Quick gift embellishment idea...

Today's post will be quick, quick, quick! I am traveling, so I've scheduled some posts while I'm away, and this is one of them. :)

I always like to make gifts for kids fun (if I have the time). And I know that boys don't give two hoots if they have ribbons and bows on their gifts. So, when my grandson had a birthday recently, this is how I decorated his package:

I draped some baker's twine across the top of my package and secured the ends with enamel dots. Then I added some die-cut flags and popped some die-cut stars up on them with foam squares.

I die-cut my grandson's name and added a few more of those stars to his card's envelope. I'll show you the card in a later post.

This is such a fun way to use up some of those paper scraps we're all inundated with.

One little aside...someone who had never seen my handmade cards before, saw one of them recently and said, "You made this? And you don't sell them? This card would cost $10 in a store!"  I thanked him for his kind words, but thought to myself, "If I sold these, I'd actually be making $2-3 per hour, because I'm such a s-l-o-w crafter."

I think I'd rather just give them away and enjoy the process of making them!

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

First Halloween card of the year...

I send Halloween cards to a few adults in my family, so I need some that aren't quite as juvenile as the ones I make for the grandkids. Here's what I came up with for my first one:

The dies for my cup and spoon are from an unbranded set. The spider web border was made with a Martha Stewart punch, and the bigger web in the lower left corner is a section of a spider web doily from a package of orange, gold and black web doilies from Michael's.

I created my sentiment on the computer and printed it out before cutting it out with a stitched oval die.

I have several Halloween stamp sets, so I used the hanging spider from one of them. It's one of my older sets and has lost its packaging, so I'm not sure of the brand.

To create the steam coming from my coffee cup, I used a stamp from a Fiskars coffee-themed stamp set and some gray ink. Then I filled in the stamp with a glitter pen. I think it gave just the right affect.

This is the inside of my card. My "happy Halloween" die is also unbranded. The nice thing about this die is that I can carefully snip the words away from the frame and use them--or the frame--by themselves. In looking at the photo, I just realized that there is space for a little something beneath the words. Hmmmmm....what could I put there? Another spider? I'll have to give that some thought!

We are currently packing our suitcases and getting ready for the big trip across the pond. I'm always concerned that I'm going to forget to do something important - like put our mail on hold - before we leave. I do make lists and check things off, but that doesn't keep me from worrying!

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #128: Hey, Dude!

I always appreciate a masculine card challenge, because, like most of you, I struggle making them. This month at Let's Craft and Create, our challenge is "Hey, Dude!" The Design Team has come up with so many great ideas, I hope you'll click on over and take a look. But be ready to be inspired!

Here's my contribution to the DT line-up:

This card was made for my brother who wears cowboy boots every day. He loves the western look, and having grown up in Montana and North Dakota, he comes by his fashion sense honestly.

This card was made with mostly unbranded dies.  I've used pens, alcohol markers and Viva Décor pens to add some color and dimension..

My fence posts were made with some craft cardstock that has been stamped with a wood grain background stamp.

Here's a side view that better shows my little twine rope. I have to say, I really loved how that looked once I had adhered it to my card.

Here's a close-up of my cute cowboy boots. I love all the detail on them, and it's so easy to highlight it all with a little bit of coloring.

Finally, here's the inside of my card--a computer-generated sentiment and another horseshoe.

Now it's your turn to create a masculine card and post it here. There is a prize to be won, so make sure you're in the running for it. You've got until the end of the month to enter.

Once again, be sure to check out all the wonderful DT creations on the Let's Craft and Create blog.

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

Have a magical day...

This card is perfect for a young girl, don't you think? I love fairies and have three different fairy dies (all unbranded). This one is my favorite of the three.

My starry sky background was also cut with an unbranded die, but my moon was cut with a Lifestyle Crafts die. The sentiment was computer generated.

My background was made by first cutting the starry panel out of blue cardstock and then inking the edges with some navy blue ink. I love how that looks!

The inside of my card was simple with just a stamped "Happy Birthday" and a few heat embossed stars, made with some sparkly white embossing powder.

Well, my computer is STILL at the shop...and it looks like it will be there for several more weeks. In fact, they said the local techs can't find the problem, so they need to send it in to the manufacturer. There is the chance that when the manufacturer has their people work on it, they will wipe all the data off of it!!! They asked if I wanted a back up done before it was sent in. Um...yesssss!

 

I'm a little worried about the programs that are on it, like Photoshop, Silhouette Designer Edition, Microsoft Office Suite, etc. I've told them these programs are all important to me and I want them back on my computer when they return it to me. Guess we'll see how that goes.

 

I think until I get my machine back (in good working order), I will be posting only once a week. We will be traveling for the month of September, so it will be really hard for me to do more than that. I hope you'll continue to hang in there with me until I have returned from my travels and have my computer back in good working order.

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

Hope your day is just ducky...

This is the card I made for my granddaughter's 12th birthday, which is in a couple of days (she's already seen it, so it's ok to post). It was not done with my Silhouette, but just some simple measurements, cuts and dies.

I just love these little duck dies. I cut the mama duck out of some white cardstock and inked the edges with a little gray ink. I also colored her beak and feet with a gold alcohol marker.

The baby ducks were cut out of yellow cardstock and I added some darker gold ink to the wings and edges of the cuts.

In this somewhat blurry photo, you can see how the wings are lifted up and given some dimension with some pop-dots.

The dies (unbranded) cut holes for the eyes, so I simply added some black cardstock behind the holes.

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The flowers were made with a punch and some enamel dots for the centers and the vines were made with a Cheery Lynn die.

The clouds, fence, hot air balloon and label shapes are all unbranded dies.

My computer is back in the shop - it has been experiencing some screen issues where the darkest parts of the screen show up as a pixelated red color when it is "awakened" from sleep mode. This is the second time I've had it in for this issue. aaaaarghhh. I am now working from my husband's computer, which means I don't have access to all the photos on mine, nor do I have access to my Silhouette Cameo software. double aaaaarghhh.

Oh well, this too shall pass. Hopefully.

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

Ever heard of Taco Cat?

This is just a silly card I made for fun. I received this cat die (unbranded) in the mail and wanted to give it a try. I think I saw the sentiment on Pinterest, and it made me chuckle, so I used it. The die is not a layered die, so I used some of my metallic markers to highlight specific areas. I also used my black Viva Décor pen to add shiny black eyes.

The inside of my card shows you its purpose. But it could just as easily be changed to use as a birthday card or just a fun "hello" card.



















I have a few photos to share with you of our RV trip to destinations in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Our first destination was the Winnebago Grand National Rally in Forest City, Iowa. There we met with other Rialta RV owners, some of whom were old friends and others who became new friends.

We had a few days of "pre-rally" fun, when we had lots of time to sit and chat, go out for dinner with the group and attend some of the Puckerbrush Festival activities in Forest City. If you're wondering what a puckerbrush is, it's a bush with a very sour berry that makes you pucker (I had to look that one up!).

The first official night of the rally, the headline entertainment was an Elvis impersonator. He was actually pretty good, and it was fun to sing along to all the old Elvis hits.

Next we visited Clayton and Quincy, Illinois. This mansion is on a street of such homes in Quincy. We toured it and learned its history.

My stepson and step-grandson joined us in Clayton, Illinois, where my husband grew up. We stayed in a campground, but they stayed at the Redbird Inn. When visiting them there, I looked out the window of their room, and lo and behold--there was a red bird - a beautiful Cardinal! This picture is a bit blurry because I took it so quickly, but it's easy enough to see the lovely color of the bird.

Next, we drove to Springfield, Illinois, and visited all the sites related to Abraham Lincoln. This is the home where Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln lived and raised their sons.

This is the tomb where Abraham and Mary Lincoln are buried, along with three of their four sons.

Our last stop on our trip was Door County, Wisconsin. We stayed at a campground in Fish Creek, but also visited the other harbor towns and villages on the peninsula. It's just SO beautiful there!

Even the poppies seemed to be more luxuriant and more brightly colored.

There were lots of artsy shops with handmade items for sale. This was a glass shop with all kinds of garden ornaments out front.

I loved these bold, bright flowers.

In the village of Sister Bay, Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant boasts of goats on the roof! Sure enough, there were quite a few goats on the roof, keeping the grass nice and short and, no doubt, enjoying a perfect view of Lake Michigan!

Our last night in Fish Creek, we attended a fish boil, which is a local tradition. A large pot of water is brought to a boil over a wood fire. Small, new potatoes are added first and allowed to cook. Then a metal basket is placed into the boiling water on top of the potatoes, and pieces of white fish and some salt is then added to this basket.

Our chef explained that during the last couple minutes of cooking, he would need to add some kerosene to the fire to get it to flare up and boil the pot over, which resulted in any scum or particles in the water flowing out of the pot. This keeps the fish clean and particle-free.

This is what it looks like when the kerosene is added!

I immediately understood why there was a low brick wall around the cooking area to prevent customers from getting too close!

The fish was good, but I still prefer mine sautéed in a little butter!

Just before we headed for home, we purchased some Montmorency cherries. They are grown locally (as shown in this pic) and sent all over the country from this area. In fact, at the height of the cherry growing in Door County, this small area provided 95% of the country's cherries.

I made a pie with the ones we purchased shortly after I got home. In fact, it became a "birthday pie" for my granddaughter. Everyone loved it.

If you stuck with me to the end of this blog post, thank you! I know it was a bit long, but I do like to share our adventures with all of you.

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

Have a beautiful day...

My beautiful daughter-in-law celebrated her birthday at the end of July, and this is the card I made for her.

I used design #142226  from the Silhouette Design store for this card. My daughter-in-law is very committed to physical fitness, so I thought a card with a bicycle would be just the ticket--even though this bike doesn't look like one that would be used by a hardcore cyclist.

I love adding the little extras to the design like the glittery enamel dots for the wheel centers and the gems for the flower centers.

I also added some texture to the basket with an embossing folder.

In this photo you can see how the card opens up. These Silhouette designs are so great because they cut out all the individual pieces. You simply have to put it all together!

For me, choosing the papers to use is definitely the hardest part. I can spend hours doing that.

Here's one last look at my card. The small, brown panel connected to my pop-out on the right is where I signed our names.

I will have some photos of our trip to share with you later this week (hopefully). We are still trying to get caught up with everything after being gone for 2 1/2 weeks. I washed clothes last night, mowed the lawn today, need to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles tomorrow to renew some registration tabs. I still have a lot of cleaning to do in the RV before we can tuck it away for the winter. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

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