This card was made for my precious Mom - love you Mom!! My Mom was a seamstress when I was a little girl. She made formals and wedding dresses for many young women. Till I was in high school, she made all my clothes except my underwear and jeans. She even made our winter coats - and they were beautiful. In the last 30 years she has become a master quilter. Thus this card has the sewing theme. I purchased the We R Memory Keepers tool with the scallop stitch piercer. Works great on an old piece of styrofoam. Did not have to buy the mat to go with the piercer. I also found some great DP that looks like a quilted fabric. I used the straight stitch on some of the "fabric" lines with two different shades of pink floss. Then I used the scallop piercer along the side. To add a little more color, I punched out two MS hearts and die cut a Spellbinders tag in the bright pink. I then stamped Happy Mother's Day on the tag in white craft ink and embossed it with clear powder.
On the inside I again used the Spellbinders heart circles and punched the two hearts out of the "quilt" designer paper. I used a JustRite Stamper - Stitched with Love to stay in the quilting theme. I really like that set. Mother's Day cards are FUN to make!!

Back sooner this time!!

I am actually writing this from my son's home in Washington. I have been here for 2 days and had more time to relax than I have at home - even with a sweet 6 month old grandson! He does take good naps! Today I am going to share the Mother's Day cards I made this year - several actually if I have time.

The first card I want to share is the last one I will ever have the opportunity to send my Mother-in-law. She passed from this world into heaven just days after Mother's Day. She loved the color red and roses - she even had carpet at one time with red roses on it - so I decided to make a card with red and roses.

I used my favorite deep red cardstock. I kind of got into the removable "corsage" cards for a while. Love that the "corsage" can be removed and worn by the person on their special day. For the corsage, I used the spellbinders heart circles and layered them with a 3-d folded flower made with the Sizzix Tim Holtz flower die - since I am not home, I don't have the official names of the dies. This was punched out of rose printed designer paper. The top white piece is a scalloped circle from SU. I punched holes in each of the scallops and wrote MOM on the front. Layered all the pieces with dimensional glue dots. I also used several kinds of ribbon in the "corsage." I then put it on a clasp and punched holes in the front of the card to insert the pin through until it could be worn. On the bottom of the front I layered a punched piece on white cardstock. This is a Martha Stewart large border punch that I LOVE. It is SO decorative and beautiful.

The inside was WAY more complicated. I was intrigued with the 7 petal folding flower - took me FOREVER to get it figured out. This was made out of the same rose DP used on the front. Only did this for two of my Mother's Day cards - too much work!! I layered the folding flower on the eyelet punch - also MS. Love this punch too. Added the decorative Spellbinders tag and stamped it with red ink to match. Really liked how this card turned out. My Mother-in-law did too...

A YEAR?

Yes, I cannot believe it, but it has been almost a year since I posted. WOW! Life has been complex, no doubt. I have added a precious grandson - and lost my mother-in-law. God has done this type of thing twice in my life already. The year my Dad died, my first grandchild was born. Thankful we have a God who is provident over all things! Gives us joy in the midst of sadness. SO, enough of that!

My last post was Father's Day cards 2010. Today is a Father's Day 2011 card.

I really like this card. I made it for my son-in-law. I had been looking at some of the really nice wooden sign post pieces at Archiever's - but they were $3.99 apiece. Not a chance I was going to buy that for one card. Then I came across this die cut. It is "sign post" from Sizzix. I love it! I have used it for a couple of things already. Going to have to get more jump rings though!! This card is on ivory linen cardstock. The sign is embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder - the wood one.

Now, I have to tell you I took the saying in this card from a great HALLMARK card I saw and modified it some. I really liked the idea. I DID put a note on the back of this card with the HALLMARK notification!!

The saying on the inside is layered on a darker piece of cardstock that was embossed with the brick pattern from the Tim Holtz collection.

Hopefully time for another post before a year is up!

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!!