Sunflower

Since I still had the sunflower stamp by SU out decided to make another card with it, this was totally simple stamped the sunflower with fossilized amber and walnut stain inks and then used Egyptian wall background stamp by Local King with Sahara sand on the outsides. The ribbon is by SU

Shoebox Tuesday

For today's shoebox project I had a simple project that is great for scraps of papers...yes I actually used papers from my scrap drawers

I saw a card from Crafty Kylie and liked it and one of my girlfriends gave me some small paper doilies that have been sitting on my desk and it was "if I used the right colors I could use those doilies on the top" and sure enough! The message is from SU's lotus blossom stamp set punched out of an SU punch and stamped with brushed corduroy, also added a little ink on the edge of the punch.

I'm sure there is a technique for this but I don't know it, I believe Kylie called it herringbone but I don't even know what that is so can't be sure :0)

Sunflower & acorns

For this card, I thought I wanted something simple but at the end took me a little more by stamping the little acorn everywhere, wasn't too hard just was more than I had planned :0) the sunflower is by SU stamped with wild honey ink, the acorns if part of the set for all things also by SU and used desert sand ink, the message is part of lacey and lovely stamp set also by SU and used gathered twigs ink, the washi tape was from my stash

Wreath thanks

I wanted to try the new inks I got from Altenew and love the sets for multiple stamping. I used warm sunshine and caramel toffee, the stamp is wonderous wreath by SU and the thanks is by Pink and Main with paper bag ink

Pumpkin

This is a clean and simple fall card I used pumpkin harvest embossing folder by Cuttlebut and the pumpkin is a combo also by Cuttlebug you cut the pumpkin and then emboss I did it twice so I could have the green and the orange

Thank you sketch

This card was inspired by a card from Splitcoast someone that post as snail she used the sketch number 336. I used background paper and then the tiny maple leaf is from Memory Box stamped with fossilized amber, frayed burlap, carved pumpkin and crushed olive distress inks; the thank you is Savvy Stamps stamped with ground espresso

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you have a day full of grateful things in the company of your loved ones.

Thanksgiving is not a Mexican holiday so was not a holiday I had to celebrate. When I first came here we didn't celebrate it since Bret worked and I was good with it. It has been several years since we do celebrate it and mostly here at home. I love hosting, enjoy seeing happy faces mingling around the house and working on new recipes.

Today is a day that we have to be thankful for the blessings unseen as well as the things we have. Our families the ones we were born into which we have no choice and yes sometimes we struggle being around them but one thing they are family and as much as we go away or don't stay in contact if we need them they are there no matter what. The family you marry, unfortunately, yes you may not like his/her family, some may be great other you may hate or can't stand but you love your spouse and until death do you apart, his/her family are in the picture too and then there is the adoptive family. You were not born into them, you did not marry any of them you pick them so you get to enjoy them and cherish as you wish because you don't have to.

Your friends are another grateful thing there are good friends, the ones you love and enjoy spending all your time and doing thing with and bad friends, yes I say, bad friends because there are the friends we complain all the time about this or that but we still hang around them and if they call for help we are there and we call them friends because we see something in them so obviously otherwise they were just people we know and we would never see them by choice, either way, we all need friends and should be grateful for the good they bring into our lives.

Life is short, be grateful and enjoy whatever time He is planning for you while here. Enough babbling and now for what you are here for

This was another of the Thanksgiving cards I gave out this year. Didn't give out many as I was concentrating on my donation cards so didn't worry about my personal use and since I decided to sort of follow my doctors orders...she wants me to quit instead I decided doing half of what I normally do is a big change and that where the sort of come out :0)

The pumpkins stamp is by Bildmålarna Stamps colored with Copic Markers. Used stitched squares stax by My Favorite Things and pumpkin brad that I believe is from Eyelet Outlets and Brads since I got it at Impress

I did joy fold as it was one of the Sunday Tip or Technique

Shoebox Thursday by Kathy

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving day we moved our Thursday play day to today Wednesday and this is what Kathy had for us as our project.

We used your present set by SU with midnight muse and real red ink

Shoebox Tuesday

For today's shoebox project, I have a simple male card idea by Cindy Techlin. I used hardwood stamp and by the tide set both from SU stamped with rich cocoa ink.

On the first card, I didn't add a message as I figure you could see it could work with or without a message :0)

I needed some male cards so for this one it was a milestone so used a stamp by Stamp A Mania split in two with rich cocoa ink and Martha Stewart punch

for this one, I just used the stamp by itself with rich cocoa ink

for this one, I used I believe Print Works stamp with rich cocoa ink

Sunday Tip or Technique

One of the Sunday TT's was the technique carved wood that Gina K did. At first I wasn't going to do it because I didn't have the right inks but decided to try with the inks I had and although it was a bit messy that I had to put disposable gloves on and even contaminated one of my ink pads, loved the results so made some of these cards for Thanksgiving.

The inks I used for the technique were old paper, vintage photo, ground espresso & medici marble, the folder was scroll by Darice, the vintage trim was from my stash. The image was a gift from a dear friend, it's by CC Designs that I colored with Copic Markers added Wink of Stella on the wings also after I cut the stitched square stax die by My Favorite Things sponged some vintage photo ink and mounted that piece with foam

Pumpkins under tree

When I was working on cards for donations I was really into Fall mood, I love fall colors and all the fall things but hate the weather is a bad as spring except colder and windyer :0) but when it comes to cards I seem to really enjoy working fall a lot more than spring, seems like I could keep doing fall cards long after the season is over LOL anyway found these pumpkins in my ribbon box so of course had to use them as I am also in the using up my scraps, unfinished projects and unused products :0) I bought this ribbon many years ago at Impress so it's about time I did something with it. The tree is a die by Memory Box, the message is by Endless Creations stamped with ground espresso

Wheat

Back when I bought this stamp by Peddler's Pack, I loved it but it was hard to use because of size and then also it was too much coloring so obviously didn't use it for many, many years but with the MISTI it's pretty easy to use as I can restamp as many time as I need to get a full stamp image. I decided to add couple ink colors to the wheat is not the same color everywhere :0) I used fossilized amber and brushed corduroy. The messages are from wetlands SU set, stamped with ground espresso, the hello honey ribbon is also SU, the other ribbon and washi tape from stash

Wheat cluster

This was another clean and simple fall card. The stamp is one I haven't used in a long time one of those that I had forgotten I had :0) by Impression Obsession stamped with crumb cake, message is brushed greetings by Clearly Besotted stamped in ground espresso

Shoebox Thursday

For today's shoebox project I have a very simple card that I got the idea from Natalie Lapakko. Since I actually have been doing very well using up my background papers when I saw her card thought another way to use more papers :0)

Natalie's card used ovals for her message but I decided to pick my message and then pick a punch that would fit and which was a circle (EK Success) and then the layer (Recollections). I didn't use a die because of my OCD I don't like how the paper looks on the back after you die cut, the cutting mat always leaves marks on the paper after your mat has been use a lot like mine has...after a week it looks like I have that cutting mat for years!! anyway that's just me, to most people it doesn't seem to bother and since I don't have many punches not a lot of options. This is one of the cards I made I cut several patterned paper just will take time to make the cards which they will pretty much be the same lay-out just different colors. The message is from a Heartfelt Creations set heartfelt expressions stamped with Danube blue ink, rhinestones from stash

My friends surprised me with a surprised birthday celebrations since we couldn't get together last week

branches in a leaf

Some of you probably have seen cards that look like this, well mine was done different. I saw the card by Tina K and thought that would be a cool card to make but not really...too much work :0) she used vanilla paper and then I believe she brayer the crumb cake not 100% but I think that is how this technique goes so what I did was embossed my woodland textured impressin embossing folder by SU on craft paper then die cut my vintage leaves also by SU put one on top of the other to see sort of the area I needed my opening and then I drag my white ink pad over it just real quick and then grab my white Prisma color pencil and added the color more nicely. So pretty much the white is just on the area you see and maybe bit under just to make sure if there are curious people and lift the edge of the leaf they see white :0) when I was happy with the coverage I mounted my ribbon, by The Paper Studio and put card together.

Wooden words

These cards were inspired by a card by Kylie Bertucci used vintage leaves by SU with carved pumpkin ink, the corrugate paper is from the May 2016 paper pumpkin, the words are from the March 2014 paper pumpkin, linen thread from stash

More Fall Leaves

When I made this card I stamped some cardstock for other cards, at that time I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Couple times I got ideas but one thing or another just didn't get them done and when I was getting my packages for donation ready needed some cards to fill so no more time for procrastination and nothing to what I had thought about LOL but still like the result. Not sure who got them as I packed them and didn't even notice :0(

I used vintage leaves by SU with cajun craze, hello honey, peeled paint, forest moss, mowed lawn and vintage photo, Paper Pumpkin wickedly sweet stamp set with soft suede and frayed burlap. I embossed with square lattice texture impression embossing folder by SU, the ribbon is also SU

Happy Birthday to me

I have a long list of cards I want to make seems never enough time to try them all. For today I have a card I have on my list since July of this year when Barb Stamps posted it, so it's only been on my list for a short time compare to other cards :0) Barb called it a diagonal gate fold. The card fits an A7 envelope.

