Some shaker fun in a jar...

I love shaker cards, and these two were so much fun to make. I have an unbranded die set for the jar. I cut the frame out of Dollar Tree Foam Core. It's just the right thickness to make a perfect shaker.

The little tag comes with the die set, and it fit my stamp perfectly. The leafy flourish is a Cheery Lynn die, and the flower dies were also unbranded. I used a piece of leftover packaging to make the clear front on my shaker jar.

I decorated the inside of my card with a couple of scalloped borders, I made them with my largest scalloped rectangle frame.

My sentiment was computer-generated.

My second shaker card was made exactly the same way with different DSP and cardstock.

Here's a peek from the side so you can see how thick the Foam Core is. The sequins have enough room to easily move around.

The centers of all my flowers were made with Nuvo Drops.

Another computer-generated sentiment finishes off this card.

I think this shaker die set will be fun to use for Christmas, Valentine's Day and even Halloween. Wouldn't it be cute as a black, green or purple jar with a bunch of little pumpkins or spiders in it? I can't wait to give that a try.

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

Pretty coneflowers...

I always admire pink coneflowers (Echinacea) when I see them. Their color is vibrant, and the fuzzy-looking centers are very impressive!

When I received a coneflower die set (unbranded), I decided to try my hand at making a card that featured them.

I cut the coneflower petals from pale pink cardstock and then used my Promarkers to add some depth of color to them.

The petals of the flower on the left look a little discolored because I have a smudgey scratch on the lens of my camera (arrrrrgh!). We are ordering a new camera this week, so I'm hoping my photo quality improves once it arrives. I like using an actual camera rather than my phone.

I'm not sure you can tell, but I applied a layer of glue to my flower centers and then covered them with dark brown flocking. They look quite fuzzy IRL.

Do you ever use flocking on your cards? It really is fun stuff, but I tend to forget I even have it.

The inside of my card has a stamped sentiment. Sorry, but I have forgotten the brand name for this stamp, and I am much too comfortable on the sofa to get up, go downstairs and find it.

As you read this, I am having fun with my sister who lives 500 miles from me. We are probably in her craft room sharing our dies so that we can each have a few new cuts to play with.

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

A few forgotten cards...

As I have mentioned many times on the blog, I make cards for a local thrift shop to sell to help support their community outreach programs. Around holidays like Mother's Day, I often make so many cards for the store that I forget to share them all.

Here are three cards that I made back in April:

I love this curved stamp and die set that makes a card look really special. This stamp set, along with the flower dies and letter dies are all unbranded. The papers are from Stampin' Up.

After cutting out my layers of flower petals, I inked the center of each layer with a little darker pink ink. Then I added some tiny dots of Nuvo Drops to the center. I loved the dimension this added to my flower.

I see my picture is actually upside down (oops!), but you can still see the detail on the flower.

My inside sentiment was stamped, using a couple of different sets. I also stamped a leafy flourish which I embellished with some pink Nuvo Drops.

This card started with some pretty Stampin' Up paper. I stamped and heat embossed the word "happy" (unbranded) and then added my flower and leaves. "Mother's Day" was also heat embossed on some coordinating cardstock.

My flower die set is also unbranded. The center was made with white Nuvo Drops.

The sentiment in this card was computer-generated.

This rose image and leaves was created with a layered stamp set. I had to stamp my rose first and then mask it off in order to stamp my leaves "underneath" it.  I used two fine point pens--gold and black--to add the stamens in the center.

A heat-embossed sentiment and a few sequins finished it off.

I added the same computer-generated sentiment to this card as was used on the previous card. I think you can see that I've inked around the sentiment panel with a little pink ink.

I'm happy to say all these cards sold. Customers seem to buy a lot of Mother's Day cards at the store. Maybe they think moms will appreciate a handmade card.

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

It's your birthday, make some noise...

This was a card for one of my grandsons last month, and I discovered today that I had never shared it here on the blog.

Boys probably don't need to be told to "make some noise," but as a grandmother, I figured it would be fun to do just that!

My sentiment on the front of the card was computer-generated.

On the inside of my card I created a pop-out mechanism for a die-cut drum set (unbranded). I cut the drum set a couple of times and glued them together to give it more strength and stability. There are some pretty skinny parts on it!

If you look closely, you'll see that I even added his name onto the big base drum with some letter stickers. My sentiment here was also computer-generated.

I used a black glitter brush pen (Spectrum Noir) to add some sparkle to the cymbals and to highlight some of the lines on the drums.









This is a simple card, but one that works well for boys. I have five grandsons, so I love it when I can use the same card design for more than one of them.

We've had a stormy morning today--rain and wind with dark clouds making it seem more like it should be early evening. I guess I won't get any gardening done today.

My little single-cup coffee maker has bitten the dust and crossed over the coffee-colored rainbow bridge. It was one that used regular coffee grounds, not the K cups that so many of them require nowadays. I will be using my French Press coffeemaker until I can find a replacement. Any suggestions on a good one?

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

A new home is so exciting...

We were invited to my niece's housewarming recently, so I made a card to give to her along with a bottle of champagne to toast the occasion. And while I was at it, I decided to make two cards, since another niece had also just moved into a new home.

Here are the two cards--same design, but slightly different.

For this one I used a distressed polka-dotted paper as well as a green floral paper to create my landscape. I'm always a little hesitant to use distressed paper, especially when the rest of the papers used are not distressed. Do you hesitate in using distressed papers?

My house, trees and fence came from an unbranded die set and were easy to cut out and customize.

The clouds are by Impression Obsession and the "Congrats" die-cut is by Hero Arts. I printed "on your new home" on my computer. I know it looks crooked in this photo, but I think that was just the angle at which I took the picture. I have a TERRIBLE time taking good photos.

I used a different house from the same die set and some different papers for this card. I also embossed the roof, but I'm not sure that was a good idea.

All the grassy areas on the two cards were cut with stitched border dies from Paper Smooches.

Speaking of homes, my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter left this morning to go back to their home in the Pacific Northwest. It was so much fun to have them here and very sad to see them go. I had a bit of a hard time saying goodbye. They are so far away and we just don't get to see them often enough.

Now I need to look ahead, though, and get things in order for a trip to visit my sisters and attend a family wedding. My nephew's son is getting married on July 27, and I'll be driving about 500 miles to go to the wedding. My DH is unable to go because of business reasons, so it'll be just me on this trip. I don't mind though. I rather like a trip now and then by myself.

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

Commissioned card...

A friend who has a twin sister was turning 70 and asked if I would make a card that she could give to her twin. I dug into my trusty "mature adults" stamps and came up with this card:

I thought this image was perfect for "mature" twins. In fact, it won't be that many years and my own twin daughters (whose 42nd birthdays were yesterday) will fit the profile for cards similar to this. he he  [Don't get upset with me, girls, for saying that!!]

This is another easel card. I rather like making this type of card.

You can see that my stopper is a rectangle raised up with some double-sided foam tape. I've added a die-cut "Happy Birthday" to the rectangle.

You can't see it when the card is in its easel position, but there are three die-cut candles above the happy birthday rectangle.

Here's one more look at these glamorous gals. The white-looking glasses are actually silver, done with a gel pen.

I'm getting a little better at coloring these images, but I still need to work on my skin tones. One of my problems is I don't have a full set of alcohol markers--only a couple of each color. Without a full range of skin tones, it's hard to get proper shading. Luckily, there are more brands of alcohol markers available these days, so maybe the competition will bring the price down.

We are looking forward to my son, his wife and our granddaughter coming to visit this weekend. They live in the Northwest, so we don't get to see them nearly enough. I'm so excited to have them here!!



Have a great weekend, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Sympathy in blue and silver...

Today's card features another die that my friend Lynette let me use when she and I had a little crafter's playdate recently. This die is beautifully intricate, and I thought it made for a lovely sympathy card.

Usually, I would have placed this die-cut vertically on a card, with the lacy ends at top and bottom, but I thought it looked so pretty this way. I only added a stitched oval with a heat-embossed sentiment from MSE! Stamps.

My enamel dots were made using a silver Viva Décor Pen.

Here's a look from another angle at this pretty die-cut.

My interior sentiment was also heat-embossed and is from Stampendous. I love how this card turned out, and it has inspired me to look through my own dies to see if I have anything that will work the way this one did.

When you read this we will just be returning from a week-long RV trip to Illinois. Both my DH and I LOVE taking off in our RV on little (or big) adventures. This year we will only take short trips, but next year we'll plan another 6-weeker.

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #149: Patriotic Please (USA or red, white and blue)...

The summer months seem to be flying by. I can't believe it is already time for another challenge over at Let's Craft and Create. I hope you'll join in on the fun.

If you're not keen on making something patriotic or red, white and blue, you can always choose the "Anything Goes" option.

Here's my DT card for this challenge:

I used a "scribble lines" die to make my red stripes. I was hoping that the waviness of the lines would be reminiscent of a flag's motion in the wind.

I chose to use 13 stars to represent the 13 original colonies. I have a little star punch that was perfect for the job!

Finally, I used a 2" number die for my 4 and cut the "th" from another number die set.

Here you can see how I've used a Wink of Stella brush pen to add some sparkle to the "4th".

I picked the word "Happy" from one of my stamp sets (SO MANY of them contain this word!) and stamped it in blue on my fishtail banner.

My card is blank inside so that I can write a personal note.










In order to make my "scribble" lines easier to glue down, I decided to create a glue sponge.

I chose a small locking container out of my stack of food storage containers. I had an old piece of dense foam which was still in good condition. It had actually served as the pad for a chair. I simply took it out of its cover and cut it to size with a big scissor.

Once I had my sponge ready, I took a partial bottle of older (and thicker) craft glue, thinned it with just a little water and poured it into the bottom of my container. Then I wet my sponge, wrung out the excess water and put it into the container with the glue. After locking down the cover of my container, I turned it upside down to allow the glue to run down through the sponge and soak into it.

After a couple of hours I opened my container (see the glue on the lid?) and tested my glue sponge by pressing some small pieces of paper onto the top of it and then placing them down onto another piece of paper. It worked! They glued down firmly with no mess.

I then took my scribble lines die cuts and pressed them onto my glue sponge before placing them on the front of my card. So easy! I'll be using this sponge to glue all my intricate and/or tiny die-cuts from now on.

One little tip: Choose a sponge that is slightly taller/thicker than your container. Mine is, and it actually compresses a bit when I put the cover on. This way, I'm not trying to fit a die-cut inside the container when I'm applying the glue. I simply press it onto the top of the sponge.

Now I hope you'll head on over to Let's Craft and Create and see all the wonderful projects my teammates have made. I know you'll be inspired to dig out your red, white and blue supplies and make something special!

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

Happy birthday easel card...

I have been on this easel card kick lately and decided to make one for my daughter's birthday, too.

I started my card-making process by stamping this zentangle-like background stamp with Versamark and heat-embossing with black EP.

Then, I took my largest circle die and cut a curved edge on one end of my panel. I used a Marianne Design die called "border stitch lace" to cut a lacy strip which I glued to the back of my curved panel. This piece was then added to a black mat which was adhered to the bottom half of the front panel of my easel card.

My flower was cut with an unbranded daisy die-set, and I inked the tips of the petals and the veins in the leaves. The black flower center was made with Glossy Accents and microbeads.

I always apply my microbeads over a coffee filter to catch those that get away from me. And there are many that ALWAYS get away from me!

The happy "birthday banner" is white heat-set EP on black cardstock.

Finally, a little peek at the inside of my card. The sentiment panel is raised up with some foam tape to serve as a stopper for my easel.

I used a variety of stamps for this card, most of which have lost their original packaging.

I've been organizing my stamps lately into plastic envelopes and then labeling those envelopes. I keep them in alpha-order, and it is helpful to pull out just my "birthday" envelopes when making a birthday card and look through them first, instead of searching through a big bin of various kinds of stamps looking for the right ones.

You can see the 5" X 7" expanding envelopes I've used here. They each hold 4-6 stamp sets.  It's so nice to have my stamps more organized. For instance, for this card, I could easily pull out all my backgrounds stamps (I don't have that many, so they're all in one envelope) and find the one I wanted.

That's it for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl