Adding a bit to the background...

I always admire card makers who can add some texture, color, and other special features to the backgrounds of their cards--features that are simple, sometimes elegant, and do not overpower the card design. I added a couple of dies to my collection that will (hopefully) help me do just that.

The special background piece for this card is the double line corner. That was actually cut with a single die. The lines are so narrow that it's hard to get them straight when you put liquid glue on them. I have vowed to cut them from adhesive backed cardstock in the future.

The white strip in the background was embossed with a leafy design. The polka dot panel was popped up on dimensionals.

The flower was cut with an old Tim Holtz die and the "Just Because" die is one I've had for ages.

I added a few Nuvo Drops to the flower center.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside with navy blue ink.

The white die-cut in the background is another new die that I got recently. I love the simple texture it adds behind my flower. 

The little white tag is a pre-cut one I had in my stash. I stamped it with "Happy Birthday," added a bow, and popped it up on dimensionals.

I have a few old factory-made paper flowers in my stash that the thrift store gave me. i took a dark pink (mauve?) colored one and added some die cut flowers to it. Before gluing them all together, I did a little inking on the die-cuts and also die-cut and inked some leaves.

I stamped a fun sentiment on the inside.

*****

We are having a light fixture moved this morning. When our kitchen was remodeled, we had to move our dining room table a bit because of a doorway change, and now the ceiling light is not centered over it. It's been bugging me ever since! 

I finally contacted some electricians and found one who could come right away and move it. I will be so happy to have it centered once again.

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

Cheryl

Wedded bliss...

 

I purchased a new wedding die recently. It cuts this blissful, newly married couple, and I thought it would make some fun wedding cards.

The taupe-colored paper that I used for the mat and the die-cuts has a lovely sheen to it, but, of course, it doesn't show up in the photos.

The die used for the fancy corner is an old one that I've had for years. I like it because it is so delicate.

I did my best to match the ink I used for the sentiment to the taupe color in the die-cut. I used a couple of different colors of ink that I had in my stash. It doesn't match exactly but it looks pretty close IRL I die-cut the sentiment and popped it up on foam tape.

The background DSP is a white on white pattern with a bit of a sheen to the swirly design. It was perfect for this card.

I added another fancy corner die-cut on the inside, as well as a stamped sentiment.

I made a couple of these cards to donate, and I'm sure I'll be making more. I think they'd be pretty using other soft colors for the die-cuts and mat.

*****

Today was my day to volunteer at the thrift shop. It seemed extra busy with lots of customers. That may have been because it was raining almost all afternoon and everyone was looking for an indoor activity. Some of them seemed very happy when I added a new pile of handmade cards to the basket. All of the ones I had brought last week had sold, so the regular card buyers were anxious for more to choose from.

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

Cheryl

Get well floral...

I recently made two get well cards, but they both look just like this one, so I'm only sharing one of them. 

I started by cutting two 4" X 5 1/4" panels--one from the floral paper (from an online file) and one from the subtle pink design. I stacked them and then cut them at an angle. Because neither design was directional, I could make both cards the same by flipping the panels around for the second one. 

As a finishing touch, I added a die-cut, stitched strip of cardstock to cover the seam. It was cut from the same cardstock as the card base.

I have a set of small dies that cut the little flowers you see in the bouquet on the circle. I cut them out of white cardstock and then inked them in the various colors that were in the floral paper. After gathering them all into a bouquet, I topped with with a tiny punched bow.

Quite a long time ago, my sister had sent me a slew of these little bows in different colors of cardstock. I have used them from time to time, but now that I see how perfect they are for finishing off this little bouquet, I think I'll be using a lot more of them.

My circle was popped up on foam tape.

Almost as an afterthought, I added the butterfly. It had been in my butterfly box, begging to be used!

I stamped a couple of sentiments on the inside and added the last few flower sprigs that I had not used on the front.

I really love making at least two cards at the same time and this layout is perfect for doing just that. If you haven't tried it yet, I can definitely recommend it.

It has been a stormy week here in Minneapolis. It has been cool and rainy, hot, humid and rainy and constantly windy. I hope Mother Nature gets it out of her system and settles down soon!

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

Cheryl

Cards from kit leftovers...

Occasionally at the thrift store where I volunteer, items come in that the employees feel will not sell. Not long ago, a few leftovers from someone's card kits were donated and they asked me if I wanted them. Well, you KNOW how I answered that! Here are a couple of cards I made from some of those leftover pieces:

This card uses the little tags, the oval label and the punched apple from the small collection of pieces. 

I popped up the bottom end of the top (blue) tag, just  to add a little dimension.

