Thursday, June 30, 2011

Scene in a Garden

It was surprising pleasant outside this morning so I sat outside with my laptop and my Pioneer Woman iced coffee enjoying the breeze before the kids found me or the mosquitoes ate me up!! I've been trying to use some of the stamp sets that I tend to neglect and came across Scene in a Garden in my bookcase. Of course, I had to look for inspiration on-line and I found this beautiful card from Tanya Boser's blog, Tinkerin In Ink. Isn't that a cute blog name? I couldn't wait to CASE it! I was pleasantly surprised that my SU! markers colored so smoothly on the white cardstock I used. I was afraid I'd have to invest in an assortment of Copics to get such a smooth result but that is not the case and my wallet is thankful! There is something very relaxing about coloring so I really enjoyed experimenting with color combinations while coloring this card. Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Happy Half-Birthday Bailey!!

Hi, there, friends! Hope you've had a great weekend! Ours was nice because we have power and the storms seem to have moved on. What a wild few days we've had here! We have lived in our house for more than 15 years and this was the first time that we lost power for a full day. Unfortunately, there are lots of people who are still without power and this is day 5 for them. On this quiet afternoon, I decided to make a card that I saw on Geny Cassady's blog, Madison Avenue. She participated in the PTI blog hop and this is her submission. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colors!! It's such a happy, bright card. I CASEd is for my daughter, Bailey's half-birthday today. Since she was 4.5, we have celebrated her half- birthday on June 27 with half a cake and half a card, so she's getting the front of a card and a one-layer caramel cake this year. I love how sweet little traditions make ordinary days special. Hope you enjoy your day!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Vintage SU!

Yea!! Another card!! I have been OBSESSING over some of my favorite "vintage" stamps from SU!, many of which I thought I still had but must have sold in a frenzy to move out the retired and buy the new! Since some of these sets are crazy expensive on ebay, I decided to head to my local scrapbook store for their yard sale this weekend. I had seriously high hopes that I would find some of the sets I'm currently coveting, but sadly, I only found one, Paint Prints. I wore this set out back in 2006 when it was released as a Sell-A-Bration set, I believe. And for $3, I could hardly go wrong buying it! This is one of the cards I found on SCS using this beloved set so today I CASEd it and I love the way mine turned out!! I didn't have Cool Caribbean (another misstep from way back!) so I used PTI's Hawaiian Shores which is quite a bit darker than CC but beautiful. The measurements for the finished card base are 8 1/4 x 3 5/8 (I know you want to know because I did, too!). Right now, I am stalking Bud Basics on ebay and hopefully, in about 45 minutes, it too will be mine!! Check back later this week to see!!

Monday, June 20, 2011

One HOT Card!! :D

Isn't this a cute card? This is one of the cards my stamping group made last week when we got together. My friend, Leigh Ann, put her heart, soul, and fingerprints into this card - she burned her fingers with the glue gun while making the pleated focal points!! But doesn't it look great? Thanks for your sacrifice, Leigh Ann!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

For You

Today's card is a sympathy card for a family friend, but I think it would be beautiful for any occasion. I found this card on-line a while back and I'm so sorry I don't know who made it (if you do, please send me a message), but I just fell in love with the layers and the focal point! The person who originally made it used Ruby Red but since I didn't have that particular DSP, I decided to go with something I did have which used Tangerine Tango with Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss. Isn't this a great color combo? I used to have a terrible time estimating the measurements of all the layers on a card I want to CASE, but I just started holding up a clear ruler to my card base to gauge how long and wide the layers should be, and I've been getting a much better product as a result! See, you can teach an old dog new tricks! Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be posting my stamp group's card creations over the next few days so check back!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Cute Shrooms!

After a bit of blog-stalking recently, I found this BEAUTIFUL card on the blog Linda's Stampin Loft! I have always loved shades of turquoise/blue with red & white, and this card really makes the most of that color combination. Aren't those little mushrooms cute?! They are so simple to make. I believe Linda used a circle punch to make her shroomies, but I used SU!'s wide oval and I love the way they turned out. On a side note, my stamping group is getting together on Tuesday night and this is the card I've prepared for them to make. I'm so excited!! I hope they like it. Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Scattered Showers

I think this is one of the prettiest cards I have ever seen and I was so excited that I had the stamp set to make it! Papertrey's Scattered Showers is another super versatile set that is so much fun to experiment with. I really had to punt when it came to choosing a patterned paper to use because, of course and as usual, I didn't pick that element out first! I do that every time I make a card! It would be so much easier if I picked out my DSP first, but I never seem to be that proactive! Luckily, I was able to find something that worked to complete my card. Hope you all are staying cool out there - thanks for stopping by!

Day at the Beach

It's possible that I have made and posted this card before, but it's exactly the card I needed to send to our PTO president and her husband for hosting all of our school volunteers at their beautiful home for an end-of-year party. I was thrilled to be able to attend! There was a delicious Mexican buffet and an even more wonderful margarita bar that I enjoyed tremendously! I knew that Papertrey Ink's Day at the Beach would be the perfect set to use. Papertrey sets have so many images & sentiments and are so easy & versatile to use.

I am so excited to have yet another post to share. I'm actually finding that it is even harder for me to get my cards posted than it is to make them. Crazy! But I am working hard to accomplish more and more each day, and hopefully, my cardmaking will benefit from that goal, too! Hope you have a great week!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Upsy Daisy

This card caught my eye as soon as I pulled up the SCS gallery for Upsy Daisy! Isn't it GREAT?!?! I've put Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Real Red together before, but Bravo Burgundy seemed a bit of a stretch, but it works! I carefully adhered the 1" x 3.25" cardstock strips side by side to a piece of scratch paper and stamped the flower image. Then, I even more carefully removed the strips and attached them to white cardstock leave a slight space between them. This is a simple but striking format that's very versatile. I can't wait to switch up for another occasion.

I made this card to send to Bailey's guitar teacher who is having cancer treatments in Houston for the next three months. Bailey signed it so sweetly that I cried a little. I told her that I could make him a card with beautiful embellishments, colorful cardstock, and all the bells & whistles I could think of but it wouldn't mean nearly as much as the message she wrote to him. I am so proud of my most wonderful daughter!! Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Wild About You!

My friend, Karen, who I've mentioned here before, has the sweetest son, named Charles, who recently received an award for being the outstanding fifth-grader at his school and since we think so much of this precious family, I decided to make a card for Charles and send him a copy of his newspaper photo. I have a terrible time making cards for boys but I thought Wild About You would be a good stamp set to use. After consulting SCS, I found this adorable card that I couldn't wait to make! I think my version turned out cute and I hope Charles knows how proud we are of him! Have a great weekend!