A new flower die, and I love it...

 

This flower die is so simple (all one piece) and such a nice size that I know I'll use it often. In fact, I've already used it on several cards.

I used some ink and blending brushes to add color to the flower which had been cut from white cardstock.

I loved the effect of adding only a bit of pink ink to the center of the flower. 

The stem is glued directly to my lacy rectangle, and the blossom part is popped up with foam tape.

Four gems were added to the flower's center.

This card has a lovely surprise when it is opened. Lots more DSP inside! The white rectangle I added here is exactly the same size as the one on the front, and I made sure that I placed it exactly beneath it.

If you want to know how to make this fold, check out my post here.

I decided to use the die again when making these two cards. This time I cut it first from green cardstock and then just the flower head from the deep red cardstock, which was layered over the green.

Then, after cutting two pieces of DSP that each measured 3 3/4" X 5", I placed one on top of the other and cut them once horizontally and once vertically. I simply eyeballed where I wanted the cuts to be. Then I placed them on a pink mat (4" X 5 1/4") in the order you see above.

I popped up the stamped sentiment on both cards and added two die-cut flowers to this one. Their centers are circles that were made with a 1/8" one-hole punch.

Once again, on this card, I glued the flower stem directly to the front of the card and popped the blossom up with foam tape.

The dots in the center were made with a 1/16" single-hole punch and gold metallic cardstock.

I printed sentiments with my computer for both cards and added a couple of die-cut flowers for embellishment.

*****

We will have two graduates in the family this month--one from high school and one from college--so I am working on cards for them. It's so exciting to see them heading off on a new adventure, whether it be college, work or something else. Our high school graduate will be heading to college and our college graduate will be heading to yet more schooling, in a whole new direction. I am proud of what they have achieved and for their desire to do even more.

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #219: Anything Goes or No Patterned Paper...

 

April showers bring May flowers, and the flowers in my yard are growing like mad and bursting with color. They inspired me to create two flower-themed cards for this this month's challenge at Let's Craft and Create...without using any patterned paper.

I began making this card by cutting 1 3/4" off the front of a white cardbase. I had some pink copy paper on hand, so I cut a piece to fit my card front and embossed it to give it a little texture before gluing it down.

The flower spray was created with a stencil and die set. After inking through the stencil, I also added some details with pens and colored pencils.

Once my coloring was done, I glued the spray to the right edge of the card front.

As a final touch, I added Glossy Accents to the round, pink flower buds. This helped them stand out with a little shine.

The sentiment was stamped, punched out with the Word Window Punch, and popped up on foam tape.

I did some light inking on the portion of the inside that showed when the card was closed.

I also added a stamped sentiment.

This card began with a white panel embossed with an oval floral frame embossing folder. I matted the embossed panel with pink cardstock and then adhered it to a 5" X 7" white cardbase.

A die-cut sentiment was added in the center of the card. I also used my chalks to add just a touch of color to each of the flowers.

For sparkle, I added small pink gems wherever there was a little swirl in the embossed design.

The sentiment on the inside of the card was stamped with an ink color that matched the color of the sentiment on the front.

Now I hope you'll head over to Let's Craft and Create to see all of the inspiration the Design Team is offering there.

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations linked to the post. You always inspire me!

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

Cheryl

Fun kitty-cats for Mother's Day...

 

I think it's fun to use some unexpected images for cards when I can. I purchased a set of cat dies a while ago, and this is the first time I've used them. There are four cats in the set, but I thought these two were just the right pair for a Mother's Day card. They look like they could be a mama cat and her kitten, don't they?

I've decided to share this card on the NBUS blog. If you haven't visited yet, you really should. It's a wonderful blog where owner Darnell encourages all of us to use the "Never Before Used Schtuff" we have amassed. I'm a little embarrassed by the size of my own NBUS pile, which is why I'm so thankful to Darnel for the encouragement to use it. Be sure to check it out!

I cut the whiskers out of silver metallic cardstock. They're a bit too prominent for my liking, so I think next time I'll cut them out of a dark gray cardstock. That way they'll show up, but not grab so much attention.

I stamped a couple of sentiments on the inside with a purple heart to separate them.

I volunteered today and was pleased to see a couple of customers purchasing some of the cards I donated. I sometimes wish I could ask them what they think about them and how I might improve their design or even the selection of cards I put out. I don't want to bother them, though, or put them on the spot, so I keep quiet.

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

Cheryl

Graduation card inspired by Donna...

My crafty friend, Donna, shared a terrific graduation card in this post on her blog. I thought it was such a great design, and since I had the same embossing folder she used, I decided to make several of them to donate.

These are two of the four cards that I made. I didn't use quite as many layers as Donna did on hers, but I think they'll still be appreciated. 

The "Congratulations" was die-cut and glued directly to the white strip.

The mortarboards were also cut with dies. They are made up of three pieces. The tassle was cut from silver metallic cardstock and the button in the center was made with a silver Viva Decor pen.

I stamped an image of a diploma and a sentiment on the inside. 

I thought it was a little amusing that the sentiment did not have any capital letters or punctuation. You'd think it would for a graduation card, wouldn't you?

I don't think most graduates will notice, though. They'll be more interested in the gift that goes with it!

Our weather turned out to be a non-story for those of us that live in Minneapolis, but some of the communities south and west of us were hit hard with quite a bit of damage. Thankfully we'll have some nice weather in the coming days.

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

Cheryl

Masculine cards in gold plaid...

 

This shirt die is always fun to use for masculine cards. The gold plaid DSP came from a 4" X 6" paper pad, and I thought it was perfect for man's shirt.

I did a little inking around the collar, the button placket, the pocket and the sleeves.

The buttons were created with Nuvo Drops.

I had the Happy Birthday already stamped and die-cut in my stash, so I just popped it up on foam tape.

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

I used another piece of the gold plaid DSP as a background on this card. Then, I die-cut a frame with lots of gears around the edge, along with a few extra gears.

Happy Birthday was stamped in the center of the frame, but I wish now that I had heat embossed it.

The inside sentiment was printed with my computer, and I added a few more gear die-cuts.

We are bracing for severe thunderstorms today. I just hope they don't do too much damage!

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

Cheryl

Wishing you a beautiful day...

 

I'm sneaking in with an extra post this week so that I can enter a card creation into Darnell's "E for Embossing" challenge week. I love embossing and don't usually add a lot of color to it, but for this card, I got out my chalks and added some Spring pizzaz.

After using my chalks on the flowers and greenery, I added a few pink gems for a little sparkle.

I also matted the embossed image with some pink cardstock and popped up my stamped and matted sentiment.

I also added a pink mat on the inside and stamped a birthday sentiment.

Now you should head over to DJKardKreations and check out all the other embossed entries.

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

Cheryl

You are SEW loved...

 

This card was super fun to make. The die set (it includes all the special shapes you see) is a great one for feminine cards--especially for those who actually sew.

The thread is actual navy blue thread. The two halves of the scissors (cut from metallic cardstock) were joined together with a silver brad.

The buttons were made by first covering some navy blue cardstock with packing tape and then die-cutting them. This results in shiny buttons, which were glued to the button card. I think their shine causes my camera to blur them a bit. Sorry about that!

The only inking I added was around the edges of the button card before gluing it down.

The needle was cut from the same metallic cardstock as the scissors.

The computer-printed sentiment was popped up on foam tape.

I also used my computer to print the sentiment on the inside. 

Because I had an extra button and a strip of the DSP, I added them to the inside.

I had some car trouble today that was a bit concerning. Several warning lights came on in my dash while I was driving home from volunteering. The speedomoter needle also began acting erratically and the car hesitated when I tried to drive forward from a stop. I made it home (it's about a 10-mile drive), but I will be taking it into the repair shop as soon as possible. I'm glad we have a second car we can drive in the meantime.

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

Cheryl

Happy birthday with kittens and dragonflies...

 

The last time I was at Dollar Tree, I picked up a package of dimensional kitten stickers. I thought they'd work well for some quick birthday cards for kids or cat lovers.

The design of these cards is very simple. For this one, I added an aqua oval with a design in its center (it was a punch-out from a sheet of different shapes). I added the layered kitten sticker and popped up the stamped "Meow!" "Birthday wishes" was also stamped and popped up with foam tape.

This photo shows the layers of the kitten a little better. 

I actually added the metallic cardstock bow on the top of her head. That's the nice thing about these stickers--you can add to them if you want to.

For this card, I decided to put a kitten sticker on a long, narrow tag. It's kind of a goofy looking kitten with that big heart on the head and the tiny body, but somebody will like it, I'm sure. Again the sentiments are both popped up with foam tape.

I added a panel on the inside of each card that was stamped with a sentiment and a few paw prints.

This is a bookbinder style card and the image was a free-to-use AI image that I found online. I thought it was so pretty, and I loved its colors.

I used a simple strip of purple cardstock with a die-cut bow in the center on the "binder" part of the card. I added a gem to the knot of the bow for a little dimension and sparkle.

You can see that gem a little clearer in this photo.

I printed the "Happy Birthday" with my computer and cut it out with a die. It has been popped up with foam tape and a small gem added to the right side.

This is the sentiment I created with my computer and printed for the inside.

This was a very quick card to make, and I liked it a lot. I actually made two of them to donate. I just wish I had saved the image so I could make more of them!

We had a beautiful spring day today, and I think my flowers grew three inches! I would have some blooming tulips were it not for some little critter who has been chewing them off. I don't think it is a bunny as we have pretty well bunny-proofed our fenced-in yard, but it could be a possum or a squirrel.

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

Cheryl

It's baseball season...

We have a professional baseball team here in Minneapolis--the Minnesota twins. I've been to a few games, but I'm not really a huge baseball fan. I know lots of people in this area are, though, so I made a couple of baseball-themed birthday cards.

The hats, bats and balls were all cut with a set of dies I got a couple of years ago. 

I tried to do a little shading on the hats. Because this hat was navy blue, I used a white Prismacolor pencil and very lightly added some pencil lines and then smoothed them out a bit with some odorless mineral spirits. It looks better IRL.

To add some shading on the red hat, I used a brown Prismacolor pencil and mineral spirits. For the balls, I used a finger dauber and a tiny bit of brown ink around the edge.

The bat and the ball were glued directly to the card front and the hat and the sentiment label were popped up with foam tape.

I think there are some boys out there who would love these cards, don't you?

We had a lovely Easter. I hope you did, too! My daughter and her husband were out of town, but our three granddaughters came over for brunch and my brother also stopped in to visit. Later in the day, it started to rain, which was very welcome. Our trees and plants need it! 

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

Cheryl

A final Easter card...

 

I had so much fun making this card and another one just like it. They are the only two cards I made with this fold, but I will definitely be making more for other occasions.

I started with a piece of cardstock that was 5 1/2" X 11 3/4". I scored it on the long side at  1 5/8" and 3 3/4" from each end. The ends were folded back at the first score and towards the center at the second score.

I cut panels of DSP to fit the areas created by the folds:

Blue floral: 2 @ 1 3/8" X 5 1/4"

Green polka dot: 4 @ 1 7/8" X 5 1/4"

White CS: 1 @ 4" X 5 1/4"

Finally, I cut a scalloped rectangle (it can be any size or shape you want as long as it is smaller than 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"), stamped it with a sentiment and added a translucent flower sticker that was highlighted with a little gold embossing. I put glue under the left side of it and then centered it on the card front.

When the card is fully opened, this is what you see. 

Here's a view from the top where you can clearly see how it is folded to be an A2 size card.

If the cardstock you use for the base is heavy and doesn't fold sharply, you could use a decorative belly band, instead of the scalloped rectangle, to hold it closed. I prefer to use a lighter weight cardstock for fun folds like this.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter, filled with warmth (inside and out) and unending joy.

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

Cheryl

Two sympathy cards using scraps...

 

After making numerous Easter cards from different pieces of DSP in shades of lilac, I pulled out some of the scraps I had saved and put them on a card front.

I also had a small scrap of some deep purple cardstock. I die-cut a flower image to use as the focal point on my card. I popped up the blossoms with foam dots, but glued the stem and leaves directly to the card front.

I embellished it with a sheer ribbon bow and added a stamped sentiment, which was also popped up with foam strips.

I added a panel on the inside with a stamped sentiment and one flower bud with a couple of leaves from another die.

I know, I know...more purple and lilac. But at least there's some yellow on this one!

I had two narrow pieces of the yellow striped paper, so I cut them the right length and then glued them down on each side of my card front. The scrap of purple DSP was just wide enough to overlap the yellow a tiny bit on each side, so I matted it with lavendar cardstock and popped it up with foam tape.

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and glued to the popped up panel. I did add a small piece of foam tape under the end that overhangs the panel.

I added three enamel dots to the upper right and lower left corners for some additional embellishment.

This card has a simple sentiment stamped on the inside panel.

It was very satisfying to use up these scraps...until I turned around and looked at the mountain of scraps that is still left!

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

Cheryl