!!! Cardinals are very rare where I live, but I've had a pair of them for about a year. This morning I looked out the window and I had two pairs I couldn't believe it. Just now, I looked out, and there were THREE males chasing each other around. Most people here on the island have never even seen one cardinal in their feeders! I expect some are babies of the pair I've had, and that is why there are so many in my feeders, I love seeing them. I'm so glad I bought Wild Delight bird seed, because they sure do love it!

Chickadee Ornament Card ODBDSLC133 Sketch

I made this card for Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge ODBDSLC133 Sketch.

A list of what I used to make the card is below the post.

For this card, I stamped the Chickadee Ornament onto pearl paper using VersaMark, and embossed it in gold. Then I used the sky blue ink to color the center of the ornament. Next, I colored the birds with Copics. It's kind of hard to see the detail in the photo because of the shine from the embossing powder and pearl paper.

The ornament and larger blue mat were cut with Spellbinders circles, and the gold mirror card between the two layers was cut with a Spellbinders scalloped circle die. These were outlined with a gold pen and mounted dimensionally onto the doily background.

The doily was cut from pearl paper with a Noor! Die, and shaded with Galaxy Gold. In person, it is metallic and matches the other golds, but the photo makes it look yellow. I love this gold in person, my old metallic golds looked like metallic brown, but this one is really pretty. I just wish it photographed better.

I embossed the blue layer behind the doily, and fussy cut it to mount behind the doily. This was mounted dimensionally onto the card when the card was finished.

The card is made by layering some pearl paper which was run through an embossing folder onto gold mirror card, more of the gemstones, and onto a base of pearl.

The wide ribbon was sheer white with metallic edges and gold sparkles. I cut a piece of the gemstones paper the width of the ribbon to make the ribbon match the card, mounted the ribbon on the paper, and trimmed the end to match the sketch. Then I mounted that onto the embossed background and folded the flat end onto the back. Next, I added a narrow gold ribbon vertically and assembled the card.

This card is 7 1/4" square, so the embossing folder had to be used more than once to cover the background, and I had to make the card using two pieces of the pearl paper attached to each other to get the 14 1/2" length it required.

It's fairly easy to do that, you just cut one 7 1/4" square. and one that is 7 1/4 x 7 3/4", and score a half inch fold on the larger piece. Then you put the two together, gluing the half inch fold on the backside of the square card. That way, the join is behind the card and no one ever sees it.

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs Chickadee Ornament

Ink: VersaMark, Brilliance Galaxy Gold, Brilliance Sky Blue

Paper: Core'dinations Pearl, Core'dinations Gemstones, Gold Mirror Card

Dies: Spellbinders, Noor!

Embossing Folder: Darice

Other Items: Ribbon, Copics, Gold Embossing Powder, Metallic Gold Pen

Painted Box with Another ODBD Stamp

First, I wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been around to your blogs for a few days, but it's been quite busy here. Hopefully I can start catching up in a few more days.

This is the second box I've done using stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs. For this one, I used the bird from their Sing to the Lord set.

The box is actually prettier in person than it is on here. I had originally planned on painting the bird as a scarlet tanager, but now that I have two of these boxes, I've decided I want to get the Cardinal and Chickadee sets from ODBD for the other two matching boxes I have, and the cardinal will be red, so I painted him as a bluebird instead.