Wish List

Friday, May 29, 2015

Masculine Happy Birthday...

Just a few days ago, my brother-in-law celebrated a birthday (Happy Birthday, Harold!), so I made this card for him:

Quite a while ago, my card-making sister let me use her Spellbinders Cattails die to cut out the focal image for this card. It's a rather tricky die to cut, as it is very fine and detailed.



I used some distress inks to create my sunset behind the cattails. I first masked off my moon, thinking that it would be okay to leave it white. It looked a bit harsh, though, in its whiteness, so I sponged on some yellow and liked it much better.













I used an old stamp for my sentiment. Not sure of the manufacturer. The tiny black scalloped borders were actually part of the design of the DSP, which came from an Autumn/Halloween stack by DCWV.



On the inside of my card I used a simple black mat and a flourish stamp as the only decoration.

The sentiment stamp I used on the inside was one that I purchased at our local used craft supplies store, so again, I'm not sure of the manufacturer.












I also made a coordinating envelope. I love using my envelope punch board and some DSP that is white on one side for my envelopes. That is some double-sided tape that you see on the flap.

I really enjoy making these little sunset scenes with distress inks. They don't all turn out well, but it's still fun to try!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Happy {Beer}thday to you...

My son-in-law enjoys making his own beer, so I thought this would be a perfect birthday card for him. Since his birthday was celebrated earlier this month, I can now share it with you.

 
 I actually cut the mugs from the Love You a Latte cartridge out of some vellum cardstock. On the backside of each mug, I scored the vertical lines and colored in the beer with a gold ProMarker.

My sentiment was computer-generated and then cut out in a banner shape that was just a little longer than the width of the card. I liked the idea of the fishtail ends sticking out beyond the edges of the card.



The foam on each mug was created with a Snow Marker by Uchida. You use a heat gun on it after the marker has dried to puff up the ink and make it look like snow...or in this case beer foam.


















The inside of my card was pretty simple, which I think is preferable in masculine cards. Since this was a long and narrow card, I created a border for the top and bottom with my Fiskars diamond border punch.

Again, my sentiment was computer-generated.

I hope you are having a splendid 3-day Memorial Weekend if your are in the U.S. and a fabulous 2-day weekend everywhere else. We have company, so we're not traveling anywhere, but will spend our extra time visiting with them and other family members.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Fabulous!

Earlier this month, my granddaughter turned 12 years old. I can hardly believe it! How could the past dozen years have gone by so fast?

Once girls turn 12, they definitely do NOT want to be thought of as "little girls" any more. My granddaughter is already into clothes, nails, hair styles, etc. I miss the days when I could give her a doll and some doll clothes for her birthday.

For her card, I decided to use an image from the Forever Young cartridge and put it on a step card. Luckily, my online friend Taunya Butler of Daisies Girl had given me some awesome card blanks. One of them was a step card blank in just the right color. THANK YOU, TAUNYA!

I also cut a "fabulous" tag from the Forever Young cartridge and backed it with some glitter paper.




Of course there had to be some additional sparkle beyond the tag and the image's top.  I actually wanted a LOT more sparkle, so you can see in the photos that I added gems, gems and more gems. I even put one on her pony tail! These started out as clear gems, and I simply colored them with a ProMarker (alcohol-based) to get a perfect match. So easy to do!!













On the inside, I took the white cutout from my tag, sprayed it with adhesive and covered it with some loose glitter that was a great match for the glitter paper that I had used on the front of the card.  The rest of my inside sentiment was computer-generated.












Here's a little closer look at the "fabulous" sparkle!









My lacy oval (Lifestyle Crafts die) was popped up on dimensionals, which I think added even more character to this sparkly card.

We have many more family birthdays that take place during the summer months, so you'll certainly be seeing lots of birthday cards from me.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--ever day.
Cheryl

Monday, May 18, 2015

Feminine graduation card...

This year I had a great niece graduating from high school, and I decided to make her a fairly non-traditional card.

The color combo that I chose was blue and white (her school colors) with some pink thrown in to add some additional femininity.



