Three little pumpkins, all in a row...

 

I had a lot of fun making both of these cards. The faces are from a set of Peachy Keen face stamps. I got two sets of face stamps (one for animals, one for humans) years and years ago. Peachy Keen is still in business, but they are transitioning to all digital images, so I don't think these are available any longer.

EEK!" was made from die-cut letters and glued directly to the DSP. The pumpkins and stems were die-cut and glued together. I inked the edges of the pumpkins and then stamped on the faces. I used a white gel pen to add the whites of their eyes. Once they were completed, I popped them up with foam squares onto a strip of green cardstock that I had embossed to give it some texture.

The die-cut spider was added just for fun. And the banner underneath the green strip? That was added because it was there, lonely and unused in my stash.

This is the stamp I used on the inside. A solid color stamp like this needs to be stamped a few times to get good coverage. That's when I really appreciate my stamp positioning tool!

I finally mailed out my Halloween cards today, but I'll continue sharing some photos of them over the next few posts.

Now I am ready to move on to Thanksgiving cards!

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

Cheryl

More Halloween jokes and an anniversary card...

 

As promised, here are the other Halloween joke cards I made. I think kids will enjoy them. They've certainly sold quickly at the thrift store. The mummy was die-cut, and I added some gray coloring with an alcohol marker before he was glued together.

The mummy die set included a die for a Halloween candy, so I cut it out, glued the black stripes on and added a little shading before gluing it to the inside.

This die-cut ghost was adhered to the card front with an action wobble. It has lots of movement with just a flick of the finger. I had a few star-shaped gems in my stash, so added them for a little sparkle since this card will most likely go to a girl. The stars were in fun Halloween colors of black, purple, green and yellow.

The answer to this riddle is so perfect for Halloween!

The skeleton on this card was die-cut and glued directly to the orange DSP. The sentiment/riddle was matted and popped up with some foam tape.

All of the sentiments were printed with my computer. Please feel free to use them if you like.

Finally, I have an anniversary card to share with you. It is my DH's and my 27th anniversary today. It is a second marriage for each of us, and we've had the best life together. The time has gone by so fast, and we've had so. much. fun.

At our son's recent wedding, a doodle artist had been hired to do doodle drawings of the wedding guests. She did a doodle of my DH and me, so I decided to use it on an anniversary card for him.

I made a copy of the doodle drawing, cut it out, framed it, and popped it up with some thin foam tape. I had the two leaf stickers in my stash, so I added them as embellishments to the frame.

The sentiment was stamped onto a really old Spellbinder's die-cut and popped up with foam tape. If you look closely, you'll see that I added a tiny pale pink pearl on each side of it.

I matted my sentiment panel on the inside with some more of the coral DSP.

This card was 5" X 7" to accommodate the doodle drawing. I could have decreased the size of the drawing when I copied it, but I decided to keep it at its original size.

We are going out for a nice dinner tonight to celebrate.

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

Cheryl

Birthday tulips and a Halloween witch...

 

I had this pretty tulip-patterned DSP in my stash and wanted to use it. It was a busy pattern so I decided to tone it down a bit by using a modern oval die-cut in the center of it.

I pulled out my tulip bouquet dies, but before doing any die-cutting, I decided to ink up a scrap of white cardstock. I only needed a small piece to cut the blossoms; the stems and leaves were cut out of green cardstock.

I pulled out some red and pink inks and, using a blending brush, I brushed them onto the white scrap in a random way. When it was covered with ink, I let it dry for a few minutes and then cut out my flower heads.

I glued them onto the stems and added my bouquet to the white oval, popping up the flower heads.

This particular die has a bow shape at the point where the stems meet. I simply cut that off and then added the die-cut "happy birthday" banner (also popped up).

The flowers got a finishing touch with some Wink of Stella, which I think is evident in the photos.

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside.

I love using this witch die for Halloween cards because she looks so sassy. I created a bookbinding card base. This A2 cardbase is folded on the left side with the first 1 1/4" of the front glued to the back. You can see in the photo where I scored the front 1 1/4" from the left to allow the card to open easily. 

That lefthand 1 1/4", decorated with a strip of polka-dot DSP and some ribbon, is the "binding" part of the card. If this seems a little confusing, you can watch a video tutorial here.

I cut a 4" square of some orange dotted DSP and matted it with some black cardstock. 

The sentiment was printed with my computer and also matted with some black cardstock. I popped it up with some foam tape.

The die-cut witch was glued directly to the DSP.

The inside sentiment was also printed with my computer. I added a sticker banner across the top and a die-cut witch's hat in the bottom righthand corner.

I made some other Halloween cards featuring Halloween jokes, and I'll share them in my next post.

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

Cheryl

Just too bright!!!...

 ...is what my brain screamed at me when I saw this sheet of printed paper. And then I challenged myself to actually use it to make a couple of cards.

Since the colors of the DSP were so bright, I also chose a bright color for the cardbase and scalloped oval. After the plain white oval was glued to the scalloped yellow one, I adhered them with some thin foam tape. I wanted to keep this card very mailable by adding only a tiny bit of dimension.

I cut a flower head from some pink cardstock that matched the background pink of the DSP. The center dots of the flower were made with Nuvo Drops.

I decided to make this a get well card, thinking that the bright colors would cheer someone up. I think this sentiment works particularly well for someone who is recovering from surgery or a broken bone.

Only a sentiment was stamped on the inside, offering some relief from the super bright colors on the card front.

As I was working on the first card, I noticed an "adorable" sticker on my desk that was begging to be used. Luckily, its pink and green colors were a perfect match for the bright DSP.

I die-cut the whimsical border out of the same green cardstock as the cardbase, glued it across the middle of the card front and centered the sticker on it.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside and added three more tiny stickers that were on the acetate sheet along with the "adorable" sticker.

I felt pretty good about using this DSP. It's been in my stash, taunting me, for a long time!

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

'Tis the season to be spooky...

 

The die-cut sentiment on this card is NBUS (never-before-used schtuff), so I am entering it into Darnell's October challenge over on the NBUS blog.

After adding the star-patterned DSP and the orange piece of cardstock to a black A2 cardbase, I die-cut the spooky house, a few bats and the sentiment out of black cardstock.

I backed the house with some gray cardstock and glued it directly to the DSP. The bats were glued in a random fashion around the house.

Before adding the sentiment, I applied a black and white sticker banner across the top of the orange cardstock. I thought it was a great addition to the card, and I plan to use the remaining 8" of it on a couple more cards like this one.

I had one die-cut bat left over, so I added it to the inside, along with a stamped sentiment.

This was such a quick and easy card to make. Nothing was popped up, so it's also an easy one to mail. 

Have you made all your Halloween cards yet? I am nearly done, so I've got to start getting them in the mail.

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

Cheryl

Using more leftover strips...

 

I wanted to use up more strips that were taking up space in my Halloween DSP folder. This time I decided to make a top-folding card and run the strips horizontally. If you're interested in making a similar card, you'll find the measurements in this post.

I have a die that cuts out the line of trick-or-treating children. It fit perfectly across the top strip

The sentiment was a cut-apart from a Halloween stack. I matted it with some orange cardstock and popped it up with foam tape.

When the card is opened, it looks like this. I don't normally stamp anything on the back side of the card front, but I managed to get an ink smudge there. The quickest way I could think of disguising it, was to stamp this silly pumpkin.

In cardmaking, we can always turn lemons into lemonade, right?

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #236: Anything Goes or The Colors of Fall (red, yellow, orange, brown - use any or all)...

 

Autumn is such a beautiful season! We once were lucky enough to be traveling in New Hampshire and Vermont in October. Around each new bend in the road, we were confronted with the most spectacular fall colors I have ever seen. It was so beautiful it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

At Let's Craft and Create, we've added a new challenge to use some of those gorgeous colors to create a card, a tag, a home decor item, or anything else you might fancy making. To help kick off the challenge, I've created a Thanksgiving card with some pretty DSP I had in my stash.

For this card, I cut my panel of DSP to 5 5/16" X 4 1/16" and then used an arched rectangle die to cut an opening in the center of it.

I then took the next larger size arched rectangle die and, centering it around the smaller one, I cut a thin border out of dark brown cardstock. This border was then glued to the opening in my DSP.

The DSP, with its dark brown frame in place, was adhered to the A2 cardbase with some foam tape. This gave the card some nice dimension and created the perfect indentation in which to glue some die-cut foliage that mimicked the leaves in the DSP.

I stamped "Thanksgiving Blessings" directly on to the card front, making sure it was centered at the top of the arched rectangle opening.

I had three die-cut leaves left over, so I added them to the inside panel along with a stamped sentiment.

I hope you'll have some fun with fall colors and join in on our challenge. We love seeing what you create.

Check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team here.

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

Cheryl

Can ghosts be sweet?...

I found an image of ghosts online that someone had created using an AI program. The creator offered it up for anyone to use. I thought the little ghosts were so sweet and would be perfect for a few Halloween cards.

I managed to size the image so that I could fit four of them on a single piece of 8 1/2" X 11" white cardstock. I printed and cut them out, added a mat to each one and glued them to white cardbases.

Each sentiment was stamped and popped up with foam tape.

I think their rosy cheeks are so cute.

To add a little sparkle, I dotted the background with glue. I actually put the glue wherever I saw a white dot or "star." Before the glue dried, I sprinkled clear glitter over the image and shook off the excess. The final sparkle was awesome!

On the inside, I added a stamped sentiment.

These cards have sold really well at the thrift store. I think there were a few grandmas who bought them for their younger grandchildren.

The Halloween decorations are really popping up in yards around our neighborhood. Some families have really extensive (and large) Halloween decor. I love looking at it, but I always wonder, "Where do they store all that stuff?"

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

You're a winner...

 

I needed some kids' birthday cards to donate, and I hadn't used my basketball shoe die set in a long time. It is such a fun die set, so I made two cards--one for a boy and one for a girl.

 

My brothers played basketball in high school, so I remember them wearing hightops like this. They may have been all white, but they were this style.

The details in this set are so great. I love all the little eyelets for the shoelace holes.

I added a piece of white linen thread for the shoelace.

I also inked the toe and the sole a bit to make them look more realistic and popped them up with foam tape.

Wouldn't you have loved to have a pink shoe like this when you were young? I think I would have. 

The star on each shoe was die-cut from metallic silver cardstock.

The sentiments were printed with my computer, matted and popped up with foam squares.

For the lace on this shoe I used a pink elastic thread that may have been meant for tying on packages.

This is the computer-generated sentiment I added to the inside of each card.

The layout of these cards is so simple, but I'm hoping the shoes add enough interest to not require a fancy fold or extra embellishments to make the card special.

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

Cheryl

Chocolate bar card...

I went to a wedding shower a couple of weeks ago where the theme was cooking ingredients (like spices and other portable items) and recipes. I decided to give a chocolate-themed gift accompanied by three of my favorite recipes using different forms of chocolate. I included cocoa, chocolate chips, melting/baking chocolate, white chocolate, and some hot cocoa mix so they could have a soothing hot drink when they were done baking. I included recipes for Cocoa Drop Cookies, Zucchini Chocolate Cake and Dipped Ritz Cracker Cookies.

This is the card I made to go along with the gift:

This was such a fun card to make, and it didn't take nearly as long to make as I thought it would.

I found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers that was clear and easy to follow. Their video can also be found on YouTube, so if you'd like to watch it, just click here.

Here's a look at it from another angle. 

I used some thin double-sided tape underneath the smallest squares.

I added a die-cut flourish to the darker brown "wrapper" and the gold foil was torn to give it a realistic look.

The sentiment was printed in brown with my computer, die-cut and popped up on top of the flourish.

This is the sentiment I printed for the inside. I actually used Google's AI app called Gemini to help me create it, so please feel free to use it for your own cards if you wish.

I had made one extra chocolate square, so I added it to the inside as a bit of embellishment.

I'd love to know if you've ever made one of these cards. They were popular a few years ago, but I haven't seen them lately.

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

Cheryl

Eight-card gift set...

 I have a friend that attends one of the same Tai Chi classes that we do. She's a wonderful gardener and has lots of house plants. When she offered me two of her house plants (a Crown of Thorns plant and a ZZ plant), I knew I wanted to give her a set of cards as a thank you for her generosity.

This is the front of the box I made to hold the cards. It's about 4 1/2" X 6" X 1". I used a 12" X 12" piece of cardstock to create it.

This pictures shows the box from the top with the cover open and the cards and envelopes inside. As you can see, the eight cards I made fit nicely in it.

These were the first two cards I made.

When the card with the aqua cardbase is opened, the hexagon is popped up inside. I've made a number of cards like this over the years. 

If you want to see another card I made using this technique, click here.

Here are two feminine birthday cards I encluded in the box. The one on the left features some canning jar stickers I've had in my stash for quite a while. I purchased them at Dollar Tree.

This card is super fun to make. I've also made them in the past, and you can see a couple more of them here, where I link to a tutorial on how it's done.

I also included two masculine birthday cards. The sunburst pattern on the bottom card is done with thin triangular pieces of paper, gluing the points at the center and working your way outward. I added a strip across the bottom to finish it off before popping up the circular die-cuts.

This card features six dimensional sticker squares. I've had them for a very long time, so I had to add some glue to the back of each one.

The sentiment was stamped, die-cut and popped up.

Finally, I added two sympathy cards. One with an embossed and lightly inked panel on the front and the other with one of the scenery papers I have in my stash.

My friend seemed to really appreciate this set of cards when I gave it to her. I hope she's able to eventually put all the cards to good use.

I volunteered at the thrift store again yesterday. As I was displaying some jewelry (part of my job there), a customer asked me if I was the person who brings in the handmade cards. When I said, "yes, I am," she said, "I love you!" I was a bit taken aback by such a strong statement. I guess she just really appreciates handmade cards. She continued to say that she had to get to the store early on Thursdays to get her pick of the cards because they sell out so quickly. 

I want to take this opportunity to say another BIG THANK YOU to Lynette of My Stamping Addiction, who donates many of the cards I take to the store. If you had been with me yesterday, Lynette, the customer would have told you she loves you, too!

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

Cheryl