Father's Day

Okay, so Father's Day should be before the Fourth. I am trying to catch up and got things a little out of order. :)

This is my DH's Father's day card. I am always trying to think of what I am going to write in the card as I am making it. Was not quite sure how this one would work out, but liked it in the end.

Die cuts: Quikutz Puzzle, Spellbinders Petite Ovals - large

DP: SU old pattern pack. The red sparkle paper is unknown - in the "stash"

Stamps: For a Wonderful Husband - My Sentiments Exactly, Happy - Stampendous, With Love - Denami

This was my SIL's card. I just had to try the ribbon Becca Feeken made a while ago. I love the look of it. I figured in brown, it could be used for a guy, right??

Stamps: Happy Father's Day - PSX, Dad - Art Impressions, Sisters - Stampotique Originals, Inc. (not sure of the actual name of the stamp - I originally bought it because the older sister looks just like mine did in a picture when she was little!!)

The Fourth

On the 4th we had family over for a little celebration. I decided we needed to do something fun and suggested we make cards for our "FAVORITE" service man. Everyone thought it was a great idea. I made this card at a different time, but it is one of my favorite patriotic cards. The background DP is July Sparkle by Reminisce. It is GREAT isn't it?? Using the Spellbinders Zigzag circles, I cut out the flag-draped mice "Patriotic Wrap" by House Mouse Designs. I used copics to color the image. The mats are a sparkle paper I found at Archievers. It is really a beautiful blue. A little ribbon and finished with the outside.Below are a few of the cards I made on the 4th. The ribbon used on this one is from Hobby Lobby. Actually, I think I got it a few years ago. The stash, you know!! The star punches are from SU. I have always loved how these look when layered. And the stamp is from the Hero Arts set, Letter Messages.
As you can see this is a quick and easy. The ribbon is from SU - sold at Christmas 2 years ago. They have it in lots of colors now!! Again the layered star punches. The stamp used is from My Sentiments Exactly. It is one I use a LOT.
Again, a simple card. Same ribbon and punches. The "With Love" stamp is from Denami Design. I use it a LOT too. I had to put the sparkle on the card because I got some extra ink on the left edge of the circle. Isn't bling GREAT?!
And finally, a picture of the beautiful cards made by my family on the same day!!
It is really fun and synergistic to do a project like this!! I just got out the theme related stamps, stickers, punches, DP and a few sample ideas and the creative juices started flowing. And, everyone went home with cards to use!!

The Book

I made this book for our son who is serving. It was a little book of family pictures he could take with him, even when he couldn't take much. We miss him SO much, but know he is doing important work.

This is page one. As you can see, the letters in the title are in teeth. The alphabet is made by Karen Foster Design. The die cut is the "Cruise Ship" by Quikutz. I love it!
The DP on many of the pages is from an older SU pattern pack. The colors were just right for this little album.
I then made pages with the pictures of each family member and the opposite page was for them to write a letter to encourage our son on those days that he needs a little love and encouragement from the family. Somehow I missed the picture of our other son, daughter and his grandma. I was in kind of a hurry to take the pix, thus the poor quality and missed pages.

Found this beautiful saying on a sticker sheet, but cannot remember where. Sorry.

The USA die cut is from a collection called USA Collection by Quikutz. I finally got it after looking at it a LONG time. I finally got it when it went on clearance. I am sure I will use it a lot.
And, along with a picture of a great time, is a toast to our son. The Lady Liberty die cut is from the USA Collection as well.
Sorry I cannot remember where the Liberty sticker is from. I have been collecting DP, stickers and anything else I can find that has a patriotic theme for quite some time, so I don't always know where I purchased a particular item.
Hope this gives you ideas of what to make for your loved ones who are serving. It made my heart glad, even as my eyes welled with tears of pride.

Birthday's to Mother's Day

It was a REALLY Happy Mother's Day. Though my sweet sons and dear DIL were not with us,

we had a FUN time. The picture below is of my daughter and her two sweet daughters. The older one is Holly. Holly is our miracle grand-daughter. She had bacterial menningitis 1 1/2 years ago and we nearly lost her. As you can see from this picture, she is doing super!! And you will see her handiwork (with Mom's help) in this blog. Here she is ready to race with her Dad.

Holly enjoying a strawberry from the fruit bouquet.
The beautiful crepe paper flowers Holly gave Mimi.
This is the BEAUTIFUL card Holly made. I just LOVE it! Holly is a great card maker - we are going to have LOTS of fun in the years to come!!!
Don't you just love these questions? (Her Mom was a junior high history teacher before she became a SAHM.) This is the card I made for my MOM! It was inspired by the new BoBunny Jazmyne collection. I love it! Several of the cards to follow are from that collection. I used several die cuts; Spellbinders - Fancy Tags and Decorative Flowers

MS Pop-up Lily punch, both large and small.

Letters are from two Quickutz sets

Background paper - Paper Source; bought it YEARS ago.
Word stamps -SU- Stem Sayings and PSX - Happy Mother's Day

Flower- Inkadinkadoo.

Leaves punch - Punch Bunch.
This is the BEAUTIFUL card my dear DIL made for Mother's Day! Isn't it gorgeous?

