Butterflies galore...

I love making cards with butterfly die-cuts, so recently I made this card for a friend:

I had some pretty floral printed cardstock and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Its pattern reminded me of a field of wildflowers, so I decided to add a colorful sentiment (computer-generated), along with some die-cut greenery and butterflies.

I tried to incorporate all the CS colors into my sentiment.  My friend is such a kind and caring person, that I thought she would really appreciate this sentiment.

The butterfly on the front of my card came from a set of nine Ellentina butterfly dies.

I added five more of the Ellentina butterfly die-cuts to the inside of my card. If you look closely you can see that I have scored each one down the center so that they can easily fold in half.

Here's a little better look at how they decorate the inside of my card. The two end butterflies each have one wing attached to the left and right sides of my card. They're each a little different, but virtually the same size, so it was easy to glue the wing tips together so that they would be suspended, rainbow fashion, inside the card. They all fold together nicely when the card is closed.

Today, my DH and I went into downtown Minneapolis. We haven't done that in ages! First we went to the Home & Garden show at the convention center, then went to Brit's Pub for lunch. After lunch we went to a "going out of business" sale at our city's biggest Macy's store. I actually found a new winter dress coat for less than $100 that had originally been priced at $325. Yay me! Even my DH found some bargains, so we came home with several bags of goodies.

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

You make me smile...

This card was actually a Valentine, but I think it could be used for other occasions, too.

My little camera started out as a black and white clipart image that I found online. Using my Silhouette software, I traced the image, divided it into layers and cut it out of black, gray and silver mirror cardstock.

It was actually a lot of fun figuring out what color each layer should be and then cutting it out with the Silhouette Cameo.

I fussy-cut a piece of vellum for the camera "lens" and punched out a heart to put on top of it.

Part of my sentiment (You make me...) was computer-generated. The word "smile" is actually some white sparkly alphabet stickers I had in my stash.

Once again, I kept my inside very simple, as this Valentine was for a grandson. Can't have too many hearts for the boys!

Well, the verdict is in on my computer, and it is definitely deceased with no hope for reviving it (unless I want to pay more money than I paid for it in the first place!). That means I will be getting a new laptop - and SOON, I hope.

I've been doing some research online, trying to figure out what will meet my needs and my bank account. Any suggestions? I want something small (12-14 inches) so that it is portable for traveling. I'm also looking for at least 8 GB of RAM and decent resolution (at least 1920 X 1090). If you have a laptop you love, please let me know. I'd appreciate it SO much!

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

Zombies for Valentines?

Sure, why not? Zombies need a little love, too.

I thought my youngest grandson would like a zombie on his Valentine - so here's a cute one from the Silhouette Online Store (Design ID #47397).

Doesn't he look rather timid and scared, holding his little scarred up heart? I've done a little inking on his body parts, and I actually just drew in the scars on the heart he is clutching. The design calls for the Cameo to cut them, but my blade is getting a little dull, and since they're so small, they wouldn't cut cleanly. I think drawing them on does the trick, though.

I liked his spiky hair and raggedy outfit. This image took a little patience to cut, because there are several layers, but it wasn't difficult, once cut, to put them all together.

I left the inside quite plain, with a stamped sentiment and room to write a personal note.

I think I made about 25 Valentines this year. It seems like it was more than in previous years. With several birthdays for family members and friends in February, it's been a busy month!

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

You are awesome...and sweet...

Today, I'm sharing a couple more Valentine cards with a interactive feature to them - an "Explosion Card Insert." I learned how to do this from several videos on YouTube, so if you just do a quick search there, I know you'll find a good one.

 The card front is a Silhouette Design ID #41320. I thought it would work well for one of my grandsons.

Here's the explosion insert. I think it's just so much fun to open up these normal-looking cards and have the interior unfold in such a dramatic way.

I used various Valentine-themed stamps from a number of stamp sets. It was fun to choose a collection of stamps to create a background.

Here's another card front that was also included in Design ID #41320. Same idea, but this card is for a granddaughter.

And here's the fun interior for this one. I used some coordinating one-sided patterned paper for my explosion insert (stamping on the white side), and you can just see the shadow of the purple plaid on the paper's patterned side in the photo. You really don't see it though, when opening the card IRL.

I will be sharing even more Valentines in the coming days. Even though Valentine's Day is past, I think they might provide some inspiration for other types of cards, too.

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

A couple of Valentines...

I am finally getting a post written after my computer completely crashed! In fact, once it crashed, it wouldn't even turn on!

The silly machine had been exhibiting a "black screen" illness for about a day, where its screen would go black and I had to do a restart to get my screen back again. My uber smart DH said, "Maybe you should put the files that are important to you onto a thumb drive, just in case." Wiser words were never spoken! About three minutes after I finished copying my "important" files (like card photos) over to the thumb drive, my computer crashed, with no hope for resuscitation.

We took it back to the store where I bought it 3 1/2 years ago, and they said it would be 9-10 days before they could give us a diagnosis. In the meantime, I am unable to operate my Silhouette, because, of course, that software is on my broken computer, and I need to wait and see if they can fix it (fingers crossed).

I do have a couple of Valentine cards to share with you today that were made before the debacle with my computer.

This first card is a cute file from the Silhouette Store (Design ID #54483) that was super quick to put together. I simply added a tiny red ribbon bow at his neck and stamped "Be Mine!" on the heart.

On the inside I stamped a sentiment with an old stamp - not sure of the make. It is one of my thrift store finds.

This Valentine is a waterfall card. I had not made one of these in a loooooong time, so I thought it was time to try it again. Besides, I really like to give my grandkids interactive cards when I can, and this one qualifies!

Here's what you see as the you pull the "waterfall" down.  Most of the stamps used on this card were from a Recollections Valentine set, although a few other miscellaneous stamps were used as well.

And since I made this like a regular A2 card, here's a peek at the inside.

Well those are my cards for today. I've been working on others, as well, and I'll show those to you in a day or so.

My daughter and granddaughter are flying here this week from the Pacific Northwest, so we are very excited to have them with us for an extended weekend. I'm not sure if we'll be doing any crafting together, but whatever we do, it will be fun!

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

Sending big hugs...

I was inspired by my blogging buddy Donna at "Design by Donna" to participate in an online challenge over on "From the Heart Stamps." The February 6 Sketch Challenge looked like a fun one.

I downloaded their current free digital image and created this cute card, using as many of the challenge colors as I could.

The sentiment here and on the inside also came with the image. I used some Spellbinders dies to get my curved diagonal strip with its green scalloped edging.

I cut out one bunny with a stitched oval die. I had also printed a few more copies of my bunny so that I could layer parts of it onto the original image.

Can you see some of that layering in the photo on the right? I cut each part, molded it with a flower shaping tool and then layered it onto my original image using pop-dots and glue dots. All this was done after coloring everything up with my ProMarkers. Even his little feet have extra layers, with the final layer molded and applied with glue dots.

And another look from the other direction.

As I said, the sentiment on the inside of the card also came with the image. I added three hearts (Fiskars punch) that have been shaped with my flower molding stylus and then adhered with a pop dot.

Here's another look at the dimension of these hearts. Don't they look cool?

This card was surprisingly quick to make. The little bunny is super easy to color and layer (if you like doing that sort of thing), and I didn't have to hunt through my stamps for an appropriate sentiment. Love that part!

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #122: Love is in the Air...

It's the first week of February and time again for another fun challenge on the Let's Craft and Create challenge blog. "Love is in the Air" is a really FUN challenge. Who doesn't love to create with hearts, flowers and, well, love?!

I decided to try my hand at foiling, since I had just received a Scotch brand laminator that I purchased on eBay. Here's a peek at my card:

I found a pretty clip art flourish online and printed it on some white cardstock. I also added a "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment with MS Word.

I printed out four sets of flourishes and sentiments on one sheet of 8 1/2" X 11" cardstock. Keep in mind that you MUST use a laser printer for this technique. It's the toner that reacts with the foil and adheres it.

Anyway, I cut my printed sheet of cardstock into four card fronts, laid a piece of gold foil on top of each and ran them, one at a time, through my laminator. I did send them through at least three times each, to make sure the foil was properly adhered.

This picture doesn't show the shimmer and shine, but gives you a nice straight-on look at the design.

After my foiling was complete, I matted my card front with some purple cardstock and added four hearts punched out of purple glitter CS. Each heart was popped up with a pop-dot for more dimension.

I kept the inside of my card very simple, with a lighter purple stamped sentiment (it looks blue in the photo!) and another glittery punched heart.

I had four of these cards done in no time at all. I can't wait to try foiling with other colors.

Now it's your turn. Let the idea of "love" inspire you to create something romantic or something that just expresses love for another human being...or even a pet! Then enter your creation over on the Let's Craft and Create blog. I'm so looking forward to all your creations, and the rest of the Design Team and I will comment on as many as we can.

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

Using bubble wrap...

Darnell, of DJKardKreations.com, has another fun NBUS challenge this week: Use bubble wrap on your project. Well, I certainly have enough bubble wrap around here to play with, since I save all the pieces I get in packages to reuse whenever I mail gifts, etc.

I decided to use a "bubble wrap print" as my background for this card:

 It's a cloudy day here today, so taking a picture was a challenge, but I think you can see my background print. To create it, first I stamped my image (NBUS - Stampin' Up Frolicking Frogs) and then masked it. I sprayed a piece of bubble wrap with a pale blue Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, and put my stamped cardstock, with the mask in place, face down into the misted bubble wrap. I picked my CS up and put it down again several times to capture more of the Glimmer Mist. The shimmer of the Glimmer Mist doesn't show in the photo, but it's very pretty. I was going for a water look. I didn't really achieve that, but I think it still looks okay.

After my Glimmer Mist had dried, I colored my image with ProMarkers. My frog looks more yellow in the photo than it does IRL.

I added some Glossy Accents to his eyeballs and used a glitter pen to add some sparkle to the dragonfly's wings.




I plan on using this for a "thinking of you" type card, so I've left the inside blank in order to have lots of room to write a personal note.

It was fun to give the bubble wrap a try for Darnell's NBUS challenge, but I'm not sure it's a technique I'll use often. There's still a little time left for this challenge, so why don't you give it a try and join in on the fun.

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

My granddaughter Hadley celebrated her ninth birthday this week (How did that happen? Seems like she was just two years old yesterday!).

She is such a sweet young lady, and I wanted to make her a fun card. I turned to the Lori Whitlock designs in the Silhouette Online Store and decided to give Design ID #144323 a try. Here's the result:

I just love these pop-up box cards. They're not so intricate that it takes hours and hours to make them, but they're still fun and interactive. This particular design works well for a boy or a girl, so I may be using this design again for a younger grandson.

I did add some extra stars beyond what the design included, and covered them with Wink of Stella for a little shimmer and shine.

The candle flames were also coated with a little WOS. It seems I can't even craft anymore without that stuff!

Today, I am meeting my brother for coffee, so I'd best get moving.

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