Wishing you all the best on your retirement...

 

I have a stamp set of "wavy" sentiments with a coordinating die to cut them out. I used one of those sentiments on these cards. 

I used the die to trace a wavy cut line for each of the papers. That makes it easy to fit them together on the front of the card. The seam between the two papers doesn't have to be perfect because it's covered up by the sentiment.

I used papers from a mat stack of coordinating designs, and the only embellishing elements were the two leafy die-cuts. I decided I liked the simplicity of this design, though.

Each of the scalloped sentiment strips have been popped up with foam tape.

This is such a handy stamp and die set to have, and I don't use it nearly enough. I think sometimes I inspire myself by writing these posts and sharing my cards with you. lol

I'm not sure why, but I did not take a picture of the sentiment I stamped inside these cards, but it said, "The best is yet to come."

I heard a local weatherman on the radio saying that all signs point to a warmer and lengthier Autumn in my neck of the woods. I am hoping he is right, because it is a beautiful time of year. I love seeing the trees change color. The warm, brilliant reds and golds just make me happy!

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

Cheryl

If you regularly visit my blog, you may remember the flower die I used on a card in this post. I love the dimension you can achieve with it so much that I decided to die-cut three of the flower heads in pastel colors and use them all on a single card.

Each of the flowers has half the petals raised by putting short lengths of double-sided foam strips beneath them. This adds so much dimension and life.

The confetti stickers were some random ones I had in my stash and the sentiment was stamped and popped up with foam tape.

I used markers to color the flower centers and then added some sparkle with a Wink of Stella pen. I know you can't see it in the photos, but it's there!

What you can see in this photo is the way the petals are lifted up with the foam strips.

I stamped a sentiment on the inside. I wish I would have had more confetti stickers to put on the inside, but I had used them all on the front.

I thought at first I would have to make a special envelope for this card, but it fit well in a business size one. Now I'm going to look at my other flower dies and see if I can come up with ideas for using die-cuts of just the flower heads to make a card.

Last night we had a gathering of a few neighbors at a friend's house just two doors down from us. We have the nicest neighbors, so it was a lot of fun. These kinds of gatherings are extra special when you're no longer going to a job each day and socializing with your co-workers. So the motto of this story is: get together with your neighbors whenever you can!

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

Cheryl

Masculine cards using lots of DSP...

Last week, in this post, I said I was going to look for some 12" X 12" sheets of DSP that would work for masculine cards. Well, I found some and quickly made some cards. Here are two of them:

The measurements, scoring and general instructions for making these cards is in the post linked to above. 

I used black quilling strips on either side of the center panel. If you ever have a chance to get some quilling strips, they come in VERY handy when you need a narrow strip to finish off an edge. I have a package of assorted colors and use them a lot.

I used a couple of arched rectangle dies for the sentiment panel and its black mat. After stamping the sentiment, I added some holographic stars to fill in the space a bit.

I added a matted panel to the inside with another stamped sentiment and a few more stars.

This card has only the sentiment stamped onto the matted hexagon. Instead of stars, I added some black Nuvo Drops to the upper left and bottom right sides.

This card had a couple of different sentiments stamped on the inside. I realized, after stamping, that two exclamation marks was a bit much, but I figured anyone who receives this card will probably not even notice. Sometimes I over-think things.

I have several more sheets of this DSP in different colors. I will definitely make more of these cards to donate to the thrift store. I think the customers appreciate masculine cards, as they always seem to sell quickly.

I hope you all have a grand weekend. The temps are expected to be cooler here. I am excited to turn off the AC and open the windows. We have had our AC running continuously for a longer period of time than we ever have in the 27 years we've lived in this house. It's been a very warm summer.

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

Cheryl

Kittycats sitting on some basket weave embossing...

I am lucky enough to have three sisters and additionally lucky that one of them is a cardmaker. She and I trade supplies from time to time and share some of our stash with each other. Recently, she gave me a stack of panels she had embossed with a new (to her) embossing folder. It features a 3D basket weave pattern. I used most of one of the panels to make these two cards:

I love these cat die-cuts.  Their cartoonish shapes and expressions just make me smile. The basket weave embossing made me think of a basket that a cat might enjoy curling up in. Besides that, it nicely matched the piece of DSP I wanted to use.

The base card is actually a very pale lilac, and I used a little darker shade for the strip that covers the seam between the plaid and embossed pieces.

I die-cut the whiskers from the same dotted DSP as the cat bodies. After gluing them on, they weren't very visible, so I used a fine point felt pen to draw a line across the top of them. That did the trick!