My butterfly die is by Marianne Creatables. I really love this die, and I find myself coming  back to it again and again. It cuts well and is super easy to remove from the die when I use the dryer sheet method.

If you haven't yet used dryer sheets with your intricate dies, its definitely worth a try! There are lots of videos on YouTube to show you how to do it. Just search for "dryer sheet technique."



My sentiment oval was cut with a Lifestyle Crafts die, and this sentiment was computer-generated.

Another feminine touch on my card was the flat-backed gems that I added to my sentiment and to the butterfly's antennae.

On the inside of my card, I once again used my Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set and the inlay method for the word "Congrats."


Here, you can see the inlay a little better.

Three more little gems and my card was complete!

It's cold and drizzly here today. We have a predicted high of only 45 degrees Fahrenheit! Brrrrr. I guess it's a good day to spend in the craft room!!!




Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Friday, May 15, 2015

Masculine graduation card...

It's that time of year again when we all get to celebrate along with graduates from high school and post high school programs. I didn't have a single graduation card in my card box, so I decided I had better get busy and make a couple!

Today, I'm sharing with you the masculine card I made, although I think this could easily be given to a female, as well


I had gotten this DSP in a prize package and wondered how I would use it on a card. When I began to think about a young graduate heading out "into the world," I decided it would be the perfect backdrop.



I used my Spellbinders ticket die to create a couple of tickets and added "Admit One" to each one with my computer. I hand-drew the border around each ticket and inked the edges.

My photo corners were also hand-cut and inked before I adhered them onto opposite corners, and the main sentiment was computer-generated.











For my inside sentiment, I used a Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set and inlaid the word "congrats." The set comes with several different add-ons that can be stamped under or near the die-cut, such as congrats on an engagement, marriage and new baby. I think this will be a much-used set!

As I use this inlay method with my word dies, I am trying to save all the off-cuts so that I can use them on other cards.

That's it for me today in the cardmaking department. Have you got any fun plans for the weekend? So far, my list of things to do only includes "mow the lawn." Maybe I need to add "clean craft space," because it's a mess right now!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Another bit of inky fun...

I shared with you in this post that I had won 10 new ink pads from My Favorite Things via Kathy Racoosin's blog, The Daily Marker.

I decided to use a number of these inks on a card where I simply let the inks shine as the focal point. No stamped image (other than the sentiment) and (almost) no other embellishments.

I hand-cut a mask with a curved edge and just started laying it across a piece of cardstock and sponging away with the ink color of my choice. After the first color was laid on, I moved my mask down and sideways a bit and added the next color until I reached the bottom. Easy peasy!

Once that was done, I stamped my sentiment with Versamark and heat-embossed with some black embossing powder. A simple black mat, and I was done (or so I thought!).

After looking at the above photo, I decided I needed to add one little black embellishment for interest, so here is what I did:

What do you think? With or without it? Maybe I should have added something else in black instead--like a silhouette die-cut. Any ideas? I'd like to try this card again, so I appreciate any and all advice. :)



The inside of my card is as simple as can be - just a black mat and a stamped sentiment. I wanted plenty of room to write a personal note to Kathy, thanking her for such a fabulous giveaway.

Hope your week is going well. I can't believe it is half over already. The older I get, the faster I get older!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Monday, May 11, 2015

Sitting here thinking of you...

This card is a Mother's Day card, but could be changed to suit many other occasions.


Once again, I used one of my sister's dies - Park Bench by Spellbinders - as my focal point. I added the decorative border on the left (Cuttlebug Ornamental Iron die) and some tulips, which are a border cut from the "A Walk in my Garden" cartridge.



I think this little bench is so cute. I cut it out in a couple different colors of cardstock, but I really like it best in black. I think it looks like a wrought iron bench.








The inside of my card is pretty simple with just a matted border for decoration. My sentiment was computer-generated.

I'm entering this card into Challenge #251 - May Flowers over on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.