I also popped up the gingham-edged oval, after stamping thank you on it, and the apple punch-out.

I added a few red enamel dots and a baker's twine bow to finish off the card front.

I used a fun stamp on the inside and added another apple punch-out.

On this card, the little flags for the banner, the "Hello" label, the strip of gingham and the hearts were the kit leftovers. I added the background DSP, the baker's twine and enamel dots, and the adhesive-backed, glittery letters to spell the word "friend."

I cut 1 1/4" off the bottom of the card front to create a more interesting fold.

The little green banner was popped up on dimensionals.

I was happy to have a chance to use some of my adhesive letters. I have quite a few of them and don't use them nearly enough.

This is the inside of the card. I added a stamped sentiment and a couple more of those heart punch-outs.

These two cards used up most of the leftover kit parts, and, of course, I donated them right back to the store. 

The store gave me a few more collections of leftovers from old card kits, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more cards made from them in the future.

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

Cheryl

A card for Tuesday Morning Sketches...

My cardmaking friend Donna (DesignByDonna) is a member of the Design Team for Tuesday Morning Sketches, and she inspired me to take part in the current challenge #760. Here's my interpretation of the challenge sketch:

I actually pulled just two pieces of double-sided DSP from my scrap pile, both having come from the same 6" X 6" paper stack. I cut them to the sizes I wanted and then flipped two of them over so thaat I used all four paper patterns on this card. 

I wanted to add something to the center of my card, so I looked in my box of stickers and other bits and found this quilled butterfly.

The colors of the butterfly went so well with the scraps of papers I had used, so it was the perfect choice.

Finally, I looked in my pile of pre-stamped, pre-cut sentiments and found the one you see on my card. I popped it up on a thin strip of foam.

I added a stamped sentiment to the inside to finish the card.

I do like following sketches, so this was a fun exercise. Thank, Donna, for inspiring me!

*****

Our dog, Mickey, has been enrolled in another training class. This time, he is being trained to heel. I told my DH that I wanted to opt out of this training, so I'd let him take Mickey by himself. He thought it would be fine if just the "boys" went. LOL

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

Cheryl

Wedding wishes...

 

I have some dimensional wedding cake stickers and I try to use one every once n a while to make a wedding card. Most of the stickers are made from silver and white card, so that is what I chose to make this card. The card base was a matte gray and the top die-cut panel was a textured metallic gray.

I also had a few store-bought daisies to use up, and I thought they were perfect for this card.

The swirly paper behind the oval is actually a patterned vellum. I liked the contrast of the swirls to the more geometric design in the top panel.

The "Congratulations" was heat embossed with silver embossing powder and then die-cut and popped up on the card front.

The stamped sentiment on the inside was also heat embossed with the same silver embossing powder.

It always feels great to use up a bit of my stash. Many of the stickers I have (including the wedding cake stickers) were given to me, so I didn't have a plan for them when I received them. But I'm so glad I have them for a quick wedding card when I need one.

We are getting ready for many upcoming family birthdays, reunions (both family and school) and other gatherings. It's going to be a busy summer!

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

Cheryl

More Father's Day cards...

 

I have an old 12" X 12" paper stack that has masculine, outdoorsy patterned papers. It also has a few punch-outs.  Both the papers and the punch-out letters used on this card front are from that stack. I popped the letters up on dimensionals, but everything else was glued flat to the kraft card base.

On the inside, I used a computer-generated sentiment. I left enough room in my sentiment to add a die-cut fish that I ink-blended to resemble some of the fish on the card front.

This card happened when I noticed some bits and pieces laying around on my work surface--the chair die-cut, the small piece of striped paper and the tiny tags. I simply picked out a coordinating paper, die-cut the letters for DAD a few times so I could stack them, and punched a narrow border. I found a piece of twine in my stash to add to the tags, too

Once again, I turned to my computer to print out a sentiment that reflected my card front.

This card used a new die set that included the grill, utensils and a bag of briquettes. Since this is the first time I've used it, I'm entering this card into this month's NBUS challenge #63. 

After selecting my blue card base, I added a panel cut from a really old 6" X 6" stack that had all kinds of positive adjectives on it in differrent colors. I thought it was just perfect for a Father's Day card. 

I printed the sentiment onto white CS and cut it out to fit across the front of my panel. Before gluing it down, I inked the edges to give it a more finished look and to match the inking I had done around the edges of the DSP.

I didn't pop anything up on this card front, so it's very mailable.

I used an alcohol marker to add a little bit of orange to the flame. I also did a bit of inking on the gray parts of the grate and grill stand.

I used my computer to print the sentiment on the inside and added the die-cut sack of briquettes above it.