Following are a number of cards made from the BoBunny Jasmine collection.
The first picture is the inside of a birthday card. I cannot seem to get it moved down on the page!! Stamps used are:

Flower - SU A Beautiful Thing Set

Happy Birthday - Hero Arts Thoughtful Messages

Happy Day - Stampendous

I just love the Happy Day stamp. I have a thank you that looks similar, but this one is much more versatile.

The cards below have the following stamp:

Thinking of you - Just for Fun

Flowers were made with die cuts as follows:

Spellbinders - Flower Creations

Just for Fun Stamp

Leaves- old SU set of hydrangeas, uncertain of name

DP - Green at Heart - Seedling Purchased at Archievers

Stickles

The large flower here is a Quickutz 4x4 called "Flower." I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby!!
I go to a great quilt sale every year with my Mom and sister in Hutchinson Kansas. It is a mission fund raiser for the Mennonite church. The quilts are made and donated by the different churches and individuals in the churches. They are then auctioned. I have purchased "several" over the years. They are FABULOUS! I have been going to the sale for about 30 years. For about the last 10 years, I have made pins for the women in our family to wear at the sale. Here are this years pins. I used the new Justrite, Stitched with Love set and colored them with copics.
This was my favorite one. Even my granddaughters wore them!! Really missed my DIL!
The 2 cards below were Copics practice cards.

Stamp- Trunk by Rubber Cottage

Flowers - Prima, Sweet N Sassy Suzie from Archievers

Swirl - piece of Sizzix diecut - Decorative Swirls w/Berries and Holly
Inside of first trunk card.

Justrite, Stitched with Love


I just love this card. It is one I will send my son who is a dentist in the Navy. I have found the House Mouse stamps have lots of teeth motifs!!

Stamps - House Mouse, Bunny Lift

Words - SU Stem Sayings

Heart Punch - Paper Source
Spellbinders - Large Scallops

Stamp - Hero Arts - Letter Messages

House Mouse - Amanda
I thought I had put this card on my blog previously, but could not find it when I wanted to replicate it yesterday. This is probably my favorite sympathy card. Cannot remember where I got the idea... I know it was "scraplifted."

Stamps - SU Baroque

PSX - With Deepest Sympathy

Die Cuts - Spellbinders ovals and Scalloped ovals

This was Holly's Birthday card.

I used several of the Justrite Stamps for the words, inside and out.

Stamps - SU - Crazy for Cupcakes

Markers - Copics

DP - Unknown - from my stash
Really long today. I will try and update sooner next time!!

The Louise Valentine

This is my Mom's valentine. I made it with a piece of fancy braiding from the "antique" box described in my last blog. This braid is from the dress she wore to my wedding. Yes, she sewed the dress, as well as mine and all my bridesmaids. She's a VERY special lady!!

I really love this card, even though the pix is not that great. I love all the borders. I used the MS heart punches both for the hearts and the borders. The stamp is an old one I have from PSX (I think.) I love it.

This is a modified version of the last one. It is for my granddaughters. They are spending the day with me today!! While the youngest one (soon to be one) was napping, HRU, the 4 year old and I made her Mommy and Daddy their valentine cards. Wish I had taken pictures. They were great!! I look forward to lots of stamping with both of them!!!
Happy Valentine's Day to each of you!

A Few More Valentines

Valentines are probably one of the most fun types of cards to make, in my opinion. Maybe it's because I have so much valentine stuff! LOL! This card is one I made when I was frustrated. I had a bunch of pieces for a card laying around - extras from the very first card I put on my blog. Hope one of my friends will enjoy it!
I love the rose embossing folder from SU. The next two cards are made with it with VERY different looks. Just added a stamp and a little ribbon for this one.
I got into my box of "antique" card making materials. Actually, this is a box of ribbon and buttons, etc. I "saved" from my parents house when we cleaned it out. One day I went through all my parents 50th anniversary cards and cut off stuff I thought I might use. (Not sure when I had time to do that, but glad I did!) This card has the embossed rose from SU and everything else but the "Be Mine" stamp and pearls are from the antique stash.

This is anther antique stash card. It is hard to tell from this picture, but it is a very light pink.
I cannot tell you how long this card took me. I just could not get it to look right until I put the Spellbinders frame on it. Now it is one of my favorite cards!
This one is for my DH!! He is an expresso fanatic. His old Krups expresso machine bit the dust in December, so he has been trying to find a new one that was not TOO expensive. We have looked at and tried expresso makers ALL month long ranging in price from $180 to $3000. Needless to say, I am exhausted with all of it, but the latte's keep me awake. LOL! He finally got one (on a super sale) below the $180 range. It was WAY more than that originally. So, when I came across the Fiskar's coffee mug punch on the clearance rack at JoAnn's last week, I was SO excited!! (Amazing how little it takes for me to be excited...) I had never seen this punch before. So this is the card I made. I think he will love it a latte...
A little too much glare on the first photo, but shows the brown glitter paper.
Inside is nothing spectacular. Just need to write in it and it it DONE!!
I have a REALLY special antique stash card to show you, but it will have to wait till after the 14th, because it is for one of my most faithful readers - my MOM! See you next time!