Happy St Patrick's Day

We are not Irish or really celebrate this holiday but it's always fun to make cards for any fun holiday.

Wanted to make Bret’s card using a new fun fold that was in my to do list so checked Jeanie Stark tutorial from Just Stampin here for this cards.

Started by cutting my card base then cut the guava 65 lb. Core’dinations cardstock then from scraps cut another layer which ran through simple charmed set embossing folder 1 by Cuttlebug & Provo Craft then blended some distress oxide mowed lawn. This is the back with except for one panel and the center was almost identical. 

I added a notecard on back for personal message as I don't like the personal message to be on the open. Thought of covering the other panel but this way Bret would know that only the one panel opened and it closes with magnets. 

Cut another panel of white and green for the front panel. With some more white scraps used the leprechaun2stamp coordinating die set by The Stamps of Life which colored with Copic markers E23, E25, G43, G46, E000, E00. E01, C9, C7, C5, C6, C4, C1, Y28, Y26, Spectrum Noir sparkle Crystal clear glitter brush, and then also die cut a piece of green with pasture grass steel craft die by MB mounted all to the front panel and finally stamped with Memento dew drop cottage ivy the message from shake your shamrocks stamp & die combo by Taylored Expressions.

The card folds flat for mailing, it folds under the front panel. Due to the card base weight and all the layers I used this card is too heavy so it does cost extra IF I was mailing but if you used lighter cardstocks maybe it would be normal postage as it does fit in regular envelope. 

Pink Valentine's

This was a very simple Valentine’s card just die cutting, for my layers were with Cindy Echtinaw Designs Card Creator Perfect Layers A and B. The heart paper is by Making memories stardust hearts pastel pink paper. The heart die is Vernay heart cut & emboss die by Memory Box and added a pearl to each flower

Sixth Day of Christmas

Happy New Year's Eve! WOW another year bites the dust. For my family wasn't a good year again, we had just celebrated a year of losing our mom and youngest sister when my dad passed away at age 85. He had been wishing to join them for a year so he went home to them on February 18 a bittersweet day.

Three days prior of his passing, my foster mom also passed away at age 95, February 15.

to add to our loses our favorite brother-in-law, Steve, passed away at age 73 on June 15th

There were other loses in with family and friends or family of friends but people that affected us directly were as they were someone we knew or got along at one time or another were

my cousin Ivette in September 24 age 58,                           stamping friend Rosemary 

                                                                                                     October 2nd age 83, 

             

the ex of a cousin, Mario in October 31 age 69,            my SU demonstrator Barbara 

                                                                                                      November 11

  

A couple friends had new grandchildren so after all these loses at least were some new babies not as many but at least not just loses. 

Bret celebrated his 62nd birthday and his retirement after 28.5 years at Port of Seattle this summer. 

We celebrated his retirement and our 28th anniversary driving partly to Mexico to clear my parents house, 59 years of accumulation not easy job but something that had to be done sooner rather than later. We spent 3 weeks working non stop on the house except for our anniversary day that we took off to go to Teotihuacan sightseeing with one of my cousins and afterwards we had dinner with her family. 

 

We also were able to see friends we hadn't seen in over 20 years give or take. We stayed with my nephew which we hadn't seen since 2013 as well as my brother which this year he was blessed enough to turn 60 in October!!

On the way back from Mexico we spent some time with my relatives in Texas that I hadn't seen probably since my last trip there before my move to Acapulco in late 1990 and on our way home we stopped in San Antonio to visit my niece that is going to college there

  

we also got to see friends along the way in AZ and UT, it was easy making stops as we were driving with our 5th wheel our home away from home. Was a long but fun trip except for the work in Mexico and not being able to have our cat Reva with us but still was nice to see everyone.

As part of my 58th birthday celebration in November we visited my adopted family that now live at an assisted living not far from here, they don't go anywhere but it's a nice place and their apartment seem nice and they have each other plus they do have company all the time.

Now for the card, if you are not interested in catching up on my personal life. This was from a class by Altenew educator Pam Boedeker backgrounds with cover dies. For this first card, I actually used an stencil to emboss as well as colored, she had done a similar card with a cover die by Altenew that has the building so I thought it was a nice way of using my stencil to duplicate her card, the embossing is very settle should have used another shim with my city scene stencil oh well next time, the inks are distress ink black soot, crisp dye inks ultraviolet, azurite and lagoon then because I don't do splatter instead used one of the stamps from gorgeous grunge stamp set by SU with Hero hues unicorn pigment ink then stamped the Santa sled by Stampa Rosa with VersaFine Clair nocturne several time to get it pretty dark 

this other card I made was blending the background and then adding the outline die. For my card started by adding crisp dye ink magenta and ultraviolet until I was happy, leaving the center on the light side then die cut pillar candle trio by MB with gold paper then decided to add some ferns from through the window die set by Altenew and since I did purple used enchanted garden enamel dots also by Altenew as berries

8th Day of Christmas

For this card, started with a notecard I bought at Impress many years ago because the cardstock was flimsy I added some cardstock inside to make it more steady with nesting circles dies by QuicKutz aka LifeStyle Crafts and small circle set double stitch design wafer thin metal die set by Gina K Design & Therm-O-Web.

On the front I stamped the snowman from snowmen2stamp club set of the month October 2021 by The Stamps of Life with HA intense black ink then colored very simple with Copic markers then I restamped the image with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink. To ground the snowman, I used Tim Holtz distress oxide weathered wood with DIY template and ergonomic brush from Altenew and a little on the sky with tumbled glass and Picket Fence Studios life changing blender brush.

For the message used cheers to you stamp by MB with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink

 

Hello Pumpkin Paper Pumpkin

This is an alternative to the September 2020 kit. Used Accent Opaque Digital International Paper cover smooth white cardstock 80 lb. for layer and 120 lb. for A2 card base.  Started by die cutting the grass from MB pasture grass steel craft die then glued it to the layer and die cut them with Cindy Echtinaw Designs Card Creator Perfect Layers A. Then built my scene, the wheelbarrow is from  wheelbarrow2stamp die set from the stamp of the month April 2018 by The Stamps of Life and the pumpkins from the add on die set of the same month April 2018. I colored the stems with Copic Marker and added a bit of shading to the wheel barrel. The leaves are printed die cuts from kit. I mounted layer to a die cut layer of brownish cardstock and then mounted to the card base 

Frights & Delights Paper Pumpkin

This is an alternative to September 2018 kit. Used spooky spiderweb stencil Trick or Treat designer 6x6 stencil by Echo Park Paper Co.with Tim Holtz distress oxide black soot applied with blending tool on Wendy Vecchi/Ranger Make Art STAY-tion on an Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 80 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock layer then die cut it with stitched rectangle die by The Stamps of Life. The eeeek is a sticker from kit, the spider jewel is by MB. Mounted to a purple layer precut with Cindy Echtinaw Designs Card Creator Perfect Layers A and mounted to a A2 card base of Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 120 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock

Box of sunshine paper pumpkin

This is an alternative to the June 2020 kit. For this started by using the leftover of one of the card bases and used texture shine designer stencil by MB with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink fossilized amber & wild honey and Picket Fence Studios life changing blender brush mounted to a layer of Recollections 110 lb. black cardstock then used the gold foil die-cut stickers and some of the adhesive-backed sequins and finally the message from the kit’s set with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink

Awesome Wonderful

For these cards, started with a piece of Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 80 lb. cover smooth white cardstock and then stamped the big image from the stamp set you are amazing slimline by Pinkfresh Studio with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink and colored it with the matching layered stencils and Tim Holtz blending tools and distress ink rustic wilderness, mowed lawn, peeled paint

On scraps of Accents cardstock stamped with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink from the stamp set Thinking of you by Altenew and die cut the Awesome jotted script steel craft die by MB 3 times plus the shadow in vellum

for this one used the same stamp set but wonderful jotted script steel craft die by MB

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

For this card, I started making my card base with Recollections navy 65 lb. card stock then found a scrapbook paper that only had something on the border so worked for one card like this it was Making Memories snowy days with trees past & present then used a scrap for the inside of Park Lane 110 lb. smooth white solid core cardstock 12x12 then use some scraps of Recollections 65 lb. gold shimmer paper to die cut 3 layers of Star of wonder steel craft die by MB

 

Feliz Noche Buena / Happy Christmas Eve

I joined a mingle aka swap called St Nicholas and that was the perfect theme to make a card for the grand-daughters. This year our youngest is 5 so she gets her own card just like the other grand-daughter that is 11. 

For the card, I started with blue pieces that were on my scrap drawer that were die cut with embossed edge nesting slim dies by Kat Scrappiness then using my Altenew ergonomic brush and Tim Holtz distress oxide inks made my sky with broken China, faded jeans and chipped sapphire and then over with tumbled glass with Picket Fence Studios life changing blender brush, then I wanted some platter but I’m bad at it so used a stamp from gorgeous grunge stamp set by SU with Unicorn pigment ink Hero Hues by HA then I die cut 3 times of Park Lane 110 lb. smooth black solid core cardstock the Santa from slimline series Christmas Magic coordinating die set by Trinity Stamps but cut off the last deer and cover the whole thing with black Wink of Stella glitter brush  it didn't give much glitter so added Spectrum Noir sparkle Crystal clear glitter brush. Then I stamped the ho!ho!ho! stamp by MB and Merry Christmas stamp by Impress both with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink. I mounted the front to a piece of Park Lane 110 lb. smooth black solid core cardstock and then to a base of Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 120 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock

Survivor

After I created this card my new stamp set arrived so I was able to make the other card I wanted to make for the lab technician at my doctor's office that although technically is not a survivor yet as she has to wait 5 years to be cancer free but she survived her treatment and so far she is doing well and as long as all continues the same will be cancer free for good so I wanted to give her a card.