On Saturday night we had 15 family members at our house for a backyard barbecue. My husband did all the grilling, so I'm going to make him one of these cards for Father's Day.

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

Cheryl

Silhouette graduation cards...

 I made a few graduation cards using my Silhouette Cameo.

I used the Silhouette to cut the mortarboards (with tassels), the year and the white shadow. It was a freebie SVG file from Printable Cuttable Creatables.

The tassel was cut from gold metallic cardstock. I punched a few stars from it, as well.

I stamped the same sentiment on the inside of each card.

The SVG file for this card was also a freebie from Printable Cuttable Creatables.  I have purchased files from them, too, but they are very generous with their giveaways. If you have a cutting machine that cuts SVGs, it would be worth checking them out.

The tassel and the numbers 0 and 4 were cut from gold metallic cardstock. I cut a light grey shadow so that it would show up better against the white embossed background.

I used the really old Cuttlebug "Argyle"  embossing folder. I chose it because it has a repeating pattern. Since this is a slimline card, it would take two passes to emboss the entire panel, and the pattern allowed me to easily line it up for a continuous design..

This is the inside of this card. I also made a card with the same front but with pop-out fireworks on the inside. I just forgot to take a photo of it before I sealed it in the envelope for my granddaughter!

This is a picture of my granddaughter's high school graduating class at their ceremony. It was held in an arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. You can probably guess from the photo that there were thousands of friends and family members there to cheer them on.

The class is so large (680+ students) that it took over 1 1/2 hours for them to read the names and let them walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. Of course, there were speeches and musical numbers, too, so the entire ceremony was about 3 hours long! The good part about having it in an arena this size is that each student can be clearly seen on the Jumbotron as they walk onto the stage for their diploma. 

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #208: Anything Goes or Add Ribbon...

 

It's the first week of June and time for another challenge at Let's Craft and Create. I hope you'll all join in with your wonderful creations. We LOVE seeing them! I know I get so much inspiration from the entries each month.

The option for June is to "add ribbon" to your project. I decided to make a thank you card.

I first used a pretty embossing folder on some pink cardstock. Then I swiped my white ink pad across the embossing to highlight the design.

I've used white ink on lots of embossed designs and it always looks great. It is particularly effective on dark colors like navy blue or forest green. I think it looks great on this medium pink, though, too.

After stamping my sentiment, I added the white cardstock beneath the pink and adhered both of them to a black mat.

I have some sheer black ribbon in my stash, so for a little drama, I added it just beneath my embossed design.

My brother made me a tool for creating perfect bows, and I used it to make a double bow for this card.

On the inside of the card, I stamped another sentiment and added a couple of punched hearts.

This was such an easy csrd to make, and I love how it turned out.

Now it's your turn. Take a look here at what the other Design Team members have made to inspire you, and then link your project for a chance to win the prize.

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

Cheryl

 

Father's Day cards...

I have made a few Father's Day cards to donate. They are actually quite relaxing to make because I keep them pretty simple.

This card was made with a never-before-used die of a classy-looking guy leaning against a wall, so I'm entering this into this month's challenge on the NBUS Challenge Blog.

The "wall" was created by using a portion of an adhesive-backed faux wall tile that I found at Dollar Tree. I added a black strip of cardstock down the right side of it.

I made a couple of these cards, and I have enough of the wall tile left to make several more.

The inside was very CAS with a computer-generated sentiment.

This card was made with an NBUS die set, too, so I'm also posting it on the NBUS Challenge Blog. I used bits and pieces from my scraps to die-cut the hat, bats and ball. I think it's a fun set and will be great for making masculne birthday cards, too.

I added another computer-generated sentiment on the inside.

This card has a tailored-shirt look to it. I used the folded corner design that I've used for lots of feminine cards. I measured 1 1/2" down from the upper right corner of my card front and scored from that point up to the start of the center fold. Then I folded this piece down. After adding some DSP to the main part of the front and the folded flap, I adhered the flap in place. You could hold it down with a dimensional, but I just used double-sided tape.

Then I pulled out an old button die, cutting it several times and stacking it for dimension.

I added a little thread (actually, it's embroidery floss) to my button before gluing it to the corner of my folded flap.

Finally, I die-cut the big sentiment and glued it in place. I had to be extra careful not to lose track of the apostrophe!

I added a stamped sentiment to the inside of this card. 

*****

We will be attending my granddaughter's high school graduation this week. Also, during this month and the first part of July we have her party and two reunions to attend. I also have to usher at my church a couple of times and help out with an ice cream social, so it's a busy time...but fun!

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

Cheryl