It will soon be Dad's day...

I thought I'd share a couple more Father's Day cards that I have made for the thrift store to sell.

These cards are pretty plain and simple, using some Stampin' Up DSP behind the letters, which were cut out with some large, unbranded alphabet dies.

To give the letters more dimension, I also cut them out of fun foam which I adhered behind them.

The three dots on the tops and bottoms of my panels were made using a 1/4" single hole punch, gluing them onto the card and then adding some Glossy Accents on top. That way I could be sure they would match my letters exactly.

The inside sentiments were done with my computer.

I had a lovely day today, crafting, talking and eating with fellow blogger and cardmaker extraordinaire, Lynette of My Stamping Addiction. Lynette was so kind to invite me to her home and share some of her expertise and crafting tools. We had fun learning about each other and the unique ways we approach cardmaking. Thank you, Lynette!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. It was summer-like weather here today, so perhaps those freezing temperatures are behind us for a while. Fingers crossed!

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

Dad, you are spectacular...

I've been busy making some Father's Day cards to donate to the thrift store. I get lots of positive comments there about my handmade cards, so it's always fun!

Here's a card that I made for my most recent batch:

I found a clipart image of a pair of glasses, which I made into a "print and cut" image in my Silhouette software. Then I used the Silhouette machine to cut them out.

I also created the little eye chart with Silhouette, adding the red and black offsets to give it a bit more definition.

To complete my card, I first cut out a white panel, dry-embossed the bottom two inches with a Sizzix embossing folder and wrapped some twine around three times and tied a little knot.

I adhered the glasses to the top part of my panel and added some green googly eyes (they were the only color I had in the right size!).

My eye chart was popped up on foam tape over the twine.

The inside of my card is super simple with just a stamped sentiment (by Recollections, I think).

This card was quick and easy, but I think it would be a fun card for a child to give to their Dad.

We have had cool, wet weather here, but I have managed to get nearly all my flowers planted. It's actually perfect planting weather, as the plants don't get as stressed as they do when it's hot.

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

Cheryl

A man's "special day" emergency kit...

For my nephew's 40th birthday, I made him a little gift to assist in his relationship with his wife.

The "kit" consisted of four cards with envelopes in a paper clutch, kept closed with some crinkled hem tape.

Here's a peek at the four cards that were inside. They're all for him to give to his wife on special occasions.

The first one was made with a background die and some wildflower dies that I colored. This one is an anniversary card to his wife.

Three of the cards were made in a bit of a hurry, so I kept the interiors pretty simple.

For a birthday card I used a 3-D embossing folder that I picked up at Tuesday Morning. I don't recall the brand, but it embosses beautifully and is really pretty IRL. I did a little inking to the raised portions and added some blue gems for sparkle.

Another simple interior for this one with a scalloped mat to set off the sentiment.

Of course, I had to include a Mother's Day card, as they have two sweet children--a girl and a boy.

I used a Fiskars border punch to create some grass. Then I cut out a mama duck and two little ducklings with an unbranded die set.

My clouds were cut with Impression Obsession dies.

Another simple interior with a mat cut from the same paper as was used on the front of the card.

All my sentiments were printed on the computer. In fact, I planned my cards and then printed them all at once. Doing that made these cards come together much more quickly.

This was my fourth and last card for the kit. It was a valentine that I had made previously and shared in this post.

I won't bore you by repeating the details of how I made it here. But if you're a new visitor to my blog, you can click the link to get more info.






We had a wonderful trip to Oregon and Washington. It was so much fun to see our kids and granddaughter. We even got to see her perform in a school talent show. She did a great job, and we were very proud of her!

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

The merry bells keep ringing...

I made these two cards out of some leftover card bases from a wedding invitation kit. They were intended to be long, narrow, flat card bases with the fancy flap at the top that would fold over top of an added piece of vellum. There is a pre-made hole where the little red ribbon is.

I simply scored the cardstock at 4 1/4" from the bottom and folded it up and under the flap. I cut a slightly smaller piece of Christmas paper and glued it on along with the word "joy" (Tim Holtz/Sizzix).

I added a couple of die-cuts to the top. The bells are a Cottage Cutz die, but I'm not sure about the green sprig. I adhered the bells with a red brad and added some red Nuvo drops for berries to the sprig.

Here's a look at the inside. You can see where my brad prongs came through the little hole in the fancy top flap.

I have now used up all of these card bases that were left in the kit. They ended up being A2 size cards, so I could just use some of the envelopes I already had on hand.

It's so great to get a head start on Christmas cards. Every once in a while, I look through them, just to remind myself what I have made. I usually recount them, too, just to make sure how many I still have to make. Silly, isn't it?

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

Better check the mileage on your "oldometer"...

My nephew turned 40 earlier this month, and this is the card I made for him. It was a little hard to photograph because of the metallic CS.

Here's another view with a little less glare. The metallic CS that I used was just a scrap I had in my pile, so it had a few scratches and impressions, but I figured they simply added to the "getting older" theme of the card.

I've popped my silver card up on foam tape. The numbers were cut with some unbranded dies and my "Oldometer" was printed with my computer.

The black patterned strip across the bottom was cut with a Fiskars border punch.

This was the inside of the card. I got the idea for the sentiment from a site that featured jokes about getting older. I thought it worked perfectly with my car-themed card.

As you read this, we are in Portland, OR, visiting our kids who live there and in Vancouver, WA, which is just across the river from Portland. We have a granddaughter in Portland that we are anxious to see.  We don't get to see her as much as we'd like since she lives nearly 1,700 miles from us, so every visit is really special.

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

Thinking of you...

This is a really simple card, but I really like how it turned out.

I've used only an unbranded stamp and dies on this card. The butterflies were cut out, backed with double-sided adhesive, adhered to CS and then fussy-cut from that. This made it possible to burnish some glitter into the negative spaces. And the extra layer of CS made them very stable.

To add even a little more sparkle, I added a  flat-backed gem to the center of each butterfly body.

I liked using the wavy lines die to add another color and provide an anchor for my butterflies. And I have other butterfly dies that I'd like to use for cards of this design. 

I actually used this card as a Mother's Day card for one of my aunts, but it could definitely be used for many different occasions.



Have you seen how papercrafters are making their own glue sponges for gluing intricate dies and other small shapes? There are some videos on YouTube that feature glue sponges you can buy (and pay $10 for!) and those you can make with a Dollar Store sponge, a plastic container and some white glue. I think I'm going to try to make my own after we get back from our trip to Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA. I'll definitely let you know here on Paper Panacea how it turns out and how it works.

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

One year closer to magnificence...

I love Art Impressions stamps, and the "Crazy Friends" set I used for this card is one of my favorites.

This is a birthday card for my sister, whose birthday was May 3.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAT!

In fact, I have three sisters, and I made them each a card using this stamp for their most recent birthdays. I didn't share the other two cards on the blog before now, because my sisters do look at my blog from time to time.

Here are the other two cards.

As you can see, I made a few changes in my coloring and design from card to card. I only hope they enjoyed receiving the cards as much as I enjoyed making them. 

Here's a peek at the inside of Pat's card:

The scalloped oval on the left and the lacy circle used on the second card are both Lifestyle Crafts dies. 

The inside sentiment (left) is from an unbranded set.

Both polka-dotted DSPs used are from Stampin' Up.

I should make a lot more cards like these that require a good amount of coloring, as I really need the practice (don't look too closely!).

This weekend is stacking up to be a busy one. We have a birthday party to attend, a dinner engagement and we'll be traveling to North Dakota on Mother's Day, so we need to pack for that. The weather looks promising, so that will be a big help!

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

Cheryl

Mother's Day cards in lavendar...

My mother's favorite color was lavender, and one of her favorite flowers was the iris, so I thought of her as I made these Mother's Day cards.

I had colored these images *ahem* years ago, and never used them until now.  Even the butterfly had been stamped and colored a very long time ago, and sat waiting patiently for me to get around to applying it to a card.

For this card, I cut the corner die (Cheery Lynn) out of several layers of dark purple cardstock and then once out of white for the top layer. I did the same with the "hugs" die (unbranded). I stamped the word "sending" with Versamark on black CS and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.

The iris image and the word "sending" are popped up on foam squares.

For this card, I cut my image out with a lacy oval die (Lifestyle Krafts, I think) and also popped it up on foam squares. I think my butterfly was a clipart image that I colored and then fussy cut.

My sentiment comes from an unbranded set and was heat embossed. If you look closely, you'll notice that I've inked around the edges of my DSP. That was mostly to help the embossed sentiment be a bit more visible.

On the inside of each of my cards, I stamped a simple sentiment and a little sprig to which I added some purple Nuvo Drops.

Here's a little closer photo of those Nuvo Drops. You'll also notice that I added an apostrophe to Mother's. The stamp manufacturer mistakenly omitted the apostrophe, so I have to manually add it each time. I think the brand was simply called "Clear Stamps."



We have a busy week ahead, but hopefully we'll also have some nice weather so I can get a few things done outside. I am anxious now to get my flowers planted, and to, once again, enjoy eating our dinner on the patio.

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #147: Motherly Love, with an option of Anything Goes...

The second Sunday in May is when we honor our mothers in the USA. It's also when mothers are honored in Canada and most European countries, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, the Philippines and South Africa.

The Design Team at Let's Craft and Create is recognizing mothers by inviting you to join in our latest challenge #147: Motherly Love (or you can always enter via the option of Anything Goes).

To help inspire you to join in the fun, I have created a double z-fold card with a belly band closure. When it's all closed up, the card measures 4" X 6".

I started with a piece of cardstock (red floral on one side, green polka dot on the other) that was 6" X 12". I scored it at 2", 4", 8" and 10". Then I made a mark at the center (3") of each end and cut at an angle from the left 3" mark to the 4" score line at the top and from the right 3" mark to the 8" score line at the top. I used the pieces that I cut away (green polka dot) to embellish the bottom of my card.

I had fun decorating the interior of my card with some cute little tags (Sizzix die). I inked the edges of each tag, added some fun sentiments and images from various stamp sets, and finished them off with little twine bows.













My favorite part to make for this card was the belly band.

I love these open flowers and leaves (unbranded dies). They add color and dimension without overpowering the sentiment. I've added a flat-backed pearl to each flower center.

Here's a final look at my card and it's belly band. Now I hope you'll head over to Let's Craft and Create to see what the other Design Team members have cooked up to inspire you. You'll also want to check out the prize that is being offered to the winner of this month's challenge.

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

Two more sets of notecards...

In my previous post I shared a set of notecards that I had made, with the promise to show you the other two sets in a later post.

So--here is the clutch for the second set (see my previous post for a link to the tutorial I used) that I made to sell at the thrift store.  I really loved making this set, as I used a NBUS die to decorate each of the cards.

And here are the notecards. Isn't that little cactus cute? It's an unbranded die, and I love it! I picked four Stampin' Up papers in the same color combo to decorate the fronts, and each card has a plain, white liner on the inside. Of course, I included four white envelopes, too.

This is the clutch for the third set. This time, I picked out four of the colors in the clutch paper to use for my card blanks.

After cutting out my butterfly (unbranded), I embossed the white panel with a Tim Holtz Sizzix EF. Then I adhered the panel and the butterfly onto the card and added a few flat-backed pearls. I think my sentiment was from a freebie set in a magazine.

I'm definitely going to make more of these when I have some time. They're so much fun and are a great way to use up some scraps.  And because of the way the clutches are made, they are nice and sturdy for giving and/or mailing these card sets.

Today was a beautiful day. I was able to get my car in for a "recall fix," and they also changed my oil, rotated and balanced my tires, checked all the lubrication points and topped off the fluids. Before they gave it back to me, they ran it through the car wash, too. As soon as I got home, I vacuumed and wiped down the inside. It feels good to have a clean car with all the winter salt washed away. Hopefully, it will stay that way for a few weeks.

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