I started by grabbing a layer of Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 80 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock and I stenciled with Tim Holtz distress ink worn lipstick and ergonomic brush from Amazon the texture diamond designer stencil by MB leaving a white area on the center for the ribbon which I stamped with the same worn lipstick ink with SU's set ribbon of courage then I did some highlights with Copic marker then stamped again and did again the highlights then I die cut my layer with double stitched rectangle die by Kat Scrappiness and then mounted on a layer cut with a scrap of pink with Cindy Echtinaw Designs Card Creator Perfect Layers B and then mounted to the card base of Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 120 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock. I stamped the words from the set Operation: Save 2^nd Base by Color Play with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink and then decided to add some enamel dots from my stash

Happy Halloween

This is another card that went into my donation box for Gray Matters Foundation. Again I started by cutting my base out of Park Lane 110 lb. smooth black solid core cardstock plus an extra strip which I embossed with Spiderweb embossing folder by Cuttlebug Provo Craft then cut my DSP Creepy crawly and decided which side would inside and outside. My white was Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 100 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock I stamped Bramble sunrise stamp by MB with distress ink hickory smoke and then my message from Happy Halloween stamp set by Spellbinders with VersaFine Clair nocturne ink

Butterfly frame

My sister asked me if I could decorate this frame

so she printed what she wanted as a message and then I did the rest and this is what it ended up being. 

For this side I used sparkler butterfly layer B & C by Birch Press Design (top left), butterfly (top right), butterfly gift box (bottom left), fluttering corner steel craft die by MB (full and smaller on frame), brilliant wings Stampin’ cut & emboss dies (bottom right, medium size on frame), butterfly beauty Thinlits die (on main and all little ones); Jewels basic rhinestones and Recollections iridescent adhesive rhinestones 

and for this side butterfly aperture die by Elizabeth Craft Design (top left), fluttering corner steel craft die by MB (full butterflies on frame plus main butterflies), butterfly beauty Thinlits die all little butterflies on side and frame), butterfly (bottom right); Jewels basic rhinestones and Recollections iridescent adhesive rhinestones 

Happy Father's Day

These were my other father's day cards I made this year beside Bret and my dad which you will see in the next couple days. For these of course I had to do slimline and since everyone like baseball had to use that theme. 

For my papers I used Craft n Craftin Best Creation Inc and Recollections 65 lb. chocolate cardstock which I cut with square grid windows slimline essential dies by Kraftgali, my base was done with Accent Opaque Digital International Paper 100 lb. Cover Smooth white cardstock, the thinking of you is from dense bubble set with VersaFine Clair pine cone ink, for our oldest that is a dad I used a wish for everything set by SU same VersaFine Clair pine cone ink with Rectangle stitched Framelits

for our youngest that is a stepdad and also for a friend I just added a father's day, one is by MSE and the other by MB

and last but not least for my brother I used el mejor papá del mundo set & deseos pequeñitos set both by SU

Winter wishes

We have been lucky so far, it has been very cold but we haven't had any snow. I know some other states and even in our state have gotten some but not in my city which is good even if I'm stuck at home. For these cards I used distress oxide sprays mermaid lagoon and faded jeans a bit of distress spray stain picket fence, mica spray brushed pewter and shimmer spray frost. When it was completely dry I die cut my layer with double stitched rectangle by Kat Scrappiness then stamped dancing snowflakes background stamp by MB with blue bayou ink and die cut the snowflake from Jen Long snowflake wreath framelit with stamps set. The message warm winter wishes is from color layering baby penguin set by HA same ink punched out with large oval by SU the tiny birthday is by Endless Creations I cut it for the happy birthday that was part of a cube. The winter cards went in my donation box for Gray Matter Foundation

On the Third Day of Christmas

Quick mostly white & black card using left over things. I had a peace die from swirled peace by Poppy Stamps and a forest crows die cut by MB so put them together then spray sheer shimmer craft spray sparkle by Imagine

Fall spray cards

Sometime ago I watched a video by Jennifer McGuire where she suggested to use cardstock under your spray area or box that way you didn't waste the excess spray so after doing some spraying for the cards I posted on Wednesday I had a sheet left over for later projects and when I needed some cards this is what I made. All cards were a bit different as the sheet was just short of 11" x 17" and the sprays went all over as I kept moving the layer to fill the big cardstock.

For all the stamping I used VersaFine Clair fallen leaves the stamp on the left is words to birds collage stamp by MB for the first cards the words are by smile stamp set by Gina K Design

and for these cards I used the happy from happy stamp & cut by HA and a wish for everything by SU