I used some Nuvo drops for the noses and drew in the pupils of the cats' eyes, rather than try to glue down a miniscule piece of black CS.

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

The stamped sentiment on the front of each card was popped up with foam tape. I could have popped up the cats, too, but I thought they looked pretty cute glued directly to the card front.

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside of this card.

Since I've used some of my sister's beautiful embossing on these cards, I'm adding this to Darnell's (DJKardKreations) weekly I.D.E.A.S. inspiration post. 

In honor of Darnell's love of words, I thought I'd share a few cat idioms with you today. It's amazing how many there are: let the cat out of the bag, like a cat on a hot tin roof, like herding cats, it's a cat-and-mouse game, curiosity killed the cat, cat got your tongue? These are only a few of them. There are many more. It seems every culture has an array of cat idioms. 

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

Cheryl

Happy Birthday to a very special someone...

 One of my granddaughters turned 20 years old this month, and this is the card I made for her:

The floral cardstock had lots of glitter on it, so it was perfect for a young lady's birthday. I had just a small portion of a 12" X 12" sheet left--just enough for this card.

The word "Spectacular" was heat-embossed onto the green panel, which was popped up on foam tape.

Of course, I had to add a few pink gems. Every birthday girl deserves some extra sparkle on her card!

This is how the card looks when opened. It's a great design if you want to display it. It's called a Concertina Card, and you can find a tutorial on how to make it here.

When we joined our granddaughter and her family to celebrate her birthday, she was sporting some pretty pink hair! Perfectly coordinated with her card. lol

I've always told my daughters--and now my granddaughters--if they want to express their individuality, they should do it with their hair. It's easy to change your whole look with a different hair color or style, and it doesn't last forever. When your preferences change, your hair can change with them. 

There is a lady, close to my age, who attends our church. She often colors her hair in pastel colors, like pink and purple. I often compliment her and champion her sense of fun and freedom to express her individual style!

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

Cheryl

An interesting card fold using double-sided paper...

 

If you're like me, you have lots of 12" X 12" designer series paper with patterns on both sides. Because I have so much of it, I love finding card designs where I can use a lot of it on each card. This is one of those folds.

I started by cutting a piece that was 5 1/2" X 12", scoring it at 2 1/4", 5 1/2", and 9 3/4". The first score was folded back, and the second and third scores were folded toward the center. I adhered the first flap down to the front of the card. You don't have to do this, but it makes the front sturdier. 

I also cut two thin strips of teal cardstock and added them to each side of the folded back portion. I thought this gave a nice finished edge to it.

Finally, I used an arched rectangle die to cut a piece of off-white cardstock and a slightly larger die to cut a piece of teal cardstock for a mat. After stamping a sentiment, I glued down a flower die-cut and a couple tiny butterflies with tiny gems at their centers.

This matted panel was then adhered to the center of the card front.

You could use any shape for this center panel--a rectangle, oval, circle, you name it! In fact, I could have just glued my flower die-cut and butterflies directly to the center section of the card front if I had wanted to.

This is what the card looks like when it's opened. I cut a 3 3/4" X 5" off-white panel for my stamped sentiment (and three tiny butterflies) and a teal mat that was 4" X 5 1/4".

This is one of those folds that I think I will make many times. It's quick and easy, but looks pretty impressive. I'm hoping to find some more masculine-looking DSP in my stash so I can make some masculine cards using this fold. They deserve a fancy fold now and again, don't you think?

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

Cheryl

Fun with sealing wax...

 

I received a sealing wax kit from my daughter for Christmas. I've used the wax to seal some envelopes (when they're hand-delivered) but hadn't used any on a card until now.

I didn't like the result the first time I melted the wax, poured it onto my card front, and pressed in the design. It was a different design than you see here and it just didn't show up very well. It may have been user error--I'm still learning how to use this tool.

At first I thought I should try to peel the wax off and just start over, but then it occurred to me that I could use my heat gun to carefully melt the wax again right on the card. 

I made sure I didn't scorch the paper while doing this, and it worked perfectly! I was able to melt enough of the wax so that I could re-press a design into it. I think this makes a fun and unique embellishment.

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

Have you ever used sealing wax? If so, I'd love to know how you used it. 

I found a few ideas on Pinterest for using it on cards, but I'm hoping to find more. I have an idea for using it on a few Thanksgiving cards, and I'd like to come up with a way to use it on some Christmas cards, too. 

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

Cheryl