Since today is my birthday I made the card wishing me a happy birthday :0) I know who make a card for themselves but I was just trying the two sizes I had seen done to see which one I like best so I can actually do the card to give away. Since I don't sell products and I don't care what size of cards I make I like the diagonal gate fold but for those of you that do care about what you mail you probably like what Dawn Olchefske posted last month called twisted gate fold on Splitcoast as it fits an A2 envelope which is pretty much the same thing

I used the same product on both cards the difference its the size. Beautiful day stamp set by Altenew with lavender fields, deep iris, midnight violet and forest glades inks; stippled blossoms stamp set by SU with soft lilac ink; brushed stamp set by Avery Elle with deep iris ink, crazy about you SU stamp set with deep iris ink

This card the base is 5.5 x 7.25

This card the base is 4.25 x 7.5

More leaves

Remember I told you yesterday that I had to give the card I received on my mingle to a veteran? well, unfortunately, I was unable to do it yesterday somehow I didn't see any veterans or at least no one was using a hat, pin or something showing they were veteran...men or women so this morning I got up and made a trip to someone's home. Gunnery Sergeant James Terrill, he served the Marine Corps for over 20 years. The card I gave him was made by Pam B

Now for my sharing of cards since I still had all the supplies I used on these cards and had the leftover leaves made more cards, different but with same supplies and even got to use a lot of the left over leaves :0) This idea was from Stempeltier. The splash is ink blot by CTMH stamped with crumb cake and crushed olive, the ribbon is from The Paper Studio, the message was stamped with vintage photo

These the message is classic message set by Heartfelt Creations. For this first card, I stamped the leave as the vanilla leaves not all had the ink blot plus sponged some crumb cake

This one the leaf is maple leaf by Memory Box, the ink blot was stamped with crub cake

This one the message is Heartfelt Expressions by Heartfelt Creations

Happy Veteran's Day

Today we honor men and women who had served our military. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

In one of my Yahoo groups, we had a mingle (aka swap) honoring veterans. The mingle was making a card and the recipient have to give it to a veteran of their choice. I went a step further, I couldn't just pick one veteran as I knew several so I made a card for 3 veterans from Waterloo, IL a town where I was an exchanged student many years ago and the card I got in return from the mingle would go to the local veteran as the rule was intended :0)

This is the card I made, inspired by a card that Linda Aarhus made for Memorial Day. The message is part of the stars and stripes set by Taylored Expressions stamped with rhubarb stalk, I did faux stitching with Copic multi-liner and the stars were die cut out of a Spellbinders die

Baby card

On Monday night we became grandparents! yes I am excited Bret too although he didn't like the idea of being a grandpa :0) Josh and daughter-in-law had a baby girl. All babies are cute so no surprise that Samantha is just adorable :0)

This is the card I made for them. Paper from my stash as well as the doily which I color with my Copic airbrush system and Copic markers, the die is by Impression Obsession and did some shading with Copic Markers

Also, my birthday is coming up so my girlfriends celebrated me today

Leaves

I saw several cards on Pinterest using this layout which I liked so decided to make it :0)

I used different embossing folders and different background papers for my bottom leaves otherwise the layout pretty much is the same on all. Leaflet Framelits die by SU, ink blot set by CTMH and twine from stash

For these two, I used musical flourish by Cuttlebug, ink crumb cake & potter's clay

For this one, scroll embossing essential by Darice and potter's clay ink

For these two, vines by Quickutz, potter's clay & fossilized amber ink

For these two, D'vine swirls by Cuttlebug, ground espresso & crumb cake ink

Shoebox Tuesday

For today's shoebox project I decided to finally play with the decorated corner card. It was a fun card to make. I used some of my scrap papers so it ended up being almost monochromatic...only used white and orange in all tones, pretty much used every color of ink I have!

I saw the tutorial on Split Coast but decided to do one piece. To me is easier to do one piece than to cut little pieces, after all, is just paper and is not that we are wasting the paper :0) The card folds completely flat for mailing but it's totally 3D

The butterfly is from the watercolor wings SU set and bold butterfly Framelits stamped with Altenew inks summer afternoon set. Used two 1" circle to attach the butterfly but cut at an angle so it wouldn't show from the front, unfortunately, it still shows from the back so will have to figure out something :0)

The panel on the left is butterfly basics SU set with carved pumpkin ink, words are from big bold you by Winnie & Walter also same ink. There is light stamping of ink blot by CTMH with tangelo ink

The panel on the right also has the light stamping of ink blot with tangelo ink and the words are by Imagine Rubber Works stamped  with tangelo twist

The panel on the left was serene silhouettes SU set with dried marigold ink, words are from big bold you by Winnie & Walter also same ink. Light stamping of ink blot by CTMH with tangelo ink.

The panel on the right same sets except, the ink for word and serene silhouettes was spiced marmalade