Do you notice that yellowish cast at the bottom of my photo? That's the reflection from the little wooden stand that my card is sitting on. I would have retaken these photos, except this card had already been sent by the time I realized this problem. Lesson learned: Cover this little stand with something white!

I still have a couple of Mother's Day cards to share this week. Even though this holiday has come and gone, I think the designs of Mother's Day cards are easily used for birthdays, thinking of you and other purposes.

Did you have a nice Mother's Day? My day was lovely. I spoke by phone to my three kids who live in other parts of the country and spent some time at my daughter's home who lives blocks from me.  I also had the chance to go to the plant store and buy some flowers for my planters and flower beds. Now I just need to get them all planted!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Thursday, May 7, 2015

A very colorful thank you...

I recently won this lovely selection of My Favorite Things ink pads from Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker. THANK YOU KATHY and MFT!!! Kathy is a fabulous artist, colorist and card maker. If you don't already follow her blog, you should! I get so much inspiration from her.


I couldn't wait to try out these lovely inks, and the first card I made was this one:

I chose several of the ink colors and used a simple floral stamp set to stamp some brightly colored flowers onto glossy cardstock. Look at those fun, bright colors! These dye inks worked perfectly on my glossy cardstock, with no smearing. I used a small flourish from the same set to add some green to my background pattern.



I was hoping that the little rhinestones in the middle of my flowers would show up better on this angled pic, but you still have to look really hard to see them. They add some fun sparkle IRL.














At least you can see the rhinestones on my sentiment.  This sentiment stamp is an older wood-mounted stamp - not sure of the manufacturer right now and too lazy to go find it again and look! LOL










On the inside of my card, I stamped some of the flowers and a few bits of the green flourish in a corner. Here, you can actually see the rhinestones!

We've had company from Germany for the last week, which is why I've been a bit slow in visiting some of the blogs I follow. They just left on a trip through Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, and will be back in a couple of weeks. Then, they'll stay with us for a final week before returning to Germany. It's been fun having them around. We just hope they're having as good a time as we are!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #101 - Anything Goes Male

It's time for a new challenge on Let's Craft and Create. This month's theme is Anything Goes Male. I know many of you find that making masculine cards can be difficult. I struggle with them, too, but this month's sponsor, the Cutting Café, has provided the Design Team with some fabulous patterns for a card and a box that are perfect for giving to the important men in your life.

http://www.thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/


I decided to create both a card and a box as a set for a Father's Day gift for my husband. First, here's a look at the card I made.

Isn't this a fun idea for a masculine card? I used a shiny, orange metallic paper for the main parts of the car, added some wood patterned paper for the doors, and used silver mirror and black cardstock for the remaining details. It was so easy to print and fussy-cut the various parts. An image of a sample card comes with the file so that you can see how everything fits together. The hardest part was choosing the papers!


Here's a peek at the inside of my card. It was easy to create a slightly smaller mat on which to print my sentiment. I inked the edges to give it a little definition.






Next, I made a coordinating box that looks like a book. It was so easy to create this box! I will use this pattern again and again, I'm sure!


I wanted to incorporate the same colors and some of the same papers from my card. I used the shiny, orange metallic paper for my faux keyhole and behind the diamond trim on my sentiment rectangle. I actually created the keyhole by hand. I cut out and embossed my rectangular shape (Spellbinders die). Then, I punched a hole (using a single hand-held hole punch) and used a craft knife to cut out the area below the hole. Finally, I backed my keyhole with some black paper and distressed it a bit to add a somewhat vintage look.

Can you guess where I used some of that wood-grained cardstock? Take a look at the next photo!












I used the wood grain on the sides of my box to give the suggestion of pages.


On the inside of my box, I made three compartments and filled them with some chocolate deliciousness (hoping my husband will share!).











Here's a final peek at both of my Father's Day creations.

I know you'll want to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created. Their projects are spectacular, and you are sure to be inspired!

Hazel

Karen

Mary

Maryvonne

Eileen

Catherine

Cheryl - That's me!

Ursula

Deborah

Please join us with a creation of your own. There is a fun prize from The Cutting Café up for grabs.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl