Pretty thank you cards...

My stash of cards had become completely depleted of thank you cards and I wanted to come up with a design that would be quick to make.

I started with a few leftover blanks from a wedding invitation kit. The thrift store had asked me if I wanted these since they couldn't sell a kit with so many missing parts. I, of course, said, "Sure. I'll take them," having no idea what I would do with them.

The first thing I did was to fold each blank in half, making it an A2-size top-fold card.

Then, I grabbed some masking tape and masked off the border so that I could apply ink to a pretty stencil I happen to have on hand.

A simple "thank you" was stamped on each one, and I matched some ribbon to the colors of ink I used to create a faux bow in the two holes. Easy peasy.

The insides were left blank for writing a note. I actually made 6 cards, and four of them were done with black ink. I just really liked how that one turned out.

Well, today was another snow-shoveling day. I think we're up to 36+" in February. We may get more yet before the month is over. I sure hope March brings warmer weather! Wouldn't some rain (instead of snow) be nice??

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

Bookshelves galore...

My sister, who also makes cards, sent me five bookshelf die-cuts. It is nice that we can share die-cuts from time to time.

I made cards out of all the die-cuts she sent and thought I'd share three of them with you today.

This card was for my son-in-law. The bookshelf was cut from some off-white cardstock, and I chose to color the books and flower pot with alcohol markers. I also colored the outline of the bookshelf with a black marker. I stamped my card front with a wood-grain stamp and inked around the edges. Then I backed my bookshelf with a patterned paper in the same color tones as my card base and adhered it with foam tape.

The sentiment at the top was heat-embossed.

The inside of this card, as well as the other two, features a matted sentiment panel. The sentiment was stamped with Versafine black ink.

For this card and the next one, I followed the same process, but used a layered die-cut for the "Happy Birthday."

Do you notice the muted tones of the books on these two cards as compared to the first one? That's because these bookshelves were cut from a darker tan/kraft cardstock. I actually really like the muted tones.

Of the three color combos, I don't know which one I like the best, but they all came together pretty quickly and made lovely masculine cards.

My sister also gave me a couple of die-cuts from some patterned paper. While I didn't do any coloring on those, they also looked great on a card. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of them. I guess I was in too big of a hurry to get them in the mail.

After getting over 30 inches of snow so far in February alone, we are expecting MORE snow this weekend. I don't know where we're going to put it. Driving the city streets nowadays feels like driving in a maze where you can't see over the top of the snow hedges on either side. It can get tricky to turn onto a street when you can't see both lanes of traffic until you're half-way into it!!

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

Stars, stars and more stars...

Today I have a couple of star-studded cards that I am entering in the latest challenge on the Twofer Card Challenge blog.

These are my fun cards featuring an NBUS and unbranded star background stamp. I think you can see in the photo that my starry background has been heat-embossed with silver embossing powder. It really looks quite impressive IRL!

This card was my first idea, when thinking about the "stars" theme of the challenge. My stash is completely empty of graduation cards, so I needed to do a little replenishing.

The first thing I did was use some Brushos color crystals (thank you again, Darnell!) to make the background. I love them and definitely need to use them more often. They make such vividly colored backgrounds in seconds! Once completely dry, I cut the size I wanted and heat embossed it with my background stamp.

I love the graduation die-cut (unbranded) that I used. Doesn't it look exactly like those students you see at the end of a graduation ceremony?

My sentiment rectangle was cut with a Spellbinders die. It was a layering die from the "Simply Tags" set. I would have rather heat embossed the sentiment onto the black cardstock, but sadly, I had no stamp for it so I had to use my computer.

Here's another look at the shades of blue in my background and the pretty silver embossing.

On the inside of my card, I combined a couple different stamp sets. The "congratulations" is heat-embossed with silver EP.

I wasn't so thrilled with how my Christmas card turned out, but I did like the heat-embossed ornaments. They were cut with a really, really old die--one of the first I ever had. I think it was made by Quickutz (Lifestyle Crafts). My pine branches were cut with an unbranded die and my sentiment is by Penny Black.

The embossing on the ornaments really does have a snice shimmer to it.

To add a little something to the inside of this card, I used a small accessory stamp that I found in one of my stamp sets. You know how they fill out a stamp set with some little add-on stamps? Well the string of stars was one of those. I heat embossed them, and then added the stamped sentiment from Recollections.

Now I hope you'll scoot on over to the Twofer Card Challenge blog and enter your starry creations. It's such a fun challenge and helps fill up those empty slots in our card stashes.







Stamping all these stars on my cards reminded me of a story my parents told me about myself. When I was very young (about 2 1/2 or 3), we lived across the street from the church we attended and where my dad sang in the choir. He sang and played his guitar a lot in those days and taught me to sing along with  him. One of the songs he taught me was "Don't let the stars get in your eyes, don't let the moon break your heart..." Well, one Sunday, my dad was singing in the choir at church and my mother stayed home to get my older brothers and sister ready for Sunday School. I cried and fussed and wanted to go to Sunday School, too, even though I was too young. She finally relented and sent me across the street with my siblings, knowing that I would come right home again with my dad. Well, church was a little late in getting out and my dad was still seated at the front of the sanctuary with the rest of the choir. When I saw him, I started down the aisle singing at the top of my lungs with the bells on my shoes playing the accompaniment. The song I was singing so loudly was, "Don't let the stars get in your eyes, don't let the moon break your heart...!" My poor dad was quite embarrassed, saying he wanted to crawl underneath his pew!!

I continued to sing (for fun) with my dad as he played his guitar until I left home for college. I miss him and his guitar playing a lot.

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

I know, I know, Valentine's day is over, but...

I still wanted to share these Valentines that I made for my sisters.

 I got this pretty heart flourish die by Impression Obsession at the thrift store where I volunteer. It cuts beautifully and is quite large, so not much else is needed for the front of my card.

I did add a lacy border which was cut with an unbranded die. The colored cardstock beneath the lacy border was adhered to the inside of the card, and then I rounded the two bottom corners.

Here's a little closer look at one of the cards.

And a peek at the inside of the purple one.

It has been so snowy here! Look at this poor little tree on one side of my front step. It's bending under the weight of the snow. And you can see the depth of the snow next to the walk. I took this photo after I had spent two hours clearing the snow from the walks with a snow blower and shovel. I was worn out by the time I was done, as I also cleared the front walks of our neighbors on both sides.

Even though it was cold and snowy outside, I had a little bit of spring-like color on the inside. My amaryllis was in full bloom! This is the second winter I have gotten this particular amaryllis bulb to bloom. That's a first for me! I've never before gotten one to bloom a second time. Now I'm going to try my hardest to make it three years in a row. If you are able to get amaryllis bulbs to bloom multiple times, I'd love a few tips.

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

Cheryl

"Wood" you be my Valentine?...

This is a valentine for one of my grandsons. The squirrel was cut with an unbranded die. I used another unbranded die for the grass, but the tree trunk was cut by hand (all except the oval "hole").

I used various scraps of patterned paper for everything but the tree. For that, I used an actual piece of unfinished wood veneer. My scissor worked just fine for cutting it. And I used a small oval die to make the hole, and that worked fine, too. Did you know that you can cut wood veneer with scissors and dies?

Here's a look at the thickness of the veneer. I used some distress ink to give it a little color and then glued it directly to the cardstock.

My front and inside sentiments were computer-generated, and the hearts were made with a couple of small punches.

It was fun to use actual wood on this card. I'm not sure my grandson will notice, but I think my daughter (his mom) just might. She works in the construction trade, so she's quite familiar with wood veneer.

This is the valentine I sent to my grown kids. It was quite simple to make. I used an unbranded die for the fancy cut-out. The top white panel is popped up on foam tape, with some very tiny pieces supporting the intricate die-cut. I put a single pearl in the center. I think it's actually much prettier IRL.

My sentiment was originally one connected die-cut sentiment with a longer flourish on either end. To use it on this card, I cut the two words apart and cut off the elongated flourishes.

On the inside of this card I used a really old wooden stamp for the sentiment. I'm not sure of the manufacturer.

I've been working on a few cards this morning, procrastinating going outside to blow snow off the walks and driveway. It is really blustery outside--snow is blowing around like mad--and I was hoping that it would settle down this afternoon. No such luck. I think I just have to put my big girl panties on and get it done!

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

Tic, tac, toe...

This is a Valentine I made for some of my grandsons. It's always a challenge to make one that isn't too "girly" for them, but still incorporates the loving spirit of Valentine's Day.

I found this little unbranded tic, tac, toe die-set online, so I ordered it for just this purpose! It even included the skinny arrow underneath the sentiment.

Here you can see how I've popped my little hearts up on foam squares.

I love being able to add a little dimension this way.

Both my front and inside sentiments were computer-generated.

This was a quick card to make, once my computer file was set up and printed. The only fiddly part was dealing with the x's and o's. I kept losing them in my messy work space!!

We are staying inside today (Saturday), sitting by the fireplace with a nice fire flickering away. That is the ONE nice thing about a Minnesota winter - sitting by the fire.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend, wherever you are. Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #144: From the Heart...

Since it's February and Valentine's Day is soon upon us, the challenge theme of "From the Heart" at Let's Craft and Create is the perfect one to help us all get those Valentines made. Be sure to click on the link and look at all the inspiring creations from the Design Team.

For my part, I decided to make a "wiper card" Valentine. There are lots of video tutorials on YouTube, Splitcoaststampers and other sites if you do a little search, but I followed the tutorial from Jess at Simon Says Stamp.

It's a simple card. My cute cat is an unbranded die which I have dolled up a bit. I've given her a rhinestone collar and some gray flocking on her chest. My sentiment was computer-generated.

I've popped my cat up a bit with some foam tape, as well as the punched heart on the sentiment label.

In the photo above you can see the "wiper" in action. I've also made a little video (below) so you can see how it works. I haven't done a video in a very long time, so I hope it works!

I put a Valentine greeting on the back, and there's still plenty of room for a personal note and signature.

I had a good time making three of these wiper cards, but I feel I'll have to send a little instruction sheet with the card, letting the recipient know how they work. Otherwise my grandchildren may struggle to figure it out. Here are the instructions I plan to include:

Grasp the front of the card on the right side and the back of the card on the left side. Gently pull in opposite directions to see the "wiper" hidden inside. Push the sides back together to return the "wiper" to its original position.

Now I hope you'll take some time to visit Let's Craft and Create and join in the fun of this month's challenge. 

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

Cheryl

You're so sweet...

January 30 was my  granddaughter's birthday, and this is the card I made for her.

To start, I found some pretty patterned cardstock in an old 12" X 12" stack and used that to make my card base. I liked that it not only had a couple different shades of pink in it, but also some metallic gold on random hexagons.

I have an unbranded cupcake die set, and used it to make three little cupcakes on the front of my card.

On the inside of my card I added this bigger, pop-out cupcake with a cherry on top. All of the dies used for this were part of the same cupcake die set.

The swirls in the frosting of this cupcake were made with the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl embossing folder. I've added an enamel dot to the center of my bow, too.

This card was really fun to make--especially the pop-out part of it. I love it when I can put a little surprise on the inside of my cards!

I'm entering this card into Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper February 2019 Challenge. If you've been paper crafting for any length of time, I'm certain you've got some patterned paper in your stash. Why don't you pull some of it out and join in the fun over on Hazel's challenge blog. There will even be a prize for the randomly chosen winner!

Well, we have made it through the worst of the cold weather. We managed to stay warm and to keep our pipes from freezing and bursting. We have an old house (built in 1927), and the water pipes for our main bathroom were put in an exterior wall!!! It's hard to believe they would have done that in this part of the country, even then. We have added insulation over and around the pipes, plus we add more insulation on the outside of the wall during the winter, but when it's really, really cold, we can still have a problem. My husband thinks he has a new idea that will solve this problem going forward. He plans to divert some heat from our ductwork in the basement to the inside of this wall. I hope it works!!

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